AD Casters, the New Rulers of Solo Queue

Dominating Solo Queue is something that a majority of players try to do on a daily basis. Raising your ELO and seeing that precious positive K/D ratio is no easy feat, however, there are plenty of champions that gives a higher chance to produce the results you crave. Pre-season 3 has provided many changes, one of which being an immense amount of support for AD Casters. Building Black Cleaver gives AD casters the chance to burst down even the tankiest of champions and give early game dominance.

Putting these champions middle lane seems to be the most popular option, most likely because these champions are able to shut down AP carries with very little effort. Let us take a look into some of the AD Casters that seem to have taken over the Solo Queue meta.

Talon

 

Talon was a somewhat popular AD Caster in Season 2 because of his Anti-AP kit. In the current game, Talon is an even stronger Anti-AP, in fact, he is completely Anti-Carry. His early game damage allows him to farm with ease and keep the pressure on his lane, Putting him Mid lane allows him to get the early snowball and the early Black Cleaver. This item allows him to basically do True Damage to his foes giving him the ability to burst down any carry of his choice at level 6 in a matter of seconds with his full combo and escape without any issues.

Pantheon

 

Panth is a newer AD Caster coming to the forefront of Solo Queue. With his long range Q and early Armor Penetration runes Pantheon can lay down the harass and deny almost any lane from level 1. This is only one of his strengths of course. The icing on the cake is the pressure he provides to the other lanes. Sending him mid not only helps shut down a carry but, provides a huge amount of pressure to bot and top lane. With his ult and any form of CC, his damage provides for scary ganks. With Black Cleaver not only does he get big damage, the passive applies with his Heartseeker Strike essentially giving the full passive with one skill.

Lee Sin

 

Made popular by a few pro players, Lee Sin mid is a strong force and can easily kill a carry with 2 skills. His massive gap closers and mobility allow him to escape ganks easily and give a lot of potential for your Jungler to gank your lane with ease. Now Lee Sin used to benefit best from building straight tank items because of all his utility and base damage, but now building Black Cleaver on him and negating the armor of his opponents he can easily assassinate any squishy champion. Lee Sin's Ultimate also gives a huge chance to catch someone out and kick them to your team quickly, making the team fights 4v5 in your favor.

Kha'Zix

 

This champion is arguably the strongest AD Caster in the current game. He has high mobility and his ultimate provides an invisibility that helps him assassinate any champion of his choice. His naturally high damage combined with Black Cleaver gives him a huge amount of burst. Sending him mid lane is great because even in the early levels if he is having trouble he has an AOE ranged skill that can be used for poke as well as farming while remaining safe.

Upgrading his E and his R gives him free range to overextend and pick his targets willingly. An early Tear of the Goddess can help him scale well into late game when upgraded into a Muramana. Giving him enough burst to burst down everyone, even farmed tanks, the active of Muramana is a vital part of this champion.

In the ever changing meta AD Casters may fall in a matter of weeks. For the time being however, there is no harm in abusing these champions and others that come with the strength of Black Cleaver. Keep in mind that the meta is not yet fully established, only champions that are strong in Solo Queue at the moment. Do not be afraid to try out uncommon picks and different lanes, you never know what will dominate the meta next!

- Oshera