League Patch 26.8
Champions
Lucian buffed
Tahm Kench adjusted
Hey Friends,
League Patch 26.8 is here! We have a smaller patch to cover today due to preparations for the 26.9 launch, which will introduce many balances changes for the season 2: Pandemonium. Don’t forget to play your 15 ranked games for the victorious skin if you haven’t done so already!
Lucian buffs are the most interesting change. While the buffs are intended to primarily help Lucian in the bot lane, we will analyse these changes through the lens of toplane. Notably, in the previous update, I mentioned the rise of Jayce priority. A skilled Lucian player, when Lucian was in a good spot overall, could contest Jayce well in the laning phase. I am still sceptical if the changes will matter enough for the pick to show up as a counter pick again, but perhaps some pro players will be courageous enough to bring back the top lane Lucian.
Tahm Kench has always been extremely niche in top lane. My first impression is that these adjustments won’t benefit top lane Kench as the champion pivoted to Dusk and Dawn builds, but we might have to wait for more statistics to confirm this. Regardless, my stance is that this champion is and will remain primarily a support champion. As such, it will always be niche and nerfed rather quickly if it ever becomes too strong.
While top lane is probably the most versatile role in the entire game, support champions are definitely the weakest style of champion to play in the toplane due to nature of playing for resources. You could argue that tanks don’t need resources, which is somewhat true when compared to bruisers and other styles, but most of them still need to compete with the game economy in order to maximize their kits.
Overall, it’s the calm before the storm. We are patiently awaiting 26.9 for those impactful changes. Also, Rumble is even better this patch due to Karma nerfs, though he already sits at almost 100% ban rate in the LCK.
Friendly reminder to check out the separate post for the tier list analysis, updates or a quick overview.
Until next time o7.
