Analyzing all champions in League of Legends

 

With League of Legends constantly being patched and updated, it was time for me to revisit this article and update it for season 4. 

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+

Editor's note: These are the reflections of me, and not necesarilly that of Team Dignitas. Also, I realise that with enough kills early, every champion can wreck late game, please don't tell me how you went 18-1 with some champion and stomped everyone late game, I am aware it can happen, but this is talking about when a champion will do best when equal with the enemy. In addition, I haven't played every champion extensively. If you disagree with me, feel free to comment and discuss with me.

 

A

Aatrox: Early and Mid Game. After his reign of terror in the jungle and top lane around worlds, some slight nerfs to Aatrox saw him go unpicked, but lately Aatrox has seen a resurgance, with his recourcless sustain being very powerful in the current meta. Aatrox's early lane is powerful, with high base damages and great sustain, and he has decent splitpushing. However he falters in teamfights, but if played as a bruiser/tank that you have to kill multiple times, Aatrox is a strong pick right now. 

Ahri: Mid Game. Generally, post 6 she can have potential for a kill in lane if she can land her skillshots, but I feel she really shines in roaming with her ultimate and set up kills for her team. She has good base damages as well, and her charm is a good initiation through the whole game, with great potential to bust someone out. 

Akali: Mid Game. Like Ahri, is pretty reliant on her ultimate. Her jumping around makes her awful to lane against, and her W is great at escaping ganks, especially in mid lane. In the first teamfights, she excels as an assassin, jumping to the enemy carrys and bursting them down. She needs some survivability later though, as otherwise she'll be focused and burst down in teamfights as soon as she jumps in. Akali has seen a slight resurgance lately as a counter to Yasuo, but she is still a weak champion.

Alistar: All game. In lane, his headbutt-pulverize combo, if landed, is incredibly deadly and a great set up for kills. As the game progresses, Alistar is used mainly for his headbutt-pulverize, as late game heal is neglible at best, but yor ultimate makes you a great tank with flat damage reduction.

Amumu: Late game. Doesn't have an incredible clear time, especially with the smaller creeps in camps becoming weaker, which lengthens the cooldown on his E. As teamfights start to erupt, his ultimate becomes incredible though. A 2 second AoE root is beautiful, and can set up some great fights for your team to clean face while the enemy team is facing the Curse of the Sad Mummy.

Anivia: Late Game. Her Ultimate, and E can do huge burst damage late game, and the Ultimate and her W can block off almost the entire river, or block off an entire jungle path. This makes her incredibly useful, and she has probably the best wave clear in the game. She is completely dependent on getting a couple of items though for mana and survivability, and she needs time to farm and scale for full effectiveness.

Annie: Early and Mid Game. She has huge burst at level 6, especially for a support, and her huge autoattack range makes her great at harassing and zoning. However, all of her spells have very short ranges, and she's dependent on her flash for engaging. AoE Tibbers stuns are very powerful though.

Ashe: Mid Game. She has a good level 1 thanks to her passive, but her laning phase isn't incredible due to her long cooldown on W and no other damage spells besides that. Late game though, her ultimate can be used to great success, and can easily make or break a teamfight. Her Q is also decent at kiting, but she is weak to hard engage due to lack of escape, and most top laners in the current meta can make short work of her. 

 

B

Blitzcrank: Early game: It isn't really fair to class Blitzcrank into a category, as a sucesfull pull can make huge plays throughout any stage of the game. However, early game is when blitz shines, as pulling someone in laning phase when they only have a few lifebars can be absolutely devestating. In addition, he probably has the best level 1 in the game, as a sucesfull pull into your team guarantees first blood. Also, pulling a buff away from a jungler is so cruel its hilarious.

Brand: Mid game. Has a decent laning phase, with some potantial to kill if he can land his stun, which can be difficult. In mid game teamfights, his AOE potential with a Q+E+W+R is incredible. However, Brand isnt that strong, as called by some pro gamers, he is a "skillshot version" of Ryze, with slightly longer range. If you can land his combo on a grouped up team though, its worth it. Falls off slightly late game as people get tankier and his damage doesn't scale as well as other champions, and he has long cooldowns.  

Braum: Mid/Late game. Braum was released overpowered as hell, and he's still overpowered as hell. Everything in his kit is just so good and makes him so tanky and lets him do so much CC, the really only downside to Braum is that he hits his powerspike at 6, so he can be bullied previous to that. After that though, a decent Braum that can hit Qs and Ultimates is going to make life hell. He will most likely be going through another round of nerfs soon, which will be telling if he remains a top pick or not.

 

C

Caitlyn: Early/Late game. Caitlyn is defined by her auotattack range and Q range, she is a sniper after all. Early game, her Q lets her put good poke on the enemy, and her autattack range lets her farm and poke at a distance, and her E keeps her safe from ganks. She falls off a little bit in terms of damage, but her Q gives her great wave clear throughout the game, and her autoattack range gives her safety throughout the game. Caitlyn excels at sitting in the back and dealing damage during teamfights.

Cassiopeia: Early and Mid game. Early game, her Q+E damage is incredible at zoning lane opponents and doing ridiculous damage. In teamfights, her damage per second is disgustingly high, and a full ultimate is incredibly deadly. She is kind of risky with her ranges though, but her damage is great. Reliant on a team to back her up and let her survive, which is why we hardly see any Cassiopeia any more. 

Cho'Gath: Mid Game. Although he used to be one of the kings of the jungle, Cho'Gath has fallen off. In the land of the carry junglers, Cho'Gath doesn't have the Damage to compete with his carrying counterparts. In addition, the game as a whole has increased in speed, and teams aren't willing to pick Cho who needs 6 minutes to farm for him to be as strong as possible. For some reason he is seeing a bit of play as a support in solo queue though.

Corki: Mid Game. Corki has two major problems: mana, and autoattack range. This makes him best mid game, as his levels give him more maximum mana, and his E and R are great for damage. Late game he will fall off due to his low attack range, so he needs to make mid game where he reigns dominant, and thanks to his high mobility with W, he can.

 

D

Darius: Early/mid game. Darius has great harass with his Q, a good gap closer with his E, and his ultimate is damn terrifying. He has great potential kill from 6 onwards, and is one of the best champions to snowball a lane. However, late game, he can easily be kited due to his lack of mobility and defensive steroids make him weaker than other bruisers and tanks.

Diana: Mid Game. Like Darius, has great potential from 6 onwards. Her Ult>E combo is incredible for starting team fights, and excels at diving non mobile carries. The biggest problem is that she can easily be zoned due to her melee range in laning phase, then mid game she can facilitate teamfights incredibly well and wreck havoc, along with incredible 1v1 and splitpushing potential.

Dr. Mundo: Mid and Late Game. Dr. Mundo has decent clear times, but is relatively squishy in the early phases of the game. However, once Mundo can get to mid game, when he has some health and resistances, he excels in popping his ult, and running into the enemy team for disruption, dealing high damage for a tank with his W and Q. Still does decent damage late game, and is incredibly tanky, but has no CC.

Draven: Early Game. Draven's Q is what makes him such a powerhouse AD Carry, but managingspinning axes is difficult. In a Late game teamfight, it can be incredibly difficult to catch your axes and not get focused since your abilities are shouting to everyone where you will be positioning. In the laning phase however, this is much easier, and the damage amplification is incredible. His lack of mobility makes Draven a questionable pick. 

 

E

Elise: Early and Mid Game. As a jungler, Riot has done their best to make sure that Elise is balanced, and they're slowly making progress. However, Elise is still a top tier pick in the jungle, and will most likely be until another rework is done. She's strongest early and mid game when her base damages still do lots of damage and she has great early dragon control by using spiderlings to tank it.

Evelynn: Early and Mid Game. As a Jungler, Evelynn is very strong in the early game by having some of the most damage in the early levels with constant Qs and Spirit of the Elder Lizard. Evelynn has an awkward mid game phase though once she starts building tanky, and as a player you have to change your mindset going from a damaging assassin to a tank as you start to build Randuins and other tanky items. However, Evelynn's late game is solid as a tank and initiator, with clean up potential, but you're no longer the threatening assassin you were in the early game.

Ezreal: Mid Game. Ezreal has one of the best laning phases of all the AD carries, as his Q is a great poke, and his E makes him almost impervious to ganks. This continues into mid game, and his E is probably the best escaping skill in the game, giving him  a second flash every few seconds. However, late game, his damage falls off, and while he maintains his splipperiness, his poke falls off and his burst can't stand up to the current top tier ADCs like jinx or Lucian.

 

F

Fiddlesticks: Late Game (AP/Jungler) Early Game (Support).
Ap/Jungler: In the early phase, Fiddlesticks wants to mainly just focus on farming, and keeping himself health with drain. His Roaming/Ganking isn't that great has he doesn't have a reliable gap closer, and his Q at level 1 is weak, unless you can sneak directly behind the enemy. However, late game, if you can land a full crow storm, your enemy will melt, and combined with a zhonya's you have a lot of potential for dealing huge damage.
Support: Maxing Q gives you one of the best CCs in the game, and can lead to a lot of potential kills thanks to the 3 second fear at Level 9. and good poke with crow of infinite silence. Falls of late game as the only think useful you can do is fear carries and die.

Fiora: Late Game. She has a good level 2 all-in, but from then on, isn't that great. A full ultimate on the enemy team is devestating though but she doesn't deal much damage if builds tanky, and is only useful for her ultimate if she builds damage, and is then immediately focused after coming out of her ultimate.

Fizz: Mid Game. Has huge burst potential with his Ultimate, and his E mechanic makes for some awesome plays. Has a great level 2 all in, but afterwards, is dependent on landing his ultimate. If you miss shark, you lose all your CC and a lot of damage. Late game, he can be burst down very quickly in teamfights for being melee if played incorrectly, but still has huge assassination and burst potential. Mastering your Playful/Trickster is key for using Fizz. 

 

G

Galio: Mid/Late Game. Laning phase isn't spectacular due to him being Melee, and doesn't deal huge damage. From about level 7 though, becomes a great farmer by spamming Q, and can get tanky and naturally build AP with passive. The reason hes strong is because he has one of the best ultimates in a game, and landing one with a team to back you up is devastating. Isn't that strong overall though, as hes useless in teamfights without an ultimate. He has seen some play recently as a support with his decent poke and his ultimate locking up enemy carries in teamfights while still letting your team have a carry in the midlane.  

Gangplank: Mid Game. Gangplank has a decent laning phase, as his Q is good harass and a last hitting tool, but he has very little pressure in a lane, and he's very susceptible to being shoved to turret. Mid Game is when he shines in my opinion, as this is when he can be tanky enough to zone out the enemy carries, relying on his Q and passive to deal damage. His Ultimate is also very potent here. If you decide to build critplank, your mid game is pretty strong, because if you can land a Q crit onto an adcarry, you probably just took half their health. However, you are probably going to die as critplank is very squishy.

Garen: Early Game. He can pretty much fight and win every single Top lane in the game except for ones with kiting potential. His Q and E do great damage, but he really falls off late game by being kited and not doing that en0ugh damage. His passive has great synergy with the new defense mastery perseverance though, and his health regen makes him very difficult to push out of lane. 

Gragas: Early/Mid The Gragas rework has kind of thrown Gragas up in the air. Riot are trying to push Gragas into the tank role they originally designed him for by giving him more CC but cutting his AP ratios. Gragas is still very strong with zoning tools and lots of CC, but he no longer has the mid game AP burst that he was known for. Now, Gragas is seeing much more play top as a dominating lane bully with early zoning tools and great trading damage thanks to his W. He's still a strong champion, just not in the same way as before.

Graves: Early and Mid game. Like Ezreal, has a safe laning phase, but instead of good poke, has a great burst. His E is a bit unique by being an escape and steroid, but it's an ability that keeps him safe. His Q is what make him shine though, he's incredibly deadly with it at close range, and does huge burst damage. That's the problem though, its only great at close range, and with his very short attack range, Graves is a dangerous adc late game.

 

H

Hecarim: Mid/Late game. He has a pretty decent clear time, but his ganks aren't incredible, you have to come in at exactly the right angle with his E. But in teamfights, his ultimate is a very powerful initiation tool, and a strong AoE CC. Doesn't fit into the current meta champions, and he doesn't synergize too well with Feral Flame. 

Heimendinger: Mid/Late Game. After his rework, Heimerdinger came out as a very strong champion and even saw limited play in competitive. His strength of zone control and massive damage from his turrets made him a very strong champion, and including his incredible baron control, we saw him become a very strong champion, but nerfs put him slightly below top tier, and he may make a resurgance if other top midlaners are nerfed.

I

Irelia: Mid Game. Irelia has seen a strong resurgence lately, even forcing bans out in competitive games againt competent LCS players. Going back to the old season 2 style of triforce rush into straight tank, Irelia has returned to being the bane of a carries existence by diving the backline squishies. Strong early game with lots of sustain, but late game other tanks are more effective than Irelia. 

 

J

Janna: Mid Game (Support and AP). Janna is known for her CC, her shield, and her potentially game changing ultimate. Her shield is incredibly strong in the laning phase, and when fully leveled giving her target 50 additional attack damage, and a rather hefty shield. She has great Crowd Control with her Q and Ultimate, but late game her shield falls off. Also, Janna is naturally squishy, but her CC can really make up for this, and her peel for the team is great. When built fully AP, she has strong poke and good range, but shes lacks the damage or burst of other mages. Most other supports offer more than Janna does currently. 

Jarvan IV: Early Game. Has a solid jungle clear time thanks to his passive, and his ganks are terrifying if you can land an e>q combination. Falls off a bit due to his W being a terrible ability without scaling, but his Ultimate can be great at potentially zoning a carry. Doesn't synergize with Feral Flare too well, and is gernerally regarded as a weak pick at the moment.

Jax: Late Game. Jax has an alright laning phase, and can farm well under tower thanks to his W, and his E gives him very solid utility. Late game though, as he builds damage, he becomes one of the best duelists in the game, and scales very well. His largest drawback is being focused down potentially, but he has great mobility and a very unique dodge ability, and is great at snowballing a game. With most top laners running teleport now, and Renekton falling off as a top tier pick, its easier to survive the laning phase now more than ever.

Jayce: Mid/Late Game. Thanks to his ability to transfer between ranged and melee, Jayce has a decent early game in the top lane, able to harass and farm from relatively safety, and have a good follow up with his hammer form during ganks. Jayce really seems to shine mid and late game with his poke from his Q and E through a full AD build, and even seconds as another AD carry on the team. However, he isn't as strong as he really needs to be at the moment to see play.

Jinx: Mid Game. Jinx exploded (ha) onto the scene after her release, and quickly solidified her position as a top tier ADC with a decent laning phase and incredibly high damage. With Jinx's diverse kit, she saw a lot of play and is still one of the most played champions in solo queue. However her lack of a reliable escape makes her a liability in some cases and late game your ADC getting solo'd in a fight can easily lose you the game. 

 

K

Karma: Late Game. Karma has seen a huge surge in popularity recently, notably as a support, with her giant early game presence, and even as an AP mid. Her Q is a very effective poking tool, and puts huge pressure on the enemy lane. As midgame turns, she excels at helping her team peel with speed boosts, slows, and roots, but if you play her AP you'll notice how quickly her damage falls off. Regardless, she's still an amazing champion in terms of utility. 

Karthus: Late Game. In laning phase and early game, the only thing that Karthus counters in lane is minions. However, he does this very well, and he is one of the best farmers in the game. As the game draws on, as Karthus gets more items, he becomes ever more powerful, and he has great AP scaling, huge AOE damage, and a devastating ultimate. Hopefully with the visual update we'll see Karthus gain some popularity. 

Kassadin: Late Game. Kassadin has a weak 1-5, as his melee range makes him susceptible to harassment from other mid laners, with his passive and shield to keep him alive. However, as soon as he hits 6, Kassadin has great burst potential, and huge roaming potential. This makes him incredibly deadly, and gives him huge map pressure. His short range does hurt him as the game drags on and AD carries become more powerful, but he still does ridiculous amounts of damage and has great pushing power. One of the strongest Late Game carries. 

Katarina: Mid Game. Similar to Kassadin in her early game with her weak , but post 6 she has lots of burst potential, and has an awesome AOE teamfight. Falls of late game due to vulnerability to Crowd Control and can potentially be burst down unless she has a team that can dive into the enemy along with her.

Kayle: Late Game. Her Q and E both have solid AP scaling, and has a decent heal and a great utility ultimate. Although the past year or so have seen constant nerfs, Kayle seems to have stuck around the scene, thanks to the variety of builds that are possible on her, and the strength of her kit in general. Lately, the Nashor's Tooth into Runaan's has been the build of choice, but next month it will probably be something different. 

Kennen: Mid/Late Game. Has an alright laning phase, benefits a lot with AD runes for harass and last hitting. However, with AP items, Kennen has a very solid teamfight thanks to his ultimate. However, he is completely reliant on his ultimate, and is rather useless without it, but can stun pretty much the entire enemy team with solid damage. Not a good pick with how good teleport top laners are right now, and Ryze is a better top lane AP champion. 

Kha'Zix: Mid Game. Primarily seen as a jungler lately thanks to the slight rework on his evolutions, Kha'Zix is a great tanky jungler that is good at forcing teamfights when ahead with his huge mobility. Has decent damage in the early game, especially with Spirit of the Elder Lizard, but it's the 50% damage reduction with his ultimate that makes him so strong. 

Kog'Maw: Late Game. With his W dealing % health and granting him range, and passive attack speed on his Q, he has huge scaling into late game, and is really only outclassed by Tristana. However, he doesn't have a good early game, as he has no natural escapes, making him vulnerable to ganks, and reliable on summoner spells.

 

L

Le'blanc: Early Game. One of the most popular mages of the recent year, Le Blanc has become a favorite of many midlaners, both in solo queue and competitive. Maxing W first has given her the wave clear that she needs to be a strong midlaner, and with the huge burst and mobility that her kit contains, Le Blanc is a top tier pick for sure. However, Riot has announced plans to nerf most aspects of her strengths, so she may not remain a top pick for long.

Lee Sin: Early Game. Along with a recent string of nerfs, Lee Sin is one of the most mechanically difficult champions in the game. His mobility and his ganks are devestating early, but late game, he can be burst down if building damage, and if building tanky, doesn't deal enough damage to be a threat, so Lee Sin relies almost entirely on getting a great ultimate engage for your team and then being a tank. As a toplaner, he is also a strong splitpusher, but generally Lee Sin's kit works better for him as a jungler. 

Leona: All Game. Leona is a CC and aura bot, and thats how she should be played. Has a good early game if paired with an agressive ADC, and her teamfighting with her ultimate is excellent, especially with its very short cooldown. However, she is vulnerable to being kited, and can be burst down quickly if she doesn't have defensive items yet, as she has to dive into the enemy team to be effective. 

Lissandra: Mid Game. She has a decent laning phase, but with her teamfighting, she has to get too close to the enemies to deal damage. However, thanks to the recent "bug fixes" on her ult, she does good burst damage and can dive into the enemy team and then CC all of them, and still survive! Pairs very well with AOE teams.

Lucian: Mid Game. Lucian has a weak laning phase with his low autoattack range, but a reliable escape with his E makes up for it. His Ultimate doesn't deal the damage that it needs to early, and its once Lucian can pick up his BotRK and Ghostblade that he gains his biggest powerspike. Lucian offers consistent damage from both his spells and his autoattacks, and his ultimate gives him good poke and allows him to deal damage while running away. Although the slight rework did weaken him overall, he will still see play because of how mobile he is.

Lulu: Support: Early/Mid Game: Lulu is a champion with excellent poke and bush control as a support, mainly through maxing Q. Likewise, her polymorph ability is one of the best disables in the game, a blind and silence rolled into one, and her ultimate is a unique ability that coordinates very well with a champion that will plan on diving into the enemy team thanks to the knock up and slow.

AP: Mid Game. Like support Lulu, has great damage and harass early. As the game scales later, Lulu's decent AP scaling and great utility makes her good at protect the carry, and her AP ultimateis great at baiting out or prolonging teamfights. She doesn't have huge damage compared to other popular AP carries right now, but she has good consistent damage, and offers enough utility that shes a top tier pick. 

Lux: Mid Game. Lux's laning phase focuses on farming, and all throughout the early game, she doesn't deal that much damage. However, once she has either an Athene's or Morellonomicon and a deathcap, she gets a huge spike in power with AP and CDR. It is generally at this point where Lux can start catching people out, and one shotting people, or even a whole team. Lux has huge burst, and great AP scaling, and the cooldown on her ultimate is rather short. However, late game, most champions get tankier quicker than she can build damage, and she rarely has enough burst to 1-shot someone.

 

M

Malphite: Late Game. Doesn't have a very strong laning phase, and can actually get bullied pretty easily. However, as soon as Malphite is able to get some armor and health, he becomes an unstoppable force, and his ultimate really IS an unstoppable force, and is devestating in teamfights, and probably the best initiation in the game, if you have a team following you up.

Malzahar: Early/Mid Game.Malz has a stellar laning phase, good poke and harass and deals ridiculously annoying damage over time but very low mobility. His Ultimate is very strong post 6 in duels, but leaves you completely vulnerable to the enemy team's burst, and a quicksilver sash is a hard counter. Riot has been looking at buffing small parts about Malzahar until he becomes a good pick, but it may be a while.

Maokai: Early and Late Game. This seems odd, but Maokai has very reliable CC and his ganks are deadly as a result, giving him good pressure on the map in the early part of the game, although his clear speed is very lacking. However, after a while, his CC falls off, but its his ultimate, when ranked up a couple of times, gives him huge amounts of utility and is invaluable for any team, reducing incoming damage for his entire team. Also his CC never really falls off and hes a good tank. Doesn't fit into the current meta though. 

Master Yi: Late Game. Because of the recent addition of Feral Flare to the game, Master Yi has actually seen a pretty huge surge in popularity, especially in solo queue where he reigned the jungle just a couple of patches ago. Because of Feral Flare giving even more incentive to just farm jungle until late game, and then arrive with lots of stacks and items and make the enemy team's squishy carries lives hell. 

Miss Fortune: Early/Mid Game. Miss fortune, simply put, is a huge lane bully. Her double up Q and impure shots make for great harassment, and she can easily get a control of a lane, leading to early domination. As she scales into mid game, her lack of a good steroid and escape make her not as good as other ADCs, but her ultimate deals huge AOE damage, and when used in cunjuction with a team, is incredibly terrifying. She falls off late game compared to other ADCs in terms of damage.

Mordekaiser: Late Game. Similar to Karthus, Mordekaiser counters minions better than anyone else, and is one of the best farmers in the game with massive AOE damage. As he scales into late game, his ultimate against an enemy ADC makes him terrifying against a back line, and lets him deal massive damage onto the enemy team. With rumors about an ultimate skin on the horizon, Morde may see buffs in the future.

Morgana: Early/Mid Game. With Morgana making her first comeback onto the scene since season 2, as a support this time around, its been a nice reminder of why Morgana was almost permanently banned for most of the game's early creation. Becuse of her early laning presence with strong harass and catch potential, Morgana is once again a top tier pick. She has a strong powerspike once she picks up a Zhonya's, which should be picked up early thanks to so much gold generation from spellthief and tormented soil.

N

Nami: Mid Game. Now, Nami hasn't really seen that much action lately except for a couple games here and there, but she does have her strengths and weaknesses. In the early phase, her Q is pretty deadly if combined with some other CC, which can make for a good pair up with certian ADs or Junglers for ganks. She has a good laning phase, being able to give her lane partner both health and empowered autoattacks, and can make lane bullies like Caitlyn and Varus shine even more than they would 0therwise. Her W and E fall off in terms of usefulness though, but her ult is a solid teamfight initiation or AoE disrupt that never loses its usefulness. 

Nasus: Late Game. This dog is a late game terror due to him being able to build huge tank items while still managing to do absurd amounts of damage with his Q stacks and his Ultimate. However, this is offset by an incredibly weak early game, where you're susceptible to ganks or invades, and until level 13 when whither is maxed, you most likely will lose all duels, so get to late game and then splitpush and two-shot towers to your heart's content.

Nautilus: Late Game. Offest by a slow start in the jungle and being relatively squishy early game, Nautilus is a powerhouse late game if he can build tank items, as his W gives him sufficient damage on autoattacks, and his CC is some of the most powerful in the game, and is incredibly efficient. Nautilus needs buffs to be seen on the rift anytime soon though.

Nidalee: Mid Game. With the Nidalee rework being just last patch, its still hard to tell if the rework was a buff or a nerf. Her winrate in game has dropped to an abyssmal 40%, though thats most likely due to people not knowing how to play her. However, it is the opinion of most pro players that Nidalee is now more effective as a splitpushing bruiser, with Iceborn Gauntlet and BotRK giving her huge powerspikes. But, those take time to farm up, so while her early game is decent to poke out melee champions, she needs time to farm.

Nocturne: Mid/Late Game. Nocturne as a jungler has a decent clear time early, but subpar early ganks. He really starts to shine when he can build a couple items and can initiate very hard onto the backline of the enemy team, especially against a squishy backline. With Feral Flare being released, Nocturne's have even more of a reason to just sit back and farm in the early game to scale to late.

Nunu: Early/Late Game. Popular in really only the Chinese meta, Nunu has seen limited play in the jungle lately. Long gone are the days of nunu support it seems. Regardless, Nunu is good at controlling the jungle in the early game, and then you can just wait for late game, bloodboil your AD carry, snowball bruisers killing your carry, and ut as many people as possible.

O

Olaf: Mid/Late Game. Olaf's rework was actually a pretty good success by Riot, but shifts in the meta and slight nerfs to both him and Sivir made Olaf a not great pick. However, he's still a decent jungler that, with the right items and against the right enemies, is great at just YOLOing into the back line and tanking up everything while still dealing a good amount of damage. However, thats what most good junglers are doing right now, and a lot of other junglers are doing that just fine without Olaf being needed. Maybe against a very heavy CC team.

Orianna: Late Game. Is an excellent farmer in the laning phase, and with enough jungle pressure early on to get a lead, can actually 1v1 most champions sucesfully thanks to her shield and high damage. As the game goes on, her shield becomes rediculously strong on both your ADCs and initiators, and her damage combined with her utility is incredibly strong. Orianna is just an all around excellent champion that will probably always be useful. 

P

Pantheon: Early/Mid Game. Pantheon has seen a very surprising surge in popularity as a jungler in early season 4. Thanks to his reliable stun and strong map presence due to his ultimate, Pantheon is great at controlling the early and mid game through jungle pressure. Even late game, Pantheon is great at engaging teamfights with his ultimate, and his passive crit chance means he can always do some damage.

Poppy: Late Game. Poppy's early game is represented by abysmally high mana costs and a lack of reliable CS, which means she needs an extended laning phase to get where she wants to. As the game goes on though, her damage becomes ridiculously high, and her ultimate and passive make her incredibly tanky, and therefore good at assassinating targets.

 

Q

Quinn: Early/Mid Game. Quinn and Valor is a very all-in type of ADC, which makes her a good laning ADC, and her E is a weird ability that puts her too close to the enemies for an ADC's gap closer. However, she can use the high damage and passive to punish enemies very hard in laning phase, and then use that to carry her later. However, pretty much every other ADC is better.

 

R

Rammus: Late Game. Rammus has an "okay" clear time as a jungler, and decent ganks with his Q and E. However, he really needs tank items to be able to deal damage with his passive and be the tanky annoyance he wants to be. Late Game, a taunt onto the ADC is incredibly effective, and with proper follow up can spell doom for your enemy.

Renekton: Early/Mid Game. Renekton has a good laning phase and is an excellent duelist, and once he gets a Sunfire Cape and his ultimate, deals a good amount of both Magic and Physical damage, which is hard to itemize against. Renekton is a great lane bully and a good counterpick to hyperscalers like Jax and Nasus. Late Game, renekton is just a solid tank that can dive the enemy team. Recent nerfs and tweaks have decayed at Renekton's popularity, but he's still a top tier top laner.

Rengar: Mid/Late Game. Rengar does terrifyingly high damage in the right postion, and his ult is an excellent engage. However, Rengar is a very snowbally type of champion that needs to stay even or ahead in laning phase or he won't be able to build the damage needed to jump on a carry and kill him immediately. Otherwise, he can just build full damage and destroy everyone and make ADcarries cry.

Riven: Early/Mid Game. Riven is a good bully in top lane against other melee champions, and has a unique mechanic that she actually gets tankier as she builds damage. This gives her a huge powerspike with each damage item she gets, but late game can get locked down by CC and become completely useless due to her all-in nature as she jumps into teamfights. She's also a strong splitpusher due to her high mobility. 

Rumble: Mid Game. Rumble has a rather sub-par level 1-5, but when she he gets his ultimate, he can duel pretty much anyone, and the powerspike at level 11 and once he build Liandry's and Rylai's makes his teamfighting skills incredible. His Ultimate is just incredibly useful in terms of utility and damage, but Rumble doesn't fit well into the top lane meta at the moment. 

Ryze: Late Game. Ryze has a sub-par laning phase, where he should focus on farming and leveling up his Tear of the Godess. As the game progresses, Ryze becomes tankier and deals more damage, thanks to all mana items giving heath or resistances. As the game goes later, Ryze excels at catching people out and doing huge AoE damage that has an absurd amount of armor and Magic Resistance.

S

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

Shaco: Early/Late 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. However, when Shaco really shines is the late game, especially by taking Exhaust instead of flash and abusing Season 4's lack of oracles to jump on the enemy carries and just destroying them. Shaco is also an excellent splitpusher thanks to his low cooldown Q.

Shen: Mid/Late Game. Ever since the nerf to the radius on his taunt, Shen is no longer the staple of top lane that he was since season 2. However, Shen does fit in great with the tanky top laner meta that is still going strong, and he really isn't a terrible pick. However, with pretty much all top laners taking teleport right now, that was the final nail in the coffin because of how Shen's remaining redeeming quality, his global pressure, is now pretty much moot. 

Shyvanna: Mid/Late Game. No longer the jungler that brought her into popularity, Shyvanna has moved to her new position as the queen of the top lane. With strong damage in the early game and innate tankiness with her passive and ultimate, Shyvanna has been incredibly powerful in the tank top lane meta. With the addition of teleport buffs, Shyvanna's strength at 1v1s and splitpushing with strong wave clear has been even more in her favor. Really she's just an all arouns strong pick in all stages of the game.

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 against most matchups. However, as the game goes on, thanks to Singed's ability to build whatever he wants and still be effective, and how he's one of the strongest backline diver in the game, and thanks to his insane splitpushing, makes Singed a strong late game champion.

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 in the lane. However, that's about it. In teamfights, ap Sion can stun and blow his shield for a little bit of damage, but 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 Ravenous Hydra, with aoe massive life steal, you can just fight the enemy in their minion wave and you won't lose health. It's honestly a really fun build, but it isn't the strongest ever. 

Sivir: Mid/Late game. Since her rework, Sivir went from one of the least played champions to a top tier adc pick. Since then, nerfs have brought her powerlevel down to a mid tier ADC, but Riot did an excellent job of redefining her role. Focusing on wave clear and initiation, Sivir is now a very strong pick thanks to her ultimate, which is one of the stronest utility spells in the game, making her strongest in teamfights.

Skarner: Late Game. Although season 3 and 4 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 will continue to outshine Skarner, although Riot is promising buffs in the future.

Sona: Early game. In the first 10 or 15 minutes of the game, Sona will deal more damage then 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 a very strong champion in teamfights as well as laning. With the AD items being changed, we may see Sona come back as a strong pick due to not everyone rushing lifesteal anymore.

Soraka: Late game. Soraka is good in making sure her ad carry never has to back in base for a 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 kited 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 her while her burst potential is good, she doesn't have the strongest sustained damage. We may be seeing more of her if other top tier midlaners are nerfed, but right now she's a strong niche pick.

 

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 such as Karthus or Kassadin. 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 them some other supports, but has only a single target stun, compared to the aoe 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 extra 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 until they're doing huge damage. As the game gets later, once Teemo had 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. Stronger than AD.

Thresh: All stages. Although Thresh really shines in laning phases with his grabs and pulling in ganks from across the lane, Thresh never really falls off, as hooks are a great way to initiate, lantern is an incredibly good ability, especially with an immoble ADC, and his utimate is a 99% slow. Thresh's kit is too good to be not be amazing at all stages of the game.

Tristana: Early and late game. Tristana in 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, with a good escape. However in the early game, 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, so she's a good early game laner . However, mid game her magic damage is pretty low, and she needs items for her autos to do enough damage, so her midgame is lackluster.

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 he really shines at stopping split pushes thanks to his ultimate and a Blade of the Ruined King.  when team fighting starts, his pillar an ultimate make him good at sticking onto a high priority enemy, but if his team helps that target peel, then trundles effectiveness is diminished. Trundle is also an excellent in poke compositions thanks to his pillar in more of a support role.

Tryndamere: Early/Late 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, Tryn can deal good damage onto a high priority target, and his ultimate can buy him a few precious seconds to kill the squishies, but his split pushing with his spinning slash and a Stattik Shiv is really what makes him strong, as he can just die until hes not worth gold and still push a lane until hell freezes. 

Twisted Fate: Mid Game. TF's early game isn't anything too special, good farming with wild cards and blue cards. Once he hits 6 though, his global pressure makes him very effective, and can punish the enemy all around the map from the midlane. 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 at getting picks all around the map or engaging teamfights with a Zhonya's.

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. Twitch has become a very popular pick as of late, especially in pick compositions thanks to his Ambush ability and a BotRK. Late Game, his ultimate makes him incredibly strong in teamfights, especially in the jungle, but he needs strong peel to avoid dying instantly. Overall a very strong pick right now. 

 

U

Udyr: Mid Game. Udyr has a pretty good laning phase, and a terrifying level one with tiger stance. 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, his a lack of gap closer that results in him being incredibly vulnerable to getting kited. With the release of Feral Flare, jungle Udyr recieved a pretty strong buff, but he's still not a strong pick.

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. Just don't play Urgot, he has the lowest win rate in the game for a reason.

 

V

Varus: Mid/Late Game. Unlike a lot of AD carries, Varus' poke lets him do a great 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 devastating 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. However for an escapeless ADC, he doesn't have the damage to justify playing him.

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 week laning phase though, thanks to her short range and lack of damage early. Strongest duelist ADC in the game, and she also has decent splitpushing. However, her early game is too weak to really justify playing her right now.

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 that’s 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.

Vel'Koz: Mid Game. Vel'Koz has had an incredibly underwhelming release so far. As both a support and a midlaner, Vel'Koz has been a flop that didn't live up to any of the hype. With his poke being unreliable and his wave clear being underwhelming, he doesn't have a strong early game, but mid game his ultimate and passive can lead to high damage if he goes uninterrupted. However, he needs buffs to see any real play.

Vi: Early/Mid Game. Vi has a good Early game, but needs to come in at the right angle to kill anyone, but her Q is the highest damage for a non ultimate ability in the game. In mid game Vi can deal a ridiculous amount of damage, and with two gap closers, she is an AD carries worst nightmare. However, it's easy to overextend with Vi, and while she has good single target lockdown, she doesn't have the CC or innate tankiness that other top tier junglers have. 

Viktor: Mid Game. Viktor's laning phase is okay and he can trade well with his shield, but his short range on his stun and lack of sustained damage leaves him vulnerable. In midgame, Viktor has good burst which can surprise a lot of people, and his AOE ultimate can be pretty good in teamfights, especially with the silence that catches people offguard. His E offers him good poke too, but late game having one less item than everyone else really hurts.

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 escape from most ganks. The result of this, means he's a farming machine. Late Game, he can then do a whole lot of AoE damage, in addition to amplyifying his entire team's damage, which is a unique mechanic. He doesn't fit into the current meta at all though.

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 aggression. 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 (comparatively) 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." However, the new Essence Reaver item is a strong buff to Warwick.

Wukong: Mid Game. As a jungler, Wukong has high early game damage with a strong gank through stealth and a gap closer, but really shines once he hits 6 to use his ultimate in order to set up ganks and teamfights. However, he doesn't have a strong late game, as his ultimate is really his only utility late game, and his damage falls off rather quickly. 

 

X

Xerath: Late Game. Xerath is a siege machine, and also an anti-siege machine, that can melt an enemy ADC as soon as he gets into range of your tower. 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 lackluster, 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 ganks and pressure on the map is rather strong through high early damage. His lack of CC and damage as the game continues makes him not as strong as other picks, especially with the nerfs to Feral Flare. 

 

Y

Yasuo: Mid Game. Unlike Vel'Koz, Yasuo exploded onto the scene and certainly lived up to the hype. Although he's seen slight nerfs to tune down him since his release, he's still a very strong pick. Early game, Yasuo doesn't offer to much, but he can bully out other melee assassins and some AP mid laners well enough. Once he can buy a Stattik Shiv though, and eventually a BotRK and an Infinity Edge, Yasuo begins to really scale, and he offers so much in terms of damage and utility with his knockups, mobility, and ultimate.

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 absolutely devastating engages can carry a team. Top lane its similar, where a squishy early game can transition into a powerful tanky late game. However, his early game is too weak at the moment to justify playing him.

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. Drawbacks of this is that Zed is very vulnerable to any CC, and especially exhaust, and is usually in the middle of the enemy team when he ults onto someone, thorugh his high mobility lets him work around this.

Ziggs: Mid Game. Zigg's is a strong all around pick at the moment, who excels in Poke, Wave Clear, and Area of Effect damage. Although he is sort of a jack of all trades but the master of none, but Ziggs is pretty damn good at most things. Ziggs has a decent early game, but normally focuses on farming in the laning phase. Once he hits 6, it's easy to pressure other lanes with his ultimate, and his power ramps up with maxed rank bouncing bombs. Late game, he still has excellent damage and wave clear, but his poke is not as strong.

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 one damaging spell is not enough, and Zilean becomes useful really only for his ult, and not much else. Compared to other picks that are properly in the meta, Zilean shouldn't be played at the moment.

Zyra: All Game.  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 with their high base damages. While this is good, it is Zyra's game changing ultimate that makes her shine, and the reason to play her as a support. 

Thanks for reading summoners, and please let me know in the comments below if you disagree with me. I will try to be updating 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!