LoL Patch 26.10: Smolder and Naafiri Nerfed, Lee Sin and Quinn Buffed
Patch 26.10 LoL is live, and it shakes up the competitive meta hard. Smolder and Naafiri take major hits, while Lee Sin and Quinn get the buffs needed to climb the ladder.
Riot Games
🔨 The Big Nerfs: What Got Hit?
Smolder: Early Dominance Taken Down a Notch
Smolder has been a priority ban or first-pick across competitive ladders for weeks. Riot's answer: base attack damage 60 to 58, plus reductions on both Q and R. The Deathfire Touch synergy made him oppressive early, snowballing games before opponents could even react 📉.
Damage reduced — toned down early burst synergy with Deathfire Touch
If you've been hard-countered by Smolder in the LoL competitive meta, this patch gives you breathing room. He's still viable, but no longer the no-brainer pick he was.
Naafiri: Mid and Jungle Domination Ends
Naafiri has been terrorizing both mid lane and jungle with Q and R damage that was simply too high for her mobility level. Riot cut the numbers on both, pulling her back into balanced territory.
Base damage reduced across both Q and R, targeting mid and jungle dominance
Base damage reduced across both Q and R, targeting mid and jungle dominance
She still has strong poke in mid and decent jungle pressure, but the free wins she generated in ranked ladders are gone. 🐺
Zed: Mechanical Skill Now Actually Matters
Zed's passive max health damage gets trimmed from 6/8/10% to 5/7.5/10% at later levels, and E bonus AD scaling drops from 80% to 70%. This nerfs his mid-game burst without removing his late-game presence.
The takeaway: bad Zed players will fall off harder now. Good ones still thrive, which is honestly the healthier state for the champ on the meta page.
Deathfire Touch: Early Damage Reduced
The rune that made Smolder (and others) oppressive early gets its damage scaled from 4-12 to 3-12. The late-game ceiling stays the same, but the early pressure it enabled is trimmed. 🎯
This change ripples beyond Smolder: any champ that relied on Deathfire Touch for early burst lane dominance will feel the difference.
Riot Games
💪 The Buffs: Who's Rising?
Lee Sin: The Blind Monk Is Back 🦵
Lee Sin gets the most meaningful buff package of patch 26.10. His W cooldown is now a flat 7 seconds across all ranks (down from the old scaling), his shield now applies to minions and wards (huge for ward-hop mechanics), and his R collision now persists on non-champion targets.
W cooldown unified at 7s across all levels, shield applies to minions/wards, R collision persists on non-champions
W cooldown unified at 7s across all levels, shield applies to minions/wards, R collision persists on non-champions
If you play Lee Sin on Amber.gg competitive ladders, this is a genuine power upgrade, not just a rounding fix. The ward-hop shield improvement alone opens new creative plays. Players grinding paid competitions will feel this directly 🔥.
Quinn: Jungle Pivot Officially Supported
Quinn gets bonus jungle damage and a mana cost reduction on R, signaling that Riot is actively pushing her toward a jungle identity. This isn't a stealth change: it's a deliberate design pivot.
Her jungle clear becomes more sustainable, and the lower R cost means more frequent roaming. Watch for Quinn to appear in jungle meta discussions over the next few patches.
Galio: Mid Lane Value Restored
Galio sees reduced mana costs on Q and his R now scales at 100% MR, up from before. This makes full tank Galio a genuine teamfight threat again, and his waveclear lane phase becomes less mana-taxing.
Wukong and Zeri: Viability Buffs
Both Wukong and Zeri receive general viability improvements to bring them back into competitive consideration. Neither is expected to become a meta monster immediately, but they move out of the "actively avoid in ranked" tier. 📈
🎯 What Should You Ban or Pick Right Now?
The meta question after 26.10: what do you ban or pick?
Ban priority: Zed stays dangerous despite the nerf (high-mechanical players adapt fast). Smolder drops in urgency but watch for players who abuse his new lower floor.
Pick priority: Lee Sin is the clearest winner of this patch. His W change alone makes him more consistent in solo queue, and the R persistence opens new team fight angles. Check the Patch 26.10 Tier List to see where he lands in your ELO.
The previous patch 26.9 tier list already showed a meta shifting away from pure burst, and 26.10 accelerates that trend. Champions with sustained damage and mobility (Quinn, Lee Sin) gain ground.
For a full champion-by-champion breakdown with tier ratings, see the LoL Patch 26.10 Tier List: 5 Champions to Climb, 3 to Drop. The support meta these changes set in motion was then overhauled in LoL Patch 26.11 Notes.
🏆 Compete While the Meta Is Still Fresh
The first week of a new patch is when the meta is most volatile, and that volatility is an advantage for adaptable players. If you're looking to turn your LoL ranked grind into real earnings, join the LoL ladders on Amber.gg, where players compete for real prize pools every day.
Want to know if competing is worth it at your skill level? Read How to Make Money Playing League of Legends (Without Being Pro), or check the guide on How to Join LoL Tournaments with a Prize Pool to get started.
