League Classic Patch 26.21 brings back four champions with their old kits: Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim and Lucian. Mordekaiser can raise a defeated enemy champion as a controllable ghost, Yorick summons ghouls and temporarily revives teammates, and Lucian returns to his original 550 basic-attack range.
Kassadin gets some of his old strength back in Classic, Atma’s Impaler is stronger, and queue times are changing in several regions. This guide focuses on how to play the returning champions rather than mixing the Classic changes up with modern Summoner’s Rift balance.
League Classic Patch 26.21: All four returning champions
| Champion | Original mechanic returning |
|---|---|
| Mordekaiser | Health-cost abilities, Iron Man shield, and Children of the Grave ghost ultimate |
| Yorick | Different ghouls summoned by Q/W/E, with temporary ally revival on ultimate |
| Hecarim | Movement speed converted to AD, healing aura, charge and fear |
| Lucian | 550 attack range and an original dash that removes slows without resetting attacks |
Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim and Lucian join the Classic roster after Aatrox, Irelia, Karma, Quinn and Caitlyn arrived in 26.20. Riot also plans to add Volibear, Urgot and Udyr by Patch 26.23, ahead of the current Classic run ending in January 2027.
Original Mordekaiser: Iron Man and Children of the Grave
Mordekaiser’s old passive Iron Man converts the damage he deals with abilities into a decaying shield. His spells consume health, making good trades important to maintaining that protective buffer. Mace of Spades deals area damage with bonus damage on isolated targets, while Creeping Death grants an ally defences and a damaging shrapnel aura.
His ultimate, Children of the Grave, curses an enemy champion with damage over time and steals stats. If that opponent dies while cursed, Mordekaiser raises a controllable ghost of them. It’s the headline return in League Classic Patch 26.21 because it gives Mordekaiser a completely different team-fight payoff from the modern Realm of Death ultimate.
Original Yorick: Omen of War, Pestilence, Famine and Death
Yorick’s Unholy Covenant passive makes him take less damage and hit harder for each active summon. His Q summons a fast Spectral Ghoul, W summons a slowing Decaying Ghoul, and E creates a healing Ravenous Ghoul. These aren’t the same as simply raising the modern Mist Walkers and Maiden.
His old ultimate Omen of Death creates a copy of an allied champion. If that teammate dies while the revenant remains active, they revive temporarily and can continue fighting at full strength. Riot recommends putting points into Omen of Famine early and considering Chalice of Harmony to cope with Yorick’s heavy mana use.
Hecarim: What’s different in his original kit?
Hecarim’s original abilities will feel familiar to longtime players. His passive Warpath converts movement speed into attack damage, Q: Rampage reduces the next cast’s cooldown when it hits, and W: Spirit of Dread damages enemies nearby while healing Hecarim based on damage dealt in its area.
His E grants speed and a knockback on his next attack, while the ultimate charges forwards with spectral riders and fears nearby enemies at the end. These are his older ability versions, so check the Classic client for the relevant cooldowns and damage rather than relying on a modern Hecarim build.
Lucian: 550 attack range and original Relentless Pursuit
Lucian has 550 basic-attack range in League Classic, a useful advantage for early lane trades. Lightslinger still gives a double shot after an ability, while Q hits enemies in a line and W marks enemies for a movement-speed bonus when damaged.
The biggest difference from modern Lucian is his E: Relentless Pursuit removes slows but doesn’t reset Lucian’s attack timer. Its cooldown can only be refreshed by champion kills during his ultimate, The Culling. That changes the order of your dash and basic attacks. Make room for the passive double shot after each spell instead of relying on the dash to reset an attack.
Kassadin and Atma’s Impaler changes
League Classic Patch 26.21 reverts Kassadin’s earlier nerfs, restoring stronger Null Sphere damage and silence duration plus Riftwalk’s higher AP ratio. Atma’s Impaler now provides 18% critical strike chance, up from 15%, and converts 2% maximum health into bonus attack damage instead of 1.5%.
Those changes are for Classic only, not modern Summoner’s Rift. The update also adjusts Aatrox, Irelia and Karma and includes fixes to several champion and item interactions.
Classic queue times and the free Battle Pass
Riot is moving several regions to scheduled Classic queues: Korea, Latin America North and South, Taiwan, Vietnam, Türkiye, Southeast Asia, Oceania and Russia run 4 PM–midnight server time on weekdays and 10 AM–1 AM on weekends. Japan and Middle East servers support custom matches only for Classic, while custom matches remain possible worldwide.
The League Classic Patch 26.21 Act II Battle Pass has a free-only reward track, and the Classic store will contain Champions, Runes and Rune Pages. Riot has announced that Classic’s current run ends in January 2027, with a possible future return as an event mode.
For other League coverage, see our Mel Patch 26.22 rework guide, the ARAM Mayhem Journey to Stardom guide and the Worlds match schedule.
Patch 26.21 also limits replay downloads to ten per hour. Our League replay download guide explains how to save matches and permanent highlights while reviewing Classic gameplay.
Related Guides
Official source: Riot’s League of Legends Patch 26.21 notes.
