League of Legends Patch 26.03 is set to bring a wide-ranging set of changes as the first major balance update of the 2026 season following its opening competitive weeks.

Most major LoL Esports leagues will play the playoff stage on this patch, making its impact especially relevant for teams aiming at taking part in this year’s First Stand.

Patch 26.02 laid the foundation for the early-season meta, heavily shaping jungle priorities and vision control. With Patch 26.03, Riot is stepping in to refine those systems, introducing adjustments to Faelights and early vision while also addressing major outliers such as Mel, whose kit is being reworked to allow for more counterplay.

From an esports perspective, expectations are high for this patch to encourage greater draft diversity and strategic depth. With Fearless Draft now coming in best-of-three and best-of-five series, teams and players will be pushed to fully exploit champion pools, adapt across games, and find value in picks that were previously overshadowed by must-ban or must-pick options.

Patch 26.03 reshapes laning and jungle priorities without introducing radical new meta champions.

AD junglers might be back in favour, mid lane flex picks gain small benefits, and a few nerfs slightly reduce lane dominance, which may encourage more creative drafting in best-of-three and best-of-five Fearless Draft matches.

After Patch 26.02, AP farming junglers dominated drafts due to faster clear speeds and safer scaling. Meanwhile, most AD junglers struggled to keep up. In Patch 26.03, Riot Games is choosing to buff AD junglers rather than roll back the new systems, thus champions such as Xin Zhao, Vi, Trundle, and Hecarim re-enter the competitive pool

Beyond the jungle, several champions received adjustments that could subtly shift competitive priorities. Ahri’s reduced W cooldown and Jayce’s Q and R buffs favour aggressive early trades, giving players more trading power. Xin Zhao, Vi, Trundle, and Hecarim are the main AD junglers who could re-enter drafts, offering early game pressure and teamfight utility that AP-focused junglers often lack. 

Meanwhile, situational picks like Bel’Veth or Heimerdinger may remain niche due to the small scale of their buffs. Still, teams looking for specific matchup advantages could pick them to catch opponents off guard.

Vision changes will likely play a major role in shaping pro play, especially for the bot lane.

Reduced Faelight coverage, longer early trinket cooldowns, and the removal of some Scryer’s Blooms all weaken early-game vision density. Supports will be pushed to finish their role quest faster, while junglers will have more room to pressure lanes through fog of war, especially in the early game — especially if paired with a fast AD jungler who can gank before level 6. This will most likely increase the value of lane priority and coordinated vision setups around neutral objectives.

Overall, Patch 26.03 represents a clear attempt by Riot to stabilise the early 2026 competitive meta. By reducing extremes introduced in Patch 26.02 and restoring counterplay across key systems, the patch should lead to more diverse drafts, cleaner early games, and fewer must-ban champions in upcoming esports matches.

FaZe Clan, 3DMAX, and Astralis are the latest teams eliminated from IEM Kraków 2026 after failing to qualify for the playoffs.

The trio were unable to advance through the lower bracket of the Group Stage thanks to defeats at the hands of MOUZ, Team Falcons, and FURIA, respectively.

After crashing out of BLAST Bounty Season 1 in the online qualifiers, FaZe Clan looked to rediscover the magic that saw the team earn a place in the Budapest Major Grand Final.

MOUZ opened Mirage on the front foot, establishing a dominant 11-1 lead in the first half. FaZe Clan managed to string together some defensive round wins of its own in the second half, but was unable to overturn a huge deficit as MOUZ secured a comfortable 13-5 win.

Inferno saw a strong attacking display from a MOUZ side that is seeking its first Tier 1 trophy since February 2025. A stellar showing from Ádám ‘torzsi‘ Torzsás on Inferno spearheaded the offence, securing a 9-3 lead against a FaZe Clan struggling to find any kind of momentum.

Four defensive rounds in the second half sealed the deal for MOUZ, securing a 13-6 win to complete a 2-0 sweep.

3DMAX has had a tricky path to navigate on its way to the Kraków playoffs following a defeat to Team Vitality in Group B’s upper bracket. To remain in with a shot of earning a place at the TAURON Arena, the all-French roster faced Team Falcons, a team also looking to run the lower bracket gauntlet.

Team Falcons asserted its authority on Anubis with ease, racing away to an 8-4 lead in the first half. 21 eliminations from Maksim ‘kyousuke‘ Lukin dominated saw the player dominate on the attack side, before Team Falcons rounded off the map with a well-executed defensive strategy to win 13-5.

3DMAX responded with a strong defensive showing in the first half of Dust II, scoring an 8-4 advantage of its own. However, Kyousuke proved too hot to handle once more, scoring several multi-kills as part of a superior defence to overturn the deficit and secure a 13-9 win for a 2-0 victory.

A surprise loss to FUT Esports saw FURIA looking to keep its tournament alive in the lower bracket. After avenging its Budapest Major loss to NAVI, the top team from February’s Valve Regional Standings (VRS) battled against Astralis for a chance to make the arena.

Shockingly, the new-look international roster of Astralis struck first on its pick of Overpass, scoring a 13-8 win to put one of Counter-Strike 2’s top teams on the verge of elimination.

Astralis began Mirage with all the momentum in its favour, securing a 7-5 lead at halftime, leaving FURIA with all to do to stay alive. Kaike ‘KSCERATO‘ Cerato’s rifle proved pivotal in the second half as FURIA overturned the score before snatching the map 13-11 to send the best-of-three to Nuke.

FURIA’s defensive superiority was on full display, securing a 9-3 lead to swing the early Astralis momentum in its favour. A late comeback from Astralis kept FURIA honest, but FURIA held firm to win 13-9 to complete a reverse sweep.

As a result of defeating Astralis, FURIA is one of five teams to book a place in the IEM Kraków 2026 playoffs. The IEM Chengdu 2025 champion begins its playoff run in the quarter-finals.

Below is the full list of teams that have qualified:

The IEM Kraków 2026 playoffs take place from February 6th to 8th, where the remaining six teams compete for a share of a $1m (~£730,761) prize pool.

Lawrence Tech University‘s esports branch has announced a partnership with global esports organisation Team Liquid.

The university’s esports programme is the first in the world to join forces with the organisation, the latter of which looks to gain insight into the collegiate esports ecosystem.

Unveiled on February 2nd, the collaboration between the two parties aims to build a stronger connection between professional esports organisations and students competing in scholastic and collegiate tournaments.

The university has stated that the partnership with Team Liquid will create clearer pathways for students looking to pursue a career as a professional esports player. Additionally, it revealed that further details on the collaboration and upcoming initiatives will be shared at a later date.

Launched in 2020, Lawrence Tech University’s esports programme has continued to expand. The programme features rosters spanning a variety of titles, including Overwatch, VALORANT, Call of Duty, and Rainbow Six Siege.

Team Liquid joins an extensive list of esports organisations working with educational establishments across a range of initiatives that provide students with a pathway into the esports industry. On January 20th, Tribe Gaming joined forces with Full Sail University to launch an internship programme.

2026 is a milestone year for Team Liquid. The organisation celebrates its 25th anniversary with the launch of three products, looking back at its history and past achievements.

Outside of marking milestones and embarking on new partnerships, the organisation is consolidating its esports operations. In January, Team Liquid parted ways with its FGC and Super Smash Bros. players as it steps away from fighting games.

Although the details on the initiative haven’t appeared, LTU partnering with Team Liquid offers students an opportunity to embark on projects involving one of the world’s largest esports organisations. As the collegiate esports space continues to attract new collaborators, it will be interesting to see if other organisations follow suit.

Tournament organiser PGL has announced that Turkish organisation FUT Esports will replace Legacy in the upcoming PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 tournament.

According to the social media post, the reasoning behind the change was a result of Legacy having an ‘invalid roster’ for the Counter-Strike 2 event.

Legacy provided additional context to the change, sharing that it made a request to PGL to withdraw from the event.

In rough translation, it stated that it chose not to compete due to changes to its team. Recently, the organisation benched its team captain, Lucas ‘Lux‘ Meneghini, sharing that he remains under contract but that the organisation is open to offers from other teams. The player also confirmed the move, sharing that he was looking for new opportunities.

Counter-Strike 2 teams are invited to compete in PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 based on the VRS global standings for January. While Legacy was ranked 11th, FUT Esports placed 19th out of the top 20, climbing three spots from last December.

Starting from February 14th, the Turkish organisation will compete against some of the top teams in the scene, including 2025 defending champion MOUZ, alongside Team Vitality, FURIA, FaZe Clan and more.

FUT Esports enters PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026 as an underdog in light of its struggling performance in the season so far. Prior to PGL’s announcement, the organisation was among the first teams to be eliminated in the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Kraków 2026 after losing 1-2 to 3DMAX in the Play-In Stage.

The team also saw early elimination in the IEM Masters Rio 2026 Global Qualifiers, losing 0-2 to EYEBALLERS in the Lower Brackets, and also lost to FURIA 1-2 in the BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 Closed Qualifier.

As a result, FUT Esports enters the upcoming PGL tournament overshadowed by other frontliners. However, Counter-Strike 2 is no stranger to surprise results, though only time will tell whether the organisation proves to be the dark horse of the competition.

The Senate of the Philippines has congratulated Aurora Gaming PH following the esports organisation’s victory at the M7 World Championship.

Aurora Gaming PH dominated Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s crowning tournament, defeating Alter Ego 4-0 in the Grand Final.

On February 3rd, the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang roster visited the chamber, which commended the team’s achievement at the Senate’s 41st plenary session. During the session, the Senate enforced Resolution No. 276 as an official congratulations for winning the M7 World Championship, which took place in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The season-ending tournament for the mobile MOBA title became the fourth most-watched esports event in history, recording a peak viewership of 5.6m across its 128-hour airtime.

Aurora PH is the latest Mobile Legends: Bang Bang world champion to hail from the Philippines. For the past six years, a team from the country has won the title’s biggest event. Before Aurora PH’s success, FNATIC ONIC PH, AP.Bren, and ECHO are among the previous winners of an M World Championship.

In addition to Aurora PH, the organisation also fields a Turkish roster and an all-Russian female team. The organisation’s Turkish roster scored a top-six finish at the M7 World Championship, resulting in the Turkish and PH teams taking home a combined $370,000 (~£270,451) in prize money.

The esports industry in the Philippines has continued to grow, becoming a location for several high-profile tournaments and attracting some of the largest organisations in the world.

In December 2025, the republic won the gold medal for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang at the 33rd SEA Games. The Philippines has won the highest accolade for the past four years.

In addition to Aurora Gaming expanding its presence in Asia through the signing of an MLBB roster, Team Liquid also has rosters that compete in the region’s biggest leagues and tournaments.

paiN Gaming has announced its return to Dota 2 esports with the signing of the Peru Rejects roster.

The deal marks the first time in six years that the Brazilian esports organisation will compete in Valve’s MOBA title.

Revealed on February 3rd, the roster will make its debut under the paiN Gaming banner at DreamLeague Season 28, taking place from February 16th to March 1st.

During its time competing as Peru Rejects, the roster cemented its place as one of South America’s top sides. In January, it secured qualification for DreamLeague Season 28 and ESL One Birmingham, in addition to winning the second South American series of CCT Season 2.

“We promised that we would return. It took time, but now we’re back to what made us paiN!” the wrote the organisation stated on X (Twitter). “This 100% Peruvian roster blends the organisation that was born from Dota with the best players from the Americas.”

paiN Gaming is no stranger to Dota 2 esports. The organisation first fielded a roster in the title in 2010, competing in regional and international events for the next decade. In 2020, it disbanded its roster after struggling to qualify for Tier 1 tournaments.

2026 has been a year of turbulence for paiN Gaming as it continues to compete across Counter-Strike and League of Legends. On January 9th, the organisation added Vinicius ‘vsm‘ Moreira and Guilherme ‘piriajr‘ Barbosa to its starting CS2 lineup with the aim to build on a slow start to the season.

Elsewhere, the organisation removed Alexandre ‘TitaN‘ Lima from its League of Legends roster following allegations of sexual harassment.

A return to Dota 2 esports means paiN Gaming will participate across three high-profile esports titles regionally and internationally. Having achieved plenty of success over the past 16 years, it will be interesting to see whether its new roster can once again make an impact on the big stages.

Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment has revealed every update coming in Season 28, Breach, including new content, balance changes, and more.

Launching on February 10th, 2026 at 10:00 AM PT, the new season celebrates seven years of Apex Legends with cosmetics, a new map element, Legend updates, and other tweaks that will impact both casual and professional scenes.

Season 28 brings a new map element called Hardlight Meshes, destructible windows offering new ways for teams to breach or fortify a building. These windows can be broken by using weapons, melee attacks, ordnance, and other sources of damage.

The addition of Hardlight Mesh also comes with an update to Controller Legends, such as Wattson and Rampart, who will be the only class that can repair and reinforce these windows.

In a release, Eric Canavese, Lead BR Designer at Respawn Entertainment, said: “With the new Hardlight mechanics, we’re opening the door (and window) to new creative gameplay and combat routes in a way that will have you seeing the maps and the whole roster of Legends with fresh eyes.”

Season 28 also brings a wave of balance changes, bringing less popular Legends up to speed with some of the top meta picks of 2026.

Fuse’s ultimate ability, The Motherload, has been reworked to drop a series of explosives to clear out dug-in positions. Additionally, he gains new upgrades, including an explosive leap (Knuckle Jumper), the option to recharge his ultimate by dealing explosive damage (Reignition), and the ability to drop flames from his ultimate (Pyro Techniques).

Recon Legend Bloodhound is the next character receiving changes this season. They will receive an improved tactical scan alongside a reduced cooldown for their ultimate, Beast of the Hunt. Furthermore, the ultimate’s duration is now extended after knocking down foes. New upgrades include Raven’s Flight, giving white ravens in the Tracker passive a longer range, and Taste of Blood heals Bloodhound when knocking down enemies while the ultimate is active.

Finally, Catalyst will see changes to her kit. Her tactical, Piercing Spikes, can be thrown further and deploy faster, and her Dark Veil ultimate can now be deployed horizontally to obscure chokepoints. She also has two new upgrades, with Hidden Spikes keeping her tactical hidden until activated, and Sole Piercer makes her tactical trigger faster and deal more damage.

The ALGS Year 5 Championship in Sapporo, Japan, exposed the top weapons used by pros in Season 27 of Apex Legends.

The second most popular weapon by kills secured was the G7 Scout marksman rifle, revealing the power of long-ranged weapons in 2026. The new update will move this gun to the care package, while other marksman weapons such as the Bocek Bow, 30-30 Repeater, and Triple Take sniper will be nerfed.

On the other hand, shotguns will see changes in Season 28. The Dual Shell hop-up returns for the Mastiff, the Peacekeeper will receive Disruptor Rounds, and EVA-8 will be reunited with Double Tap.

Outside of weapons, the overall loot pool has been changed. Knockdown shields can no longer be acquired from the map or through bins, and instead will grow alongside the Legend Level with the Evo system, similarly to armour. White (level one) backpacks have also been removed, as players will now start with one equipped at the beginning of each game

Respawn Entertainment will revert changes made to the ranked playlist in Season 26, foregoing the ALGS-style drop-zone format and reverting back to the drop ship. This means that starting from Season 28, players will no longer start in a designated POI at the beginning of a ranked game.

“Our initial intention was to make the ranked experience a bit closer to the ALGS experience by giving you a POI at the beginning of the match,” Said Clement Bachellerie, Lead Designer at Respawn Entertainment, in a release.

“The goal was to reduce early game chaos and achieve cleaner pacing at the beginning and throughout the match, and in that regard, make ranked feel more ‘competitive’.

“After listening to community feedback over two seasons and observing its impact on match dynamics, we decided to roll back this change.”

Elsewhere, the Bot Royale mode has been improved by the developers in Season 28. It now supports up to five full squads of players, while the rest of the lobby is filled with improved bots. Caps have been removed for earning XP, and players can now progress through challenges unrestricted.

Apex Legends commemorates its seventh anniversary with a series of new cosmetics to unlock. Four in-game Legends can be unlocked permanently through community-created challenges, alongside other unique items such as SWAT Pilot skins.

A new Mythic skin will be available for the Peacekeeper shotgun, alongside Legendary cosmetics for a variety of Legends, though Seventh Anniversary Event Packs.

Season 28 will also come with a battle pass at launch, featuring Legendary skins and variants for Octane and Seer, alongside a reactive Bocek bow skin at tier 60.

Season 28 brings some bold changes that will impact the professional scene. The new Hardlight Mesh map element will make controller legends such as Caustic, who was a popular choice in the ALGS Year 5 Championship, even more viable for professional esports athletes.

Only time will tell how the recent changes to Legends and weapons, alongside the new Knockdown shield mechanic, will impact professional players competing at the highest level. The earliest indicator of the state of the meta will be through the ALGS 2026 Open regional qualifiers, where teams will play for a spot in the first international event of the ALGS Year 6 roadmap.

Wolves Esports has been eliminated from the VCT China Kickoff 2026 after suffering a loss to Trace Esports in the Lower Bracket.

As a result, the Chinese organisation is out of the qualification race for the first international VCT event of the year, VALORANT Masters Santiago.

Wolves Esports faced off against Trace Esports for the second time in the tournament after winning its opening match earlier on at Kickoff. This time, however, Trace Esports successfully took revenge and kicked Wolves Esports out with a 2-1 victory.

The first map, Abyss, went to overtime despite being Trace Esports’ pick, and ended with Wolves Esports securing a narrow 14-12 win. The first half of Bind was also closely contested, but Trace dominated the second half to push the best-of-three series to a decider via a 13-8 scoreline.

Unlike the previous two maps, the final clash was a one-sided affair as Trace raced to a 12-2 lead. Although Wolves tried to fight back, it could only manage to generate six rounds on the board before its opponent closed out the map 13-6 and the series 2-1.

Trace Esports’ duelist Lu ‘Kai’ Zhinan was named the MVP of the series with a 274 ACS and a 63/46/11 KDA performance.

2025 was a decent year for Wolves Esports, thanks to the team’s second-place finish at VCT China Stage 1 and a shocking top-three run at Masters Toronto. As a result, the organisation also gained a ton of new fans globally.

That said, Wolves Esports concluded its 2025 VCT campaign on a disappointing note as the roster couldn’t make it to the Stage 2 Playoffs. With the goal to improve results on regional and international stages, the organisation made three changes to its roster during the Off//Season.

While the revamped line-up hasn’t achieved the desired results so far, VCT Kickoff China is just the opening event of a long season still ahead. 

VCT China Kickoff 2026 will run until February 9th, with the Upper Grand Final taking place on February 7th between All Gamers and Xi Lai Gaming. The winner of the best-of-five series will be China’s first seed from China at Masters Santiago.

Aside from XLG, the three teams from the region that qualified for Champions Paris – Dragon Ranger Gaming, 2025 VCT China Stage 2 champion Bilibili Gaming, and Champions 2024 winner EDward Gaming – have dropped into the Middle Bracket.

The final two Chinese representatives for Masters Santiago will be decided on February 8th and 9th. All matches will be streamed live on VCT China’s official Bilibili, Twitch and YouTube channels.