League of Legends Patch 26.9 Notes: Demon Hunting, WASD Goes Live, Master+ Wiped

Patch 26.9 went live on April 28, and it is one of those updates that will shape how the rest of the year feels. Three big things land at once. Vayne kicks off the Season 2 “Chaos” storyline as a demon hunter on the outskirts of Demacia. WASD movement controls finally get the green light for Ranked play. And Riot wiped Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger ranks in six regions on the same day.

If you only have time to read one part of this patch breakdown, read the WASD section. That is the change with the longest shadow.

Season 2 “Chaos” launches

The League of Legends patch 26.9 update opens with Vayne’s demon-hunting arc. Riot is rolling out motion comics across the season to fill in her backstory, but the in-game stuff is here on day one.

The skin lineup is unusually loaded:

• Demonic Curse Vayne anchors the season as the centerpiece skin
• Prestige Chaos Shaco unlocks through the Battle Pass
• Chaos Annie and Chaos Kindred are the seasonal-tier skins
• Baguette Irelia and Spaghetti alla Vel’Koz drop later as the joke skins
• PROJECT: Quinn and Rain Shepherd Ivern round out the season releases

One structural change worth knowing: Season 2 runs six patches instead of the usual eight. That is to make room for a longer Season 3 later in the year. Battle Pass progression speeds up to compensate, so the unlock pace feels normal even though the window is shorter.

WASD goes live on Ranked

This is the headline. After months of beta testing in normals, WASD movement controls are now Ranked-legal as of patch 26.9.

If you have not tried it yet: WASD lets you move your character with the keyboard like any modern action game, instead of right-clicking the ground. Riot has been refining the system since late 2025, and the data finally landed where they wanted it. Point-and-click still wins on aggregate win rate, but the gap is small enough that WASD players are not handicapping themselves anymore.

A few things worth knowing before you bring it into Ranked:

• The control schemes are not equal across champions. Mobility-heavy picks like Yasuo, Riven, and Camille feel meaningfully better on WASD. Immobile mages like Veigar or Lux feel slightly worse.
• Champion-specific keybinds also went live this patch. You can configure different controls for different mains, which matters if you flex between styles.
• You can switch mid-game. No restrictions, no cooldowns, no penalty.
• The muscle memory shift is real. Queue ten normal games before you take it ranked.

I have been playing WASD for two patches now. The honest answer is that it feels better on some champs and worse on others, and the players claiming it is universally superior are mostly the ones who already adapted. Give it a fair trial. Do not switch mid-climb.

Apex Tier Ranked Reset

Riot reset all Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger ranks in NA, EUW, EUNE, BR, LAN, and TR. Korea, China, and the rest of Asia did not get the reset.

The mechanics:

• You drop to Diamond I, 0 LP
• Hidden MMR is preserved, so you climb back fast
• Leaderboards reset, so the top 200 is up for grabs again
• Anyone who was Diamond IV or below is unaffected

The reasoning is rank inflation. Over the last two seasons, the skill level needed to reach Master drifted lower while the visible LP threshold stayed the same. A 2026 Master player is, on average, weaker than a 2024 Master player. The reset pulls the ladder back into shape.

If you were Apex Tier before April 28, expect to be back at your old rank within two to three weeks of consistent play.

Champion balance changes

Eighteen champions got tuned this patch. The headlines:

Buffed:

• Aphelios base AD up from 57 to 60, Q damage scaling adjusted upward
• Graves got partial reverts on the preemptive crit mitigations from 26.1
• Yorick Maiden of the Mist health scaling up for late-game scaling
• Karma Mantra-empowered Q now applies a slow on hit
• Kindred passive bonus AD per stack up from 1.25 to 1.5

Nerfed:

• Aphelios crit-stacking burst damage came down (yes, also nerfed in the same patch)
• Hwei W damage reduced at all ranks
• Smolder Q stack generation slowed early
• Briar bloodlust healing reduced at lower ranks
• K’Sante Ntofo Strikes damage cut

The Aphelios situation is the interesting one. Riot wants him in AD-AS builds and out of crit-stacking, so they pulled both levers in opposite directions. Whether that actually shifts builds in solo queue is the question. For the full damage numbers, the official patch notes have every line item.

Item changes worth tracking

Four item changes will move the needle on builds:

• Hextech Gunblade, active heal down, AP scaling up
• Stormrazor, Energized damage cap raised
• Eclipse, health scaling adjusted, crit conversion tweaked
• Hubris, soul stack cap raised from 35 to 40

Hubris at 40 stacks is the one to watch. That extends the carry potential of late-game assassins by a real margin, and Talon and Zed already had strong patches on 26.8.

What it does to the meta

Top lane gets a quiet boost. Top laners now earn more XP for participating in team fights, which makes the “split push then teleport bot” macro slightly less punishing. Mid laners get a 6% bonus to AD and AP after completing their Role Quest, which pulls scaling assassins and control mages back into a stronger spot.

The bigger meta shift is downstream of WASD. As more high-elo players adopt it, mobility champions will look stronger because skilled WASD players sidestep skillshots more cleanly than point-and-click ever could. Watch Yasuo, Yone, Riven, and Camille win rates over the next three weeks. If they trend up two or three percent, that is the WASD effect.

For matchup analysis and patch impact across roles, our LoL news section tracks the meta as it shifts.

Patch 26.9 FAQ

When did patch 26.9 go live? April 28, 2026, across all regions.

Is WASD better than point-and-click in patch 26.9? Slightly worse on win rate aggregate, but close enough that the difference vanishes for individual players. Better on mobility champs, worse on immobile ones.

Will my Master rank reset to nothing? Down to Diamond I, 0 LP. MMR stays the same, so the climb back is faster than the rank suggests.

What is the next patch? Patch 26.10 lands May 12, with the Blue Essence Emporium opening on May 13.

For ongoing patch breakdowns and esports coverage, our LoL section has it.