On the 7th, the “2026 LCK Cup Media Day” was held at CHZZK LoL Park in Jongno. A flood of questions was directed at the representative players from each team in attendance, centering on the massive overhaul patch set to be applied ahead of the 2026 season.

Riot Games said that for the 2026 season, it aims to reduce the share of objective-based teamfights and raise the influence of lane play and lane management. The company also set a direction to push the game’s tempo even faster. To that end, Riot removed Atakhan and Feats of Strength, moved up the minion spawn timer and spawn interval, and introduced role quests.

Among the representative players present that day, top laners made up the largest share at 50%. The top-lane role quest reward is a free Summoner Teleport. If you already had Teleport selected, you instead receive an upgraded effect that grants a shield after use. Could this quest reward actually influence players’ summoner spell choices?

All of the players answered “no” to that question. They said the presence or absence of Teleport in the early-to-mid game makes too large a difference, and that the upgraded Teleport effect is also strong.

Doran (Choi Hyeon-jun) said, “In the early and mid game, the difference Teleport makes is big, so I tend to take it as a fixed choice.” Rich (Lee Jae-won) added, “I think the reward—getting upgraded Teleport when you clear the quest—is just too big, so I’ll probably keep taking Teleport.”

Casting (Shin Min-je) explained, “I went into practice thinking it could change strategically, but the shield from the upgraded Teleport was bigger than I expected, and the early-game advantage of having Teleport was also large. Teleport still feels important for top laners.”

When asked which role-quest reward they thought would be the most influential, many players favored laners over junglers and supports—especially top lane and AD carry.

Kanavi (Seo Jin-hyeok) said, “Jungle is definitely pretty bad. I think AD carry, mid, and top are kind of good,” directly voicing disappointment about his own role. Fellow jungler Lucid (Choi Yong-hyeok) agreed, saying, “Compared to other lanes, the jungle quest reward feels a bit lacking. I think top is really good.”

Doran (Choi Hyeon-jun) said, “I think the rewards for laners are bigger than for jungle and support.” Clear (Song Hyeon-min) went further, saying, “Out of them, I think AD carry is the best.” Canyon (Kim Geon-bu) and Bdd (Gwak Bo-seong) both picked top lane and AD carry together, while Casting (Shin Min-je) rated top lane higher between the two.

Rich (Lee Jae-won), along with AD carry, also gave a nod to support. He explained, “I think AD carry is the best, and for support, control wards get cheaper and you earn more money, so it seems like you’ll be able to build more core items, which should be decent.”

In response, support player Lehends (Son Si-woo) let out a sheepish laugh and said, “Control wards don’t matter at all,” before naming AD carry as the best role and top lane second. By contrast, fellow support Life (Kim Jeong-min) offered a different view: “The only things that changed are control wards and gold, but even so, once you actually try it, you really feel the difference compared to before.”

There was also a question about whether, as Riot Games described, this patch is tangibly reducing the emphasis on objective teamfights and making lane management more important. The players judged that Atakhan’s removal had a major impact on how the game is played. Many also said that with fewer lane swaps, the laning phase has become more important.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.