LoL Patch 26.22 Notes: Thresh Nerfs, Smolder Buffs

Patch 26.22 nerfs Thresh, Yasuo, Locke and Doran’s Bow, buffs a set of scaling picks led by Smolder, Corki and Viktor, and gives Mel a midscope adjustment that trades early power for late-game cooldowns. The download is larger than usual because TFT moves to its own standalone client on 4 November 2026. League and TFT stay one click apart, and a later patch will let you opt out of TFT files entirely. Our LoL patch notes cover each new patch as it lands.

Smolder, Corki and Viktor gain the most from Patch 26.22, and Overlord’s Bloodmail is the item that moves furthest. The table below shows pre-patch win and pick rates against a 50.1% average, the baseline for judging how far each change has to carry a champion.

Smolder is the clearest winner because his W buff is flat damage at every rank, so it helps both his crit and caster builds. W is his main poke and wave tool in lane, which means the extra damage shows up from his first trades, not only after items. He was already 0.9 points above average before the patch, and the Doran’s Bow nerf weakens the bow-start marksmen he trades into early.

Corki’s R hits harder at every rank, on both standard missiles and the Big One, and both bonus AD ratios rise. He was tuned cautiously for Worlds and sat 2.6 points under average before this patch, so expect a climb from a low base rather than an instant top pick. The buff rewards players who already land missiles reliably, because R is the spell he casts most.

Viktor gets back some of what last patch’s changes took, but in scaling: more health per level and a higher AP ratio on R’s initial hit. His early lane bullying stays toned down, so the buff rewards farming to items and saving R for a teamfight rather than forcing early trades. Treat him as a safer late-game control mage this patch, not a lane winner.

Overlord’s Bloodmail goes from 30 to 40 attack damage, while its Retribution passive caps slightly lower, from 12% to 10% total AD at low health. Most juggernauts open fights near full health, so the flat AD is a straight gain for them. Sett loses a little at low health, where his W makes Retribution strongest, but the extra flat AD should leave him close to even.

Thresh and Yasuo take the most meaningful nerfs because both are popular picks, while Locke and Doran’s Bow lose early-game power.

Thresh loses base attack damage and R damage at every rank, another nerf on top of his previous one. Lower base AD trims the auto-attacks he weaves into lane trades, and The Box punishes a diving bot laner less. The target is top-tier play, where he has led support picks. Across our sample he sat at 50.9% with an 11.2% pick rate, so most solo queue Thresh players will feel a trim, not a collapse.

Yasuo’s Q drops from 105% to 100% total AD, matching the nerf Yone took last patch. The cut is small per cast, but Steel Tempest is the spell he uses constantly for trading and clearing waves, so it compounds across a game, especially in the crit builds that drove his rise. At a 16.8% pick rate he is the most-played champion on this patch’s list, and his 51.6% win rate left room for a cut.

Locke’s early game is the target: Q’s per-stack bonus damage drops at every rank and W lasts 5s instead of 6s. The nerf is driven by mastery, since players who know him deeply show he is still too strong early. That matters for everyone else, because he sat 2.3 points below average before the nerf in our data. If you are still learning him, bank your ranked games on something else this patch.

Doran’s Bow drops from 8 to 7 attack damage. That is a small number on a starting item, but it narrows the gap to Doran’s Blade, the intended start for marksmen who want early trading power and sustain. Expect bot laners to mix their starts again instead of defaulting to the bow every game.

Patch 26.22 spreads its changes across every role, with Mel’s adjustment the largest by far. Each card shows every stat line and the champion’s pre-patch win and pick rate.

Mel’s adjustment moves power out of lane and into the late game. She starts with less health and AD, her passive’s early bonus per bolt drops, and Q’s first hit becomes a flat amount with a lower ratio, so early burst falls. In return, Q’s follow-up hits scale harder, Q refunds part of its cooldown when it hits a champion, and R’s cooldown falls sharply at its later ranks.

W is the real change. Instead of reflecting, it now releases a nova that destroys enemy projectiles and shields, grants move speed to Mel and nearby allies, and retaliates against the champions whose missiles it destroyed. That makes her a stronger answer to poke and projectile-heavy carries. E’s root now lasts longer the farther it travels, so aim it at range rather than point blank.

Mel and Rumble enter the patch as the two weakest patched champions in our data, 4 and 4.2 points under the average. Mel’s changes target scaling rather than her laning, so judge her after a week of games, not on the first day.

These three are adjusted with power added in specific places. Aurelion Sol’s E deals more damage at higher ranks and its AP ratio grows with rank, which makes maxing E second a real option instead of the fun-but-weaker choice. Rumble’s R gains AP ratio on both its damage over time and its maximum, aimed at average players more than pros. Zaahen’s Q cooldown is shorter at its early ranks, giving him more to do in lane skirmishes before his scaling arrives.

Kayle’s Q and R cooldowns drop at low ranks, which shortens the weakest part of her game without raising her late-game ceiling. Maokai’s Q deals more max-health damage at every rank, pointed at top and jungle rather than his usual support role. Shen’s Q deals more damage to monsters at its early ranks, so his first clears are faster.

Naafiri gets more Q healing and a little more bonus AD from her W, aimed squarely at mid lane, where she had nearly vanished. The buff favors extended trades: more sustain per Q means you can take a second exchange instead of backing.

Both item changes shift build choices more than raw power levels.

For marksmen, the Doran’s Bow nerf is a cue to test Doran’s Blade again, especially in lanes where you expect early all-ins. For juggernauts, Overlord’s Bloodmail now delivers more of its value up front, so it is easier to justify as a core item rather than a greedy pickup. Sett players can keep their build; compare your damage in Practice Tool before deciding it got worse.

Lean on the buffed scaling champions and avoid mastery-dependent nerf targets until the patch settles. Each pick names its role; builds and matchups are on our champion pages and in our guides.

Other modes have separate pages: the ARAM: Mayhem changes for Patch 26.22 have their own breakdown, and all patch notes start from one hub.

The K/DA Firestarter skins for Ahri, Evelynn and Kai’Sa lead this patch’s cosmetics, joined by K/DA Firestarter Ignition Akali, K/DA Hitmaker Evelynn and Prestige Classic Baron Kog’Maw.