Champions: 20 Champs Who Dominate Pro Play but Suck in Solo Queue
By Josh Tyler
If you’re an avid watcher of professional League of Legends, you’ve probably seen these champions constantly picked. Unfortunately, they’re probably not the best for climbing solo queue.
Professional League of Legends and solo queue might as well be two completely different games. One is a complex, intricate chess match between players who know the exact limits of their champion, have practiced these team compositions for hours, and have scouted their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. The other has your Yasuo go 0/3 in the first five minutes because he can’t figure out how the enemy Jax keeps dodging his auto attacks.
Because these two systems are so different, one being a true 5v5 experience while the other often feels like it’s 1v9, the champion pools in professional play and solo queue don’t entirely overlap. Here are 20 champions you’ve probably seen picked a ton in professional play but aren’t the best for solo queue.
1. Tahm Kench
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Why he’s good in pro play: Tahm Kench is basically a get-out-of-jail free card to any carry who manages to get caught out by the enemy team’s CC, thanks to his Devour. With his ultimate, Abyssal Voyage, able to bring himself and one teammate around the map in a blink, the Kench allows his team to have near-global map control.
Why he sucks in solo queue: His main usefulness comes from his ability to protect a single important carry, but that requirement is much higher in solo queue. Professional players get caught very rarely and often the enemy team has to make a fantastic play in order to land this catch. That’s not the case for us normies, who see our ADC randomly walk forward into a Leona ult…and then walk into a TF Gold Card right after you’ve used Devour.
2. Kalista
Why she’s good in pro play: Kalista remains the best ADC in the game when it comes to controlling neutral objectives due to her Rend. She also has the ability to both initiate and disengage teamfights with her Fate’s Call. Add on top of that that she can be a very tough matchup in lane and you understand why she’s one of the most-picked Marksmen when she’s strong.
Why she sucks in solo queue: She has an unintuitive play pattern (with her hops in between auto attacks) and is short-ranged, which makes it very difficult for the average player to pilot her effectively. Also, her Fate’s Call is partially-controlled by whoever is her Oathsworn, so you might pull in your Blitzcrank seeing an angle for a juicy fight only to have them plop out behind you and run for the hills.