LoL Tier List Patch 26.11 — Best Champions for Every Role

Patch 26.11 arrives on May 27, 2026 with the most significant support ecosystem overhaul since the season started. Riot is pulling back enchanter dominance — nerfing Moonstone, Aery, and Helia — while buffing tank and engage tools (Aftershock, Guardian, Locket, Heartsteel). On top of that, Teemo and Smolder take direct hits after overperforming all patch 26.10, while Diana, Ekko, Kassadin, and Quinn pick up meaningful buffs. Here is the full patch 26.11 tier list for every role.

Patch 26.11 Key Changes — Support Overhaul and Power Shifts

The headline of patch 26.11 is the support ecosystem overhaul. Riot’s data showed ranged supports pulling too far ahead of melee and engage options because the item ecosystem over-rewarded safe, auto-attacking playstyles. The result: Moonstone Renewal’s Starlight’s Grace passive no longer double-dips into heal and shield power calculations, Summon Aery’s base shield drops from 30–100 to 20–100, and Dream Maker’s damage reduction is capped to the first instance of area damage. Echoes of Helia also receives a healing reduction on empowered attacks.

On the flip side, Aftershock gets higher flat armor and magic resistance in the early laning phase, Guardian’s activation radius increases, and melee-exclusive items — Locket of the Iron Solari, Knight’s Vow, Zeke’s Convergence, and Heartsteel — all receive stat or cost improvements. This is a direct push toward engage and tank supports.

Champion nerfs this patch:

• Teemo (top): base HP growth reduced; Q damage lowered. Drops from S+ to A tier.
• Smolder (ADC): additional nerfs on top of the Deathfire Touch interaction change. Riot is pushing him toward pure crit builds and away from the Deathfire burst playstyle that dominated 26.10.
• Brand (support/bot): Deathfire Touch dealing magic damage removes his Black Cleaver synergy. Significant damage reduction in laning.
• Xin Zhao: healing output reduced. His AP jungle build’s sustain overperformed champions built specifically around healing.

Champion buffs this patch:

• Diana: jungle-specific pathing improvements and a clear speed buff. The intent is to make her a genuine jungle option rather than a mid-only flex pick.
• Ekko: Q base damage increased for jungle contexts; W shield ratio improved. Similar intent to Diana.
• Kassadin: Q base damage increased. Pre-6 matchups against him become significantly harder, and his late-game scaling remains untouched.
• Quinn: W passive damage increased for jungle use. Riot wants to open her as a viable jungle option alongside top lane.
• Heimerdinger: turret targeting fixed so ranged minions no longer kill turrets before they can retaliate — a quality-of-life change that directly improves his lane presence.

Item system changes:

• Deathfire Touch: damage type changed to magic — removes the Black Cleaver synergy that made AP-adjacent assassins extremely overloaded.
• Imperial Mandate: reworked to 65 AP, 15 AH, 150% base mana regeneration with a new Command passive that applies 6% Vulnerable for 4 seconds on immobilize.
• Statikk Shiv: AD increased from 40 to 45, making it more attractive on AD carries looking for a waveclear spike item.
• Hexplate: ranged champion bonus nerfed from 50% AS / 20% MS to 35% AS / 14% MS, reducing the upside for champions like Kaisa and Tristana who exploited it most.

For a deeper look at how to choose items based on game state, check out our LoL itemization guide 2026.

Top Lane Tier List Patch 26.11

Top lane is unchanged at the system level this patch. The role remains a mix of durable bruisers who can apply side-lane pressure and frontliners who create engage opportunities. Teemo dropping from S+ is the main shift — if you were abusing him, now is the time to pivot.

S+ Tier — Dominant Picks

Mordekaiser (54.2% WR) is the safest top lane carry in patch 26.11. His W passive grants bonus HP that scales with the amount of bonus health he builds, meaning every tank item doubles as a dueling advantage. He wins most 1v1 matchups at all stages and his ultimate removes any engage support from the equation during crucial teamfights. No nerfs incoming — expect him to remain S+ into 26.12 unless Riot specifically targets him.

Garen (52.9% WR) remains S+ thanks to the same formula he has exploited all season: zero resource cost, regenerating HP in bushes, and a silence that makes ranged matchups survivable. He pops up on the radar whenever the meta gets too carry-heavy because he is nearly impossible to burst in a 1v1 setting. Cleave build paths (Trinity Force, Sterak’s) continue to be his best route in 26.11.

S Tier — Strong and Reliable

• Malphite (52.8% WR) — Unmatched teamfight ultimate. Take him into AD-heavy compositions and you auto-win at 6 items.
• Darius (52.5% WR) — Bleed stacks punish anyone who overstays in his range. Solid into bruiser vs bruiser mirrors.
• Sion (52.6% WR) — Exceptional tank with split-push pressure. His Q charge time is mastered quickly and rewards consistent play.

A Tier — Solid Situational Choices

• Camille (51.8% WR) — Precise execution rewards high-skill players with consistent side-lane dominance.
• Teemo (51.1% WR) — Dropped from S+ after HP growth and Q damage nerfs. Still playable; punishes melee champions hard but no longer oppressive.
• Renekton (51.5% WR) — Strongest early lane bully in the role. Falls off into late game but snowballs hard off early kills.
• Fiora (51.3% WR) — High skill ceiling; in the right hands she 1v9s games through split pressure and Vitals mastery.

B Tier — Situational or Falling Off

• Aatrox (50.8% WR) — Fine in lane but his scaling is inconsistent without early leads this meta.
• Gangplank (50.5% WR) — High mastery requirement, low payoff right now without dedicated practice.
• Kennen (50.4% WR) — Useful into triple-melee comps; otherwise outclassed by other AP tops.

Jungle Tier List Patch 26.11

The jungle receives two significant entries this patch: Diana and Ekko get direct jungle buffs that move them from “technically playable” to genuinely strong. Quinn also gets buffed for jungle use, opening a new niche gank-heavy option. Xin Zhao’s healing nerfs push him out of the S-tier conversation.

S+ Tier — Dominant Picks

Nocturne (54.3% WR) has been the top jungler for two consecutive patches and 26.11 does nothing to change that. His clear is fast, his passive generates stacking Fear which pressures solo lanes, and his level-6 ultimate creates a mental tax on the entire enemy team — every fog-of-war moment becomes a potential death. He works well with any composition and has a low learning curve for the results he delivers.

Warwick (53.2% WR) is the best tank jungler in patch 26.11. His passive healing in combat makes him nearly impossible to duel in the early game, and his ultimate suppression scales up as a teamfight tool into late game. He requires zero ramp-up time — if Nocturne is banned, lock in Warwick.

S Tier — Excellent Performers

Diana (52.5% WR) — The 26.11 jungle-specific buffs materially improve her clear speed and gank effectiveness. Her Q cooldown and W shield improvements mean she arrives at camps healthier and can gank at level 3 without health sacrifices. She remains a flex pick for mid lane if jungle is banned.

• Ekko (52.1% WR) — Buffed Q base damage and improved W shield make him a competitive speed-clear option. His all-in with R (time-rewind) is nearly impossible for most lanes to trade back effectively.
• Master Yi (53.0% WR) — Straight-line carry. If your game knowledge allows you to identify which games are snowball-able, Yi rewards that judgment with a 53% aggregate win rate.

A Tier — Solid Choices

• Wukong (51.9% WR) — Clone provides unpredictable engage in skirmishes; solid split-push threat alongside jungle pressure.
• Xin Zhao (51.4% WR) — Down from S tier after healing output nerfs. His early skirmish identity is intact, but sustained fights no longer give him the same edge.
• Quinn (51.6% WR) — Buffed W passive damage makes her a genuine jungle option this patch. Excels at fast skirmishing and hunting isolated targets.
• Rammus (52.3% WR) — Exceptional against auto-attack-heavy compositions. High pick-rate in Gold–Plat where AD carries over-extend.

B Tier — Situational Picks

• Hecarim (50.7% WR) — Strong in late-game teamfights but early clear leaves him vulnerable to invades.
• Jarvan IV (50.9% WR) — Reliable E+Q combo; falls off if flag-and-drag combos are avoided.
• Shyvana (50.8% WR) — Still recovering from 26.10 nerfs on HP-per-level and W cooldown.

Mid Lane Tier List Patch 26.11

Mid lane sees its biggest power shift with the Kassadin Q buff. He was borderline strong in 26.10 but the pre-6 weakness was exploitable. With higher Q base damage, he now chunks ranged matchups before level 6 and his late-game scaling remains unchanged — which is to say, oppressive.

S+ Tier — Dominant Picks

Kassadin (53.1% WR) enters S+ tier in patch 26.11 after his Q damage increase addresses the one phase where he was exploitable: pre-6 laning. Previously, aggressive mid laners could establish a large lead before his Riftwalk came online. Now, his Q deals enough damage in poke trades to prevent that strategy from being free. After level 16, Kassadin is arguably the hardest 1v1 champion in the game.

Malzahar (53.9% WR) is the most consistent mid laner for ranked play. His kit offers a free Flash every 2–3 minutes (W voidlings block skillshots), a point-and-click suppression, and a lane phase that relies more on wave management than precise mechanical execution. No changes in 26.11 means he stays exactly where he was: the safest S+ pick in mid lane.

S Tier — Excellent Performers

• Ahri (52.5% WR) — Dominant roamer with safe laning via E escape. Her charm interrupts the jungle skirmishes that dominate this meta.
• Galio (52.2% WR) — The 100% AP E scaling buff from 26.10 is unchanged. He remains a pick-or-ban threat in coordinated play, and his global R creates macro pressure few mid laners match.
• Diana (52.0% WR) — Flex pick that benefits from jungle buffs even in mid lane; her burst combo onto squishy mids is unchanged.

A Tier — Solid Situational Choices

• Ekko (51.8% WR) — Time Winder slow and his ultimate rewind make him a forgiving pick for players still learning roam timing.
• Naafiri (51.6% WR) — Straightforward assassin with a pack-based passive; consistent even without Deathfire Touch in its previous form.
• Vex (51.4% WR) — Anti-mobility passive punishes Diana, Ekko, and any dash-heavy engage champions. Counter-picks well into Ahri lanes.
• Syndra (51.2% WR) — Highest theoretical burst at full stacks; requires patience to scale but one-shots carries freely at 3 items.

B Tier — Below Average This Patch

• Orianna (50.8% WR) — Still functional but outclassed by Malzahar and Galio in the teamfight-pivot role.
• LeBlanc (50.6% WR) — Deathfire Touch change reduces her burst combo’s reliability; AP builds feel slightly weaker this patch.
• Lissandra (50.5% WR) — Solid in the right compositions but her win-rate drops when not paired with an engage bot.

ADC Tier List Patch 26.11

The ADC landscape shifts most visibly with Smolder’s nerf. He was the dominant S+ carry in earlier patches and received repeated adjustments — the 26.11 changes push him toward pure crit builds and away from the Deathfire Touch burst playstyle. Meanwhile, Nilah and Lucian take the S+ spots with strong win rates unaffected by any patch changes.

S+ Tier — Dominant Picks

Nilah (54.2% WR) is the best ADC in patch 26.11 by win rate. Her melee-range kit scales on attack speed and on-hit effects, and she benefits massively from the support meta shift toward engage — Leona, Nautilus, and Thresh all love her all-in playstyle. She wins 2v2 trades better than any standard marksman and her ultimate provides a team-wide wave of healing. If your support is playing engage, Nilah is the correct pick.

Lucian (53.6% WR) is the proactive marksman of patch 26.11. His short range is compensated by the highest burst-per-dash in the role — he punishes melee supports who over-extend and synergizes with Nami’s empowered autos for devastating all-ins. With Deathfire Touch switching to magic damage, his AD-focused builds remain unaffected.

S Tier — Excellent Performers

• Ashe (53.1% WR) — Her Hawkshot and slowing autos synergize with the engage-heavy bot lane meta. Utility ult remains the strongest long-range disengage or re-engage tool in the role.
• Zeri (52.6% WR) — Buffed Q damage and AS-to-AD conversion from 26.10 carry forward; no nerfs in 26.11.
• Smolder (51.8% WR) — Dropped from S+ after nerfs targeting his Deathfire synergy. His crit build path is still functional; expect him to settle at S tier once players adapt.

A Tier — Solid Situational Choices

• Caitlyn (51.5% WR) — Safe lane bully with trap-based control. Weak into all-in engage but reliable into poke-focused matchups.
• Jinx (51.2% WR) — Hypercarry who comes online later; needs the engage support meta to buy her the time to scale.
• Sivir (51.1% WR) — Underrated this patch; spell shield blocks Nautilus hooks and Leona stuns, making her one of the safer ADCs into the engage meta.
• Yunara (51.0% WR) — Consistent output with predictable damage patterns; easier to pilot than other S/A tier options.

B Tier — Below Average This Patch

• Jhin (50.8% WR) — His fixed attack speed makes him awkward in a meta that rewards kiting and DPS races.
• Tristana (50.6% WR) — Hexplate nerf reduces her mid-fight all-in burst window, her primary identity.
• Vayne (50.4% WR) — Strong in 1v1s but the engage-support meta creates team fight scenarios where her Silver Bolts don’t shine.

For a detailed Jinx ADC build guide, see Jinx ADC Build Guide Season 26.

Support Tier List Patch 26.11

Support is the most changed role in patch 26.11. The enchanters who dominated through Moonstone, Aery, and Helia are down — not gutted, but measurably weaker. Engage and tank supports who were underperforming because item systems didn’t reward them are now meaningfully buffed. If you have been waiting to play Leona, Nautilus, or Thresh in ranked, this is the patch.

For a broader overview of the best support champions to climb with this season, see our best support champions 2026 guide.

S+ Tier — Dominant Picks

Leona (53.4% WR) is the biggest winner in patch 26.11. Aftershock now grants higher flat armor and magic resistance in the early laning phase — the phase where Leona’s all-in is most decisive. Locket of the Iron Solari received a stat buff and is cheaper, meaning she reaches her power-item spike faster. Her combo (E + Q + R) locks down a carry for long enough that even a delayed follow-up from her ADC completes the kill. She synergizes perfectly with Nilah and Lucian, the two S+ ADCs this patch.

Nautilus (52.7% WR) benefits from the same systemic buffs as Leona plus one additional advantage: his hook is a point-and-click ability with a 1250-range pull, the longest hard CC initiation in the game. Every item buff to the tank support ecosystem — Locket, Knight’s Vow, Zeke’s Convergence — plugs directly into his build. He is also one of the best responds to Nilah’s S+ ADC status because their all-in timing aligns perfectly.

S Tier — Excellent Performers

• Thresh (52.2% WR) — Classic engage support that benefits from the systemic melee tool buffs. His Death Sentence hook has counterplay (unlike Nautilus), but his lantern utility sets him apart.
• Blitzcrank (52.0% WR) — Rising this patch. His Power Fist knock-up chains with engage ADCs and his hook punishes the over-extended enchanter playstyle that is now weaker.
• Nami (51.9% WR) — Drops slightly from 26.10’s 54.2% peak as Aery’s base shield reduction trims her poke efficiency. Still S tier because her empowered auto synergy with Lucian is unchanged.

A Tier — Solid Situational Choices

• Morgana (51.5% WR) — Her Black Shield blocks Nautilus hooks and Leona stuns, making her a direct counter-pick to the S+ tier. Still relevant in the right matchups.
• Lux (51.3% WR) — Slightly hurt by Aery/Moonstone nerfs but her long-range playstyle avoids some of the worst engagement scenarios.
• Lulu (51.0% WR) — Moonstone nerf hits her hardest among enchanters. W polymorph is still a strong disengage tool but her sustain output is noticeably down.
• Seraphine (50.8% WR) — Drops from S+ to A tier. Moonstone and Helia were her primary scaling items; their nerfs collectively reduce her healing-per-minute by roughly 12–15% in extended fights.

B Tier — Below Average This Patch

• Soraka (50.3% WR) — Moonstone’s double-dip into heal and shield power is gone, which directly cuts her stacked Starlight’s Grace procs that she relied on for global heals.
• Brand (50.5% WR) — Deathfire Touch’s magic damage change removes the Black Cleaver synergy that made his bot-lane burst so extreme. He is playable but no longer threatening.
• Yuumi (50.1% WR) — Enchanter nerfs hit the entire ecosystem; Yuumi, who leans entirely on healing numbers, feels the cumulative effect most.

How We Rank Champions in This Patch 26.11 Tier List

Our tier list combines aggregated win rate data from multiple tracking sources (Blitz, METAsrc, SeeMeta, MetaBot) filtered to Emerald+ ranked play, where game knowledge and consistent execution determine outcomes more than mechanical outplays. We do not use Gold or below data because champion performance diverges significantly from high-Elo once players learn basic itemization.

Win rate alone does not determine a tier slot. We also factor in:

• Pick rate context — a 54% win rate at 2% pick rate is less meaningful than 53% at 8% pick rate
• Patch trajectory — champions who are trending up or down based on the specific 26.11 changes receive adjusted placement relative to their 26.10 baseline
• Composition dependency — champions who only perform in specific team setups receive a lower tier than their raw stats suggest
• Learning curve — between two champions of equal performance, we note where skill requirements differ significantly

For patch 26.11, the support systemic changes had an outsized influence on every tier. Engage supports rising to S+ shifts which ADCs perform well (Nilah, Lucian benefit; hypercarries who need time to scale, like Jinx and Vayne, are slightly penalized). You can see how individual champion builds interact with these shifts in more detail in our guide on climbing ranked in LoL 2026.

This tier list will be updated as 26.11 win rate data stabilizes post-release. Patch 26.11 goes live on May 27, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions — Patch 26.11

What is the best champion in patch 26.11?

There is no single best champion across all roles, but the highest win rate picks are Nocturne in jungle (54.3% WR), Nilah in ADC (54.2% WR), and Malzahar in mid (53.9% WR). For pure carry potential, Kassadin stands out after his Q buff — if you can survive to level 16, he becomes nearly unstoppable.

Which role benefits most from the patch 26.11 support changes?

Support itself is the most changed role — engage and tank supports like Leona and Nautilus gain S+ status due to direct Aftershock, Guardian, and item buffs. The ADC role also benefits indirectly: Nilah and Lucian’s all-in playstyles thrive with an engage support, and both are S+ this patch. Hypercarry ADCs (Jinx, Tristana) that need an enchanter to survive laning are slightly disadvantaged.

Is Smolder still good after the patch 26.11 nerfs?

Yes, but he has dropped from S+ to S tier. The nerfs target his Deathfire Touch burst synergy and push him toward pure crit builds. Players who switch to a crit-first itemization (Infinity Edge, Kraken Slayer, Navori Quickblades) will find him still performing at roughly a 51–52% win rate. The burst-AP playstyle is no longer optimal.

How big is the Kassadin buff in patch 26.11?

The Q base damage increase is meaningful because it addresses Kassadin’s only exploitable weakness before level 6. Previously, champions like Zed, LeBlanc, and Naafiri could establish a 3–4 CS lead advantage in the early lane by trading freely against his weak early damage. With higher Q damage, he now pokes them back effectively enough to keep the lane even, which is all he needs to reach his late-game scaling window. Expect his pick rate to rise significantly.

When does LoL patch 26.11 go live?

Patch 26.11 goes live on May 27, 2026. Servers typically go down for maintenance around 3:00 AM local time per region and return approximately 3 hours later. If you want to get ahead of the curve and adapt your build choices the moment the patch drops, tools like buildzcrank adjust their real-time recommendations to reflect current patch data automatically — no manual build updating required.

For a full breakdown of the previous patch’s changes, including the item reworks and Lee Sin modernization, see our LoL Tier List Patch 26.10.