League of Legends Solo Queue Tier Lists for Patch 26.17:
Patch 26.17 spends most of its attention on League Classic, but the Rift changes it does make all point the same way: Riot is taking power off the champions who win by snowballing and handing it to the ones who win by scaling. Nasus, Graves and Xerath all take hits at the top of their roles, so we expect Yone, Viego and Yasuo to fill the gaps, and Irelia to finally have a reason to play a long game.
SEASON 16 - PATCH 26.17 Changelog
Patch 26.17 Tier List Predictions
Patch 26.17 Changes At a Glance
Buffs: Aurelion Sol, Cho'Gath, Irelia, LeBlanc, Qiyana, Trundle, Yasuo, Yone
Nerfs: Graves, Nasus, Nocturne, Thresh, Vayne, Xerath
Two items moved as well: Stormrazor picks up attack speed, and Sundered Sky loses health and attack damage, which quietly taxes most of the top lane bruisers a second time. Riot's own highlights graphic also lists Hecarim as buffed, but the written notes contain no Hecarim changes. Full patch notes recap here.
Where We Think Each Role Lands
Top Lane
Nasus loses a sixth of the lifesteal on his passive, and he loses it in the same patch Sundered Sky drops 50 health and 5 attack damage. He was the biggest winner of 26.16 and he's the biggest target of 26.17, so we have him out of God Tier and back into Tier 1.
Yone should take that slot. He keeps more of his crit damage now, which is worth the most to exactly the kind of long game he was already trying to play, and nothing else in the top three moved. Garen and Malphite stay where they are for the simple reason that this patch never mentions them.
Irelia is the interesting one. Her ultimate's ability power ratio goes from 70% to 100%, which is a 30 point jump. That should be enough to move her out of Tier 2, though we'd want to see it before we put her any higher. Trundle and Cho'Gath both got real buffs too and both should climb a tier without threatening the top.
Jungle
Graves gives up ten percentage points of bonus attack damage scaling on both halves of his Q. That is a big nerf by any reading, and it lands on a champion who was only strong because a run of indirect buffs made him strong. He drops out of God Tier.
That leaves a vacancy, and Viego is the obvious champion to fill it. He was already Tier 1, this patch never mentions him, and he doesn't need anything else to go right.
Nocturne survives, but only just. Losing 2 armor and 15 health is a small change on paper, and Riot said as much. It still makes the window before his ultimate comes online more dangerous, which is the part of his game that was already the weak half.
Mid Lane
Xerath's nerf is genuinely light: 21 health and 5 damage. On its own it wouldn't move him. The problem is that three of the mid laners underneath him got buffed in the same patch, and a light nerf plus other people's buffs is still a fall.
Yasuo takes the slot. Cutting his crit damage penalty in half is a straight damage increase on every crit he lands, and it's aimed at the scaling game rather than the snowball, which is where mid lane has been rewarding people lately.
LeBlanc should climb out of Tier 2 as well. Her attack speed ratio jumps from 0.4 to 0.625, which sounds like housekeeping and isn't, and she picks up ability power scaling on top. Aurelion Sol and Qiyana both got smaller versions of the same treatment and should each move up a tier without going further.
Support
Thresh is the only support in the notes and we still expect him to hold God Tier. Riot took the damage off his shove and left everything else alone, and nobody has ever picked Thresh for the damage. If he does slip it will be because he keeps turning up in more games than he used to, not because this nerf bit.
Leona and Seraphine aren't mentioned at all, so the rest of the row should look the same next week as it does now.
Bot Lane
Bot lane comes through this patch almost untouched. Caitlyn, Jinx and Twitch aren't in the notes, and we don't expect them to move.
Vayne is in the notes, but Riot aimed the nerf at top lane and said so. Her mana costs go up early and her percent-health damage starts lower, both of which hurt a solo laner more than a duo laner with a support paying attention. We have her dropping in top lane and holding in bot.
Stormrazor going from 20% to 25% attack speed is the one thing here that helps marksmen, and it's not enough to change an order.
Everything above is a forecast written the day the patch went live, before a single ranked game had been played on it. The League of Legends tier list hub carries the measured rankings, and gets its first read on 26.17 once the games exist.
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