Solo Queue FOTM Tier List - December - Patch 5.24

Hey everyone, and welcome back to the latest FOTM series. The beginning of the patch wasn't particularly interesting, but it quickly evolved into some very obvious buffs for attack damage oriented champions, resulting in almost everyone running Thunderlord's Decree.

Meanwhile, the reworked champions are held in very high regard despite their low win rates, namely Illaoi and Poppy. It appears that their potential utility is enough that nobody wants to see them at their maximum potential.

Check out the full listing below! 

SEASON 5 - December - PATCH 5.24 FOTM TIER LIST

"THE POPULAR KIDS"

Preface Chatter

Hey everyone, and welcome back to the latest FOTM series. The beginning of the patch wasn't particularly interesting, but it quickly evolved into some very obvious buffs for attack damage oriented champions, resulting in almost everyone running Thunderlord's Decree.

Meanwhile, the reworked champions are held in very high regard despite their low win rates, namely Illaoi and Poppy. It appears that their potential utility is enough that nobody wants to see them at their maximum potential.

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 5.24 Summary

Buffs: Ashe, Bard, Caitlyn, Jinx, Kog'Maw, Nidalee, Riven, Sivir, Xin Zhao, Ziggs
Nerfs: Anivia, Brand, Dr. Mundo, Hecarim, Karthus, Kindred, Malzahar, Miss Fortune, Quinn, Rammus, Skarner, Soraka, Swain, Tahm Kench, Twisted Fate
Tweaks: Azir

Toolkit and Options

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Updates:

• Added Jungle Quinn
• 12/25: Strongest Champions When Mastered - December Edition Updated
• 1/19: Solo Queue Tier List updated!

The Tier List

God Tier [Pee Your Pants - BAN]:
Mid-Lane Gods: Yasuo, Brand, Zed, Fizz, Lux
Jungle Gods: Dr. Mundo, Jax, Lee Sin
Marksman Gods: Vayne, Lucian, Tristana
Top Lane Gods: Jax, Dr. Mundo, Poppy, Illaoi
Support Gods: Soraka, Tahm Kench, Thresh

God Tier Rising: Brand (Mid), Dr. Mundo (Jungle), Fizz (Mid), Poppy (Top), Tristana (Marksman),
God Tier Falling: 

Tier 1 [Expected Powerhouses]:
Mid-Lane: Ahri, Leblanc, Twisted Fate, Orianna, Annie, Kassadin, Diana, Anivia, Viktor, Malzahar, Ekko, Azir, Talon, Syndra, Katarina, Gangplank
Jungle: Tahm Kench, Rengar, Poppy, Kindred, Master Yi, Quinn, Rammus, Vi, Shaco, Xin Zhao, Elise, Amumu, Nidalee, Fizz, Udyr, Malphite
Marksman: Quinn, Miss Fortune, Jinx, Caitlyn, Ezreal, Kalista
Top Lane: Fiora, Malphite, Irelia, Darius, Renekton, Yasuo, Riven, Tahm Kench, Tryndamere, Garen, Gangplank, Gnar, Vladimir, Trundle, Shen, Ryze, Olaf, Nasus, Rengar, Pantheon, Quinn
Support: Blitzcrank, Brand, Janna, Braum, Leona, Morgana, Alistar, Sona, Bard

Tier 1 Rising: Azir (Mid), Fizz (Jungle), Gangplank (Mid), Jinx (Marksman), Kalista (Marksman), Malphite (Top/Jungle), Nidalee (Jungle), Poppy (Jungle), Quinn (Marksman), Rammus (Jungle), Trundle (Top)
Tier 1 Falling: Fiora (Top), Kassadin (Mid), Leblanc (Mid), Xin Zhao (Jungle)

Tier 2 [Crowd Favorites]:
Mid-Lane: Veigar, Lulu (AP), Ryze, Ezreal, Morgana, Quinn, Kayle, Lissandra, Akali, Vladimir, Cho'Gath, Xerath, Swain, Ziggs, Vel'Koz, Cassiopeia
Jungle: Zac, Ekko, Rek'Sai, Diana, Volibear, Kha'Zix, Shyvana, Jarvan IV, Evelynn, Nocturne, Skarner, Wukong, Hecarim, Pantheon, Warwick, Sejuani, Gragas, Olaf
Marksman: Graves, Draven, Ashe, Sivir, Twitch, Corki
Top Lane: Wukong, Hecarim, Jarvan IV, Cho'gath, Ekko, Kennen, Maokai, Rumble, Singed, Diana, Jayce, Sion, Lissandra, Cassiopeia, Nidalee, Volibear, Lulu, Aatrox, Gragas,
Support: Annie, Lulu, Nami, Nautilus, Taric, Shen, Karma, Lux,

Tier 2 Rising: Volibear (Jungle),
Tier 2 Falling: Diana (Jungle), Ekko (Jungle), Evelynn (Jungle), Graves (Marksman), Rek'Sai (Jungle), Veigar (Mid), Zac (Jungle),

Tier 3 [Playable]:
Mid-Lane: Galio, Kog'maw (AP), Varus, Jayce, Pantheon, Zyra, Karma, Nidalee (AP), Heimerdinger, Karthus, Gragas, Kennen, Mordekaiser, Urgot, Zilean
Jungle: Fiddlesticks, Kayle, Nautilus, Sion, Maokai, Nunu, Aatrox, Trundle, Nasus, Tryndamere, Cho'Gath, Shen, Darius
Marksman: Kog'Maw, Kindred, Mordekaiser, Varus, Kennen, Urgot
Top Lane: Fizz, Xin Zhao, Lee Sin, Nautilus, Rek'Sai, Kayle, Akali, Zed, Shyvana, Kassadin, Teemo, Swain, Yorick, Warwick, Elise, Udyr, Kha'Zix, Karma, Vi, Master Yi, Viktor, Zac, Mordekaiser, Heimerdinger, Talon, Azir, Urgot
Support: Zyra, Zilean, Vel'Koz, Kennen, Trundle, Fiddlesticks, Nunu, Gragas

Tier 3 Rising:
Tier 3 Falling:  

Tier 4 [Not Amused]:
Mid-Lane: Jarvan IV, Kha'Zix, Wukong, Malphite, Teemo, Riven, Tahm Kench, Tristana (AP), Elise, Fiddlesticks, Sona, Evelynn, Leona, Soraka, Janna
Jungle: Leona, Zed, Fiora, Riven, Gangplank, Malzahar, Blitzcrank, Alistar
Marksman: Twisted Fate
Top Lane: Vayne, Galio, Braum, Alistar, Nunu, Soraka
Support: Xerath, Teemo, Volibear, Kayle, Maokai, Anivia, Veigar, Gangplank, Malphite, Nidalee, Orianna, Poppy, Galio, Yorick, Elise, Lissandra, Ashe, Leblanc

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

• Diana [Tier 2 Jungle] - Diana is still a decent jungler, but unlike other champions this patch, does not receive any notable benefits from the Thunderlord's Decree change. This makes the burst damage coming out from other champions like Rengar better in comparison.
• Graves [Tier 2 Marksman] - After the last round of nerfs to Graves, it looks like he is just about balanced at the moment. With the multitude of assassins back on the rift, most people are hesitant to pick up Graves since he needs to get very close to the enemy team in order to deal damage.
• Illaoi [God Tier Top] - A champion that punishes failure to dodge her tentacles very hard and is almost unkillable if she snowballs, Illaoi is one of the primary bans on the rift at the moment.
• Malphite [Tier 1 Top] - As the influx of Yasuos and Zeds grow on the rift, Malphite starts rising in popularity. Since his damage scales off armor, he can build to itemize defensively and offensively at the same time against the current meta.
• Poppy [God Tier Top] - Poppy ran a weak start on release day, but is quickly rising in the hearts of many. Originally, people banned her to prevent their teammates from playing her. However, it seems that they see the new reworked Poppy as strong in her own right, and pick her often.
• Quinn [Tier 1 Jungle] - Initially a gimmick, Quinn's powerful mobility and burst damage allows her to be an extremely effective ganker and/or counter-jungler if she wants to be.
• Rengar [Tier 1 Jungle] - After Riot released the new assassin mastery and Thunderlord's Decree buff, Rengar became the top dog (cat?) on the Rift. Utilizing his new found increased burst damage, the champions that would have otherwise survived are now dead. Rapid Firecannon also synergizes extremely well with him and increases his ganking power drastically.
• Trundle [Tier 1 Top] - Tanks rising in popularity equates to Trundle rising as well. He outputs a surprisingly high amount of early game damage, and is unkillable in lane when you combine his passive with Grasp of the Undying. He still suffers against high mobility champions, but otherwise is a very good pick.
• Vayne [God Tier Marksman] - The new scaling on Thunderlord's Decree allows Vayne to be extremely bursty. This helps her early game dramatically, allowing her to make it to hypercarry mode without suffering through the early phase nearly as much as before.
• Zed [God Tier Mid] - Similar to Rengar, the assassin masteries combined with Thunderlord's Decree allows Zed to be an absolute beast on the rift at the moment. In the hands of a good Zed, he's near ban-worthy.

Disclaimer:

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

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!