Hey forums,

So I felt really left out at the end of season 2. I joined kinda late into the season (Varus was just released when I started), and I never attempted ranked matches. I learned the game by playing support, and slowly got comfortable enough to play ADC. Now, with season 3 right around the corner, I want to learn 3 character per role so I can play rank and play it well.

Would my fellow summoners be so kind as to look over which characters I intend on learning, and offer some suggestions? My main concerns are diversity (so I can properly counter and fit in team synergies), cost (may not exactly have the funds to learn 10 6300 champs), and skill caps (could be really frustrating to master both a challenging character and lane). Here is what I'm thinking

Top: Garen, Nidalee, Rengar
Mid: Zyra, Annie, Morgana
Jungle: Maokai, Nunu, Udyr
ADC: Cait, Ashe, Vayne

I didn't include support because I play tons of support characters and already feel confident enough in the role. I really need to work on mid, top, and jungle so any suggestions for starting champs would be

You're missing out on a really really strong mid in fizz. Basically if the enemy team takes morg your f'd

While Garen can be a nice counter pick, he's doesn't fill a top laner role that you're missing (namely hard carry and AP). Replacing him with someone like Rumble/Vlad or Jax/Irelia/Olaf (preferably one of these three) would go a long way in expanding your top counter picking capabilities.

Similarly, Annie is a solid counter pick. You're missing a good all rounder, though, like Orianna or Gragas (Gragas can be fairly difficult to master).

Your junglers look solid enough (Udyr doesn't always fit vs certain team comps in his specific role, but he's strong enough as is to make him worthwhile).

You might consider adding Corki or Ezreal to your list of AD carries. Ashe is good, but having a mobile AD carry is invaluable.

for top i would drop garen and rengar, they are more counter picks and a bit risky
top:nidalee, irelia, vlad, olaf, jax
jax and irelia play very similarly and olaf is easy to learn

mid drop annie(shes basically only a counter) and zyra(theres better)
mid:morg, karthus, anivia, oriana
they are all strong picks, aniv takes the most skill out of those

jungle:seems fine but id also add mundo or shyvanna, they are both amazing

adc, id drop ashe for ez mf or kog
ashe is really weak imo compared to others for lane phase, which is where snowballing can happen

Top: Irelia, Fiora, Jax, Olaf, Vlad, Teemo
Mid: Lux, Karthus, Gragas, TF
Jungle: Lee Sin, Shyvana, Shaco
ADC: Graves, Corki, Tristana

Thanks, this feedback is great so far.

I've played Jax a few times before and he's really fun. His IP cost is really low too, so I'll definitely take your advice on that.

What do you mean by a good 'all rounder' mid? Somebody with a diverse skillset and has a lot of good match ups? I never played Orianna but I see her played constantly by pros, and have always really liked Gragas (run through walls, sustain, and his ult). Also Zyra is my favorite mid laner, so I do not intend on dropping her (for the person who had suggested it).

All rounder simply means they are safe and go in pretty much any team. Zyra, while she has great CC, has no escape/mobility or utility beyond CC which makes her inherently more susceptible to certain champs. She is by no means a bad mid or a particularly unsafe mid (those CCs make her pretty darn safe), but it's always nice to have a standby when the enemy picks up really aggressive early game, like Maokai+ a solid stun or slow in mid or if you just feel like playing it safe and first picking something that cannot be countered.

Don't drop the plant lady; she is one of the most annoying mids out there.

You've got a good idea going. Ultimately, you should pick champs that make sense to you and you enjoy playing. That being said, here are my two cents on your line-up:

Top: your tops aren't bad picks necessarily - just limited. Garen is only good for a few matchups. Nid is a great counter for certain tops but the lack of a true ult can hurt in team fights. Rengar is a bit of a gimmick champ, but can be very effective against tops with poke. All are definitely useable, but you may want to work in a few more all-around champs for top. I'd suggest Riven at least. Other good options could be Darius, Irelia, and Yorick.

Mid: There are soooo many good mids right now. It's definitely the one role where you need to practice counters. Morgana is a pretty safe pick, but she still gets banned a bit. Other good champs to consider are Anivia, Gragas, Ahri, Orianna, Ryze, Fizz, and Evelyn. But if mid isn't going to be your main role, play what you're comfortable with. All 3 of your picks can dominate in the hands of a good mid player.

Jungle: You've got a very good threesome for your jungle. The only one I might swap out is Nunu. Consider swapping in another Tier 1 jungler like Lee Sin, Amumu, or Skarner.

ADC: Similar to your junglers, your 3 ADCs are all viable. However, you might want to work in at least one of Graves, Ez, or Corki as those seem to be the dominant ADCs at the moment.