Solo Queue FOTM Tier List - July - Patch 5.12

Hi everyone and welcome back to the latest in the FOTM series. In this patch, Runglaive Ezreal makes his short-lived debut (slated to be eliminated next patch). Meanwhile, some familiar faces are taking over the top of the list, including Jungle Gragas and Support Alistar.

SEASON 5 - July - PATCH 5.12 FOTM TIER LIST

"THE POPULAR KIDS"

Preface Chatter

Hi everyone and welcome back to the latest in the FOTM series. In this patch, Runglaive Ezreal makes his short-lived debut (slated to be eliminated next patch). Meanwhile, some familiar faces are taking over the top of the list, including Jungle Gragas and Support Alistar.

Check out the full listing below! 

The purpose of the "Flavor of the Month" ("FOTM") list is to show which champions are popular in today's metagame, so you can learn how to beat them!

If you're looking for the division climber solo queue tier list, be sure to check it out via this link!

For a list of champions with the highest *potential* in the game without regard to difficulty or team synergies, check out the list of strongest potential champions in each position!

Patch 5.12 Summary

Buffs: Braum, Elise, Jarvan IV, Jax, Lux, Trundle, Tryndamere;
Nerfs: Ashe, Ekko, Gragas, Ryze;
Tweaks: Galio, Malphite;

Toolkit and Options

Click to toggle champion movement history

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Updates:

• Added AP Ezreal (with smite) explanation page
• Added Cassiopeia Top
• 7/7: Soraka Support moved up
• Vel'Koz support moved up
• Added Brand and Xerath support
• 7/13: Strongest champion list updated

The Tier List

God Tier [Pee Your Pants - BAN]:
Mid-Lane Gods: Ekko, Ahri, Azir, Katarina
Jungle Gods: Gragas, Sejuani, Vi, Rek'Sai, Hecarim
AD Gods: Kalista, Vayne, Jinx, Caitlyn
Top Lane Gods: Ryze, Vladimir, Ekko, Hecarim, Irelia, Cho'gath,
Support Gods: Thresh, Alistar, Annie, Janna

God Tier Rising: Ahri (Mid), Alistar (Support), Annie (Support), Azir (Mid), Caitlyn (ADC), Ekko (Top), Kalista (ADC),
God Tier Falling: 

Tier 1 [Expected Powerhouses]:
Mid-Lane: Leblanc, Ezreal (AP), Yasuo, Annie, Vladimir, Zed, Cho'Gath, Viktor, Lux, Orianna, Diana, Ziggs, Fizz, Twisted Fate, Xerath
Jungle: Rengar, Nidalee, Evelynn, Amumu, Lee Sin, Kha'Zix, Fizz, Jarvan IV, Maokai, Zac, Shyvana, Nunu, Volibear, Pantheon, Shaco
AD Carry: Graves, Lucian, Sivir, Ashe, Corki
Top Lane: Gnar, Riven, Renekton, Nasus, Sion, Maokai, Rengar, Fizz, Jax, Malphite, Kennen, Darius, Pantheon, Tryndamere, Lee Sin, Jarvan IV, Akali, 
Support: Morgana, Nautilus, Blitzcrank, Leona, Bard

Tier 1 Rising: Evelynn (Jungle), Fizz (Jungle), Jax (Top), Lucian (ADC), Lux (Mid), Rengar (Top), Shyvana (Jungle), Viktor (Mid), Xerath (Mid), Yasuo (Mid)
Tier 1 Falling: Ashe (ADC), Cho'Gath (Mid), Leblanc (Mid), Nunu (Jungle), Riven (Top), Zed (Mid)

Tier 2 [Crowd Favorites]:
Mid-Lane: Malzahar, Cassiopeia, Lulu (AP), Talon, Morgana, Kog'maw (AP), Nidalee (AP), Anivia, Jayce
Jungle: Nautilus, Master Yi, Xin Zhao, Ekko, Warwick, Wukong, Sion, Elise, Nocturne, Udyr
AD Carry: Tristana, Ezreal, Draven, Quinn, Twitch,
Top Lane: Fiora, Jayce, Rumble, Shyvana, Cassiopeia, Yasuo, Wukong, Shen, Nidalee, Lissandra, Volibear, Trundle, Lulu, Gragas, Olaf, Swain, Urgot, Garen, Dr. Mundo
Support: Braum, Sona, Nami, Lulu, Soraka, Karma

Tier 2 Rising: Ekko (Jungle), Master Yi (Jungle), Soraka (Support)
Tier 2 Falling: Fiora (Top), Jayce (Top), Rumble (Top), Xin Zhao (Jungle)

Tier 3 [Playable]:
Mid-Lane: Lissandra, Syndra, Urgot, Varus, Pantheon, Kayle, Zilean, Mordekaiser, Swain, Brand, Vel'Koz, Ryze, Akali, Galio, Kassadin, Zyra, Karma, Veigar, Heimerdinger, Karthus, Gragas, Kha'Zix, Kennen
Jungle: Malphite, Rammus, Fiddlesticks, Skarner, Olaf, Trundle, Kayle, Jax, Dr. Mundo, Nasus, Diana, Tryndamere, Aatrox, Cho'Gath, Shen, Darius
AD Carry: Kog'Maw, Miss Fortune, Varus, Urgot
Top Lane: Xin Zhao, Singed, Rek'Sai, Kayle, Zed, Kassadin, Teemo, Yorick, Warwick, Quinn, Aatrox, Elise, Udyr, Kha'Zix, Karma, Poppy, Vi, Master Yi, Viktor, Gangplank, Zac, Mordekaiser, Heimerdinger, Talon, Azir
Support: Brand, Zyra, Vel'Koz, Kennen, Taric, Xerath, Fiddlesticks, Zilean, Nunu, Gragas

Tier 3 Rising: Vel'Koz (Support)
Tier 3 Falling: Fiddlesticks (Jungle), Kayle (Top), Warwick (Top), Xin Zhao (Top), Zed (Top)

Tier 4 [Not Amused]:
Mid-Lane: Gangplank, Wukong, Malphite, Teemo, Riven, Fiora, Tristana (AP), Elise, Fiddlesticks, Sona, Soraka, Janna
Jungle: Leona, Zed, Yasuo, Fiora, Riven, Poppy, Gangplank, Malzahar, Blitzcrank, Alistar
AD Carry: Twisted Fate, Kennen
Top Lane: Alistar, Vayne, Galio, Nunu, Soraka
Support: Teemo, Volibear, Lux, Kayle, Maokai, Anivia, Veigar, Gangplank, Malphite, Nidalee, Orianna, Poppy, Galio, Shen, Yorick, Elise, Lissandra, Ashe, Leblanc, Caitlyn

Tier 4 Rising: Gangplank (Mid)
Tier 4 Falling: Elise (Mid), Tristana (Mid)

Instructions and Caveats:

• This tier list details which champions are most popular in today's current metagame, for better or for worse. Selecting a high popularity champion and doing mediocre is always favorable to selecting a low tier champion and doing mediocre for team morale.

Click Here for a description of the tiers

God Tier: These champions are common bans and are likely perceived as being "overall extremely strong/broken". They have very obvious and/or flashy skills that make them appear stronger than other champions. You'll likely see these champions picked early on if they're not banned.

Tier 1: These champions are the ones you'll see in the majority of your games and are good to familiarize yourself with as you'l be battling against them a lot.

Tier 2: These champions are relatively strong and have historically been picked more often than other champions. They may have been nerfed at one point at another, but are still perceived as strong in their current states.

Tier 3: These champions aren't quite as popular as the rest of the champions in the first 3 tiers, but picking them one at a time isn't going to cause much of a concern on your team. However, if you have a team of 5 of them your teammates are likely to feel a bit uneasy about your chances of winning in solo queue.

Tier 4: Selecting these champions will likely cause a rift between you and your teammates, who will proceed to flame you if you fail your lane. Exercise caution when selecting these champions, as team morale often plays a big part in victory or defeat.

Champion Explanations

• Alistar [Support God] - As a hotly contested pick with a massive "w0w" factor on the professional scene with his ability to constantly make massive plays, Alistar has recemented himself in the top echelon of supports. 
• Annie [Support God] - Similar to Alistar, Annie has the ability to make huge plays on a short cooldown in the form of heavy near-instantaneous AOE CC. However, where Alistar provides more defensive options in the way of a heal, Annie makes up with using sheer damage.
• Caitlyn [ADC God] - Ever since her buffs the previous patch, Caitlyn's back on track as a top AD carry. Her abusive early range is highly appealing to many and her ability to scale into the late game is definitely higher with the changes. 
• Ezreal (AP) [Tier 1 Mid] - Probably not a surprise to most, the changes to Ezreal's ability to deal magic damage with his Q (courtesy of Runeglaive) shot him up in the rankings as an extremely fast paced, ranged burst mage.
• Fiddlesticks [Tier 3 Jungle] - As a relatively unpopular champion as of late, Fiddlesticks seems to be further dropping in the rankings after the switch from Magus to Runeglaive, which hurts him and helps many other AP junglers.
• Gragas [God Tier Jungle] - With nerfs on Sejuani, Gragas seems to be the permanent staple on the top tier jungle gods on the scene at the moment. With his utility and plenty of free stats, he's definitely a crowd favorite.
• Leblanc [Tier 1 Mid] - Although heavily nerfed, Leblanc remains a terror mid lane. She has a much smaller margin of error but definitely still has the capability to burst down champions much faster than they'd like.
• Lucian [Tier 1 ADC] - With nerfs on Ashe and a resurgence of more Vaynes, Lucian's coming back onto the scene as one of the few with enough burst damage to trade with Vayne head to head. As two short range AD carries, they match up very well when it comes to feeling even while CSing.
• Master Yi [Tier 2 Jungle] - With the prevalence of early level 2 counter-junglers annoyingly pervasive, Master Yi is one of those junglers who can clear so fast that he's already finished with his second buff and gone by the time the enemy jungler can get to the other side of the map.
• Ryze [Top Lane God] - Ryze continues his domination at the top of the list of most banned champions at the moment, although he has to share some heavy space with Ekko. Not to worry, plenty of bans to go around.
• Sejuani [God Tier Jungle] - Despite nerfs on Sejuani, she's still largely banned as a champion who's just annoying to play against. Gragas is a clear winner ahead of her at the moment, but she's still on the radar.

Disclaimer:

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

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!