Reign of Gaming

This list is focused on the champions that have the most success in solo queue. In simple terms this list is a ranking of who I suggest you play right now if all you care about is winning games. Above is an accompanying video on the top two champions in each role that elaborates on exactly why they are the best choices right now.

Chances are you may disagree with where I have placed your favourite champions but remember that everyone on this list is at least strong in the current meta and there are plenty of viable champions who are not listed here.

I'm not going to include commentaries or guides next to each champion but if you're interested then you can find videos for most on my youtube channel along with a bunch of other content!  https://www.youtube.com/user/ThePhylol

How Does The Layout Work?

• Each Role (Top / Jungle / Mid / AD Carry / Support) has it's own Tier list to keep things simple.
• Each champion is placed in to a Tier ranging from Pick or Ban to Strong. I haven't included every champion, only those I feel fit into these categories.
• In addition to the first two Tiers there is also the "Underrated" Tier which contains champions that I personally think will be played a lot more this patch.
• Remember that there are a bunch of other viable champions not included in this list, these are just the top few.

Tier Explanations

• Pick or Ban - These are, funnily enough, champions that you should really look to pick or ban. These champions excel at their roles and generally outperform their counterparts in every way making them the best choices for carrying solo queue games. Many of these are also classed as "overpowered" though I'm going to lean away from labelling any champion as that.
• Strong Tier - These champions are just under the Pick or Ban Tier, still extremely strong but they fall short in some way. In most cases a small buff or shift in the meta would result in them moving to the Pick or Ban Tier.
• Underrated Tier - These champions are still good but are not played often in the current meta and, in most cases, require you to practice the champion to unlock their potential. Whether it be changes to the champions, items or the general meta, I believe these champions will be played more moving forward.

Patch 4.11 Tier List

Champions that are in the Pick or Ban Tiers, alongside those in the Underrated Tiers and a few in the Strong Tiers will have explanations written below.

 I've added this second table for SotAG junglers as the item will most likely be re-adjusted moving forward.

Explanations

Mid Laners

Note this video is still accurate apart from the placement of Kayle (though the details about her remain the same!).

Kassadin - Pick or Ban Tier

To put it simply, every mid laner has a weak element to their game, like how ziggs snowballs hard but is a poor roamer, and Kass just doesn't fit into this. He's a strong roamer, he's a really safe laner, he snowballs really hard, he wins in most matchups and he outscales most mid laners. His ultimate means he can get to lanes and bypass wards easily, he can also escape ganks with it and he doesn't need many items to do a ton of damage. This kind of faceroll playstyle and difficulty of shutting him down is why he is the king of the mid lane. It's not as bad as it used to be, he does struggle against AD lanes but after a few ganks and a few items he can come back into the game quite easily.

Yasuo - Pick or Ban Tier

Yasuo was banned a lot when he was released, then seemingly forgotten about until he was played in the LCS and now suddenly he's back to being banned all the time. One of the biggest reasons is that he is impossible to shut down. You can set up a tent in his lane, you can counter pick him and you can play around his ultimate but as soon as he gets two items, or sometimes even just Statikk Shiv, he has the potential to dominate the entire game. This is all assuming that he gets behind in his lane, but if he manages to get ahead then he snowballs extremely hard. The combination of only requiring a few items to instantly be useful and that if he gets ahead he can probably 1v2 or 1v3 is why I've placed him in the Pick or Ban tier.

Syndra - Strong Tier

Syndra has one of the highest bursts at level 6, she punishes mistakes incredibly hard, she can kill pretty much anyone instantly and win any lane matchup. Most mid laners' damage either comes in burst or persistent damage, for example ryze is persistent whereas Annie is burst, but Syndra has both. Her Q is really low cooldown with Athene's and her ultimate combo will wreck someone. This really means that not only can she use everything on someone and remove them from the fight but she stays a big threat afterwards too. The biggest reason why I put her so high is because her skill cap is so high it means that you can literally win any matchup if you're good enough with her and that is pretty scary.

Ziggs - Strong Tier

Ziggs has received a few nerfs in recent patches which is why I've lowered him to the Strong tier from Pick or Ban but essentially he has stayed the same. Ziggs is strong in every aspect of the game, he has great lane control, great teamfight damage and incredible wave clear. The meta recently has shifted more to objective control by taking towers and dragons early but it's impossible to push against a Ziggs, practically stalling the game out by himself and preventing the enemy team from snowballing. When a fight does eventually break out he has an aoe nuke, aoe persistent damage and even zone control with his minefield and satchel charge. The biggest problem with Ziggs is all of his main damage are skillshots meaning that if you miss them you'll be completely useless and so player skill does somewhat determine how effective the pick will be. 

Orianna - Strong Tier

Orianna has been a staple mid laner for over a year and she'll most likely continue to be so. You have a lot of damage if you get ahead, she has a great aoe ultimate, really good utility in her speed buff and shield and also has pretty good lane pressure. Orianna's biggest weaknesses really are her lack of damage early, her reliance on her ultimate and her lack of mobility. Always getting off a perfect ultimate and never getting caught are really hard to do but are really the two ways you'll carry on Orianna and that's why she isn't higher on this list. Really if you can stay safe and always hit a good ult then you'll always stand a good chance of winning the game. 

Fizz - Strong Tier

There really isn't too much to say about this guy. Fizz arguably snowballs harder than any other champion and that makes him super scary. If he gets a few kills in lane it normally means that he'll end up destroying for the rest of the game and this even works for when he's behind. It's not that hard to deny Fizz CS, but even when behind if he gets those few kills he'll come right back into the game. Considering he is able to even one-shot tanks with his rotation, he is one of the scariest solo queue champions to face right now.

Swain - Underrated Tier

Swain has always been in a strange place. Being an AP Carry and a Tank is not something you often see go hand in hand but that is what makes Swain so deadly. His damage is insane, he's hard to kill and if he gets out of control it's so hard to shut him down. He has a lot of poke in the Lane Phase but if you get hit by his root on 60% health or lower you're most likely dead so it makes laning against Swain pretty difficult. The reason I think he is Underrated right now is partly just because of how strong he is but also because of the kind of "meta" compositions that we see right now. Most teams are heavy engage with champions like Lulu, Wukong, Vi, Pantheon etc and that is exactly what Swain wants, to be in the middle of everyone. If you master Swain and can snowball your lane (which is not that difficult) then you can easily carry games. 

Karthus - Underrated Tier

Karthus hasn't received any changes but is flying under the radar right now. You can't pick him blindly like you could Swain, but in some situations he is extremely effect. There has been a lot of talk about Riot's changes to extending games and causing the "League of Lategame" and this is exactly what Karthus wants. Karthus is unique because not only does he do a ton of damage at the start of the fight but after he dies he can do 1000-2000 GUARANTEED damage with his ultimate. All I've spoke of so far is his late game but his early laning phase is not something to ignore either. His Q does a surprising amount of damage but more importantly it allows him to farm from range safely. If you play it correctly then there is no way that your opponent can shut you down and the sooner you get your items, the sooner you will destroy everyone on the enemy team. 

Anivia - Underrated Tier

Much like Karthus, Anivia hasn't received any changes recently but she's still a very strong champion and part of that is because of the shift back to the farming meta. Her wave clear is superb, her damage is incredible and she can have a huge impact in teamfights using that damage while also using her utility. She isn't a top tier champion, she's easily shut down and without her egg she's extremely vulnerable but if you put the effort into learning her then you will be rewarded. Once mastered I'd argue you can win most matchups and always have a positive impact in the game.

AD Carries / Marksman

This video is slightly different. Considering the huge amount of recent changes to ADs, this video focuses more on a general overview of every viable AD and how to play them. It's perfect if you feel a little lost or want a summary of how to play a champion, but if you're after something more in-depth then I recommend you read below!

Caitlyn - Strong Tier

If there is one champion who benefit the most from now being able to rush an Infinity Edge, I'd say it's Caitlyn. Caitlyn is the queen of lane control, and that's probably the biggest reason you'll pick her. Apart from lane control, she's great late game, great at kiting people and she's also very hard to catch in a teamfight meaning if she gets ahead you're not going to have much fun. Caitlyn isn't a complicated champion and there isn't really too much for me to say here. She's always been strong and the shift with the new items has only made her stronger

Lucian - Strong Tier

This patch hit him pretty hard but he's still a top ad, he's great at trading and his late game is pretty much unaffected. His lane phase is no where near as strong as it was before but it's really just brought it back in line with everyone else so you can still win your lane, it's just not as faceroll as before. While he definitely got hit with the item changes, he benefits from the Ghostblade buff so it's just changed his play style slightly. Blade of the Ruined King into Ghostblade is focusing more on your passive auto attacks rather than your abilities and this shift is has just readjusted his power. Really there isn't much of a downside to picking him apart from a few champions out damage him late game. He fits in every comp, he does ok in every lane, he's strong at every phase of the game and he's one of the champions who I think can really put his team on his back.

Draven - Strong Tier

Draven first came back into favour after a few LCS matches displaying his passive and its snowball mechanic and since then he's become a pretty popular pick. If you start getting kills on Draven you will soon snowball out of control and there is really nothing anyone can do to stop you. Draven is however probably the highest skill cap AD in the game because you have to catch nearly every axe to be effective which is why he isn't as popular as he should be.  Draven doesn't really have any bad matchups, his passive makes his snowball really hard and always stay relevant, his ultimate does a lot of damage in teamfights and he can easily win the game by himself if he gets a huge lead in lane.

Tristana - Strong Tier

Tristana brings so much to a team, she has an escape, a knock back, a good lane phase, a really good attack speed steroid, the highest range in the game and she fits perfectly into the current meta of items. One of her problems is that Tristana is an all in champ, if you want to kill someone you have to jump into them and if you don't know her damage properly then you can end up killing yourself. Her lack of any damaging spell means that in the mid game she really needs items to be able to do anything, and this can go two ways. If you sucked in lane phase then you'll do nothing, if you won your lane then you will be insanely strong.

Twitch - Underrated Tier

The new Ghostblade and Blade of the Ruined King changes suit him well and he's not lost that much power from before. He snowballs really hard and part of that is because he's able to create picks mid game that can lead to easy objectives. It's not just the assassin part of him either, he actually has an insane late game and teamfight which makes him a top ad right now. His lane phase is definitely the weakest phase right now and that is one of the reasons I believe we aren't seeing him as much. The other reason is purely because he is so risky to play now. With basically no escape (You can't count stealth now due to 6 seconds??) it means that if you do step out of position slightly, or you get ganked then it's incredibly hard to correct your error. This punishing play style means that if you're ahead it's fine, but if you're even or behind then making that mistake is going to cost you a lot.

Kog'Maw - Underrated Tier

I know Kog'Maw is widely considered one of the best ADs, but the reason he (and Vayne) are in the "underrated tier" is because he isn't being played that much despite his winrate. Triforce has always been pretty good on him, the main problem before was that you didn't get any lifesteal but the new Doran's Blade goes some way to solving this. Blade of the Ruined King synergizes really well with his W and when you combine that with a sheen you will seriously hurt squishy and tanky targets alike. His lane phase is pretty good with his W costing no mana, his Q and E can help you last hit or harass, your ultimate is great at sniping people and your damage late game is insane. The biggest drawback to playing Kog'Maw is that if your team doesn't protect you then you are in serious trouble. You have a slow but if someone is already on top of you then that slow really isn't going to do much for you.

Junglers

This video is actually from my brother, Foxdrop, and covers the Spirit of the Ancient Golem changes and what impact it is likely to have.

Lee Sin - Pick or Ban Tier

Lee Sin can literally carry throughout all stages of the game. The only downside to Lee Sin is that he is particularly hard to learn and his damage definitely falls off late game. He can gank, counter jungle, duel, engage, peel, tank, assassinate – all to the same level of efficiency as those who can only do a handful of these things. There is a reason why he's being picked or banned in the LCS right now and it's the same in solo queue. If you're against a good Lee Sin then it's almost impossible to make him useless. There isn't really much for me to say here, everyone has experienced the stomp that Lee Sin creates and that's why he's number one right now.

Skarner - Strong Tier

Skarner is more of a riskier pick that the others in this tier but arguably he can carry harder than most. He has a lot of damage, a stun with his passive, a slow, a speed up and of course his ultimate that is going to ruin the enemy carries' day. Like most "carry" junglers, he becomes extremely strong after just completing his Spirit of the Elder Lizard and can start to duel the enemy jungler as well as most laners. Once you reach mid to late game he'll have some defence too making him pretty hard to kill while he's slapping you about. The reason he's in the strong category is because I'd argue that he is more effective with items than most junglers. Junglers usually fall back into a more support role when you hit that late game point but Skarner can offer more than most.

Vi - Strong Tier

Vi has kind of fallen out of favour but in my opinion is still a very strong jungler. If she didn't get ahead you used to be able to just build tanky and still do damage but now by building tank you won't do anywhere near as much damage. The main reason she is still so good in spite of this because, no matter how she performs early, she will always be relevant. She can duel with high effectiveness, counter jungle, gank, engage team fights, peel, dive onto the carries and is arguably the best mid lane ganker in the game. Her Q already leaves very little time to react, especially combined with a flash, and when you add her ultimate into the mix it almost guarantees a kill.

Evelynn - Strong Tier

Evelynn has been strong for a while now, really ever since the new jungle and vision changes. One of the things that people don't really think about is that the threat of being ganked forces teams to play differently and regardless of if Evelynn snowballs or not, she'll still have that impact. The new jungle items that grant gold mean you can be more aggressive early and not be punished for it. Evelynn can spend the her whole first double buff duration ganking and even if she doesn't pick up a kill then she can just spend a bit of extra farming to catch back up. This “no risk” style means that it's really hard to shut Eve down. The final reason kind of leads on from this. Junglers are getting more gold overall now which means that Evelynn will get the items she needs to be strong at some point during the mid game regardless of how she does early. She is almost guarenteed to be doing a ton of damage at some point and that's pretty scary.

Nocturne - Underrated Tier

Nocturne has sat on the sidelines for a long time, occasionally being brought out in the odd LCS game but there are quite a few Nocturne players at high elo who completely carry games. You can afford to build full damage as your ultimate will place you directly onto your target and the fear makes it very difficult to escape. Early game he has just as much pressure. His ultimate punishes anyone who decides to push and the spell shield on his W gives him that extra piece of survivability early. 

 Top Laners

Jax - Strong Tier

Jax has always been a good top laner and it's quite common to see short "sprees" of popularity in solo queue before someone figures out a counter to him. His hyper carry status means that if he does get ahead you are in serious trouble, and arguably he snowballs harder than anyone else. The best part about Jax is even if you get really far behind during laning phase, you will always be a threat and really it forces the enemy team to act before it's too late. Another reason why Jax will always be strong is because he does both magic and attack damage meaning it's very hard to itemize against him and really shut him down. 

Irelia - Strong Tier

Irelia is flirting around the Pick or Ban tier right now and is probably the most reliable Top laner to carry solo queue with. She is rarely ever banned, always impactful, good in lane, great mid and late game and is one of the few champions who can efficiently adapt her build to counter what she is playing against. Once she has her Trinity Force she is able to have a huge impact in teamfights and in a 1v1 scenario making her incredibly versatile. Her stun is probably the overpowered part of her kit. It is great in the lane phase and in teamfights, in most cases meaning that you can probably kill the enemy AD and AP carry before the stun wears off. 

Renekton - Strong Tier

Renekton is probably the most solid top laner who you could pick blindly every time. Renekton's kit is pretty simple to use with the most complex part about him being choosing the correct ability to use your Fury with. His sustain is one of the biggest problems when going against him right now. You may win the trade but chances are that he'll regain his health so quickly that he'll get control of the lane unless you base and if you do then you'll eventually get behind on CS and EXP. Renekton will almost always win his lane but now that games are tending to last longer and longer, you'll struggle to close the game out before your opponent outscales you. 

Shyvana - Strong Tier

She does a ton of damage with no items, she's extremely safe, she's a lane bully and she is a really strong team fighter. One of her biggest strengths is that she does a lot of damage and it's mixed meaning it's hard to build against. If you build armour then her W is still going to hurt you and if you build magic resist then her Q and autos are going to hurt. When you combine this with the fact that she can just build defences to shut you down while still hurting it makes it really hard to lane against. Because she doesn't need offensive items to do damage it's also very hard to completely shut her down. Even if you do beat her in lane she's going to most likely outscale you by mid game and that's one of the scariest things. 

Fiora - Underrated Tier

I can't believe I am actually writing about Fiora but here goes. She's a weird champion, sometimes she'll feed and then other times she'll carry. She does pretty decent against a lot of the current meta top laners and honestly she snowballs harder than most. Once she gets a few kills she'll poke you down with a quick trade and then dive you with her ultimate. There is nothing you can do when she gets to this point, your lane is literally forfeit and you have to hope your team can carry. I can't think of many other champions who can snowball this hard and that's why she's got a decent win rate and underrated in my opinion.

Rumble - Underrated Tier

Rumble has been in and out of the meta for too long to remember. I'm going to sum this up with one sentence. If you are good with Rumble, like Balls from C9, then you will get to Diamond 1 easily. Rumble has an average lane phase but his kit is built for destroying teamfights. The reason why I think he's underrated is because if he loses his lane he can still carry with his ultimate mid game. It means his laning is a win, win situation. Either you win your lane and you're incredibly strong or you lose your lane and you're still strong.

Supports

Morgana - Pick or Ban Tier

Morgana has risen to popularity because of two reasons, the new Spellthief's item and Braum / Thresh / Leona. The new Spellthief's grants gold when spells hit an enemy and the important thing to note with Morgana is that EVERY tick of her Soil (W) uses a charge and grants gold. That means all you have to do to get gold is occasionally put your Soil right on top of the AD or Support and is a very easy way of getting ahead early. Combine this is with a very long snare duration, an "above average" hitbo on her Q, her ultimate and most importantly her Black Shield and you have yourself a top support. The shield is so important because it can stop Leona's stun, Thresh's Hook / Flay and Braum's stun / knock-up and naturally grants a huge advantage when laning against them. 

Braum - Pick or Ban Tier

Braum is in a very similar boat as Thresh is, no matter how much you hit the numbers on his abilities his kit is the reason he will always be picked. He can block abilities (even something as huge as a Nami ultimate), he can peel, he can dive, he can stun, he can knock people up, he can slow and the list continues. Something I have noticed recently is that probably his biggest strength is that if he gets ahead he literally does not die, even to the point where he can probably kill someone before they can kill him. This ability to tank as much, if not more, damage than the top laner is why he's Pick or Ban right now and in my opinion, it's going to stay that way for a while.

Thresh - Strong Tier

Thresh is always going to be strong because he has so much utility in his kit. He has pretty good poke, a knockback, an AoE slow, a hook, a shield and the lantern. With all of these mechanics in one kit it means that he can fulfil pretty much any role whether that's protection, diving or initiating. Thresh is probably the number one play maker support as there are so many creative ways to enable ganks and kills in lane. His lantern is a completely unique mechanic and is responsible for a lot of this creativity. The kind of catch potential he has is something that can snowball games and I honestly think he has the highest skill cap ceiling out of any support. What I mean by this is that he's not that hard to play to start with but there is a lot of room to improve with him and become incredible, much like Madlife has proven. 

Leona - Strong Tier

Leona pretty much sums up what the meta is for supports right now. She's naturally tanky with her W, she has 2 forms of crowd control, a gap closer and she does a ton of damage with her passive. Supports get more gold right now and defence is pretty cheap which means that if she gets ahead she's going to become so tanky there's no way you can kill her, she is pretty much like another top laner. The scary thing is that it's not really that hard to get ahead as Leona because of the combination of her damage and cc. One drawback with Leona is that if you do get behind then you're pretty much useless. You have to dive into people to get your cc off and chances are that if you're behind, they're just going to turn around and kill you. This kind of leads on to the other problem in that, if you're passive in lane then you're just accepting you're going to lose the lane and so you have to be aggressive to win. When you put together how much damage she does, how tanky she is and how aggressive she can be then she definitely deservers her spot as a top support. 

Nami - Strong Tier

Nami is here for a very similar reason to why Morgana has become so popular. Spellthief's means that not only does she get gold from her poke but her poke also hits harder right from the start of the game. Nami has always had an incredible kit and, in my opinion, she could easily be in the Pick or Ban tier right now. She has enough sustain to carry the lane phase, she can poke with her W and E, crowd control with her Q and ultimate and even speed people up to catch or escape. She is a very solid all round pick, the only think she struggles against is extremely tanky supports. Lanes like Braum or Leona will reach a point where they gain some health and at that point Nami becomes a lot less efficient. Simply, if you think your AD is going to be pretty bad then Nami is great way to carry them.

Thank you for taking the time to read my Tier list! Please leave any comments as to how I can improve and make sure you check out my youtube channel where I put out a bunch of different content mainly aimed at improving you as a player.

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