2014 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 4.9 Update

Buffs: Pantheon, Rumble, Soraka
Nerfs: Braum, Kassadin, Rengar
Tweaks: Kha'Zix

• Added Alistar Top, Gragas Top
• Added Fiora explanation

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• Alistar [Tier 3 Top] - While Alistar's not exactly an easy pick, he's definitely viable and offers a very tanky, safe top laner that can harass easily with W + auto, which deals a sizable amount of damage with Sheen proc. He also has decent sustain, but his effective radius definitely offers some issues late game when every second matters in a teamfight.
• Braum [God Tier Support] - Despite nerfs I think he's still very strong. We'll keep an eye on him for now.
• Darius [Tier 1 Top] - With the current state of balance in top lane, Darius should get more credit than he's due. While he's no powerhouse and also suffers from a bit of radial troubles, he dishes a lot of damage against melee heavy team comps and naturally synergizes from armor items like sunfire and randuin.
• Gragas [Tier 3 Top] - His W gives him good sustain and his utility is nice to have on a team, but he's by no means a top pick from what I can tell. I could be mistaken.
• Jarvan IV [God Tier Jungle/Tier 1 Top] - Jarvan's latest buff from a few patches back went largely unnoticed, despite some chatter on how strong he'll be. As one of the older champions in the game, a lot of people still shy away from playing him. However, his potential utility is some of the highest in the game, and his win rate in solo queue is soaring.
• Katarina [Tier 1 Mid] - The power of a good Katarina cannot be underestimated, and she's been climbing the ranks in popularity and win rate steadily. It's only a matter of time before the Katarina OP QQ starts up again on the forums.
• Kha'Zix [Tier 2 Mid, Tier 1 Jungle, Tier 2 Top] - Huge changes to Kha'zix this time around, but despite our original beliefs that a huge nerf had been smacked to his buggy forehead, it appears it really was just a tweak after all. His damage peak has definitely shifted, and he's slightly weaker, but ability to take down isolated target is better than ever. Nobody really plays him mid anymore, but I think he could still be viable there.
• Nocturne [Tier 2 Jungle] - Feral flare nerfs dropped his power significantly; he's fairly balanced now.
• Olaf [Tier 2 Top] - I've dropped Olaf despite knowing there will be angry Koreans at my doorstep shortly. With the lowest win rate in the game, he just gets kited too easily in teamfights if you miss an axe, and with the movement intensive AD carries that are popular today, chasing them down simply isn't as easy as it used to be. He's still very strong in lane though.
• Rumble [Tier 2 Top] - The flamethrower buff should help him significantly, but I'm not sure if he's back to Tier 1 worthy yet.
• Shen [Tier 3 Top] - Shen's been moved down despite being a very safe top laner. He simply doesn't offer as much in solo queue as he does in ranked play, and depends heavily on teammates knowing exactly what they're doing as well as the Shen being completely confident in his abilities. Otherwise, the scenario usually plays out as wasted ultimates and/or failing two lanes simultaneously.
• Soraka [Tier 2 Mid/Top] - Soraka's another of those champions that you'll all say "she got a buff, why did she move down?" Well the previous patch's nerfs hit her harder than I suspected, and because of this I think she's significantly weaker. In fact she might still be placed too high, but time will tell.
• Shyvana [Tier 1 Top] - Shyvana's a very strong pick for sure, but I don't think she offers enough utility to impact a game as heavily as other champions; hence her win rate. Despite that, if you're uncomfortable playing top, she's probably one of the easier choices that may still be strong enough to impact even if you get zoned out of your lane.
• Twitch [Tier 1 ADC] - Twitch's damage potential is the highest in the game, and with pink wards the way they are, he's definitely got an edge up with his invisibility. However, I'm hard pressed to put him into god tier for solo queue simply because of his lack of escapes and his average win rate. He's definitely borderline and easily has the potential to be there, but other AD carries can aggressively flash for kills whereas if Twitch flashes early he'll likely have a rough time soon after.
• Vel'Koz [Tier 2 Support] - A lot of you have been clamouring for Vel'koz to be moved higher, but I think balanced is already fairly generous all things considered; opinions on this may change in the future. He does do a huge amount of damage with low mana costs, but if he loses lane it seems like his ability for a comeback is very slim.