League of Legends Solo Queue Tier lists for Patch 9.8:

League of Legends tier lists help you climb solo queue ranked ladders by picking the best champions to win more games. This LoL tier list organizes all the League of Legends champions in all their various roles. Other LoL tier lists only show champions that they think are viable.

This League of Legends tier list lets you pick your favorites and choose from among them the best LoL champions for climbing solo queue. Even if you love playing support Cho'Gath, you'll know where he places in comparison to the rest of the LoL champions.

SEASON 9 - PATCH 9.8

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS TIER LISTS

"Best Champions to Climb With"

Patch 9.8 Tier List Update Summary

This patch features buffs on tanky melee bruisers across the board coupled with nerfs on Blade of the Ruined King and a Stormrazor buff. Overall, we're likely going to see some additional shake-up as the patch goes on, but we'll keep this list updated as we see the changes roll in.

As a late addition to the patch, Riot's also decided to remove Kayle's ability to get her upgrades via skill point elixir. This may end up being a huge nerf to Kayle's overall power level, but we'll have to see how often players were picking it up.

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Contents and Related Links:

FOTM Tier List - Meta based tier list based on popularity and what high Elo players are using
Strongest Potential Champions - Champions with the highest potential in the game
Optimal Champion Bans by Division
God Tier Champions
Tier 1 Champions
Tier List Position Explanation
Champion Explanations

Patch 9.8 Summary

Buffs: Amumu, Camille, Cassiopeia, Fiora, Gnar, Jhin, Kayn, Master Yi, Nautilus, Ornn, Renekton, Sejuani, Singed, Trundle
Nerfs: Kayle, Zed

Updates

4/16: Added Neeko top

Kayle top moved down
Lissandra top moved up
Kayn moved up

Toolkit and Options

Search for a Champion:

LoL Tier List

God Tier List

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

Mid Lane	Ahri, Talon, Morgana
Jungle	Rek'Sai, Jarvan IV, Hecarim
Top Lane	Hecarim, Jax, Renekton
Bot Lane	Vayne, Miss Fortune, Jinx
Support	Thresh, Soraka, Morgana

God Tier Rising: Morgana (Mid), Renekton (Top)
God Tier Falling:

Tier 1

[Strong/Preferred Choices | Faster to Learn and Win | Works Well In Solo Queue]

Mid-Lane: Katarina, Kassadin, Malzahar, Taliyah, Fizz, Vladimir, Vel'Koz, Lux, Zed, Karthus, Nocturne, Annie, Anivia, Yasuo, Veigar, Ziggs, Twisted Fate, Zilean, Jayce, Leblanc, Xerath, Cassiopeia

Jungle: Vi, Kayn, Graves, Evelynn, Kha'Zix, Nunu, Jax, Xin Zhao, Elise, Karthus, Rammus, Shaco, Ivern, Udyr, Warwick, Pantheon, Volibear, Nidalee, Shyvana, Master Yi, Kindred, Sejuani, Rengar, Lee Sin

Top: Riven, Kled, Jayce, Vladimir, Urgot, Pantheon, Sion, Malphite, Yasuo, Camille, Darius, Illaoi, Karma, Rumble, Olaf, Irelia, Quinn, Vayne, Lissandra, Wukong, Singed, Volibear, Poppy, Fiora, Cassiopeia, Viktor, Kayle

Bot Lane: Draven, Kai'Sa, Twitch, Ashe, Sivir, Lucian, Ezreal, Jhin, Varus, Tristana, Caitlyn

Support: Nami, Blitzcrank, Sona, Nautilus, Pyke, Brand, Fiddlesticks, Janna, Leona, Alistar, Lux, Vel'Koz, Zyra, Braum, Bard, Taric

Tier 1 Rising: Camille (Top), Draven (Marksman), Kai'Sa (Marksman), Pyke (Support), Riven (Top), Sejuani (Jungle), Taliyah (Mid), Tristana (Marksman), Vladimir (Mid)
Tier 1 Falling: Caitlyn (Marksman), Leblanc (Mid), Kayle (Top), Lux (Mid), Zed (Mid)

Tier 2

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

Mid-Lane: Ekko, Zoe, Swain, Sylas, Brand, Orianna, Neeko, Aurelion Sol, Galio, Kayle, Lissandra, Aatrox, Wukong, Diana, Viktor, Karma, Corki, Kled, Azir, Gangplank, Syndra, Kennen, Heimerdinger

Jungle: Nocturne, Amumu, Wukong, Camille, Taliyah, Trundle, Maokai, Ekko, Aatrox, Dr. Mundo, Skarner, Zac, Nasus, Olaf, Cho'Gath, Gragas, Quinn, Twitch,

Top: Yorick, Garen, Teemo, Tryndamere, Kennen, Gangplank, Nasus, Neeko, Sylas, Mordekaiser, Swain, Jarvan IV, Maokai, Shen, Gnar, Heimerdinger, Cho'gath, Ornn, Akali, Dr. Mundo, Malzahar, Talon, Trundle, Nautilus, Ekko

Bot Lane: Sona,Kog'Maw, Xayah, Neeko, Yasuo, Quinn, Kalista, Mordekaiser, Brand, Swain, Ziggs, Cassiopeia, Jayce, Heimerdinger, Vladimir, Veigar

Support: Lulu, Xerath, Shen, Jarvan IV, Sion, Karma, Zilean, Ornn, Rakan, Tahm Kench, Zoe, Maokai

Tier 2 Rising: Amumu (Jungle)
Tier 2 Falling: Ekko (Mid)

Tier 3

[Needs Higher Skill or Knowledge | Counterpicks]

Mid-Lane: Irelia, Akali, Kayle, Ezreal, Lucian, Zyra, Gragas, Kog'Maw (AP), Cho'Gath, Pantheon, Quinn, Nasus, Lulu, Mordekaiser, Sona, Varus, Urgot, Teemo, Sion, Fiddlesticks, Malphite, Ryze

Jungle: Pyke, Sylas, Neeko, Poppy, Fizz, Galio, Kayle, Malphite, Sion, Nautilus, Diana, Rumble, Riven, Talon, Tryndamere, Kled, Mordekaiser, Irelia, Fiddlesticks, Tahm Kench, Kog'Maw

Top: Aatrox, Ryze, Tahm Kench, Galio, Fizz, Kassadin, Diana, Rengar, Gragas, Graves, Rammus, Lulu, Xin Zhao, Shaco, Karthus, Lee Sin, Shyvana

Bot Lane: Kennen, Corki, Graves, Urgot

Support: Neeko, Poppy, Sylas, Teemo, Malzahar, Galio, Cho'Gath, Camille, Trundle, Annie, Volibear, Malphite, Shaco, Veigar, Gragas, Nunu, Kayle, Leblanc, Kennen

Tier 3 Rising:
Tier 3 Falling:

Tier 4

[Low Benefit Based On Effort Used]

Mid-Lane: Jarvan IV, Riven, Jhin, Master Yi, Janna, AP Kaisa

Jungle: Gangplank, Fiora, Shen, Darius, Zed, Aurelion Sol, Garen, Alistar, Yorick

Top: Blitzcrank, Taliyah, Alistar, Leblanc

Bot Lane: Twisted Fate

Support: Miss Fortune, Pantheon, Ashe, Anivia, Lee Sin, Gangplank, Orianna, Lissandra

Tier 4 Rising:
Tier 4 Falling:

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 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 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

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

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 doesn't mean that they're necessarily GOOD right now, especially if they have a low playrate 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 laner 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 laner may give you enough to win a game.

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

LoL Tier List Champion Explanations

Draven [Tier 1 Marksman]

As far as marksmen go, Draven's not a hard marksman, he's just a different marksman. Despite this, the mechanics behind him are not terribly difficult, and no other marksman has the ability to run down teams and pub-stomp quite as hard as him. He punishes mistakes incredibly hard, and the only thing keeping him out of God Tier in this list is indeed the fact that you need to learn a completely new skill set.

Hecarim [God Tier Top]

Top lane Hecarim certainly deserves his place on his list. With no nerfs in sight for Patch 9.8, expect him to continue dominating top lane with his ridiculous damage boost courtesy of Riot. In lane, he out-trades nearly everyone, and fighting against him is near impossible. Later in the game, players are treated to the enjoyment of a Hecarim that's impossible to outrun or kill in his current status.

Kai'Sa [Tier 1 Marksman]

After several patches of continuous mediocrity, Kai'Sa is now slightly stronger as a result of Blade of the Ruined King nerfs coupled with Stormrazor buffs. By nerfing the items of her rivals and buffing her main build, Kai'Sa is now able to contest the mid-game again. Her laning phase was never that bad, but her scaling wasn't quite as good as most other marksmen.

Kayle [Tier 1 Top]

After further nerfs to Kayle's scaling, it ends up as a strong multiplicative nerf simply because of the way her build and skills stack on each other. As a result, she's finally at a decent spot where she feels fair to play, but can't feed early game and 1v9 late game.

Master Yi [Tier 1 Jungle]

The addition of ghosting for his ultimate doesn't look like too much at first glance, and it may not end up making much of a difference in most cases. On the other hand, it's definitely a buff and allows Master Yi to avoid crowd-control skill shots by weaving in and out of minions. This adds an extra defensive dimension to his play, although most minions will likely die to his Alpha Strike.

Morgana [God Tier Mid]

Most players are still sleeping heavily on Morgana mid. Hextech GLP gives her extremely high map pressure, and her ability to catch and kill enemy champions remains high. Her laning phase is also very safe as a result of her long-range waveclear and black shield, and late game she remains one of the top utility laners for the same reason. She doesn't have the sustained damage that most mid-laners try to provide, but in an age of hyper carries one catch is enough.

Nocturne [Tier 1 Mid]

If players are sleeping heavily on Morgana mid, they're absolutely comatose when it comes to Nocturne mid. He's been Tier 1 on this tier list for a while, and it's no mistake given his powerful roaming potential and simple to execute strategy. His ultimate is also much more reliable to gank with than similar ultimates like Twisted Fate's.

Rek'Sai [God Tier Jungle]

In the jungle Rek'Sai still remains top on the tier list. Her sustain is outrageous, her damage is absurd, and her finishing move is almost literally unavoidable. Her gank angles are immense and almost always successful, and the amount of mobility she has once she gets going makes her impossible to deal with.

Renekton [God Tier Top]

Even in Patch 9.7, high-level Renekton players are doing fine on him after getting the hang of him and understanding his damage output. The buffs on Patch 9.8 to this big boy simply put him in an even better spot than before. His healing now makes him incredibly good in team fights, and his attack speed growth allows him to split-push even harder than before.

Sona [Tier 2 "Marksman"]

After some initial hype on Sona as a marksman, we're dropping her down a bit this tier list. She's good, but a bit difficult to play as in solo queue. It's not easy to survive as Sona when the enemy team is gunning for you, and she honestly needs good support to survive and be useful. She's good at peeling, but not when the enemy team is aiming for her as a top priority.

Taliyah [Tier 1 Mid]

Taliyah in her current form is definitely seeing some resurgence after continuous nerfs on other popular mid laners over time. Her burst damage is now very comparable to her rivals, and her roaming power is still as strong as ever before.

Zed [Tier 1 Mid]

The nerf to Zed's Razor Shuriken [Q] is really a double-whammy on his damage. First, it reduces his poke damage and wave clear early game, then it also reduces the multiplicative stacking on his Q damage when synergized with his ultimate. When you couple that on top of the potential reduction in his Q damage from multiple shadow clones, you start to realize that 10 damage starts adding up over the course of the game. Of course, that's not enough to stop him completely, but it's enough to drop him out of God Tier.

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!