A rare, deliberate release

In a notable break from tradition, Riot released only a single new champion in all of 2026. Locke, the Ashen Exorcist, arrived in Patch 26.13 on June 24, 2026, as champion number 173, and he is the lone newcomer for the entire year. It is a deliberate slowdown from the usual multi-champion cadence, reflecting a focus on quality and on updating the existing roster.

Locke is a melee AP mid-lane assassin who wields nails as his weapon, built around an execution-focused, high-mobility kit that rewards aggressive, precise play.

How he plays

His kit leans into the assassin fantasy of hunting low-health targets:

His abilities include Ritual Nails, Soul Ignition, and Ashen Pursuit, giving him burst and mobility.
His ultimate, Purgatory, is an area-of-effect execute designed to close out fights.
Riot moved quickly to balance him, applying nerfs in Patch 26.14 shortly after release as he proved strong.

An early report referred to the champion as Roke, but the finalized official name is Locke, so any lingering references to Roke describe the same nail-wielding assassin.

Shyvana gets her due

With only one new champion, the year's other big roster news was a rework. Shyvana received a full visual and gameplay update around Patch 26.6 in March, the marquee overhaul of 2026. The reworked kit preserves her half-dragon identity while modernizing her toolkit, with a defensive passive in Scalemail, new abilities like Emberstrike and Inferno Aegis, and an updated Dragon's Descent ultimate that transforms her and leaps to fear enemies.

The pairing of a single new champion and a headline rework signals a shift in Riot's philosophy. For years the studio pushed out multiple champions annually, steadily expanding an already enormous roster. Slowing to one release in 2026 lets the team invest more in each champion's design and give overdue attention to older champions like Shyvana, whose previous kit had grown stale.

For players, the trade-off is fewer fresh faces but potentially higher-quality additions and a healthier existing roster. Locke's execution-heavy assassin design gives mid-lane mains a flashy new option, while the Shyvana rework revitalizes a champion many had written off. Riot moving swiftly to nerf Locke also shows a commitment to keeping new releases from dominating for too long, a common complaint in the past.

Whether the one-champion-per-year approach continues remains to be seen, but 2026's focus on a single polished newcomer and a substantial rework suggests a more measured, quality-first direction for League's ever-growing cast.