League of Legends Patch 26.11 preview intends to make engage supports more viable

Craig Robinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 19/05/2026

Riot Games’ lead gameplay designer has posted the LoL patch 26.11 preview. The headline change is a shift in the support ecosystem that could have real implications for how the role is played, both at the solo queue level and in professional play. 

LoL patch 26.11 support changes could make tank and engage supports viable again

The meta in the bot lane for most of the year has been dominated by ranged enchanter supports. Riot has acknowledged this directly in the patch 26.11 preview. Role quests introduced at the start of the season caused ranged supports to climb to the top of the meta. Enchanters are the most efficient at getting both support and their ADC’s role quests completed. They are also better at amplifying the ADCs who are strongest right now, and they benefit more from staying in lane to stack their quest progress. It is part of the reason why pros have been trying Lucian again, since his passive combines spectacularly with most enchanters.

Engage supports are therefore lacking, bar the likes of Nautilus, who are always fairly reliable picks. There have been the odd Leona and Alistar appearances, but outside of that, engage supports have struggled to find their footing.

Riot’s fix in 26.11 is to buff the reward for taking Void Grubs slightly, specifically to make roaming on the Grub timing after early lane more appealing and less punishing. The idea is that once the early laning phase is done, tank supports should have a meaningful window to leave lane, roam up with the jungler, and fight for early objectives without the systemic cost being too steep. That tanky melee engage should help lock down enemies, create a key pick opportunity, and successfully contest the objective.

The caveat is that if enchanters remain strong in lane, this is likely a trade-off: giving up bot lane advantages for Grubs. It is something pros may start factoring into their macro setup going forward, but solo queue will probably not see too much difference in how the role is played day to day.

For context, this is exactly the trade-off that teams willing to run tank supports in the LEC have been navigating. MKOI‘s Álvaro “Alvaro” Fernández is known for his engage support gameplay and has recently been leaning back into those strengths. The Álvaro and Javier “Elyoya” Prades pairing is often a core piece of the team’s identity, and patches like this could suit KOI well. Teams built around superstar ADCs may still prefer enchanter comfort picks regardless.

Whether the 26.11 Grub reward buff makes that style more accessible at the solo queue level and broadens the support pick pool in pro play remains to be seen, but the direction is right. We won’t see this patch likely until after Spring Split concludes, though, so it’s largely impacting ranked queues only for now. 

Other patch 26.11 changes

Some of the other notes in the early LoL patch 26.11 preview include a few minor adjustments to items and champions. Ekko and Diana are getting a slight tune-up to their jungle performance. Experimental Hexplate is also being adjusted to find more use cases beyond its current best users in Vayne, Olaf, and Nocturne. There are also changes coming to AP Xin Zhao’s healing, which has proven stronger than champions actually designed around healing mechanics.

The full patch notes will be out closer to the May 28 drop date and will give you more details on the full extent of what to expect.

Craig Robinson, Senior Editor

Craig began his career with Esports News UK back in 2015/2016, looking to write about a passion while studying at Manchester Metropolitan University. He stayed there for several years before moving on to other websites to begin his career after graduating. Now he's back, covering esports adjacent topics and UK stories.

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