Solo lanes are in a really special place right now, where you can play all kinds of things with your team like ADCs, mage tops, and the mega tanks coming back. I feel that the only thing that limits your choices is the keystone masteries, which are limited to Thunderlords Decree and Grasp of the Undying. You play with any other mastery you’re pretty much an inovator, because these two are by far the best masteries for solo lanes.
I’ll probably cover a few solo laners that play with different masteries, but they are rare and far between. So like usual, I’ll try not to focus on any one type of champion for too long and I’ll give reasoning for some of my choices in each tier.
So let’s begin with TOP LANE.
Tier A
Dr Mundo, Fiora, Malphite, Lissandra, Graves, Trundle, Garen
LISSANDRA. This champion provides slows on everything or better. Her Q has decent range so you can poke out your enemy laner, her W is a very good escape as well as an engage tool and her E is an AOE snare, come on! Her scaling is very good, her utility is very good, she’s a very balanced strong champion. But I will complain on one thing. THAT FUCKING ULT IS CRAZY STRONG! Use it to heal yourself and make yourself invulnerable, or use it to lock down an enemy target and just assassinate them. Just use it!
- pretty easy to learn and to dominate lane with her
- has great utility throughout the whole game
- because of her ult, she’s among the top champions in solo lanes, with least deaths and most assists
- Thunderlord Decree’s proc is easy to land with Q+aa+Q
TRUNDLE. He steals everything from a top laner. Like Come on! His Q steals ad away and his ult takes armor and magic resist as well as steals your health. Tank killer, ult+Q = enemy bruiser is useless.
- 51% win rate
- tanks better than almost any champ in the game right now
- really easy to play and abuse
Tier B
Nasus, Renekton, Pantheon, Quinn, Tahm Kench, Darius, Wukong
PANTHEON. Oh Squirrel! He has no late game. Fuck that! Poke with Q and all in with W. Get ignite and ult into another lane at 6. Fuck them up! Just remember to get an early armor pen item like Ghostblade. Stop worrying about the late game! Just win the game in the first 10 minutes and devastate them.
- he deals close to the most damage out of all top laners
- 53% win rate and averages around the most kills in top lane at 8.6
- q does quite a bit of dmg and comes up every 3 secs or so
NASUS. Susan is quite strong. The lifesteal passive plus grasp of the undying makes trades go in your favor at times. Play this champ safe and farm up that q. Go tank except for trinity and q bitches down.
- 51% win rate and one of the tanky-est tops in the game.
- The q is easy to stack if you just stay alive.
- Trinity force and all tank items = win
Tier C+
Illaoi, Tryndamere, Jax, Irelia, Vladimir, Ryze, Lulu, Sion, Shen
JAX. You be wondering why Jax is this low and I have a very simple response. NOBODY PLAYS JAX WELL. He’s a very high skill champion to play. There is so much counter play and timing that goes into his counter strike. I’m sorry, but most people don’t have that kind of skill. But I will guarantee this: if you can get a Jax with two items past 25 minutes I’m pretty sure you’ll win the game, but hey, it’s the League of throws, so good luck.
Now the MID LANE.
Tier A
Malzahar, Ahri, Lux, Velkoz, Talon, Fizz, Annie
MALZAHAR. This champ has high ratios (0.8 on Q, E, R); great wave clear with space aids and silences. A fucking silence. He is really easy to master and abuse your oponent with space aids. Just give him a look before he gets reworked and I swear it’s free elo. There is two build paths you need to consider though: Rod of Ages into traditional AP or Liandry’s Torment and Rylai’s Chrystal Scepter for the tank killing.
- 53% win rate and is among top third of mids in damage dealt
- he has a really easy combo to execute Q+W+E+R, it’s pretty much a 100 to 0 on anyone on the map
- he has one of the only silences left in the game and one of the only suppressions in the game
- space aids is a total bullshit, you can afk farm with it
AHRI. Such a versatile mid. Spamable abilities with dash ult, charm and true damage on Q. Q also allows her to lane safely as well as poke. A little practice on mana management and we are good.
- 54% win rate
- she is in top 2/5 for every stat (damage dealt, kills, etc.)
- her Q gives her movement speed when cast, so you can either engage or disengage off of it
- her ult is on a decent cool down and provides an incredible amount of utility
Tier B
Lissandra, Cho’Gath, LeBlanc, Xerath, Morgana, Anivia, Twisted Fate, Corki
TWISTED FATE. Semi-global ganking ult. That is MAD USEFUL. It takes time to master the “pick a card”, but once you do, you can win a game early with roam pressure. He even has good wave clear. Practice “pick a card” for 30 minutes and you should be able to dominate anyone in rank.
State of solo q 