In League of Legends, playing ranked can be a love/hate relationship. It’s something that can really tilt us, yet we find ourselves going back time and time again – we just can’t seem to stay away from that keyboard.
There are scenarios in LoL that can cause you to feel like you’re going back, instead of forward. There are some champions, however, that can help you get to the next level – the only catch is: you have to master them.
Today, we are going to introduce you to the best solo queue champions in League of Legends – we are going to give you one champion for each role. These five champions are almost guaranteed to help you climb the ranks, as long as you master them.
Jungle – Volibear
Volibear was reworked not too long ago. During his rework, he received both kit and visual updates. The one con that we found with this champion is the fact that he can be easily kited, but if you learn how to play the champion like a pro, this is something you can avoid. He’s a strong one vs. one fighter, and is highly mobile, which is why we chose him as one of the best solo queue champions in LoL.
Volibear’s Item Build
Precision is the core tree because it will give Volibear everything he needs to duel his fellow LoL champions successfully. Press the Attack is the keystone taken because it can deal a lot of damage in no time at all.
Other runes that we choose for Volibear would be Tenacity and Last stand – these will help increase your damage when you’re running low on health.
Ability Priority
Volibear’s skill priority goes like this: R>W>Q>E. With the W max, you will be able to farm easily or duel anyone during the later stages. When you want to be more mobile, Q will come in handy, and E max is last as the utility is lower than W or Q.
Volibear’s Game plan
When you play Volibear in the jungle, your main goal would be to get those camps cleared out as soon as possible and then find opportunities to gank. Mind you, early in the game, you may not be able to outduel other champions, so you need to find counter-gank opportunities.
Top Lane – Wukong
For our best solo queue champion in LoL for top lane, we chose Wukong – this is a strong one-vs-one duelist, and his ultimate has a high-impact on the game. The one downfall with Wukong is the mana. While the decoy didn’t work well on Wukong in the past, now it can be used to do a lot of damage, and his passive gives him a nice gulp of health regeneration.
Item Builds
On Wukong, the Precision tree is the main way to go, as it will give the champion additional damage through Conqueror stacks. The tree also gives additional healing through Conqueror and Triumph when fully stacked. The last stand brings increased damage when health is low, and Tenacity will reduce crowd control.
Ability Priority
When you’re playing Wukong, you will want to remember R>E>Q>W; In order to get onto targets often, you will want to max that E. Second is Q due to the lower cooldown with each level and the damage granted. Then, because the increased amount of damage from your clone isn’t going to matter if those abilities don’t do damage, you’ll want to max W for last. The clone naturally copies the damage, so if you do more damage with your abilities, the clone will do the same.
Game Plan for Wukong
Once Wukong is out of the laning phase, when your ultimate is up, search for opportunities around the map. You can move in for a great combo, ultimate, and then do your combo again, then ultimate again – this will do a lot of damage.
Make sure you use your clone wisely, and you will do well with it. If you position yourself correctly, you could CC an entire team, which is an epic move.
Mid Lane – Twisted Fate
I can’t help but notice how popular Twisted Fate has become recently, even though he hasn’t received any significant buffs. He has a flexible build path, which we admire, and his global ultimate is fantastic. He does have some downfalls – his high mana costs make things hard at times, and regardless of AD/AP build, it needs some time to scale.
Item Build
The core would be Unsealed Spellbook because this is going to allow you to use multiple summoner spells. Yes, there are other good builds for Twisted Fate, but the best one, in our opinion, is focused around the Unsealed Spellbook.
To help you out during the laning phase, you have the Stopwatch rune along with Time Warp Tonic and Minion Dematerializer. You can use the Dematerializer to help you thin out a wave without having to use too much mana or to kill cannons, and Time Warp Tonic is one of the most popular/basic runes to start with and is self-explanatory.
Resolve is the secondary rune tree because this is what makes the champion more tanky. Demolish will help you get your core items quickly. Bone Plating is chosen as it will help you deal with those assassins.
Ability Priority
The skill priority is R>Q>W>E. The main ability for poking opponents and farming early on is Q. When you use it, aim it so that you poke the enemy champions and destroy the enemy wave. Q will help you thin out those waves, and E is last because Q and W are more useful.
Game Plan for Twisted Fate
To poke and last hit enemies, use the Q early on. Go ahead and prepare your gold card when the jungler comes in for a gank, you won’t have to scroll through as the jungler is chasing his/her opponent.
Farm early on in the game and don’t forget to grab your core items. Once you have reached level six, help your other laners with ultimate plays.
Support – Senna
Senna is a mix between a marksman and support, so her kit is unique. She’s great at ranged attacks, her global ultimate is excellent, and the infinite scaling is a big hit. Her downfall would be the fact that she is squishy, and she has no dash. All of Senna’s abilities are aggressive and offer protection. She may be a squishy champion, but don’t let this full you, because she is fully capable of keeping her team alive while locking down an enemy.
Item Build
For Senna, the primary tree would have to be the Inspiration. During the laning phase, Biscuits will bring you additional sustain, while Glacial Augment makes Senna an annoying champion for enemies to have to deal with. Approach Velocity alongside boots to make Senna more mobile.
The secondary Precision tree will give you the mana you need to be even more mobile, while Alacrity will give you the attack speed you crave.
Ability Priority
For Senna, the skill priority looks like this: R>Q>W>E. Q max will give you both damage and healing that will help you get through the laning phase. We love this lovely little two-in-one ability. W second will give you the ability to follow up with a room on your Glacial Augment routinely. E is powerful in coordinated play and isn’t used much by solo queue players, so you should max this one last.
Game Plan for Senna
As the game goes on, Senna will gain more stats and damage. While playing this champion, your goal would be to try to pick up souls (this grants you power spikes) as soon as you can and poke early on in the game. To get easier W procs, you’ll want to use Glacial Augment. If you see the enemy Jungler coming at you for a gank, use E on your ally and yourself to escape.
ADC – Caitlyn
Last on our list is the ADC – Caitlyn. She is one of the highest ADC ranged champions, and her crowd control is terrific. We also like the fact that she can use a dash (her E spell), which can take her over the walls.
Caitlyn does have a downfall – she is item dependent. Using this champion, it is easy to last-hit minions while poking enemies from a range that they cannot respond to. We cannot forget about her traps, and hitting enemies from the backline isn’t ever a problem for this champion. If an enemy thinks they can escape, all she has to do is use Ace in the Hole. Caitlyn is easy to play and is rewarding.
Item build
The Precision tree should always be chosen for Caitlyn. This will give you access to movement speed and a mini-heal buff through the Fleet Footwork keystone. You will also need to get the lifesteal rune under this tree, and Triumph, which will save you from those dreadful low-health situations.
The secondary tree to choose would be Sorcery. This will allow you to pick the Nimbus Cloak, which will make you mobile after you have used a summoner spell.
Ability Priority
Caitlyn’s skill priority goes like this – R>Q>W>E. Her Q ability allows her to eliminate minion waves or do a large amount of damage to her enemies. Sync the Q up with the W (trap). E is the only mobility ability you have, but you will want to max that last because the W outweighs the cooldown reduction that you have with E.
Game Plan for Caitlyn
When you’re playing Caitlyn, you will want to make the laning phase tough for your opposing bottom lane. Caitlyn loves to use her high range to taunt her opponents consistently. You will want to place traps so you can stop your enemies and unleash your damage. If a Jungler thinks they can move in, you will want to use your trap and dash on E.
Conclusion
So there you have it – the best solo queue champions in League of Legends. From this list, which champion is your favorite?
For more similar content, check out our guide to low priority queue in LoL.
