Draft Mode Tier List

This is MY opinion solely and does not reflect my team’s or any other high level player opinion on high level play. It’s for you to read and discuss for your enjoyment and nothing else.

This is my tier list according to Season 1 Draft Mode / Tournament Play (NOT blind pick MM) I’ve put all the champions I feel are viable on SR and will be picked in competitive play. List goes from left to right, best to worst in each tier.

* Tier 1: Vayne, Nidalee, Twisted Fate, Corki, Ashe, Annie, Mal’zahar, Shen, Janna, Amumu, Nunu, Anivia, Sona,Swain,Vladimir, Alistar, Soraka

* Tier 2: Karthus, Orianna, Taric, Urgot, Jarvan IV, Miss Fortune, Nocturne, Irelia, Caitlyn, Cho’Gath, Lee Sin, Warwick, Xin Zhao, Olaf, Trundle, Zilean, Singed,Ryze

* Tier 3: Teemo, Sion, Leblanc, Renekton, Lux, Blitzcrank, Rumble, Maokai, Ezreal, Brand, Cassiopeia, Akali, Kassadin, Kennen, Tristana, Udyr, Rammus, Kog’Maw, Gragas, Morgana, Poppy, Jax

* Tier 4: Tryndamere, Malphite, Garen, Mordekaiser, Nasus, Veigar, Sivir, Kayle, Eve, Pantheon, Heimerdinger, Yi

* Hard to place on a team: Twitch, Shaco, Mundo, Karma, Gangplank, Galio, Katarina, Fiddlesticks,

Tier 1 – These champions have proved time and time again that they deserve to be here. These champions are game changing if you can get them most of the time. Player skill combined with knowing how to use these champions correctly will ultimately result in success.

Tier 2 – These champions are barely under tier 1. They all again do their roles incredibly well and are should be considered highly valuable picks. They all synergize very well into the vast majority of viable line ups. Players should be playing these champions if they are looking to improve their game and step into the competitive scene. Master all of the tier 1 and tier 2 champions and you will be a serious force to be reckoned with.

Tier 3 – These champions are still very viable on SR but are simply out done by tier 1 and tier 2 champions. They can still compete with all of them but as far as viable line ups go these won’t be the champions you’re going to ban or first pick in any draft mode. These are your 4th 5th picks in your line up to complement your line up or effectively counter the other teams picks. These champions are still very viable overall but just aren’t champions you will strive to pick or have in your line up all the time.

Tier 4 – These champions don’t fill the roles of the champions above them as good as they do. They really aren’t thought of other than your last pick to add a special extra something to your line up. Extra burst, extra utility, or that 1 more support champ you think you will make your line up that much better. Generally they really aren’t sought after picks in a competitive line up but they can still be played viably but are the bottom of the barrel in terms of competitive picks.

Hard to place on a team – These champions I find aren’t as good as others in terms of competitive picks. They don’t really help or add anything game changing to you line up or anything you would really want on a competitive team imo. They are all fine champions for solo queue for the most part but in terms of a 5v5 tournament draft mode I wouldn’t expect to see any of these champions there. They are simply out done by other champions who do their roles better than they do.

Feel free to ask questions about my list and I will do my best to reason why X champion is in X tier. I also encourage you to convince me I am wrong and move a champion up or down a tier accordingly. I will post the changes if or when I make them in edits in this post.

*—–* CHANGE LOG *—–*

Vayne moved up to tier 1 - Her damage is incredibly strong. She just snow balls too hard and when that happens in competitive play, when one side gets the edge, having Vayne and having that edge is just too much it seems. Vayne as I said before is the type of champion when you're a head, she does A LOT more damage to champions in lower level / farm. She just scales so incredibly well that if you get that slight advantage she will completely take advantage of it.

Annie moved back up to tier 1 - Them buffs = zomg. Her early game awesome, mid game awesome, late game awesome. Annie is just all around awesome! Back to tier 1 she goes!

Anivia moved back up to tier 1 - I feel I shouldn't of dropped her out of tier 1 in the first place. I think I moved her down because I didn't see enough of her in the last couple of months and my team CLG even stopped picking her for a while. I think the NA qualifiers for Dream Hack made us realize she is really good still.

Nidalee moved up to tier 1 - Holy banned every game in tournament play batman. It just goes to show you how strong pushing, poking, and heal/supporting can be to a team. With the addition of AD carry bottom you can have 2x AP carries(Nid as one), support + AD bot and tank Jungler and have an incredibly strong team. Nidalee will take your towers, throw up massive heals on allies, and burst down low targets. She's an amazing pusher/support with added burst and poke. She just synergies with competitive team comps so well with the EU style of play.

Soraka moved down in tier 1 - I feel she should be a bit lower is all.

Ashe moved down in tier 1 - I feel Corki's a little bit stronger than her currently so I moved her behind him. He's like Nidalee in AD carry form. Lots of survivability, push's and pokes well and has strong burst.

Rumble moved up to tier 3 - Now his laning is pretty good but the real reason I am moving him up is from an EU influence (they love Rumble over there) and the fact his ulti can do some STUPID DPS when it lands right. I underrated him a bit so I am moving him up a bit.

Lee Sin moved up to tier 2 - So he got a few small changes since I originally put him in hard to place. Those small changes stack up and sometimes it takes me a while to change champions on my list (There's a lot so excuse me if I miss a couple sometimes :p). He's a good jungler, good solo laner, and not a bad duo laner. He's a overall pretty good tanky DPS champion.

Xin Zhao moved up to tier 2 - This boy is becoming a favourite of the jungle. He's also quite good in the jungle as he clears it well and his ganks are very strong. Knock up + Slow + Red buff + the DPS he delivers = awesome ganks. His powerful ganks and strong team fighting abilities are what makes him good. For that I am moving him up.

Miss Fortune moved up in tier 2 - Duo lane bot + support is a crazy combo with her. She's already a strong laner but with the addition of a support she can dish out some crazy dps. Taric + MF lane is very strong. As a secondary AD she does a great job and for that I am moving her up.

Renekton moved down to tier 3 - He's good. He's a strong laner, but he's not that strong of a competitive pick. The other tanky DPS just add more it seems.

Shen moved down to tier 2 - Shen has been tier 1 forever and he's finally moving down. Now that support + AD is the most common bottom lane his place has been sorta moved. He's not a bad solo lane but there are stronger solo's over him. Also tanks in general aren't being picked as much so because of that Shen's moving on down.

Vladimir moved up to tier 1 - He's like a caster Vayne. When he gets ahead his damage and survivability is just so nuts. That really sums it up. He snowballs and scales very well so when you get that small bit ahead in competitive play the other team really pays for it. He's also an insanely hard champion to kill in lane and once he hits level 8-9 he's almost impossible to kill 1v1.

Irelia moved down to tier 2 - I feel those mini nerfs did hit her a bit and because of that I am moving her down to tier 2. She's still a powerful champion, just dropping her down a bit.

Taric moved up in tier 2 - I feel I put him a little too far down moving up up a bit as he's better than that!

NEW CHAMPION TIME!

Orianna has been placed in tier 2 - I feel her lane control is great, her burst is strong, and her utility is high. She's very versatile champion. She can zone very hard with her "ball" which just adds to her overall ability to be useful to the team. I feel her early/mid game she's played as an AP carry and late game she kinda moves into being a burst/support champion. I think she's great, she's fun, and she's unique. Riot really needs to make more champions like her.