League of Legends Patch 26.10 Tier List Update

Patch 26.10 Headline Changes

League of Legends Patch 26.10 went live on May 12, 2026, mid-way through the Pandemonium Act I split. The patch tilts the item and rune layers more than the champion layer: Lich Bane gets the biggest mid-laner item buff, Gluttonous Greaves gets a price-and-stack rework, and the re-introduced Pandemonium runes (Stormraider's Surge, Deathfire Touch) get their first balance pass since the 26.9 reintroduction. Champion-side, Ambessa and Wukong move up a tier, Nidalee drops out of S, and Zeri gets the buffs she needed after her 26.9 over-nerf.

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Key Takeaways

Lich Bane buffed hard - AP ratio rises from 40% to 45% and movement speed from 4% to 6%; mid-lane mages (Fizz, Twisted Fate, Katarina, Zoe) gain the most.
Wukong climbs B to A tier in jungle (and stays strong in top) thanks to clone-damage and E attack-speed buffs.
Nidalee falls S to A tier - reduced passive monster damage and higher mana cost trim her early invasion threat.
Zeri's 26.9 over-nerf is reversed - Burst Fire base damage and excess-attack-speed conversion both rise; she returns to competitive ADC status.
Stormraider's Surge becomes a real keystone option for skirmish-tempo champions (Hecarim, Darius) after its MS duration and speed increase.
Jungle has the most direct champion changes; top lane and support are the quietest roles this patch.
Safest OPs heading into the rest of Act I: Kayle (top), Shyvana (jungle), Smolder (ADC) - none of them received nerfs.

Those headlines set the context for each role breakdown below.

Item Changes

Lich Bane:AP ratio on passive damage 40% to 45%; movement speed 4% to 6%. Direct buff to Lich Bane mid-laners. Fizz, Twisted Fate, Katarina, Zoe, and Gragas all gain notable damage and skirmish mobility; Evelynn benefits in jungle because Lich Bane is a common early build and the MS supports flanks.

Doran's Bow:base AD +2. Marginally more gold-efficient than Doran's Blade now, but still niche due to the missing health. Worth considering on hyper-carry ADCs with strong auto windows.

Doran's Helm:health 110 to 140. The clearer winner of the two Doran upgrades this patch. K'Sante, top-lane tanks, and bruisers gain a defensive starter that scales meaningfully into the early sustain phase.

Gluttonous Greaves:cost 950 to 1000 gold; omnivamp per stack 1% to 0.6%; max stacks 6 to 10. Net result: full-stacked Gluttonous gives 6% omnivamp instead of the previous 6% (same ceiling) but requires more takedowns to get there. Aatrox, Samira, Gwen, and other sustain-bruisers still favour them; champions who don't snowball lose value.

Rune Changes

Stormraider's Surge:MS duration 3 to 4 seconds; movement speed 40% to 48% melee / 30% to 36% ranged. The re-introduced Pandemonium keystone gets the buff it needed to become a viable Predator alternative for skirmish-tempo champions. Hecarim, Darius, and lane bullies who can trigger the threshold consistently see the biggest gains.

Deathfire Touch:early-level DoT damage nerfed (lowered base scaling on levels 1 to 5; scaling unchanged at later levels). Damage-over-time mages and Black-Cleaver bruisers (Smolder, Senna) keep their late-game power but lose some lane bullying.

Top Lane

Top is largely unmoved. Kayle and Teemo continue to define the lane through Pandemonium Act I, and no champion-side patch note directly nerfs or buffs a current top-lane main. The indirect winners are:

K'Sante:Doran's Helm 110-to-140 health buff fits his armour-heavy starter; one of the biggest indirect winners of 26.10.
Wukong:clone damage and duration increased; E attack-speed buff. Moves from B tier to A tier in top, though jungle remains his stronger role.

With those two movers covered, the jungle role sees a more dramatic set of direct champion changes this patch.

Jungle

The jungle role sees the most direct champion-level changes this patch.

Ambessa:Q monster damage 125 to 75, but Q max-health damage was increased to partially offset the loss. Net result on clear speed is a small reduction. Early R healing also 10-15% to 15-20%, making her teamfight pivot stronger. Stays in C tier overall in jungle; the R healing buff is more impactful in top lane.
Wukong:clone damage and clone duration up; E attack speed up. B to A tier. The clone changes are real-fight contribution, not just clear-speed cosmetics.
Nidalee:passive monster damage reduced; W mana cost increased. S to A tier. Still strong but loses some of the early invasion threat that defined her in 26.9.
Shyvana:health-per-level and W cooldown nerfed. Stays in OP tier because her core 1v9 dragon-form pattern survives the changes; expect a small win-rate drop, not a tier shift.
Lee Sin:W shield value reduced; W cooldown reduced on minions and wards; E AD ratio reduced. Net: more mobility, less burst. A tier, no change.
Quinn:passive monster damage up; R mana cost reduced. Jungle Quinn becomes more sustainable in clear and roams, though sample size is too low to give her a confident tier rating yet.

Moving to mid lane, the biggest shifts come not from champion changes but from the item and rune buffs above.

Mid Lane

Mid sees the biggest indirect shift from item and rune changes. Zed drops out of OP tier (no direct nerf, just relative:Lich Bane buffs the bursty mage class he competes with). Fizz, Twisted Fate, Katarina, and Zoe all gain from Lich Bane's 45% AP ratio and 6% movement speed. Stormraider's Surge becomes a viable secondary keystone for Vlad, Ryze, and Orianna; Galio benefits from both Stormraider's and a small E base-damage buff in his direct patch line.

ADC

Zeri:Burst Fire base damage 21-33 to 22-38 per shot; excess-attack-speed conversion 50% to 60%; R duration bug-fix (was clipping early, now holds the correct 2.5-second window). The 26.9 over-nerf is largely reversed. Optimal builds skew toward Youmuu's Ghostblade or Stormrazor; Statikk Shiv remains the lower-win-rate option that ~25% of Zeri players still build despite the data.

Ashe:small mid-game damage tone-down. Drops one rank in the tier list but stays in the playable band; lane phase and teamfight scaling are unchanged.

Smolder, Brand:no direct changes. Both remain OP-tier through the Black Cleaver / Deathfire Touch synergy, though the Deathfire early-level nerf takes a small chunk out of their lane bully potential.

Support

Support is the quietest role this patch. No direct champion changes. The Deathfire Touch nerfs marginally affect Brand and Senna (both still hold tier), and Galio's small buffs nudge him toward viability as a hook-support counter without changing his overall tier slot. Anivia's earlier armour nerf is unchanged in 26.10:she remains a niche but viable support against poke comps.

What to Climb On This Patch

If you're picking a main for the rest of Pandemonium Act I, the highest-ceiling picks coming out of 26.10 are Wukong (jungle), Fizz or Katarina (mid, Lich Bane mains), and Zeri (ADC, post-revert). The safest no-change OPs that survived the patch are Kayle (top), Shyvana (jungle), and Smolder (ADC). Stormraider's Surge is the rune to test on Hecarim, Darius, and any skirmish-tempo bruiser who hasn't found a comfortable keystone since the 26.9 rune rework.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lich Bane good after the Patch 26.10 buff?

Yes. The AP ratio increase from 40% to 45% and the movement-speed buff from 4% to 6% make Lich Bane the strongest mid-lane AP item for champions who weave autos between abilities. Fizz, Twisted Fate, Zoe, and Katarina benefit the most, and Evelynn gains from the movement-speed increase in jungle flanks.

Who are the best junglers in Patch 26.10?

Shyvana leads OP tier despite the minor nerfs - her dragon-form 1v9 pattern is unchanged. Wukong rises to A tier on clone-damage and E attack-speed buffs. Nidalee steps down to A tier from S after monster-damage and mana-cost adjustments. Ambessa stays C tier in jungle; her R healing buff is more impactful in top lane.

Is Zeri good again after Patch 26.10?

Yes. The 26.9 over-nerf is largely reversed. Burst Fire base damage rises to 22-38 per shot, excess-attack-speed conversion increases to 60%, and the R duration bug is fixed. She returns to competitive ADC status, best built around Youmuu's Ghostblade or Stormrazor.

Did Nidalee get nerfed in Patch 26.10?

Yes. Her passive monster damage was reduced and W mana cost increased, trimming her early invasion threat. She drops from S tier to A tier in jungle but remains strong, especially in games where she can avoid early invades and ramp into her mid-game spike.

Is Stormraider's Surge worth using in Patch 26.10?

More than before. The MS duration increases from 3 to 4 seconds and movement speed goes up to 48% melee / 36% ranged. It is now a legitimate Predator alternative for skirmish-tempo champions - Hecarim, Darius, and engage-heavy bruisers who can reliably trigger the threshold.

What champions benefited most indirectly in Patch 26.10?

Fizz, Twisted Fate, Katarina, and Zoe in mid lane (Lich Bane buff). K'Sante in top lane (Doran's Helm health buff). Aatrox, Samira, and Gwen in their respective roles (Gluttonous Greaves still strong at full stacks). Hecarim and Darius in top and jungle (Stormraider's Surge viability increase).

Is Wukong viable in Patch 26.10?

Yes, and more so than in 26.9. Clone damage and clone duration are up, and E attack speed is buffed. He moves from B tier to A tier in both jungle and top lane. Jungle remains his stronger role given the clone's real-fight contribution, but top-lane Wukong benefits from both the clone changes and the Doran's Helm health buff.

Which role changed the least in Patch 26.10?

Support and top lane are the quietest this patch. No direct champion changes hit support, and top lane's only notable shifts are indirect - Wukong climbing a tier through champion buffs and K'Sante gaining from the Doran's Helm health increase.

Last reviewed 2026-06-12 against Patch 26.10 (May 12, 2026) — Maintained by WowCarry's LoL team.