Solo Queue FOTM Tier List - August - Patch 5.16

Hi everyone and welcome back to the latest in the FOTM series. This week features a TON of new item changes and hence, champion changes. Most notably are giant surges in Garen and Darius' popularity, along with the expected Skarner "God beyond God" position at the moment. Mordekaiser is still struggling to find his place, but seems to be ubiquitously known as "OP".

SEASON 5 - August - PATCH 5.16 FOTM TIER LIST

"THE POPULAR KIDS"

Preface Chatter

Hi everyone and welcome back to the latest in the FOTM series. This week features a TON of new item changes and hence, champion changes. Most notably are giant surges in Garen and Darius' popularity, along with the expected Skarner "God beyond God" position at the moment. Mordekaiser is still struggling to find his place, but seems to be ubiquitously known as "OP".

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 5.16 Summary

Buffs: Azir, Kassadin, Lee Sin, Leblanc, Lissandra, Lucian, Nasus, Nami, Rammus, Tahm Kench, Teemo, Twitch, Vel'Koz, Volibear, Zac, Zed;
Nerfs: Elise, Kayle, Rumble, Viktor;
Tweaks: Ahri;
Reworks: Darius, Garen, Mordekaiser, Skarner.

Toolkit and Options

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Updates:

• Added Mordekaiser as an "ADC"
• Added Diana Top
• 8/23: Strongest Champions list updated

The Tier List

God Tier [Pee Your Pants - BAN]:
Mid-Lane Gods: Ahri, Viktor, Fizz, Yasuo, Zed,  Diana
Jungle Gods: Skarner, Shyvana, Elise, Lee Sin
AD Gods: Vayne, Jinx
Top Lane Gods: Riven, Darius, Garen, Irelia, Cho'gath
Support Gods: Thresh, Janna

God Tier Rising: Ahri (Mid), Darius (Top), Garen (Top), Riven (Top), Yasuo (Mid), Skarner (Jungle), Zed (Mid)
God Tier Falling: 

Tier 1 [Expected Powerhouses]:
Mid-Lane: Azir, Annie, Orianna, Katarina, Lux, Twisted Fate, Lissandra, Ekko, Cho'Gath, Leblanc, Vladimir, Malzahar, Mordekaiser, Brand
Jungle: Rengar, Xin Zhao, Vi, Master Yi, Fizz, Ekko, Kayle, Nidalee, Udyr, Hecarim, Warwick, Gragas, Evelynn, Diana, Amumu, Kha'Zix
AD Carry: Lucian, Tristana, Caitlyn, Kalista, Graves, Sivir, Ezreal, Mordekaiser
Top Lane: Fiora, Gnar, Renekton, Vladimir, Shen, Fizz, Gangplank, Nasus, Maokai, Malphite, Ekko, Rengar, Jax, Kennen, Pantheon, Wukong, Tryndamere
Support: Blitzcrank, Morgana, Leona, Nautilus, Braum, Alistar, Tahm Kench, Soraka, Nami, Annie

Tier 1 Rising: Azir (Mid), Ekko (Jungle), Ezreal (ADC), Fiora (Top), Fizz (Jungle), Lissandra (Mid), Lucian (ADC), Mordekaiser (Mid), Nami (Support), Renekton (Top),
Tier 1 Falling: Alistar (Support), Annie (Mid), Gragas (Jungle), Kalista (ADC), Kayle (Jungle), Master  Yi (Jungle), Nidalee (Jungle), Twisted Fate

Tier 2 [Crowd Favorites]:
Mid-Lane: Morgana, Talon, Kassadin, Anivia, Xerath, Varus, Syndra, Ziggs, Ezreal (AP), Swain, Kog'maw (AP), Jayce, Cassiopeia
Jungle: Jarvan IV, Rek'Sai, Sejuani, Jax, Wukong, Nautilus, Rammus, Shaco, Pantheon, Maokai, Zac, Nunu, Volibear, Nocturne, Aatrox
AD Carry: Corki, Ashe, Twitch, Miss Fortune, Varus, Draven
Top Lane: Rumble, Diana, Hecarim, Jarvan IV, Jayce, Sion, Ryze, Cassiopeia, Yasuo, Nidalee, Lissandra, Volibear, Trundle, Lulu, Aatrox, Gragas, Olaf, Tahm Kench, Urgot, Dr. Mundo
Support: Lulu, Bard, Sona, Shen, Karma, Zyra, Trundle, Taric, Brand

Tier 2 Rising: Ashe (ADC), Kassadin (Mid), Rammus (Jungle), Tahm Kench (Top), Trundle (Support), Twitch (ADC), Varus (ADC)
Tier 2 Falling: Corki (ADC), Rek'Sai (Jungle), Rumble (Top), Shen (Support), Talon (Mid), Xerath (Mid)

Tier 3 [Playable]:
Mid-Lane: Nidalee (AP), Pantheon, Kayle, Zilean, Vel'Koz, Ryze, Akali, Galio, Lulu (AP), Urgot, Zyra, Karma, Veigar, Heimerdinger, Karthus, Gragas, Kennen
Jungle: Malphite, Fiddlesticks, Sion, Olaf, Trundle, Dr. Mundo, Nasus, Tryndamere, Cho'Gath, Shen, Darius
AD Carry: Kog'Maw, Quinn, Urgot
Top Lane: Xin Zhao, Singed, Lee Sin, Nautilus, Rek'Sai, Kayle, Akali, Zed, Shyvana, Kassadin, Teemo, Swain, Yorick, Warwick, Quinn, Elise, Udyr, Kha'Zix, Karma, Poppy, Vi, Master Yi, Viktor, Zac, Mordekaiser, Heimerdinger, Talon, Azir
Support: Vel'Koz, Kennen, Xerath, Fiddlesticks, Zilean, Nunu, Gragas

Tier 3 Rising:
Tier 3 Falling: Swain (Top)

Tier 4 [Not Amused]:
Mid-Lane: Kha'Zix, Gangplank, Wukong, Malphite, Teemo, Riven, Tristana (AP), Elise, Fiddlesticks, Sona, Soraka, Janna
Jungle: Leona, Zed, 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, Yorick, Elise, Lissandra, Ashe, Leblanc, Caitlyn

Tier 4 Rising:
Tier 4 Falling: 

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

• Azir [Tier 1 Mid] - Can't keep a good emperor down! After initial nerfs to the champion last patch, Riot gave him back some loving, and he's definitely still very viable on the rift at the moment. With his awesome mobility and harassing skills, Azir is definitely still one of the favored children of the rift.
• Darius [God Tier Top] - With his latest rework combined with a completely new build in the way of dead man's plate, titanic hydra, and sterak's gage, Darius is definitely more popular than ever before. Players aren't really succeeding with the new builds, but that doesn't stop them from trying or in the worst case scenario, banning it out almost every game.
• Fiora [Tier 1 Top] - After the newest changes to Fiora, she was still a bit lacking in the sheer power department. However, after the hotfix went out during patch 5.15 that improved her lunge and riposte slightly, she's definitely in the realm of viable, borderline OP now. There's nothing like getting Malzahar ult Riposted to make players hate playing against her new kit.
• Gangplank [Tier 1 Top] - Played often in the professional scene, Gangplank players are an absolute terror late game when their barrels start critting for 1000 damage AOE. His ability to take down squishies is very satisfying to pull off, and he's definitely very powerful at the moment.
• Garen [God Tier Top] - Similar to Darius, Garen's seeing a lot of play time with dead man's plate and sterak's gage on the rift. Unlike Darius however, his kit is still the same as always plus a few item changes. This seems to be translating into wins at the moment, and he's definitely very contested on the rift.
• Kassadin [Tier 2 Mid] - After some long awaited Kassadin buffs this patch, his damage scales slightly higher, and he's slightly more popular nowadays. He's clearly still a very late game champion, but always did well in that point in time.
• Lissandra [Tier 1 Mid] - With the healing Lissandra gives herself from ulting. she now has a slightly larger window to allow allies to follow up on her initiation.
• Lucian [Tier 1 ADC] - Similar to Kassadin, some much needed Lucian buffs are giving him new life on the rift. 
• Mordekaiser [Tier 1 ADC] - WHOA is that an AD carry Mordekaiser? Players have accepted the fact that Mordekaiser's new kit seems kinda broken, but are hesitant to play him at the moment. The easiest course of action seems to be to just ban him so he's never played, and seems to be the direction of choice most players are going. OP? Yes. How? Idk.
• Mordekaiser [Tier 1 Mid] - A classically mid lane champion, most people are still trying to take him mid rather than completely break the meta during ranked games by sending him duo lane bot. 
• Shen [Tier 2 Support] - After initial LCS hype around Shen support started dying down, solo queue players have relegated him back to a lower, but still viable positioning.
• Skarner [God Tier Jungle] - The new Skarner jungle is absolutely phenomenally insanely good. The utility and dominance Skarner provides via his passive is insane and makes for an insane mini-game of capturing and controlling the spires. Unfortunately, most people have no idea that they should be playing this game, so Skarner always wins that one, and incidentally, the regular game as well.
• Zed [God Tier Mid] - The reduction in the death mark activation gives Zed a higher margin of error if he accidentally ults in and realizes there are bad things waiting for him. While it's a fairly situational type of buff, it does definitely help him be much more viable. By reducing his chances of late game death via stupid ultimate, he's much more viable than before.

Disclaimer:

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

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!