---
title: "March Dev Update: Faster Queues, Ranked Changes and Shyvana's Rework"
description: Faster queues, massive Ranked ladder adjustments, and Shyvana's VGU are here. Catch up on everything you missed in the March Riot Dev Update.
thumbnail: "https://cdn.heimerdinger.lol/LoL-March-Dev-Update.png"
date: 2026-02-03 # YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
tags:
    - League of Legends
    - Riot Dev Update
    - LoL Ranked Changes
    - Shyvana VGU
    - ARAM Mayhem
    - Shyvana Rework
    - MMR Distribution
hidden: false
---

Did you catch the latest League of Legends Dev Update with Riot Pabro and Riot Meddler? If you missed it, grab a seat. We will recap it for you!

Right off the bat, let's talk about some good news. Time to get into a game dropped by about 30 percent. Even better, people dodging became much more rare, from an annoying 19 percent down to just 4 percent. Probably because the increased punishments for dodging, but this is a good thing. We all know the pain of sitting through a 8 minute queue and going through pick + ban phase, only for someone to dodge at the last possible second. It feels amazing to just click "play" and actually get into a match.

## Fixing the Ranked Ladder

The biggest piece of this update focuses on Ranked. Let's be real for a second. The ladder felt a bit off lately, I'm sure we've all noticed weird accounts in our games or seen the posts of high elo players getting +10LP with a positive winrate. Players are getting super good at League. The skill gap from the season 1 days when Nunu Support was meta to now is absolutely mind-blowing.

Riot also noticed that Iron had a good amount of players who actually know the basics of the game. They just lack consistency. Iron is supposed to be a safe spot for absolute beginners figuring out what champions even exist, not a home for people who play once in a blue moon but aren't that bad. Someone who knows exactly how Viego's passive works shouldn't be stomping a player who is still trying to figure out how to move their camera.
So, Riot bumped a lot of those experienced players up to Bronze. They are even considering adding an entirely new rank below Iron down the line if they need more room for genuine beginners.

The top of the ladder got a similar treatment. The skill gap between Diamond 4 and Diamond 1 was massive. Riot compared it to the difference between Bronze 4 and high Silver. To fix this uneven spread, they moved the top end of Diamond up into Master, something which you probably noticed if you pay attention to the ladder.

This widens the Master tier, which naturally pushes up the LP requirements for Apex tiers like Grandmaster and Challenger, right now the requirement for Grandmaster sits at 1025LP. A massive shift compared to the old days where 1K LP was Challenger and an achievement! If you're climbing in Master right now, you might have felt that brutal +10 or -30 LP gain issue. Seeing a tiny LP bump for a hard-fought win and a massive drop for a loss is enough to make anyone close the client for the day. Good news though. The team is actively working on a fix for that soon.

Riot is also looking at how Champion Mastery represents actual performance, especially in shorter matches. Making this more accurate should smooth out LP gains and the loss protection from Aegis of Valor. They are also testing improvements for autofill and secondary role parity. This rolls out first in EUW for patch 26.4, hits OCE and VN next, and aims for a broader launch in 26.5. We will see how Apex tier duoing shapes up too, as the team continues to monitor queue times and match quality.

## Champion Updates and ARAM Mayhem

Moving away from the Ranked grind, let's talk champions. Faelights, ADCs, and the top lane are all under Riot's microscope for future balance tweaks.

Speaking of champions, Shyvana's rework goes live next patch! Riot worked directly with her onetricks. It's always a bit scary when your favorite champion gets a rework/VGU (pls bring back old Aatrox rito), but knowing they consulted the people who play her most should be a huge relief. They wanted to keep the soul of her character intact while giving her some much-needed polish. All her skins will be available, plus a limited-time "Leg Day Bundle", [if you know you know](https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/4ydkjm/what_would_shyvana_do_if_ezreal_kissed_her_leg/)!

For my fellow ARAM enjoyers out there, Mayhem is getting extended. There is no end date in sight, so keep rolling those chaotic team comps.

Finally, Pabro and Meddler threw a fun question out to the community. Outside of Hextech Gunblade and Stormrazor, what removed items do you want to see make a comeback? You can submit your answer [here](https://x.com/LeagueOfLegends/status/2028506977396314460). Personally I'd like to see Adaptive Helm come back, though it seems a lot of people would also like Galeforce to return!
