Many League of Legends players have a favorite champion that they grind with through all of their games. For those in normal or unranked games, it is a matter of having fun. Whereas, in a ranked game, it is more a matter of confidence in one champion or the power of a champion in a team composition. Putting this faith in just a small pool of champions can be a key to winning a game, but it could also end up being a mistake by the player and could cost them a match.

In order to climb the solo queue ladder in League, having just a few champions a player is good at is actually a big bonus. It allows the player to know the insides and out of maybe three to four champions, giving them an edge against a player who may just be starting out on a champion that happens to be meta. However, it is key to pick champions that can win games and not just ones the player knows how to play.

As an example, if a support main wants to climb in ranked, they will choose three champions that they are good at and play those. But that may not be enough. If this support main chooses 3 champions like Janna, Lulu, and Karma, that is all well and good, but it lacks flexibility. It isn’t enough to be good at the champions, but the champions have to fit the game.

If this same support player is the last pick and their team is already locked in with champions like Malzahar and Kennen, picking a champion like Karma won’t be as impactful as an engaging tank like Braum. Picking Karma is fine, but without a strong frontline and with squishy allies, it could be a loss for this player.

In order to climb in ranked, it is key to learn what champions to pick and when, and to know how to balance out your champion pool. In this article we will discuss how to pick the correct champions in a solo queue game and how to balance out your champion pool.

So, because it is easiest, first we will discuss how to balance out your champion pool. The first thing to do is pick out three champions that are at least somewhat meta for your role. Champions like Caitlyn, Sett, Braum, etc. are all great examples of meta picks (as of patch 10.4). After you have chosen a list of some meta champions, choose from that list three champions that you like or that you are good at.

When picking these champions, it is important to also be sure that the picks are flexible or bring something unique to your pool. So, in my previous example, having three shielding supports in your champion pool is great in some cases, but if your team desperately needs a tank or a champion with reliable crowd control, and you choose a champion like Janna, it could spell doom for your team. Be sure to pick, if support or top, one tank, one carry, and one support (like Shen, Kennen, Ornn for top or Galio, Pyke, Janna for support). For other roles, pick one AD champion, one AP champion, and one hyper carry. This way you have all your bases covered.

Then, practice those champions again and again, know if they can dash over walls, know the range of their abilities, even things like knowing roughly how much mana their abilities cost so you know by heart when you can fight. These are all key aspects to knowing your champion and being able to put your skill to the max in a ranked game.

Now that you know your champions inside and out, it is time to learn how to pick which champion in a ranked match.

For many League of Legends players, the first pick is a coveted spot. It is where players get to choose the best champions in the game and lock them in before the enemy team gets the chance to steal them. But is it really the spot you want? Well, maybe if you’re a Yasuo main your sentiment won’t change, but for other players, any pick is better than first pick, and here is why. When you are first pick, you get easily countered by enemies, giving your opponents an edge in the game. Not only that, but sometimes even your own teammates won’t know what they are picking yet, meaning you could pick a champion your team won’t need or one that won’t synergize well. Even second pick is better than first, as it gives at least some clue as to what the enemy may pick and gives your allies a chance to put together a decent team composition in the pre-game chat lobby (which should be used more for setting up good champions than flaming allies.)

Now that I have made you hate picking first, let’s talk about how to appropriately choose a champion in ranked (to make it easier to understand, this will be mutually exclusive, meaning that no other possible factors will weigh in on this information). Let’s say, for sake of argument, you are the last pick on your team and you are a top laner. The enemy team has (in lane order) an Aatrox, an Elise, a Rumble, a Caitlyn, and a Nami. On the other side, your team has (in lane order) you (unpicked), a Kha’Zix, a Syndra, a Tristana, and a Yuumi.

If you read the list carefully, it would seem that you are in desperate need of a tank on your team, since you have none. A strong frontline is needed for your team in order to win fights. Your team also could use a little bit more magic damage, as Syndra won’t be able to win alone. However, that isn’t all you need. Your team desperately lacks crowd control and the enemy team is fairly immobile, meaning that you need a tank with a splash of AP damage and lots of crowd control. Personally, I can think of no better champion than Maokai in this situation.

This is a great example and breakdown of how to make a counter-pick. It is vital to assess your own team’s picks as well as the enemies. So, now that you know the importance of a counter-pick, it is also important to know what to do in case that you get first pick instead. Well, that is where your champion pool diversity comes into play. It is always important to have at least one blind-pick champion in your pool.

This champion is someone that is a pick that won’t lose your team the game if you don’t know what the enemy team may pick. Champions like Karma, Aatrox, and Rumble are all great picks because of their flexibility. Karma offers lots of shielding (sometimes AOE) and AP damage. Aatrox offers a lot of AD damage and can act as a reliable frontline if needed. Then Rumble is just a great pick because he offers AP damage, crowd control, and has a self shield so he can tank some damage for his team.

Picking first is a real disadvantage, but by picking champions that you are not only comfortable with, but ones that are strong picks that are hard to counter, you can easily make the best of a bad situation. This means that you and your team will have no need to worry about getting out of the laning phase.

It is important to assess champions before putting them into your pool. You have to know their strengths and weaknesses so that you can pick a champion that you feel comfortable with in a given scenario. Having a champion like Rumble in your pool means that you are picking a champion that you are good at, that is inherently good, and that is a great flexible pick. Having all of these on just one champion makes it a winner and, if you want, a great addition to your champion pool.

So, now we have discussed how to appropriately pick and add champions to your champion pool, how to pick a champion based on team composition, how to pick a champion when last pick, and how to pick a champion when first pick. Now being aware of all this, you should be ready to take on your next ranked game and take home a win.