First Stand 2026 will be played on League of Legends Patch 26.5 - how will these changes affect professional play?
League of Legends Patch 26.5 has been live for a while, and this is the version of the game that First Stand 2026 will be played on. Which changes are bound to affect pro play, and which ones are more for solo queue players? Check out our patch analysis here.
First Stand 2026 patch analysis
First Stand is played on League of Legends Patch 26.5. This already does not change a lot of things relative to other patches, but some of them might affect pick rates in professional play.
Most of the pro play effects from 26.5 concern the mid-lane. Three mid-laners: Azir, Orianna, and Taliyah, received nerfs, while Mel was buffed.
Mel‘s Q and R received outright damage buffs. Since the recent power redistribution in her kit that came with her W mini-rework, Mel has taken over solo queue, but this isn’t the case in pro play. These changes aren’t big enough that she’ll suddenly shoot up in priority, but this makes her a more viable answer to some meta picks like Azir or Ahri.
Azir, Orianna, and Taliyah all got hit with slight nerfs. Notably, Ahri wasn’t changed, and she’s expected to dominate the mid lane picks.
Azir had his Health Growth stat decreased, which isn’t much in early levels, but has more effects in the late game. However, by that point in the game, Azir would already be getting health from some of his items, and the overall effect of this change would be less evident. A nerf is a nerf, but it might not be enough to warrant not picking Azir on account of the potential playmaking he offers.
Orianna received a nerf to her early game, with her Q – Command: Attack cooldown going up in early levels. This hurts her laning phase, since she will have slightly fewer windows to trade. But, like Azir, Orianna provides playmaking value and is a large threat during teamfights, especially when paired with junglers like Dr. Mundo. This change may hurt Orianna a bit more than Azir, though, and her presence might slightly be lower.
Taliyah is in a weird place. Her Q base damage went down by 5 on all levels, but it will deal 3 more damage to monsters. Her trading became a little weaker, and her wave clear got a bit worse, but she should still be a viable pick in pro play. The buff isn’t enough to bring jungle Taliyah back on-stage, especially since another AP jungler is getting buffed.
Lillia‘s changes are massive. Her Passive will now give her more sustain in the jungle, Q has a higher AP scaling, and her ultimate gets decreased cooldown and increased damage at the cost of less AP scaling. The closest thing we have to an AP jungler in pro meta is Dr. Mundo, so Lillia getting a little pick-me-up opens up some compositions with AD mid laners like Tristana or Smolder.
Locket of the Iron Solari is getting a buff, particularly for the early game. This will encourage supports to build it as their first (real) item over Bandlepipes.
First Stand 2026 begins March 16, 2026 in São Paulo, Brazil.