League of Legends: Patch 10.16 Tier List for the Best SoloQ Champs
By Josh Tyler
Our League of Legends tier list for Patch 10.16 moves to the mid lane.
Mid Lane Tier List
S tier: Zed, Kassadin, Galio (⇑), Yasuo (⇑⇒)
A+ tier: Fizz (⇐⇓), Katarina (⇐), Ekko, Talon, Ahri (⇑⇒)
A tier: Vladimir (⇓), Cassiopeia (⇑), Diana (⇓), Orianna, Qiyana (⇑⇒)
B tier: Pantheon (⇐), Sylas, Zoe, Annie, Akali (⇑), Leblanc, Lux, Swain (⇑), Twisted Fate, Malzahar, Nocturne, Neeko (⇑), Anivia, Veigar (⇑⇒) Karthus (⇑),
C tier: Viktor (⇐), Lissandra, Rumble, Yone (*), Vel’Koz, Pyke, Irelia, Syndra (⇓), Sett (⇑), Ziggs, Xerath, Azir, Aurelion Sol, Corki (⇑), Nunu & Willump, Lucian (⇑), Ryze (⇒)
D tier: Jayce, Malphite, Zilean, Cho’Gath, Renekton, Camille (*), Mordekaiser, Garen (⇑), Taliyah (⇒) Morgana (⇓),
F tier: Heimerdinger, Aatrox, Lillia, Karma (⇓), Brand, Tristana (*), Gangplank (*)
Dropped: Morgana, Karthus, Kog’Maw
Key
- * = new to the tier list this patch
- ⇑ = improved (rated at least one tier higher than the previous patch)
- ⇓ = declined (rated at least one tier lower than the previous patch)
- ⇐ = borderline-up (within 10% of being in the next-higher tier)
- ⇒ = borderline-down (within 10% of being in the next-lower tier)
Rising Picks
Akali took the biggest leap upward on our tier list in Patch 10.16 thanks to the buffs she received. She escaped the C tier and is now firmly in the high-B tier.
Dropping Picks
The biggest drop for mid lane picks belongs to Karma, who dropped from the C tier all the way down to the F tier.
Underrated Picks
Vladimir continues to be underrated as a mid laner. His pick rate is just a shade under 3.5% despite being A tier.
Overrated Picks
Many of those overrated champions from the last patch remain in the top-ten despite not rising into the A tier. Sylas, Leblanc, Zoe, and Akali are all very overrated picks, but they’re joined by the newest champion in League of Legends, Yone.
Buffed Champions
Yone
Speaking of Yone, despite having a very high pick rate and decent win rate, he only landed in the C tier this patch. That’s pretty good considering where other newly-released champions have landed.
Akali
The buffs were more impactful to Akali as a mid laner than a top laner, as she is looking like a fairly-powerful pick ahead of Worlds.
Lucian
The effect on mid lane Lucian was similar to top lane Lucian: he’s gotten better but is still a niche pick in the low-C tier.
Neeko
She got buffs to her Q’s damage and was thus able to camouflage herself as a low-B tier pick.
Veigar
That 2 MR buff proved to be…pretty unimpactful. He remains a borderline-C tier mid laner.
Yasuo
On the other hand, Yasuo also got a buff to his ultimate’s damage on top of the MR buff and he is…still where he was last patch. He’s an S tier mid laner, on the borderline of being A+ tier, so he’s still quite strong.
Ziggs
More damage on his passive (and damage to structures) should allow the Hexplosive Expert to blow up the mid lane tier list. Yet in Patch 10.16, Ziggs remains a lowly C tier pick after the nerfs.
Nerfed Champions
Karma
Her Q’s cooldown was increased by two seconds across all ranks and its mana cost was raised basically across the board (it’s five less at rank five), which was enough to knock her down into the F tier.
Nocturne
Although the nerfs were meant to hit mid lane Nocturne harder than jungle Noc, ironically, it looks like Nocturne’s mid lane power wasn’t hit quite as hard as his jungling power.
Sett
Even though Sett took some big nerfs that dropped him in the mid and jungle roles, he’s actually thriving in the mid laner and actually rose into the C tier.
Syndra
A nerf to Syndra’s Q damage was definitely a big deal, as she’s fallen out of the B tier into the C tier.