2014 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 4.15 Update

SEASON 4 - PATCH 4.15 SOLO QUEUE TIER LIST
SEASON 4 UPDATE

This List has been updated, and new versions are available via this link

Preface Chatter
Hey everyone, I was actually planning on doing this later tonight, but lucky for you guys the NA servers just crashed again, so this one's coming out a little earlier.

In this patch a couple old favorites have been rising with nerfs on other formerly stronger champion picks. Check out the listing below:

Patch 4.15 Summary

Nerfs: Alistar

Buffs: Fiddlesticks, Gnar, Sivir, Urgot

Updates:

• 8/30: 
• Jungle: Kha'zix jungle moved to Tier 1, Nocturne moved down, Master Yi moved up
• Mid: Akali moved up, Syndra moved up
• ADC: Kog moved down, Graves moved up
• Top: Darius moved down, Teemo moved up, Akali moved up
• 9/3: 
• Talon moved up to #1
• 9/4:
• Gnar moved to Tier 1: Great poke/engage, extremely sticky, and deceptively tanky with his transformation.
• Taric moved up
• Kog'maw mid moved up
• Volibear and Udyr jungle moved down
• 9/5: Yorick moved down, Yasuo moved down, Ryze moved up
• 9/9: Edited God Tier and Tier 4 descriptions
• 9/12: Added a champion search box for those of you on mobile

Search for a champion:

The Tier List

God Tier [Most Beneficial Combination of Game Influence/Ease]:
Mid-Lane Gods: Talon, Swain, Vel'Koz
Jungle Gods: Rammus, Amumu, Jarvan IV, Maokai, Warwick, Wukong, Fiddlesticks, Vi
AD Gods: Tristana, Jinx, Lucian
Top Lane Gods: Warwick, Swain, Fiora, Wukong
Support Gods: Morgana, Leona, Blitzcrank

Tier 1 [Strong/Preferred Choices]:
Mid-Lane: Katarina, Ahri, Fizz, Akali, Malzahar, Ziggs, Galio, Brand, Zyra, Lux, Xerath, Syndra, Anivia, Morgana, Orianna, Heimerdinger, Zilean, Wukong
Jungle: Kha'Zix, Sejuani, Pantheon, Nunu,
AD Carry: Draven, Miss Fortune, Caitlyn, Corki
Top Lane: Rumble, Nidalee, Maokai, Heimerdinger, Lulu, Irelia, Akali, Ryze, Nasus, Malphite, Jarvan IV, Tryndamere, Gnar, Yorick, Singed, Teemo, Lissandra, Pantheon, Kennen
Support: Janna, Sona, Nami, Braum, Zyra

Tier 2 [Viable/Balanced Choices]:
Mid-Lane: Twisted Fate, Cassiopeia, Diana, Lissandra, Pantheon, Lulu (AP), Yasuo, Annie,  Viktor, Kayle, Karma, Zed, Fiora, Karthus, Kennen, Mordekaiser, Vladimir, Teemo, Sion, Ryze, Jayce
Jungle: Nautilus, Skarner, Master Yi, Volibear, Udyr, Xin Zhao, Aatrox, Rengar, Evelynn, Kayle, Jax, Shaco, Lee Sin, Cho'Gath, Nocturne, Tryndamere, Olaf, Zac, Dr. Mundo, Nasus, Leona, Trundle, Malphite, Diana, Zed
AD Carry: Kog'Maw, Vayne, Graves, Sivir, Ashe, Varus, Ezreal,
Top Lane: Yasuo, Riven, Volibear, Alistar, Rengar, Jax, Renekton, Dr. Mundo, Trundle, Darius, Aatrox, Udyr, Karma, Lee Sin, Shyvana, Kayle, Cho'gath, Vladimir, Olaf, Gangplank, Xin Zhao, Viktor, Poppy, Quinn, Vi, Jayce, Zed
Support: Thresh, Alistar, Lulu, Vel'Koz, Xerath, Zilean, Annie, Karma, Taric, Fiddlesticks

Tier 3 [Needs Higher Skill/Knowledge Than Usual]:
Mid-Lane: Kassadin, Gragas, Veigar, Leblanc, Nidalee (AP), Kha'Zix, Riven, Tristana, Cho'Gath, Fiddlesticks, Elise, Kog'maw, Ezreal (AP)
Jungle: Hecarim, Elise, Shyvana, Shen, Malzahar, Yasuo, Fiora, Riven, Poppy, Darius
AD Carry: Quinn, Twitch, Twisted Fate, Kennen
Top Lane: Shen, Garen, Gragas, Kha'Zix, Master Yi, Zac, Talon, Elise, Mordekaiser, Sion, Vayne, Nunu, Galio
Support: Volibear, Nautilus, Lux, Gragas, Maokai, Nunu, Kayle, Soraka, Teemo, Malphite, Anivia, Syndra, Veigar, Gangplank

Tier 4 [Low Benefits for Effort Used]:
Mid-Lane: Urgot, Soraka, Janna
Jungle: Gangplank, Garen, Blitzcrank
AD Carry: Urgot
Top Lane: Soraka, Urgot
Support: Nidalee, Orianna, Poppy, Elise, Galio, Shen, Yorick, Lissandra, Ashe, Leblanc

Instructions and Caveats:

• Champions in BOLD I will talk about shortly
• Champions UNDERLINED may 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.

Click Here for a description of the tiers

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.

Champion Explanations

• Alistar [Tier 2 Top] - Initial thoughts on his nerf actually didn't hit him as hard as I thought it would. He's still not a bad top, but can definitely be countered.
• Blitzcrank [Support God] - High shift from poke/heal champions to all-in assassins with low sustain means that mid lane 5v5s generally end up being a face-off. Blitzcrank is the king of picks, and with less poke than ever in his face, even if he misses his hook 5 times in a row, he'll still have the time, mana, and health to try for a 6th.
• Jarvan IV [God Tier Jungle] - Jarvan's in a very strong place right now; similar to Blitzcrank less poke in his face means that he has more time to pick and choose who he wants to take down. He also synergizes very well with a lot of popular champions with his all-in abilities and armor shred.
• Maokai [Tier 1 Top] - Nerfs hurt him a bit, but the damage reduction that he provides to his entire team is still insane.
• Morgana [Support God] - Similar to Blitzcrank, even though she's been nerfed, her pick potential combined with her defensive abilities still make her a very strong pick.
• Nidalee [Tier 1 Top] - High skillcap, high skill potential champion. Check out this article for a full write-up!
• Renekton [Tier 2 Top] - Renekton's not nearly the same bully as he was before, and can easily be countered/pushed out of lane. He's still strong, but tends to get smacked down by the same kids he used to shove around the playground.
• Rumble [Tier 1 Top] - Rumble's ability to turn around all-ins and/or engage with his ultimate is insane, and his early game without items gives him a huge presence later on in the game. Nerfs on a lot of the other manaless sustaining top laners have brought new life into the yordle.
• Soraka [Tier 4 Top] - Dropped to Tier 4, but promoted to a constant reminder of how poor Urgot still is.
• Talon [Mid God] - As assassins go, Talon is ideal simply because he also synergizes so well with Black Cleaver and can provide instaneous AOE utility along with straight up killing one or two squishies on the way in. His abilities also provide very little in the way of counterplay as he has an instant blink followed by invisibility.
• Urgot [Tier 4 Citizen] - Nice try Riot, but Urgot still isn't viable.
• Yorick [Tier 1 Top] - Yorick is the "new" top lane king bully. With the manaless sustainers top nerfed hard, not many top laners can keep up with Yorick's insane harass. This combined with the fact that most AD carries are now simple auto-attacker types makes sure Yorick's ultimate is used to its fullest.
• Zilean [Tier 1 Mid/Tier 2 Support] - Just giving a little more credit where credit is due. While it's true that he's far stronger in organized team play, he definitely also has his place in solo queue as well.

For a full analysis on champion changes this patch, check out this link!

Disclaimer:

• The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for hero selection.

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

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