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League of Legends Patch 26.14 Preview: Locke Nerfs, Mordekaiser Buffs, and More!
9 Jul, 2026, 01:37
|Last updated: 9 Jul, 2026, 01:37
MSI 2026 is in full flight, but League of Legends balance tweaks must carry on! LoL Patch 26.14 will go live on Wednesday, July 15, bringing a small but meaningful set of buffs and nerfs to several champions in the game.
Let's have a look at some of the biggest changes coming with League of Legends Patch 26.14.
Locke Gets Immediately Nerfed
The newest champion addition to League of Legends, Locke, lasted only a single patch before being primed for nerfs. Currently one of the burstier champions in the game, Locke will perhaps surprisingly not be getting a nerf to his one-shot potential.
Instead, Riot is only nerfing the damage of his [Q] Ritual Nails (his setup ability). This should result in players needing to be more mindful of when they use this ability to set up bigger burst windows moving forward.
Mordekaiser's Realm of Terror
Taking on Mordekaiser inside his [R] Realm of Death has always been a tall task, but it's about to get a whole lot rougher. Aside from a small buff to the damage of his [E] Death's Grasp, LoL Patch 26.14 is also set to increase the stats that Mordekaiser steals from the target of his ultimate from 10% to 13%.
These buffs, coupled with coming nerfs to other Top Lane menaces like Garen, might see Mordekaiser climb to the top of the Top Lane pecking order once more.
Corki, Yunara, and Nami Rise in the Bot Lane
Looking past Mordekaiser, the only other champions set to receive buffs when LoL Patch 26.14 goes live are Corki, Yunara, and Nami.
Corki and Yunara will both see their AD per level values increased, allowing them to scale a little better into the late game so they can keep up with other hyper carries. Additionally, Corki will also get more frequent access to his [R] Missile Barrage, letting his poke shine more reliably.
As for Nami, perhaps the brightest shining spot of her kit when it comes to empowering allies, her [E] Tidecaller's Blessing, will receive a bump in damage.
The overall Bot Lane meta won't be thrown for a loop with these changes, but rather bring a few more options up to the forefront for the sake of diversity.
Rocketbelt Abuse No More?
At the very highest levels of play, mage players have been building Hextech Rocketbelt regardless of whether it synergizes with their kit or not. Immobile mage champions were never the intended target audience for this item, yet they have been consistently using it all the same precisely because it helps cover this glaring weakness in their kits.
Well, Riot is finally putting an end to that. By reducing the amount of AP provided by Rocketbelt, increasing its HP, increasing the cooldown of its active Supersonic (dash), and drastically altering the item's build path, the hope is to turn Hextech Rocketbelt too costly in terms of tradeoffs for mages who were never meant to be building the item to begin with.
A Small Update, but a Welcome One
League of Legends Patch 26.14 will deliver a relatively small update to the game. That said, though, the new patch sets out to tackle some of the most glaring issues that having been plaguing the game both at the Solo Queue and pro play levels, and certainly looks like a step in the right direction all things considered.
All information about LoL Patch 26.14 was taken from an X (Twitter) post made by Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison, Lead Gameplay Designer for League of Legends. If you'd like to have a look at the complete list of changes, make sure to check out the post!
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Featured image credit: Riot Games
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