League of Legends: how should I use tier lists?

Frequently asked questions

"So, I should only play S tier champions?"

Not at all! The goal of this (and any) tier list is to give you a sense of what is strong and weak. While S tier champions are the strongest, it’s a not make or break having them on your team. While we would definitely recommend banning them if you’re not sure who to ban, we do not advise just picking them if you’ve never played the champion or have a poor success rate on them historically.

"My main champion is C/D tier. Should I stop playing them?"

Maybe, but there’s more information to consider before making that determination. Has your win rate with that champion dipped? Did they recently get some nerfs? Do you feel the main is weaker now?

If you’re still winning on a champion that’s dipped to a lower tier, by all means, keep playing them! But if you’ve started to underperform on a champion that you were doing well on in the past and they’ve dropped in our tier list, that could be a sign to cool it off. Whether that’s taking a break from LoL altogether or just dropping that champion for a bit when those factors come together its at least worth considering.

"This tier list is just for low elo/Platinum plus. How accurate is it to my MMR?"

We differentiate between our regular tier lists and low elo so that you can get a general sense of how champions perform at different MMR brackets. Our regular tier list is based off data for players in Platinum and above, while low elo is for players in Gold or below. That said, we have difficulty breaking down the tier lists and finer (a tier list for Gold, Silver, Bronze, etc.) because not all sites have such data available.

But even if you’re not in the elo bracket the tier list is designed for, you can still get some use out of the rankings. Just know that some champions that are higher rated in low elo might be more easily countered in higher elos. On the other hand, higher rated champions in high elo may be too difficult for low elo players to play effectively.

The important thing to remember about using a tier list is that it’s a guide, not a hard and fast rule. The data we provide is meant to give a picture of the meta and what strong champions there are. We try to provide context for all the ranking changes, but it’s important for you, the player, to take this information and draw your own conclusions.

Have any other questions about how to use our tier lists? Let us know in the comments below!