LoL Summoner Spells Explained: Cooldowns and Which to Take (2026)

Two summoner spells, chosen before every game, can decide a fight before it starts: the Flash that dodges a skillshot, the Teleport that wins a dragon fight from the other side of the map, the Ignite that finishes a kill. This guide covers every summoner spell on Summoner's Rift on patch 26.21 — what it does, its cooldown, when it unlocks and who takes it — plus how Teleport and Smite upgrade in 2026 and the combinations that work for each role. Checked 2026-10-25 against Riot's Data Dragon 16.21.1.

Every summoner spell on Summoner's Rift

Spell	Cooldown	Unlocks	What it does	Who takes it
Flash	300 s	Level 7	Teleports you a short distance toward your cursor	Almost every champion
Teleport	300 s	Level 7	3-second channel to an allied turret; from 10:00 it upgrades to Unleashed Teleport (minions and wards too)	Top laners, some mids
Smite	15 s	Level 3	True damage to a monster or minion; required for the jungle	Junglers
Ignite	180 s	Level 9	True damage over time and Grievous Wounds on an enemy champion	Lane bullies, assassins, supports
Heal	240 s	Level 1	Heals you and an ally and gives a burst of movement speed	Bot laners
Barrier	180 s	Level 4	A short shield against burst damage	Carries facing burst
Exhaust	240 s	Level 4	Slows an enemy and cuts their damage	Supports, carries against assassins
Cleanse	240 s	Level 9	Removes most crowd control and summoner debuffs	Carries against heavy crowd control
Ghost	240 s	Level 1	A burst of movement speed, ignoring unit collision	Champions with no dash

Cooldowns before summoner spell haste (Data Dragon 16.21.1). Clarity and Mark are ARAM spells, not Summoner's Rift.

Teleport and Unleashed Teleport

Teleport channels for 3 seconds to an allied turret. At 10:00 it upgrades to Unleashed Teleport, which can also target allied minions and wards, has a 330–240 s by level cooldown and gives 50% bonus movement speed for 3 seconds after you arrive. The upgrade moved from 14:00 to 10:00 in patch 13.10, and in 2025 the channel went from 4 to 3 seconds.

2026 added a twist for top lane: a top laner who doesn't take Teleport gets a free Unleashed Teleport from the role quest. Patch 26.19 cut its cooldown from 420 to 390 seconds and the upgraded version to 300–210 s — so some top laners now take Ignite or Ghost and still get a Teleport. The role quests guide covers the rest of the quest.

Smite and the jungle

Smite deals true damage to a monster or minion and is required to clear the jungle efficiently. Since patch 26.1 it deals 600 / 1,000 / 1,400 (Smite, Unleashed, Primal), and it upgrades to Unleashed Smite after 15 jungle kills (it was 20). The jungle role quest then turns it into Primal Smite. Save Smite for objectives — dragon, Herald, Baron — where the last hit decides who gets it; the objective timer tracks the spawns.

The usual pairs by role

Track the enemy's spells

1. Note the time when Flash is used.

   Type it in chat or ping it; five minutes from that moment the spell is back.

2. Play around it.

   No Flash means the enemy can't dodge your engage — call it for your jungler.

3. Remember Teleport after 10:00.

   A top laner with Unleashed Teleport can join any fight with a ward or minion nearby.

4. Smite on objectives.

   If their jungler has used Smite, the next dragon is yours to take.

• 300 sFlash and Teleport cooldowns
• 10:00Teleport becomes Unleashed
• 15jungle kills to upgrade Smite
• 180 sIgnite and Barrier

Help with your spells and lanes

• Trades and timings: 1-on-1 coaching — from $22.00 an hour.
• Read next: runes explained and objective timers.