The more things change, the more they stay the same. A tale as old as time, another patch-related controversy has struck
League of Legends esports, this time affecting the
EMEA Masters and potentially the
Demacia Cup. In
a post published late last night,
head coach
Nicolas Perez revealed Riot’s latest managerial misstep, which, according to the coach, left teams with
just 18 hours’ notice before the next round of the tournament to prepare for a complete patch change, from 26.18 to 26.20, due to an error in tournament realm scheduling.
Indeed, Riot operates a limited number of servers dedicated to professional play, with these servers running different patches in pairs to give tournament organizers some flexibility in deciding which version of the game to use. However, with Riot removing
patch 26.18 from its rotation ahead of
Worlds 2026, the final two competitions still running on that version are now being forced to adapt to a different meta on extremely short notice.
According to
Sheep Esports sources, the situation has been made even more complicated by Riot's decision to skip
patch 26.19 altogether, meaning teams are being forced to jump directly from 26.18 to 26.20 rather than adapting to an intermediate patch first.
Teams left scrambling ahead of quarterfinals
The timing of the announcement is particularly concerning for teams preparing for the knockout stage. In a post written in French, Perez explained that teams only learned of the change at 23:50 on October 8. While G2 NORD had roughly 36 hours to adapt before their quarterfinal, teams playing on October 9 had just 18 hours to prepare for the switch. The coach described the situation as “a disgrace,” criticizing the lack of notice given to teams ahead of such an important stage of the competition.
The consequences extend beyond simply having to adjust to a few balance changes. Perez explained that G2 NORD would have just one scrim to familiarize themselves with patch 26.20 before their quarterfinal, while other teams, such as
, would have no opportunity to practice on it at all before taking the stage.
“We'll therefore only have one scrim to practice on this patch,” the coach wrote.
The change is far from insignificant, either.
Patch 26.20 introduces a substantial number of adjustments ahead of Worlds 2026, including major buffs to Aphelios and Draven. Perez specifically highlighted those changes because G2 NORD were preparing to face a player known for using both champions. As a result, the last-minute switch could force teams to rethink their draft priorities and preparation with barely any time to adapt.
Frustrated by the situation, Perez questioned how such an issue could arise during what he described as the most important competition of the year for his team. “This kind of bullshit happening in the most important competition of our year... I have no words,” he wrote.
