After the release of the recent patch 10.11 Marksman Update, the state of League of Legends and the bottom lane has had a significant return. For those who are returning back to the the AD Carry role, learning which champions to play in this role will be quite the challenge. However, with the League of Legends ADC Tier List of 10.11, you don’t have to play test too much wondering if the champion you have in mind will be relevant for play the next time you dive into summoner’s rift.
Playing ADC in Patch 10.11
Patch 10.11 has arrived and while we say that it has a major effect on ADCs as a role, it doesn’t really change anything about the identity of the ADC marksmen. As an overview, marksmen only received buffs in base stats including Base Health and Base Health Regen which give it more survivability in the early to late games. This means that ADCs still play to reach the mid to late game where they are most relevant and will steamroll carry their team to victory.
Of course, you’ll need to learn the basics surrounding playing ADCs in the first place if you want to improve in League of Legends. Even if you follow the ADC tier list and choose to play the best ADC champion in the game, it won’t save you from your own shortcomings. Learning how to be a better player should be your utmost priority. Having said that, you can always practice and play a bunch of games until you reach a higher level of play.
Criteria for ADC Tier List
To effectively play ADCs we’ve taken the champions with the highest win rate in the current patch for games in Diamond and above all from every server. This will only include Marksmen so champions like Yasuo, Cassiopeia, or Syndra which can be played in the bottom lane won’t be part of the ADC tier list. Each champion will be tier’d through the grading system (S+, S, A, B, C, and D being the lowest).
[S+] – ADC Tier List Champions
Varus
Varus has it all! He excels in dealing damage, crowd control, poking, and zoning. This champion’s lethality focus makes him a threat once he builds 2 or more completed items. Being able to consistently chunk out enemies from a safe distance and occasionally pick off an enemy with a CC makes Varus a real threat on the field. However, he is extremely immobile which means that he constantly needs to be protected by his teammates.
Ezreal
Ezreal has been a real rockstar in the ADC role for the past 2 years. This champion’s skillset offers a lot of mobility and damage sources which can consistently deal damage from a safe distance. A global ultimate also means that Ezreal is a threat to enemies in different lane. Unlike other marksmen, Ezreal doesn’t rely too much on basic attacks and require a lot of skillshot prowess in order to fully utilize this champion’s potential.
Vayne
Vayne is arguably the best solo queue marksman due to her potential to be flexed in other lanes aside from bottom. She requires a bit of tempo to keep her going otherwise she’ll fall off especially if you don’t know how to go around her shorter range disadvantage. She can easily melt tanks and is very difficult to catch and kill especially during her ultimate skill. She is strong in all stages of the game even in the early game.
Aphelios
Aphelios has had a strong dominion over the bottom lane for a long time. His skill kit was so overpowered that Riot Games essentially game him an overall rework with all the nerf he had received. This champion is one of the most difficult champions to master but if you do, he becomes a deadly weapon. Aphelios is an extremely powerful duelist and objective capturer.
Draven
Draven’s back baby! What Draven desperately needed before Patch 10.11 was more mobility in order to be able to get safer fighting placements through positioning. Thanks to the buff in Zeal items, Draven can better run around enemies during skirmishes or teamfights. This means he’ll also be able to earn more gold from the adoration stacks and become a threat earlier on in the game.
[S] – ADC Tier List Champions
Caitlyn
Caitlyn is a champion that has benefited greatly from the Zeal MS buff. She is a great marksman with a higher attack range compared to other champions which allow her to harass enemy champions from a safer distance. She is easy to use and is recommended for players who are in lower ELOs to use as her kit is extremely straightforward and she can generate an advantage in her lane quite easily.
Ashe
Ashe is one of the very first champions you ‘ll get to learn and use in League of Legends. The marksman update has made her more mobile, which in addition to her slowing ability, makes her an excellent champion to kite or escape enemy champions. She is also very useful in teamfights by using her ultimate to stun enemies from a safe distance which allows her team to initiate a teamfight and collapse on them.
[A] – ADC Tier List Champions
Miss Fortune
Miss Fortune was recently nerfed in patch 10.9 where her movement speed from Strut was decreased. With this, she has become less slippery and easier to pick off even with the buff in Zeal items. She remains to be a good damage dealer in teamfights but is a bit harder to help pop off than most champions that get it done earlier in the game.
Jhin
Jhin is technically a really good champion. However, without a buff in crit dealing items, he’s still stuck in the middle of the pack with his kit being unable to deliver until he has at least 4 or more items. He’ll deal a good deal of damage consistently but lacks the ability to melt down tanks or assassinate other champions.
Twitch
Twitch is a really outdated champion concept. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great ADC and is a real pain once he starts to snowball. However, Twitch relies too much on assassinations and positioning to deal a lot of damage with his Spray and Pray. However, ADCs can’t really play this way since the horrible 8.11 nerf on ADCs lowering the impact crit has on marksmen.
Jinx
Jinx also requires an early lead for her to be really impactful in the game. She has the ability to zone off other enemies during fights but other than that her skill kit is too unreliable to really be impactful without any kind of lead whatsoever. Having said that, she’s still considered an [A] champion since she can still fight toe to toe with other marksmen.
Kog’maw
Kog’maw would have been really great in this meta had he not been a hybrid champion. Having to focus on both AP and AD makes gives him problems when it comes to damage ratios in skills. This is why most people would rather play Ezreal since he is everything Kog’maw wants to be but with a little bit more mobility to help him survive the lanes.
[B] ADC Tier List Champions
Kalista
Thanks to the recent nerf Kalista received in patch 10.8 less armor and slow percentage from her Rend which makes the Kiting Queen extremely prone to being caught out by enemy champions. She is extremely squishy and requires and extremely high skill ceiling with low reward unlike Aphelios. If you want to play Kalista, do it anywhere else other than the bot lane.
Tristana
Tristana is another crit reliant champion which excels in her siege capabilities as well as long range advantage. However, all of those things are currently outclassed by other champions like Ezreal or Caitlyn which do the same thing as her. Her Rocket Jump also takes too long to animate which is a level down from Ezreal’s Arcane Shift.
Sivir
Sivir has never had any flashy skills which catches the eye of the average League of Legends player. Her reliability as an ADC lies in her Spellshield which allows her to block any incoming spell. Although, the meta doesn’t really call for the need to have a great priority on spellshielding abilities so she’s simply an OK champion to use in ranked games.
[C] – ADC Tier List Champions
Xayah
Xayah has had a long reign in the bottom lane but her mechanics have also become outdated. Without a dominant crit build, she can’t deal that match damage and is generally invisible in the game. She makes a greater impact when she plays with Rakan but with Support priority shifting towards bulkier hook and shield champions, she won’t be having that anytime soon.
[D] – Lowest ADC Tier Champions
Lucian
Lucian can’t play against a support. Lucian has a really strong burst skillset which makes him a really a good solo laner but with the bottom laner always being accompanied by a support, he can’t really do the things he wants to do. Lucian is too vulnerable after bursting his opponent and will most likely die after using all his skills if he is caught out by the enemy champion. His impact in the late game is also very weak.
Kaisa
There was a time when Kaisa ruled the bottom lane as the most feared AD Carry on the rift. That time is not now since she has been placed at the very bottom of the food change. Her extremely short attack range and nerfed down dueling capability makes her an easy kill target. Diving behind enemy lines is also too dangerous a mechanic which makes her Killer Instincts ability quite useless throughout the game.
Isn’t Senna considered an ADC champion?
While Senna is technically labeled as a Marksman, her unique playstyle doesn’t fit that of the generic ADC Marksman. For instance, Senna doesn’t play towards getting CS or gold and requires that he be accompanied by another carry than the traditional support. This is why she isn’t included in the ADC Tier List but is a good pick nonetheless.
Summary of ADC Marksmen in the Tier List
As observed in the ADC Tier List, champions who really benefited from the buff in movement speed and survivability by playing towards positioning and late game prowess makes for a really high tier ADC marksman. Those that don’t benefit from them have a lower priority as they are often outclassed by other champions so you might as well choose a higher tier’d champion with a similar skill kit to adapt with the cruel meta.
While those in the lower tiers are discouraged to use, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be played at all. Oftentimes, players who have a good handle on the game can make a seemingly useless champion into a tool for destruction. To reach this level, however, requires a level of skill and talent that is difficult to reach in a short period of time. Try to master different champions and adapt with the meta in order to have a higher win rate in ranked games.
Marksmen have been able to regain their dominance in the bottom lane which is good news for players who prefer these than chaotic mages or assassins. The ADC position requires for you to have great coordination with your support player so it’s best that you communicate with that person rather than picking fights with them. Lastly, remember to play towards the late game and dominate the rift as the perfect ADC Marksman.