League of Legends: 10 Best Champions For Ranked

Climbing the ranked ladder in League of Legends requires more than just skill; it demands the right champion picks to complement your playstyle and adapt to the evolving meta. With over 160 champions to choose from, finding the best ones for ranked play can be overwhelming, especially when each patch brings changes to abilities and balance.

Whether you prefer carrying games with high-damage assassins, controlling fights as a tanky frontliner, or supporting your team with game-changing utility, there’s a champion for every role and strategy. Picking the right champion can give you a decisive edge and improve your chances of victory in competitive matches.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the 10 best champions for ranked play in League of Legends, highlighting their strengths and why they stand out in the current meta. If you’re looking to secure your climb and dominate the Rift, these are the champions you’ll want in your arsenal.

#10: Janna

Janna is a staple pick for players who want to dominate the support role in ranked play. Her exceptional ability to peel for allies and disrupt enemies makes her an invaluable addition to any team composition. With skills like Howling Gale to knock up opponents and Zephyr to slow them, Janna excels at controlling the battlefield and protecting her team.

Her ultimate, Monsoon, provides a powerful reset during fights, healing allies and pushing enemies away. This makes her a go-to pick for disengaging unfavorable fights or turning the tide in a skirmish. Additionally, her passive, Tailwind, enhances her team’s mobility, which is crucial for map control and rotations.

Janna’s simplicity and impact make her a fantastic pick for beginners and seasoned support players alike. She shines in ranked games where protecting carries and ensuring survivability can secure wins, making her a must-have in your champion pool.

#9: Jinx

Jinx is a powerhouse ADC (Attack Damage Carry) who thrives in ranked play due to her incredible scaling and ability to snowball games. Her kit is designed for high damage output and flashy plays, making her a favorite among players who want to dominate late-game team fights.

Jinx’s Switcheroo! gives her versatility in fights, allowing her to toggle between Pow-Pow, her minigun for rapid damage, and Fishbones, her rocket launcher for splash damage and range. Her Zap! ability helps secure picks or poke enemies, while Flame Chompers! offer valuable crowd control to peel for herself or trap fleeing opponents.

What sets Jinx apart is her passive, Get Excited!, which grants her a burst of movement and attack speed after securing a takedown, enabling her to clean up fights with ease. Her ultimate, Super Mega Death Rocket!, is perfect for finishing off enemies across the map, making her a threat even from afar.

Jinx excels in team compositions that can protect her during fights, allowing her to unleash her damage safely. If you’re looking for an ADC that can carry games and snowball off early kills, Jinx is a top-tier pick in ranked play.

#8: Lulu

Lulu is one of the most versatile enchanters in League of Legends, offering a mix of utility, crowd control, and protection that makes her a staple pick in ranked play. Whether paired with hyper-carry ADCs like Jinx or played as a mid-lane mage, Lulu’s kit is designed to enhance her allies and disrupt her enemies.

Her Pix, Faerie Companion passive adds extra damage to her basic attacks or her allies’ attacks, increasing her impact even in the early game. Glitterlance is a reliable poke and slow ability, great for zoning enemies or catching fleeing targets. Whimsy is a game-changer, allowing Lulu to polymorph an enemy to render them useless or grant a massive movement speed boost to allies.

Lulu’s Help, Pix! shields an ally while boosting their offensive capabilities or grants vision and damage output when used on an enemy. Her ultimate, Wild Growth, is a lifesaving tool that knocks up enemies around the targeted ally while giving them bonus health, making her a key pick for turning the tide of team fights.

Lulu shines in compositions with scaling carries, offering them protection and peeling against divers or assassins. If you’re looking to dominate ranked games with a support that can do it all, Lulu is an excellent choice for consistent utility and team synergy.

#7: Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia is a high-damage mage with exceptional scaling, making her a powerhouse in ranked play when mastered. Known for her sustained DPS and team fight dominance, she can control zones, shred through enemies, and dictate the pace of engagements with her skillful use of abilities.

Her passive, Serpentine Grace, allows her to forgo boots in exchange for bonus movement speed, giving her more item slots to maximize her damage potential. Noxious Blast provides poke and mobility when hitting enemies, while Miasma zones opponents, grounding them and preventing dashes, which is critical against mobile champions.

The heart of her kit lies in Twin Fang, which deals massive damage when spamming poisoned enemies, enabling her to melt through tanks and squishy targets alike. Her ultimate, Petrifying Gaze, is a devastating crowd control tool that stuns enemies facing her, often turning fights in her favor.

Cassiopeia thrives in prolonged fights where she can fully utilize her damage-over-time abilities and crowd control. She pairs exceptionally well with team compositions that can protect her during fights, allowing her to apply relentless pressure. In the hands of a skilled player, Cassiopeia is a ranked game-winner capable of carrying late-game fights and dominating the mid-lane.

#6: Nocturne

Nocturne is a potent jungler who thrives on creating chaos and catching enemies off guard, making him a fantastic pick for ranked play. His ability to isolate targets and capitalize on poor positioning can quickly turn the tide of a game.

Nocturne’s passive, Umbra Blades, provides sustain through AoE damage and healing, allowing him to clear camps efficiently. His Duskbringer grants him bonus movement speed and attack damage when he stays within its trail, making it a powerful tool for both chasing and dueling. Shroud of Darkness, his spell shield, blocks one enemy ability, giving him a crucial edge in skirmishes and team fights.

The highlight of Nocturne’s kit is Paranoia, his ultimate ability. This game-changing skill reduces the vision of all enemies and allows him to dash directly to a target, isolating them for a quick takedown. This ability is particularly effective in disrupting coordinated plays and punishing overextended enemies.

In ranked games, Nocturne excels when his team plays around his ultimate’s cooldown. His presence alone forces enemies to play cautiously, creating opportunities for map control. He synergizes well with aggressive laners who can follow up on his dives, ensuring his ganks lead to meaningful advantages. Nocturne’s combination of map pressure, strong dueling potential, and devastating ultimates makes him a deadly choice for climbing the ranked ladder.

#5: Wukong

Wukong is a versatile champion who shines in both team fights and skirmishes, making him an excellent pick for ranked play. His ability to engage, disrupt, and deal consistent damage makes him a valuable asset in any team composition.

Wukong’s passive, Stone Skin, increases his armor and health regeneration when near enemy champions, giving him extra durability during trades and extended fights. His Crushing Blow is a straightforward damage-dealing ability that also reduces the target’s armor, making it a powerful tool for dueling and shredding tanky opponents. Warrior Trickster, his signature ability, allows Wukong to create a decoy while dashing in a targeted direction, providing both escape potential and deceptive gameplay that can outsmart enemies.

Wukong’s Cyclone, his ultimate ability, is where he truly shines. The spinning knock-up not only deals significant damage but also controls the battlefield, disrupting enemies and enabling his team to follow up effectively. Combined with his mobility and AoE damage, Cyclone is a game-changing tool in team fights and skirmishes alike.

In ranked matches, Wukong excels as a top laner or jungler. He is particularly effective in coordinated plays, where his ability to initiate fights and peel for his team can turn the tide of battles. His adaptability and strong scaling make him a reliable pick for climbing the ranked ladder.

#4: Camille

Camille is a powerhouse champion in ranked play, known for her precision and high skill ceiling. As a top laner, she excels in dueling, split-pushing, and creating impactful plays with her versatile kit. Her mobility and ability to isolate targets make her a nightmare for squishy carries and a major threat in late-game skirmishes.

Her passive, Adaptive Defenses, grants her a shield based on the type of damage her target deals, allowing her to trade effectively in lane and survive crucial fights. Precision Protocol, her Q ability, delivers two strikes, with the second dealing bonus true damage when timed perfectly, making it her primary tool for bursting down opponents. With Tactical Sweep, Camille deals area damage while healing from the enemies hit in the outer cone, giving her sustain and poke in lane.

Hookshot/Wall Dive is Camille’s signature mobility skill, allowing her to engage or escape with ease. It also provides a brief stun when used on champions, making it essential for initiating fights or locking down key targets. Her ultimate, The Hextech Ultimatum, isolates a single enemy in an inescapable zone, forcing them to face her in a duel. This makes her highly effective at eliminating priority targets like ADCs or mages during team fights.

Camille thrives in ranked play due to her ability to adapt to various situations. She can dominate lanes with aggressive trades, split-push to pressure objectives, or dive into backlines to neutralize threats. With practice, she can carry games single-handedly, making her a go-to pick for climbing the ranked ladder.

#3: Darius

Darius is a dominant force in the top lane and one of the most reliable champions for climbing the ranked ladder in League of Legends. With his straightforward yet powerful kit, he excels at punishing mistakes, winning trades, and snowballing leads into victories. As a bruiser, Darius thrives in extended fights, where his abilities allow him to deal massive damage and sustain through combat.

Hemorrhage, his passive, applies bleed stacks to enemies with each attack or ability hit, amplifying his damage over time. Once he reaches five stacks on an enemy, Darius gains Noxian Might, dramatically increasing his attack damage and striking fear into opponents. This passive alone can turn the tide of a skirmish or team fight in his favor.

His Decimate ability is a wide-swinging axe attack that deals significant damage in its outer range while healing him for each enemy hit. This makes it a potent tool for both poking enemies and sustaining during tough trades. Crippling Strike, his empowered basic attack, slows targets and deals bonus damage, making it ideal for locking down fleeing opponents or securing kills.

Apprehend is Darius’s utility ability, pulling enemies toward him and applying a slow, which is perfect for catching opponents off-guard or interrupting channelled abilities. His ultimate, Noxian Guillotine, is a true damage finisher that refreshes its cooldown when used to secure a kill. This makes Darius a terrifying presence in team fights, as he can chain kills and dominate battles with ease.

Darius shines in ranked play due to his ability to take over games from the laning phase. He punishes weaker matchups, exerts immense pressure in team fights, and serves as both a frontline tank and a damage dealer. If you’re looking for a champion who can carry hard and instill fear in your enemies, Darius is a top-tier choice.

#2: Talon

Talon is a lethal assassin and one of the best champions for dominating the mid-lane in ranked League of Legends. With his unmatched mobility, high burst damage, and ability to roam effectively, Talon thrives in creating chaos on the map and shutting down key enemy targets.

His passive, Blade’s End, allows Talon to stack wounds on enemies with his abilities. After three stacks, his next basic attack deals massive bleed damage over time, which can secure kills even if enemies try to escape. This makes him a constant threat to squishy champions, as he can burst them down quickly before they can react.

Noxian Diplomacy, Talon’s Q, is a versatile ability that lets him leap to an enemy and deal significant damage. It works well for both closing gaps and executing low-health targets. His Rake (W) is a ranged ability that sends out and retracts blades, slowing enemies and dealing damage twice. This ability is excellent for poking opponents in lane and setting up kills.

Talon’s Assassin’s Path (E) is what sets him apart from other assassins. It allows him to vault over terrain with no cooldown per wall, giving him unparalleled mobility and making him one of the best roamers in the game. This ability lets Talon gank other lanes with ease and return to safety before the enemy can respond.

Finally, Talon’s ultimate, Shadow Assault, unleashes a ring of blades around him that turn him invisible for a short duration. Upon reactivation or after the invisibility ends, the blades converge, dealing massive damage. This makes his ultimate an excellent tool for engaging, escaping, or finishing off enemies in team fights.

Talon’s strength lies in his ability to snowball out of control by picking off enemies and influencing other lanes. With map awareness and the ability to capitalize on his roaming potential, Talon can single-handedly shift the momentum of the game in his team’s favor. For ranked players looking to carry games and thrive in a high-pressure environment, Talon is a top-tier pick.

#1: Ambessa

Ambessa dominates the top lane with her unrelenting pressure, immense sustain, and ability to control fights, making her the ultimate pick for climbing in ranked League of Legends. As a juggernaut with versatile utility, she excels in both extended trades and team fights, making her a nightmare for opponents.

Ambessa’s passive, Endless Resilience, grants her bonus resistances based on missing health, making her incredibly durable even when she’s low. This allows her to bait enemies into overcommitting, only to turn the fight around and secure the kill. Her innate sustain makes her difficult to dislodge from the lane, enabling her to build an early lead and apply constant pressure.

Her Crushing Blow (Q) is a core ability that deals significant damage while applying a stacking debuff that reduces the target’s armor. In drawn-out trades, this ability ensures Ambessa outdamages her opponents, and its low cooldown allows her to maintain lane dominance.

Ambessa’s Defiant Stance (W) is a defensive ability that absorbs damage from enemy champions and turrets. After a brief delay, it unleashes a powerful shockwave, dealing AoE damage. This skill allows her to survive in extended trades while punishing enemies who try to engage or poke her under the turret.

Warpath (E) is her gap-closing ability, letting her charge toward enemies while knocking them back upon impact. This ability can be used aggressively to initiate trades or defensively to disengage when outnumbered. Its utility in both offense and defense makes it a versatile tool in her kit.

Ambessa’s ultimate, Iron Sovereign, transforms her into a juggernaut in team fights. She gains bonus health and area damage around her, while also slowing enemies with each attack. This ability makes her a terror in close-quarters skirmishes and allows her to peel for her team or dive into the enemy backline with devastating efficiency.

With her strong laning phase, excellent scaling, and team-fight presence, Ambessa is a top-tier pick for players looking to dominate ranked games. Her blend of durability and damage makes her one of the most reliable champions for carrying matches, regardless of the state of the game.

Conclusion

Climbing the ranks in League of Legends demands skill, strategy, and the right champion to suit your playstyle. Whether you’re an aggressive jungler, a supportive enchanter, or a dominant top-laner, choosing the right character can be the difference between victory and defeat. From Talon’s explosive roams to Ambessa’s unstoppable presence in fights, the champions highlighted in this guide offer a mix of power, utility, and adaptability for ranked success.

Mastering these champions and understanding their strengths can elevate your gameplay, enabling you to climb the ladder with confidence. Remember, consistent practice and teamwork remain key, but having the right champion in your arsenal can give you the edge to shine in even the most competitive matches. So, dive in, pick your favorites, and take your ranked journey to the next level!