League of Legends Solo Queue Tier Lists for Patch 12.22:

Welcome to the longest-running League of Legends tier list in the world. This tier list is created using statistical analysis coupled with nearly a decade of experience in League of Legends. Specially curated for players that aren't already God's gift to the world, this list is for the humble player looking to climb without massive hours dedicated to mastering champions.

Trusted for our consistent updates and constant feedback, this list is as much yours as it is ours. If you disagree with any champion placements feel free to post in the comment section! We'll gladly either voice our opinion or enter into a discussion on champion placement.

Read on to see the tier list that's granted millions of players around the world massive success in their League of Legends ranked climb.

LoL Tier List God Tier Pick

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
SOLO QUEUE LOL TIER LIST
SEASON 12 - PATCH 12.22

Welcome to the longest-running League of Legends tier list in the world. This tier list is created using statistical analysis coupled with nearly a decade of experience in League of Legends. Specially curated for players that aren't already God's gift to the world, this list is for the humble player looking to climb without massive hours dedicated to mastering champions.

Trusted for our consistent updates and constant feedback, this list is as much yours as it is ours. If you disagree with any champion placements feel free to post in the comment section! We'll gladly either voice our opinion or enter into a discussion on champion placement.

Read on to see the tier list that's granted millions of players around the world massive success in their League of Legends ranked climb.

Patch 12.22 Tier List Update Summary

New Pre-season patch dropped with a ton of changes and new items! We've started working our way through the changes and while Heartsteel isn't quite a strong as it seemed at first, Spear of Shojin is lying in wait ready to be discovered...

Check out the full tier list below!

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

Contents and Related Links:

Optimal Champion Bans by Division
Strongest Potential Champions - Champions with the highest potential in the game

Updates

Added Heimerdinger support

Toolkit and Options

Search for a Champion:

LoL Tier List For Solo Queue

The tier lists below start at the strongest champions on the tier list and is ordered from left to right in power level. The tier lists are also separated into multiple segments for ease of understanding, but champions from a higher segment of the tier list may still lose to a counter pick from a lower-tier segment of the tier list.

Full LoL Tier List For Solo Queue

The tier list below lists every viable champion in the game along with a few unorthodox picks that can still perform fairly well. This tier list is meant to organize every viable champion in the game into an order with the average experienced player in mind. Generally speaking, this is somewhere between silver and platinum. This tier list can also be used for higher divisions, but the higher you go, the more specialized at specific champions you become.

God Tier List

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

Mid Lane	Zed, Vex, Syndra
Jungle	Evelynn, Ekko, Master Yi
Top Lane	Fiora, Shen, Darius,
Bot Lane	Kai'Sa, Jhin, Caitlyn
Support	Blitzcrank, Nami, Janna

Rising to God Tier: Caitlyn (Marksman), Ekko (Jungle), Evelynn (Jungle), Fiora (Top), Master Yi (Jungle), Nami (Support), Syndra (Mid)

Tier 1

[Strong/Preferred Choices | Good Effort to Benefit Ratio | Works Well In Solo Queue]

Mid-Lane: Viktor, Sylas, Diana, Zoe, Swain, Fizz, Galio, Heimerdinger, Lux, Rumble, Anivia, Pantheon, Vladimir, Ahri, Lissandra, Katarina, Kassadin, Yone, Talon, Qiyana, Aurelion Sol, Akali, Yasuo, Ziggs

Jungle: Fiddlesticks, Bel'Veth, Hecarim, Udyr, Elise, Rammus, Shyvana, Mordekaiser, Nunu, Kayn, Volibear, Diana, Graves, Rek'Sai, Trundle, Shaco, Kindred, Viego, Kha'Zix, Warwick, Nocturne

Top: Nasus, Aatrox, Singed, Riven, Sejuani, Ornn, Mordekaiser, Tahm Kench, Wukong, Urgot, Quinn, Kled, Garen, Swain, Renekton, Akshan, Rengar, Camille, Jax, Teemo

Bot Lane: Tristana, Nilah, Miss Fortune, Ashe, Twitch, Samira, Draven, Lucian, Jinx, Seraphine

Support: Lulu, Renata Glasc, Soraka, Maokai, Heimerdinger, Senna, Sona, Zilean, Bard, Yuumi, Lux, Nautilus, Leona, Xerath, Morgana, Rell, Seraphine

Rising to Tier 1: Aatrox (Top), Fiddlesticks (Jungle), Hecarim (Jungle), Heimerdinger (Support), Mordekaiser (Jungle), Nilah (Marksman), Udyr (Jungle), Yuumi (Support)

Falling to Tier 1: Miss Fortune (Marksman), Nasus (Top), Udyr (Jungle), Viktor (Mid)

Tier 2

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

Mid-Lane: Zilean, Annie, Lucian, Ekko, Irelia, Malzahar, Xerath, Veigar, Leblanc, Akshan, Malphite, Morgana, Viego, Cassiopeia, Singed, Seraphine, Twisted Fate, Corki, Nocturne, Brand, Vel'Koz, Kled, Karthus, Wukong, Orianna

Jungle: Zac, Talon, Maokai, Nidalee, Lee Sin, Xin Zhao, Wukong, Amumu, Ivern, Lillia, Jarvan IV, Rengar, Vi, Olaf, Sejuani, Rumble, Dr. Mundo, Skarner, Jax

Top: Maokai, Sett, Udyr, Irelia, Tryndamere, Illaoi, Kayle, Malphite, Olaf, Vayne, Dr. Mundo, Volibear, Pantheon, Jayce, Sion, Sylas, Gangplank, Kennen, Yasuo, Heimerdinger, Lissandra, Vladimir, Yorick, Yone, Gragas, Cho'gath, Karma

Bot Lane: Sivir, Ziggs, Vayne, Kog'Maw, Ezreal, Swain, Tahm Kench, Xayah, Varus, Senna

Support: Thresh, Taric, Amumu, Alistar, Pyke, Swain, Ashe, Zyra, Brand, Braum, Karma, Rakan, Galio, Vel'Koz, Gragas, Syndra, Shaco, Anivia, Tahm Kench, Pantheon

Rising to Tier 2:

Falling to Tier 2: Amumu (Support), Pyke (Support), Sivir (Marksman), Taric (Support), Thresh (Support), Ziggs (Bot), Zac (Jungle)

Tier 3

[Needs Higher Skill or Knowledge | Counterpicks]

Mid-Lane: Taliyah, Azir, Neeko, Jayce, Camille, Garen, Tristana, Tryndamere, Ryze, Karma, Gwen, Aatrox, Kennen, Pyke, Gangplank, Fiddlesticks, Ezreal, Zyra, Gragas, Zeri, Kog'Maw (AP), Cho'Gath, Rakan, Quinn, Lulu, Sona, Varus

Jungle: Poppy, Karthus, Taliyah, Gwen, Morgana, Gragas, Zed, Sylas, Sett, Malphite, Cho'Gath, Pantheon

Top: Gnar, Gwen, Warwick, Viego, Akali, Nocturne, Lee Sin, Hecarim, Jarvan IV, Rumble, Skarner, Lucian, Soraka, Nautilus, Neeko, Ryze, Malzahar, Shaco, Galio

Bot Lane: Kalista, Aphelios, Yasuo, Cassiopeia, Zeri, Heimerdinger, Quinn, Corki, Akshan

Support: Shen, Veigar, Twitch, Fiddlesticks, Neeko, Jarvan IV, Poppy, Annie, Malphite

Rising to Tier 3:
Falling to Tier 3:

Tier 4

[Low Benefit Based On Effort Used]

Mid-Lane: Nasus, Sion, Teemo, Jarvan IV, Riven, Jhin

Jungle: Darius, Tryndamere, Riven, Nasus, Tahm Kench, Qiyana

Top: Rammus

Bot Lane:Twisted Fate, Veigar

Support: Ornn, Sion, Trundle, Leblanc, Miss Fortune, Teemo

Falling to Tier 4:

New Player LoL Tier List

Many users have requested a summarized tier list that just includes suggested champions to play for new players. The tier list below includes the best beginner champions. The tier list is also organized from most beginner-friendly to least beginning friendly (Top, Bot, Support, Mid, Jungle). Since jungle isn't particularly beginner-friendly I've only included two champions on the list.

Top Tier List

God Tier: Sett
Tier 1: Darius

Bot Tier List

God Tier: Miss Fortune
Tier 1: Ashe

Support Tier List

God Tier: Lux, Morgana
Tier 1: Lulu, Nautilus

Mid Tier List

God Tier: Swain
Tier 1: Ahri

Jungle Tier List

God Tier: Udyr
Tier 1: Rammus

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 the 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

When making this tier list we initially considered using tier list descriptions similar to others with S-tier, A-tier etc. However, In the initial build of the tier list way back when we started, it was more popular to use a God Tier designation and then go down from there on the tier list. As a result, we've stuck by this concept through the years. However, since God Tier is supposed to be relatively exclusive on this tier list, we try and limit it to only three or four picks at most. This means that there may be champions that are close to God tier on this tier list, but don't quite make it and are instead at the top of Tier 1.

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

In the past, some people complained that this tier list focused too much on win rates and not enough on play rates. However, this tier list takes into account both win rates and play rates before performing analysis on the champion. Just because there's a high correlation on win rates and position on the tier list doesn't indicate that this tier list is solely based on win rates, if anything the champion power level drives the win rates and supports the claim to validity.

League of Legends is an extremely intricate game and this tier list strives to be as accurate as possible to give you the strongest champion picks. We ordered them on the tier list based on what is most likely to give you the highest chance of winning the game. However, the tier list will over time, have a bias towards win rates since this does indicate that the ordering is accurate and not prone to fluctuations in play rate.

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 do not mean that they're necessarily GOOD right now, especially if they have a low play rate 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 lane 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 lane may give you enough to win a game.

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

LoL Tier List Champion Explanations

Aurelion Sol [Tier 1 Mid]

A very underrated champion right now, the new Rod of Ages synergizes wonderfully with Sol. The new movespeed bonus makes him extremely sticky without relying on Phase Rush, translating into more damage by either going Electrocute or Conqueror.

Fiora [God Tier Top]

In her current state, Fiora is insanely strong. Not only does she win almost every match-up in lane, Divine Sunderer makes it nearly impossible to survive or kill her. The new Spear of Shojin while not commonly built yet is also insanely strong on her as a third item and once that starts coming into popularity expect some serious complaining to go around.

Hecarim [Tier 1 Mid]

One of the highest banned champions on the Rift right now, Hecarim is unsurprisingly good but surprisingly not as good as you'd expect from his insane ban rate. Similar to Fiora he works extremely well with Divine Sunderer and is of course quite a good mid to late-game champion. However, as a champion that generally tends to start Tear of the Goddess in the current meta his ramp up time isn't as strong as some others.

Heimerdinger [Tier 1 Support]

Popularized by pro play, Heimerdinger solidified himself in solo queue as a stable pick as well. His lane phase is a simple execution and always a little stronger than you'd expect. He's not overpowered by any means (although very annoying) but can be very oppressive if players fall prey to his tempo.

Nami [God Tier Support]

While Nami will always be known as an excellent complement to Lucian like Lulu to Kog'Maw, she's started to break away from the tether of a single marksman combo. That being said, her numbers right now are good and her kit has always been versatile. When you combine this with a trend back towards Aery over Electrocute, Nami is at a great spot in the current meta.

Nilah [Tier 1 Bot]

Another under the radar champion, Nilah is steadily climbing the ranks in win rates while falling in pick rate. Overall, she's always been a difficult marksman to master but the ones who have stuck with her are starting to find more success with her as time goes on. Overall, she's still a unique marksman whose skillset doesn't translate well. However, having her on your team certainly isn't as bad as some people like to believe.

Riven [Tier 1 Top]

In a meta where Fiora reigns supreme, you can expect Riven to be close behind. While she's still a Goredrinker type of gal, bruisers in the current meta aren't falling behind tanks despite the new Heartsteel item. Spear of Shojin is also outperforming other items on Riven as expected and I think we'll see her rise quickly once players catch on to how strong it is on her.

Shyvana [Tier 1 Jungle]

The new jungle changes have been quite good for Shyvana as she clears faster and healthier than ever before. This translates into better mid-game power spikes and allows her to compete more effectively with other rivals. She still plays similarly as she did in the previous patch, but has comparatively better power spikes.

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!