League of Legends Lead Gameplay Designer Matt “Riot Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison posted a preview of the LoL patch 26.14 notes on X today.
With the Mid-Season Invitational 2026 now underway, Riot Games says it is satisfied with the current state of the meta, citing healthy champion diversity across multiple roles and classes.
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The developers noted that recent nerfs to several dominant bot lane picks have also led to more mage champions appearing in the role.
While Riot does not consider mage bot lanes to be problematic overall, it acknowledged ongoing discussions around their true power level, particularly when they maintain high solo queue win rates.
That said, Seraphine is receiving a nerf after consistently overperforming in solo queue, though Riot stressed that evaluating mage bot lanes is more nuanced, and depends on factors such as champion pairings and player familiarity with the matchup.
LoL patch 26.14 notes
Champion buffs
| LOL PATCH 26.14 CHAMPION BUFFS |
| Azir (bugfixes) |
| Brand (jungle) |
| Corki |
| Mordekaiser |
| Nami |
| Yunara |
Champion nerfs
| LOL PATCH 26.14 CHAMPION NERFS |
| Garen |
| Jayce |
| Locke |
| Senna |
| Seraphine |
Locke
Locke has had a strong launch, with players responding well to his execute mechanics, resets, and stack-based burst gameplay, Riot Phroxzon shared.
According to the developers, he has a higher skill ceiling similar to champions like Katarina and Akshan, though they do not believe the gap between experienced and inexperienced players is excessive.
Despite that, Riot says Locke is currently overtuned when accounting for player mastery and his overall power level. His ability to snowball games early is considered too strong.
Rather than reducing his damage, the balance team believes his damage output is appropriate if it is harder to access. As a result, this patch targets his wave clear to make it more difficult for Locke to consistently reach his burst potential.
The developers acknowledged that some players find his damage frustrating to play against, but they believe champions should retain distinct strengths and want to preserve that aspect of Locke’s identity.
Champion adjustments
- Nasus (jungle nerf, top buff)
System buffs
- Blue buff
System nerfs
| LOL PATCH 26.14 SYSTEM NERFS |
| Hextech Rocketbelt |
| Immortal Path (Gluttonous Greaves Mid Quest Upgrade) |
| Jack of All Trades |
Hextech Rocketbelt has become one of the strongest mage items at higher levels of play, particularly for immobile champions.
Riot said it supports this type of build innovation, but believes the item currently provides too much versatility by removing a key weakness of immobile mages—their vulnerability to being caught. The item is being nerfed to require a greater trade-off.
The patch also includes a nerf to the mid-lane boots upgrade for Gluttonous Greaves.
While the upgrade has created interesting lane interactions, such as against top-lane Riven, Riot says it has become the highest-performing boot option in those matchups while offering too little counterplay. The developers want to keep the strategic variety it brings but reduce its overall strength.
