Understanding LoL Tier Lists: How to Use Them to Climb Ranked

Tier lists are one of the most popular tools in the League of Legends community. Every patch, players rush to see which champions have risen or fallen in the rankings. But how much should you actually rely on tier lists when choosing your champion pool? In this guide, we break down everything you need to know about LoL tier lists and how to use them effectively.

Tier lists are built from data, so we checked the usual tier-list advice against the ranked solo/duo games LoLSuggest tracks on the Turkey, North America, Korea and Singapore servers: 300,465 games on patch 16.20 (October 6 to October 13, 2026) and 859,263 on patch 16.19 (September 22 to October 7, 2026). Each data section below says which of these games it uses.

What Is a Tier List?

A tier list is a ranking system that categorizes champions based on their overall strength in the current meta. Champions are placed into tiers, typically ranging from S (the strongest) to D (the weakest). The rankings are influenced by factors such as win rate, pick rate, ban rate, and how well a champion performs across different skill levels.

Here is what each tier generally means:

Tier	Meaning	Recommendation
S Tier	Overpowered; defines the meta	Pick or ban every game
A Tier	Very strong; consistent performers	Great for climbing ranked
B Tier	Balanced; viable in most situations	Solid if you have experience on them
C Tier	Below average; niche picks	Only if you are a one-trick
D Tier	Weak; struggles in the current meta	Avoid unless reworked or buffed

How Tier Lists Are Created

Most reputable tier lists are created using a combination of data analysis and expert opinion. The process typically involves:

• Win rate analysis: Champions with high win rates across thousands of games tend to rank higher. However, raw win rate alone can be misleading. A champion with a 55% win rate but only a 1% pick rate might be inflated by one-tricks.
• Pick and ban rate: High pick and ban rates indicate that a champion is widely considered strong by the player base and professional analysts.
• Patch changes: Buffs, nerfs, and item changes directly impact champion power levels. A tier list should always be evaluated in the context of the current patch.
• Skill floor vs. ceiling: Some champions perform differently at various ELO brackets. Mechanically demanding champions like Nidalee or Azir tend to do better in high ranks than in Silver.
• Professional play influence: When a champion dominates in pro play, it often signals hidden strength that trickles down to ranked.

What the data says about win, pick and ban rates

The warning about raw win rate holds up. These are the ten highest win rates on patch 16.20 among champion and role combinations with at least 1,000 games:

9 of the ten are played in fewer than 1.5% of games, and 8 are champions outside their usual role, such as Teemo mid, Vel'Koz mid, Brand ADC and Heimerdinger mid. This is why most tier lists set a minimum pick rate. With a 2% minimum, the top three on patch 16.20 are Rammus jungle (54.0%), Wukong jungle (53.1%) and Kog'Maw ADC (53.0%).

Ban rate is an even weaker signal. These are the ten most banned champions on patch 16.20, with their win rate in their main role:

Together they win 49.5% of their games on average, slightly below 50%. Across all champions, ban rate and win rate are almost unrelated (a correlation of 0.06). Bans say more about what players dislike facing than about what wins.

Common Mistakes When Using Tier Lists

1. Blindly Picking S-Tier Champions

Just because a champion is S-tier does not mean you will automatically win with them. If you have never played Azir before, picking him because he is at the top of a tier list is a recipe for disaster. Champion mastery and comfort are far more important than tier placement, especially in Gold and below.

2. Ignoring Team Composition

A tier list evaluates champions in isolation, but League of Legends is a team game. An S-tier champion can become far less effective if your team composition is unbalanced. For example, picking a third AP champion when your team already has two is suboptimal regardless of tier ranking. This is where tools like our Champion Recommender can help you make smarter picks based on actual team context.

3. Not Accounting for Your ELO

Tier lists are often created with high-ELO or average-ELO data. What works in Diamond may not work in Bronze, and the reverse is true too: some champions win clearly more in Iron to Silver than in Emerald and above. Look for tier lists that are specific to your rank bracket.

What the data says about rank

We compared each champion's win rate in Iron, Bronze and Silver with its win rate in Emerald and above, using patches 16.19 and 16.20 together (1,159,728 games) for larger samples. The average win rate itself differs between these groups in our data (49.6% in Iron to Silver and 50.8% in Emerald and above), so the "shift" column compares each champion with the average champion at each rank. Only champion and role combinations with at least 1,500 games in both groups are included (225 of them), and every shift shown below is larger than its margin of error.

Riot's difficulty rating explains only part of this. Champions rated 7 to 10 do 0.8 points better in Emerald and above than their low-rank results would suggest, while champions rated 1 to 3 barely shift (+0.1). The classic examples are mixed: Azir is 2.5 points better in high ranks but wins under 50% in both groups (45.1% and 48.9%), Garen wins about the same everywhere (51.1% and 51.7%), and Annie, often recommended for low ranks, actually does better in Emerald and above (47.8% against 52.0%).

4. Switching Champions Every Patch

The meta shifts every two weeks with new patches, but that does not mean you should change your champion pool every time. Constantly switching champions prevents you from developing the deep game knowledge needed to climb. Pick two or three champions you enjoy and stick with them across multiple patches.

The data backs this up. Between patch 16.19 and 16.20, no champion's win rate in its main role moved by more than 1.5 points: the biggest drop was Senna support (50.7% to 49.2%) and the biggest rise Lucian ADC (47.5% to 48.9%). The typical champion moved 0.4 points, and only 15 of the 168 champions with at least 3,000 games in both patches moved by more than chance alone would explain.

How to Actually Use Tier Lists

Here is a practical approach to getting the most out of tier lists:

1. Identify your main role and narrow the tier list to that position. A champion being S-tier in jungle does not matter if you play mid.
2. Cross-reference with your champion pool. If your main is A-tier or above, there is no reason to switch. If your main has dropped to C or D tier after significant nerfs, consider adding a backup pick.
3. Use tier lists as a starting point for new champions. When expanding your pool, start with champions that are strong in the meta. This gives you a built-in advantage while learning.
4. Check multiple sources. No single tier list is authoritative. Compare rankings across different analysts and data sites to get a consensus view.
5. Prioritize comfort over tier. A champion you know inside-out at B-tier will almost always outperform an S-tier champion you just picked up. Mastery beats meta in solo queue.

Tier Lists and Patch Cycles

Riot Games typically releases a new patch every two weeks. In the first few days after a patch, tier lists are unstable as the community is still figuring out the new meta. Here is a general timeline:

• Days 1-3: Preliminary data is unreliable. Sample sizes are too small for meaningful analysis.
• Days 4-7: Trends start to emerge. Champions affected by direct changes begin to show their true power level.
• Days 8-14: The meta stabilizes. Tier lists published during this period are the most reliable for the current patch.

Our own data shows the same pattern. For every champion and role with at least 5,000 games on patch 16.19 (248 of them), we compared the win rate a tier list could have shown after the first days of the patch with the final end-of-patch number:

One day in, 40% of champions were more than a point away from where they finished, and only 3 of the final top ten were already in the top ten. By day three that share fell to 13%, and after a week to 2%. The top ten keeps shuffling a little even late in the patch, because the highest win rates are close together.

Key Takeaways

Tier lists are a valuable resource when used correctly. They give you a snapshot of the current meta and help you make informed decisions about your champion pool. But they are not a substitute for game knowledge, champion mastery, and smart decision-making during champion select. Use them as one tool among many, and always prioritize your own comfort and experience over raw tier rankings.