League of Legends is currently in Season 2 of 2026, themed "Pandemonium". The season started April 29, 2026 and is projected to end in late July 2026 (around July 22). Riot has not yet officially revealed the Season 2 Victorious skin; datamines point to Victorious Rengar, but it is unconfirmed. Whatever the champion, the skin is earned the usual way: winning 15 Ranked games and reaching Honor Level 3.
This article covers what's happening in the current season, the full 2025-2026 schedule, end-date timing, and how the LoL ranked year is structured. The January annual reset is a different boundary than the April or August season transitions and is covered separately below.
Last updated: June 12, 2026. Next review: late June 2026. Next substantive update expected in late June or early July 2026, when Riot is likely to confirm the Season 2 end date and reveal the Season 2 Victorious skin.
What's New in LoL Season 2 2026 (Pandemonium)
Pandemonium launched with patch 26.09 and brought a heavier-than-usual changeset for a mid-year season. The notable items:
- Victorious skin (champion not yet revealed). Riot has not officially announced the Season 2 Victorious skin. Datamines point to Victorious Rengar, but treat that as unconfirmed until Riot says so. Earn it by winning 15 Ranked games during the season (Solo/Duo and Flex combined) and being at Honor Level 3 or higher when the season closes. Season 1's Victorious Braum was a separate skin, already granted on patch 26.09.
- New starting items. Patch 26.09 introduced changes to the starting item pool.
- New Keystone runes. Riot added new keystones with the season launch. Check patch 26.09 notes for the full list and tree assignments.
- Arena mode overhaul. Augment pool, round structure, and Cameo champion rotations were updated.
- WASD controls in ranked. The opt-in WASD movement scheme is now allowed in ranked queues.
- Apex tier hard reset. Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger accounts reset to Master 0 LP at the start of Season 2. This was a one-time correction for matchmaking configuration errors during Season 1, not a recurring pattern. Riot is reconciling Season 2 rewards with Season 3 results, so if a player finishes Season 3 in a higher tier than Season 2, the higher tier counts for both seasons' rewards.
- Ranked 5s returns (mid-season). A weekend-only experimental queue for full five-player premades using tournament draft (the pick/ban format from pro play). It runs Friday through Sunday, 9 PM to 1 AM local server time, from June 26 to September 6, 2026. Participation grants an icon; peaking at Gold or higher adds a banner. Riot is framing it as an experiment, not a permanent queue.
For the full list of 2026 ranked system changes that landed earlier in the year (Aegis of Valor, Climb Indicator, Flex MMR alignment, dodge penalty changes), see how the current LoL ranked tier and LP system works in 2026.
Full LoL Season Schedule (2025-2026)
Riot now runs three numbered "seasons" per annual cycle, each lasting about 11 to 15 weeks. Every season has its own theme, gameplay changes, and exclusive Victorious skin.
2026 Season Schedule
| Season | Theme | Start | End | Victorious Skin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | For Demacia | Jan 8, 2026 | Apr 28, 2026 | Victorious Braum |
| Season 2 | Pandemonium | Apr 29, 2026 | ~Jul 22, 2026 (projected) | TBA (Rengar, leaked/unconfirmed) |
| Season 3 | TBD | ~Jul 22, 2026 (projected) | ~Jan 7, 2027 (projected) | TBD |
2025 Season Schedule
| Season | Start | End | Victorious Skin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Jan 9, 2025 | Apr 15, 2025 | Victorious Twisted Fate |
| Season 2 | Apr 29, 2025 | Aug 13, 2025 | Victorious Fiora |
| Season 3 | Aug 28, 2025 | Jan 7, 2026 | Victorious Draven |
The pattern is steady: Season 1 in January, Season 2 in late April, Season 3 in late August, and the annual reset in early January of the following year. There are short gaps (sometimes a few days, sometimes a couple of weeks) between Season 3 ending and the new annual cycle's Season 1 starting, used for the soft reset, rewards distribution, and the new year's patch.
When Does Season 2 End? Dates and Reward Deadline
Season 2 is projected to end in late July 2026, around July 22 at 23:59:59 local server time. The estimate is anchored on the six-patch season cycle (26.09 through 26.14) and the Pandemonium Act II event window, which runs through July 22. Riot typically confirms the exact date in patch notes a few weeks before, so expect a confirmation in late June or early July.
| Event | Date | Confirmed? |
|---|---|---|
| Season 2 ends | ~July 22, 2026 at 23:59:59 local server time | Projected. Riot has not published the exact date as of June 12, 2026. |
| Season 2 rewards distributed | Within the patch following season end (so likely patch 26.15, late July) | Pattern-based. S1 2026 rewards were granted within patch 26.09, the patch that also launched Season 2. |
| Season 3 starts | ~July 22, 2026 at noon local server time (same day as S2 end) | Projected. Pattern matches S1 → S2. |
| 2026 annual cycle ends | Early January 2027 | Projected. Exact date typically announced in the final Season 3 patch notes. |
The "23:59:59 local server time" detail matters because the cutoff is regional, so a player in NA reaches the deadline several hours after a player in KR. Apex tier players have a separate cutoff at 23:45 local time, 15 minutes early, set so leaderboard standings can lock in before the deadline.
Riot's pattern across both 2025 and 2026 has been to confirm the exact season end date in the patch notes a few weeks before it happens. The Season 1 end (April 28, 2026) was confirmed in patch 26.08 notes on April 15, about two weeks prior. Expect the same for Season 2: a confirmation in a late-June or early-July patch.
How to Earn the Victorious Skin and Other Ranked Rewards
The end-of-season reward most players are chasing is the Victorious skin, which becomes one of the rarest skins in League once the season closes and the window shuts permanently. To earn it, you need to meet two requirements:
- Win 15 Ranked games during the season. Wins in Solo/Duo and Flex count together, so you can mix queues.
- Reach Honor Level 3 or higher by the end of the season. Players sitting below Honor 3, or with negative Honor status, are ineligible regardless of rank or win count.
This system was introduced in Season 1, 2025. Before then, the Victorious skin required reaching Gold rank, which excluded the bulk of the player base. The current system gives the base skin to anyone willing to play. Rank only determines which chromas you get on top of the base skin.
Chromas by Tier
| Final Tier | Chromas Earned |
|---|---|
| Iron | Base skin only (no chroma) |
| Bronze | Bronze chroma |
| Silver | Bronze + Silver chromas |
| Gold | Bronze through Gold chromas |
| Platinum | Bronze through Platinum chromas |
| Emerald | Bronze through Emerald chromas |
| Diamond | Bronze through Diamond chromas |
| Master | Bronze through Master chromas |
| Grandmaster | All chromas through Grandmaster |
| Challenger | All chromas through Challenger |
Players who earn all three Victorious skins in a single annual cycle (for 2026 that's Braum from Season 1, the Season 2 skin, and the Season 3 skin) also receive a Victorious Skin Border reflecting their highest finishing tier across the full year.
Other rewards land at season end on top of the skin: a ranked profile icon and emote based on your tier, a Ranked Regalia crest visible in lobby and loading screens, and a loading screen border showing your current rank in queue. Players who reach Honor Level 5 by the end of the annual cycle (so the end of Season 3) also earn the exclusive Three Honors skinline.
When Rewards Actually Arrive
Rewards don't drop the instant the season ends. They roll out within the patch that follows the season close, which is also the patch that launches the next season. Season 1, 2026 rewards were granted within patch 26.09, the same patch that started Season 2 on April 29. Expect the same cadence for Season 2.
Why You Didn't Get Your Rewards
If the patch has dropped and you don't have your skin, the usual reasons are:
- You didn't reach Honor 3. Check your Honor level in the client. Honor 3 isn't automatic, it takes a couple weeks of clean behavior with regular play. See our guide to the Honor system for how to climb it back.
- You didn't hit 15 ranked wins. Co-Op, Normals, ARAM, and Quickplay do not count. Solo/Duo and Flex do, combined.
- Your account was actioned during the season. Chat restrictions, low-priority queue, or 14-day bans drop you below the eligibility threshold.
- You played on a different account. Wins don't transfer across accounts or regions, even if you have a transfer in progress.
If you meet the criteria and still don't have your skin two patches after season end, submit a ticket to Riot Support with the specific season and your account ID.
Season vs Split: Why the Names Are Confusing
If you played before 2024 and just came back, the vocabulary changed under you. Here's the short version:
- Pre-2024: One numbered "Season" per calendar year (Season 1 in 2010 through Season 14 in 2024). Each season was divided into "Splits," each with its own ranked soft reset.
- 2024 onward: The annual cycle stayed about a year long, but Riot now calls each of the three intra-year segments a numbered "Season" with its own theme. The old splits are gone as a concept. The annual ranked reset only happens once, in January.
So "Season 15" in old guides means all of 2025. "Season 1, 2025" in new Riot comms means the first thematic season of 2025 (January through mid-April). The community still uses both. "S16" usually means the 2026 annual cycle as a whole, while Riot's official patch notes call it "Season 1, 2026," "Season 2, 2026," and so on. They're describing the same time period at different resolutions.
The bigger practical change: splits used to reset rank, thematic seasons don't. The 2025 Ranked Update killed the intra-year resets. Rank now resets only at the annual boundary in January, and the 15-wins-for-skin mission resets at each thematic season start.
For one-line definitions of related terms (LP, MMR, decay, Victorious), see our LoL terminology guide.
What Resets When a New LoL Season Starts
It depends which boundary you mean. The two boundaries behave very differently.
| Boundary | What Resets | What Persists |
|---|---|---|
| New annual cycle (early January each year) | Rank soft-reset by at least 4 divisions. Max starting rank Emerald I. 5 placement matches required per queue. New Victorious skin pool opens. | MMR (hidden). Champion mastery. Honor level. |
| New thematic season (April, August within the same year) | 15-win mission resets. New Victorious skin available. Often new patch content (items, runes, mode tweaks). | Rank. LP. MMR. No placement matches. Your climb continues from where you left off. |
The annual reset is the heavier one. Even Master+ players cap at Emerald I after placements, and you'll grind back up through the same ranks you cleared the year before. See the full LoL provisional placement flow for how the 5-game window works (no LP loss during placements, elevated LP gains, rank hidden until game 5).
The within-year transition is much lighter. Your rank persists. You queue into Season 2 at the same tier you finished Season 1. Only the 15-win mission resets, so you can earn the new Victorious skin from a clean slate.
Historical LoL Season Dates (Season 1 to 2024)
The single-numbered season era ran from 2010 through 2024. These dates are fixed history; they're useful for "when did season X end" lookups and for context on how the format evolved.
| Season | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 13, 2010 | Aug 23, 2011 |
| 2 | Nov 29, 2011 | Nov 12, 2012 |
| 3 | Feb 1, 2013 | Nov 11, 2013 |
| 4 | Jan 10, 2014 | Nov 11, 2014 |
| 5 | Jan 21, 2015 | Nov 11, 2015 |
| 6 | Jan 20, 2016 | Nov 8, 2016 |
| 7 | Dec 8, 2016 | Nov 7, 2017 |
| 8 | Jan 16, 2018 | Nov 12, 2018 |
| 9 | Jan 23, 2019 | Nov 19, 2019 |
| 10 | Jan 10, 2020 | Nov 10, 2020 |
| 11 | Jan 8, 2021 | Nov 15, 2021 |
| 12 | Jan 7, 2022 | Nov 14, 2022 |
| 13 | Jan 11, 2023 | Jan 9, 2024 |
| 14 | Jan 10, 2024 | Jan 8, 2025 |
Two transitions worth noting: Season 7 started in December 2016 because Riot pulled the schedule earlier that year, and Season 13 (2023) was the first to extend into the following January, the format that became the new normal through Season 14. 2025 onward switched to the three-thematic-seasons-per-year structure described above.
FAQ
How long does a LoL season last?
Each thematic season runs about 11 to 15 weeks. The full annual cycle (three thematic seasons combined) is about 12 months, with the new cycle starting in early January.
What is the Victorious skin for Season 2, 2026?
Riot has not officially revealed it as of June 12, 2026. Datamines and leaks point to Victorious Rengar, but treat that as unconfirmed until Riot announces it, which usually happens a few weeks before the season ends. Season 1's skin was Victorious Braum, granted on patch 26.09.
What is the Victorious skin for Season 3, 2026?
Not announced as of June 12, 2026. Riot typically reveals a Victorious skin about four to six weeks before its season ends, so the Season 3 skin won't be confirmed until closer to that season's close, likely in autumn 2026.
Is "LoL Season 16" the same as Season 1, 2026?
"Season 16" or "S16" is community shorthand for the 2026 annual cycle as a whole, which contains Seasons 1, 2, and 3. Riot's official wording is "Season 1, 2026," "Season 2, 2026," and "Season 3, 2026." Both refer to the same 12-month period at different resolutions.
Do Quickplay or Co-Op wins count toward the 15-win Victorious requirement?
No. Only Solo/Duo and Flex Ranked wins count, combined. Quickplay, Co-Op vs AI, Normals, and ARAM do not contribute.
I'm at Honor 2 with the season ending soon. Can I still get the skin?
Possibly. Honor reaches Level 3 in roughly two weeks of clean play with regular games, faster if you accumulate honors from teammates. Avoid chat-restrictable behavior and don't take any 14-day actions. If you're still at Honor 2 in the final week of the season, the math is tight but not impossible. See our Honor system guide for the recovery path.
