Locke, the Ashen Exorcist
Let's be real for a second: 2026 has been the year of "we're refreshing old champions instead of making new ones." Riot told us months ago that Locke would be the *only* brand-new champion this entire year, while the rest of the dev budget went toward VGUs like the Shyvana rework. So when a one-and-done champion finally drops, it's a big deal. Locke isn't just another mid laner -- he's the single new face you're going to be staring at in champ select for the rest of the season.
And he's a weird one. Locke is the Ashen Exorcist, a demon-hunting AP assassin from Demacia who throws nails. Not metaphorical nails -- actual ritual nails he keeps in the casket strapped to his back. He marks you, stacks the marks, and then expunges them all at once for a burst of magic damage. He's been described as walking in Vayne's footsteps, except instead of silver bolts he's slinging cursed iron and dragging you into a personal little patch of purgatory.
Heads up: Locke isn't live yet. Everything below is based on Riot's official reveal and the PBE preview. Exact numbers -- damage values, ratios, cooldowns -- almost always get tuned between reveal and launch, and again in the patches right after. We'll update this article with confirmed values once he hits live servers on June 24. The kit *mechanics*, though, are locked in.
Locke at a Glance
He's the 173rd champion in League, a mid-lane AP assassin, and the first dedicated AP assassin to join the roster in a while. That's actually the interesting part. The AP assassin niche has been thin for years -- you've got Akali, Fizz, Ekko, Qiyana, and a handful of flex picks, and most of them play around dashes and mobility. Locke is doing something different: a setup-then-burst pattern that's closer to a marksman's rhythm than a typical "press R and delete" assassin.
Lore: A Zealot Raised on Lies
Locke's full name is Corvin Locke, and his backstory is genuinely grim in a way Demacia stories usually aren't. He grew up among some of Demacia's most ruthless occultists -- the people who were *supposed* to be protecting the kingdom from the supernatural but were really just exploiting fear and hypocrisy to keep power. Raised on lies, he came out the other side as a true believer of a different kind.
"Demons are not invaders. They are what we become when we lie to ourselves."
— The philosophy of the Ashen Exorcist
His worldview is the spicy bit: Locke believes demons aren't some external evil that descends on the innocent. He thinks they're the by-product of humanity's own sins -- the rot that grows out of dishonesty, cruelty, and self-deception. So his solution is to make the world more righteous and honest, by force if necessary. He's not a kind man. He's a zealot with a body count who happens to be pointed at things that genuinely need killing.
That puts him in interesting company. Riot has tied Locke's story to Vayne's -- another grim Demacian hunter of the supernatural -- and to an upcoming demonic possession event running through League's 2026 narrative, which fits neatly into the Season 2 "Pandemonium" theme. If you've been following the Season 2 Pandemonium storyline, Locke is basically the pointy end of it.
Locke's Abilities
Here's where it gets fun. Locke's entire kit orbits around his Soul Nails -- the mark-and-detonate resource that everything else feeds into. Learn the nail loop and you understand Locke.
Exorcist's Mark
Locke's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage on hit. It's a modest on-hit passive on paper, but it matters more than it looks: it means his autos chunk, it interacts with the Soul Nail detonation, and it gives him a reason to actually weave attacks into his combo rather than just spamming spells. The exact scaling (datamined around 5–44 bonus magic damage by level) will get confirmed at launch.
The bread and butter
Locke throws a set of Soul Nails forward in a line, dealing magic damage and marking every enemy they hit. The marks apply a slow that gets stronger the more stacks you land on the same target. The kicker: when Locke attacks a marked enemy -- with a basic attack OR with his E -- he consumes those Soul Nails to deal a chunk of bonus magic damage per stack. And if he doesn't spend all the nails, he refunds part of the cooldown and mana. He can fire it multiple times to layer stacks before the big detonation. This is the heart of the champion: stack, then expunge.
The risky tempo button
Locke breaks his own seals to gain a burst of decaying movement speed. The cost: he burns a percentage of his current health as true damage per second while it's active. Sounds scary, but here's the safety net -- the drain is a percentage of his *own* current health, so it can never actually kill him. When the effect ends (naturally, or you recast to end it early), he heals back a portion of all the damage he took during it, plus a bonus that scales with how much health he's missing and how long it ran. It's a high-risk, high-reward chase-and-sustain tool: dive in, take the hit, heal it back if you win the fight.
The gap-closer and combo finisher
Locke blinks to a target location, dealing damage to enemies around him on arrival. Then his next basic attack gains massively increased range and turns into a dash straight at his target, damaging everything in his path. Crucially, that empowered attack also consumes Soul Nail marks -- so E is both his mobility and a delivery system for the Q detonation. The blink-then-dash pattern is what makes him an assassin: he can close distance twice in one combo, which is exactly what you need to reach a backline carry.
The execute
Locke hurls the eerie artifact from his casket, creating a zone of judgment. Enemies caught low enough on health inside it get executed outright. It's a classic assassin payoff ultimate -- you set up the burst with Q nails and E, then Purgatory cleans up anyone you've dropped below the threshold. Expect this to be the highlight-reel button: bursting a carry to 20% and then ulting to delete them before their support can react.
The combo, roughly: poke with Q to layer Soul Nails, then E in (the empowered dash auto detonates the marks), weave a passive-boosted basic, and finish with R Purgatory if they're low. W is your "I'm committing, heal me back" button mid-fight. The skill expression is all in the nail management -- knowing when to stack versus when to expunge.
How Locke Will Actually Play
On paper, Locke is a setup assassin, and that changes how you pilot him versus the dash-happy assassins people are used to. You don't just flash-R someone off cooldown. You have to land Q nails first, which means he has a real counterplay window -- if you dodge his Soul Nails, his burst falls apart. That's good design. It also means he's going to feel *terrible* in the hands of someone who hasn't practiced the loop, and oppressive in the hands of someone who has.
What looks strong
- Burst that can be set up from range, then delivered with a double gap-close
- Built-in sustain on W so he can survive dives that would kill other assassins
- Cooldown and mana refunds on Q reward good nail management
- A true execute ult that punishes any squishy who mispositions
- Fresh, under-served AP assassin niche -- few direct comparisons
What looks exploitable
- Dodge the Soul Nails and his entire combo deflates
- W self-damage is punishing if you commit and lose the fight
- Setup pattern means he's slower than flash-burst assassins
- New-champion launches are almost always overtuned, then nerfed fast
- High skill floor -- expect a brutal first-week winrate as people learn him
If history is any guide, Locke will launch slightly overtuned, post a scary pro-play and one-trick winrate, and then eat a nerf within a patch or two once Riot has live data. The smart move if you want to abuse him: pick him up immediately, learn the nail loop before everyone else, and ride the launch-window power.
The High Noon Skin
Locke isn't launching with just a base model -- he's getting a High Noon skin at release, dropping him straight into one of League's most popular cosmetic universes. High Noon is the demonic-western line (think High Noon Ashe, Lucian, Thresh), which is a perfect thematic fit for a gunslinger-adjacent demon hunter who trades silver bolts for cursed nails. Launching a new champ with a skin in a beloved skinline on day one is Riot signaling they want Locke to sell -- and to stick around.
Release Date and Timeline
So the date you care about is June 24, 2026, on Patch 26.13. He'll likely be locked out of ranked drafts for the standard window after release to stop launch-day chaos, so you'll be grinding him in normals first either way.
Want to Main Locke From Day One?
New champions release with a Blue Essence and RP cost. If you want a fresh account loaded with enough BE to unlock Locke the second he drops -- and a clean slate to learn him without tanking your main's rank -- we've got you covered.
Browse LoL Smurf AccountsShould You Bother Learning Him?
Here's the honest take. If you're a mid-lane main who likes assassins, yes -- Locke is the freshest thing to happen to the role in a while, and getting good at the nail loop early is genuine free LP during the launch window before people learn to dodge his Q. If you're newer to the game or you panic in mechanically demanding fights, he's going to feel awful for the first 20-30 games, and you'd climb faster on something like Syndra or Annie (check the current tier list for the safest picks this patch).
Either way, the best way to learn a new champion is on an account where the stakes are low. Trying to one-trick a brand-new assassin on your ranked account is how you end up explaining to your duo why you're suddenly two divisions lower. Pick him up on a smurf, eat the learning losses, and bring him to your main once the combos are muscle memory. Want to see where your main actually sits before you start experimenting? Run it through our free MMR Checker first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the new League of Legends champion in 2026?
Locke, the Ashen Exorcist, is the new League of Legends champion for 2026. He is an AP assassin from Demacia who plays in the mid lane, and he is the only brand-new champion Riot is releasing in all of 2026.
When does Locke release in League of Legends?
Locke releases on June 24, 2026, as part of Patch 26.13. He launches alongside a High Noon skin and kicks off the Season 2, Act 2: Pandemonium content wave.
What role and class is Locke?
Locke is a mid-lane AP (ability power) assassin. Unlike dash-heavy assassins, his kit is built around marking enemies with Soul Nails and then detonating those marks for burst magic damage, giving him a setup-then-execute playstyle.
What are Locke's abilities?
Locke's passive adds bonus magic damage to his basic attacks. His Q (Soul Nails) throws marking projectiles that he later detonates for bonus damage. His W (Soul Ignition) trades current health for movement speed and heals it back afterward. His E (Ashen Pursuit) is a blink plus an empowered dash-attack. His ultimate, Purgatory, creates a zone that executes low-health enemies.
Is Locke the 173rd champion?
Yes. Locke is the 173rd playable champion in League of Legends. He is also notable for being the only new champion released in 2026, as Riot focused the rest of the year on champion reworks (VGUs) like Shyvana.
Is Locke connected to Vayne?
Yes. Riot has linked Locke's story to Vayne's -- both are grim Demacian hunters of the supernatural -- and to an ongoing demonic possession event in League's 2026 narrative, which ties into the Season 2 Pandemonium storyline.
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*Locke drops June 24. Get a fresh account ready to unlock him on day one -- our LoL smurf accounts come with 40,000+ BE, clean match history, instant delivery, and a lifetime warranty.*
