If you took a break during the back half of Season 2, this is the catch-up. Four patches — 26.11 through 26.14 — reshaped support items, redesigned ARAM Mayhem twice over, and moved a long list of champions before Season 3 opened on Patch 26.15.
| Patch | Date | Headline change |
|---|---|---|
| 26.11 | May 28, 2026 | Imperial Mandate reworked into a CC utility item |
| 26.12 | June 9, 2026 | ARAM Mayhem redesign: Trait System removed |
| 26.13 | June 23, 2026 | Last hit indicators, Ranked 5s returns |
| 26.14 | July 14, 2026 | Season 2 closes, Blue Buff ability haste |
Patch 26.11 — May 28, 2026
The support patch. Imperial Mandate was reworked from a heal/shield support item into a crowd-control utility item, and the rune and item ecosystem around supports moved with it.
- •Buffed: Diana (jungle damage, W scaling), Ekko (passive cooldown), Heimerdinger (turret range and vision), Kassadin (Q cooldown, W damage), Quinn (monster damage)
- •Nerfed: Brand (base armor), Smolder (passive magic damage scaling), Teemo (armor growth, E scaling), Xin Zhao (healing, though bonus damage added)
- •Items — Summon Aery shielding nerfed; Aftershock and Guardian buffed; Moonstone Renewer and Echoes of Helia damage reduced; Locket of the Iron Solari resistances up; Heartsteel conversion up; Statikk Shiv AD up
- •Systems — Mid Role Quest reward up from 6% to 8% AD/AP; Grubs buffed for support roaming; Deathfire Touch changed to magic damage only
Diana
Ekko
Heimerdinger
Kassadin
QuinnPatch 26.12 — June 9, 2026
A broad balance pass plus the first ARAM Mayhem redesign: Ability Augments and Quest Augments were added and the Trait System was removed entirely.
- •Nerfed: Lee Sin, Nocturne, Orianna, Ryze, Varus, Xin Zhao
- •Teleport — shield changed from 30% for 30 seconds to 35% for 10 seconds
- •Experimental Hexplate adjusted to address Varus dominance in top lane
- •Systems — Normal Draft went 24/7 in ME, OC and SG; Honor moved into the Social Panel
Aatrox
Gwen
Hwei
Jax
Sylas
Syndra
Tristana
YuumiPatch 26.13 — June 23, 2026
A quality-of-life patch as much as a balance one — last hit indicators came to non-ranked queues and Ranked 5s returned.
- •Buffed: Aphelios, Draven, Kai'Sa, LeBlanc, Olaf, Poppy, Qiyana, Vex, Zaahen
- •Doran's Helm — resistances down from 10 to 8, health up from 140 to 150
- •Imperial Mandate — build path adjusted, AP down from 65 to 60, Control and Command effects increased
- •Systems — last hit indicators in Normal Draft and other non-ranked queues; Ranked 5s returned June 26 with Tournament Draft; direct message reporting added; Discord account linking in supported regions
Bard
Brand
Cassiopeia
KSante
RekSai
Rumble
Senna
SionPatch 26.14 — July 14, 2026
The last patch of Season 2. It closed the split on July 28 and set up the Season 3 handover.
- •Buffed: Azir (bug fixes plus rune interactions — Scorch and Liandry's now deal full on-hit damage, Conqueror applies 2 stacks), Corki (AD growth, ultimate recharge), Mordekaiser (E damage and stat steal), Nami (E damage per hit), Yunara (AD growth)
- •Nerfed: Garen (ultimate true damage at all levels), Jayce (passive movement speed and resistances), Locke (Q hold time, damage, W healing cap), Senna (crit damage modifier, Q ratios), Seraphine (Q AP ratio)
- •Items — Immortal Path damage and healing down; Protoplasm Harness cost up and early healing/health down; Hextech Rocketbelt build path changed, cooldown up, AP down, health up
- •Systems — Blue Buff now grants scaling ability haste by level; buff bar UI cleaned up; Season 2 ended July 28, Season 3 began July 29
Azir
Corki
Mordekaiser
Nami
YunaraThe through-line
Two themes run across all four patches. First, supports and enchanters were pulled down while tank and crowd-control items were pushed up — Imperial Mandate's rework in 26.11 is the clearest statement of that. Second, ARAM Mayhem was treated as a live testbed, with augments added, removed and retuned in nearly every patch.
Both matter going into Season 3: the support item ecosystem you learned in early Season 2 is not the one you are playing now.