Climbing wasn’t meant to be easy, but ace these champions and you’ll be rising up the ranks.
For a lot of players, ranked can be a frustrating experience in League of Legends. Between the teammates who refuse to coordinate, the vastly different skill levels, and the odd smurf or two, you can sometimes feel like you’re going backward. But there are a few champions, if mastered, that can help you beat the system and take you to the next level.
Below are five champions—one for each role—that will help you climb the ranks. They aren’t all easy to learn, but they’re the kind of champions you’ve probably already been demolished by and wondered “why are they so good?” Once you master these champions, it becomes easier to learn the mechanics of the lane (or jungle) itself and improve yourself as a player—and then the real climb can start.
With this in mind, let’s break down the top five solo que champions for League’s Patch 10.15.
Top lane – Wukong
Pros
- Strong one-vs-one duelist
- Exceptional sustain via passive
- High-impact ultimate
Cons
- High mana costs
The Monkey King is back in action after his recent rework. He has ascended to an insta pick-or-ban position from never being picked. The rework has kept the core aspects of his original kit and heavily improved them. The most notable change is the decoy, which did nothing before but now acts as an additional damaging tool, copying Wukong’s abilities and dealing a ton of damage.
His newly upgraded passive gives him health regeneration and makes him a terror both in one-vs-ones and team fights.
Item build
While the reworked Monkey King has been live only for a couple of days, most players figured out the best runes, items and skill priority.The Precision tree is core since it gives you additional damage via Conqueror stacks, which you can stack quite easily. The tree also grants additional healing via Triumph and Conqueror when fully stacked, Tenacity to reduce crowd control, and Last Stand to do increased damage when low on health. The secondary Resolve tree will grant you additional tankiness via the health gained from Overgrowth and prolonged sustain via Second Wind, which synchronizes really well with your passive.
Ability priority
Wukong’s skill priority is R>E>Q>W. You want to max your E to be able to get onto targets more often and since it is the primary CS tool in your kit. Q max is second due to the damage granted and lower cooldown with each level, and W max is last since the increased damage from your clone doesn’t matter if your abilities don’t do damage. The clone will indirectly do more damage if you do more damage with your abilities since it copies them.
Game plan
Wukong became one of the strongest early game champions after his rework. The new passive, which is much more useful on lane, grants him a stacking armor and health regeneration buff. This buff combined with the runes above will make you extremely tanky and hard to kill, especially if you get 10 stacks of Conqueror.
Once you get out of the laning phase, look for opportunities around the map when your ultimate is up. You can go for a fast combo, pop ultimate, and do your combo again once basic abilities are off cooldown then use ultimate again; this will unleash devastating amounts of damage on anyone.In mid to late-game teamfights, look for out-of-position carries and try to flank them before they can react. Use your clone wisely—you can knock-up enemies with it as well. If you position it properly, you could CC an entire team even if they’re split.
Jungle – Volibear
Pros
- Mobile
- Strong one-vs-one fighter
Cons
- Can be easily kited
Volibear is the latest reworked champion in the game. He received both visual and kit updates to bring him in power with the more-recent releases such as Sett, Aphelios, and Senna.
While the first days were quite harsh on the reworked Volibear since he failed to excel in any area, the hotfixes within 48 hours brought him back into play. He is currently a dominant pick in both the top lane and jungle.
Item build
The core tree is Precision since it grants Volibear everything he wants to excel at dueling other champions. The keystone taken is Press the Attack since it is the easiest keystone to proc and it deals a lot of damage in a small period of time. Other notable runes which help Volibear be the thunder bear of his team is Triumph, Legend: Tenacity and Last Stand to increase the damage if you’re low on health.
The secondary rune page is more flexible, with most players preferring the Sorcery page for the additional movement speed from Nimbus Cloak and the additional cooldown reduction from Transcendence.
Ability priority
Volibear’s skill priority is R>W>Q>E. The W max allows you to farm easily or duel anyone during the later stages of the game. Q max is second to make you more mobile and E max is last due to its utility being much lower compared to Q or W.
Game plan
Volibear is in a good place after being released for a couple of weeks. Your goal as a Volibear jungle is to clear your camps as soon as possible and then look for opportunities to gank on any lane. If you see no opportunities, then focusing on getting the crabs in the river for additional vision or the Rift Herald alongside the Dragon.
Due to the fact that your gameplay is predictable, you might not outduel most champions early on, so try to look for countergank opportunities instead. It’s much easier to get a kill in such cases instead of a gank.
As the game goes by, try to maintain a good vision coverage for your team and act as the beefy initiator they need alongside being the Smite-bot for the Dragons and Baron.
Mid lane – Twisted Fate
Pros
- Global ultimate
- Flexible build path
Cons
- High mana costs
- Regardless of AD/AP build, needs time to scale
Twisted Fate has been becoming more popular over the past couple of weeks even though he didn’t receive any significant buffs. High Elo players have found some hybrid builds that make TF extremely strong and more people have picked him up.
While the most popular buildpath remains the AP-focused one, the AD or the new hybrid build are seeing a lot of success as well.
Item build
Unsealed Spellbook is at the core of a good Twisted Fate player. It grants you access to multiple summoners spells, which can help you win lane or save a wounded ally at the right time. While there are other viable builds as well, the most popular one is focused around the Unsealed Spellbook.
The Stopwatch rune alongside Minion Dematerializer and Time Warp Tonic are taken to help you out during the laning phase and go through it unharmed. You can use the Dematerializer to kill cannons before going to base or help you thin the wave without wasting too much mana. Time Warp Tonic is one of the most busted basic runes, so it’s self explanatory since you want to start with the potion.
The secondary rune tree taken is usually Resolve to make you more tanky and less prone to dying early on. Demolish will help you snowball early and get your core items as soon as possible. Bone Plating is taken to help you out against those pesky assassins.
Ability priority
Twisted Fate’s skill priority is the following: R>Q>W>E. Q is your main ability for farming and poking opponents early on. Try to aim it so that you kill both the enemy wave and poke the enemy champions early on. This will help you secure an early lead and snowball. W is maxed second for the additional damage that should help you thin out waves as the game goes by. E is maxed last since Q and W are much more useful.
Game plan
Use your Q early on to poke and last hit enemies. If the jungler wants to come for a gank, try to prepare your gold card beforehand so that you don’t scroll through it while the jungler is chasing the opponent.
Aim to farm early and get your core items depending on which build you go for. Once you’re level six, look for ultimate plays to help your other laners. As the game goes by, use your ultimate to your advantage to move huge distances of map while splitpushing.
ADC – Ezreal
Pros
- Rewarding gameplay
- Strong zone control via Iceborn Gauntlet
- Fluid, synergizing kit
Cons
- Skillshot reliant
- Needs time to scale
Ezreal is one of the best ADCs for newbies to the role to pick. He teaches you how to land skill shots, how to maximize damage output via auto-attacking between abilities, and how to zone off enemies from an objective with your Iceborn Gauntlet. While he isn’t as strong as Senna or Aphelios, who are the two best ADCs in the game right now, he’s a strong contender, especially after recent buffs.
Item build
Ezreal used to run with Kleptomancy before it was reworked into Omnistone. The Inspiration tree was core on him since it granted him sustain, boots, and additional CDR. With the removal of Kleptomancy, most Ezreal players transitioned to the Precision primary tree, which is used by most meta ADCs. Lethal Tempo allows you to unleash fast auto attacks, especially when stacked with attack speed. Presence of Mind grants you additional damage via Muramana, Legend: Bloodline is for sustain to keep you healthy before you get your lifesteal items, and Coup de Grace will help you finish off low health opponents. The secondary Sorcery tree grants you additional CDR and Manaflow Band gives you additional AD via Muramana and makes sure you never run out of mana.
Ability priority
Ezreal’s skill priority is: R>Q>E>W. His Q needs to be maxed first regardless of AD/AP build since it reduces his other cooldowns if a target is hit. It’s the bread and butter ability for farming, poking, and helping you proc your Sheen item. E is maxed second after Q since mobility is much more important than the additional damage scaling from W.
Game plan
Ezreal is one of the strongest mid-game ADCs. To reach the mid game, you have a simple game plan. Farm efficiently during the laning phase to purchase Manamurne and a Sheen Item (Trinity Force or Iceborn Gauntlet). With Manamurne converted to Muramana at around 20 minutes and the Sheen item completed, you’re at your strongest point in the game. At this stage of the game, your goal is to group with your teammates and push for objectives. You’ll fall off compared to other ADCs, but you’ll still be a reliable damage dealer even in the later stages of the game. Remember to weave auto attacks between your abilities to maximize damage output.
Support – Senna
Pros
- Ranged
- Infinite scaling
- Strong utility
- Global ultimate
Cons
- Squishy
- No dash
Senna’s kit is unique since she’s a mix between a support and marksman. But she’s mostly been picked as a support since her release. She has high poke and all of her abilities offer protection and aggressive plays. Senna may be squishy, but she can lock down an enemy while keeping her team alive, which is an amazing combination to have.
Item build
The Inspiration primary tree is essential for Senna. Glacial Augment makes her extremely obnoxious for enemies to deal with and buys you enough time to keep doing damage or run away from the enemy. Biscuits will grant you additional sustain during the laning phase, while Approach Velocity alongside boots make you more mobile. The secondary Precision tree grants you the needed mana to spam your abilities, while Alacrity grants you the attack speed that you won’t get from items.
Ability priority
Senna’s skill priority is R>Q>W>E. Q max will grant you both healing and damage required to poke and sustain through the laning phase. It’s the perfect two-in-one combined ability. W second will let you follow up with a root more often on your Glacial Augment proc to get a pick or run away from enemies. While E is extremely powerful in coordinated play. It’s often rarely used by your solo queue allies, so it should be maxed last.
Game plan
Senna is an infinite-scaling ADC support. She gains more damage and stats as the game goes on. Your goal is to poke early on and try to pick up souls to get to your power spikes as soon as possible. Use Glacial Augment to get easier W procs on enemies and allow your ally to poke without retaliation. If the enemy jungler comes to gank, use your E on yourself and your ally to escape safely since you can’t be targeted by ranged champions under the shroud.
Always keep an eye out for teammates with your ultimate once you reach level six. Act like a primary damage dealer once you get some items and stacks.