League of Legends is constantly evolving and in 2026 some changes will occur. The developers have now announced some new features that make it harder to avoid unpopular roles. At the same time, they are introducing a system that allows you to rank up faster in certain cases.
What is this new feature? In the latest dev update for Season 1 of 2026, the developers of League of Legends discussed the first major changes coming in the new year. In the YouTube video, many gameplay adjustments are presented, as well as how the so-called “Dodgers” will be contained.
A change to the autofill system, which gives you a random role, will present a new obstacle in 2026, but will also reward you at the same time.
What will change about the autofill system? In the third season of 2025, a player who chooses autofill is assigned a random role. If the player receives a role that he is absolutely unhappy with, he would bypass the round by leaving the selection screen and restarting the search. This allows a chance to get a different role in the next match found.
To keep the dodgers under control, Riot wants to implement a change so that the assigned role remains after a dodge. This means: If a player uses autofill and receives the jungle role, he will continue to be selected as a jungler even after leaving the match.
With the new autofill, you can rank up faster
How does the new autofill work? In the same video, the developers talk about a system called “Aegis of Valor.” With this system, players who use autofill are rewarded if they achieve a certain performance.
How does the buff work? As long as you have entered a match through the autofill function and received a random role, you are able to claim the “Aegis of Valor” buff. If you achieve a performance score of C or higher, you will receive double the amount of LP for a victory to rank up. If you lose the match, no LP will be deducted from you.
It is therefore worthwhile to learn even the less played positions to rank up much faster.
Is the buff also available outside of autofill? Yes, the developers say in the video that players who play less popular roles should occasionally receive the buff as well. They want to reward the heroes of role search since they shorten the search.
There are further changes that Riot aims to implement with the first season of 2026 in League of Legends. With the new season, Riot will be removing the large new jungle monster that was introduced in 2025. This was already criticized at release, why you can read in this article: New monster in the jungle of LoL is criticized for rewarding you when you die on purpose
