As League of Legends grows bigger and bigger, with more champions and items than ever before, it becomes increasingly more difficult to learn the game. In particular, Gwen marks the 155th champion added to the game, and with that many champions to choose from, it must be reasonably impossible for new players to figure out good champions to pick even if they know what role they want to play. The goal of this guide is to present a few candidates that are great for newer players to try in each role, hopefully making both buying and selecting champions a much easier process for everyone involved.

What makes a champion good for newer players?

For the purposes of this list, each champion had to fulfill several different criteria which would make them easy for newer players to buy and use. Let’s walk through the different requirements each champion on this list had to meet:

Simple to Play: First and foremost, a good introductory champion must be simple to play. This means that they do not require much mechanical skill in order to pilot effectively. The champions on this list are thus all relatively straightforward in terms of playstyle.

Easy to Understand Abilities: About as self-explanatory as the first point. A good champion for newer players should not require much reading to play effectively. If their abilities resembled anything remotely close to Samira or Apehlios’ passives, they did not make the cut.

Relatively Impactful: This is perhaps one of the most seemingly contradictory inclusions on this list. How would a simple champion be able to have a lot of impact on the game in comparison to a champion with a high skill ceiling? The logic for this criterion was that a good introductory champion does not innately have to be a champion who is unable to influence the game. While the champions on this list might not be as impactful as more mechanically-intensive champions, they are all able to impact the game in noticeable ways.

Comparable to Other Champions: Ultimately, what is the point in learning a champion if those skills are not transferable to other champions in the same role? The champions on this list all teach newer players skills which can be applied when moving up to more mechanically-intense champions.

Low Cost: Finally, a good champion for newer players shouldn’t set their Blue Essence wallet back too much. Nobody wants to invest their time and currency into a new champion just to have it be too difficult for them to use. Every champion on this list costs either 450 or 1350 Blue Essence, which are the two cheapest costs possible.

With these qualities in mind, let’s take a look at a couple of champions in each role who are good choices for players who are either new to the game or new to that specific role.

Top Lane

Malphite, Shard of the Monolith

Class: Tank

Subclass: Vanguard

Cost: 1350 Blue Essence

Explanation: Malphite is perhaps the best example of a top lane tank who is simple to use but incredibly impactful in the later stages of the game. This hinges around his ultimate, Unstoppable Force, which makes him dash to a nearby location and deal damage to any enemies near the impact zone, knocking them up in the process. Malphite also has relatively safe laning phase, as he is able to negate plenty of damage between the shield he gets from his passive and the armour he gets from his W. His W also allows him to use empowered auto-attacks, making it easier to secure kills against minions and get enough gold to purchase some key items. Overall, Malphite is a tank who balances having an impactful late-game presence with safety in the early-game in order to be a rock-solid pick.

Comparable Champions: Maokai, Nautilus

Poppy, Keeper of the Hammer

Class: Tank
Subclass: Warden
Cost: 450 Blue Essence

Explanation: Poppy serves as a scrappier counterpart to Malphite, relying on well-timed basic attacks and abilities in order to duel enemies. However, Poppy is similar in several important ways: her Passive also grants her an occasional shield, and her W also passively increases her defenses. As such, Poppy has similar defense capabilities to Malphite, therefore boasting a similarly safe laning phase. However, where Poppy differs from Malphite is her ability to lock enemies down. Between her E which allows her to shove enemies around and stun them if she hits a wall, and her ultimate which lets her either knock an enemy up or knock them a fair distance away, Poppy has more reliable crowd control options which serve a more defensive purpose. As such, Poppy and her hammer are a good pick if you wish to disrupt engaging enemies rather than making the first move.

Comparable Champions: Shen, Galio

Jungle

Nunu and Willump, the Boy and His Yeti

Class: Tank
Subclass: Vanguard
Cost: 450 Blue Essence

Explanation: Nunu and Willump are a dynamic duo who make it easy to jungle while remaining healthy. By using their Q, Consume, Nunu and Willump are able to heal themselves while dealing large amounts of true damage to jungle monsters. This true damage is higher than the damage that smite deals to monsters in the mid-game, meaning that Nunu and Willump also have an edge against the opposing jungler when it comes to securing objectives. Aside from that, their W and E grant them the ability to engage on enemies quickly and lock them down in the process, while their ultimate allows them to slow nearby enemies before dealing a large amount of damage. All of this is to say that Nunu and Willump make jungling easy and safe with good tools for both ganking lanes and killing monsters

Comparable Champions: Rammus, Sejuani

Warwick, the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun

Class: Fighter
Subclass: Diver
Cost: 450 Blue Essence

Explanation: As a fighter, Warwick plays much differently than Nunu and Willump do, boasting more offensive capabilities. This is perhaps best emphasized by two parts of Warwick’s set of abilities: his W and his ultimate. The former of these abilities passively grants him increased movement speed towards nearby wounded targets, and his ultimate allows him to dash towards these targets and suppress them upon arrival. As such, where Nunu and Willump can occasionally move fast upon activating their W, Warwick is almost always quickened and on the hunt for wounded targets. What makes these two characters similar, and thus good for newer players, is their ability to heal. Warwick is healed by his passive, his Q, and his ultimate, along with being able to resist damage when activating his E. Thus, it should be clear that while Warwick sacrifices some bulkiness in exchange for more damage, his innate healing makes him a strong pick for newer players.

Comparable Champions: Master Yi, Xin Zhao

Middle Lane

Veigar, the Tiny Master of Evil

Class: Mage
Subclass: Burst
Cost: 1350 Blue Essence

Explanation: Small as he may be, Veigar can be a huge threat because of the high amounts of damage that he deals. What makes Veigar a good introductory champion for the middle lane is that his kit is pure damage, with his passive increasing his ability power for each ability that he hits an enemy with. This then compounds into his Q, W, and R, all of which are strictly used to deal massive amounts of damage to enemies. However, his E is also crucially important; often considered one of the strongest non-ultimate abilities in the game, it creates a cage which makes Veigar’s abilities even easier to land. As a result of this, his E is strong both offensively and defensively, allowing him to use it to either trap enemies and secure easy kills or keep enemies at bay by placing it between him and them. As a result of both Veigar’s damage and his incredibly versatile tools, he is a good champion for new players to play if they wish to strictly kill enemies quickly.

Comparable Champions: Syndra, Zoe

Annie, the Dark Child

Class: Mage
Subclass: Burst
Cost: 450 Blue Essence

Explanation: Annie is incredibly similar to Veigar in many ways, all of which make her good for newer players. For example, she also does a lot of damage, with her Q, W, and R all dealing damage in different ways (single target, in a cone, and in an area of effect around Tibbers). However, what makes Annie different from Veigar is her increased defensive capabilities. For example, Annie has an arguably more reliable form of crowd control through her passive. While enemies could potentially circumvent Veigar’s cage, they cannot dodge Annie’s Q when empowered by her passive in an efficient manner. Furthermore, Annie also has a shield on her E which grants whoever she casts it on movement speed and the ability to reflect damage from incoming basic attacks. Thus, Annie is better for new players who can handle a slightly more supportive and defensive kit than Veigar’s while still wanting to deal tons of damage.

Comparable Champions: Orianna, Lux

Bottom Lane

Ashe, the Frost Archer

Class: Marksman
Subclass: N/A
Cost: 450 Blue Essence

Explanation: Ashe is an excellent bottom laner for new players to pick up two key reasons: her simplicity and her consistency. Ashe’s set of abilities are simple but strong, teaching new players how to effectively pilot a marksman without much hassle. Her Q allows her to attack more quickly, her W allows her to damage foes in an area, and her R lets her stun enemies as part of an engage or disengage. All of this is to say nothing of her E, which lets her obtain vision of the enemy from a safe distance. What builds upon this is her passive, which ties the rest of her abilities together in a consistent way by making them all slow and cause her to deal extra damage based upon her critical strike chance. As a result of this, most of her attacks and abilities consistently slow enemies and deal increased damage, removing the randomness that other marksmen have to deal with as a result of building crit-related items. From this, Ashe emerges as a relatively easy bottom laner to pick up and learn.

Comparable Champions: Aphelios, Jhin

Tristana, the Yordle Gunner

Class: Marksman
Subclass: N/A
Cost: 1350 Blue Essence

Explanation: Where Ashe showcased the consistency possible within the bottom lane role, Tristana shows off the volatility and damage that these champions innately possess. Where Ashe’s abilities had a strong mix of empowerments, damage, and utility, Tristana is almost all damage. Her passive lets her attack enemies from farther away as the game progresses, her Q lets her perform these attacks at a faster rate, her E makes landing these attacks more impactful, and her R lets her knock enemies away so she can continue to attack at a safe range. When combined with her W, which lets Tristana flexibly either dive into fights or run away in an emergency, Tristana is almost always able to keep attacking and dealing damage to enemies. Thus, she is a marksman who allows new players to learn how to play the bottom lane role more offensively than Ashe does.

Comparable Champions: Vayne, Lucian

Support

Janna, the Storm’s Fury

Class: Controller
Subclass: Enchanter
Cost: 1350

Explanation: What makes Janna good as an introductory support is that she is able to flexibly and directly aid her allies in many ways. Offensively, her passive and E allow her to do this through increasing allies’ movement and attack damage, along with the latter providing a shield. In a defensive sense, she can disengage fights by knocking opponents up with her Q, slowing incoming enemies down with her W, or pushing all nearby enemies away while healing nearby allies with her ultimate. Despite this versatility, Janna proves to be relatively simple to understand because of how clearly her abilities are able to empower teammates and disable enemies, making it obvious that she is having an impact on the game. As a result, Janna proves to be a strong support champion for newer players due to the fact that she teaches players about many mechanics while simplifying all of them enough to be understandable.

Comparable Champions: Karma, Sona

Morgana, the Fallen

Class: Controller
Subclass: Catcher
Cost: 1350 Blue Essence

Explanation: Much differently than Janna, Morgana is a good introductory support champion because of how she stresses the importance of crowd control within League of Legends. Between her Q and her ultimate, Morgana has some of the strongest crowd control in the game, being able to root and stun enemies so that her allies can pump damage into them. Conversely, her E also allows players to aid their teammates directly by making them immune to crowd control disabilities, making her supportive capabilities even stronger while countering enemy abilities. While her passive and W do not add onto these supportive capabilities, they provide newer players more agency in their ability to deal damage outside of aiding allies. Thus, while Morgana is incredibly unlike Janna, she is still a good support champion for newer players due to her emphasis on crowd control and agency.

Comparable Champions: Zyra, Bard

Conclusion

From what has been said, it is hopefully apparent that there are a handful of champions for each role which can be effectively piloted by newer players. Among these champions are characters who vary in several ways: some are offensively-oriented while others are incredibly defensive, some have very little agency or flexibility and others are incredibly versatile. As a result, if there is one key takeaway from this guide, it is that there is no singular quality that makes a champion ‘simple’ enough to be introductory. Instead, these champions are notable for their ability to instill mechanical knowledge into newer players, allowing them to transcend their humble beginnings and become talented players in no time.