Patch 11.15 has been released and many nerfs to problematic champions have been finally released. However many of these nerfs feel like slaps to the wrist and don’t necessarily target what makes the champion a problem. Because of this you may find nerfed champions not moving down on my tier list. However some champions like Viego have been moved down considerably and other champions like Sylas who overall seem to be okay coming out of the patch have been moved down slightly this patch because players will have adaptations to make in the lane.
Trinity Force, Divine Sunderer, Wit’s End, Everfrost, economic lethality users who can use Eclipse and other similar strategies are coming out on top. The main theme being champions who can dish out large amounts of sustained damage while remaining difficult to kill. Even some AP users have started adapting Frozen Heart into their builds to replicate that meta and keep themselves relevant like Kassadin and Cass.
So without any further introduction let’s get into the meat and potatoes of this List!
TOP LANE
As you may notice there are a few champions that have been placed in the SS tier this patch. Many are considering the healing Tahm receives from his mini rework as well as buff to be incredibly powerful in the solo lane. The Kench has been dominating in top lane and winning trades with his powerful mitigation and sustain as well as has great gank assist and mobility now. His ultimate is better for engaging than disengaging most experts say so seeing him in a solo lane for now seems to be the way of the Kench.
Irelia’s W nerfs are substantial but I personally feel like most tier lists are exaggerating when thinking these nerfs have her balanced. The synergy she has with her builds, runes, passive being easier to proc and the unique playstyles I have seen from Chovy leave me a bit skeptical when others claim she is now balanced. Irelia is very potent for this meta developing and is only weaker in the early levels as a change for very big buffs to make her more accessible as a champion.
Camille, Nasus, Illaoi, Fiora, Jax and many others are rated high for their skirmish and dueling potential as well as their synergy with the more powerful mythics Trinity force and Divine Sunderer. Tanks are also seeing a rise in power with the new Anathema’s Chains rush to reduce damage from their opponent and increasing gank assist. The high base HP value from this item goes best with characters who trade often with high base values, or tanks who scale off HP in key abilities (Sion, Tahm and Shen are great examples). With Frostfire being the best tank mythic in most cases and the passive increasing HP per item completed this also helps these characters.
Kayle had a slight nerf that was more focused on midlane Kayle. Nemesis mentioned that this nerf also applies versus physical based champions who can deal magical damage like Lee Sin’s E ability. However Kayle is just slightly weaker in the early levels and still is the same champion past level 11 so still a very strong champion to pick if the opponent picks a champion that cannot challenge you early.
Some spicy strong picks right now include Pantheon and Quinn for their powerful laning into roam options, and Trundle versus tanks with his ultimate ability and synergy with the Divine meta.
JUNGLE
Some are saying Xin and Nocturne are the two best junglers by far, however I feel Nocturne’s need to rush to level 6 for his pressure and Riot’s gaze on the champion makes him slightly weaker than Xin. Xin can fight and skirmish in early levels, run a variety of builds and runes and only received a small W cd nerf that barely meant anything as if that was Riot trying to balance the champion. Xin stands tall in the lead for jungle this patch however the S tier are still very strong picks this patch.
High Elo Kayn players have begun to play blue Kayn with a bruiser mythic (most commonly Stridebreaker) the LCS began to call “Blue-ser” build. Fiddle still is an incredibly potent character when used creatively and when underestimated which is often in solo-q. Kindred has been seeing success with a Divine build that was made famous by Viego players, giving her a new form of power. Ap junglers are still incredibly potent in drafts for this meta with the power of AD midlaners, and lastly we have the early game junglers like Elise and Lee Sin winning games in the Eastern servers by 15 minutes reliably.
Some spicy strong picks for jungle include AP burst champions like Ekko and Evelynn, most players are used to Diana at this point but are probably not aware these two are just as powerful. Rammus and Zac should not be underestimated for tank junglers and if not punished early can completely control the pace of a game with frequent ganks.
MID LANE
Mid Lane is bit of a contested mess with many high power picks and a large number of champions being left behind in the dust. Some readers may comment that D or C tier picks aren’t bad champions however when comparing their power and influence in solo-q compared to the higher tiers you realize Mid is not a very balanced lane at the moment.
Katarina mains are rejoicing as their champion still remains an incredibly powerful and diverse champion that only fears CC. But with unorganized play Kat mains have been dominant in recent patches. Kassadin has slowly become Kassawin unnoticed by most but those who have been running a tankier build have been able to turn Kassadin into an almost purely blind pick-able champion that scales at level 11 and devastates enemy teams while remaining tanky.
Last SS pick for the patch is Leblanc. Some say Sylas is still SS tier however I feel the changes in this patch makes Q max Sylas much stronger on their Everfrost spike but their sustain has been notably hit and his matchups have become significantly more fair. Not to mention anti healing versus Sylas early now can devastate mains who may not be used to facing the early pick up. However Leblanc remains untouched as one of the few AP mages who were successful pre-AP item buffs. She is incredibly mobile, hard to lock down, high dps who can side lane, skirmish and more.
The Annie nerfs are essentially -5 damage/100 AP which on a 3ish second cooldown equates to around -1.6 dps per 100ap you buy. It is almost nonexistent until very late game if the Annie cannot close the game or she goes glass cannon. The Viego nerfs however are substantial and he will be picked into specific winning matchups and not blind pickable anymore.
Some spicy, strong picks this patch include tank Cassiopeia with Riftmaker/frozen heart (similar to Kassadin), lethality Graves mid lane with Eclipse, and Ekko who has been coming back in form recent patches.
BOT LANE
Bot Lane this patch is very balanced. B tier champions have actually been favored in various parts of the world and A tier champions are the same power level as S tier champions but may be at more risk or are just overall less reliable. Jinx and Aphelios are incredibly potent picks but often find themselves at the mercy of their early game and can’t hit their power spike soon enough in rougher games.
Ziggs and Kog’maw are incredibly potent picks, Kog being able to go a tanky build while dealing high dps is a problem Riot hasn’t dealt with quite yet and any who take advantage of this opportunity can find themselves gaining free elo. Ziggs is a great pick while most solo laners are going AD champions and the jungler’s access to gold being a bit light after the recent jungle changes. His scaling ability to siege has been a highly sought after strength in LPL and has began to be more common in the rest of the world at a competitive level.
Lethality Draven with Eclipse is incredibly strong right now due to easy economic recalls. LS has been preaching the power of economic recalls for relevant champions who still can go lethality and perform in the current meta. Having 350–400 gold intervals between each item completion makes almost any recall timer acceptable and this versatility is a huge boon. Draven also can nearly one shot squishy champions with this build which helps him snowball incredibly well.
Ashe has been using a new build to climb from the middle of the pack and fight back at the top. Wits end in general is a incredibly over powered item that has helped auto attackers mitigate AP champions with ease and rushing it while having a 107% gold efficiency minimum is a great path for these champions. Ashe being attack speed based is also able to go Wit’s end and be much harder to kill versus magic damage dealing champions.
Samira, Vayne and Ezreal are all picks that are still incredibly strong but a bit forgotten by some. Just a friendly reminder that Ezreal players go Trinity force and Vayne also can go Wit’s End if needed.
SUPPORT
Support is another well balanced role this patch, B champions and above having good viability (however are better as counterpicks). Many still claim Lulu to be the uncontested queen of support however I feel the buffs to Blitz not only puts him at the top but of of his counters in the top as well.
Thresh nerfs will be noticeable early and the best players will be able to make the most of the cooldown being down however it is not enough to really affect this champion and Thresh will remain one of the best supports available when in good hands. Taric buffs are welcome as I feel he fits incredibly well into this meta as well as countering this meta. Dive and burst compositions can essentially dish out their damage while being invincible, buying them time for a second burst of abilities. Defensively Taric ult can also prevent dive and burst damage and punish the opponent for diving and using their cooldowns. The best counter to Taric is organized communication and a lot of intent and well…solo-q does not have much of either.
Rell has received some buffs and although skill-capped have moved her higher in their tier list, I agree with LS and Nemesis that this doesn’t change all that much for teamfights and that her role mostly performs the same as it has before. Laning may be slightly better but if we wanted her for laning there are champions that are much, much better. Have you heard of Maokai support recently?
Some spicy and powerful picks include: Maokai support steadily rising to be a peer with the best tank supports, Taric for his synergy with the meta, Zilean for his ult on hyper carries, and Leona for being a champion who doesn’t mind being grabbed by the new FOTM support Blitzcrank.
CONCLUSION
So that’s my Tier List for 11.15. I base my list off of the tier lists of respectable sources, weigh the opinions of some analytic content and performance of high elo players in the Chinese server and then add a bit of my own opinion at the end. This let’s me have the opinion of local pros, influence of powerful one tricks around the world, and the data and experience of analysts. This may lead to some similarities however with me trying to order each champion not just tiers to create more specific pockets of power this changes the lists a bit more.
Also you may notice some powerful or contested picks being a bit lower than what feels deserved on my tier list. Or some champions may be rated higher. I generally will rate skill based champions who have conditions for success lower while easier champions with less loss conditions and more win conditions higher. For example Annie is very easy to play and has many opportunities to make game changing plays while still being a good dps therefore she is rated higher than Nidalee jungle who may be very dominant when played out well but is prone to being locked down and struggles to come back if she has a bad early game.
I will be looking to post my own Tier Lists each patch from now on and I welcome any who are excited to return.
