With the release of patch 26.01 on January 8, the 2026 League of Legends season has officially kicked off! Season 16 is expected to inject new life into the game with a myriad of new items, notable gameplay changes, and a new Demacia-themed Summoner’s Rift. For the competitive players, this brings a highly requested feature back: the return of Duo Queue for High Elo.
According to the
26.01 Patch Notes, Duo Queue rules are as follows:
- Diamond 1 can queue with: Diamond 3-1, Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger
- Master can queue with: D1, Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger
- Grandmaster can queue with: D1, Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger
- Challenger can queue with: D1, Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger
This feature was teased back on the Dev Update released on December 1st, 2025. By reducing queue times, encouraging and rewarding playthroughs through autofill, implementing a fairer matchmaking AI, punishing lobby griefing, and modifying how dodging works, Riot Pabro and Riot Meddler believe the necessary changes have been made to reintroduce Duo Queue.
The Exceptions
There are a couple of regions that will have different ways of implementing Duo Queue. For the Chinese servers, the lowest band player must be Diamond 1, and duo queueing will be allowed up to Master, yet Grandmaster and Challenger will be Solo Queue only. Meanwhile, Korea will keep High elo in Solo Queue only.
Both servers will have a period of MMR exemption for patch 26.01 up until their Solo Queue only tiers. For example, a Korean player who has achieved Master MMR can still play Duo Queue if he has not reached Master tier
