Renekton - Renekton’s early game laning phase is too strong to ignore, as he is a huge lane bully. Black Cleaver is amazing on him, as his furied E + BC passive shreds a ridiculous amount of armor. Renekton is really good at diving into the middle of the enemy team, shredding armor, soaking damage, and stunning a priority target, all while doing decent AoE damage with his E, Q, and ult. Add a Sunfire cape to the equation for even more tankyness and AoE passive damage. His ult can be used to turn fights after baiting people to chase and focus him. Renekton is one of the few champs that can work in a triple AD comp, as he has crazy armor shred, and his ult and sunfire do AoE magic damage.
Tryndamere - Tryndamere's laning phase is quite strong when played right. Force trades when you have creep advantage and a full fury bar. 1 or 2 crits, and you automatically win the trade, and can possibly even all in if you have the right summoners. He will get pushed around early by some of the stronger laners such as Renekton or Pantheon, but if your playing against one of those champs, just make it a farm lane. His spin keeps him relatively safe from ganks. Of course, once he get a few items, Tryn turns into an unstoppable killing machine that will smash anybody in his way. Jungle Tryn is really strong as well. Once he gets a full fury bar, his crits give him a really fast clear time. His ganks are scary if you can hit your slow properly, and 1 or 2 crits spell disaster for the enemy. And his spin gives him a great escape mechanism if he gets invaded, or wants to invade the enemy.
Singed - Who doesn’t absolutely hate playing against a Singed? He is the strongest champion on the map right now. Singed's main weakness is his early game, but with the S3 changes you can start with so much sustain that his weak early game is negligible now. And if played right he can still beat quite a few champions in lane. Of course, once he hits 6 he turns into a nightmare. As the game progresses, he gets more and more unkillable, and still does heaps of damage with his poison trail. He is also great at catching people out of position with his fling. Evelynn used to be the best singed counter, as she could keep up with him while spamming Q, but now with the Eve nerf Singed officially reigns supreme as the top AP on the map. Counter him with J4 or a Frozen mallet, and even those things are relatively easy for a Singed to overcome. Definite first pick or ban.
Diana - Once an unstoppable tanky, bursty, damage dealing machine, Diana is actually pretty well balanced now. She still does good damage, and has really good mobility. Pre 6 she has little to no kill potential in lane, but is still able to push pretty well. Diana gets scary once she hit's 6. She has tremendous team fight presence, and can also duel just about anybody. She can also be run as a jungler, just know that she lacks early game aggression.
Trundle - I need to mess around with him a bit more, but so far he feels very very strong. His clear time is pretty good, his ganks are slightly above average, and his dueling potential is really good. His kit works amazingly well with a BotRK and a Spirit Visage. With rank 5 Q and rank 3 ult, BotRK and Spirit Visage, with just blade active and ult, he drains 60% OF AN ENEMY'S MAX HP. That means he deals that much damage, AND heals for that much. Along with the rest of his damage, that is nearly broken. His W works with BotRK's passive as well (80% attack speed lol). Basically go BotRK into pure tank, and you will beast people down.
Jayce - His laning phase is outstanding. He win's trades easily with his EQ Cannon Form to QE Hammer Form combo, as after her knocks the enemy back, it's nearly impossible for them to retaliate. He has his gate to help escape ganks. He has one of the best pokes in the game. He's great at catching people with his hammer slam and knockback (flash knockback if required). Jayce farms incredibly well, and as such can push a lane and exert a lot of map pressure. Also it’s very nice having a ranged champ on your team when sieging towers. When his W is maxed, he hits towers like a truck. His only downside is that he doesn’t really get a power spike at level 6, as he has no true ultimate. That and he is really mana hungry, even with the mana buff aura. He's a great first pick, as he doesn't really have any hard counters.
Darius - The neft to his ult isn't a big deal, as it will still be up for pretty much every team fight. Works best against other melee champions. Has strong harass in lane with his Q, and can push hard when needed. Once he gets his frozen mallet, you can't escape from him. Even when built almost full tank, still does a lot of damage. A true damage, refreshing ult is something that can truly be considered OP. Although he is countered in lane by ranged champs, this can be dealt with by bush control and lots of pots, or by pushing the lane extremely hard and exerting pressure on the rest of the map. Overall the hardest counter to Darius is Kayle. Her ult completely negates his, and she dominates him in lane.
Wukong - Wukong seems to finally be getting the credit he deserves. His big upside is obviously his ultimate, which is incredible for team fights. His laning phase actually isn’t that bad either, as trading is relatively easy when you use all your abilities properly. Oh, and stop juking is just too much fun. He is hard countered by exhaust, as it really hurts the damage of his ultimate. Once his ult is down, he isn’t nearly as big of a threat. He is one of the few bruisers that has really good AoE damage, as both his Ult and his E are AoE. This makes a black cleaver a must buy on him, as he can shred the armor of the entire enemy team. His Q also shreds armor, so he is best played with at least 1 more AD champ on the team, and a triple AD comp is not out of the question with him, although probably not optimal.
Lee Sin - A longtime favorite on Twisted Treeline. He can be built so many different ways, and be effective in nearly any role he is trying to fill. He is a pain to deal with in lane. When he gets ahead, he can snowball that advantage like crazy. He is also extremely hard to gank. His clear time is fast, his dueling, ganking, and counter jungling are great. The biggest complaint about Lee Sin is he falls off late game. He snowballs hard enough though that this usually isn’t a big deal.
Jax - Not nearly as godlike as he used to be (early game is more important on the new map, lack of ward jumping, easy to counter), but still definitely a strong pick. His early game isn't by any means bad, but it leaves a bit to be desired. His Q provides good mobility and helps him escape ganks. His E is possibly one of the best non-ultimate abilities in the game. Once he hits level 6, he becomes a huge lane bully. If he gets slightly ahead, he will snowball that advantage hard. He does ridiculous amounts of single target damage, and his ult makes him tanky. Jax is pretty much the best end game 1v1 duelist there is. Both blue and red pots benefit him significantly. Jax is hard countered by attack speed slows, such as Malphite’s E, Nunu’s E, Lee Sin’s E, Frozen Heart, and Randuin's Omen. Jax is best fit into a team comp with someone who can initiate for him, or with Kayle or Lulu, who can ult him as he initiates.
Kha’zix - He is equally strong both in lane and out of the jungle. Using his passive properly and being hyper aggressive in lane almost always nets him early kills. When a target is isolated, his Q is officially broken. He is really mobile with his E, and has great ranged poke with his W. Once you hit lvl 11 and have both his W and E evolved, you become a nightmare, flying around doing a ridiculous amount of damage. His ult gives him great disengage and reengage if he is being focused. As a jungler, he doesn't do any one thing amazingly well, but overall he's a really strong champion, and scales very well throughout the game.
Garen - Garen is a melee bruiser with no real gap-closer, and his ult is just a crappy version of Darius’s. But somehow he is still an extremely strong pick, even after the nerfs to his durability. His main upside comes from his lane dominance. Spinning to win is awesome. He wins almost all of his match-ups early, and can usually bully people out of lane. He pushes and farms extremely hard with his E, and as such can roam around the map looking for kills, or help the jungler counter jungle or gank bottom lane. Garen can get away with building a good amount of damage, as his W gives him a lot of free tankyness. What is often underestimated about Garen is the silence on his Q. If Garen Flash Q's a squishy caster, they are basically dead. His Q also makes his laning phase relatively safe, as the slow removal allows him to avoid most ganks. He doesn't scale the greatest into late game, but still not poorly enough that he isn't a really strong pick. Also, his new skin is super sexy.
Fizz - No, I'm not trolling you. Yes, AD Fizz is amazing. On a map that is heavily skewed towards strong early-mid game champions, AD Fizz finds himself right at home. His laning, invading, and roaming are top notch. When played right, he wins nearly every lane match-up, though it's worth mentioning that he does a bit better against melee bruisers than against ranged champions. Fizz's biggest strength is how slippery he is. It's nearly impossible to gank him, so he can freely push the lane and roam all game. He puts a ton of pressure on the map, and is relatively safe while doing so. His main downside is if it gets to a late game situation, Fizz can't carry. But he definitely still does his part in team fights. Building a BotRK on him gives him super strong %health damage, as the passive on that combined with his maxed W averages out to 6.5% max HP per auto-attack (although granted, the W is DoT). AD Fizz's ult doesn't do much damage, but is still great when used as an initiator and/or for the CC. Lastly, he's just so darn fun to play!
Pantheon - His kit makes winning his lane very easy, and as such has the potential to snowball out of control. His Q is great free poke, and his passive is great for winning trades, as well as for diving towers. His ult gives him global presence, and man-dropping on someone who is attempting to cap an altar is super satisfying. Also, try using his ult combined with Amumu, Sejuani or Galio ult. The results can be devastating! The big complaint about him is his weaker late game, which is true to an extent. Usually if Pantheon gets ahead, he snowballs hard enough to win the game quite early. But if it does get to late game, he just needs to be played properly (kite with Q and E, or burst down a squishy if there is one).
Zyra - Zyra needs a team of front-liners with strong initiation. She has a good laning phase, and great team fight presence. The only problem is, she hates being initiated on (because she is so squishy, and it's hard to get her combo off with people in her face). Zyra is best when paired with a team that can cause all sorts of ruckus, and she can come in and drop a bunch of plants on everyone while they are brawling. Her seeds are good for checking bushes, as well as providing vision against possible ganks. Her plants are great at defending altars. A strong pick with a high skill cap, and relatively dependent on your team doing their job so you don't get insta-gibed.
Malphite -
Elise - In the right hands Elise is stupidly strong. Her laning phase is great, as she has a ton of free poke. If an enemy sticks around at anything less than 50% life, they will most likely end up dying, as Elise has pretty good burst, gap close, and an execute move. I think the proper use of Repel is what makes the truly good Elise player shine. It can stall a fight, it can be used to close a gap, to escape over a wall to a jungle camp, to tower dive and then drop aggro, to stay alive while being tower dove, and I’m sure it has other uses that I don’t even know about. Her stun is great for catching people in the jungle, as it usually results in a ton of free burst damage. Her biggest weakness is the majority of her damage is single target burst, so she isn't the greatest in team fights. But this doesn't matter if she deletes or instagibbs somebody before a team fight even starts. Her W is also great for poking when doing the altar dance.
Cassiopeia - I'm pretty sure Cass has the highest amount of sustained magic damage in the game, if you can hit your skill shots. She is pretty tough to play well. She can build relatively tanky, and still be a huge threat. A well timed ult can easily win a team fight. Her early game is really strong, as a well played Cass can bully an opposing laner right out of lane. She can stall an altar cap with her W and Q forever (until she gets zoned anyways). Her W gives vision, and can be used to check bushes.
Cho’Gath - Cho's lack of mobility is his only downside. He is best paired with someone that can initiate. His true damage Feast bursts squishy’s so hard, and as an added bonus you can stack it for bonus HP for free. His passive gives him tons of free sustain. The thing that makes or breaks Cho is if you can land your rupture or not. If you can, you’re going to win a lot of games. His rupture is also what makes him strong in the jungle, as it makes his ganks quite scary. His 2.5 second AoE silence is also a team fight changer.
Rumble - The recent nefts hurt, but he is still pretty strong. His ultimate is a super strong initiation, with tons of damage and a huge slow. The smaller size of the map and the tight corridors make it that much better. Even when built relatively tanky, he does a lot of damage. Good at chasing people down or kiting with his E, and his Q gives him even more AoE team fight damage to complement his ult.
Evelynn - The nerfs hit Eve hard. She is still viable, just not an absolute beast anymore. Her ult is best used as an initiation now, but the range was decreased, meaning you have to get close to the enemy. Her Q does really good sustained damage, her W lets her get out of bad situations, and her E still hits pretty hard. Once you get a DFG/Lich, you can catch and burst pretty much anybody. Make sure to use her passive to your advantage... sneak behind laners for easy ganks and kills. Her jungle clear time is really good, and her ganks are really scary because of her sustained damage and chase.
Kassadin - Kassadin's mobility is what makes him great. His Riftwalk can literally go over every wall on the map. His laning phase is pretty sucky, and if he gets pushed to tower it can be tough to last hit early on. But once he hits 6, he can start flying all over the place. He is an absolute nightmare for squishy casters, as his ranged, 2.5 second silence offers almost no retaliation options. He can either be built tanky for more prolonged teamfights where he rifts in and out, or you can build him DFG/Lich, and he can almost instantly burst someone down. Wooglet's is also amazing on him. If you get caught out of position just after using Riftwalk, you can Wooglet's to buy time for your team to respond, and Riftwalk will be close to off cooldown by the time you come out of stasis.
Kayle - Jungle Kayle ganks are terrifying. Most gankers bring either CC or damage... Kayle brings both. Her Q is a ranged 3 second 35% slow (at rank 1). Coupled with exhaust, this is 5.5 seconds of slow time. Her E gives her a bunch of extra damage early, and ranged attacks. Make sure to orbwalk while attacking. Kayle ganks result in a kill the vast majority of the time. She also only gets stronger as the game goes on. Full build Kayle can instantly burst for over 2.5k, and does nearly 5k single target damage in 4 seconds, all while splashing AoE damage with her E. She also has her ult, which is 3 seconds of invulnerability, and Wooglet's, which is another 2.5 seconds. The changes (nerfs) only hurt Kayle marginally. Her Q initially has a shorter duration slow, and no damage amplification. What will hurt Kayle the most is lack of MR scaling. She doesn't really have many MR item's that she likes to build, so this is a tough pill to swallow.
Nidalee - She is the new Teemo. Her traps are really overpowered. Since they can’t be destroyed, she can block off whole paths of the jungle. They give vision and shred armor and MR for 12 seconds. On a small map like this, that is way too long. And then of course she has her spears. If she hits 1 or 2 spears on your team before a team fight, it automatically puts her team at a huge advantage, as it can chunk for upwards of 1/3rd of your HP. Oh, she also is impossible to catch, and has a heal that increases attack speed. What isn’t OP about Nidalee? She definitely requires a certain playstyle, though. But when played right, as I mentioned before, she is really annoying, and it is very hard to lose with her on your team.
Gragas - We've been seeing more Gragas lately in the LCS, and for good reason. His W makes him quite tanky, and his body slam gives him really good mobility. His Q does good damage, and also clears waves super efficiently. His ult is by far the most unique part of his kit. When used right, it can win team fights... Not only does it do good damage, but the displacement can cause a ton of confusion, and allow you to focus one person quite easily. It also can be used to catch people out of position, resulting in an almost for sure kill. He takes some finesse to play (all skill shots), but a well played Gragas can be really hard to deal with.
Vi - The nefts hit her laning really hard, but her jungle should be left in tact for the most part. Her clear time is great, and her shield helps keep her healthy for the first couple clears. Her ganking is weak pre-6, but her counter jungling is really strong. She is a decent duelist early, can clear enemy camps relatively quickly, and has good escape with her Q if things start going sour. Her power level gets a nice spike at 6, as her ult really helps her make plays. Vi is extremely reliant on hitting people with her Q, as a fully charged Q does a significant amount of damage. She also has trouble sticking to people to proc her W, so in my opinion Frozen Mallet is a must buy for her if your team doesn't have ample amounts of CC.
Xin Zhao - Xin's early game damage is really scary, which make his ganks a nightmare. He has a gap closing slow, and a knockup, which makes him really hard to escape. His clear speed is average, and he has a really strong invade. His ult is what lets him be a really strong initiator when it comes to team fighting. It does surprisingly good damage when the enemy is at full HP, and temporarily makes him even more tanky. Xin snowballs really well if he gets ahead early, and if he falls behind he can just be built with tanky CDR items. This will allow him to damage soak, peel, and still do a decent amount of damage. He is a one of the strongest junglers on the map right now. Lane Xin is pretty easy. Hit level 2 before the enemy, EQ them, and POOF! Watch their health bar disappear! He has no escapes though, so make sure you're aware of your map, in case a potential gank is coming.
Udyr - In my opinion he is best built with Tanky AP and CDR items. His early game clear is pretty good, and after he gets a few items he becomes really really hard to kill. His W gives him so much extra survivability, his R does a lot of passive AoE damage, and his E gives him great CC so he can peel for a carry if need be. His main weakness is he is quite susceptible to kiting, and this is why I always run ghost on him.
Riven - Since the nerfs I haven't seen very much riven play, although I think she is still a strong pick. She snowballs insanely hard. The main risk with her is if you get behind, you usually stay behind. But when Riven gets ahead, she dominates. She is extremely mobile and can chase people down to secure kills. She is a strong duelist. Most of her abilities are AoE, so she is also great in team fights. Her jungle clear speed is good, her ganks are strong, and she has a strong invade. In my opinion, Riven is by far best played with a hyper aggressive team. Invade at level 2, and never leave the enemy jungle. Gank and counter jungle all day long.
Volibear - Volibear has been decently strong for a while now, and got even stronger with the S3 changes that lead to health stacking. It's neat to see him being picked quite often in the LCS. His clear time is pretty average, but he negates a lot of the damage he takes while jungling because of his fear. He is a strong ganker due to his flip and his slow. His ult gives him good AoE damage in team fights, his W is a great execute to secure kills, and his passive is really really good. Volibear's main weakness is his vulnerability to kiting. But once he gets his paws on somebody, they are in for a bad time.
Nocturne - His clear time is among the fastest in the game. His early game is great... He can duel most junglers, and his ganks are really strong if executed properly. Once he hits 6, his ganks become terrifying, and he can dive onto squishy, high priority targets in team fights. His late game is a bit lackluster, but overall he is a really solid pick.
Jarvan - I think I had been resisting moving Jarvan up to Tier 2 simply because I don't enjoy playing him. But he definitely deserves the spot, as you see him in probably 50% of the time in ranked play. His ganks are strong, his peel is great, and his ultimate can be team fight changing. To me he is a situational pick though. If the enemy lacks ways to get out of his ult, He is a good pick. He also is best picked with an AoE comp. For example, Rumble + Jarvan is an insane combination.
Zed - Zed has a strong early game (both in jungle and in lane), and is possibly the best farmer in the game. He absolutely shreds minion waves. If the enemy team has a squishy champion, he is great at bursting down a single target. Although his ult is super hard countered by Wooglet's. Farm like a boss, put a whole bunch of pressure on the map, and burst down a single high priority target. This is how you win as Zed.
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