Overview
The first Clash of the year is scheduled to take place this weekend with the Demacia Cup as the 2026 season remains in full swing. This patch will be much smaller compared to the season start, but we've got you covered with the quick TLDR here:
Buffs and nerfs to outliers
Adjustments to Bandlepipes, Fiendhunter, and Hexoptics C44
Apex Duo Queue Rule Improvemetns
Restrictions on who Masters, GMs, and Challengers can queue with
As always, you can check out our champions page for the latest stats and builds, and you can check out Riot's official patch notes here.
Riot Thoughts on How 26.1 Landed
Game length is slightly longer than previous seasons (doubly so because games start even faster now)
Perception is that games are very fast, tough -- Riot is not making changes on this front for now
Role Balance is in line with expectations
Champions
Buffs
Aatrox
Passive damage increased
Q damage to monsters increased
Intended as jungle buff
Ashe
Base AD growth increased
Master Yi
Base armor growth increased
Q damage increased
Taliyah
Q damage to monsters increased
E damage to monsters increased
Varus
Q damage increased
W damage increased
Viego
AS growth increased
Q damage increased
Nerfs
Gwen
Passive monster damage decreased
Jayce
Q damage to monsters decreased
Lillia
Passive heal against monsters decreased
Q AP ratio decreased
Malphite
W monster damage decreased
E damage decreased and mana increased
R cooldown decreased
Nunu
Q cooldown increased
W damage decreased
E damage decreased
Sivir
AS growth decreased
Armor growth decreased
Smolder
Armor growth decreased
Zed
Passive monster damage decreased
Items
Bandlepipes cost increased
Fiendhunter Bolts buffed
Hexoptics C44 buffed
