Nerfplz.com breaks down League of Legends strategy each patch: meta changes, champion guides, counters, fun and off-meta picks, team comps, and tier lists.
Tier ListPatch 26.19Every champion ranked by role
Skins in 3D2,163 skins173 champions, in 3D
On the PBEPatch 26.20Every change on the test server
LoL Trivia280 topicsRecords, plus 1,274 lore facts
League of Legends Solo Queue Tier Lists for Patch 26.20: Worlds runs on 26.20, so most of these notes were written for pro play, a...
Read more: Patch 26.20 Tier List Predictions: Our Day One Forecast
Buffs: Diana, Kennen, Kindred, Lillia, Lucian, Mordekaiser, Neeko, Smolder, Swain, Tahm Kench, Vayne
Nerfs: Ambessa, Ashe, Cassiopeia, K'Sante, Yunara
Three item lines moved. Experimental Hexplate gives ranged champions half its value instead of 70%, Hextech Rocketbelt trades half its ability haste for a harder-hitting active, and Runaan's Hurricane bolts drop from 65% to 60% of attack damage. Replays go private this patch, so you can only download games you played in. League Classic brings back Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma and Quinn, and HEARTSTEEL's new skins land October 7. Full patch notes recap here.
Mordekaiser's ultimate cooldown drops from 140 seconds to 120 at rank one and from 120 to 110 at rank two. Rank three stays at 100. So for most of a game, the gap between one ultimate and the next gets shorter, and his Q scales harder from level ten on top of that. He was already third in Tier 1 top. We have him in God Tier.
Somebody has to make room. Nasus and Garen aren't in the notes, so neither of them goes anywhere, so the seat comes from Yone, the newest arrival and the only one of the three who's also God Tier somewhere else. He keeps mid and drops to the top of Tier 1 here.
Ambessa and K'Sante are the top lane nerfs, and both were pointed at pro play. Ambessa's passive hits a bit softer and she slides inside Tier 3. K'Sante's W costs more mana and blocks less damage. He was in Tier 4 already, so there's nowhere much for him to go.
Kennen gets more attack speed from his E, but he buys Rocketbelt in about half his games and Riot halved its ability haste. Riot called the buff compensation, and that reads about right. He stays in Tier 3. Tahm Kench's healing change is aimed at support, though a top laner gets it too, so he climbs a little inside Tier 2.
One more line matters if you play a ranged top laner. Hexplate now gives ranged users half its stats, down from 70%. Vayne and Varus top both rush it often enough to notice, and both sit in Tier 4, which is where they stay.
God Tier jungle doesn't move. Cho'Gath, Wukong and Briar are all missing from the notes.
Lillia gets a buff for the second patch running. Her sleep lasts up to three seconds at max rank now, up from two and a half, and the first rank is unchanged. Riot said last patch's buff didn't do enough. She climbs toward the top of Tier 1.
Kindred is the bigger change on paper. The wolf hits monsters harder, the E slow lasts half a second longer, and the E can no longer be cast on small monsters. Riot said they picked buffs that wouldn't make Kindred's early invades much scarier. They move up inside Tier 4, though not out of it.
Diana's shield scales harder with bonus health. Riot aimed that at the bruiser build, which has been well behind the assassin one, so she climbs a little inside Tier 3 jungle.
Rocketbelt is the jungle item change that touches the board. Sylas buys it in most of his jungle games, and he loses ten ability haste and gets a bigger active in return. Riot wrote the change for exactly that kind of all-in champion. We're leaving him where he is in Tier 1.
Yone, Fizz and Lux aren't in the notes, and the top of mid stays put.
Swain is the mid laner Riot wanted to help. His W hits harder at every rank past the first and comes back two seconds sooner, and he trades two armor for three magic resistance, which suits a lane full of mages. Tier 3 to Tier 2.
Diana's buff is aimed at her bruiser build, which isn't the one mid laners play, so mid Diana doesn't move from Tier 2. Cassiopeia loses twenty health and thirty mana at level one, which is Riot's second pass at her early laning in two patches (the first one landed harder on pros than on everyone else, by Riot's own account). She's in Tier 4 and stays there.
Yunara is the champion Riot most wanted to slow down before Worlds. Her on-hit damage drops two points at every rank, her slow stops stacking with other slows, and Runaan's Hurricane loses some damage per bolt (she finishes with it in close to half her games). None of the three is big alone. Together they should push her out of Tier 1, into Tier 2.
That opens a Tier 1 seat. Miss Fortune isn't in the notes, none of the three changed items shows up in her usual builds, and she was already third in Tier 2. We have her moving up.
Ashe loses half a point of attack damage per level, about eight and a half by level eighteen. Riot pointed it at her pro play strength, but solo queue Ashe loses the same numbers. She slides to the bottom of Tier 2. Swain keeps the top of Tier 2 (his mid buff helps here too, and the two armor he gives up matters more against marksmen than anything a mid laner throws at him).
Lucian and Vayne both get help, and both start in Tier 4. Lucian's attack damage growth goes back up after last patch's mid lane change left bot Lucian short. Vayne gets better health regeneration and a flat 30 mana Q at every rank. That's a better laning phase for both, and we have them climbing to Tier 3. Smolder's bigger heal and crit scaling move him up inside Tier 3 as well.
Jinx buys Runaan's in about a quarter of her games. A five point cut on the bolts doesn't touch the rest of what she does, so she's still in God Tier with Tristana and Twitch.
Thresh, Blitzcrank and Leona are all absent from the notes. Nothing changes at the top.
Tahm Kench doubles his Q healing at max rank, from 25 to 50 (rank one stays at 10). Riot called it compensation for the support item changes, which hurt him more than most tank supports because his own health regeneration is so low. Tier 3 to Tier 2.
Neeko's root lasts a bit longer early and her E hits ten harder. She buys Rocketbelt in close to half her support games, though, and Riot was open that this buff is there to cover that nerf. Net, she stays in Tier 3.
Everything above was written the day 26.20 went live, before anyone had finished a ranked game on it. The League of Legends tier list hub carries the measured rankings and takes its first read on this patch once the games exist.
Patch 26.20 is the Worlds patch, so this is the build the pros will play on for the biggest month of the year. Riot trims a few tournament s...
Read more: LoL 26.20 Patch Notes: Every Champion and Item Change
Patch 26.20 is the Worlds patch, so this is the build the pros will play on for the biggest month of the year. Riot trims a few tournament staples (Ambessa and K'Sante both lose a little) and props up a long list of champions sitting just under viability, with Kennen and Kindred among them. Hextech Rocketbelt loses half its ability haste and gains damage, which pushes it back toward being an engage tool. League Classic brings back five more old kits, launch-era Aatrox included, and the HEARTSTEEL Live My Life skins arrive on October 7.
Patch 26.20 is the Worlds patch, so this is the build the pros will play on for the biggest month of the year. Riot trims a few tournament staples (Ambessa and K'Sante both lose a little) and props up a long list of champions sitting just under viability, with Kennen and Kindred among them. Hextech Rocketbelt loses half its ability haste and gains damage, which pushes it back toward being an engage tool. League Classic brings back five more old kits, launch-era Aatrox included, and the HEARTSTEEL Live My Life skins arrive on October 7.
Buffs: Diana, Kennen, Kindred, Lillia, Lucian, Mordekaiser, Neeko, Smolder, Swain, Tahm Kench, Vayne
Nerfs: Ambessa, Ashe, Cassiopeia, K'Sante, Yunara
From this patch on, you can only open replays of games you played in. Nobody else can download yours, and third-party apps and sites lose replay downloads entirely. Riot says cheat developers have been using that access, along with reads of game memory, to build unauthorized tools around League's game data, so both are getting locked down. Reviewing your own games doesn't change: download the replay and watch it in the client like before.
Five more old kits come out of the archive, and they're an odd bunch to share a patch. Each one below links to that champion's own 3-D model page, and the rest of the mode's roster is in our League Classic collection. Classic's Act II Battle Pass is due with Patch 26.21.
New in League Classic
This Aatrox was snapshotted three patches after release, with only four balance changes behind him and the 2017 and 2018 reworks still years off. He's an attack-speed fighter who hurts himself to get stronger, and he gets one revive out of it.
New in League Classic
The 2011 to 2015 Caitlyn. When she launched, some players thought she was too close to Miss Fortune, which is hard to picture now.
New in League Classic
Irelia as she played from 2010 to 2018, the champion Trinity Force was practically built for. She's been maxed in every possible skill order at one point or another, so pick the one that suits you. Riot sells her as a fast fighter who's tougher than she looks and wants to be behind.
New in League Classic
Karma shipped two patches after Caitlyn and lasted barely two years before her early 2013 rework. Riot calls her League's first battlemage, and she gets stronger the more health she's missing, so she wants to be in the middle of the fight.
New in League Classic
Quinn and Valor in their 2013 to 2015 form. She's a ranged attacker who kites and dodges, until her ultimate swaps her out for Valor, a very fast melee skirmisher.
Ambessa (Nerf)Her late game keeps working for anyone who's put the hours into her, and pro teams most of all. Drakehound's Step [Passive] loses some damage, mostly off the bonus AD ratio that does the scaling.
Passive - Drakehound's Step
Ashe (Nerf)Riot's view is that Ashe brings more utility than any other marksman and still hits too hard for it. Half a point of AD per level adds up to 8.5 less attack damage at level 18.
Base Stats
Cassiopeia (Nerf)Second swing in three patches. The first one hit pros harder than everyone else, and she's still bullying early lanes, so her starting health and mana both come down.
Base Stats
Diana (Buff)Assassin Diana is fine. Bruiser Diana isn't, so Pale Cascade [W] now builds a bigger shield off bonus health.
W - Pale Cascade
Kennen (Buff)Kennen buys Rocketbelt a lot and Rocketbelt gets worse this patch (see Items below), so he's owed something. Lightning Rush [E] gives 10% more attack speed at every rank.
E - Lightning Rush
Kindred (Buff)They're weak right now, and Riot picked buffs that won't make an early invade any scarier. Wolf's Frenzy [W] hits monsters harder, while Mounting Dread [E] slows for longer but can't be cast on small camps anymore.
W - Wolf's Frenzy
E - Mounting Dread
K'Sante (Nerf)He's too safe a blind pick when five people on comms play around him. Path Maker [W] costs more mana and blocks a bit less damage, and Riot expects that to land mostly on organized teams.
W - Path Maker
Lillia (Buff)Last patch's buff barely moved her, so here's another. Lilting Lullaby [R] now puts people to sleep for up to 3 seconds at rank three.
R - Lilting Lullaby
Lucian (Buff)The 26.19 change was supposed to even out his mid and bot numbers. It landed as a bot lane nerf, so his AD growth goes up to give that back.
Base Stats
Mordekaiser (Buff)Long gaps between ults left him behind teams that fight more often than he can. Realm of Death [R] comes back 20 seconds sooner at rank one, and Obliterate [Q] scales harder from level 10 on.
Q - Obliterate
R - Realm of Death
Neeko (Buff)Another Rocketbelt buyer getting compensation. Tangle-Barbs [E] does 10 more base damage, and the empowered root lasts a little longer until the last rank, where it's unchanged.
E - Tangle-Barbs
Smolder (Buff)He's had a rough run, between the ranged Cleaver nerf and a bot lane meta that moved away from him. These buffs lean on crit, so his stacks hit harder with crit chance and his ultimate heals a lot more at ranks two and three.
Passive - Dragon Practice
R - Mmooommmm!
Swain (Buff)Mid Swain gets the real buff here. Vision of Empire [W] hits harder and comes back faster, while trading 2 armor for 3 magic resist is meant to pull his mid and bot numbers closer together.
Base Stats
W - Vision of Empire
Tahm Kench (Buff)The recent support item changes paid out in health regen, and Tahm has about the lowest of any tank support. Tongue Lash [Q] heals twice as much at max rank to make up for it.
Q - Tongue Lash
Vayne (Buff)Better health regen so she can sit through bot lane poke, and Tumble [Q] goes back to a flat 30 mana because the old cost felt terrible to play with.
Base Stats
Q - Tumble
Yunara (Nerf)Riot doesn't want Worlds to turn into two teams of hyperscalers shaking hands until 30 minutes, and Yunara is the champion most likely to make that happen. Cultivation of Spirit [Q] loses 2 on-hit damage per rank, and Arc of Judgement [W] no longer stacks its slow with anyone else's.
Q - Cultivation of Spirit
W - Arc of Judgement
Experimental Hexplate (Nerf)Ranged champions rushing it in top lane got too hard to burst and too deadly once they committed. They now get half the item's attack speed and move speed, down from 70%.
Stats
Hextech Rocketbelt (Tweak)Too many people bought it as a Flash they could pay gold for. Half the ability haste goes and the active hits harder, so it pays more to dive in with it and less to run away. That's why Kennen and Neeko got compensation further up.
Stats
Runaan's Hurricane (Nerf)The last buff went a little too far.
Stats
Scoreboard Cleanup
Riot's recent work tidying up the buff bar moved a lot of counters off buffs and onto item icons, and those counters started cluttering the scoreboard (Death's Dance was the worst offender). The scoreboard is meant to show what matters for strategy, so most item counters are now hidden there. Stack items you'd want to check on, like Tear of the Goddess items and Mejai's Soulstealer, still show theirs.
Counters now hidden on the scoreboard:
The new arrivals are covered above. The rest of Classic's patch goes after the two champions who took over the last drop, Graves and Fizz, plus one more round for Fiora. Kennen and Nautilus get help, and three tank items get a lot more health regen.
Fiora (Nerf)Classic's strongest top laner even after her last nerfs. Riot won't cut her ultimate any further, so Riposte [W] loses 5 bonus AD at every rank.
W - Riposte
Graves (Nerf)Graves showed up wildly popular and arguably the best champion in the mode. His attack animations get faster, which feels great, but his sustained damage comes down through his base stats and the cone of Collateral Damage [R]. The projectile itself is unchanged.
Base Stats
R - Collateral Damage
Fizz (Nerf)Right behind Graves, mostly as an AP assassin in mid. Deathfire Grasp and a Lich Bane with a 75% AP ratio already give him plenty of guaranteed burst, so Riot borrows softer versions of nerfs from 2013 and 2015 and takes them out of his AP ratios. The idea is to leave his fighter build mostly alone.
Q - Urchin Strike
W - Seastone Trident
Kennen (Buff)Classic Kennen trails the other ninjas, and the AD build trails worst of all. Electrical Surge [W] gets a base damage value and scales off bonus AD, which helps those players most.
W - Electrical Surge
Nautilus (Buff)He's weak in all three of his roles, and Riot wants to help jungle and top the most. Two bugs get fixed (his empowered attack was critting for too much, and his shield ignored resistances), and Titan's Wrath [W] gets more damage plus a bigger shield.
Passive - Staggering Blow
W - Titan's Wrath
Spirit Visage (Buff)Five times the health regen it had.
Stats
Force of Nature (Buff)Double the regen.
Stats
Warmog's Armor (Buff)Triple the regen, on the item that was always meant to be about it.
Stats
Banshee's Veil (Tweak)A shop fix. It now shows up when you filter for health items.
Stats
Classic Bugfixes
Mayhem's patch goes to the champions and Augments near the bottom. Six champions get Mayhem-only buffs to the things they already do, and several Augments get easier to use. Missile Split now splits at the end of its flight or on recast instead of on the first thing it touches, and Triggered Inferno drops from a 15 second cooldown to 5. Our ARAM Mayhem guide has the champion and Augment picks.
Champions
Augments
Bugfixes
Bel'Veth loses all three of her ARAM modifiers and plays at normal values. Locke gets a bigger damage bonus.
Ranked 5s queue windows now run from 4pm to 4am server time, two hours later than the old 2am close.
Six HEARTSTEEL Live My Life skins and a Prestige Kog'Maw for Classic all go on sale October 7, 2026. Riot's art is a flat splash. Ours turns around, and every one of them is already in the 3-D library: Prestige HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Sett, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Ezreal, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Kayn, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Aphelios, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Yone, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life K'Sante and Prestige Classic Baron Kog'Maw.
Chromas arriving this patch, including Elite chromas for five of the old SKT T1 skins:
This is the patch Worlds gets played on, but solo queue moves faster than any stage. Our solo queue tier list is where Kennen, Kindred and the rest of the buffed group find out whether the numbers were enough.
Cassiopeia has now been hit twice in three patches. The champion patch history page lines up every change we've covered, so you can follow any champion's run of buffs and nerfs back for years.
And if one of these buffs turns somebody into a menace, check the ban list, broken out by division.
