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, and almost none of them reach our God Tier. The one exception is a buff: Mordekaiser's ultimate comes back twenty seconds sooner at rank one, which we expect to carry him past Yone into the top lane God Tier. Bot lane takes the hits instead. Yunara gets nerfed three separate ways and should drop out of Tier 1.
SEASON 16 - PATCH 26.20 Changelog
Patch 26.20 Tier List Predictions
Patch 26.20 Changes At a Glance
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.
Where We Think Each Role Lands
Top Lane
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.
Jungle
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.
Mid Lane
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.
Bot Lane
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.
Support
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.
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