Patch 26.15 Kills Ranked LP Protection the Same Day League Classic and Season 3 Launch

Patch 26.15 removes Aegis of Valor's loss-protection mechanic, the same day the patch launches League Classic and starts Ranked Season 3 on July 29. Riot explained the cut in its own words: "We want every Ranked teammate to share the same goal, which is trying their very best to win the game." Wins now grant double LP without needing a minimum mastery score, but losses no longer carry any cushion.

Duo queue gets tighter at the top of the ladder alongside the LP change. Master players can only duo with partners close to their own rank, and Grandmaster, Challenger, and anyone carrying GM or Challenger MMR can't duo queue at all. Both changes point the same direction: less protection from bad play, less room for a strong partner to carry a weaker one through ranked's highest tiers.

League Classic opens the same day with 60 champions pulled from the game's early history, classic items like Heart of Gold, and a ruleset that leans on strategy over mechanical execution. Season 3 starts at 12pm local server time, with Season 2 end-of-year rewards distributing after the new season goes live and the Victorious mission refreshing for the climb ahead.

Bel'Veth gets the patch's biggest rework, shifting her from an early-game skirmisher toward a longer scaling curve:

• Base Attack Speed: 0.85 → 0.67
• Base AD: 60 → 55
• Health and Armor both reduced
• Q cooldown now scales with rank instead of staying flat (4/3.25/2.5/1.75/1 seconds)
• R passive true damage: 6/10/14 → 2/4/6

Other champion buffs:

• Alistar: Move Speed: 330 → 335
• Kai'Sa: Passive Caustic Wounds damage per level: 4-24 → 4-30
• Maokai: Q monster damage: 140-180 → 150-190; Q AP ratio: 40% → 50%
• Mordekaiser: E cooldown: 18/16/14/12/10 → 16/14/12/10/8; R stolen stats: 13% → 10%
• Volibear: Q cooldown: 14/13/12/11/10 → 12/11.5/11/10.5/10
• Zac: Armor Growth: 4.7 → 5.2; E cooldown: 22/19/16/13/10 → 21/18/15/12/9

Champion nerfs:

• Locke: Health: 655 → 620; Q base damage: 50/58/66/74/82 → 40/48/56/64/72; W move speed capped at 40% across all ranks
• Naafiri: R damage: 150/225/300 → 125/200/275; R damage per packmate: 15/22.5/30 → 12.5/20/27.5
• Riven: R Bonus AD ratio: 25% → 20%; R Wind Slash ratio: 60-180% → 55-165%
• Sylas: Q first lash damage: 40/65/90/115/140 → 40/60/80/100/120

Item and rune changes:

• Bastionbreaker: Cost: 3200g → 3000g; Shaped Charge true damage: (30 + 150% lethality) → (50 + 150% lethality)
• Terminus: Shadow effect changes from 30 flat magic damage on-hit to 30 (+10% bonus AD/AP)
• Yun Tal Wildarrows: Cost: 850g → 750g; Attack Speed: 40% → 45%
• Jack Of All Trades rune: Adaptive Force at breakpoints: 10/25 → 8/20

The patch lands in the same stretch Riot reshaped how it recruits creators. The new Creator Hub, launched alongside a reopened creator program, judges applicants on community impact and engagement rather than follower count, with League applications opening in September.

I think cutting Aegis of Valor matters more than any single champion change here, since it changes what a bad ranked game costs every player. I'd expect the Master-and-above duo restrictions to draw the loudest complaints, since they strip a specific, vocal slice of the playerbase of an easy carry path.