Updated on July 9, 2026 at 9am: Added detailed patch notes posted by Riot Phroxzon. Brand and Nasus have been removed.
League of Legends Lead Gameplay Designer Matt “Riot Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison posted a preview of the LoL patch 26.14 notes on X, and detailed patch notes the day after.
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.
Discussion around mages bot in LoL patch 26.14
Riot Games has removed the planned buffs for Brand in patch 26.14 after further discussions around the current state of mage champions in the bot lane.
According to Riot Phroxzon, the team believes mage bot laners provide healthy diversity to the role, with traditional marksmen still making up roughly four out of every five bot lane picks across regular and professional play.
Riot also believes varying game experiences are important for long-term enjoyment. High-pressure matchups, such as playing a marksman against assassins or mage bot lanes, are balanced by lower-threat games, creating a healthier overall gameplay experience.
The developer argues that too much or too little intensity would make matches less engaging over time.
Another reason Riot wants mage bot laners to remain viable is to give teams more flexibility during champion select. AP bot lane picks can offset AD-heavy solo lane compositions featuring champions like Zed, Yasuo, or Yone.
While mage bot laners frequently post some of the highest win rates in the role, Riot says those statistics do not necessarily mean they are overpowered.
The developer attributes much of their success to their relatively low mastery requirements. Champions such as Brand, Veigar, and Swain have high skill floors and shallow mastery curves, allowing players to perform well even with limited experience.
By comparison, marksmen generally require significantly more mechanical mastery, which suppresses their overall win rates despite offering greater long-term carry potential.
Riot added that bot lane marksmen also benefit from faster three-item power spikes this season thanks to the bot lane quest system. This creates a natural balance where mage bot laners tend to be stronger earlier in the game, while traditional ADCs scale better into later stages.
Team composition also plays a role in balancing mage bot lanes. AP bot lane carries often require teams to commit to different win conditions compared to more traditional marksman compositions.
For players struggling against mage bot lanes, champions such as Ezreal, Sivir, and Zeri, whose mobility and scaling allow them to avoid skill shots and outperform mages during their mid-to-late game item spikes.
Riot Phroxzon added that the team plans to discuss the topic in greater detail in a future developer video.
LoL patch 26.14 notes
Champion buffs
| LOL PATCH 26.14 CHAMPION BUFFS | PATCH NOTES |
| Azir | Bugfixes |
| Corki | AD Growth: 2 → 2.5 R Passive cooldown reduction on auto: 2–4 seconds → 2–6 seconds |
| Mordekaiser | R Stat Steal: 10% → 13% E Damage: 60–120 (+40% AP) → 60–140 (+45% AP) |
| Nami | E damage per hit: 20–60 (60–180 total) → 20/35/50/65/80 (60–240 total) |
| Yunara | AD Growth: 2.5 → 3 |
Azir
Bugfixes for Azir follow changes that enabled on-hit effects to work with the champion.
Riot said it has resolved most of the reported issues, including bugs affecting jungle monster interactions, Press the Attack, Conqueror stacks, and other gameplay inconsistencies.
The developer thanked players for continuing to submit bug reports as it works through the remaining issues.
Champion nerfs
| LOL PATCH 26.14 CHAMPION NERFS | PATCH NOTES |
| Garen | R True Damage: 150/250/350 (+25/30/35% of target’s missing health) → 125/200/275 (missing health scaling unchanged) |
| Jayce | P Movespeed on form swap: 40 MS for 0.75s → 30 MS R Hammer Resists: 5/15/25/35 (+7.5% bonus AD) → 5/12/19/26 (+7.5% AD) |
| Locke | Q Nail Damage: 50–90 → 50–82 Q Stack Base Bonus Damage: 20–60 → 18–50 Q Nail Recast Hold Time: 5 seconds → 4 seconds W Base Grey Health Cap per Rank: 40–200 → 40–160 |
| Senna | Crit Damage Modifier: -15% → -20% Q AP Slow: 10% per 100 AP → 7% per 100 AP Q AP Healing: +50% AP → +35% AP |
| Seraphine | Q Damage AP Ratio: 50% → 40% |
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.
System buffs
| LOL PATCH 26.14 SYSTEM BUFFS | PATCH NOTES |
| Blue buff | Ability Haste: 10 AH → Level scaling AH Levels 1 / 6 / 11: 10 / 15 / 20 AH |
System nerfs
| LOL PATCH 26.14 SYSTEM NERFS | PATCH NOTES |
| Hextech Rocketbelt | Build Path: Alternator + Codex + Tome + 300 → Alternator + Kindlegem + Ruby + 350 Active Cooldown: 40s → 50s Stats: 70 AP → 60 AP 300 HP → 350 HP |
| Immortal Path (Gluttonous Greaves Mid Quest Upgrade) | Now and Forever: Damage Increase: 5% → 4% Increased Healing/Shielding/Regen: 15% → 12% |
| Jack of All Trades | Adaptive at 5 and 10 Jack Stacks: 10, 25 → 6, 20 |
| Protoplasm Harness | Cost: 2500 → 2600 Bonus Health: 200–300 → 100–300 Healing: 200–400 → 100–400 |
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.
Protoplasm Harness nerfs replace Nasus jungle changes
Riot Phroxzon confirmed that the team has decided against directly nerfing jungle Nasus in patch 26.14.
Instead, the team will reduce the power of Protoplasm Harness, believing the item is the underlying issue. Other jungle champions, such as Shen, are also overperforming with the item, making an item adjustment a broader solution while preserving the strength of top lane Nasus.
