LoL Patch 26.02 Preview: Viego Buffs, Malphite Nerfs, and More!

The new season of League of Legends has brought lots of changes to the game. Now, LoL Patch 26.02 will set out to tone down some of the champions that have benefited the most from the latest updates, and buff others that have fallen out of favor.

With the preview officially out, let's take a look at the biggest changes coming when LoL Patch 26.02 releases on Thursday, January 22.

Shifting Powers in the Jungle

Due to the way Jungle pet damages scales, the new season saw AP and tank Junglers rise through the ranks, while AD Junglers struggle to keep up. Now, LoL Patch 26.02 aims to bring a bit more balance to the Jungle role.

First up, both Master Yi and Viego will receive considerable buffs in the new patch that aim to make them more competitive throughout the game. Additionally, Aatrox and Taliyah will also receive buffs, particularly to their Jungle monster damage modifiers, so as to make them stronger Junglers without affecting their solo-lanes strength too much.

Meanwhile, over on the other side, Patch 26.02 will bring nerfs to several champions who have been terrorizing the Jungle when it comes to Solo Queue to start the year. These include all of Gwen, Jayce, Lillia, Malphite, Nunu, and Zed.

After such an overwhelming set of seasonal changes, the truth is it may be a while before the dust (and the meta) settle in the Jungle.

OG ADCs on the Rise

Jungle aside, the ADC role was one of the most affected roles in the game by the arrival of the new season. New items, a game-changing role quest, and minion changes have all made it so that ADC champs are still finding their footing.

With LoL Patch 26.02, Ashe and Varus will both receive small buffs to try and bump their win rates up a notch. Sivir and Smolder, meanwhile, will be getting a few nerfs after a blazing start to the year for the two. It's worth noting that both Sivir and Smolder are holding on to 52%+ win rates in Solo Queue in Patch 26.01.

New ADC Toys Get a Few Changes

AD carries received two new items to play with this year, but these haven't quite seen as much play rate as Riot would have liked. Now, they're getting buffed.

Fiendhunter Bolts and Hexoptics C44 are getting considerably buffs in LoL Patch 26.02, both to the stats that these offer as well as to the strength of their passives. Hopefully, this will make the new ADC items more attractive moving forward without making them unnecessarily oppressive.

All information about LoL Patch 26.02 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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