Solo Queue FOTM Tier List - August - Patch 5.17

Hi everyone and welcome back to the latest in the FOTM series. This week's list is still dominated by the juggernaut squad, and features some strong showing from Tahm Kench. Otherwise, a lot of the popular picks are right were you'd expect them to be from the last few patches.

SEASON 5 - September - PATCH 5.17 FOTM TIER LIST

"THE POPULAR KIDS"

Preface Chatter

Hi everyone and welcome back to the latest in the FOTM series. This week's list is still dominated by the juggernaut squad, and features some strong showing from Tahm Kench. Otherwise, a lot of the popular picks are right were you'd expect them to be from the last few patches.

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 5.17 Summary

Buffs: Bard, Darius, Draven, Jax, Karma, Lux, Nocturne, Pantheon, Tahm Kench, Vi;
Nerfs: Azir, Gangplank, Garen, Gragas, Janna, Kalista, Maokai, Rek'Sai, Shen, Skarner;
Tweaks: Fizz.

Toolkit and Options

Click to toggle champion movement history

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Updates:

• Added:
• Tahm Kench jungle
• Evelynn mid
• Braum top
• Leona mid
• Jarvan mid

The Tier List

God Tier [Pee Your Pants - BAN]:
Mid-Lane Gods: Yasuo, Fizz, Ahri, Diana, Viktor,
Jungle Gods: Skarner, Shyvana, Elise, Lee Sin
AD Gods: Vayne, Mordekaiser, Tristana, Jinx
Top Lane Gods: Garen, Gangplank, Darius, Fiora
Support Gods: Thresh, Blitzcrank

God Tier Rising: Blitzcrank (Support), Fiora (Top), Fizz (Mid), Gangplank (Top), Garen (Top), Mordekaiser (ADC), Tristana (ADC), Yasuo (Mid),
God Tier Falling: Viktor (Mid), 

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

Tier 1 Rising: Annie (Support), Braum (Support), Leblanc (Mid), Lissandra (Top), Lulu (Support), Tahm Kench (Support), Talon (Mid)
Tier 1 Falling: Cho'Gath (Top), Irelia (Top), Janna (Support), Rengar (Jungle), Riven (Top), Zed (Mid)

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

Tier 2 Rising:
Tier 2 Falling: Kayle (Jungle), Rumble (Top)

Tier 3 [Playable]:
Mid-Lane: Nidalee (AP), Pantheon, Kayle, Vel'Koz, Akali, Galio, Lulu (AP), Zyra, Karma, Veigar, Heimerdinger, Karthus, Gragas, Kennen, Mordekaiser, Urgot, Ryze, Zilean
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, Urgot, Ryze
Support: Vel'Koz, Kennen, Trundle, Xerath, Fiddlesticks, Zilean, Nunu, Gragas

Tier 3 Rising:
Tier 3 Falling: Mordekaiser (Mid), Ryze (Top/Mid), Trundle (Support), Urgot (Top/Mid), Zilean (Mid)

Tier 4 [Not Amused]:
Mid-Lane: Jarvan IV, Kha'Zix, Gangplank, Wukong, Malphite, Teemo, Riven, Tristana (AP), Elise, Fiddlesticks, Sona, Evelynn, Leona, Soraka, Janna
Jungle: Leona, Zed, Fiora, Riven, Poppy, Gangplank, Malzahar, Blitzcrank, Alistar
AD Carry: Twisted Fate, Kennen
Top Lane: Vayne, Galio, Braum, Alistar, 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: Alistar (Top)

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

• Gangplank [God Tier Top] - With his latest explosion in play in the professional scene, Gangplank has risen quickly to the top of the top lane ladder. While he's by no means a "must-ban", he's definitely at a ban-worthy state. His AOE barrel crits can be extremely game-breaking if he gets ahead, and is definitely the bane of many top laners at the moment who dislike playing the barrel mini-game.
• Kayle [Tier 2 Jungle] - Ever since the initial devourer popularity surge on Kayle, she's quickly fallen off to more of a preferred, but not a must have state. Many solo queue teams still prefer a traditional melee type jungler with some hard CC and/or burst damage, so she tends to be overlooked as her ganks are relatively weak.
• Leblanc [Tier 1 Mid] - Back in action, Leblanc is just one of those favorite champions that always circles around after a few minor buffs. Her ability to instantaneously one-shot people and jump back to safety is extremely potent, and thus she gets picked up a lot for her early game trading power.
• Lissandra [Tier 1 Top] - After the buffs on Lissandra's ultimate, she's definitely back as a strong contender for top lane, especially against the League of Juggernauts. As a champion who can stun Darius on his pull and harass from a range, she's an excellent counter in case you forgot to ban him.
• Mordekaiser [God Tier ADC] - There's a lot of debate on how strong Mordekaiser actually is since he does get countered by long range AD carries and absolutely dumps on short range ones, but the fact of the matter is, you have to respect his strength in average lanes. His strategy is extremely simple and effective, and can easily be explained to just about anyone with working knowledge of the game to achieve victory as long as the game doesn't go on for too long.
• Ryze [Tier 3 Top] - A former top contender, Ryze is now barely hanging onto playable status top lane, especially with the return of Lissandra to the scene.
• Skarner [God Tier Jungle] - Despite nerfs to his overall strength, Skarner remains a top pick in solo queue.
• Tahm Kench [Tier 1 Support] - Quickly cementing himself as a top support via his unkillable shield prowess and insane percentage based damage, Tahm Kench has become a crowd favorite much faster than Bard. He still suffers a bit from solo queue coordination as a result of his potentially disastrous ultimate power, but otherwise he's definitely a decent pick-up.
• Tahm Kench [Tier 2 Jungle] - Similar to Tahm Kench as a support, Tahm Kench as a jungle is seeing a lot of playtime for the same reasons. His gap-closing power is low and his CC requires time to pull off, but his late game strength is very high.
• Trundle [Tier 3 Support] - After an initial spike in popularity for Trundle support, he's quickly fallen off the radar and will likely be borderline "troll support" after a few more weeks. 
• Urgot [Tier 3 Top] - Another FOTM that quickly fell off the radar, almost nobody plays him anymore.

Disclaimer:

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

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!