Solo Queue FOTM Tier List - December - Patch 5.23

Hi everyone! Sorry for the late post on the FOTM Tier List, it's simply slipped my mind over the past few weeks what with the holiday season and all.

Anyway, it looks like the usual suspects are at the top (which makes sense since this specific list is popularity based). There's also a strong shift in early game junglers rising to the top, and surprisingly Vayne is still by far the most popular marksman, despite her lack of a rework. 

SEASON 5 - December - PATCH 5.23 FOTM TIER LIST

"THE POPULAR KIDS"

Preface Chatter

Hi everyone! Sorry for the late post on the FOTM Tier List, it's simply slipped my mind over the past few weeks what with the holiday season and all.

Anyway, it looks like the usual suspects are at the top (which makes sense since this specific list is popularity based). There's also a strong shift in early game junglers rising to the top, and surprisingly Vayne is still by far the most popular marksman, despite her lack of a rework.

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 5.23 Summary

Buffs: Azir, Bard, Caitlyn, Kha'Zix, Skarner, Zed, Zilean
Nerfs: Lucian, Miss Fortune,
Tweaks: Ashe, Mordekaiser, Quinn

Toolkit and Options

Click to toggle champion movement history

Search for a champion:

Updates:

• Added Illaoi top

The Tier List

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

God Tier Rising: Dr. Mundo (Jungle/Top), Jax (Jungle/Top), Lee Sin (Jungle), Lucian (Marksman), Lux (Mid), Soraka (Top), Vayne (Marksman),
God Tier Falling: Graves (Marksman)

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

Tier 1 Rising: Anivia (Mid), Bard (Support), Brand (Support), Orianna (Mid), Rammus (Jungle), Rengar (Jungle), Syndra (Mid), Udyr (Jungle), Xin Zhao (Jungle), Zac (Jungle)
Tier 1 Falling: Caitlyn (Marksman), Darius (Top), Diana (Mid), Jinx (Marksman), Kindred (Jungle), Riven (Top), Tahm Kench (Jungle), Veigar (Mid), Yasuo (Top)

Tier 2 [Crowd Favorites]:
Mid-Lane: Lulu (AP), Ryze, Ezreal, Gangplank, Morgana, Quinn, Kayle, Lissandra, Akali, Vladimir, Cho'Gath, Xerath, Swain, Ziggs, Vel'Koz, Cassiopeia
Jungle: Kha'Zix, Shyvana, Nocturne, Nidalee, Jarvan IV, Skarner, Wukong, Hecarim, Pantheon, Warwick, Malphite, Sejuani, Gragas, Volibear, Olaf
Marksman: Quinn, Kalista, Draven, Corki, Sivir, Ashe, Twitch
Top Lane: Wukong, Hecarim, Trundle, 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: Draven (Marksman), Jarvan IV (Jungle), Lulu (Mid), Quinn (Marksman), Taric (Support), Trundle (Top)
Tier 2 Falling: Annie (Support), Gragas (Jungle), Kha'Zix (Jungle), Lulu (Support), Nocturne (Jungle), Ryze (Mid)

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, Poppy, 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: Kog'Maw (Marksman), 

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, Poppy, 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

• Brand [Tier 1 Support] - The new masteries synergize incredibly well with Brand at the moment, making him much less of an uncommon dark horse pick and instead a mainstream prime candidate for support.
• Dr. Mundo [God Tier Top] - After Grievous Wounds were changed to only affect self-heals, Mundo is finding a significant amount of success with Soraka and Sona on the field. As a champion who already includes Spirit Visage as part of his main build, he benefits greatly from the current meta.
• Illaoi [God Tier Top] - An extremely powerful damage dealer in small areas, Illaoi gains a lot of free stats and can build almost entirely tank items and still dish a ton. She's difficult to trade with and her tentacles do a crazy amount of damage if she can get enough procs off. This makes her a very popular ban at the moment.
• Kassadin [Tier 1 Mid] - As the meta shifts towards a high number of immobile mages, players are starting to go back to mainstays like Kassadin as a highly mobile anti-mage.
• Lee Sin [God Tier Jungle] - Games are ending earlier and earlier now. This combined with tracker's knife's free built in wards makes Lee Sin an extremely valued pick on the rift at the moment. 
• Lucian [God Tier Marksman] - The Lucian rework really emphasized his strengths and made him incredibly fun to play. He no longer needs to stack a large amount of attack speed for his ultimate to fire a ton of bullets, and the new Essence Reaver build allows him to remain highly mobile, even in extended team fights.
• Malzahar [Tier 1 Mid] - Another mage that benefits highly from the new masteries as a result of his damage over time abilities, Malzahar is quickly rising in popularity.
• Quinn [Tier 2 Marksman] - An incredibly fun champion now with her new blind/smokescreen mechanic, she's very rewarding to play.
• Shaco [Tier 1 Jungle] - Similar to Lee Sin, Shaco's early game is superb. With the speed at which games snowball in the current meta, Shaco works very well. The new Statikk Shiv also synergizes well with him, and allows Shaco to powerspike much harder.
• Soraka [God Tier Support] - As mentioned before, the new Grievous Wounds have escalated Soraka to a must-ban in the current meta.

Disclaimer:

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

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!