PATCH 26.11 ANALYSIS

Patch Notes • May 27, 2026 • Luke Pace

League of Legends patch 26.11 is a ranked patch where jungle tempo and bot lane durability both shift. Diana and Quinn clear monsters faster, so they reach early ganks and objective fights sooner. Ekko gets more repeat damage in longer fights, and Kassadin has an easier time trading and farming before his first items.

On the other side, Smolder loses a lot of damage from his stack-based patterns unless he commits harder to crit, and Brand is easier to kill in bot lane. Teemo also becomes more punishable, especially if you were relying on attack-damage scaling for his poison.

Biggest Buffs

Diana BUFF

Ekko BUFF

Kassadin BUFF

Quinn BUFF

Biggest Nerfs

Smolder NERF

Teemo NERF

Brand NERF

What This Means for Ranked

If you want a safer jungle climb: pick Diana more often. Her bonus damage to monsters goes from 230% to 270%, which means she clears camps faster and reaches fights with more gold and experience. She also gains more bonus health on her W shield (9% to 11%), so she survives skirmishes she used to lose. If you want early pressure from the jungle, Quinn is more reliable now because her monster damage is higher on both her passive and Q.

Mid lane picks to prioritize or respect: Ekko can trigger his passive on the same target more often (4 seconds instead of 5), so extended trades punish you harder if you stay in range. Kassadin gets a shorter Q cooldown at every rank and more W base damage, so he can farm and trade more often before level 6 and before his first big item.

Bot lane and support decisions: think twice before first-picking Smolder—his stack-based bonus magic damage is lower, so he deals less damage unless he builds more crit. Brand loses 3 base armor (27 to 24), which means he takes more damage from basic attacks in lane and dies faster in all-ins. If you are a support player, early shields from Summon Aery are smaller (30 to 20 at level 1), while Aftershock and Locket are stronger for tank supports; that makes aggressive engage lanes more consistent.

For the full details, read patch notes at Riot's official website, and check the per-champion breakdown cards on baronbuff.com/champions.

See you in the Rift — LP

Affected Champions

Smolder NERF Lower stack damage, crit-weighted scaling reshaped

Diana BUFF More monster damage, more shielding health

Ekko BUFF Passive hits more often per target

Heimerdinger ADJUST Turrets reach minions better, longer vision on stun

Kassadin BUFF Lower cooldown, higher base spell damage

Quinn BUFF Higher monster damage on passive and Q

Teemo NERF Lower durability scaling, weaker bonus AD damage

Xin Zhao ADJUST Less AP healing, passive gains AP damage

Brand NERF Lower base armor

See how these changes affect your draft

Open Baron Buff for pick, ban, and matchup guidance based on the current patch.