Currently, in the League of Legends, there are many very talented ADC players. The role of an ADC is to “deal tons of damage while staying alive”. They primarily use long-ranged attacks and kite enemies while dealing damage. Recently, for example, Bang from SKT T1 was considered one of the best because his mechanics were so precise, however, underneath this current state of affairs exists a rich history that encompasses some outstanding players during their prime time.
Today we will examine 10 best ADC players who have graced the rift competitively since 2009 when League of Legends first became available to play in North America. This list is based primarily upon skill only secondarily by popularity. It is not based on actual win percentages or other statistics.
The following criteria will be taken into consideration:
- Individual skill and mechanics
- Ability to carry games and snowball leads successfully
- Amount of successful tournament results (with more weight given to international events)
- Length of career and consistency
- Longevity
Without further ado, let us begin! Here are, in our humble opinion, the top 10 ADC players of League of Legends history.
10. Zven
Zven is a legendary AD Carry from Europe who recently came out of nowhere and helped G2 Esports win the 2016 Spring Split. He started his career in 2013 with n!faculty. They were unable to participate in any major tournaments (notably, IEM Season VIII – Cologne). After n!faculty disbanded he joined SK Gaming Prime where he also failed to qualify for major tournaments such as IEM Season IX – San Jose.
He was not seen again until Jan 2016 when he played on Origen during the time which was under TSM (Team SoloMid’s) sponsorship. That team made it all the way to the semi-finals of the 2016 Spring Split which is quite an achievement. He was able to achieve this feat with consistent hard work, showing everyone what he was capable of.
He is known for his mechanical prowess especially on Tristana/Kog’Maw, but also plays other ADs such as Lucian. Some people think that playing with Mithy has made him a better player by allowing him more freedom in the lane phase.
9. JackeyLove
Just take a look at the aforementioned example of JackeyLove, the previous World Champion with Invictus Gaming who has continued to improve as a member of Top Esports. By far, JackeyLove’s 725.0 aDPM was the worst damage output by an ADC at Worlds 2020 while playing for Top Esports. Despite the fact that his resource demands were greater than those of most AD Carries, the damage output made up for it. With a 1.62 damage-to-gold ratio, JackeyLove ended the year as the best player in the world.
As far as the champion pools are concerned, our only complaint about JackeyLove is that he lacks experience playing Senna. In 2020, he has only played one game on the Redeemer. His champion pool includes Ashe and Caitlyn, as well as other meta choices such as Ezreal.
Also read: What To Do As A Jungler When All Lanes Are Losing?
8. Doublelift
Doublelift is definitely one of the most successful players to ever play League of Legends competitively, making an appearance at every single World Championship except for Season One. His main strength is not his mechanics or his decision-making like many other pro players but rather his ability to carry games through safely playing hyper carries. As seen on CLG, he mainly played Vayne throughout seasons 2 and 3 with some Ezreal here and there.
However, once he joined TSM in late Season 3/early Season 4, he seemed to have improved tremendously on the champion. He has shown time after time that he is not afraid to dive into team fights 1v5 and win them for his team, playing Kog’Maw twice in the 2015 Spring Playoffs (though he eventually lost both times). The most recent example of this was when TSM played against CLG in the Summer Season semifinals; Doublelift went 9/0/10 on Kog’Maw while winning the series 3-1.
7. PraY
PraY above all other ADCs on this list is probably praised the most for his mechanics. The player himself would easily admit that he doesn’t take any risks or make many flashy plays like players such as Deft and Bang do. So instead he uses his positioning and the laning phase to win the game for his team, playing champions such as Ashe and Varus at a very high level throughout LCK 2015 Summer Playoffs and 2016 Spring Playoffs. Although ROX Tigers went 0-3 against SKT in Winter playoffs, they were definitely one of the top ADC duos in Korea for a while with PraY being recognized as the “Sniper” of the duo
6. Uzi
Uzi is considered by many to be currently the best ADC player in China’s LoL Proleague. He has been praised not only for his mechanics but also his ability to play safe, teamfight oriented ADCs such as Ashe, Varus, and even his beloved Vayne. He is also known for being one of the few pro players who can play extremely well on Ezreal, sometimes considered the most difficult ADC to master in League of Legends.
Most people would probably expect Uzi to be higher on this list based on his ability but there are many factors that go into placing him at #6. For instance, he rarely if ever solo carries games with a scoreline as Doublelift or Deft do. Also during the 2015 Demacia Cup Grand Finals, Vici Gaming actually banned out almost all of his champion pool including Vayne which was regarded as one of Uzi’s best champions at the time.
However, RNG made it to the Grand Finals through a Bo5 series and there was no way Uzi would be able to play all of his best champions. So instead he stuck with mainly Ashe and Sivir which did very well for him throughout the finals.
Also read: When Should You Roam As A Mid Laner?
5. Bang
In many people’s eyes, BANG is the best ADC player in Korea right now, or at least up there with Pray or Imp. In fact, it wasn’t until last year when BaeMe came onto the scene that we saw another brilliant Vayne player besides PraY in the LCK. What makes BANG so remarkable is his decision-making and mechanics, oftentimes carrying games on his own through flawless teamfight execution.
He is also known for playing the hyper-carry Jinx, who was regarded as one of the best ADCs in Korea last year. However, regardless of whether or not he plays high skill cap champions like Jinx, he always manages to play safe and win his lane regardless if it’s on an Ashe or a Kalista pick.
4. Rekkles
Rekkles above many other players here is probably praised the most for his mechanics. His ability to land crucial auto attacks throughout team fights with Sivir and Kalista is sometimes unbelievable. He was the ADC that led Fnatic to a perfect regular season in Spring Split but failed to make it out of groups at MSI 2015. However, he came back even stronger next Summer Split by carrying two games on Kalista against Origen, putting up an 18/2/17 scoreline.
This is what many people regard as his most memorable moment because for once Rekkles didn’t rely on pure mechanics or teamplay to carry his games, instead, he relied mainly on his own individual skill which is not something you see from other ADCs.
3. Imp
Imp is probably the most versatile ADC player in League of Legends history. Throughout his career, he has played every ADC that was meta at the time, including Corki, Graves, Ezreal, Kog’Maw, and more recently Ashe, Varus, and even Jinx. He was also known for being one of the best Vayne players in the world during 2013 when she was dominating competitive play before she got nerfed.
Although KT Bullets did terribly in Spring Playoffs 2013, Imp managed to put up an impressive scoreline of 18/6/19 against NaJin White Shield. He’s always been praised not only for his mechanics but for how deep his champion pool goes as well. He can play literally any ADC and still dominate his lane.
2. Deft
When I look at Deft in my eyes he is one of the best ADCs in the world right now. He has been regarded as “The Machine” for a reason, because he is almost always mechanically flawless in team fights and laning phase. If we were talking about mechanics alone, Deft might be #1 on this list but there are other factors to consider which put him at #2.
For example, although both Imp and Deft have around equal champion pools, Deft’s champ pool is slightly smaller than Imp’s because, during the 2015 LPL Spring Playoffs, EDG heavily relied on a few champions such as Lucian, Sivir, and Ashe.
Also read: Most Broken Items in League of Legends
1. Viper
In my opinion, Viper is the best ADC in China right now and probably the world. He’s been known to be a dominant player on his team for a long time but it wasn’t until he transferred over from Team InSec to Snake eSports that we started to see him shine. His most famous champion is Vayne and that has not changed ever since his debut in 2013. However, it’s interesting to note that, unlike PraY or Imp, he didn’t play Vayne at all during the 2015 LPL Spring Playoffs, instead favoring champions like Ashe and Caitlyn.
Conclusion
The top 10 best ADC players in League of Legends history is a list that is constantly changing. As new and better ADC players come into the scene, older ones are bumped down or even off the list completely. The reason for this might be because they stopped playing competitively, their mechanics aren’t as good as they used to be, or simply because another player has surpassed them.
