Season 9 begins soon, which means it's time for many players to start updating their champion pools and preparing for the solo queue experience. Since Season 8, Riot's added plenty of new features to the game and nerfed plenty of the top picks, which leaves many Ranked warriors in limbo as they scramble to find a new main. Worry not - today, we'll be counting down the best three champions in each role for solo queue games.

Top:

Urgot is still the king of toplane, despite the upcoming nerfs. High durability, damage, and safety in lane makes the Dreadnought a premiere lane bully and a champion that you'll have to either learn to play or learn to play against.

Aatrox has come down quite a ways since the glory days of Worlds, but the Darkin Blade hasn't fallen off the table quite yet. If Urgot's unavailable, Aatrox is not a bad pick to bring out if you just want to give your team a winning lane. While his ult's duration and cooldown have been hit with the nerf bat, Aatrox still has plenty of damage and sustain to bring to the table. He's more volatile than Urgot - if he doesn't win early, he likely won't win at all - but Aatrox is certainly still a solid pick going into the new ranked season.

Sion is top lane's sleeper pick. He may not be as much fun to play as the other two, but Sion has few lane matchups that he can't trade evenly with and none that he can't simply farm it out. On top of that, Sion provides his team with initiation and a beefy body to stand behind, making him an ideal choice for teams running a lategame marksman. Even if Sion falls behind somehow, you always have a backup option - Demolish plus Sion's passive guarantees that the Undead Juggernaut can tear through towers, making him a suicidal splitpusher if all else fails.

Jungle:

Despite his presence at Worlds, Xin Zhao has barely felt the nerf bat. This means he's still quite strong in the current meta and is certainly worth learning for Season 9. Powerful level 2 ganks, good early dueling, and the ability to powerfarm or gank means that the Seneschal of Demacia fits a variety of playstyles and can adapt as the game goes on. There's really not that much else to say - he's still strong, and that means he's worth playing in Season 9.

Nunu and Willump's win rate has been quietly creeping up over the last few months, and it's to the point now where their strength is League's worst-kept secret. As with Xin Zhao, Nunu and Willump gank extremely well thanks to the massive hitbox on their snowball and clear quickly and healthily with Consume. Though they have less solo carry potential than Xin, the Boy and his Yeti are a welcome addition to any jungler's champion pool.

The recent changes to Sejuani have massively buffed her solo queue potential. Increased damage, on top of better baseline durability, makes Sejuani easier to use in non-coordinated settings, which lets anyone make use of her high CC and ganking potential. Couple that with her large threat range and frontline status and it's easy to see why Sejuani will be one of the best junglers going into Season 9.

Mid:

Ahri is just as safe as ever and still has phenomenal waveclear, letting her shove into an opponent's tower to break plates. Spirit Rush and Vastayan Grace make her incredibly hard to gank, while her AoE damage makes her a threat that can't be ignored during teamfights. If you're one of the few people who still doesn't play Ahri, consider adding her to your champion pool.

Lissandra has always been an excellent pick into melee midlaners, but it took her arrival on the Worlds stage for everyone to realize it. Following her mini-rework, Lissandra is still the best counterpick in the game for meta picks like Irelia and pubstompers like Zed, making her an excellent choice in solo queue.

If she ever gets through the ban phase, Irelia is an excellent pick for the midlane. She can perform quite well into the squishy mages that make up the majority of her opposition, and still has amazing roaming and teamfighting potential thanks to her AoE stun and game-changing ultimate. She's not a must-pick by any means - Lissandra will give her fits, for example - but Irelia is still a good option if your team needs a diver to get onto backline targets.

ADC:

Love her or hate her, Kai'Sa is still one of the best marksmen in the game. The nerfs to Guinsoo's Rageblade brought her back a fair ways from her must-pick status, but Kai'Sa is still quite effective thanks to her terrifying lategame potential. Caustic Wounds hurts tanks and squishies alike, while Killer Instinct lets her play aggressively or reposition in case she gets dived. What really separates Kai'Sa from the pack of lategame marksmen is the fact that she doesn't have to try and scale - if she gets ahead early, Kai'Sa can easily run away with the game.

Lucian has bounced around the balance table more than a few times over the years, but current he's sitting at the top of it. The Lightslinger's potent early game lets him play spoiler to the crit marksmen that just want to try and scale, forcing them to sit back and miss CS lest they get dashed on and deleted. That should translate into plenty of opportunity for him to scale into the midgame powerhouse that everyone knows and loves.

Vayne is an absolute monster right now. The ult buffs in 9.1 have turned the Night Hunter into an almost dive-proof backline threat, letting her run roughshod over every team that doesn't CC-chain her and kill her immediately. Even if Vayne falls behind in lane, Silver Bolts gives her guaranteed damage against targets, meaning that there's never a moment where you can ignore her. She's not an easy champ to play, but if you're willing to put in the time to learn, Vayne will reward you with plentiful LP come the season's start.

Support:

Braum hasn't fallen down in popularity at all since Worlds. The Heart of the Freljord still possesses unbeatable lane presence thanks to his high durability and good kill threat but can just as easily peel for his ADC if the situation calls for it. Braum also synergizes extremely well with the current top-tier marksmen, including Lucian and Ezreal, which increases his effectiveness further. If you're not playing Braum yet, I'd highly recommend adding him to your champion pool before the new season begins.

Need initiation, but you're playing support? Alistar is the minotaur for the job. Headbutt-Pulverize lets Alistar do what many supports can't and start fights on the right foot with a mini-Malphite ultimate. Meanwhile, he doesn't even need to build tanky - Unbreakable Will makes him all but immortal, allowing Alistar to instead focus on building items that strengthen his ADC. With tank supports still dominating the meta, you can count on Alistar to be a reliable performer.

Xayah isn't needed here - Rakan can get the job done by himself. The Charmer is capable of playing aggressively or passively, depending on the matchup, and still has one of the best initiations in the game thanks to his R-W "Rakombo." There are very few ADCs that don't synergize with Rakan, making him an excellent flex pick overall. If you're autofilled to support, or just want a solid pick no matter what your opponents play, Rakan is a good choice.

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