League Patch 26.18: Seraphine Nerf, Master Yi Buff, Cassiopeia Changes, and More

The newest League of Legends Patch Preview is here. Let’s recap Patch 26.18, including big changes to several popular Champions, a Cassiopeia rework, and an item adjustment.

League of Legends Patch 26.18 Preview

We’re just a few patches away from Worlds, and the League of Legends competition is heating up. As the devs work to balance things out before the most important tournament of the year, Lead Gameplay Designer Matt ‘RiotPhroxzon’ Leung-Harrison has released a patch preview giving players an idea of what we can expect.

This week’s Patch will bring some big buffs to Ekko, Master Yi, and Viego while nerfing Seraphine and completely changing up Cassiopeia. Plus, several other Champions will see adjustments, and one item is getting buffed to become more reliable. Let’s dive into a summary.

Patch 26.18 Full Preview!

Cassiopeia
– Cassiopeia is in a pretty rough state for average players (~47% winrate), while being too strong in Pro Play and above average in Elite play
– We're making some adjustments this patch to move some of her power around that retain her… pic.twitter.com/XoimZ22G2t

— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) September 2, 2026

When is the League of Legends Patch 26.18 Release Date?

League of Legends Patch 26.18 is set to release on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Exact rollout time might vary depending on the player’s location and server region. Typically, Riot drops updates during hours with lower activity.

Patch 26.18 Champion Buffs

Junglers and midlaners are getting the most attention with buffs in this patch. Ekko, Viego, and Master Yi are among the more common picks grabbing adjustments. The Ekko changes will mainly improve his waveclear, making it easier for him to snowball from early game. Meanwhile, Viego should have an easier time choosing bruiser builds. Underappreciated purple ELO eater Kassadin is also seeing damage increases, and Zaahen’s revive will be more consistent to play around.

Ekko

Time-turning Boy Savior Ekko is getting a midlane buff focusing on his waveclear. Since his AP builds occur more frequently in mid, the team is rewarding them. Ideally, this will help Ekko players “get the snowball going.”

• Q Mana: 50-90 → 40-80
• Q Return Damage AP Ratio: 60% → 70%

Kassadin

• Q AP Ratio: 70% → 80%
• R Base Damage: 70/90/110 → 80/95/110

Master Yi

• AR Growth: +4.5/Level → +5/Level
• R MS: 35-55% → 40-60%

Viego

These Viego buffs will mainly boost up his bruiser builds, encouraging him to experiment with new pathways.

• P Heal: NEW +2% per 500 bonus HP scaling added
• AD Growth: 3.5 → 4

Zaahen

RiotPhroxzon notes that “Zaahen is a little on the weak side after the last set of nerfs we did.” To fix it, the team is granting him some pretty high Q damage buffs. They’re also ensuring his Revive mechanics are “more consistent” so players won’t get caught off-gaurd.

• Q placed on CD immediately upon entering Resurrection
• Q2 Damage: 25/50/75/100/125 → 30/60/90/120/150

Patch 26.18 Champion Nerfs

Seraphine mains are being pushed out of midlane even further with targeted nerfs to her E cooldown. These changes shouldn’t affect support players much. Notably, Syndra sees mana and cooldown nerfs. Zeri is also losing some of her super-speed and shock power.

Bard

• Base AR: 34 +5/Level → 32 +4.7/Level

Nautilus

• Base AD: 61 +3.3/Level → 58 +3.3/Level
• Q Damage: 85-265 (+90% AP) → 85-245 (+90% AP)

Seraphine

Seraphine sweats will remember the days when she could have fun in multiple roles as a borsty midlaner. However, previous patch notes made it clear that Support is the position League prioritizes for her, and this update is no exception.

The team is “making E rank up incentives worse for the damage-oriented roles.” This should have very little effect on Seraphine support.

• E CD: 11-9s → 11s

Syndra

• P Splinter Mana: 20-255 → 20-199
• W CD: 12-8s → 13-9s

Zeri

Runaan’s Hurricane has made Zeri a bit too strong in regular play. The dev team feels the item itself is in a good spot, but its impact on Zeri is disproportionate. This means they’re moving directly to nerfing the Champion.

• W Damage: 30-190 (+120% total AD) → 30-190 (+100% total AD)
• W Wall Damage: 45-285 (+180% total AD) → 45-285 (+150% total AD)

Big Cassiopeia Adjustments

Cassiopeia’s entire kit is changing in Patch 26.18. RiotPhroxzon categorizies this firmly as an adjustment rather than a nerf or buff. The dev team notes that while Cassiopeia is overpowered in pro play, she’s struggling with a subpar win rate in lower ranks.

This update’s changes will “move some of her power around that retain her gameplay identity of being a strong early game champion (which is inherently pro skewed), but also giving her power back for regular players.”

Riot is “moving more of the power into her AP ratios over her base damages as Average players tend to purchase more AP.”

• P MS Bonus: 6%-40% → 5%-35%
• E Mana Cost: 40 → 45
• E Base/Enhanced AP Ratio: 10%/55% → 20%/45% (Total 65% unchanged)
• E Base Damage: 52-120 → 50-118
• Q Damage: 75-215 (+65% AP) → 65-205 (+75% AP)
• R Damage: 150/250/350 (+50% AP) → 125/225/325 (+75% AP)

Patch 26.18 Item and System Changes

A higher Stack Duration time will make Rageblade more reliable.

Guinsoo’s Rageblade

• Seething Strike Stack Duration: 3s → 4s

It’s important to note that since this is just a Patch Preview, the exact stats may change before Patch 26.18 releases. Once the update goes live, it will appear on the Patch Notes page. Stay tuned for more League of Legends esports and game news!