League of Legends Solo Queue Tier lists for Patch 9.9:

League of Legends tier lists help you climb solo queue ranked ladders by picking the best champions to win more games. This LoL tier list organizes all the League of Legends champions in all their various roles. Other LoL tier lists only show champions that they think are viable.

This League of Legends tier list lets you pick your favorites and choose from among them the best LoL champions for climbing solo queue. Even if you love playing support Cho'Gath, you'll know where he places in comparison to the rest of the LoL champions.

SEASON 9 - PATCH 9.9
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS TIER LISTS
"Best Champions to Climb With"

Patch 9.9 Tier List Update Summary

This patch features nerfs on all the top junglers, opening things up to new champions to take their place. Meanwhile, Rakan's getting some serious buffs this patch, so expect to see players picking him up more often, even with Xayah rarely seen. Lastly, Soraka's being relegated back into a true support role with nerfs on all her lane bullying tools.

Check out how these changes impact your favorite champions below!

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Contents and Related Links:

FOTM Tier List - Meta based tier list based on popularity and what high Elo players are using
Strongest Potential Champions - Champions with the highest potential in the game
Optimal Champion Bans by Division
God Tier Champions
Tier 1 Champions
Tier List Position Explanation
Champion Explanations

Patch 9.9 Summary

Buffs: Darius, Ekko, Lissandra, Maokai, Rakan, Shaco, Shen, Sylas, Volibear
Nerfs: Akali, Hecarim, Jarvan IV, Kennen, Kindred, Morgana, Rek'Sai, Soraka, Tahm Kench
Tweaks: Aatrox, Blitzcrank

Updates

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Toolkit and Options

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LoL Tier List

God Tier List

[Highest Influence | Good In Almost Every Situation | Easiest to Gain LP With]

Mid Lane	Ahri, Talon, Morgana
Jungle	Jarvan IV, Nunu, Hecarim
Top Lane	Jax, Riven, Renekton
Bot Lane	Vayne, Sivir, Jinx
Support	Thresh, Nautilus, Sona

God Tier Rising: Nautilus (Support), Nunu (Jungle), Riven (Top), Sivir (Bot), Sona (Support)
God Tier Falling:

Tier 1

[Strong/Preferred Choices | Faster to Learn and Win | Works Well In Solo Queue]

Mid-Lane: Taliyah, Katarina, Kassadin, Malzahar, Fizz, Vladimir, Vel'Koz, Lux, Zed, Karthus, Nocturne, Annie, Anivia, Yasuo, Veigar, Ziggs, Twisted Fate, Zilean, Jayce, Leblanc, Xerath, Cassiopeia

Jungle: Vi, Karthus, Rek'Sai, Graves, Evelynn, Kha'Zix, Jax, Xin Zhao, Elise, Rammus, Shaco, Kindred, Kayn, Ivern, Udyr, Warwick, Pantheon, Volibear, Nidalee, Shyvana, Master Yi, Zac, Sejuani, Rengar, Lee Sin

Top: Kled, Jayce, Vladimir, Urgot, Sion, Pantheon, Kayle, Malphite, Yasuo, Camille, Darius, Hecarim, Illaoi, Karma, Rumble, Olaf, Irelia, Quinn, Vayne, Lissandra, Wukong, Singed, Volibear, Poppy, Fiora, Cassiopeia, Viktor

Bot Lane: Draven, Ashe, Kai'Sa, Twitch, Lucian, Miss Fortune, Ezreal, Jhin, Varus, Tristana, Caitlyn

Support: Nami, Janna, Soraka, Morgana, Pyke, Lux, Rakan, Brand, Fiddlesticks, Leona, Alistar, Vel'Koz, Zyra, Braum, Blitzcrank, Bard, Taric

Tier 1 Rising: Ashe (Bot), Janna (Support), Karthus (Jungle), Kindred (Jungle), Lux (Support), Rakan (Support), Sion (Top), Taliyah (Mid), Zac (Jungle)
Tier 1 Falling: Hecarim (Top), Morgana (Support), Kayle (Top), Kayn (Jungle), Miss Fortune (Bot) Rek'Sai (Jungle), Soraka (Support)

Tier 2

[Viable/Balanced Choices | Common In Solo Queue | Needs Practice To Get Good]

Mid-Lane: Ekko, Zoe, Swain, Sylas, Brand, Orianna, Neeko, Aurelion Sol, Galio, Kayle, Lissandra, Aatrox, Wukong, Diana, Viktor, Karma, Corki, Kled, Azir, Gangplank, Syndra, Kennen, Heimerdinger

Jungle: Nocturne, Amumu, Wukong, Camille, Taliyah, Trundle, Maokai, Ekko, Aatrox, Dr. Mundo, Skarner, Nasus, Olaf, Cho'Gath, Gragas, Quinn, Twitch,

Top: Yorick, Garen, Teemo, Tryndamere, Kennen, Gangplank, Nasus, Neeko, Sylas, Mordekaiser, Swain, Jarvan IV, Maokai, Shen, Gnar, Heimerdinger, Cho'gath, Ornn, Akali, Dr. Mundo, Malzahar, Talon, Trundle, Nautilus, Ekko

Bot Lane: Sona,Kog'Maw, Xayah, Neeko, Yasuo, Quinn, Kalista, Mordekaiser, Brand, Swain, Ziggs, Cassiopeia, Jayce, Heimerdinger, Vladimir, Veigar

Support: Lulu, Xerath, Shen, Jarvan IV, Sion, Karma, Zilean, Ornn, Tahm Kench, Zoe, Maokai

Tier 2 Rising:
Tier 2 Falling:

Tier 3

[Needs Higher Skill or Knowledge | Counterpicks]

Mid-Lane: Irelia, Akali, Kayle, Ezreal, Lucian, Zyra, Gragas, Kog'Maw (AP), Cho'Gath, Pantheon, Quinn, Nasus, Lulu, Mordekaiser, Sona, Varus, Urgot, Teemo, Sion, Fiddlesticks, Malphite, Ryze

Jungle: Pyke, Sylas, Neeko, Poppy, Fizz, Galio, Kayle, Malphite, Sion, Nautilus, Diana, Rumble, Riven, Talon, Tryndamere, Kled, Mordekaiser, Irelia, Fiddlesticks, Tahm Kench, Kog'Maw

Top: Aatrox, Ryze, Tahm Kench, Galio, Fizz, Kassadin, Diana, Rengar, Gragas, Graves, Rammus, Lulu, Xin Zhao, Shaco, Karthus, Lee Sin, Shyvana

Bot Lane:Kennen, Corki, Graves, Urgot

Support: Neeko, Poppy, Sylas, Teemo, Malzahar, Galio, Cho'Gath, Camille, Trundle, Annie, Volibear, Malphite, Shaco, Veigar, Gragas, Nunu, Kayle, Leblanc, Kennen

Tier 3 Rising:
Tier 3 Falling:

Tier 4

[Low Benefit Based On Effort Used]

Mid-Lane: Jarvan IV, Riven, Jhin, Master Yi, Janna, AP Kaisa

Jungle:Gangplank, Fiora, Shen, Darius, Zed, Aurelion Sol, Garen, Alistar, Yorick

Top:Blitzcrank, Taliyah, Alistar, Leblanc

Bot Lane:Twisted Fate

Support:Miss Fortune, Pantheon, Ashe, Anivia, Lee Sin, Gangplank, Orianna, Lissandra

Tier 4 Rising:
Tier 4 Falling:

Instructions and Caveats

Champions in BOLD I will talk about shortly
Champions UNDERLINEDmay be over/undervalued, but aren't/haven't played enough for me to make a better judgment.
Within each tier, the champions are strongest from left to right, but within a tier each champion's strength is relatively close. This is especially true for Tiers 2 and 3 where these champions are ALL highly playable and player dependent on how strong they are in-game.
Win Rates are important in analyzing each champion's strength but are not the end-all criteria for any champion's position.
Professional Picks may not necessarily translate into good picks for solo queue ladder, the two have slightly different meta-games and skill levels.
The creator of this list is diamond so there may be some personal bias towards higher tier play on certain champions.

League of Legends Tier List Descriptions

God Tier: These champions are almost impossible to keep down. If your team doesn't make it a priority to shut down these champions and shut them down hard, even if they lose their lane, lose in CS, and it's their first time playing the champion, they can be a massive nuisance for your team. On the other hand, if they're actually good at the champion...that's when it's time to throw in the towel.

Tier 1: These champions generally do very well regardless, and have some sort of advantage over most other champions. When they do well, their team does well. Even when they don't do well, their team still has a good chance of a comeback victory by utilizing one or more aspects of their late game utility.

Tier 2: This is the Tier of balanced champions where Riot shoots to place their designs. These champions generally do well in their own right, and are very strong picks with a good chance of winning. However, they're not overpowered by any means and do have their weaknesses.

Tier 3: These champions can still do very well, but tend to need a little more snowballing to get rolling. Even if they get an early lead, it's still very possible to turn the tides on them with just a mistake or two. They may also have some weaknesses that can be capitalized on.

Tier 4: These champions are either underpowered or offer less reward than other champions for the same amount of effort. These champions basically start winning from the get-go or get made fun of for the rest of the game. They need gold to do their job correctly, and if they don't get enough of it, they become sandbags for the enemy team to punch. Chances of a comeback with one of these champions feeding on your team is almost none.

Thoughts on Win Rates

With enough playtime, a high win rate on a champion indicates *something* generally goes right, and a low win rate indicates that whatever is happening in games with this champion isn't in their favor.

A low win rate may mean a champion is being played incorrectly and is stronger than his win rate indicates, but a top 25 win rate (with 120 champions) almost always indicates that a champion is at least a good candidate for Tier 1 or high Tier 2 if the sample size is large enough.

This means that champions with high win rates doesn't mean that they're necessarily GOOD right now, especially if they have a low playrate or tend to get into favorable match-ups. If we feel this is the case, these champions will place differently on this tier list than you'd think.

Similarly, champions with low win rates that are still within the acceptable deviations may end up slightly higher than you'd expect from a champion with mediocre win rates.

If there are champions on this tier list with low overall play rates but good win rates after relatively few games of practice, it may mean that players that pick those champions up just to try them are bringing down the average. If this is the case, we will place them higher on the list.

More thoughts on win rates here.

Counter Picking Champions

In Tier 3 of this tier list, we've placed certain champions that are good as a second pick, but can get spanked hard if they end up first picking by a variety of meta champions. If you're good at a large variety of champions, picking a champion that counters your laner is a good place to start. If you can get a slight advantage and don't have a clear experience advantage, picking a champion that both places high on this tier list and also counters your enemy laner may give you enough to win a game.

Check out a few of our more popular champion counter guides:

LoL Tier List Champion Explanations

Ashe [Tier 1 Marksman]

As a marksman, players generally underrate Ashe as a result of her low mobility and her largely utility-based kit. However, she does an excellent amount of damage and is great as a kite champion to shut down hypercarries. Her ultimate is still just as good as when it was first released, and the low cooldown allows Ashe players to coordinate their teams to victory.

Blitzcrank [Tier 1 Support]

Blitzcrank's changes are a bit of a two-pronged sword. He's weaker defensively and is now required to auto-attack in order to deal damage. Overall it's a sustained damage nerf since good Blitzcrank players knew to keep chasing with their ult on rather than bursting with the active. Sticking to enemies while meleeing them is also certainly harder than just running alongside them, so overall this appears to be a substantial nerf.

Hecarim [Tier 1 Top]

The nerfs on Hecarim significantly impact his top lane. It hits his jungle as well, but the reduced damage impacts his sustained trading pattern and effectively knocks him out of being a top lane bully. We'll see how he pans out in the jungle, but I suspect we'll be seeing a lot less of him in the top lane this patch.

Lux [Tier 1 Support]

As more supports get nerfed this patch, Lux continues to look better and better. She plays very similar to a high damage version of Morgana and allows her team to continuously get picks off on straggling champions. She's still very vulnerable to players dodging her skills or all-in champion that run through CC, but against most match-ups she's quite good.

Nautilus [God Tier Support]

Nautilus support has gained quite a bit of popularity these last few patches. Now, with nerfs to supports he's looking better than ever. His all-ins are very powerful, but new players should be careful not to take damage before Aftershock procs. Despite the nerfs to Aftershock this patch, it's still very necessary for Nautilus to trade advantageously with enemy supports.

Nunu [God Tier Jungle]

As the old gods fall off, the new gods come in. Nunu's performed quite well these last few patches, and nerfs on the top three junglers is enough to put him on top of the pack. His ganks are extraordinarily powerful and difficult to avoid, giving him high map control and objective control. Late game he's also extremely tanky and gives his team an excellent front-line.

Rakan [Tier 1 Support]

This new patch provides some HUGE buffs to Rakan, and he's easily playable if not strong in the current patch. While Xayah is still looking a little pale in comparison to other marksmen, Rakan can also be played with most standard hypercarries to great effect.

Renekton [God Tier Top]

Players are still trying to figure out the best build for Renekton, but after his buffs he has a large variety of build paths that all allow him to be that 1v5 diving bruiser we've grown to love. His damage is comparable other bruisers like Darius, but with his gap closers and faster damage he's superior in many ways.

Riven [God Tier Top]

After nerfs to Hecarim, it's finally time to place Riven in God Tier. She might take a little getting used to for newer players, but most players have played her often enough to master a trick or two. After that, it's all a matter of getting to 40% CDR and dominating enemies with some broken Death's Dance synergy.

Sivir [God Tier Marksman]

Many people are still sleeping on Sivir. She's the safest marksman in the game, and has utility comparable to Ashe. Meanwhile, she has the absolute best waveclear of anyone in the game, and can easily handle three inhibitor waves by herself. Ever since buffs to crit items, Sivir's continuously on the rise. Now she's at the top.

Sona [God Tier Support]

This one is going to annoy people. High division players really hate Sona. Her laning phase is terrible and forces your ADC to play passively for fear of getting hit with an all-in by champions like Thresh or Braum. However, once mid to late game rolls around, she enables massive objective control as long as she has mana. She personally renders poke champions worthless and can full heal teams back from the brink within a few seconds. As far as supports go, Sona is the only one I would consider a true hypercarry.

Disclaimer:

The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for champion selection.

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

If you're looking for a more meta based tier list based on popularity, be sure to check out the FOTM list as well!

For a list of champions with the highest *potential* in the game without regard to difficulty or team synergies, jump to the strongest potential champions in each position!

Be sure to visit Optimal Champion Bans by Division too!