Classifying all Champions: Part S-Z

A while ago, I saw a request on reddit asking for a list of all early or late game champions, so I'm going to go into detail about why I categorized each as I did.

For reference:
- Early game: The laning levels, mainly the first 15 or 20 minutes, when it is most likely just between you and your lane opponent. Levels 1-9.

- Mid game: After the laning phase. This is when you see more roaming occur, and the first towers should start to fall. One team generally has a clear advantage by this point. Levels 9-16.

- Late game: After about 30 or 40 minutes. This is when the carries start to get their fifth or sixth items and live up to their names. This is when death timers are high and one team fight can lead to disaster for one team. Levels 16+

S

Sejuani: Late game. In a vein similar to Rammus, Sejuani has an okay clear time, but is too squishy and deals too little damage to be of any use in the early stages of the game. As the game drags on, Sejuani can build aura/tank items, become a dance soak, and then her incredible initiation techniques really begin to shine, using her constant slows, aoe stun, and gap closer.

Shaco: Early game. Being able to tank the jungle with his Jack-in-the-Boxes, and using his stealth, slow, and situational fear, Shaco wreaks havoc on both the enemy jungler and the enemy lanes, being able to come in from behind at unusual angles. As an assassin Shaco relies on catching people out and abusing his stealth, but as the game gets later, Oracle's Elixers are bought, and people begin to group up; your usefulness fades away. This is when you can buy a Stattik Shiv and split push all day and be a constant thorn in your enemy sides at the downside of being useless in teamfights.

Shen: Late game. Shen's power largely comes from his ultimate, which he doesn't really have in the early game. Shen requires lots of farm, and his ability to split push and then join a fight instantaneously lets him farm creeps for most of the game, and then suddenly emerge into teamfights with a trinity force and 4000 health.

Shyvanna: Early-mid game. Once Shyvanna clears her own jungle for be first time, at level 3 both jungles belong to her, and unless your team is great at collapsing on a location, there isn't much you can do about it. As the game wears on though, her jungling speed doesn't matter, and she doesn't have the hard CC that makes most junglers shine in the current meta, making other picks superior.

Singed: Late game. In the early phases of the game, Singed can farm and laugh under turret at a failed gank, but that's about the extent of your power. However, as the game goes on, thanks to Singed's ability to build whatever he wants and still be effective and being able to completely destroy most back lines, his power is insane late game, even after the recent nerfs.

Sion ap: Early game. Thanks to a shield that makes you tank and do damage at the same time and a click-to-win-the-lane stun, Sion is one of the most annoying champions to lane against. However, that's about it. In teamfights, ap Sion can stun and blow his shield for a little bit of damage, but since the DFG nerf forever and a half ago, AP Sion is completely useless unless used as a counterpick.
Sion AD: Late game. Unlike the other build, AD Sion is actually pretty terrible in the laning phase. However, once AD Sion can build a Phantom Dancer, a Mercurial Scimitar, and as many Bloodthirsters as you're able to, AD Sion is an absolute beast, with aoe massive life steal and a shield, it's really hard to die, unless the enemy team has CC, which is why Cleanse and Mercurial Scimitar is a must.

Sivir: Early game. Thanks to her ancient mana costs and abilities that hanker back to a simpler time in the League of Legends, Sivir is no longer able to compete with other adcs. However, she does have good lane harass with her q, even if it does cost about half her mana pool; but as the game gets to a point where adcs are supposed to reign supreme, Sivir's lack of range, escape, or a steroid that doesn't force her to stop and yell at nothing, make her comparatively weak.

Skarner: Late game. Although season 3 has shunned Skarner from one of the most contested picks to a champion that is lucky to see the light of day, Skarner is still a formidable pick late game once his squishy early game has been passed thanks to his hard initiation with his ultimate. Sadly though, until something is done, other tank junglers with better initiation (Sejuani, Volibear, Zac) will continue to outshine Skarner.

Sona: Early game. In the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game, Sona will deal more damage than most ad carries, as her q-powerchord poke is some of the strongest in the game. Due to her lack of building ratios, this doesn't last long, but her heal and her ultimate is powerful throughout all stages of the game, making Sona one of the strongest champions in the league right now.

Soraka: Early game. Soraka is good in making sure her ad carry never has to recall to base for any reason other than buying. This makes her good with hyper carry adcs like Kog'maw or Twitch that simply need to survive to make sure they're relevant late game. Soraka can stay relevant late game by spamming Starcall to reduce the enemies magic resistance, and her heal gives a nice armor buff, but her presence in laning phase is too little for her to be a relevant pick in professional play.

Swain: Mid game. There is a reason why Swain has one of the lowest pick rates in both solo queue and competitive play, he doesn't deal enough damage to justify his short range and aggressive play style. His early game doesn't offer anything special, and late game he can be noted very effectively, which only leaves mid game, where he's at least alright.

Syndra: Mid game. Pre level 6, Syndra isn't anything special, but at level 6, she offers the most burst damage out of every ap carry in the game with no items. This one on one dominance continues throughout most of the game, but while her burst potential is good, unless she is very farmed, her sustained damage is lacking, which means other champions will be doing better late game, and it's hard to kill the back line with her semi-short range.

T

Talon: Early-Mid game. Talon is a great example of a lane bully and effectively counters most of the "farm until late game" ap carries that are strong in the current meta. He's a good roamer as well, but late game is similar to many assassins, and Talon's aggressive playstyle that forces him into the middle of the fight is ineffective late game, especially since Talon should focus on building damage.

Taric: Early game. Taric is a good burst support, able to stun an enemy, deal some small burst damage, and let the ad carry do the work. His stun is what really makes him shine in lane. As the game gets later, though, Taric can offer a wide variety of auras with his ultimate and Shatter ability, which means he'll be more useful than some other supports, but has only a single target stun, compared to the aoe cc of Sona, Leona, or Nami.

Teemo AD: Early game. Teemo, in addition to possibly being Satan reincarnated, is an incredibly effective lane bully, able to use his ranged harass and kiting into bushes (that are full of shrooms) to make sure any melee champions can't get CS, as AD runes and the base damage on poison can deal huge damage. Late game, his short range and lack of damage on mushrooms make him not as good as his AP counterpart.
Teemo AP: Late game. AP teemo is also a good lane bully, but not as good as AD since his AP ratios need a fair bit of AP before they start doing good damage. As the game gets later, once Teemo has bought a decent amount of AP and a Liandry's Torment, his Mushrooms will make your enemy want to break their keyboard, but his short ranges will make it hard to not get burst down late game in a teamfight.

Thresh: All stages. Although Thresh really shines in laning phases with his grabs and pulling from across the lane, Thresh never really falls off. Hooks are a great way to initiate, and he can build auras to stay relevant.

Tristana: Early and Late game. Tristana is a weird ad carry in that her early game is decent, her mid game is abysmal, and her late game is one of the best in the game. Now, most people know how strong her late game is with her incredibly long range, and a steroid that gives her a ridiculous amount of attack speed, both topped off with a good escape; however, most people don't know her early game is actually pretty good, so why do I say this? Well, Tristana's E and W deal magic damage, and most bot lanes don't run flat magic resistance runes or masteries, instead opting for armor runes. However, mid game her magic damage is pretty low, and she needs items for her autos to do enough damage, so her midgame is lacklustre.

Trundle: Mid game. Since his minor rework, Trundle has seen a slight resurgence in gameplay, but he still isn't played all that often. Trundle isn't really anything special in the early game, but when team fighting starts, his pillar and ultimate make him good at sticking onto a high priority enemy, but if his team helps that target peel, then Trundle's effectiveness is diminished. However, Trundle is excellent in poke compositions thanks to his pillar in more of a support role.

Tryndamere: Early game. Tryndamere is a good lane bully, as his heal and natural crit chance make him a good duelist, but he doesn't really offer anything special. In teamfights, Tryndamere can deal good damage onto a high priority target, and his ultimate can buy him a few precious seconds, but his split pushing with his spinning slash and a Stattik Shiv is really what makes him strong.

Twisted Fate: Mid game. TF's early game doesn't offer anything special at all, but once he hits level 6, his global pressure makes him very effective, and can punish the enemy all around the map. This continues for the rest of the game, as his global pressure makes him so strong, especially in competitive play. As it gets to late game, TF doesn't do nearly as much damage as other casters, but his ultimate is incredibly useful. 

Twitch: Early and Late game. Very similar to Tristana with magic damage carrying in laning phase, not a very good mid game, but then a huge steroid that can carry throughout late game. However, he lacks an escape, but his mid game is better than Tristana's.

U

Udyr: Mid game. Udyr has a pretty good laning phase, and a terrifying level one with tiger stance. He should focus on farming in both top and the jungle in this phase, and then emerging mid game to deal a suprising amount of damage while still being pretty tanky. Late game, he has a lack of gap closing abilities that result in him being incredibly vulnerable to getting kited. 

Urgot: Early game. Urgot is a lane bully, plain and simple. His E-Q combo does ridiculous poke damage that is hard to face up against, and can push most other AD carries out of lane. Late game, benefits from building tanky unlike most ADC's, but deals nowhere close to the damage of others.

V

Varus: Late game. Unlike a lot of AD carries, Varus' poke lets him do a pretty good amount of damage and paired up with a Sona or other poke-heavy support, can dominate the laning phase. However, this isn't all that likely. Varus, like other AD carries, scales incredibly well with items, and his ultimate, when actually hit, is incredibly devestating and can lock up an entire team, and thanks to Varus' spells doing % damage, he does do a lot of damage, especially with good peel. 

Vayne: Late game. Like most AD Carries, Vayne is excellent late game, when she can kite any bruiser all day and every day with her Q, E, and Ultimate. Vayne has an exceptionally weak laning phase though, thanks to her short range and lack of damage early.

Veigar: Mid game. Now, most people will say Veigar is late game, when he can get upwards of 1000 AP and just one shot anything he likes. However, even in the mid game, Veigar can generally 100 to 0 the enemy AP carry, and thats Veigar's job. Why I wouldn't classify Veigar as late is because Veigar is completely useless for about the next 10 seconds after bursting someone down while he waits for his cooldowns to come back up. If this is abused by the enemy team, you're doing nothing, and you probably will die.

Vi: Mid game. Vi has a good early game, but probably won't kill anyone, but in mid game, before the enemy is doing enough damage to burst Vi down completely as soon as she shows up, Vi can deal a ridiculous amount of damage, and with two gap closers, is an AD carry's worst nightmare, but late game she is just too squishy to be useful.

Viktor: Mid game. Viktor's laning phase is rather poor, and his short range on his stun and lack of sustained damage make his late game not optimal, so that kind of only leaves his mid game. Viktor has good burst which can suprise a lot of people, and his AOE ultimate can be pretty good in teamfights. But really, play something else. 

Vladmir: Late game.  Vladmir's early game is all about sustaining himself, which he can do incredibly well, and has a good escape that lets him dodge ganks. The result of this, combined with his AOE E, means a farming machine that late game, can enhance his team's damage, and then do a whole load of damage himself, and his troll pool lets him survive longer then he should in fights. 

Volibear: Mid game. Volibear has the same problem as a lot of other tanky support junglers do, he has a squishy early game and is susceptible to early agression. However, at the drawback of no AOE CC, Volibear does a whole lot more damage than other tanky junglers, thanks to his ultimate and W. This lack of CC (comparitively) means he isn't as good late game as other tanky support junglers.

W

Warwick: Mid game. Although Warwick is very weak right now, his ultimate is still pretty good as a 2 second lock up, but pre-6 he's useless, and after 6, he really is only good for his ultimate, and thats the sad truth of it. Riot can't buff jungle Warwick without directly buffing top lane Warwick, which might be the definition of "anti-fun."

Wukong: Mid game. Wukong has a decent early game, but can be bullied around by most ranged champions and quite a few bruisers. As the teamfights start, his ultimate is incredibly useful for an AOE knockup, and his W can ensure he almost never dies. However, he's pretty much only good for his ultimate, as he doesn't deal as much damage as other bruisers, nor is he as tanky as others, but somewhere kind of in the middle between damage and tankiness.

X

Xerath: Late game. Xerath is a seige machine, and also an anti-siege machine, that can melt an enemy ADC as soon as he gets into range. Xerath, while kind of a boring champion, scales well with items, and when objectives are important, does very well at securing them. Xerath's laning phase is lacklustre, and needs to focus on farming, and really begins to shine when he can put enough pressure on the enemy team to scare them away from important objectives.

Xin Zhao: Early game. Xin Zhao has a decent clear time, but his ganking ability and the pressure he can apply on the map are his strengths. His lack of CC and damage as the game continues makes him not as strong as other picks, but if he builds damage, he can use his combo to push an enemy ADC out of the fight. 

Y

Yorick: Early game. Yorick is a lane bully, whose constant spamming of ghouls will force his lane opponent to be constantly spamming health pots and backing away from his creeps in fear of taking more harass. Especially once Yorick has his Tear of the Goddess, he can be spamming a whole lot of these ghosties too. However, late game, Yorick's basic spells are useless other than slows, and the only thing he can do is ultimate the carry on his team and try to act as a tank.

Z

Zac: Mid-Late game. Are we seeing a pattern with tanky support junglers by now? Zac has a squishy early game, but once he gets some aura items and builds decently tanky, Zac's long range and absoluetely devestating engages can carry a team, and with a Liandry's Torment, can even put out some kill damage onto the enemy in the earlier stages of the game. 

Zed: Mid-Late game. Once Zed hits level 6, he has huge potential to kill anyone without an escape. If Zed can do this enough times and begin to snowball, for the rest of the game, in a teamfight Zed can ultimate onto the enemy's AD carry, and without proper peel, they will die, and there probably won't be much to do about it. The drawbacks of this is that Zed is very vulnerable to CC, and is usually in the middle of the enemy team when he ults onto someone.

Ziggs: Mid game. Ziggs is a unique champion that seems to have still not really found a good niche. Ziggs has huge damage output at level 1, and a good laning phase where he can farm and stop ganks pretty effectively, but Ziggs sits awkwardly where he doesn't have the utility, the huge burst, or the huge sustained damage other champions do, but is somewhat a mixture of all of these qualities, meaning he never really shines, but is never a bad champion to have in a teamfight. I really don't know how to properly explain Ziggs, he is a solid champion, but is kind of a jack of all trades and master of none for an AP carry.

Zilean: Mid game. Zilean is a good farmer in the laning phase, and his mid game damage with Q>W>Q is some good burst damage. However, as the game gets later, his only damaging spell is not enough, and Zilean becomes usefull really only for his ult, and not much else. 

Zyra: All Stages. First, let me address that I don't think AP Zyra has been played as anything but a support since her first nerfs, and this is written for a support role. Support Zyra has a good laning phase, as her E is a great way to trap enemies so they can't trade back, and her plants and Q give her good poke. While this is good, it is Zyra's game changing ultimate that makes her shine, and is the biggest reason to play her.

Thanks for reading summoners, and please let me know in the comments below if you disagree with me. I will try to update this for patches as they roll out, so feel free to bookmark this or send it to new players. Good luck on the fields of justice!