2016 Best Champions Tier List - Solo Queue Ranked Ladder Climbing - Patch 6.20 Update

Preface Chatter

As the season winds down on November 7th, players eagerly jump into ranked to secure their division for the sixth League of Legends season. Many are also watching worlds, which shifts the meta towards similar champions. However, champions that work well in pro play are not necessarily the best in ranked solo queue.

Which champions work best in solo queue? Which ones are the safest to reliably climb with? Which ones can you POWER through the ranked grind by smashing through in the quickest and most efficient way possible? Check out the list below!

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The Tier List

God Tier [Highest Influence]:

Mid-Lane Gods:Ahri, Annie, Anivia
Jungle Gods:Vi, Amumu, Sejuani, Nunu, Zac
Marksman Gods: Jinx, Jhin, Miss Fortune
Top Lane Gods: Kennen, Malphite, Yasuo, Irelia
Support Gods:Janna, Sona, Blitzcrank, Soraka

Tier 1 [Strong/Preferred Choices]:

Mid-Lane:Vel'Koz, Brand, Twisted Fate, Morgana, Kennen, Kayle, Syndra, Corki, Viktor, Talon, Katarina, Malzahar, Lux, Yasuo, Karthus, Zilean
Jungle: Jarvan IV, Skarner, Graves, Nidalee, Hecarim, Kha'Zix, Wukong, Shaco, Xin Zhao, Volibear, Nocturne, Dr. Mundo, Olaf, Kindred, Fiddlesticks, Elise
Marksman:Caitlyn, Twitch, Ashe, Sivir, Vayne, Tristana
Top Lane: Riven, Kayle, Wukong, Jarvan IV, Illaoi, Swain, Renekton, Teemo, Jayce, Quinn, Sion, Tryndamere, Graves, Darius, Pantheon, Jax, Singed, Gangplank, Olaf, Yorick, Rumble
Support: Nami, Vel'Koz, Brand, Zyra, Leona, Braum, Zilean, Taric

Tier 2 [Viable/Balanced Choices]:

Mid-Lane: Galio, Xerath, Aurelion Sol, Zyra, Gangplank, Karma, Ziggs, Cassiopeia, Fizz, Akali, Orianna, Zed, Swain, Veigar, Jayce, Diana, Cho'Gath, Lulu, Wukong, Leblanc, Pantheon, Heimerdinger, Lissandra, Kassadin, Quinn, Ekko, Urgot
Jungle:Gragas, Maokai, Rammus, Warwick, Trundle, Rengar, Udyr, Rumble, Jax, Lee Sin, Malzahar, Irelia, Quinn, Evelynn, Shyvana, Master Yi, Diana, Kayle, Malphite, Sion, Fizz, Nautilus, Aurelion Sol, Pantheon, Ekko, Mordekaiser,
Marksman: Lucian, Ezreal, Graves, Draven, Corki, Kog'Maw, Varus, Quinn
Top Lane: Akali, Poppy, Fiora, Volibear, Zac, Rengar, Kled, Ekko, Maokai, Nautilus, Gnar, Lissandra, Garen, Nasus, Trundle, Rammus, Cho'gath, Malzahar, Dr. Mundo, Urgot, Fizz, Mordekaiser, Gragas, Tahm Kench, Shen, Diana, Hecarim, Lulu, Xin Zhao, Heimerdinger, Kassadin, Nidalee, Aurelion Sol
Support: Karma, Morgana, Sion, Thresh, Alistar, Bard, Nautilus, Trundle, Tahm Kench, Lulu, Annie

Tier 3 [Needs Higher Skill/Knowledge Than Usual]:

Mid-Lane:Sona, Vladimir, Taliyah, Varus, Ezreal (AP), Azir, Ryze, Nidalee, Kog'Maw (AP), Teemo, Master Yi, Gragas, Jarvan IV, Ezreal (AD), Jhin, Mordekaiser, Riven, Fiddlesticks, Kha'Zix, Malphite, Leona, Elise
Jungle:Rek'Sai, Poppy, Tryndamere, Kled, Aatrox, Kog'Maw, Tahm Kench, Cho'Gath, Nasus, Gangplank, Ivern, Taliyah, Fiora, Zed, Taric, Karthus, Leona, Riven, Darius, Shen
Marksman: Urgot, Kalista, Kindred, Kennen, Twisted Fate
Top Lane: Galio, Aatrox, Vladimir, Cassiopeia, Warwick, Udyr, Rek'Sai, Morgana, Zed, Blitzcrank, Karthus, Viktor, Ryze, Karma, Lee Sin, Master Yi, Kha'Zix, Vi, Talon, Shyvana, Taliyah, Azir, Leblanc, Vayne, Nunu, Elise, Taric
Support: Shen, Poppy, Volibear, Malphite, Shaco, Ivern, Veigar, Lux, Xerath, Gragas, Maokai, Kayle, Kennen, Taliyah, Fiddlesticks, Nunu, Pantheon, Elise, Teemo

Tier 4 [Low Benefits for Effort Used]:

Mid-Lane: Soraka, Tristana (AP), Evelynn, Tahm Kench, Janna
Jungle: Garen, Alistar, Yorick
Marksman: Mordekaiser, Thresh
Top Lane: Alistar, Braum, Soraka
Support:Ashe, Anivia, Nidalee, Lee Sin, Gangplank, Orianna, Galio, Syndra, Yorick, Lissandra, Leblanc

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.

• Alistar [Tier 2 Support] - After a great showing by Alistar during the world finals, players are quickly picking him back up again in solo queue as well. He is a jack-of-all-trades that benefits a team with strong dive coordination and good synergy. Unfortunately, this is not always available in solo queue, and so he tends to end up in sticky situations without his team ready for follow-up. The same extreme speed that benefits Alistar's combo in pro play works against him in solo queue. There is very little time for allies to see when he is going in, agree to go in, and then follow-up. As a result, he is not as strong when playing on the ladder.
• Aurelion Sol [Tier 2 Mid] - Similar to Alistar, after a great showing by Aurelion Sol on the world stage, players are picking him up a lot more than usual. He is extremely tanky, and deals great sustained damage. However, he does not play into a poke comp or a dive comp, and instead plays into a third type...the Aurelion Sol comp. As a result, he tends to become the star of the show and needs his allies to play as such. In the solo queue environment, egos do not always allow this to happen.
• Ivern [Tier 3 Jungle/Support] - Initial results from Ivern show than he needs a bit more tweaking, or allied players need to get used to his kit. His allied root dash is not completely intuitive, and his bushes tend to bait allies to hide in them, resulting in poor positioning if Ivern has placed them poorly to begin with. Additionally, his numbers are a bit low since Riot clearly wanted to make sure that a jungler that takes no damage from minions was not overpowered on release. 
• Kalista [Tier 3 Marksman] - Kalista is in some dire need of buffs and/or simple quality of life improvements. Her jump is currently a bit buggy, and she has a lot of trouble keeping up in terms of burst damage with other marksmen during laning phase.
• Kennen [Tier 1 Mid] - Although Kennen is clearly better as a top lane bully, his mid-lane power in solo queue is extremely good as well. By placing him mid, players gain access to his team-fighting ultimate earlier on, without the need for top lane to use up teleport. His main drawback as a mid-laner is that his early game waveclear is low. However, in solo queue players that push lane too hard end up getting camped by the enemy jungler, so this is a non-issue.
• Nunu [God Tier Jungle] - The latest buffs to Nunu really streamlined his jungle and resulted in faster waveclears.Additionally, the buff on his ultimate makes it nearly impossible to escape the full duration of the channel, which increases his overall damage by quite a bit. Lastly, Nunu is given the option of quickly hitting his ultimate for minimum damage while running at full speed; this increases his potential output by a good deal as well, resulting in more potent ganking burst.
• Zac [God Tier Jungle] - The shift in meta away from Jhin in solo queue towards Caitlyn is causing Zac to lose his effectiveness by a bit. Caitlyn traps are extremely potent against his passive, and the other two most popular marksmen (Lucian & Ezreal) certainly do not make for easy targets.
• Zilean [Tier 1 Mid] - Although Zilean works well with hyper-carries, Ezreal is for better or for worse, the most popular marksman at this point in time. Because Ezreal is a poke damage marksmen who tends to stay further back than usual, Zilean synergizes extremely poorly with him. As a result, he underperforms in solo queue simply as a result of the meta. However, if you select him with someone like Jinx or Twitch, he can work extremely well.

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