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Patch 26.19 kicks off Worlds prep with buffs to Aatrox, Aphelios, and more, nerfs to Ryze and Nasus, and key item changes.
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LoL Patch 26.18 Breakdown: Every Buff, Nerf, and Meta Shift
Patch 26.18 celebrates Caps' induction into the Hall of Legends with a new event pass and brings a series of champion and item changes.
LoL Patch 26.17 Breakdown: Every Buff, Nerf, and Meta Shift
Patch 26.17 fine-tunes the League of Legends meta with melee fighter buffs, targeted nerfs, and key item adjustments.
LoL Patch 26.16 Breakdown: Every Buff, Nerf, and Meta Shift
Patch 26.16 looks to shake up the current bot lane meta with changes to ADCs, Support quests, and several champions and items.
Patch26.19 arrived on September 23, 2026, bringing a series of champion and item changes to League of Legends ahead of Worlds. The patch focuses on the professional scene while also making several changes that affect the solo queue meta.
LoL Patch 26.19 Breakdown: Every Buff, Nerf, and Meta Shift
Patch 26.19 is the first major step toward the Worlds patch. Riot is targeting several champions that have fallen out of the professional meta while also toning down the strongest picks.
The Teleport Summoner Spell and several support items are also being changed to better fit the current meta.
Lucian's Vigilance passive was previously changed to protect his bot lane strength from balance changes aimed at mid lane. Riot is now moving some of that damage from the passive into Piercing Light (Q), giving him more power through his main ability instead.
Lucian's win rate was 51% in Patch 26.18.
Aphelios has struggled to keep up with other late-game ADCs despite the strength of enchanter supports in the current meta. Riot is giving him several buffs across all five weapons to improve his overall performance.
Aphelios' win rate was 51.38% in Patch 26.18.
Back-to-back Sundered Sky nerfs in Patch 26.16 and Patch 26.17 left Aatrox weaker than intended. This patch gives him compensation buffs through his W and E.
Aatrox's win rate was 51.5% in Patch 26.18.
Aurora lost some of her effectiveness when Rocketbelt was nerfed in Patch 26.14. She is now receiving buffs to The Weirding (E) and Between Worlds (R).
Aurora's win rate was 52.46% in Patch 26.18.
The extra gold from the bot lane role quest has made Draven's Adoration passive less distinctive, as other ADCs now have access to more gold as well. Riot is increasing his base Attack Damage from 62 to 64.
Draven's win rate was 52.47% in Patch 26.18.
Elise is one of the few AP junglers that does not benefit from Dusk and Dawn, leaving her underperforming compared to junglers who do. To bring her back into the meta, Riot is buffing her core abilities.
Elise's win rate was 52.32% in Patch 26.18.
Fiora is getting a small boost to help her stay competitive in the top lane. Riot is making successfully completing Grand Challenge (R) more rewarding without increasing the power of her core dueling tools.
Fiora's win rate was 52.58% in Patch 26.18.
Kha'Zix is in a better position to return to the jungle meta now that Sundered Sky is less dominant, but he still needs extra power to compete with other jungle picks. This patch buffs his less popular evolutions.
Kha'Zix's win rate was 52.06% in Patch 26.18.
Lillia spends a lot of time fighting at close range and needs to be able to stay in fights longer. Riot is improving her durability while making Lilting Lullaby (R) more rewarding when she lands it successfully.
Lillia's win rate was 52.07% in Patch 26.18.
Volibear's AP build has received several buffs over the past few patches, eventually becoming his main build. However, it still falls short of being a reliable option. Riot is now giving both his AD and AP builds some extra power.
Volibear's win rate was 50.99% in Patch 26.18.
Master Yi's Alpha Strike (Q) cooldown refund was previously reduced as his Ability Haste increased. With Duskblade no longer in the game, Riot is removing that restriction. His Alpha Strike (Q) cooldown refund on hit changes from 1 second scaling down with Ability Haste to a flat 1 second.
Master Yi's win rate was 53.51% in Patch 26.18.
| Champion | Impact |
|---|---|
| Aphelios | More reliable damage output and sustain during extended fights |
| Aatrox | W comes back sooner, making it easier to pull enemies into his Q combos |
| Aurora | Easier time clearing waves and keeping enemies inside her ultimate |
| Draven | Stronger early trades make it easier to pressure opponents out of lane |
| Elise | Faster clears and more opportunities to gank and contest early objectives |
| Fiora | Completing Grand Challenge provides a larger window to keep fighting after a successful all-in |
| Kha'Zix | Less popular evolutions become more practical choices depending on the game |
| Lillia | Increased ability to survive long skirmishes and more setup for allies |
| Master Yi | Better combo options |
| Volibear | More build variety and end-game power |
Ryze has always been a major threat at all levels of play. His combination of strong item options and roaming makes him particularly effective in the competitive scene. This patch is finally addressing this problem and toning down The Rune Mage.
Ryze's win rate was 48.65% in Patch 26.18.
Rumble continues to have a strong presence at higher levels of play, especially as a top lane powerhouse. Riot is cutting down some of his laning power and shifting it more toward his jungle role.
Rumble's win rate was 50.48% in Patch 26.18.
The Sundered Sky nerfs in Patch 26.16 were still not enough to lower Vi's overall power, so Riot is bringing more nerfs.
Vi's win rate was 51.76% in Patch 26.18.
Poppy's ability to function across several roles makes her an especially frustrating pick. To remove some of her flexibility, this patch nerfs her jungle power by reducing Hammer Shock (Q) minion and monster maximum health damage cap from 85/120/155/190/225 to 70/105/140/175/210.
Poppy's win rate was 53.55% in Patch 26.18.
The Patch 26.16 buffs to Nasus made him far stronger than intended, and several rounds of nerfs since then have not fully resolved the issue. Riot is now reducing the bonus damage on Siphoning Strike (Q) from 40/60/80/100/120 to 30/50/70/90/110.
Nasus' win rate was 53.3% in Patch 26.18.
Nocturne's ultimate gives him a large amount of map pressure while also providing a major tool for starting fights. To address this, Paranoia (R) cooldown is increasing from 140/115/90 seconds to 160/130/100 seconds.
Nocturne's win rate was 52.8% in Patch 26.18.
| Champion | Impact |
|---|---|
| Ryze | Reduced pressure in the competitive meta |
| Rumble | Shift into his jungle role |
| Vi | Weaker early-game presence |
| Poppy | Less effective as a flex pick |
| Nasus | More vulnerable before reaching his power spikes |
| Nocturne | Less frequent opportunities to make plays across the map |
| Item | Exact Change | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| World Atlas / Runic Compass | Health: 30/100/200 → 0/60/200; Health Regen: 25%/50%/75% → 50%/75%/75% | Melee supports have more staying power in lane and less need to rely on roaming or all-ins |
| Teleport | Top Role Quest Free Teleport: 420 → 390s; Top Role Quest Upgraded Unleashed Teleport: 330–240 → 300–210s | More freedom to pressure side lanes and play around split pushing |
The melee support items previously incentivized melee supports to be more active around the map early rather than staying in lane. Shifting their early-game health toward regeneration gives them more tools to survive longer laning phases.
The role quest system left top lane slightly weaker than intended, particularly for split pushing. Shorter cooldowns on the role quest Teleport should make these strategies more viable.
LoL Patch 26.19 Breakdown: Every Buff, Nerf, and Meta Shift
League Classic gets its fourth patch, adding four new champions , Fizz, Graves, Nami, and Nautilus , alongside the items Cloak and Dagger, Moonflair Spellblade, and Zz'Rot Portal, following the previous Council poll. The patch also includes more balance changes, bug fixes, client improvements, and new visual effects for runes.
ARAM: Mayhem is receiving more bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements, while Arena gets three new Guests of Honor, more than ten Augments from Mayhem, and two completely new Augments. The mode is also receiving balance changes to several champions and Augments.
Team Voice, which was announced at the start of September, is being delayed from its planned Patch 26.20 rollout in North America and Oceania.
Finally, the Coven Janna, Coven Mel, Old God Anivia, and Old God Urgot skins and their chromas are arriving with the patch, alongside new chromas for the existing Coven Ahri and Coven Ashe skins.
