League of Legends Early Game Tier List:
Players in today's meta-game often wonder what kind of champions can dominate from the get-go, cheesing enemy players from levels 1-5 and securing early leads. Although this doesn't always translate to end game wins, knowing if your champion is capable of early game duels can often determine whether you snowball your way to victory or defeat.As players call for early surrenders more often than in the past, understanding which champions can kill you early game is key to either taking it slow or abusing your power. Note that I've taken out the majority of off-meta picks from the list, but kept on some common cheese champions like Tristana and Jarvan mid. If you'd like someone specific added back onto the list leave a note in the comment section below!
SEASON 10
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
EARLY Game Tier List
SEASON 10
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
EARLY Game Tier List
Players in today's meta-game often wonder what kind of champions can dominate from the get-go, cheesing enemy players from levels 1-5 and securing early leads. Although this doesn't always translate to end game wins, knowing if your champion is capable of early game duels can often determine whether you snowball your way to victory or defeat.
As players call for early surrenders more often than in the past, understanding which champions can kill your early game is key to either taking it slow or abusing your power. Note that I've taken out the majority of off-meta picks from the list, but kept on some common cheese champions like Tristana and Jarvan mid. If you'd like someone specific added back onto the list leave a note in the comment section below!
We'll be releasing additional mid and late game tier lists a little later in the week...
As players call for early surrenders more often than in the past, understanding which champions can kill your early game is key to either taking it slow or abusing your power. Note that I've taken out the majority of off-meta picks from the list, but kept on some common cheese champions like Tristana and Jarvan mid. If you'd like someone specific added back onto the list leave a note in the comment section below!
We'll be releasing additional mid and late game tier lists a little later in the week...
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Contents and Related Links:
- Solo Queue Tier List - Tier List for climbing solo queue
- Optimal Champion Bans by Division
- Strongest Potential Champions - Champions with the highest potential in the game
- FOTM Tier List - Meta based tier list based on popularity and what high Elo players are using
Updates
- 12/10/19 Initial Tier List
- 12/11: Moved Singed down slightly
Toolkit and Options
Search for a Champion:
[Level 3 Kill Pressure | Lane Dominant]
Mid-Lane: Fizz, Cassiopeia, Tristana, Kled
Jungle: Xin Zhao, Jarvan IV, Gragas, Warwick, Volibear, Twitch, Udyr
Top: Heimerdinger, Teemo, Renekton, Olaf, Tryndamere, Quinn, Pantheon, Illaoi, Karma, Mordekaiser, Jayce, Vayne, Kennen, Lissandra, Sion, Cho'gath, Lulu
Bot Lane: Draven, Lucian, Tristana
Tier 2
[Balanced Laning Phase | Scaling to Mid Game | Level 6 Power Spike]Top: Rumble, Yasuo, Camille, Riven, Fiora, Irelia, Vladimir, Poppy, Ornn, Ryze, Nasus, Dr. Mundo, Jax, Wukong, Urgot, Yorick, Jarvan IV, Singed, Shen, Gnar, Akali
Bot Lane: Senna, Kai'Sa, Yasuo, Jhin, Xayah, Kog'Maw
Support: Morgana, Lulu, Fiddlesticks, Senna, Vel'Koz, Zyra, Brand, Pyke, Karma, Janna
Tier 3
[Mediocre Early Game | Team Fighting Power Spike]Mid-Lane: Galio, Zilean, Aurelion Sol, Mordekaiser, Morgana, Ziggs, Katarina, Twisted Fate, Vladimir, Jayce, Taliyah, Karma, Corki, Kennen, Pyke, Gangplank, Sylas, Orianna, Irelia, Akali, Cho'Gath, Pantheon, Malphite, Kassadin, Wukong
Jungle: Hecarim, Master Yi, Rammus, Amumu, Pantheon, Tryndamere, Poppy, Kayle, Malphite, Rumble, Ivern, Trundle
Top: Malphite, Gangplank, Neeko, Sylas, Maokai, Hecarim, Aatrox, Qiyana, Galio, Rengar, Xin Zhao, Shaco
Bot Lane: Twitch, Varus, Vayne, Ashe, Sivir
Tier 4
[Weak Laning Phase | Late Game Dependent]Mid-Lane: Viktor, Azir, Kayle, Karthus
Jungle: Jax, Cho'Gath, Karthus, Fiddlesticks, Riven, Nasus
Top: Tahm Kench, Kayle
Bot Lane: Ezreal, Jinx, Corki, Kalista
Support: Shaco, Tahm Kench
Instructions and Caveats
- Champions in BOLD I will talk about shortly
- 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.
LoL Tier List Champion Explanations
Blitzcrank [God Tier Support]
Blitzcrank is by far the most dominant early game support in the game. He's the only champion that otherwise uncoordinated teams will specifically group up to stop his invade, and his laning phase is one of the hardest snowballing in the game. That being said, of course there are games when your Blitzcrank can't seem to ever land a hook and ends up giving away the early game, but the mere threat of a hook is usually enough to zone enemy champions.
Darius [God Tier Top]
There are few, if any melee champions that can effectively solo Darius levels 1-3, and any ranged champion unlucky enough to fall into his effective range meets a similar demise. That being said, this makes him incredibly good early game and there's almost nobody that's willing to trade with him.
Heimerdinger [God Tier Mid]
Heimerdinger's early game is so powerful that no jungler is willing to gank him with the knowledge that he can easily 1v2. No other champions has the amount of waveclear Heimerdinger exhibits for the mana cost, and nobody can contest his lane domination. He'd also be God Tier top lane if not for the fact that the lane is considerably longer and less prone to zone control, but otherwise, he may have ended up God Tier there as well.
Kha'Zix [Tier 2 Jungle]
Kha'Zix is somewhat of a mixed bag. 1v1 he's of course very scary, but otherwise during ganks early game he's somewhat of a laughingstock. You don't want to find him alone in the jungle by yourself, but it's tough to say he has a strong early game before he gets his resets in a 2v1 or even 3v2 situation.
Lee Sin [God Tier Jungle]
Lee Sin in contrast to Kha'Zix is able to dominate against pretty much anyone early game and has pleasant self-sustain and no mana costs. When you combine this with his double gap-closer early game at long range, he's incredibly good. Although he is very skill-based, the amount of early game power he has is still undeniably good.
Miss Fortune [God Tier Bot]
Where enemy marksmen start getting outrageously mobile later in the game, Miss Fortune trades off all that mobility for pure unbridled damage. She can out-trade any marksman 1v1 early game as long as she doesn't get CC'd by the enemy support. Although that can be a big "if" at times, generally speaking at a similar skill level Miss Fortune wins the early game hands down.
Singed [Tier 2 Top]
This guy is a bit of a mixed bag as well. Some games you see proxy singed 1v2 running around the enemy jungle picking up double kills and some games you see him die horribly as he tries to out-trade a stronger early game champion like Darius or Teemo. For now I think he’s more of a Tier 2, but feel free to try and convince me otherwise!
Soraka [Tier 1 Support]
Soraka is the support that dominates when the all in supports miss their initial all-in. She punishes so incredibly hard on low cooldown that nobody can trade with her without pushing her from 100 to 0. That being said, since she’s still incredibly easy to kill if she gets cocky and focused, I’m leaving her in Tier 1.
Tryndamere [Tier 1 Top]
The crit mechanic on Tryndamere makes it a bit difficult to succinctly say where he should be placed. However, most Tryndamere mains agree that his early game is surprisingly good and can catch most players off-guard. He’s not going to be trading heavily with Darius or Teemo, but he can easily cheese most AD based melee champions with ease and a little bit of luck.
- 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!