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Tier 1 -- Kassadin, Urgot, Rammus, Yorick, Darius***, Poppy, Lulu, Warwick, Wukong, Pantheon, Jax, Malphite
Tier 2 -- Cassiopeia, Sona, Shen, Janna, Jarvan IV, Riven, Irelia, Malzahar, Kayle, Teemo, Amumu, Ezreal, Kog’Maw, Nidalee
Tier 3 -- Udyr, Nunu,Maokai, Blitzcrank, Evelynn, Alistar, Leona, Dr. Mundo, Varus, Skarner, Ahri, Renekton, Gangplank, Ryze, Swain, LeBlanc, Shyvana, Gragas, Karma, Annie, Lux, Graves, Olaf, Trundle, Vayne, Fizz, Talon, Heimerdinger, Tryndamere, Nocturne, Corki
Tier 4 -- Morgana, Singed, Xin Zhao, Soraka, Zilean, Master Yi, Fiora, Brand, Karthus, Rumble, Ashe, Hecarim, Garen, Nasus, Sivir, Galio, Fiddlesticks, Twitch, Nautilus, Lee Sin, Ziggs, Tristana, Taric, Anivia, Cho’Gath, Akali, Kennen, Sion, Volibear, Shaco, Katarina, Caitlyn, Viktor, Vladimir, Veigar, Sejuani, Miss Fortune, Mordekaiser, Orianna
Stay Positive Tier* -- Zilean (POOTERSS)
HUEHUE Tier -- RealWolf M -- Just because no one has made fun of this guy in way too long of a time.
Hard to Place on a Team: Jjaja -- because forgetting that he has a match which he needs to get to because he’s busy playing Diablo 3 is just classy.
Unknown Tier**: Xerath, Twisted Fate
*It seems that the POOTERSS meta has now passed to a degree now that people have learned to effectively counter it, but it can still easily catch people off-guard. If the person who is backdooring points can be abrasive enough to give people on the other team tunnel vision, it’s a free win. If they keep their heads clear, it becomes a 4v4.
**For the champions who may have potential and have not been seen enough in tournament-level play to make a valid, justified opinion on.
***In general, new champions will be placed in the next character release cycle but in the case of Darius he is so strong that he warrants an immediate placement in high tier 1.
Bolded championsare ones that have moved.
Italicized champions are ones who are probably going to move yet, but I’m postponing it for one reason or another.
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Note:
This tier list is based off of our (Elalya & Talith PA) experiences in the Dominion competitive scene. It is purely our opinion based on our perception of two factors: the actual strength of a champion, and how valuable of a pick they are.
Remember - a strong team may not consist of purely tier 1 and tier 2 champions: the tier list does not account for individual hero synergy. For example, Nunu is an extremely good pick if he is paired with someone whom he compliments (a Jax or a Kog’Maw come to mind), but not so good if your primary AD damage comes from people like Urgot or Gangplank. Everyone in tier 1 and 2 is a strong pick that will work on most teams--just remember that sometimes, when assembling a team, it is more effective to counter their picks or to compliment yours than to simply bring in another solid, all-around champion.
Note 2:
If you’re wondering about why a champion is placed here, check the first post and there’s a comprehensive (it may become outdated in time, in which case I will rewrite summaries for each champion) listing on each placement.
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If someone could help us make a sexy banner, please contact PM me here or in-game (@Elalya).
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A basic explanation on what the different tiers mean:
In a hope that people will actually read this, I am going to keep it short and sweet.
Tier 1:
Required bans/priority picks.
Tier 2:
Priority picks/picks that comps are built around.
Tier 3:
Situational picks/counter picks.
Tier 4:
Lesser grade picks/infrequent counter picks/extremely situational picks.
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A Special Note about the New Superchalice:
Without a blue buff being available, mana hungry champions are always mana starved. The new superchalice gives a good build option for a midgame mana item which previous itemization paths prevented because of the necesity to also build other important stats like cooldown reduction. This means that some champions are going to be moving up as a direct result.
Rammus moved down slightly in Tier 1:
Compared to the two above him, he can be dealt with relatively easily. Janna can completely stop him in his path. He might be falling down a little bit more, but he’s still definately banworthy. Mages, who are also beginning to find more of a place also do a lot more work against him than other characters tips him down a little bit as well.
Lulu moved up slightly in Tier 1:
Nerf this little bugger all you like and she’s still going to be a monster. Her damage may have been reduced significantly over the past two patches--necesary changes--but her utility and fight control is downright amazing.
Jax moved up from Tier 2 to Tier 1:
He does just as much (if not more) damage as most of the other bruisers at low levels with his empowered leap strikes, but once he gets his bankroll going there’s not really a good way to shut him down. He’s impossible to duel, has excellent ganks and the defensive steroids from his ultimate make him a monster in skirmishes.
Malphite moved up from Tier 2 to Tier 1:
There will be games far and few between where Malphite does not find rock solid (hue) place on a team because auto attackers are such an integral part of assembling a solid comp. Malphite’s mere presence makes a lot of bruisers and ranged carries more difficult to utilize because Malphite counters so many champions while still bringing along a rock solid (ahuehue!) kit.
Darius placed in Tier 1:
Usually we like to delay placement of new champions by one release cycle to see how things pan out, but in the case of Darius we have already seen enough. Banned/first picked in pretty much every match in DominateDominion’s #6 tourney, this guy is a powerhouse with a lot of variability tacked on. Everything about his kit is a bit too good and synergizes a little bit too well--I wouldn’t be surprised if some adjustments were incoming.
Riven moved down in Tier 2:
With the advent of characters like Lulu and Darius, bruisers like Wukong, Pantheon and Jax are escaping the ban list more and more frequently. Their availibility makes it difficult to justify picking Riven over one of them, and so she’s moving down a bit. We still think that she’s better than Jarvan in most situations, but we bumped her below him because Jarvan works so well in concert with other bruisers thanks to his buff/debuff auras.
Ezreal & Kog’maw moved down in Tier 2:
In a turn of events similar to Riven, now that really mean gapclosing champions like Wukong and Pantheon are more difficult to expend bans on and Malphite is becoming more and more popular, picking ranged carries is a lot less safe and effective. Ezreal has the slight upper hand because of a built in escape mechanism, but they both feel the brunt of it.
Teemo moved up from Tier 3 to Tier 2:
Hextech sweepered shrooms make life really miserable for everyone on the other team, and all Teemo wants to do is make the map light up light a Christmas tree. It forces the enemy team to expend gold on the far less cost effecient oracles extract and denies all jungle mobility and control. Zaberz, you are a bad person.
Amumu moved up from Tier 3 to Tier 2:
Amumu’s cooldowns are high, but they are impactful. One good bandage toss can pick someone off and turn the tide of a game. Similarly, one good ultimate will turn a losing fight into a winning one. He has high base damage and does enough magic damage to suplement an AD heavy team and scales well with defensive AP items. He synergizes nicely with a lot of the top picks. With just a bit of cooldown reduction, his ultimate will be up pretty much whenever push comes to shove. I made a mistake in putting him so low, Amumu is a really solid pick.
