League of Legends Solo Queue Tier lists for Patch 9.21:

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 9.21
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS TIER LISTS
"Best Champions to Climb With"

Patch 9.22 Tier List Update Summary

We're in the final stretch guys, and November 19th is our final date of deliverance. With that being said, I'll be grinding out Blitzcrank/Nautilus until the end of the season. What are you all doing for the final push? Comment below!

Of course, if you're looking for the champions that will get you over the hump, read on to check out what's dominating the Rift until

Check out what else has changed on the tier list below!

As always, don't forget to like the site on Facebook if you haven't already!

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 9.21 Summary

Buffs: Kog'Maw, Lulu, Maokai, Master Yi, Sona, Viktor, Warwick

Nerfs: Garen, Kayn, Pyke, Shaco

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	Fizz, Ekko, Ahri
Jungle	Dr. Mundo, Zac, Elise
Top Lane	Kayle, Pantheon, Kled
Bot Lane	Ashe, Jinx, Caitlyn
Support	Blitzcrank, Nautilus, Leona

Rising to God Tier: Kayle (Top)

Tier 1

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

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

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

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

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

Support: Shaco, Thresh, Janna, Bard, Rakan, Nami, Morgana, Swain, Soraka, Brand, Fiddlesticks, Alistar, Lulu, Vel'Koz, Zyra, Taric

Rising to Tier 1: Kayle (Mid), Lulu (Support), Syndra (Mid), Zoe (Mid)
Falling to Tier 1: Garen (Top)

Tier 2

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

Mid-Lane: Pyke, Lux, Morgana, Leblanc, Garen, Cassiopeia, Qiyana, Xerath, Swain, Brand, Neeko, Sylas, Aatrox, Aurelion Sol, Jayce, Galio, Lissandra, Diana, Viktor, Karma, Corki, Ryze, Azir, Gangplank, Kennen

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

Top: Shaco, Vayne, Urgot, Dr. Mundo, Singed, Yorick, Tryndamere, Jayce, Nasus, Neeko, Sylas, Cassiopeia, Swain, Jarvan IV, Karma, 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: Pyke, Karma, Braum, Lux, Pantheon, Sona, Yuumi, Xerath, Shen, Sion, Zilean, Ornn, Tahm Kench, Zoe, Maokai

Rising to Tier 2:
Falling to Tier 2: Braum (Support), Karma (Support), Pyke (Support/Mid), Sona (Support), Sylas (Mid)

Tier 3

[Needs Higher Skill or Knowledge | Counterpicks]

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

Jungle: Pyke, Neeko, Poppy, Fizz, Galio, Kayle, Malphite, Sylas, 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, Karthus, Lee Sin, Shyvana

Bot Lane: Jayce, Heimerdinger, Vladimir, Kennen, Corki, Graves, Urgot

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

Rising to Tier 3:
Falling to Tier 3: Heimerdinger (Mid), Jarvan IV (Support)

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

Falling to Tier 4:

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

Blitzcrank [God Tier Support]

Blitzcrank has always been a champion players considered feast or famine, but in his current state he's truly the most influential support in the game. He's not nearly as good in a straight-up trade as Nautilus, but his range and ability to isolate enemy champions is much better. This is especially valuable with champions like Ashe and Caitlyn dominating the meta bot lane, and enemies he pulls no longer have tools to escape certain death.

Garen [Tier 1 Top]

The nerfs to Garen aren't quite enough to render him out of top lane, and he remains quite good even after getting smacked down a few pegs. He's not the 1v5 champion he was last patch, but can still cleanly 1v2 and look good while he does it.

Kayle [God Tier Top]

Ever since Riot shifted some of her late game power over to her early game, her laning phase has become stronger, smoother, and she's absolutely dominating mid to late game rather than being AFK until late. This made her quite good and she's continuously on the rise. After the nerfs to Garen, I think that it's time for a new God laner top and Kayle certainly fits the bill as our resident deity.

Lulu [Tier 1 Support]

The Lulu buffs this patch are quite good and she's definitely got her place in the meta alongside the auto-attack heavy champions that exist botlane. The main issue for her is the fact that Blitzcrank and Nautilus support are running rampant bot lane, the ultimate bane of any squishy caster. If Aftershock gets a nerf expect Lulu to rise rapidly.

Pyke [Tier 2 Support]

The reduction on his passive severely limits how much damage Pyke can soak in lane, drastically negating his powerful in-lane regeneration. This means he needs to be much more careful when he trades with enemy laners now. As a result, his laning phase is almost weak considering who his rival kill lanes are packing.

Shaco [Tier 1 Support]

The nerf to Shaco's boxes are significant, but not enough to really drop him too much. The buff he received on his ultimate is still insanely good and allows him to be a kamikaze AOE CC. If he doesn't throw his shiv, his clone also applies a rather heavy slow to targets, making it impossible for them to get away once he gets one auto on them.

Sona [Tier 2 Support]

The Sona buffs this patch were more of a QoL change, and she's severely suffering in this world of hook supports. With the latest buffs to Lulu, it's even less likely that you'll pick up Sona and subject your teammates to a fantastical feeding frenzy bot lane.

Thresh [Tier 1 Support]

Thresh is still a good champion, but I moved him down a bit simply because he doesn't fulfill a niche role right now as a jack-of-all trades. Generally speaking Nautilus or Blitzcrank will perform better as an all-in champion since they have the power to solo the enemy marksmen without assistance. He does do better against Leona in-lane than the hook supports, but otherwise he's starting to feel lackluster.

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!