Riot Games has previewed the headline changes coming in patch 26.16, set to launch on August 12, 2026. Lead gameplay designer Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison says the studio wants to rein in mage presence in the bot lane, a trend that accelerated through the Esports World Cup and the KeSPA Cup and has now started spilling into ranked play.
A swing Riot sees as too far
Mages made up only around 20 percent of bot lane picks going into MSI 2026. Riot says it likes mages being viable in the role, but views the current swing as excessive, and wants to keep traditional ADCs as the primary carry class in the lane.
Roaming supports penalized, ADCs buffed
Concretely, the gold and experience penalty for supports who roam early is rising from 25 percent until level 3 to 33 percent until level 5, a direct hit to aggressive mage-support pairings. On the other side, ADCs are getting several buffs: Berserker's Greaves, the Fleet Footwork rune, the Heal summoner spell, and base ADC magic resistance are all being increased.
A tightly scoped balance preview with one goal: give ADCs breathing room in the bot lane, ten days before patch 26.16 lands on August 12.