Offmeta ADC Botlanes: Because Marksmen are trash

I know I'm not the only one to have been noticing the creeping of some offmeta picks into botlane. Bot is usually the one lane that is stagnant in every meta, always dominated by ranged AA based champions that can siege towers. However, the current meta is very unfavorable for them due to the abundance of tanks an assassins, so we're seeing a lot of different picks in botlane.

I wanted to make a sort of megathread reference post for all of the offmeta botlane champions/combinations that I have seen, expect to see, or would like to see, as well as get some input from the community about other combinations they could see working at some point in the future. Below, you'll find a mix of some of the champions we've already seen taken botlane, as well as some picks that I theorize will be taken there eventually or could succeed there.

#1: APC Bot

This is probably the most well-known offmeta botlane pick at the moment, originally played by Shiphtur and further popularized by some LoL streamers, YouTubers, and other content creators. Ziggs is taken bot because he can successfully lane against Caitlyn, the dominate ADC pick at the moment. He can match or even outpoke her, and against other champions that can't poke as well, they don't stand a chance. He also brings sieging and waveclear that matches and even outclasses many ADC picks, so he's had quite a bit of success playing the position. The only real downside is that if your team is not coordinated, you may end up lacking in AD DPS, or even AD in general.

#2: ADC

This pick got a little bit of attention earlier this month and last month due to a high Diamond player on EUW (I believe) playing it toward the end of last season. It's a very cheesy pick, but because of Sion's high base damage and decent scalings, he can quite easily get a kill or two early game and completely shut down the enemy botlane until they inevitably scale into the lategame. The general idea is to pair him with an aggressive support (most preferred is Bard, because Sion can line up minions for Bard to land stuns where he normally couldn't; however, champions like Leona, Thresh, Blitzcrank, and Alistar all work as well) and cheese the enemy botlane early on. This usually involves waiting in tribush after the enemy botlane leashes to try and pick up a kill or two, and snowballing that early lead by camping the bushes between enemy towers to spawnkill. His Q allows for pretty decent waveclear after he gets some AD, and he can afford to act as an engage for his team lategame since he deals most of his damage when dead anyway.

#3: APC Bot

I'm not sure if this one was ever popular, but it does have its merits. Malzahar brings quite a bit of DPS through the form of his E to the table, and his Voidlings help give him a bit of pushing power. It definitely doesn't match the pushing power of an ADC, but it's better than most mages. Malzahar pairs especially well with Supports like Tahm Kench and Sion, because they can launch minions affected with Malefic Visions at the enemy botlane for free harass. His passive shield can help mitigate some poke, and his waveclear is relatively decent compared to most meta ADCs.

#4: APC Bot

This pick has also never really been "meta," but Azir is the closest to DPS you'll find among mages. He isn't the strongest right now, but he has the DPS with his soldiers, a gapcloser, an escape, an initiation, self-peel, waveclear, and pretty good pushing capabilities. He can harass enemies under their tower, and his passive makes losing a tower forgiving and makes taking a tower even more punishing.

#5: APC Bot

Another pseudo-DPS mage, Cassiopeia has some of the tools to succeed in botlane as well. She gets to do some damage much earlier than an ADC would, and can keep the damage consistent if she lands her Q. Not to mention that lots of ADCs only have one repositioning ability, which can be mitigated by Cass. Her ultimate has some gamechanging potential, and combined with her own inherent ability to kite, she can self peel relatively well.

#6: / Bot

This one is a sort of combo lane, which I'm certain has never been more than a trollpick. However, it makes for some really easy cheese kills in the early game. Anivia can easily wall directly behind the enemy botlane to give Poppy a free stun, followed by an Anivia stun. Not the mention that Poppy is unbelievably strong in the current meta, and Anivia has the ability to waveclear and push like most mages. Anivia bursts for a huge amount of damage as well, and boasts strong self peel. Combined with Poppy's peel, this lane is likely to be very difficult to gank as well.

#7: Bot

This lane was joked about upon Ivern's release, but it really does make for an easy early game. Rengar has always been a fun trollpick ADC botlane because of the abundance of bushes. They allow him to farm more easily than most melee champions, and give him easy engages even upon ranged champions. He can also use them to continually keep up with a kiting ADC if they run near the bushes. Add in an Ivern, who can allow Rengar to keep up even when the enemy ADC is in the middle of the lane, and you've got a pretty sick combo. These two also combo their CCs well, leaving the enemy ADC helplessly rooted while they're blown up. Also, ADC Rengar can afford to still build Assassin. He may not have the best pushing or sieging, but he can dominate lane and continue to delete the enemy ADC even into the lategame.

#8: and , , or

This combo works nearly the same as the Anivia/Poppy combo, but allows for much more versatility. In the Anivia/Poppy combo, the "ADC" of the duo was the one making terrain, and was also the only ranged champion. Thus, it would have been unwise to use another melee champion to make terrain for Poppy. However, if we use Gnar as the ADC, we can afford to use a melee champion that makes terrain. Gnar has the range to farm safely in this lane, as well as his boomerang for harass. For an even more poke-heavy lane, Anivia can be used as the support. This also leaves a large lateral wall for Gnar to ult both enemy laners into. If Yorick or Jarvan IV is used as the support, this lane will scale into incredibly tanky monsters. Yorick will be able to help destroy towers botlane and force easy dragons, while Jarvan IV provides more lategame Wombo potential with Gnar.

#9: DPS Bot

This one isn't too much of a stretch. Kayle can be a very viable DPS botlaner with an Attack Speed centric build, while picking up a bit of CDR to keep her E up almost indefinitely. Not to mention that she can use her ultimate to make risky dives lategame, and also afford to shred enemy teams with no peel whatsoever. She takes awhile to get off the ground, but when she does, her AoE will decimate entire teams while her Attack Speed shreds towers and objectives.

#10: Bot

Kennen has been seen as an offmeta Support and ADC in the past, and for good reason. As an ADC, he has inherent onhit damage to amplify his autos, a bit of self peel, and a decent engage. He can also still build full AP to burst and engage for his team. As a support, he has AoE lockdown, damage, peel, and a lategame engage. He can also farm safely and still harass with Q in botlane.

#11: APC Bot

Karthus Bot is an interesting pick. He can be played botlane like he would be played mid, but you almost want to treat him like ADC Sion as you get into the lategame. The difference is that Sion has a stellar early game, while Karthus' is sort of lacking. However, Karthus can farm safely in order to scale. He waveclears incredibly well, has very light self peel, and can set up some decent ganks for his jungler with his wall. His real strength, however, is lategame. Once he gets some items, he can afford to suicide directly into the enemy team if his team runs out of peel. His AoE damage from Defile, combined with whatever Qs he manages to land, and his ultimate, can chunk entire teams for half of their hp, and even manage to kill multiple enemies if he positions himself well in a jungle corridor or the like.

#12: ADC Bot

This one has never really been recognized as anything but a trollpick, but it does get played pretty often in normals for fun. However, it does have its merits. Yasuo is probably THE best meleecarry against ranged champions, because of his mobility and windwall. Where champions like Tryndamere, Master Yi, and Fiora would get poked out of lane and never get a chance to scale up, Yasuo can farm with Q and still easily harass by dashing through minions and windwalling incoming poke. Paired with a Support like Zac, Malphite, or Alistar, Yasuo can almost freely win the lane at level 6. He also boasts great waveclear if he picks up Shiv, and can provide tons of damage and CC in a teamfight despite being melee.

#13: APC Bot

This pick used to be a bit better when Ryze has more DPS, but what he lost in DPS he gained in waveclear and burst. Ryze can easily pick up early kills by snaring an enemy for long enough for his support to land their CC, and can hard push lanes with his EQ combos. Despite not having as much DPS as other carries botlane, he can afford this due to his excessive burst and lockdown. His shield and movespeed give him an ability to kite more easily, as well as survive ganks. His ultimate can also act as an engage lategame.

#14: ADC/APC Bot

This pick lies right on the border of viable and troll. Teemo's blind allows him to counter the ADCs that rely exclusively on AAs, and his ranged AAs let him farm safely. He lacks any form of mobility, so he can be vulnerable to ganks and aggressive supports, but he does boast decent damage when built either AD or AP. AD builds will let him hurt tanks and towers, while AP builds give better waveclear and objective control. He does fall off tremendously lategame when he doesn't have a great opportunity to set up shrooms before a fight or single out the enemy ADC, but he's not a terrible pick otherwise.

#15: Support/APC/ADC

This pick is incredibly versatile. Twisted Fate has the ability to act as a Support with his point/click Stun, his heavy poke, and mid-lategame engage and roams. However, he can also build full AP and be the carry botlane. He has the damage to potentially burst enemy squishies 100-0, clear waves with ease, and take towers quickly with Lich Bane procs. He has a bit of self peel, and a decent engage and catch ability. When built AD, he has much more DPS with his E, and some inherent Attack Speed. His W still scales off of AD, so he doesn't lose a ton of ability damage, and can still shred towers when building a Sheen item. His W still acts as self peel, and while he may not have the same waveclear, it's still relatively decent. He can still make picks with his ultimate when built AD, but he likely won't have the burst to kill most people right away. However, his ultimate CAN be used to reposition behind a fight or chase someone afterwards, to keep his DPS up.

Well, this is all I've got. I'm sure you all have more suggestions and strategies you've tried botlane before, so drop them in the comments! I'd love to try some of them out. Feel free to add anything you think I've missed in the strategies above as well!