Some champions are so strong in League of Legends that even professionals fear them. One of them has had a new role since the last season and is now even stronger there.
Which champ is it? The demonic war hero Aatrox has been a part of League of Legends for over 12 years. He is mostly played on the top lane but has found a new place since the last LoL season.
Due to a buff in November 2025, one of his abilities, where he can swing his sword up to 3 times, dealt more damage to monsters in the jungle. In the KeSPA Cup 2025, he was banned by most pros.
If he was played at all, he was only placed in the jungle. The LoL community on Reddit was surprised that the champ has a larger audience and more success in the jungle than in his original role.
Players are afraid of a raid boss in LoL
What changes are being made to Aatrox? With the new patch 26.02, which according to the Riot website is set to release on January 22, 2026, Aatrox’s ability that made him so strong in the jungle will be buffed. Here are the changes:
- Patch 26.01 (current patch, as of January 14, 2026): His Q ability deals 15 bonus damage on the first hit and is increased to 18.75 and 22.5 bonus damage with the second and third hits, respectively. If you hit the so-called sweet spot of the swords, a small area of the ability, the damage will be even further increased.
- Patch 26.02 (next patch on January 22, 2026): The first hit will now deal 25 bonus damage with the new patch, which is already more than the final hit of the ability in patch 26.01. The second and third hits will receive bonuses of 31.25 and 37.5 damage, respectively. The bonus for hitting the sweet spot will also be increased.
Additionally, his passive ability will be improved, allowing Aatrox to heal based on his maximum health.
What do players say about the changes? In the LoL subreddit, the complete patch notes for the upcoming update were shared.
The Reddit user notsureiftwins questions why Aatrox is being buffed and writes: “I know I am just Emerald/Diamond (the rank), but this is really funny: [Aatrox] goes ahead in 90% of my games and just melts people away. Raid boss style.”
What is Aatrox’s win rate? Another Reddit user wonders why Aatrox is being buffed in the jungle when he is currently having problems on the top lane. According to leagueofgraphs.com, Aatrox has a win rate of about 47% on the top lane across all ranks, which is still his most played position.
Even in the jungle, the demonic war hero has a win rate of approximately 47%. The exception is at the highest ranks (Master and above), where Aatrox has an impressive win rate of 52% in the jungle (as of January 14, 2026).
The first season of 2026 has changed a lot in League of Legends. Overall, the patch notes are 83 pages long and have significantly altered the gameplay as well as champs and items. The champion Rengar has particularly benefited and received over 17 bug fixes: The new season in LoL brings 83 pages of patch notes, and they are especially good for one champ
