Solo Queue is all about being able to carry your team. Win lane, win game is a normal mantra of most players, and has proven to be true more often than naught. These are some picks that will help you to win lane, win fights, and eventually win games. Keep in mind though, a champion's strength comes not only from its kit and abilities, but also from the player's mastery of said kit. The more you play and learn of these champions, the better your odds are of being able to carry no matter the circumstance.

Top lane, being the island that it is, has lacking impact across the map, that’s why it should be your priority to do one of two things. Stomp the opposing laner into the ground and split push, or be impactful in teamfights… Or both. Let’s take a look at some champions where you can make both happen.

Hecarim

Tanky lane bully who can take Teleport and Ignite without any adverse effects. Hecarim is one of the few champions where building tanky for lane will help out more than building straight into his one damage item (Trinity Force). He’s an instant bully and can punish an opponent laner for every attempted cs. Ignite will usually be able to net you a kill early if not just win a trade, forcing an early tp. Once he has ult, he can go anywhere on the map and make an impact. Whether that be through teleporting or roaming, it’s an instant teamfight changer as well as an amazing source of engage. Once his Trinity Force power spike is reached, he can solo off the carries in any fight and make his presence known on the map.

Malphite

Super tank, ultimate engage, virtually unkillable, Malphite is the king of top lane. With very few weak matchups and infinite strong ones, he can rock almost every game. No damage needed, though an abyssal Scepter third item when ahead can work wonders for him. He has the perfect engage for any teamfight and can control all close quarter areas with just the threat of his Unstoppable Force being up. Add in his synergy with so many different champions and ability to destroy the backline of any team, he’s the most powerful top laner to date.

Wukong

Early damage, late game tank, instant engage and good escapes, Wukong has the full package when it comes to top laners. Getting ahead early in lane can easily start to snowball out of control leading to an early tower and instant pressure on the map. With his clone he has the innate ability to avoid ganks and also engage for fights. Whether it's diving the backline or ulting for the perfect teamfight initiate, Wu can do it all and then some.

The Jungler has debatably the largest impact on the game whether it be by ganking, counter ganking, objective control, or hard farming to be strong in the mid game. These picks will cover all of the above areas.

Amumu

An old standby in the jungle, the King of crowd control himself will never fall out of meta. Amumu has the most utility out of any jungler and ca gank at any time during the game. Add in the heavy engage, amazing teamfight potential, layering of cc, and you have yourself the best champion to carry your team with. All it takes is one good ultimate from Amumu to win a fight and completely shift the game.

Elise

Ability power, tank, or hybrid she works no matter what you do. Lockdown crowd control for easy ganks and picks, innate tower diving ability for early kill pressure, and large amount of damage even if going tanky. Ever since her buffs a few patches ago, she has become one of the strongest champions in the meta. Due to her amazing impact throughout all of the game because of her kit, she’s banned in 35 percent of all ranked games in all elos

Shyvana

Devourer Shyvana is the single strongest combination of champion and item in the game right now. Her kit complements Stated in a way that’s never been seen before. Between her Flame Breath marking her opponents, her Twin Bite doing a double Auto-attack, and her Burnout giving her bonus speed, the damage output she has is unreal. Once she hits level 6 and has her ult, her ganks become strong due to the knockback and damage she’ll have by then. A two item Stated Devourer Shyvana can chase down and shred even the largest of tanks. She’s the perfect champion to play in this current meta to carry. If she makes it through Picks/Bans that is.

Mid is where the hardest carries are. If you’re fed, you can carry if you know how to. If you don’t, these are some good champions to help you learn to.

Annie

High damage, area of effect stun, high burst, full damage Annie will always be the Queen of mid lane. With a single item, she can burst almost any carry from 100-0 in one spell rotation. She’s a perfect pick into anything from assassins to immobile/low mobility mids. Once she hits level six, it's almost impossible for the opposing player to do anything without a major outplay. Add in her pick potential and ability to start a teamfight with a large Aoe stun with loads of damage, she’s the perfect pick for someone trying to carry from mid.

Diana

One of the hardest champions to counter play against due to her massive power spike at level six, once she starts rolling, the snowball doesn't stop. She can split push due to her passive, teamfight due to her area of effect damage, dive the backline with her ult, and solo almost every champion in the game once she has items. She’s perfect for having to 1v5 because she can literally do it all.

Swain

Not a champion most would think of when it comes to mid lane play since not too many people play him, but he has very few poor matchups, and a lot of good ones. With a large amount of crowd control and sustain, he’s an amazing champion to carry with. One kill can instantly start him on a rampage streak around the map. He has decent roaming potential, and is amazing in teamfights due to his massive area of effect damage and as well as his massive amount of spell vamp from his ult. He can easily when a clean up 1v3 and is a massive game changer.

Depending on your familiarity with bot lane, this can be one of the most difficult roles to carry from. With time, practice, understanding, and strong picks, you can easily begin to climb.

Draven

The single hardest champion to get through laning phase fed. If you have a good support or are extremely good mechanically, this is the champion for you. Once draven get’s going, it’s impossible to slow his roll. The damage he’ll be outputting in fights will be beyond any ones control. The only way Draven can be stopped is through lot’s of targeted cc, so as long as you can dodge skill shots and have a quicksilver sash, you’ll be fine.

Jinx

The most snowbally of all ADC’s, Jinx can shred through towers, create picks, block off choke points, and carry teamfights. Once Jinx gets a few kills in her and some crit items, she’s good to go for teamfights and split pushing. Her passive allows for extreme escapability as well as chase down potential, making one kill or a tower easily turn into two or three more kills after a fight has ended. Her Zap is great for catching targets out and her Flame Chompers are amazing at zoning off enemies. That's not to mention the crits from her Switcheroo rockets that can tear through enemy champions like they were nothing. Her only downfall is her lack of mobility until she earns a kill/assist on a tower or champion.

Kalista

One of the more mechanically intensive AD carries, if you learn her to a certain degree, you’ll be able to crush most lanes and carry from there. She’s one of the hardest champions in the game to kill due to her passive causing her kiting to be impossibly good and her ability to dodge most all crowd control with it. She can put damage into 3-4 champions in a teamfight at a time and easily clean up a fight. Add that in with her control over both Dragon and Baron due to her rend and spear stacking, she has more utility and kill potential than most other ADC’s.

Support has the second largest impact on the game behind the jungler due to the large amount of vision control and peel that they can bring to the team. For this reason there are several power picks at the support position that will allow you to change the flow of the game.

Blitzcrank

Blitz has the potential to change the way the game is going by landing a single skillshot. In lane he can get his ADC fed off of his innate burst and pick potential, and that continues to be true even out of lane. With good enough vision control and map awareness the enemy carry can be picked out of nowhere and change the entire way a siege or teamfight is going. Getting one combo off on a carry usually means instant death and advantage in his team's favor.

Braum

With obscene amounts of tankiness, utility, and crowd control, Braum should always be considered a power pick. Landing and auto or Winter's Bite on an enemy is usually a death sentence for them due to his passive. If focused down, enemy carries could fall instantly due to the stun that comes with his kit. Add in the knockup and slow from his ult and you have a massive teamfight changer. Most importantly though is his Stand Behind Me and Unbreakable abilities. Stand Behind Me gives an ally and himself bonus resistances which is wonderful in a 2v2 plus situation. His Unbreakable shield can absorb tons of damage from enemy skill shots and autos directed towards him and his team, thus meaning more damage output from his allies and extending their lives.

Leona

The ultimate crowd control support, Leona has an earlier power spike than most supports at level 2, and she just goes up from there. A long range engage with her ult that can leave multiple targets either stunned or severely slowed. A gap closer that can get her onto any champion she wants and a stun so that her allies can get onto the same target. The best thing about her though is her passive Sunlight. All of her damaging spells leave a debuff that allied champions can proc to deal additional damage. All in all, when your team is lacking in anything from crowd control to burst damage, Leona’s the perfect champion to turn things around.

Mastering one of these champions for each role will help you climb the ladder and reach your goal, whatever it may be. None of these champions are meta dependent or strong because of recent patches, so the'yre going to be strong for a while. Learning them now leading into the offseason should prove a good move as the start of season 6 begins to loom in the future. Barring any drastic changes during the preseason that is.

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