Riot Games has unveiled extensive changes for its flagship title, League of Legends, set to arrive in 2026, promising a thematic overhaul and substantial gameplay modifications designed to rebalance roles and enhance player experience.
The popular online battle arena game will feature Demacia as its core theme for the 2026 season. Players can expect a Demacian aesthetic for Summoner’s Rift, adorned with gold details.
A significant focus of the update addresses player satisfaction, particularly in ranked play and role assignment. Duo queue will return for higher ranks.
Players assigned roles via auto-fill will receive double League Points (LP) for victories and will not lose any LP for defeats. An “Aegis of Valor” will also be introduced, granting double LP for a victory or mitigation for a defeat if a player achieves a Mastery Score of C or higher.
The Aegis benefit will also extend to those playing less popular roles. Abandoning a queue to avoid an auto-fill assignment will no longer be possible; for players in Master tier and above, abandoning a queue will count as a defeat.
Gameplay mechanics are also undergoing significant revisions. Several elements will be removed, including Atakhan, Blood Roses, and Feats of Strength. A new “Crystal Growth” mechanic, functioning as a universal Demolish effect, will be added, making Demolish a passive three-hit effect.
Matches on Summoner’s Rift will begin 35 seconds earlier. Classic items like Hextech Gunblade will return, and Critical Damage will be reverted to 200%. “Faerie Lights” will be added to the map, offering temporary vision for wards.
All five main roles will receive buffs. Top lane champions will benefit from a higher level cap, increased experience from all sources, and an improved Teleport summoner spell if chosen.
Mid lane champions will receive free Tier 3 boots and a faster return to base. Marksmen in the bottom lane will gain an initial gold bonus, additional gold throughout the match, and an extra slot for a seventh item.
Junglers will deal more damage with Smite, earn more gold and experience from jungle camps, and gain bonus movement speed while in the jungle. Support players will see discounts on Control Wards, increased gold generation over time, and a new dedicated slot for Control Wards.
Other changes include a ladder indicator on the ranked loading screen to display a player’s Matchmaking Rating (MMR) relative to their visible rank. The MMR for Flex queue will be brought closer to Solo/Duo queue MMR to facilitate fairer matches. Champion selection times will also be shortened.
The “Dynamic Play” game mode will inherit most of Summoner’s Rift’s changes, excluding role missions. All players in Dynamic Play will start at Level 3 with more gold, similar to the ARAM game mode. Voidgrubs and the Rift Herald will be removed from Dynamic Play, while dragons and the Elemental Rift will be accelerated, and Sudden Death will begin earlier.
These extensive changes are officially scheduled to arrive on the game servers on January 7.