Riot Unveils LoL Season 2 With Locke, 50 ARAM Augments and Ranked 5s Return

3 articles · Updated · Insider Gaming · May 27

Locke—an AP assassin—will be League of Legends’ next champion, while Riot said he will be the game’s only new 2026 release as the studio shifts focus to visual and gameplay updates.
Patch 26.12 will remove ARAM Mayhem’s Traits system after Riot said it narrowed choices, replacing parts of it with around 50 new augments, including Ability Augments and returning trait-like effects.
A new ARAM Wardrobe is being tested on Brazil and Oceania for 1,350 RP, temporarily unlocking most pre-2026 Epic-and-below skins, including legacy skins, in ARAM and ARAM Mayhem.
Ranked 5s will return as an experimental weekend-only queue from June 26 to September 6, letting full premade teams of any rank use a pro-style draft format.
Riot said limiting Ranked 5s to set windows should improve queue times and matchmaking balance, addressing problems that hurt the mode when it was previously permanent.

With friends of all ranks now able to team up, can new matchmaking prevent lopsided games in Ranked 5s?

Ranked 5s failed once due to long queues. Can a weekend-only schedule truly solve the problem this time?

Is Riot's new focus on team play and voice chat signaling the end of solo queue's reign?