League of Legends Patch 26.09 Preview: Massive Changes to Shyvana & Zeri, New Items, and More

League of Legends Patch 26.09 is right around the corner, and it's going to be a big one. The coming update will not only deliver the new Pandemonium-themed Season 2 to LoL, but will also make sweeping changes to a large number of champions, introduce new items, new runes, and a whole lot more.

Let's take a look at some of the biggest changes coming when LoL Patch 26.09 goes live on Wednesday, April 29.

Zeri and Shyvana Take New Paths

Without a doubt, the two champions with the biggest set of changes coming their way in the new League of Legends update are Zeri and Shyvana. Both of their kits are receiving large overhauls, particularly in the numbers department.

Zeri Trades Raw Power for Maneuverability

In the case of Zeri, the ADC is receiving a damage nerf to all four of her abilities when all is said and done. The one you will feel the most is the nerf to her [Q] Burst Fire (essentially her auto-attacks), particularly the longer the game goes, as the ability will no longer scale as well as it once did. 

To make up for this, though, Riot is giving Zeri longer range on her [P] Living Battery, and, more importantly, more movement speed when using her [R] Lightning Crash.

Shyvana's Rework Gets a Rework?

And then there's Shyvana, a champion who got reworked just over a month ago. A rework which Riot clearly felt didn't land, judging by the amount of changes she's receiving again with Patch 26.09.

Shyvana's kit is getting large number tweaks to every ability other than her [R] Dragon's Descent. The purpose of these changes is to lead Shyvana players away from squishier, attack-speed-heavy builds, and more towards bruiser items. 

Moreover, Shyvana will feel clear distinctions between AD and AP playstyles and builds, both of which should remain viable with these changes, and yet feel satisfactory enough in their own distinct ways. 

New Playstyles, More Flexibility

Another big point of the new patch is the possibility to go for AP builds on champions that haven't had the option to do so in a long time. This will be the case for champions like Ezreal and Xin Zhao, for instance.

Likewise, champs like Kennen now have viable AD paths instead of necessarily building full AP glass cannon every game. Udyr, meanwhile, should be far more viable as a tank moving forward too.

This increased flexibility will feel great for players looking to try a new playstyle or who simply feel like switching things up a bit. Moving forward, the game will allow for more adaptability whenever a specific game calls for it, and that's never a bad thing (as long as none of these builds become OP, of course).

Item Changes Left and Right

A total of seven items are receiving changes. These are Endless Hunger (melee buff), Hubris (early game nerf), Axiom Arc (adjustments), Dusk and Dawn (adjustments), Staff of Flowing Water (adjustments), Voltaic Cyclosword (adjustments), and Stattik Shiv. Of these, Stattik Shiv is the big talking point, as it will now apply on-hit effects to all targets hit by the lightning.

As if that were not enough, LoL Patch 26.09 is also introducing three new items to the game. These are two new starter item alternatives, Doran's Bow (attack speed) and Doran's Helm (resistances), and a new boots alternative with Omnivamp: Gluttonous Greaves.

Note that two items are also being removed from the game (Opportunity and Trailblazer), and two new (old) Sorcery Keystone runes are arriving with the new patch as well (Deathfire Touch and Stormraider's Surge).

All things considered, expect your options to look a little different once you head into the shop to spend your gold moving forward!

The New Season Arrives with a Bang!

League of Legends Patch 26.09 is delivering Season 2 with a wave of sweeping changes to the game. With new items, new runes, large champion changes, an MMR reset for specific ranks, and more, expect to see lots of testing and new playstyles during the first few weeks of the new season. 

All information about LoL Patch 26.09 was taken from an X (Twitter) post made by Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison, Lead Gameplay Designer for League of Legends. If you'd like to have a look at the complete list of changes, make sure to check out the post!

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Featured image credit: Riot Games

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