It’s been two weeks since
The Ashen Exorcist first set foot on Runeterra and Summoner’s Rift, and the new AP assassin is already causing quite a ruckus at higher levels of play. As the only champion added in 2026—partly due to Riot’s
ongoing work on “League Next,” a major overhaul of the game from the ground up—Locke has attracted a large player base since release. While he has been largely well received, he currently sits at a high ban rate, potentially making him a candidate for nerfs or adjustments.
For now, though, we can only speculate as Locke continues to wreak havoc on live servers, especially as his release patch, 26.13, is scheduled to last a week longer than usual due to Riot’s
annual company-wide summer break. The next patch, 26.14, is
expected to release around July 15th, although no changelog has been shared yet.
Strong, but not broken?
Thus far, stats seem to indicate a higher-elo skew for the Exorcist, though his true potential at the highest levels of play remains to be determined. This is especially true as he was released on the same patch as the
Mid-Season Invitational and was therefore
disabled there, meaning we may only see his full competitive impact in Summer. Nevertheless, his slick and safe trading patterns suggest strong viability with current numbers, similar to how Akali can still find success in professional play despite being more of a solo-queue-oriented champion by design.
Indeed, Locke’s basic pattern revolves around stacking his nails with his Q and only committing once he has landed his spells, while also having a powerful fallback option in his W, which allows him to heal off damage taken and negate trades. Through this, he becomes a very strong laner who is difficult to punish and can easily spiral out of control later on. Especially in a draft environment, he can function as a highly valuable late pick, as his only true weakness is a lack of percentage health damage, meaning that HP stackers and tanks can stand before him and feel only the faintest tickle from his nails.
Nevertheless, with a win rate of slightly above 48% across all elos, Locke appears largely balanced, though potentially a little on the strong side, particularly due to his performance in higher tiers of play. Still, it remains difficult to accurately gauge his exact power level, as most data sites use different methodologies to calculate win rates. In Diamond+, he sits at nearly a 53% win rate on
LoLalytics, while
DPM is the most conservative, placing him at 49.6%. Meanwhile, both
U.GG and OP.GG list him above the 50% mark.
With a pick rate of about 14–15%, Locke appears in roughly one out of every six to seven games, while sustaining a 60% ban rate across all elos—peaking at around 79% on July 5th in Master and above. Combined with his win rate, this suggests the champion is performing strongly despite many new players picking him up, as well as the fact that he is more often banned than not.
Taken together, and with his ban rate continuing to steadily rise, this points toward a likely future where he is closely monitored as he edges toward potentially overpowered territory. However, this high ban rate may also reflect a fundamentally frustrating or toxic kit to play against, which could justify a more in-depth rework, similar to what happened with Mel earlier this year after
she maintained a 30% ban rate even a full year after release.
No matter what, Locke will continue to run free at least until patch 26.14, with potential changes possibly arriving around July 15, depending on Riot’s assessment of the champion’s performance and win rate.
