The League of Legends Patch 26.13 patch notes are the MSI 2026 balance patch — Riot releases new mid-lane AP assassin Locke, the Ashen Exorcist, softens Senna's bot-lane farm pattern, pulls Bard back from tank-roam dominance, and returns Aphelios and LeBlanc to the fold with targeted buffs. Track the League of Legends season countdown to Pandemonium - Act III.
TL;DR — 9 buffs, 8 nerfs, plus a new champion. Biggest buff: Aphelios (partial revert of earlier nerfs). Biggest nerf: Bard Meep base damage 35 → 30. Meta impact: Locke joins mid immediately (banned at MSI), Senna's bot lane farm pattern gets a targeted cut, and Bard falls out of top-priority roam-tank picks.
Champions
- Locke, the Ashen Exorcist — new mid-lane AP assassin; ships alongside a High Noon Locke cosmetic; disabled for MSI 2026 active
- Aphelios — earlier nerfs partially reverted to highlight each gun's unique strengths buff
- Draven — lane pressure and teamfight buff; more frequent Stand Aside, more damage retained on ultimate after multiple hits buff
- Kai'Sa — poke and survivability up; more room to engage aggressively buff
- LeBlanc — direct buff to expand mid-lane aggression buff
- Qiyana — direct buff to expand mid-lane aggression buff
- Vex — direct buff to expand mid-lane aggression buff
- Olaf — direct buff package buff
- Senna — bot-lane farming pattern softened; Shiv synergy tuned; DPS rebalanced around higher soul access nerf
- Bard — Meep base damage 35 → 30 (per-Chime scaling 10 → 6); pulls back the tank-roam bot-priority pick nerf
- Brand — passive Detonation minimum damage 8% max HP → 6% max HP; primarily targets Brand bot carry nerf
- Sion — direct nerf nerf
- K'Sante — direct nerf nerf
- Cassiopeia — direct nerf nerf
- Kindred — direct nerf nerf
Items
- Doran's Helm — nerfed to cool early-lane sustain builds nerf