Our newest demon-huntin' baddie Locke is hitting the Rift this patch! You can check him out in between MSI matches—but you won't see him on that big stage yet. We've also got balance changes to a swathe of champions, from everyone's favorite “always chasin' charms, never savin' ADCs” support, to the Darkin who just won't die in my games.

Ranked 5s will also be returning for a limited run starting on June 26. We decided to bump down start times to 8pm, to accommodate all us eepy lil guys who need to go night night by 10pm. So time to text the squad and get into queue. We also have last hit indicators coming to Ranked and Normal Draft queues! So now there's no excuse to miss those canons, pal. (You can also turn them off if you like a challenge.)

We've got some more changes to follow up the recent Season 2 & support meta with a nerf to AP Xin Zhao and buff to Yuumi, as well as preparation with an eye towards MSI on the patch after this one through creating opportunities for some diversity in champion picks in the tournament. While some of these changes are specifically pro-oriented (sorry, Varus), most of them should be pretty applicable across all levels of play, like Lee Sin and Nocturne being less menacing in the jungle. We'll be continuing this approach for one more patch before going back to business as usual.

It's tank time! In this patch, we've got a bit of a shake-up to the support roster. After seeing enchanters dominating for much of the year, and more recently mage supports pumping out oodles of damage with the recently re-added Deathfire Touch. We've also got some systemic adjustments to rebalance these archetypes and give melee supports some love.

Additionally, we have some adjustments for top laners, with a Heartsteel buff and a nerf to Hexplate for ranged users to make them pay a larger cost for getting a bunch of health. For Season 2 followups, Xin Zhao is going to heal a little bit less, and Smolder is getting some base damage nerfs that make building like a bruiser a little bit weaker.

Outside of that, we have some changes to some low-traffic client code, a slew of bugfixes, Arena updates, ARAM and ARAM: Mayhem bugfixes and adjustments, and more! Plus, we've got Eternal Aspects skins for Leona and Diana. And, finally, we hope you're hungry for some fine Italian dining. We've got mouthwatering skins for Sion, Illaoi, Irelia, and Vel'koz on today's menu. Mangia bene, gamers!

Riot Cashmiir, sternest
5/12/2026

We’ve got some followup for the recent Season 2 changes to bring some of the more overpowered content in line and give a bump to some things that haven’t seen the adoption that they probably should. Items and runes are still key here - we’ve got nerfs to Deathfire Touch, Gluttonous Greaves, and Voltaic Cyclosword, and some buffs to Stormraider’s Surge and the two new starting items introduced last patch. Lee Sin’s throwing off the weights with limiters removed on his shield and some other modernization changes, and Quinn is heading into the jungle. We’ve also got some behavior updates with termination votes for disrupted games, and improved detection models for text.

If you haven't seen those games yet and don't want spoilers, turn away for spoilers.

::: spoiler game results G2 won 3-0 over Gen.G Esports

:::

This is a very unexpected outcome, but a welcome one for many players. Not only did they beat them against all odds, they did so without a loss. Will they be able to do it again with their loss previously against the final opponent? BILIBILI GAMING

I'm hoping G3-2 myself. 🙂

IT'S SHYVANA TIME Y'ALL!

Welcome to patch 26.6! In this week's patch we have Shyvana's new update hitting the Rift with a brand new model, visual effects, voice over, and skins, all of which will come out alongside her release! We've also got your usual balance changes, a new skinline, Warhounds, and balance changes for Arena and ARAM: Mayhem with a toooon of bugfixes!

This patch's live balance focuses on a small set of outliers and most importantly looks to restore Lissandra to her old 3-second Q cooldown glory.

Don't forget that First Stand is kicking off this week so make sure you tune in to see teams fight it out in our first tournament of the year!

Pabro and Meddler talk about how the Season 1 gameplay changes have landed, some updates to MMR distribution, an update on ARAM: Mayhem, and answer some of your frequently asked questions. Riot Memurr and Pabro talk about our approach to Shyvana’s update.

Check out the dev blogs to learn more:
Ranked
TL;DW

Happy Lunar Revel, welcome to patch 26.4!

In this week's patch we're kicking off the year of the horse off right with one of the best to grace the Rift, Lillia! Not to mention a bunch of other beautiful Petals of Spring skins plus we've got a special appearance for Divine Architect Porcelain Aurelion Sol! We'll dive into the Summoner's Rift specific changes in a second, but we've also got some love for ARAM Mayhem and Arena coming this patch. Make sure you also check out the Ionia Cup Clash happening on ARAM this patch.

We've got another larger-than-average balance patch coming your way as we continue to comb through the new season's outliers and otherwise unloved-feeling champions. While most of our changes are very standard, we also took a look at formerly-popular junglers who have other primary roles and tried to place them at a balanced state.

Celebrate the new year and revel in Patch 26.3 🎊
Game Updates - Riot Riru, Riot Sakaar - 2/3/2026

This is our first major live follow-up patch on Season 2026 after collecting our first reads on the game from a combination of playing ourselves and watching you all dive into the changes. We're honing in on item balance, following up on recent rune changes, and tweaking vision mechanics to ensure the early game has the right level of tension. We've also got balance changes. A lot of balance changes. The biggest standout here is AD junglers, who are systemically worse in the new season, but since we like the systems changes that caused this disparity, we're simply buffing them back up.

Also with this patch we're delivering a major update to ARAM Mayhem! Over 40 new augments, augment sets, and a progression track means there's a ton of crazy combinations you can cook up. For you ranked climbers we now have the climb indicator as well as a tweak to the Aegis of Valor threshold. For Demacia Rising the next two chapters will also be unlocked and available to progress in this patch, best of luck to you and your units!