League of Legends: Five champions to play during preseason

With preseason well underway and Season 10 far in the distance, we take a look at five champions to try out in the meantime on League of Legends.

League of Legends during preseason is a chaotic, lawless world of new champions, reworks, and map changes that have players’ heads spinning. You’d think the lack of high stakes and de-rank fear would create a peaceful environment to learn the game in and enjoy solo queue without the threat of flame permanently lingering over your head if you make a mistake. You would be wrong.

Despite the fact that the community remains as toxic as ever during preseason, don’t let that stop you from trying out a number of new champions in ranked to prepare for Season 10. Not only have a bunch of new characters been released and teased recently, several received indirect buffs as a result of the Elemental Dragon changes that were introduced on Patch 9.23.

So, without further ado, he’s our top five picks for champions you should be trying and testing in solo/flex queue during preseason:

1 Senna

This one goes without saying. Senna was added to the game on Patch 9.22 and has since took the bot lane by storm. Whether it be in the AD Carry or Support role, this new champion has become a menace and, as a result, is near permabanned in solo queue.

That being said, if you’re one of the lucky few who see her pass through the ban phase, go ahead and lock Senna in for some experience on one of the strongest champions on the game. If things remain the same, Senna will undoubtedly be a high presence bot laner in Season 10, whether it be from AD Carry or support, so now is your time to be 100% ready for the start of next season.

2 Poppy

Poppy is one of the many beneficiaries of the Elemental Drake changes on Patch 9.23, most notably Mountain Dragon.

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First of all, the added percentage armor and magic resist provided by killing Mountain Dragon is obviously going to aid champions that already itemize towards tank options, such as Sunfire Cape or Adaptive Helm in Poppy’s case.

Secondly, as a result of Mountain Dragon being the third dragon of the game, terrain is added throughout the map, which is perfect for Poppy’s E – Heroic Charge as it offers so many more options for wall stuns.

And finally, Mountain Dragon Soul on Poppy is a terrifying prospect. Imagine a full build, level 16, Trinity Force + tank Poppy charging at you with a huge 300-400 health shield. That’s surely enough to make you want to try her out during preseason!

3 Kalista

The forgotten carry, Kalista, may finally have been handed an avenue back into the competitive conversation with some generous buffs on Patch 9.22.

Struggling to compete with early game crowd control and unable to match the late game damage of crit ADCs, it’s no surprise that Kalista fell out of the marksman pool in Season 9. Now, she can provide huge damage with her W – Sentinel in lane to threaten some strong 2v2s through the early game to get herself an item lead and be the superior AD Carry on the Rift.

4 Nautilus

Made increasingly popular by FunPlus Phoenix’s Doinb during the World Championship knockout stages, Nautilus continues to wreak havoc in the solo lanes, jungle, and support positions, even after nerfs on Patch 9.22. It’s for this reason that you should consider picking Naut up in ANY position through preseason!

Top Lane – Become the primary tank and engager for your team. Set up ganks early on to get a gold lead, then itemize strictly health, armor, and magic resist as you soak up tonnes of damage for your team in skirmishes.

Jungle – Nautilus is unstoppable when ganking with his Q – Dredge Line, and his jungle clear isn’t so bad either thanks to the AoE provided by his E – Riptide. Patrol the jungle, avoid 1v1s, and repeatedly gank to snowball your team ahead.

Mid Lane – Control the map and dictate the tempo of the game by clearing the mid wave, picking up Boots of Mobility, and permanently threatening roams to top or bot. The immense level of crowd control offered by Nautilus is enough to have the side lanes terrified of the potential of a gank from mid lane.

AD Carry – Why not? Grab a lane partner with more heavy CC to completely lock down the opponent carry and ensure they have no chance to respond as you beat them down.

Support – Or just go back to Nautilus’ roots by setting up play after play in the bottom lane and being the primary playmaker during late-game team fights.

5 Aphelios

We know you’re already planning to play Aphelios the day he’s added to the game, but this is just a gentle reminder that he’ll be heading to Summoner’s Rift SOON as his kit was just revealed!

Obviously playing a brand new champion in ranked is often unwise, but with nothing on the line during preseason, we see no reason why you shouldn’t grab him over the next few months (if he makes it through the ban phase).

What do you think of this list? Which champions do you think are strongest right now and are likely to stay at the top through to Season 10? Let us know in the comments!