Dialog content
This article was originally published April 21 as an early preview. Patch 26.9 dropped April 28, and Ranked Season 2 Pandemonium launched April 29 with a Master+ tier reset. Updated May 4 with 6-day ranked data: Taliyah 58.8% WR, real tier shifts confirmed, and new item impact breakdowns.
Patch 26.9 is live since April 28, and Season 2 Pandemonium has officially kicked off. This is one of the biggest meta resets in recent memory, and with only 6 patches this season, getting ahead right now matters. Here's the full live breakdown with the updated tier list for Week 1.
Six days into Patch 26.9 ranked, the numbers are in. The meta has landed harder than the patch notes suggested, with one champion sitting at a historically high win rate and a few buff beneficiaries underperforming expectations.
Taliyah is the undisputed queen of this patch. Her 58.8% win rate makes her the highest-performing pick in the entire game across all roles, confirming what the Deathfire Touch synergy hinted at before live. Despite only a 1.2% pick rate, players who know her are printing LP right now 🔥.
Her reverted Q damage combined with Deathfire Touch's burn creates a damage-over-time pattern that's nearly impossible to trade against in the mid lane. If you can play Taliyah, this is your window.
Check her current best runes and builds at /meta/lol/taliyah.
Not every buff landed as expected. Here's the real ranked picture after 6 days:
Warwick (52.2% WR, A-tier): The late-game scaling improvements translated directly. Solid jungle pick with strong dueling, especially post-6.
Gragas (49.5% WR, C-tier): Landed softer than expected. The W damage reduction buff helps his frontline, but he's still a situational pick requiring the right team composition.
Tahm Kench (48.8% WR, D-tier): Despite the E grey health and R move speed improvements, he's underperforming in the current meta. The support nerfs on solo lane items hurt him more than the buffs helped.
Ambessa (45.2% WR, F-tier): The 0.15s extra cast time on her R hit harder than expected. She's among the lowest-performing champions in the game right now. Avoid.
Briar (52.4% WR, A-tier): The health growth nerf dropped her survivability but she still holds up in the right hands. Not dead, just no longer free.
Both new Doran's starters are reshaping early laning dynamics. Doran's Bow (6 AD, 12% attack speed, 1.5% omnivamp) gives auto-attack champions a high-risk, high-reward opener that wins extended level 1-2 trades. Doran's Helm (100 HP, 10 armor, 10 MR) is the tank-starter answer, giving melee champions a way to contest trades against both physical and magic threats simultaneously.
The meta consensus: Bow for aggressive early lanes, Helm for defensive setups against mixed-damage supports or double AP compositions 🛡️.
The Statikk Shiv rework changed its identity completely. The old version rewarded burst waveclear; the new version (40 AD, 45 AP, 30% attack speed) spreads on-hit effects to multiple enemies via chain lightning. The practical impact: it's now an ADC and on-hit scaling item rather than a waveclear tool. Kennen, Teemo, and Xin Zhao benefit most. Classic waveclear ADCs should look elsewhere.
Season 1 closed on April 28 at 23:59 server time. Patch 26.9 dropped immediately after and kicked off Season 2 Pandemonium, a shorter season with just 6 patches instead of the usual 8. Every patch will count more this season 📅.
Ranked queues for Season 2 went live on April 29. Master+ players received a tier reset, meaning the ladder is genuinely normalized right now. It's the best window of the split to climb before the top of the ladder hardens. If you've been waiting for the right moment to grind, this is it 🏆.
Track the live Season 2 meta on Amber.gg to see which champions are already pulling ahead in the first days of ranked.
The patch is live, so here's who to play and who to avoid in Week 1 based on confirmed changes.
Ezreal (AP): his Q ratio jumped from 15% to 40% AP, making AP Ezreal a legitimate mid-lane threat. The scaling change is massive for burst builds. Track his live win rate on Amber.gg.
Kennen (AD/Crit): the W now applies on-hit effects and crits, opening a full AD/crit build path that was never viable before. Expect him to dominate AD bruiser and crit itemization.
Teemo (On-hit): the E now scales with +30% bonus AD, making on-hit Teemo significantly stronger. Rageblade builds benefit the most here.
Xin Zhao (AP): his E ratio was doubled to 120% AP, making AP Xin Zhao a one-shot menace in the jungle. Burst mages and hybrids will abuse this.
Gragas, Tahm Kench, Taliyah, Warwick all received direct buffs this patch. Safe picks across their roles while the meta settles 🔥.
Shyvana: now has a clear AD/AP build split live in Patch 26.9. The AP path synergizes with Deathfire Touch and her dragon form magic damage, while the AD path benefits from the Statikk Shiv rework and on-hit scaling.
Ambessa: her ultimate cast time increased from 0.55s to 0.70s, making her all-in significantly easier to dodge. Opponents who know the change will punish her hard. Check the updated Ambessa matchup data.
Briar: health growth nerfed from 100 to 95 per level. She bleeds out faster in extended trades she previously survived.
Zoe: W damage down -25% and E cooldown increased from 12s to 14s. Two nerfs in one patch is a rough week for Zoe mains 📉.
Season 2 brings two returning keystones, one reworked rune, and permanently removes one:
Deathfire Touch is back for damage-over-time champions. It scales with both AP and AD, making it flexible across hybrid builds. AP assassins and bruisers running DoT effects are the primary beneficiaries. Shyvana AP and Kennen are top-tier users this patch.
Stormraider's Surge returns and triggers when you deal 25% of a target's max HP within 3 seconds, granting a burst of movement speed. Chase-heavy bruisers and dive assassins benefit most: it rewards aggressive burst windows and makes kiting much harder for opponents.
Arcane Comet has been reworked: no more cooldown refund on champion damage, but the comet now scales with distance traveled. Long-range poke mages (Lux, Xerath, Vel'Koz) gain more comet damage on max-range hits, while short-range casters lose the spam window they relied on.
Phase Rush has been removed due to early-lane abuse patterns. Champions that relied on it for safe laning need to rethink their rune pages 🛑.
The item shop got a major refresh for Season 2 Pandemonium:
Doran's Bow (new): 6 AD, 12% Attack Speed, 1.5% Omnivamp. A purpose-built starting item for ranged carries who want early aggression and sustain.
Doran's Helm (new): 100 HP, 10 Armor, 10 Magic Resistance. A tank starting item for solo laners who need to survive hard matchups.
Gluttonous Greaves (new boots): 45 MS + 4% omnivamp stacking. This is the go-to boots option for on-hit and hybrid carries looking to sustain through extended fights. Kennen, Teemo, and AP Xin Zhao are immediate buyers 👟.
Statikk Shiv (reworked): now scales on-hit, and the chain lightning applies full on-hit effects to secondary targets. This is a massive buff for on-hit champions like Kayle, Kog'Maw, Kennen, and Teemo. The ADC buildpath has officially shifted toward on-hit this patch.
Hextech Gunblade is back, giving AP/AD hybrid damage and a slow active. Hybrid champions get a premium itemization option they haven't had in a while 🎉.
Opportunity and Trailblazer have been removed from the shop. Players relying on these need to rebuild their item paths immediately.
Role Quests got a major quality-of-life update this patch, making them far less punishing for flex players and off-role picks:
Penalties slashed toward 0%: quest point penalties have been reduced by 75%, and the system now scales down toward 0% in many scenarios. Off-role and duo flex players will feel this the most.
Passive progression increased: you now earn quest progress passively over time. You don't need to be hyperactive to advance your rewards.
Top lane bonus: top laners now gain flat XP on takedowns, helping them stay relevant even when they lose early trades or get dove. This is a direct buff to aggressive top laners who can convert fights into XP leads.
Mid lane power spike: the empowered recall reward has been replaced by +6% Bonus AD and AP, a flat scaling bonus that directly improves your damage output as the game progresses. Mid laners who scale win harder.
Roaming timer is now bankable: spend 2 minutes in lane and earn up to 60 seconds of roaming time you can use without penalty. Mid laners and junglers who rotate efficiently have far more flexibility without the timer punishing them immediately 🗺️.
WASD movement is now available in ranked. Whether you use it or not, understanding how it changes opponent movement patterns matters, especially in skill-shot-dependent matchups.
Support items received targeted nerfs for solo lane usage. This kills the gold-income exploit that made support items attractive in top lane, pushing those players back to traditional builds.
Good news for support mains: your item system is protected from meta-warping exploitation 👏.
Games with a confirmed AFK or intentional troll can now be voted to end early by the affected team. It won't fix everything, but it's a meaningful improvement for ranked integrity.
Riot dropped a surprise micropatch on May 1st to rein in a few unintended interactions from Patch 26.9. Quick corrections, but they reshape the meta harder than you'd expect 📉.
The rune was too dominant across too many classes after launch. Two targeted changes bring it back in line.
Poke mages running Deathfire Touch (Vex, Lux) and AP assassins (Zed) lose a meaningful chunk of their burst. The rune is still viable, just no longer a no-brainer pick on every ranged champion.
Cut Down was incorrectly granting 16% bonus damage against high-HP targets instead of the intended 8%. Assassins and burst champions lose roughly half their free tank-shredding bonus with this fix.
Deathfire Touch's nerf directly shifts power away from AP poke compositions. Zeri is the biggest winner: her corrected 550 range combined with a less oppressive rune environment puts her back in strong ADC territory. If you were avoiding bot lane this week, now is the time to reconsider.
Check the updated champion rankings on the LoL meta tracker and review the LoL Ranked 2026 changes to understand how season structure affects these tier shifts. Ready to put your updated builds to the test? Jump into LoL ladders on Amber.gg and compete for prize pools while the meta settles 🏆.
Season 2 Pandemonium + a Master+ tier reset creates the freshest competitive window of the split. Here's the short version:
For deeper strategy, check the LoL meta tracker on Amber.gg and compare champion pages like Ezreal and Ambessa to track the evolution. You can also read our Patch 26.8 retrospective to see how the meta shifted going into this patch, or our guide on making money playing League of Legends to put real stakes on your Season 2 climb.
Season 2 Pandemonium is live, the ladder is normalized, and the meta clock is ticking. Compete in LoL ladders on Amber.gg and play for prize pools while the ELO reset is fresh 🎯.
Discover More
You might also enjoy these articles.
Cooldown 12s → 14s
Right-click attack range corrected to 550 (was exceeding intended value after Patch 26.9)
Cast time 0.55s → 0.70s
Incorrect damage calculation corrected, in-game numbers now match tooltips
