SEASON 5 - PATCH 5.3 SOLO QUEUE TIER LIST
SEASON 5 UPDATE
Preface Chatter
With Ahri and Azir nerfs up this patch and a looming Katarina nerf slated for the near future, you have to wonder who the new kids on the block mid lane will be...Meanwhile, as always, changes in champion popularity are continuously decreasing the relative strength of some champions in favor of others. Check out the complete list 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, check out the list of strongest potential champions in each position!
Patch 5.3 SummaryUpdates:Buffs: Diana, Gragas, Kennen, Twisted Fate, Varus, ZyraNerfs: Ahri, Azir, Fiddlesticks, Gnar, Kassadin,Tweaks: Sona
- Added Fizz top
The Tier ListSearch for a champion:
God Tier [Highest Influence]:
Mid-Lane Gods:Katarina, Ahri
Jungle Gods: Vi, Jarvan IV, Fiddlesticks, Nidalee, Sejuani
AD Gods: Jinx, Sivir, Graves
Top Lane Gods:Irelia, Jarvan IV, Swain, Wukong, Sion
Support Gods:Leona, Blitzcrank
Tier 1 [Strong/Preferred Choices]:
Mid-Lane: Malzahar, Annie, Swain, Cassiopeia, Vel'Koz, Talon, Anivia, Diana, Wukong, Xerath, Nidalee, Brand, Karthus, Zyra, Heimerdinger
Jungle:Rek'Sai, Wukong, Hecarim, Amumu, Sion, Skarner
AD Carry: Kalista, Draven, Ashe, Corki, Miss Fortune, Caitlyn
Top Lane: Tryndamere, Malphite, Fiora, Lissandra, Renekton, Nasus, Rumble, Vladimir, Kennen, Riven, Hecarim, Rek'Sai, Teemo, Heimerdinger, Pantheon
Support: Janna, Sona, Taric, Nami, Zyra, Vel'Koz, Morgana
Tier 2 [Viable/Balanced Choices]:
Mid-Lane:Zed, Lissandra, Orianna, Pantheon, Morgana, Lux, Kennen, Ziggs, Leblanc, Viktor, Kayle, Karma, Mordekaiser, Twisted Fate, Vladimir, Galio, Teemo
Jungle:Pantheon, Warwick, Xin Zhao, Shaco, Volibear, Udyr, Maokai, Rammus, Nautilus, Lee Sin, Master Yi, Diana, Kayle, Jax, Zac, Cho'Gath, Rengar, Kha'Zix, Poppy, Aatrox, Malphite, Irelia, Karthus, Nasus, Olaf, Trundle, Gangplank
AD Carry: Tristana, Varus, Ezreal, Lucian, Vayne, Kog'Maw
Top Lane: Darius, Cassiopeia, Gnar, Fizz, Maokai, Gangplank, Jax, Volibear, Singed, Nidalee, Warwick, Rengar, Dr. Mundo, Zed, Trundle, Aatrox, Udyr, Karma, Garen, Lee Sin, Jayce, Lulu, Shyvana, Kayle, Cho'gath, Olaf, Yorick, Xin Zhao, Poppy, Viktor, Kha'Zix, Quinn, Vi
Support: Thresh, Braum, Annie, Soraka, Fiddlesticks, Alistar, Lulu, Xerath, Karma, Brand
Tier 3 [Needs Higher Skill/Knowledge Than Usual]:
Mid-Lane:Syndra, Lulu (AP), Kassadin, Akali, Jayce, Fizz, Zilean, Azir, Master Yi, Gragas, Jarvan IV, Fiora, Yasuo, Sona, Riven, Cho'Gath, Fiddlesticks, Ryze, Kha'Zix, Veigar, Sejuani, Malphite, Tristana, Kog'maw, Ezreal (AP), Elise
Jungle:Nunu, Nocturne, Fiora, Zed, Malzahar, Leona, Dr. Mundo, Elise, Shyvana, Fizz, Shen, Gragas, Riven, Darius, Yorick, Evelynn, Tryndamere
AD Carry: Quinn, Twitch, Twisted Fate, Kennen
Top Lane: Shen, Gragas, Morgana, Akali, Zac, Master Yi, Galio, Kassadin, Azir, Talon, Ryze, Rammus, Mordekaiser, Alistar, Yasuo, Leblanc, Vayne, Nunu, Urgot, Elise
Support: Nautilus, Lux, Gragas, Maokai, Volibear, Zilean, Nunu, Kayle, Teemo, Malphite, Anivia, Syndra, Veigar, Lee Sin, Gangplank
Tier 4 [Low Benefits for Effort Used]:
Mid-Lane: Urgot, Soraka, Janna
Jungle:Yasuo, Garen
AD Carry: Urgot
Top Lane: Soraka
Support: Nidalee, Orianna, Poppy, Elise, Galio, Shen, Yorick, Lissandra, Ashe, Leblanc
- 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 judgement.
- 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.
- This tier list takes data from ALL players; however, since the majority of players fall in the first three tiers, the majority of data points will come from there.
- Win Rates are important in analyzing each champion's strength, but are not the end-all criteria for any champion's position.
- The creator of this list is diamond, so there may be some personal bias towards higher tier play on certain champions.
Champion Explanations
- Ahri [God Tier Mid] - Despite strong nerfs to Ahri this patch, she remains a strong contender and snowballs teams very hard with her strong gap closers, AOE true damage, and low CD charm.
- Azir [Tier 3 Mid] - Azir's nerfs this round were extremely effective in limiting his strength, and his 10% drop in win rate seems to indicate that he just left the balanced arena.
- Blitzcrank [God Tier Support] - With lanes becoming more and more "campy", Blitzcrank excels at creating strong openings. Where Thresh requires follow-up, Blitzcrank has the ability to simply pull enemy champions into turrets and hold them there for a few pot shots regardless of what his teammates decide to do in the meantime.
- Cassopeia [Tier 2 Top] - Even after the mana nerfs, Cassiopeia remains a strong lane bully top, and I think we'll see her rise. She's pretty much on par with Lissandra in damage potential, except Cassiopeia lacks an easy escape and is more damage than CC based.
- Diana [Tier 1 Mid] - The recent buffs to Diana were actually fairly substantial, and made her early game much more bursty and open to cheese plays. I suspect we'll start seeing much more of her soon.
- Fizz [Tier 2 Top] - As noted in the recent FOTM article, Fizz is fairly strong top lane, and although he's not a priority pick by any means, he can definitely hold his own.
- Leona [God Tier Support] - Leona is currently likely the strongest support in the game. Where Blitzcrank can make the plays, Leona makes up for it with consistency, and is essentially the strongest roamer in the game right now.
- Malzahar [Tier 1 Mid] - I see a lot of arguments on Malzahar. The fact of the matter is, Malzahar is insanely easy to play, scales very hard into late game with his percentage based damage, and snowballs very hard with his bouncing dots. Although his ultimate isn't very long, it deals a ton of damage and comes out essentially instantly from a range, and doesn't put him in the middle of a fight.
- Swain [God Tier Top] - I've decided to place Swain back to God Tier top simply because more melee champions are coming back into the fold, and Swain excels against them in ways that make many want to quit the game.
- Tryndamere [Tier 1 Top] - Tryndamere's strength right now is extremely high in solo queue simply because of his tower pushing and sustain abilities. He can choose to assist in teamfights bot lane, or simply ignore it and trade a dragon for two towers. His strategy is exceedingly simple, yet extremely effective in solo queue.
- Vi [God Tier Jungle] - With rapidly increasing mobility becoming the norm instead of the exception, Vi's actually stronger than Jarvan at the moment simply because she has the ability to lock down the high mobility champions that are dodging Jarvan's stuff. Also, she tends to be banned a lot less so feel free to main her instead.
- Wukong [God Tier Top] - Wukong's been upgraded back to God Tier top after some thought. Even after the cloth armor and ruby crystal path changes, it seems like people still favor squishy tops over tanky ones, making him a fairly safe pick at most levels for some squishy stomping. His low CD gap closer also helps he pin down high mobility champions on the rift.
- The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for hero selection.
Agree? Disagree? Comment below!