Mel's reflect is gone. Her rework lands in Patch 26.22 on November 4, and Rebuttal [W] now destroys projectiles instead of sending them back. Here's everything that changes, with the PBE numbers.
Midscope Update
The Mel Rework
Patch 26.22Mel's reflect is gone. Her rework lands in Patch 26.22 on November 4, and Rebuttal [W] now destroys projectiles instead of sending them back.
No more catching a Seraphine ultimate and charming the enemy team with it. No more Jhin eating his own fourth shot. Riot announced the change on October 20, and the new kit has been on the PBE since the same day.
Win and ban rate: Nerfplz Data, Patch 26.20, Silver and above, 69,413 Mel mid games.
The reflect is gone
Live Rebuttal [W] wraps Mel in a barrier and fires enemy projectiles straight back at whoever cast them, with the full effect attached. A good Mel didn't just block your skillshot, she used it on you.
The new Rebuttal [W] still eats projectiles. It just doesn't return them. Mel blocks the skillshot, keeps her team safe, and the spell is gone.
Reflecting abilities
Projectiles that hit the barrier came back with their damage and crowd control. Seraphine's charm and Jhin's fourth shot both turned on their owners.
A projectile-destroying nova
Mel releases a ring that destroys enemy projectiles it touches, shields her team and gives them move speed. Then it hits back at attackers for a small amount of magic damage.
What the new W looks like
The nova is a team spell now. It shields everyone it reaches and speeds them up, so Mel can stand between a skillshot mage and her carry and soak the whole poke pattern. Riot says it's "even better at protecting Mel and her allies" than the live version.
On the PBE it casts instantly (live Rebuttal [W] had a quarter-second cast), its range goes from 250 to 400, and the cooldown drops hard at low ranks. The trade is mana and a smaller shield: rank 1 costs 100 instead of 80, and each rank shields for 30 less (50 to 170, down from 80 to 200).
You still can't hit her through it, but you're no longer punished for trying. Throw the skillshot, eat the block, and go in while the cooldown is up.
The rest of the kit: weaker early, stronger late
Riot's read on live Mel is that she hits too hard early, wins lane against the champions she counters, and then can't kill more than one person in a teamfight. The rework moves power from the first ten minutes into her scaling.
- Less early health, more late health. Base health drops from 630 to 590, but she gains 107 per level instead of 99. The two lines meet at level 6, and she's ahead from there on (2,409 at level 18 against 2,313 now).
- Easier stacks of Searing Brilliance [Passive]. The passive's empowered attacks lose some early damage. In return, Radiant Volley [Q] refunds a flat chunk of its cooldown whenever it hits an enemy champion, so she can stack more than one target in a fight.
- A slower, fairer Q. Radiant Volley [Q] flies slower (3,200 missile speed, down from 3,800) and moves damage out of the first explosion and into the hits after it: the first hit is a flat 60 at every rank, and each follow-up hit climbs to 25 at max rank, up from 13. It costs 10 less mana at every rank.
- A root that rewards range. Solar Snare [E] roots for less time against enemies standing close and longer against enemies far away. On the PBE that's 0.8 to 1 second up close and 1.6 to 2.2 seconds at long range, against a flat 1.5 now. Its slow grows from 20% to 40% with rank instead of a flat 30%, and it costs 10 less mana.
- More ultimates. Golden Eclipse [R] drops to a 90 second cooldown at rank 2 and 60 at rank 3, from 100 and 80. That's the payoff for all the extra passive stacks.
She also loses 2 base attack damage (54 to 52) and picks up a little armor and attack speed per level.
Every PBE number
| Change | Live (26.21) | PBE (26.22) |
|---|---|---|
| Rebuttal [W] cooldown | 38 / 35 / 33 / 29 / 26 | 30 / 28.5 / 27 / 25.5 / 24 |
| Rebuttal [W] mana | 80 / 60 / 40 / 20 / 0 | 100 / 75 / 50 / 25 / 0 |
| Rebuttal [W] shield | 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 200 | 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 |
| Rebuttal [W] range | 250 | 400 |
| Rebuttal [W] cast time | 0.25s | Instant |
| Golden Eclipse [R] cooldown | 120 / 100 / 80 | 120 / 90 / 60 |
| Radiant Volley [Q] mana | 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 | 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 |
| Radiant Volley [Q] first hit | 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 | 60 (+25% AP) |
| Radiant Volley [Q] later hits | 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13 | 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 (+8% AP) |
| Radiant Volley [Q] missile speed | 3,800 | 3,200 |
| Radiant Volley [Q] on champion hit | Nothing | Cooldown refund |
| Solar Snare [E] mana | 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 | 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 |
| Solar Snare [E] root | 1.5s | 0.8 to 1s up close, 1.6 to 2.2s at long range |
| Solar Snare [E] slow | 30% | 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% |
| Base health | 630 | 590 |
| Health per level | 99 | 107 |
| Base attack damage | 54 | 52 |
| Armor per level | 5.2 | 5.4 |
| Attack speed per level | 2.5% | 2.75% |
Values from the PBE build of October 21. The new Searing Brilliance [Passive] damage isn't readable in the PBE files yet, and the PBE can still change before November 4. PBE Watch tracks every change as it lands.
Why Riot pulled it
For most of her first year Mel sat around a 48 to 49% win rate with a 15 to 30% ban rate, and more than one in ten players picked her. Riot read that as a frustrating champion who was still worth playing.
By the middle of 2026 that had flipped. Her ban rate stayed where it was, her win rate fell to 45 to 47%, and her play rate halved. Pro and high elo players had built the reflect into how they played her, and Riot couldn't find a balance point where she had real power and opponents didn't hate the matchup. Our own 26.20 numbers fit that picture: 46.1% in mid and still banned in almost one game in five.
In the /dev, Captain Gameplay writes: "Instead we are removing the reflect from Mel [W]."
The versions Riot threw out
Riot tested several ways to keep the reflect before giving up on it. Two of them made it into the /dev.
Clips: Riot Games, from /dev: Mel Midscope.
Moving the reflect to her ultimate came up too. Riot didn't want to shrink Golden Eclipse [R] down to a basic ability, and a reflect on a 90 second ultimate would've had to be far stronger than the live one to be worth it.
Lane gets harder. You're squishier for the first five levels and your Q hits a bit later. The payoff comes in fights: more passive stacks spread across more enemies, and an ultimate that's up every minute by the end of the game.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Mel rework come out?
Patch 26.22, which ships Wednesday, November 4. It's on the PBE now.
Can Mel still reflect abilities?
No. Rebuttal [W] still destroys enemy projectiles and hits back at attackers for a little damage, but it doesn't send spells back at their caster.
Is Mel getting nerfed or buffed?
Both. She loses early health and passive damage, and gains health per level, more passive stacks and a much shorter ultimate cooldown. Riot's goal is a weaker lane and a stronger late game.
Who designed the change?
Gameplay designer Kevin "Captain Gameplay" Huang wrote the /dev post explaining it, published October 20, 2026.
Sources: Riot Games, /dev: Mel Midscope (October 20, 2026); PBE build of October 21, 2026. Check Mel's full patch history or see who counters Mel.
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