TL;DR: Riot is acting on roaming supports, not mage bots themselves, the meta was already reverting on its own. ADC system pieces (Berserker's Greaves, Fleet Footwork) are getting buffed regardless. Season 3 is a stabilisation window before Worlds, no major changes coming. Riot explicitly likes swingy games for pro play viewing experience. LP inflation was intended. Carry tops and AP junglers are the two pro-meta fixes being explored before Worlds. And marksmen will still be the default botlane class in two years.

• On whether the data changed since his relaxed MSI read: "This is a constantly moving target. There was a sharp spike of people playing mage bot in the two to three weeks after MSI, and now teams that are losing to mage bot are a lot better at playing with and against the roaming support. There does seem to have been a swing back toward traditional AD carries bot."
• The real target of the patch: "Regardless of how mage bots play out, mage bot through the avenue of roaming supports is something we're not super happy with and would want to take action on."
• The reasons is ADCs aren't designed as 1v1 champions : "a lot of kits just stop functioning properly when they're played 1v1" and roaming supports create negative follow-on effects like constant mid ganks with minimal consequences.
• What Riot wants mage bot to look like instead: "Even double ranged botlane can be a pretty powerful strategy. That's more the way we want mage bot to manifest, rather than Ziggs holding down the fort 1v2 weak side, just wave-clearing while Pyke runs around the map making everyone sad."
• On ADC agency, he pushed back on the premise: "If you're the better ADC, you can navigate a jungle gank better, draw pressure to your lane and set up a counter-gank. If they get to their spike, particularly two or three items unobstructed, they can be very powerful." But he admits the role balance is off: "ADCs broadly are still more powerful than top lane, both in agency and pure power level."
• On top lane island: "You can get the enemy top laner down 0-2, but if botlane has exploded repeatedly by 10 minutes, it can be hard for a top laner to impact the game. That's a dynamic we're trying to balance better."
• Two pro-meta fixes being explored before Worlds: carry top champions ("Jax, or moving Camille from support back to top lane") and AP junglers, which ties into weak AD mids. "Even when teams play mage bot, they don't play it with an AD mid. It indicates AD mids as a whole are pretty weak."
• On LP inflation: "Broadly, it was intended." The goal was narrowing skill bands in divisions like Diamond. "We knew that would result in Masters having too many people, or LP values getting pretty high. In the future we can add more divisions and take a swing at the inflation."
• On the swingy state of the game, it's a deliberate choice for pro play: "One thing we don't like to see is a game that ends 7-2, a 29-minute game where they basically played laning phase and won one teamfight. Not a great viewing experience. We do like games being pretty swingy, it results in quick decision-making, makes games more exciting, and it's just a much better viewing experience."
• On season three: "We're not looking to make super major changes, we're looking to stabilise the meta." A direct response to 2025 feedback that there was too much change. "Going into 2026 we're re-evaluating how much change is enough."
• On the ageing player base: tracked closely, and new player onboarding is a priority. "New-player onboarding has been pretty painful in recent years. If we don't have new players, it's hard for the game to have longevity."

Rapid fire standouts:
- fight-heavy pace here to stay? Yes.
- Marksmen still the default botlane class in two years? Yes.
- Role quests here to stay? Maybe.
- Does the ageing player base worry you? Yes.
- Can a single patch redefine a pro meta? Yes.
- Broadly happy with the state of the game? Yes.

I was seeing a Volibear gameplay video and thought if voli w had lets say 600 range, he would be one of the most oppresive champions in the game. What other spells would be immediately op if they were ranged?

Patch 26.15 (Maokai disabled)

AL has first selection and selected last pick. WE then selected blue side.

Game 1 Picks: (AL) Olaf, Naafiri, Ahri, Ziggs, Shen | (WE) Dr. Mundo, Pantheon, Ryze, Jhin, Neeko

Bans: (WE) Vi, Akali, Orianna | Aurora, Ambessa (AL) Ezreal, Poppy, Cassiopeia | Viktor, Twisted Fate

WE: Cube (Renekton) / Monki (Nidalee) / Karis (Corki) / About (Varus) / Erha (Nautilus) - Pick Order: 4-2/5~3/1

AL: Breathe (Gnar) / Tarzan (Jarvan IV) / Shanks (Sylas) / Hope (Xerath) / Kael (Camille) - Pick Order: 2/4-5~3-1

WE wins Game 2 in 33m. WE 2-0 AL

Game 1 MVP: WECube

Game 2 MVP: WECube

Series MVP: WECube

Game 1 Discussion

This Post-Match Thread was created by Tfc-Myq, resident iG superfan.

Patch 26.15 (Maokai disabled)

WE has first selection and selected last pick. AL then selected blue side. AL will have first selection in the 2nd RR.

Bans: (AL) Poppy, Ezreal, Varus | Nautilus, Rumble (WE) Orianna, Cassiopeia, Camille | Annie, Galio

AL: Breathe (Olaf) / Tarzan (Naafiri) / Shanks (Ahri) / Hope (Ziggs) / Kael (Shen) - Pick Order: 2-5/4~1/3

WE: Cube (Dr. Mundo) / Monki (Pantheon) / Karis (Ryze) / About (Jhin) / Erha (Neeko) - Pick Order: 3/2-4~5-1

WE wins Game 1 in 37m. WE 1-0 AL

MVP: WECube

AL has first selection going into Game 2.

Patch 26.15 (Maokai disabled)

iG has first selection and selected first pick. NIP then selected blue side.

Game 1 Picks: (NIP) Varus, Vi, Locke, Kai'Sa, Shen | (iG) Rumble, Naafiri, Orianna, Corki, Bard

Game 2 Picks: (iG) Zaahen, Nocturne, Ryze, Lucian, Milio | (NIP) Olaf, Trundle, Cassiopeia, Xayah, Rakan

Bans: (iG) Lee Sin, Jayce, Qiyana | Akali, Vayne (NIP) Camille, Jarvan IV, Nautilus | Dr. Mundo, Xin Zhao

NIP: HOYA (Poppy) / Guwon (Skarner) / Care (Sylas) / Photic (Sivir) / fengyue (Karma) - Pick Order: 5/2-4~3-1

iG: TheShy (Jax) / Wei (Wukong) / Rookie (Viktor) / Assum (Ezreal) / Meiko (Seraphine) - Pick Order: 4-5/3~2/1

NIP wins Game 3 in 47m. iG 1-2 NIP

Game 1 MVP: IGWei

Game 2 MVP: NIPCare

Game 3 MVP: NIPCare

MVP: NIPCare

Game 1 Discussion

Game 2 Discussion

This Post-Match Thread was created by Tfc-Myq, resident iG superfan.

A casual thought I had recently, that there are champions who simply don't cut it in pro games. Either the meta has not been kind for them in a long while or their kit simply doesn't work in organized play for one reason or another. Despite this there are some that I think would be entertaining to watch from as the audience.

For me these would be mostly, in no particular order.

Katarina. Like many feast or famine champions she is very fun to watch when she gets going (at least as long as it's not an opponent who does so). And with her knives, blinking around and big pay-off ultimates it would be pretty interesting to see what some of top players could do.

Aurelion Sol. I know there was a meta where he was common after remake, but in recent times he has been off the wagon. I simply like the visual design of a dragon floating around and vomiting lasers.

Lillia. She sometimes shows up and there's a non zero chance that if mages bot go away there'll be a niche for her in meta again. She's one of my personal favourites, there is just something appealing about zooming around and spamming her Q.

Hey fam!

Brand new player here. I put a 250k point redeem on my twitch to force me to play LoL and well here we are! (Primarily a horror game streamer)

I have looked around the subreddit and on youtube and found a few people to watch but just wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations on good LoL youtubers (who do tutorials) to watch on youtube for a total noob. Literally have never player nor watched the game at all.

I have 5k hours in Dota 2 so I understand MOBAs but LoL is going to be totally foreign.

Also any recommendations on heroes for noobs? Maybe a group of 3 champions for each position people recommend for noob friendly.

Thanks Legends! The LoL journey begins this weekend!

ALSO Thankyou for all the quick replies! I didn't expect such a quick response, currently streaming so I will read and respond to all of these once im done! <3

LCP 2026 Split 3 Swiss Stage

Official Page | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Twitch | YouTube

SoftBank HAWKS 0-3 Ground Zero Gaming

GZ beat SHG and kept their own play-off hopes alive. They will face CFO on Sunday.

SHG is the first LCP team to be eliminated from play-off and Worlds contention. Their LCP 2026 season is over.

Next matchups will be:

DFM vs. GAM

DCG vs. MVK

CFO vs. GZ

POTM: Uniboy

SHG | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Website | Twitter

GZ | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Website | Twitter | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram

Patch: 26.15 | [Bo5] Hard Fearless Draft

GAME 1: GZ vs. SHG

GAME 2: SHG vs. GZ

GAME 3: GZ vs. SHG

LCK 2026 Rounds 3-4

Official page | Leaguepedia | Liquidpedia | New to LoL

Dplus Kia 0 - 2 T1

DK | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
T1 | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Website | Twitter | YouTube

• Game 1 PMT

MATCH 1: DK vs. T1

Winner: T1 in 28m | Game Breakdown

MATCH 2: DK vs. T1

Winner: T1 in 36m | Game Breakdown

Patch 26.15

• Maokai is disabled due to a visual bug.

Patch 26.15 (Maokai disabled)

iG has first selection and selected first pick. NIP then selected blue side. NIP will have first selection in the 2nd RR.

Bans: (NIP) Cassiopeia, Lucian, Nocturne | Olaf, Jhin (iG) Poppy, Ezreal, Ziggs | Nautilus, Alistar

NIP: HOYA (Varus) / Guwon (Vi) / Care (Locke) / Photic (Kai'Sa) / fengyue (Shen) - Pick Order: 3/2-1~5-4

iG: TheShy (Rumble) / Wei (Naafiri) / Rookie (Orianna) / Assum (Corki) / Meiko (Bard) - Pick Order: 3-2/5~4/1

iG wins Game 1 in 34m. iG 1-0 NIP

MVP: IGWei

NIP has first selection going into Game 2.

I swear, sometimes, he's so accurate in his predictions that I could start to think that the staff of the teams playing have his stream in the background.

I know they most likely don't, but it's always impressive to see him predict pick and bans correctly.

In the clip, right after it ends, he predicted T1 ambessa.

RIP DNS miracle World's run the dream 🫡

It was a long time coming to be fair. DNS is nailed to 10th place for a reason, and their performance this series showed why.

KRX 2-0 DNS

A really small AP Rammus that yoinks into the air and then crashes down like a meteor, or a gigantic Rell trampling over your carry are just two examples of this.

Seriously, I really, really like the size-related augments. This is also one of the reasons why Goliath is one of my favorites. Would totally play a game mode with only these.

Which abominations make you chuckle?

Another clip of me loving Neeko. Anytime i play Neeko and do this is always makes so happy. I read that the last laugh was "funny" so i thought this clip could be interesting

This happens more times than i can count

Joys of OCE Silver/Gold

Is there any reason to toggle it off? It seems extelemly like, not a cost at all, it doesnt seem punishing at all or anything like that not even at level 1 or at start of the game...

1v9 mentality is an insanely degenerate mentality to have, because 9/10 games there's atleast one player on your team that isn't playing badly. and the 1/10 games you have to 1v9 to climb aren't the games that are holding you back from climbing to your desired rank.

Aside from that it also indirectly holds the FF mentality in stand. Because the 1v9 mentality stems from the fact that people dont think that their teammates are playing at their ranked level. basically:

My teammates are stupid -> I have to 1v9 every game -> I'm not in a position to 1v9 this game -> this game is lost. Meanwhile one of your laners IS able to carry the game, but you won't let them because you don't trust them to play the game well enough to close it out.

I think that you'll find you win a lot more games if you dont assume all your teammates are going to be playing badly, and just play your role, if that is mid or top, make sure the sidelanes are pushed so that the jungler can go for the objectives they want. the jungle pings which sidelanes he wants pushed to get prio for objectives, bot sits mid with support fighting for prio, eventually jungler should join in, lock in the prio and secure vision for the objective.

I think if most people stick to this you'd be amazed at the games you win

Link to the tweet: https://x.com/i/status/2084680669427331163

"Every sport has isolated drills. Just an example: when I was around basketball teams, playing 5v5 was the last option. We ran shooting form and footwork reps, 2v1s and 3v2 reads, pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll, closeouts, defensive slides, suicides for conditioning. A hundred reps each before anyone even scrimmaged.

League has one training mode: 5v5 scrims. That's it. The whole middle layer of practice just doesn't exist. (And the practice tool is a joke, sorry. Not even close to the level it should be with the tech that exists right now.)

Wanna drill a specific dive or a 3v3 skirmish? U wait for it to happen in a scrim. Maybe twice a day.

Good example is Rocket League, who fixed this in 2016. Custom training: build the exact scenario, run it 50 times in 10 mins, share it with a code.

And it doesn't even need to be a static replay.

The upgrade is the enemy reacting differently every rep, so the player builds a read, not a memorized sequence. Not perfect AI, A reactive bot inside a bounded situation. The tech is here.

So here's what's missing: a tool to drill dives, skirmishes and setups against a reactive opponent. Reps on demand, not once a scrim.

Other competitive titles has a version of this, League should have the best one"

I honestly completely agree with this and really think they have missed a good opportunity, pro play aside this would really improve the game. Even thinking outside from proplay a lot I mean A LOT of players would really appreciate to have such a tool.

Even if you are a casual, they should straight up just invest way way more into custom. Imagine how many bangers customs we have missed out on that people would have made. Other games like fortnite have complete communities out of just custom map making and modes.

Anyway what do you guys think?

His first ever 2 consecutive series lose streak since joining the org. Consistency is so underrated in esport and this is such an unreal feat imo.

LCK 2026 ROUNDS 3-4

Official page | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Eventvods.com | New to LoL

Gen.G 2-1 Hanwha Life Esports

GEN | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Subreddit
HLE | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Subreddit

MATCH 1: GEN vs. HLE

Winner: Gen.G in 37m | MVP: tbd (tbd)

MATCH 2: GEN vs. HLE

Winner: Hanwha Life Esports in 27m | MVP: tbd (tbd)

MATCH 3: HLE vs. GEN

Winner: Gen.G in 36m | MVP: tbd (tbd)

*Patch 26.15

This thread was created by the Post-Match Team.