Patch 26.13 — June 24, 2026
The League of Legends Patch 26.13 patch notes are the MSI 2026 balance patch — Riot releases new mid-lane AP assassin Locke, the Ashen Exorcist, softens Senna’s bot-lane farm pattern, pulls Bard back from tank-roam dominance, and returns Aphelios and LeBlanc to the fold with targeted buffs. Track the League of Legends season countdown to Pandemonium - Act III.
TL;DR — 9 buffs, 8 nerfs, plus a new champion. Biggest buff: Aphelios (partial revert of earlier nerfs). Biggest nerf: Bard Meep base damage 35 → 30. Meta impact: Locke joins mid immediately (banned at MSI), Senna’s bot lane farm pattern gets a targeted cut, and Bard falls out of top-priority roam-tank picks.
Champions
- Locke, the Ashen Exorcist — new mid-lane AP assassin; ships alongside a High Noon Locke cosmetic; disabled for MSI 2026 active
- Aphelios — earlier nerfs partially reverted to highlight each gun’s unique strengths buff
- Draven — lane pressure and teamfight buff; more frequent Stand Aside, more damage retained on ultimate after multiple hits buff
- Kai’Sa — poke and survivability up; more room to engage aggressively buff
- LeBlanc — direct buff to expand mid-lane aggression buff
- Qiyana — direct buff to expand mid-lane aggression buff
- Vex — direct buff to expand mid-lane aggression buff
- Olaf — direct buff package buff
- Senna — bot-lane farming pattern softened; Shiv synergy tuned; DPS rebalanced around higher soul access nerf
- Bard — Meep base damage 35 → 30 (per-Chime scaling 10 → 6); pulls back the tank-roam bot-priority pick nerf
- Brand — passive Detonation minimum damage 8% max HP → 6% max HP; primarily targets Brand bot carry nerf
- Sion — direct nerf nerf
- K’Sante — direct nerf nerf
- Cassiopeia — direct nerf nerf
- Kindred — direct nerf nerf
Items
- Doran’s Helm — nerfed to cool early-lane sustain builds nerf
Patch 26.12 — June 10, 2026
The League of Legends Patch 26.12 patch notes target the dominant champions of the pre-Mid-Season Invitational meta — landing nerfs on jungle and mid-lane staples while buffing a swath of under-performers. Enhanced Teleport’s shield gets reshaped to push it back toward cross-map plays instead of short-range combat shields. Track the League of Legends season countdown to Pandemonium - Act III.
TL;DR — 6 nerfs, 8+ buffs, plus a Teleport summoner rework. Biggest nerf: Lee Sin (jungle). Biggest buff: Aatrox Q sweet-spot bonus damage 70 → 75. Meta impact: Riot is shaping the pro meta directly for MSI 2026 — jungle Lee Sin and Nocturne lose dominance, mid-lane returnees like Syndra and Tristana get a viability boost.
Champions
- Aatrox — Q (The Darkin Blade) sweet-spot bonus damage 70 → 75 buff
- Gwen — direct buff package buff
- Hwei — Q (Subject: Disaster) buffs across all three forms; E (Subject: Torment) cooldown reduced buff
- Jax — direct buff package buff
- Sylas — direct buff package buff
- Syndra — direct buff package after recent item changes hurt her buff
- Tristana — direct buff package after recent item changes hurt her buff
- Yuumi — direct buff package buff
- AP Xin Zhao — pro-meta nerf nerf
- Lee Sin — jungle nerf targeting solo-queue dominance nerf
- Nocturne — jungle nerf targeting solo-queue dominance nerf
- Orianna — mid-lane nerf nerf
- Ryze — mid-lane nerf nerf
- Varus — lethality-build nerf nerf
Mechanics
- Enhanced Teleport — shield duration reduced from 30 seconds to 10 seconds; shield strength increased from 30% max HP to 35% max HP. Riot is pushing Teleport toward long-range “joining fights” usage and away from short-range pre-fight shield setups nerf