2013 Champion Tier List - Ranked 3s Twisted Treeline - Patch 3.15 Update

SEASON 4 - PATCH 3.15 RANKED THREES TIER LIST
PRESEASON UPDATE

Introduction
While I'm by no means a guru on the Twisted Treeline I do enjoy playing the game mode quite a bit and hope that they'll move the solo queue 3v3 over from the PBE servers to the live servers some day.

That being said, take this tier list with a grain of salt and feel free to engage in open debate in the comment section with your own thoughts and comments. As the game mode isn't all that popular right now, hopefully this list will help spur some of you to try it out!

Current Metagame
Right now there are two main methods of playing Twisted Treeline:

1. Duo top with a support like Leona or Annie
2. Two solo lanes with a jungler

For the most part it seems like the NA region prefers the jungler meta, whereas the EU region prefers the support meta. I can't say for sure which one is better, but personally I think the support meta gives a much safer early game, which allows you to potentially snowball off of.

Based off of this, I'm splitting this tier list into "roles" similar to the solo queue 5s list. However, as there are only 3 positions open, I won't be including every champion into this list. If you feel that I've missed out on a strong champion, please let me know and I'll include it in the next update.

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The Tier List

God Tier [Very Strong]: 
AP Bot Gods: Morgana, Syndra, Cassiopeia, Ziggs, Kayle, Karma
Jungle Gods: Shyvana, Udyr, Lee Sin
AD Top Gods: Renekton, Udyr, Riven, Lee Sin
Support Gods: Annie, Leona

Tier 1 [Strong]:
AP: Viktor, Lissandra, Gragas, Sion, Lulu, Annie, Brand
Jungle: Jarvan IV, Aatrox, Kha'Zix, Evelynn, Xin Zhao, Trundle, Riven, Vi
AD Melee: Aatrox, Darius, Shyvana, Jax, Wukong, Jarvan IV, Kha'Zix, Xin Zhao, Trundle, Cho'Gath, Volibear, Garen
Support: Thresh, Volibear

Tier 2 [Viable]:
AP: Diana, Singed, Orianna, Zyra, Elise, Rumble, Teemo, Xerath, Mordekaiser, Ahri, Kassadin, Fizz, Lux, Katarina
Jungle: Dr. Mundo, Olaf, Nunu, Nocturne, Amumu, Sejuani, Elise, Maokai, Zac, Nasus, Cho'Gath, Shaco
AD Melee: Olaf, Yorick, Dr. Mundo, Fiora, Pantheon, Tryndamere, Jayce, Yasuo, Gangplank, Nasus, Rengar
Support: Lulu, Morgana, Nunu, Malphite, Karma, Taric
AD Ranged: Quinn, Jinx, Vayne, Ezreal

Tier 3 [Not Played Often]: Everybody else. Not to say that you can't win with other champions, but for the most part the ones above will give you plenty to work with. Feel free to try out other strategies and post your experiences in the comment section below!

AD/AP Positioning
Due to the way the map is arranged, bot lane is generally considered the "safer" lane, so the solo laner almost always goes here. However, as this game mode is somewhat uncommon, you may see teams send two champions to bot lane. As a result, it's generally best to send an AP bot with long range waveclear, as these champions can deal with both 1v1 and 1v2 lanes.

This means that for the most part, the AD based champion will go top. However, swapping these around isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's a good idea to make sure that you have a mix of damage types so that the enemy team can't easily itemize against you.

Champion Explanations

• Annie - Annie's base stats are off the charts, making her an idea support. Her AOE stun is also extremely valuable in the tight corridors of the twisted treeline. However, her waveclear isn't all that great since it stops her from holding a stun ready to play, so as the primary AP she's not as strong.
• Evelynn - Although there were no wards to begin with in 3s, Evelynn remains a fairly strong pick in 3s as the tight spaces and gank heavy playstyle lets her play to her strengths. However, the field tends to be dominated by high HP tanky champions at the moment, and most notably Lee Sin which puts a damper on her performance. If you plan on playing her, I recommend banning the monk.
• Gragas - Gragas is extremely strong against team compositions that rely on attack speed, such as Xin Zhao and Aatrox. His mobility and displacement potential are also amazing. The only thing holding him back are his ability to farm safely and his synergy with other teammates.
• Morgana - Morgana is insanely easy to play in 3s. Her waveclear doesn't even need her to be there, and her CC and black shield are absolutely game-breaking. Her drawback is that if she misses her binding she has low utility, so...don't miss.
• Riven - Riven's definitely a very popular pick right now, and I think that she's much stronger top lane than in jungle. However, as she scales hard off levels, I suggest running her only with a jungler composition rather than a kill lane. She does enough killing by herself.
• Udyr - Tiger Udyr's damage potential at early levels is absolutely off the charts, and his dueling ability is amazing as well. His late game tankiness also allows him to dive and clear towers with ease.
• Yasuo - Although Yasuo is an extremely popular pick in 3s right now, I think he's just average at the moment. While the tight corridors allows him to hit his knock-up on more enemies, it's difficult to say exactly where he fits best in a team composition. Personally I think he works well as a solo lane with a Jarvan jungle, but he's also vulnerable to 2 man support kill lanes.

Disclaimer:

• The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for hero selection.

Shyvana splash art by VegaColors

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!