League of Legends Solo Queue Tier lists for Patch 9.18:

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 9.18
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS TIER LISTS
"Best Champions to Climb With"

Patch 9.18 Tier List Update Summary

Is that an early Tier list update? We've heard your cries and complaints, so this tier list will be updated sooner rather than later. I think two days is a good sweet spot for data to flow in, so let's dive right in and check out where things are now.

Ekko and Caitlyn are the big winners of this patch, especially with both Kai'Sa and Xayah nerfed in a double whammy. Meanwhile, Pantheon is looking unstoppable in every lane and Support Pantheon is really starting to come into his own.

Check out what else has changed on the tier list 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 9.18 Summary

Buffs: Annie, Caitlyn, Ekko, Evelynn, Jhin, Kayle, Lee Sin, Miss Fortune, Teemo, Warwick, Zoe
Nerfs: Aatrox, Akali, Kai'Sa, Nunu & Willump, Xayah

Updates

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LoL Tier List

God Tier List

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

Mid Lane	Fizz, Ekko, Ahri
Jungle	Dr. Mundo, Elise, Xin Zhao
Top Lane	Pantheon, Kled, Illaoi
Bot Lane	Jinx, Caitlyn, Ashe
Support	Nautilus, Leona, Pyke

God TierRising: Ashe (Marksman), Caitlyn (Marksman), Ekko (Mid), Leona (Support), Pantheon (Top), Xin Zhao (Jungle)
God TierFalling:

Tier 1

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

Mid-Lane: Talon, Vladimir, Malzahar, Katarina, Rumble, Annie, Taliyah, Zed, Qiyana, Vel'Koz, Nocturne, Kassadin, Karthus, Anivia, Mordekaiser, Yasuo, Veigar, Ziggs, Twisted Fate, Zilean, Sylas, Kled, Aatrox

Jungle: Jarvan IV, Rek'Sai, Karthus, Vi, Zac, Nidalee, Evelynn, Sejuani, Hecarim, Olaf, Kayn, Lee Sin, Kha'Zix, Nunu, Jax, Shaco, Ekko, Kindred, Amumu, Ivern, Warwick, Graves, Volibear, Shyvana, Master Yi, Rengar

Top: Mordekaiser, Darius, Jax, Renekton, Kayle, Vladimir, Poppy, Sion, Malphite, Yasuo, Camille, Gangplank, Hecarim, Rumble, Olaf, Riven, Irelia, Kennen, Quinn, Vayne, Lissandra, Wukong, Volibear, Fiora

Bot Lane: Twitch, Xayah, Kai'Sa, Draven, Sivir, Vayne, Lucian, Miss Fortune, Ezreal, Jhin, Varus, Tristana

Support: Janna, Thresh, Blitzcrank, Bard, Rakan, Nami, Morgana, Sona, Soraka, Karma, Brand, Fiddlesticks, Alistar, Vel'Koz, Zyra, Swain, Braum, Taric

Tier 1 Rising: Kayle (Top), Mordekaiser (Top), Qiyana (Mid), Swain (Support)
Tier 1 Falling: Graves (Jungle), Kai'Sa (Marksman), Morgana (Support), Nidalee (Jungle), Nunu (Jungle), Thresh (Support), Vladimir (Mid), Xayah (Marksman)

Tier 2

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

Mid-Lane: Lux, Morgana, Leblanc, Cassiopeia, Zoe, Xerath, Swain, Brand, Orianna, Neeko, Aurelion Sol, Jayce, Galio, Kayle, Lissandra, Diana, Viktor, Karma, Corki, Ryze, Azir, Gangplank, Syndra, Kennen, Heimerdinger

Jungle: Rammus, Nocturne, Udyr, Qiyana, Camille, Taliyah, Pantheon, Trundle, Maokai, Skarner, Nasus, Cho'Gath, Gragas, Quinn, Twitch, Wukong

Top: Urgot, Karma, Dr. Mundo, Singed, Yorick, Garen, Teemo, Tryndamere, Jayce, Nasus, Neeko, Sylas, Cassiopeia, Swain, Jarvan IV, Maokai, Shen, Gnar, Ryze, Viktor, Heimerdinger, Cho'gath, Ornn, Akali, Malzahar, Talon, Trundle, Nautilus, Ekko

Bot Lane: Kog'Maw, Neeko, Yasuo, Quinn, Kalista, Brand, Swain, Ziggs, Cassiopeia

Support: Lulu, Lux, Pantheon, Yuumi, Xerath, Shen, Jarvan IV, Sion, Zilean, Ornn, Tahm Kench, Zoe, Maokai

Tier 2 Rising: Pantheon (Support),
Tier 2 Falling: Pantheon (Jungle),

Tier 3

[Needs Higher Skill or Knowledge | Counterpicks]

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

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

Bot Lane: Jayce, Heimerdinger, Vladimir, 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: Aatrox (Top)

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, Veigar

Support:Miss Fortune, 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

Aatrox [Tier 3 Top]

The latest nerfs on Aatrox's kit greatly reduces his trading power in minion waves. This means he needs to be much more careful when he trades in lane. The reduction in minion clearing power on his Q is also very noticable, and now he needs to weigh his cooldowns to determine when to farm vs fight rather than just all-in bully at every chance he gets.

Ashe [God Tier Marksman]

Ashe's ascent to God Tier lays largely on the backs of the Xayah and Kai'Sa nerfs. She's always poked her head around the top of Tier 1, but now she's made it into God Tier largely for the same utility that first made her strong from when she was first released. Her signature ultimate is still the perfect engagement tool, and the amount of damage she deals out is incredibly high from slightly longer range than most other marksmen.

Caitlyn [God Tier Marksman]

Although Caitlyn actually received a buff this patch, it's really only about a 3% damage boost (scaling with attack speed through the game). Like Ashe, she really just benefits mostly from the nerfs to Kai'Sa and Xayah. As the actual longest range bully in the game, Caitlyn's ability to abuse lower ranged marksmen just went up.

Ekko [God Tier Mid]

The buffs on Ekko's kit really give him a much higher amount of utility than before by increasing his AOE stun duration from 1.75 seconds to 2.25 seconds. Now it competes with Morgana's level 2 Dark Binding [Q], which can already feel like an eternity...but in AOE form.

Leona [God Tier Support]

This one's a bit of a late move, just so we could see if the buffs from last patch were really that impactful or simply because players hadn't gotten used to her kit yet. Turns out, she's even stronger now that players have rediscovered their love for Leona. She performs exceptionally well against the slower all-in champions that are popular in the bot lane.

Nunu & Willump [Tier 1 Jungle]

Nunu's statistical smackdown this patch isn't enough to make him unplayable, but certainly enough to knock him out of God Tier by quite a ways. His gank potential is much weaker now and players will find him easier to kill. However, he's still great at securing objectives and his map mobility was untouched.

Pantheon [God Tier Top]

Players still have mixed feelings about Pantheon, but truth be told he's really good right now in the top lane. He has few bad match-ups except maybe Poppy, and nerfs on other top laners (Aatrox) have made him that much more powerful in comparison. As the new premiere lane bully, expect to see a lot more of him (and a lot more Poppys) in the future.

Pantheon [Tier 2 Support]

At Pantheon's current power level, it's no surprise that we see him back in the support role more often. When you think about it, he does quite well as an all-in support, and in a meta where hook supports and Leona are dominant, Pantheon will rise as well. Check out more on that in this dedicated article link.

Swain [Tier 1 Support]

I had a chance to really get to know Swain support lately, and he really is quite good. Similar to Pantheon, as an all-in support he works very well, and the range on his crowd-control is enough to really be quite consistent overall. He still has his weaknesses, but I think he's on par with most traditional supports if not a little better.

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!