Legends Of Runeterra Champion Tier List

 Exceptional

Champions who appear in Tier 1 can typically control the flow of battle on their own with independently powerful Abilities

• Karma is the premiere Spellcaster of Legends of Runeterra, generating Spells at the end of every Turn and doubling Spells cast when she becomes Enlightened.
• While a 4/3 body is not terrible per se, Karma works best when she can stall to Enlightened and then dominate the end game.

• Showing early emergence to the top of the Meta, Elise and her Spiders flooded the early months of Legends of Runeterra with cheap chump blocks and great use of Fearsome.
• The Shadow Isle Region is kind to Elise, giving her access to some of the most useful tech in the Game to quickly multiply, protect, and power up her legion of Spiders.

• Efficient Spell Damage and mid to late game burn mechanics keep Ezreal’s Damage output quite high and the direct Damage rolling out to opposing Fearsome, Elusive, and other hard to kill opponents.
• Carrying Elusive, Ezreal only needs to Strike the Enemy Nexus to have constant access to Mystic Shots, Ezreal’s signature and preferred weapon.

• Zed’s low cost, easy Level Up condition, and powerful Ability earns Zed a high spot on this list as his efficiency in battle is nearly unmatched.
• Surrounded by his preferred cast of Elusive Followers from Ionia, Zed directs efficient and deadly strikes to the Enemy Nexus.

• A simply powerful Champion, Garen is a resilient leader who can spend his effort dominating the battlefield instead of surviving it.
• Regeneration is a tough mountain for the opponent to surmount, especially when paired with Demacia's solid midrange presence, but Garen's true power comes from his Rally Ability, which can close out games and force mortally critical situations.

• Able to work independently, Fiora is the only Champion who comes with an additional win condition.
• Hailing from Demacia, Fiora has access to the best midrange package available as well as Barrier and battlefield control Spells to get the most out of her powerful Ability.

• Is it better to board Allies or blast powerful Spells? Heimerdinger says “Yes!” His Ability, which generates Followers when casting Spells, circumvents a classic downfall of Spell heavy Decks.
• Heimerdinger generates an Elusive Turret when he casts a Spell that costs 3 Mana, which makes Heimerdinger quite comfortable in midrange Decks.

Standard

Tier 2 Champions are effective leaders who can net a positive win ratio with moderately skillful play on a consistent basis. They may have only one or two obvious flaws

• Double Attack and a Level Up condition that triggers on the death of Allies allows Lucian to operate quite well in nearly any Region. 
• Rally can be a death sentence to most opponents when the board is in Lucian’s favor, which can be done quite easily in Lucian’s home Region of Demacia.

• Draven forms one half of the quirky and powerful Draven/Jinx Aggro Deck. Draven can quickly rush down his own hand to the advantage of Jinx, who generates direct damaging Spells with an empty hand.
• Draven’s Spinning Axes can be a hassle to deal with, as any of Draven’s Followers can quickly have +1/+0, or stacks of them.

• Barrier is an incredibly powerful Ability, turning trades into board advantage when properly utilized. 
• Lux encourages Spellcasting in Demacia, which has a focus on battlefield control such as granting Challenger, forcing matches, and of course Barrier, but Lux brings direct Spell Damage to the field; a welcome and complementary effect to Demacia’s Spell suite.

• Simply put, Challenger on a big body is a directly powerful presence on the field.
• As with others from Shadow Isle, Thresh has access to the best of Shadow Isle’s cheap and powerful Cards, but remains firmly rooted in his home Region as Thresh Decks not predominantly featuring Shadow Isle are rare.

• Hecarim midrange was at one point the dominating force in the Meta, and for good reason; Hecarim’s board wide attacks ensure diverse and relentless Damage. 
• Shadow Isle’s play with Ephemeral allows Hecarim to cheat extra Followers on the board and turn his fading Allies into battlefield advantages. Hecarim Decks tend to be very heavily tied to the Shadow Isles Region though, allowing only enough room to splash another Region.

• A brutal, hands-on finisher, Darius compliments his Noxus Allies, who rush down the Enemy Nexus from Turn 1, by dropping a powerful 10/5 body with Overwhelm onto the field when the Enemy Nexus is at 10 or less Health. A successful Darius Deck starts and finishes fights quickly.
• Darius’s Decimate is one of the more useful Champion Spells available, as it can close out a Game in a pinch.

• Shen is an odd kind of Champion in that instead of being a strong Damage dealer himself, he is purely a supporter to strong finishers such as Fiora.
• Barrier is a powerful Ability, and when properly utilized can secure a victory, but Shen must be careful as he draws a lot of attention from the opposition when he uses his Ability.

• Frostbite is a powerful Effect that can force uneven trades in battle, and Ashe is the most comfortable user of Frostbite spells, as she generates a rarely seen board wide Frostbite.
• Ashe’s Attack Ability limits the opponent’s board presence by their most powerful Follower, which helps Ashe establish a foothold in matchups.

Mediocre

The obvious flaws of these Champions outweigh the benefits that they may bring to a Deck, or they may be outclassed by another Champion who fills a similar role to greater effectiveness

• A Level Up condition that also grants an undying ability on a massive 9/9 body is nothing to ignore, especially when Championing for the mighty Warmother Deck.
• Outside of very specific builds, Tryndamere comes out too slow to be as reliable as other Champions.

• Draven/Jinx Aggro is a fun and powerful off-meta Deck that has a unique playstyle. It’s all-or-nothing strategy trades consistency for explosive plays.
• Unless Jinx receives further direct support, she will always feel like the weaker, albeit more flavorful, version of Ezreal.

• Anivia’s undying Ability makes it a choice target for The Rekindler, and a perfect partner to Tryndamere in the dreaded Warmother Deck.
• Board wide Damage is nothing to ignore, especially on a Champion that refuses to die, but Anivia suffers from a late entry to the field on a weaker body, which can make it hard to effectively board Anivia during crucial moments and, in turn, makes Anivia's burn effects less efficient than Ezreal or Vladimir's.

• Teemo sometimes appears supporting other Champions because of his quick Damage potential and Elusive Ability.
• Teemo himself is particularly easy to stop with a wide range of Spells, and relies too heavily on Poison Puffcaps; which is a mediocre package on it’s own, although he and his Puffcaps are a welcome addition to a wide range of Decks.

• The Crimson Champion can deal a lot of varied Damage, assuring consistent Damage on every turn. His Crimson Followers bring a unique synergy to the Noxus Region by offering a little Damage mitigation to the fiercely aggressive Region.
• A wide board is required to get the most out of this Champion, which requires near dominance of the board in the first place, so Vladimir’s deadly Ability can sometimes feel underwhelming when needed and needlessly powerful when not.

• Kalista’s recent update has proven to be a positive change, and her true impact on the Meta has yet to be seen as fringe Kalista Decks appear supported by Freljord, Demacia, and Ionia Regions.
• Somewhere between Zed and Hecarim lies Kalista, who is effective on her own, but can sometimes feel like an economy version of either of the former.

• Once Yasuo is safely on the board, no Follower is out of reach, which can lead to checkmate situations.
• Yasuo is prone to disruption as he requires a little bit of setup to be his most effective.

• Regeneration and Challenger on a 0/5 body allows Braum to operate as field control through negative pressure -- that or Buff Braum builds can easily flip Braum's role into the Offensive position -- and then later generates 3/3 Followers when he survives Damage, which in certain builds can be abused to quickly fill the board with medium powered Overwhelm Followers.
• If Poros were a stronger package, then Braum might find himself higher on this list. As of right now, anything Braum can do, Thresh is likely to be able to do better.

• It’s hard to justify a Katarina led Deck, especially when compared to other Noxus Champions. Although Katarina can be a nuisance on the board, she mostly feels like another Follower.
• Katarina is a welcome addition to Rally Decks, and can work as second in command to Lucian in such Decks.