League of Legends Patch 26.15
Bel'Veth trades her level-one invade for permanent late-game True Form, Ranked Season 3 begins, League Classic opens its gates, and five established solo queue threats are pulled back.
Patch 26.15 is live. This is more than a balance patch: it starts Ranked Season 3, launches League Classic, changes high-elo duo queue and Aegis of Valor, and gives Bel'Veth her largest gameplay update since release.
The short version is simple. Kai'Sa is the clearest immediate winner, while Bel'Veth players need to relearn the champion instead of forcing the old level-one invade. Locke, Naafiri, Riven and Sylas lose snowball damage, and Mordekaiser's 26.14 ultimate buff is reverted in exchange for a shorter pull cooldown.
Our Patch 26.15 tier list is already refreshed with early Emerald+ win-rate, pick-rate and ban-rate data across all five roles.
Patch 26.15 at a Glance
Five buffs
Alistar, Kai'Sa, Maokai, Volibear and Zac.
Five nerfs
Locke, Mordekaiser, Naafiri, Riven and Sylas.
Bel'Veth update
Much weaker early duels, full-damage attacks, stronger scaling and permanent True Form at 80 Lavender stacks.
Season 3
No LP reset. Aegis now rewards wins only, Master duo returns, and League Classic launches.
Early Patch 26.15 Tier List
The first live snapshot is useful for direction, but it is not a final verdict after one day. New-patch experimentation, returning players and rapidly changing builds make early samples noisier than a settled patch.
| Changed champion | Role | Tier | Win rate | Pick rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kai'Sa | ADC | S | 50.40% | 20.31% |
| Alistar | Support | B | 51.00% | 4.41% |
| Zac | Jungle | B | 51.04% | 2.77% |
| Naafiri | Jungle | A | 48.76% | 5.24% |
| Sylas | Mid | A | 48.69% | 8.93% |
| Riven | Top | D | 49.99% | 2.70% |
| Bel'Veth | Jungle | D | 47.19% | 5.28% |
Kai'Sa has moved straight into S tier by combining a 20% pick rate with stable results. Bel'Veth is the opposite story: her 47.19% opening win rate is a warning that the old invade-first muscle memory no longer fits the new Q cadence. Naafiri and Sylas still score highly through pick and ban pressure, but both are currently below 50% win rate after their nerfs.
The early S-tier leaders are Gangplank in top, Nasus in jungle, Xerath in mid, Seraphine in bot and Taric in support. Use the live tier list for the complete role-by-role rankings rather than treating this first snapshot as frozen for the entire patch.
Champion Buffs
Base movement speed rises from 330 to 335. Five movement speed looks small on paper, but it improves every roam, flank and Headbutt angle. He is a safer support to revisit if you want to affect mid lane instead of staying chained to bot.
Caustic Wounds now scales from 4 to 30 damage by champion level instead of 4 to 24. Each prior Plasma stack scales from 1 to 8 instead of 1 to 6. Her lane is not suddenly longer-ranged, but her five-stack passive and late fights both hit harder. Terminus and Yun Tal buffs add a second layer of help.
Bramble Smash's monster modifier becomes 150/160/170/180/190%, up from 140/150/160/170/180%, and its AP ratio rises from 40% to 50%. This is a jungle-clear and AP-scaling buff, not a reason to force Maokai top.
Thundering Smash cooldown drops from 14/13/12/11/10 to 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds. The buff is front-loaded, giving his first clear, early ganks and top-lane chase windows more reliability without raising the max-rank ceiling.
Armor growth increases from 4.7 to 5.2. Elastic Slingshot loses one second of cooldown at every rank, moving from 22/19/16/13/10 to 21/18/15/12/9 seconds. The result is more gank attempts early and more disruption in late teamfights.
Champion Nerfs
Base health falls from 655 to 620. Ritual Nails loses 10 base damage per nail at every rank, cutting a full three-nail hit by 30. Soul Ignition's movement speed is now 40% at every rank, its maximum Grey Health falls to 40/60/80/100/120, and the Grey Health AP ratio drops from 120% to 100%. Failed engages are much easier to punish, and W second is less attractive.
Realm of Death's stolen stats return from 13% to 10%, fully reverting the 26.14 buff. Death's Grasp cooldown improves from 18/16/14/12/10 to 16/14/12/10/8 seconds. Riot also fixed an ultimate health-reduction bug that could deal up to double the intended damage. He loses raw duel stats but gets more chances to catch opponents.
Hounds' Pursuit loses base damage and scaling: 150/225/300 plus 120% bonus AD becomes 125/200/275 plus 100% bonus AD. Each Packmate also falls to 12.5/20/27.5 plus 10% bonus AD. Resets remain powerful, but the first target is harder to delete and the pack contributes less to every follow-up.
Blade of the Exile's bonus-AD ratio drops from 25% to 20%. Wind Slash moves from 60-180% bonus AD to 55-165%, based on missing health. This directly lowers the snowball conversion of AD-heavy builds and makes borderline execute angles less forgiving.
Chain Lash's first hit changes from 40/65/90/115/140 plus 45% AP to 40/60/80/100/120 plus 40% AP. The explosion is unchanged. Sylas still has the 26.12 Kingslayer sustain, but his poke, wave control and first-hit trade damage are all weaker.
Bel'Veth Rework: What Actually Changed
Bel'Veth is an adjustment, not a clean buff or nerf. Riot removed much of the level-one invade pattern and moved power into normal attacks, jungle scaling, late ability ranks and her evolution fantasy.
- Base stats: health falls from 610 to 580, armor from 32 to 28, AD from 60 to 55, and base attack speed from 0.85 to 0.67. Growth stats improve slightly, basic attacks now deal 100% rather than 75% damage, and the attack animation is faster.
- Passive: post-spell attack speed becomes a three-second buff, while Lavender stacks scale from 0.1% early to 2% late.
- Void Surge: rank-one time between directional casts rises from one to four seconds. Damage and AD scaling improve, the monster bonus is flattened, and the old minion modifier is removed.
- Above and Below: loses its bonus-AD ratio, gains much stronger base and AP damage, has a weaker flat slow, and scales its knock-up from 0.6 to one second.
- Royal Maelstrom: gets stronger base, AD and on-hit damage plus a 200% monster modifier, but loses much of its missing-health amplification. Damage reduction is only 20% at rank one and scales to 60%; lifesteal now scales from 20% to 40%.
- Endless Banquet: true damage applies on every attack and no longer resets when Bel'Veth swaps targets, but each application is much smaller. True Form lasts 45 seconds at fewer than 40 stacks, 90 seconds from 40 stacks and becomes permanent at 80 stacks. Late health, range, attack speed and healing all improve.
Item and Rune Changes
- Bastionbreaker: total cost falls from 3,200 to 3,000 gold. Shaped Charge base true damage rises from 30 to 50 before its 150% lethality scaling.
- Terminus: Shadow's 30 magic damage on hit now also gains 10% bonus-AD and 10% AP scaling. Kai'Sa and other late on-hit carries get a more credible capstone.
- Yun Tal Wildarrows: its combine cost falls by 100 gold, taking total cost from 3,100 to 3,000, and attack speed rises from 40% to 45%.
- Jack of All Trades: adaptive force at five and ten unique stat types falls from 10/25 to 8/20.
Ranked Season 3, Aegis and Duo Queue
Ranked Season 3 began at noon on July 29 local server time. There is no LP or rank reset at this mid-year transition. The 15-win Victorious mission refreshes, Season 2 rewards are distributed after the rollover, and shard transfers are temporarily disabled while rewards are processed.
Aegis of Valor no longer reduces LP losses after a defeat. It now pays out double LP on a win and no longer requires a minimum mastery grade. That removes the incentive to protect a personal grade while the team is trying to salvage the game.
Master players can duo again with players close to their rank. Grandmaster, Challenger and players with GM or Challenger MMR remain solo-only.
League Classic and Other Content
League Classic launches as a separate unranked nostalgia mode with 60 classic champion kits, the old Summoner's Rift presentation, older jungle camps and items such as Heart of Gold. It also brings back Runes and Masteries, Influence Point progression, PvP draft, Co-op vs AI and custom games. Its balance is separate from the live 26.15 tier list.
Prestige Magma Chamber Jax and Prestige Magma Chamber Veigar also arrive on July 29. ARAM: Mayhem gets a broad modifier-system cleanup so champion damage modifiers apply consistently to spells, attacks, items and Augments, while Arena receives another set of champion, item and Augment balance changes.
Best Champions to Climb With in 26.15
For immediate ranked games, Kai'Sa is the changed champion with the cleanest combination of direct and item buffs. Zac is the lower-risk jungle revisit because his buff improves the thing he already wants to do: launch more ganks from unusual angles. Alistar's movement-speed buff is modest, but the roaming support meta gives it real value.
Bel'Veth is the champion to test in normals before ranked. The rework changes early Q timing, E durability and every True Form breakpoint. Riven and Locke mains should also recheck lethal thresholds before trusting old all-in instincts.
See the live Patch 26.15 rankings
Every role is refreshed with Emerald+ win rate, pick rate, ban rate and movement from the previous patch.
View the 26.15 Tier ListPatch 26.15 FAQ
When did League Patch 26.15 go live?
Patch 26.15 went live on July 29, 2026, alongside Ranked Season 3 and League Classic.
Who was buffed in Patch 26.15?
Alistar, Kai'Sa, Maokai, Volibear and Zac received direct buffs. Bastionbreaker, Terminus and Yun Tal Wildarrows were also buffed.
Who was nerfed in Patch 26.15?
Locke, Mordekaiser, Naafiri, Riven and Sylas were nerfed. Jack of All Trades also lost adaptive force at both breakpoints.
Is the Bel'Veth rework a buff or a nerf?
It is a power shift. Bel'Veth is substantially weaker in early invades, then scales harder through full-damage attacks, improved late ability ranks and permanent True Form at 80 Lavender stacks. Her early live win rate is currently low while players relearn her.
Does rank reset for Season 3?
No. Riot says LP and ranked progression continue through the Season 3 transition. The Victorious mission refreshes, but there is no ladder reset.
For the previous cycle, read the Patch 26.14 live notes, or browse the full League patch notes archive.
