League of Legends has a massive pool of champions, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some champions exist to serve a small niche and perform well in those situations. However, some champions are simply too versatile to limit to one role/playstyle.
The 7 most versatile champions in League of Legends currently are Teemo, Volibear, Pantheon, Neeko, Poppy, Shyvana, and Rengar. These champions have various item builds and can be played in multiple roles.
When figuring out the versatility of a champion, there are quite a lot of deciding factors. In order to limit the list to just seven, we have considered “build diversity” and “role flex” as our two major factors.
Teemo
After the buffs Teemo will receive in Patch 12.14, he will become a solid pick once again. His Q acts as a strong counter to auto-attacking champions. His ultimate acts as a strong zoning and control tool, allowing him to set up traps around objectives to instill fear in the hearts of his enemies.
Roles
Top
Teemo is mostly played in the top lane because of his nature as a lane bully. Teemo has massive kill pressure with Ignite. He can be played as an On-Hit or AP champion depending on the matchup. On-Hit builds are less popular and generally used against tanky champions.
Jungle
Teemo Jungle is seen few and far between, but it can catch the enemy off guard because of the early damage. His ultimate can be set up in brushes to catch enemies off guard and gain vision in choke points.
Mid
Teemo in the mid lane serves a similar purpose as in the top lane. However, because of control mages and other ranged champions in this lane, Teemo can struggle to output his DPS with ease.
Support
Support Teemo allows you to utilize your blind to the fullest potential. As bot lane is filled with marksmen, Teemo can help you win 2v2 by disabling their auto attacks. His ultimate also acts as great control and vision tool to help his team.
Items
On-Hit
- Kraken Slayer
- Blade of the Ruined King
- Wit’s End
- Guinsoo’s Rageblade
- Phantom Dancer
- Berserker’s Greaves
AP
- Riftmaker
- Liandry’s Anguish
- Luden’s Tempest
- Nashor’s Tooth
- Shadowflame
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
- Boots of Sorcery
- Void Staff
- Zhonya’s Hourglass
Volibear
Volibear has been seen in various roles after his rework. He has been a dominant Jungler for multiple seasons and remained a priority pick in professional play until his nerfs recently. Volibear was also seen in the top lane because of his ability to out sustain his opponents in extended fights using his W.
Roles
Top
Volibear in the top lane can opt for either of the three builds. His AP build allows him to take down towers and waveclear faster, also providing him burst damage in exchange for tankiness.
Jungle
Volibear mainly goes for the Tank build in the jungle. You would go for Turbo Chemtank for your Mythic item as it significantly improves your ganking capabilities. PTA rune page provides you a very large burst of early damage to pull off easy ganks.
Mid
Volibear isn’t very popular in the mid lane but can be played just like he is played in the top lane. His ultimate disables turrets, allowing you to dive the enemy mid laner with ease and take the tower before your opponent does.
Items
Bruisers
- Divine Sunderer
- Trinity Force
- Hullbreaker
- Death’s Dance
- Force of Nature
- Gargoyle Stoneplate
- Mercury’s Treads
- Plated Steelcaps
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity
- Black Cleaver
Tank
- Sunfire Aegis
- Frostfire Gauntlet
- Frozen Heart
- Force of Nature
- Anathema’s Chains
- Deadman’s Plate
- Spirit Visage
- Gargoyle’s Stoneplate
- Mercury’s Treads
- Plated Steelcaps
AP
- Riftmaker
- Nashor’s Tooth
- Zhonya’s Hourglass
- Lich Bane
- Cosmic Drive
- Shadowflame
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
- Boots of Sorcery
Pantheon
Pantheon after his rework gained a lot of popularity among players. During Worlds 2019, Pantheon had a 100% presence, with it slipping out of the bans only once during the Play-Ins stage. Ever since then, Pantheon has been hit by a bunch of nerfs and some buffs to bring him to his current position. Pantheon isn’t a very strong champion in its current state, but he still maintains the versatile playstyle from his rework.
Roles
Top
In the top lane, Pantheon is most commonly seen as a bruiser. While his popularity in the Top lane seems to be the minimum, it is still effective as his early poke and damage can prove annoying for a lot of champions.
Jungle
After the Pantheon Jungle buffs in Patch 12.14, Pantheon will be a strong competitor in the jungle role. His ultimate allows him to gank lanes without alerting the enemy, and his strong burst with PTA makes him a great early game ganker.
Mid
Mid Lane is probably his most popular role. Pantheon is usually seen as an assassin or a pseudo-bruiser in this lane. His early game kill pressure with Ignite allows him to gain early leads in a lot of matchups. At level 6, he unlocks his ultimate, allowing him to impact both sidelines as he pleases.
Support
Support Pantheon has received a lot of nerfs but it is still a solid pick. Pantheon is exclusively played as an Assassin in this role. Umbral Glaive gives him the ability to clear wards instantly and his early kill pressure can win you 2v2 matchups.
Items
Bruiser
- Divine Sunderer
- Chempunk Chainsword
- Maw of Malmortius
- Black Cleaver
- Death’s Dance
- Sterak’s Gage
- Mercury’s Treads
- Plated Steelcaps
Assassin
- Duskblade
- Eclipse
- Umbral Glaive
- Serpent’s Fang
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
- Serylda’s Grudge
- Maw of Malmortius
- Black Cleaver
- Mercury’s Treads
- Plated Steelcaps
Neeko
Neeko has lost her popularity in the last couple of years. After her release, she saw a variety of item builds which can still be built these days. Her kit does not necessarily fit a certain niche in the game so it is hard to specify how she should be played. However, her role and build diversity make her one of the most versatile champions in the game.
Roles
Top
Neeko can be played in the top lane using either of her builds. She has the luxury of harassing her opponents using both AD and AP builds depending on the matchup she is facing, in this regard, she is similar to Teemo.
Mid
Neeko’s most popular role is mid lane because it allows her to utilize her ranged spells well and poke her enemies out of lane if she lands her skillshots. At level 6, she unlocks a strong teamfighting ultimate which can be used by roaming top or bot.
Support
Since Neeko isn’t very strong right now, people tend to play her as a Support. Her E is a very good source of root and not only sets up your Q and R but also allows your ADC to land their skillshots to win trades.
Items
AP
- Hextech Rocketbelt
- Night Harvester
- Shadowflame
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
- Zhonya’s Hourglass
- Void Staff
- Cosmic Drive
- Boots of Sorcery
On-Hit
- Kraken Slayer
- Blade of the Ruined King
- Wit’s End
- Guinsoo’s Rageblade
- Phantom Dancer
- Berserker’s Greaves
Poppy
Poppy is one of the most underrated champions in recent years. Her damage is underestimated by most players and her ability to build tank and still stay relevant in the mid to late game allows her to opt for various roles and builds. Poppy’s original identity was that of an “anti-dash” champion, and while she still retains that, she has much more to offer than a simple W-bot.
Roles
Top
Poppy is generally picked in the top lane as a tank/bruiser. Depending on the matchup and team composition requirement, she can go tank or bruiser. Her ability to proc Grasp of the Undying using her passive allows her to slowly make favorable trades and eventually all in the opponent using the rest of her kit.
Jungle
Poppy jungle with Hexflash has been gaining popularity these days as the champion has very good lockdown with her E and R. Her Q slow allows her to stick to her opponent and her W prevents flashes and dashes, essentially preventing outplays.
Mid
Poppy Mid is only picked as a counter pick to high mobility champions such as Yasuo and Katarina. After Vex was released, Poppy’s popularity in the mid lane suffered a lot.
Support
Poppy Support is a niche pick into high mobility marksmen like Kalista or Vayne. She can combine her Flash with her E to set up kills for her ADC. Her tankiness prevents her from getting punished as easily as some other champions.
Items
Tank
- Sunfire Aegis
- Fimbulwinter
- Frozen Heart
- Force of Nature
- Anathema’s Chains
- Deadman’s Plate
- Gargoyle’s Stoneplate
- Mercury’s Treads
- Plated Steelcaps
Bruiser
- Divine Sunderer
- Trinity Force
- Hullbreaker
- Death’s Dance
- Maw of Malmortius
- Sterak’s Gage
- Black Cleaver
- Mercury’s Treads
- Plated Steelcaps
Shyvana
Shyvana is another unpopular champion choice that has recently gained some popularity among the player base. Shyvana has been seen in the top lane recently after a long period of absence in professional play. While her passive is still somewhat underwhelming, her damage and ultimate ability make up for it enough for her to dominate melee matchups.
Roles
Top
Shyvana top can be played using various builds. The most common ones are the On-Hit build and the Tank build. Both of these builds will require her to build some form of tankiness because she needs as much survival as possible in melee range.
Jungle
Shyvana was popular in the Jungle for the last 2-3 years because of her AP build. Her current Tank/On-Hit builds seem to outperform her AP build these days but building AP allows you to sacrifice some tankiness for extra ranged damage on your E.
Items
On-Hit
- Blade of the Ruined King
- Frostfire Gauntlet
- Trinity Force
- Wit’s End
- Deadman’s Plate
- Force of Nature
- Plated Steelcaps
- Mercury’s Treads
Tank
- Frostfire Gauntlet
- Warmog’s Armor
- Demonic Embrace
- Force of Nature
- Deadman’s Plate
- Randuin’s Omen
- Abyssal Mask
- Anathema’s Chains
- Gargoyle Stoneplate
- Mercury’s Treads
- Plated Steelcaps
AP
- Night Harvester
- Nashor’s Tooth
- Cosmic Drive
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
- Void Staff
- Shadowflame
- Boots of Sorcery
Rengar
Rengar is probably the most popular champion on this list. This champion has won the hearts of a massive portion of the player base. These players, through their extensive experience over the years, have also come up with all kinds of builds.
Roles
Top
Rengar Top is considered somewhat of a cheese pick. You can go either the Assassin build or the Bruiser build in this lane. The latter one, however, seems to be the build of choice for most players.
Jungle
Jungle is Rengar’s main role. Players love playing the Assassin build in this role because it allows you to spend most of your time away from danger and unload all your damage whenever you gank and then walk out.
Items
Bruiser
- Divine Sunderer
- Goredrinker
- Chempunk Chainsword
- Maw of Malmortius
- Death’s Dance
- Black Cleaver
- Spirit Visage
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity
- Plated Steelcaps
- Mercury’s Treads
Assassin
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- Eclipse
- Essence Reaver
- The Collector
- Lord Dominik’s Regards
- Infinity Edge
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
- Ionian Boots of Lucidity
AP (Situational)
- Night Harvester
- Shadowflame
- Boots of Sorcery
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
- Cosmic Drive
- Zhonya’s Hourglass
- Lich Bane
- Void Staff
Conclusion
While these seven champions were our pick for the most versatile champions in the game, you must keep in mind that with every patch the meta changes. Champions undergo major changes, roles and items also change significantly, with these the versatility of champions also begins to vary.
Check out another list of ours, this time concerning the best League of Legends artillery mages!
