2013 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 3.9 Updated July

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SEASON 3 - PATCH 3.9  SOLO QUEUE TIER LIST

Preface Chatter
This tier list is coming up quite fast after the latest patch, earlier than usual. This means that I'll likely have to do another one in a week or two once the changes have set into place...anyway Patch 3.9's brought quite a few changes, including some much needed nerfs and buffs:

Nerfs: Hecarim, Kayle, Kennen, Nunu
Buffs: Corki, Malzahar, Shyvana, Ziggs
Tweaks: Brand, Draven, Jayce, Leblanc

Also in this list I'd like to note that all the AD carries seem pretty even at the moment.

The Tier List

God Tier: 
Mid-Lane Gods: Kassadin, Twisted Fate
Jungle Gods: Amumu, Fiddlesticks, Rammus, Sejuani
AD Gods: 
Top Lane Gods: Singed, Wukong
Support Gods:  Janna, Sona, Thresh

Tier 1:
Mid-Lane: Zyra, Kennen, Malzahar, Diana, Jayce
Jungle: Jarvan IV, Zac, Nasus, Hecarim, Nunu, Cho'Gath, Evelynn, Nautilus, Lee Sin, Volibear, Maokai, Elise
AD Carry: Varus, Caitlyn, Ezreal, Vayne, Draven, Graves, Twitch
Top Lane: Tryndamere, Kennen, Elise, Renekton, Yorick, Jayce, Nidalee, Irelia, Riven, Lee Sin, Udyr
Support: Nami, Taric, Blitzcrank, Leona

Tier 2:
Mid-Lane: Brand, Kayle, Ryze, Mordekaiser, Talon, Vladimir, Elise, Fizz, Ahri, Viktor, Lux, Anivia, Nidalee, Zed, Cho'Gath, Xerath, Swain, Karthus, Katarina, Evelynn, Orianna, Ziggs
Jungle: Udyr, Warwick, Shen, Kha'Zix, Nocturne, Malphite, Leona, Shaco, Vi, Trundle,Xin Zhao, Diana, Shyvana, Zed
AD Carry: Miss Fortune, Tristana, Kog'Maw, Corki, Ashe, Sivir
Top Lane: Jax, Kayle, Rumble, Ryze, Teemo, Aatrox, Kha'Zix, Vladimir, Nasus, Shen, Cho'gath, Zac, Darius, Volibear, Garen, Zed, Malphite
Support: Soraka, Lulu, Zyra, Alistar

Tier 3:
Mid-Lane: Morgana, Kha'Zix, Akali, Pantheon, Cassiopeia, Galio, Annie, Master Yi, Sion, Gragas, Lulu, Fiddlesticks
Jungle: Riven, Pantheon, Dr. Mundo,  Skarner, Jax, Kayle, Darius
AD Carry: Quinn
Top Lane:  Jarvan IV, Warwick, Fiora, Xin Zhao, Pantheon, Akali, Galio, Talon, Trundle, Dr. Mundo, Poppy
Support: Nunu, Nautilus, Shen, Morgana, Nidalee, Lux,

Tier 4:
Mid-Lane:  Lissandra, Syndra, Veigar, Kog'maw, Zilean, Leblanc, Tristana, Janna, Ezreal, Heimerdinger, Karma
Jungle: Rengar, Olaf, Master Yi (AD), Tryndamere, Gangplank, Fiora, Blitzcrank, Alistar
AD Carry: Urgot
Top Lane:  Rengar,Gangplank, Shyvana, Olaf
Support: Kayle, Elise, Maokai, Yorick, Lissandra, Karma, Ashe, Zilean, Leblanc, Fiddlesticks, Ryze, Caitlyn

• Heroes in BOLD I will talk about shortly
• Heroes in Italics may be over/undervalued, but aren't/haven't played enough for me to make a better judgement.
• Within each tier the champions are strongest from left to right, but within a tier each champion's strength is relatively close. This is especially true for Tiers 2 and 3 where these heroes are ALL highly playable and player dependent on how strong they are in-game.

Click Here for a description of the tiers

God Tier: These champions are almost impossible to keep down. If your team doesn't make it a priority to shut down these champions and shut them down hard, even if they lose their lane, lose in CS, and it's their first time playing the champion, they can be a massive nuisance for your team. On the other hand, if they're actually good at the champion...that's when it's time to throw in the towel.

Tier 1: These champions generally do very well regardless, and have some sort of advantage over most other champions. When they do well, their team does well. Even when they don't do well, their team still has a good chance of a comeback victory by utilizing one or more aspects of their late game utility.

Tier 2: This is the Tier of balanced champions where Riot shoots to place their designs. These champions generally do well in their own right, and are very strong picks with a good chance of winning. However, they're not overpowered by any means and do have their weaknesses.

Tier 3: These champions can still do very well, but tend to need a little more snowballing to get rolling. Even if they get an early lead, it's still very possible to turn the tides on them with just a mistake or two. They may also have some weaknesses that can be capitalized on.

Tier 4: These champions are either underpowered or offer less reward than other champions for the same amount of effort. These champions basically start winning from the get-go or get made fun of for the rest of the game. They need gold to do their job correctly, and if they don't get enough of it, they become sandbags for the enemy team to punch. Chances of a comeback with one of these champions feeding on your team is almost none.

Champion Explanations

• Brand - Brand's always been a powerhouse in terms of damage, and deals a decent amount. The main reason why his strength fell was a mixture of AD burst assassins coupled with people getting used to dodging his skillshots and damage. However, with the minor buffs, Brand's definitely been brought back into spotlight with heavy nerfs on a lot of other champions across the board. I think we'll definitely see a comeback. Luckily I have Zombie Brand waiting...
• Corki - Corki's buff was pretty decent, and I think he's very on par with other AD champions now. With his reduction in playability for the last few months, I think he's also got a decent surprise factor in place.
• Draven - Nerfs hurt. He's still viable.
• Ezreal - Although a fed Ezreal is strong, we can't really say he's any better than any other AD carry at the moment. This tier's all pretty even...
• Fiora - Fiora's numbers are actually a lot better than I initialy gave her credit for. With the continual nerfs on tank items across the board, her ability to win trades with pure damage has increased, and while she's not overpowered by any means, she's at least playable against some common top lane champions.
• Hecarim - Continual minor nerfs have brought him down from overpowered to viable. He's still good, just not an auto-ban.
• Kassadin - Kassadin is seriously overpowered right now. With Nunu nerfed, you'll be seeing more twisted fate and kassadin bans for sure. Even if you shut him down, he'll always come back with a vengeance. 
• Leblanc - She did get some changes, but she's still not popular, and her late game still isn't that good without some early snowballing. Plus her waveclear is still pretty bad, which doesn't work well in the current meta.
• Malphite - Malphite's been getting some very low playability lately...of course with AP mages all the rage lately it's no wonder, but I think his ultimate is still very good.
• Malzahar - I know I've owed you guys an explanation on Malzahar for a while now, and I've been putting it off since I knew he was insanely strong, but I couldn't really explain why. Here's what it is in a nutshell: His poke has always been good, and his voidlings are strong. But the reason why he's REALLY good is because he has the ability to kill almost any tank in 2~4 seconds seconds flat with his W + R combo, and his E can chunk half of a squishy's life by itself. With that amount of peel and continuous damage, he's pretty much a one-man army. After soloing a Nautilus, Leblanc, and Shen simultaneously, you'll understand what I mean when I say he's ridiculously strong. 
• Nautilus - After the initial wow factor when he came back into play, people are now back to being cautious of his ganks, and are willing to flash to prevent a hook. He's still a pretty slow jungler, and easily counterjungled. Although he's good, without some ganks he falls behind other junglers quickly...his ultimate is still insanely good though.
• Nunu - He was nerfed. Still playable, but no longer Nunu Norris.
• Rumble - I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so...Rumble simply isn't as good as he used to be, and the stats prove it as he stands at a 50.08% win rate - hence he'll stay in Tier 2, the balanced tier.
• Shyvana - Her buff was pretty decent, and I think she's viable now. Pretty simple character, so it's really a matter of numbers.
• Tryndamere - Top lane Tryndamere...I considered putting him in god tier, but after all the complaining I get about Wukong I'm a little hesitant (seriously, Wukong has the second highest win rate in the game and there are still people who don't believe me when I say he's op?) Anyway, Tryndamere's trading power is decent, his sustain is good, and his pushing power is insane. Even if you manage to beat him once or twice in trades early on, unless you can build enough health to sustain through his invulnerability and enough damage to kill him through his lifesteal, his late game is an unstoppable pushing force.
• Twisted Fate - He's still good, but I'm considering moving him down...a lot of champions that counter him are becoming FOTM, and with teleport becoming a popular summoner mid lane he's losing some effectiveness via getting counter-ganked. He's still real good though, just with his wave clear, sustain, and ability to stun from jumping outside of ward range.
• Vayne - Draven nerfed you say?
• Viktor - Okay, Viktor's pretty decent, I'll accept that he's playable since his CCs are good and he does have the ability to 100-0 an enemy champion even if he misses his laser. I still think he's unreliable, but his damage is definitely there and his AOE is hard to outdamage in tight quarters.
• Wukong - Out of all the flack I get on my tier list I'd say that Wukong by far gets me the most moans and groans. I'm not sure why I still have to explain why he's OP, his trades are good, his initiation is good (really, who's going to get an oracle for Wukong?) and his ultimate is insanity. He's had a top 5 win rate for 4 patches in a row, and currently holds the #2 spot in win rates. When he becomes the #1 ban in LCS and gets nerfed by Riot, I expect some humble e-mails admitting the monkey's power.
• Ziggs - Ziggs got so many buffs, I mean wow. I still don't think he's OP by any means, but anybody against a Ziggs with blue buff and some CDR certainly will, I may move him up in the future, but he's still pretty squishy and can be unreliable in a pinch.

Disclaimer:

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

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

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