Best Champions you should play in League of Legends Patch 26.1

Looking for the best champions for Patch 26.1 in League of Legends? Discover the strongest picks for every role for the start of the new season.

Best Champions for every role in Patch 26.1

We’ll give you five picks per role: you can check out our tier lists to find out where your main picks are ranked.

• Top: Kayle, Riven, Irelia, Gangplank, Malphite
• Jungle: Diana, Ekko, Lillia, Karthus, Jarvan IV
• Mid: Syndra, Kassadin, Viktor, Twisted Fate, Qiyana
• ADC/Bot: Jinx, Aphelios, Sivir, Lucian, Smolder
• Support: Nami, Sona, Thresh, Janna, Braum

Patch 26.1 has kicked off the start of the new season with several key changes, including the introduction of role quests, the removal of Atakhan and Feats of Strength, as well as the introduction of a new set of in-game items. While it’s not one of the biggest updates in the game’s history, it’s still expected to create huge shifts in how the game is played going forward.

If you’re looking to play ranked games and want to know which are the strongest champions in the game, here are a few names that have been performing extremely well in the patch so far. We’ll continue to update the list as the season continues.

Best Top Laners Patch 26.1  – Kayle, Riven, Irelia, Gangplank, Malphite

The new season’s biggest meta shift is for the top lane. The Role Quest will allow players to gain a teleport regardless of their Summoner’s Spells, and on top of that, the champions can reach level 20. With the Role Quest heavily revolved around playing in the designated lane, the game has accelerated heavily and is rewarding aggressive laning. Therefore, the best champions are usually those who either scale incredibly well late in the game or have great kill threat during the laning phase.

In the latter category, the best performing picks are Irelia and Riven. Riven has been notoriously strong for being one of the best carry champions for the role, while Irelia does a decent job in most matchups and is strong at splitpushing, one of the relevant strategies in the meta.

For the other category, we have Kayle and Gangplank. These two have ramped up heavily in win rate since the start of the new season, driven by their late-game damage output. With most champions farming up gold quickly throughout the game, these late-game monsters are standing out from the rest. The only small exception is Malphite, who is mainly considered a late neutralizer and will scale later in the game with his armor.

Best Junglers Patch 26.1 –Diana, Ekko, Lillia, Karthus, Jarvan IV

While the jungle role hasn’t changed as much as other roles, the champion priority has completely shifted compared to the 2025 season. AD bruiser and skirmish-heavy champions are no longer dominating the meta, with the return of power farming junglers, especially AP champions.

As a result, the best junglers for the start of the new season are Diana, Ekko, Lillia, and Karthus. Make sure to at least master one of the four if you want to climb the ladder quickly. Among the AD champions, Jarvan IV is still one of the best performing champions, mainly driven by his ability to find early agency with his E-Q combos.

Best Mid Laners Patch 26.1 – Syndra, Kassadin, Viktor, Twisted Fate, Qiyana

The mid lane champion pool hasn’t changed much as of late, although there has been a shift among the strongest picks. Ahri has returned once again to the top of the list given her versatility, following by Syndra as the best alternative among control mages.

Fizz has been performing well over the past few patches following his latest buffs and works extremely well in the lower ends of the ranked ladder where players do not know how to play against him. Zoe, on the other hand, is more powerful the higher you climb. Morgana is also seeing some good play rate and is great for those who are not extremely confident in carrying games but still want to provide good value to the team.

Best ADCs Patch 26.1 – Jinx, Aphelios, Sivir, Lucian, Smolder

No major changes have taken place among the ADC. Miss Fortune is the strongest picks thanks to her laning phase and teamfighting potential. The other best ADCs are scaling champions like Ashe, Jinx, and Vayne. Ashe and Jinx are better in the lower ends while Vayne requires stronger fundamentals to survive the weaker laning phase. If you want to play aggressively and carry from the early game, Draven is the best option you can go for.

Best Supports Patch 26.1 – Nami, Sona, Thresh, Janna, Braum

With the rise of scaling ADCs in the bottom lane, the popularity of enchanter supports has also gone up. Not only do they guarantee a safer laning phase but they also do a great job at countering the overall skirmish-heavy meta comps. With everyone looking to win fights through singular picks, an enchanter can make sure the defending team can get into a favorable position with their shields and heals. Thresh is the only outlier among the list, although he can also disrupt enemies’ movements with his crowd controls.