There has been some discussions and some arguments on which role is the "hardest" or "easiest" but let me ask it as a poll instead. And with a different angle. If you had a team of five players. Which role would you prefer the one which is the most "noob" to take?
EDIT: Remember the poll!
Pika31030 votesAs an ADC main, I know it's going to be inevitable there will eventually be 10 people in my lane. I want a competent support, I'm gonna have to spend a large fraction of the game with them. I want a smart jungler that can hold pressure around the dragon. I want a skilled mid who can open up room to roam. Lastly, I want a strong Top laner that can TP in to swing the fight.
The correct answer to your question: I myself want to be the weakest player on my team. I'm confident in my own ability to outplay my enemy laner and not be a hindrance to the team. Thus if my allies are all stronger than myself, I can rest assured the game is in capable hands.
Xenomancers2 votesI say this all the time. Let me be the worst player on my team. This happens never.
Noksterz2 votesThis guy! We need more you's in L.o.L.
Partholonian2 votesThe correct answer to your question: I myself want to be the weakest player on my team. I'm confident in my own ability to outplay my enemy laner and not be a hindrance to the team. Thus if my allies are all stronger than myself, I can rest assured the game is in capable hands.
I kind of like the attitude here, but if your allies are all stronger than yourself, then most of your enemies are too, so your confidence in outplaying the enemy laner is not justified; they will probably be better than you because you're playing slightly above your own real skill level.
In other words, if you're really the weakest player on your own team, then the enemy team probably has only one player as weak as you and the rest are stronger.
Reshaos5 votesHis comment is completely true though. I would change the "outplay" to "playing smart" to really drive it home though.
For example, one of the games I played today as ADC Ezreal I didn't do too well in the beginning laning phase. So when they took our tower I played farm simulator while constantly shooting my ulty in the midlane where my team was fighting 4v5 majority of the game and winning.
If someone wasn't in my vision and I didn't have wards above me then I would just recall back to base to buy. I wasn't even freezing but just pushing trying to take their tower....SAFELY. They were forced multiple times to send someone to try to kill me or push me back, which I would just recall. That also helped the midlane fight.
My team was able to take tier 1, tier 2, and the hibitor tower while I took tier 1 and tier 2 bot tower. We all recalled and the enemy tried to deny vision around baron where I finally joined the team fight and we completely aced them without losing anyone.
In the end, I went 4-3-11 after starting out as 0-3-0. It is all about knowing how to play when behind.
Here is the match details: http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2092651108/218861438
IcyPepper1 votesI wish all ADC mains were like you.
Not that all ADC mains are bad, but you really are a great example.
swiftsnipe8 votesSend em top. Most top laners just need to get tanky. doesn't matter how bad they lose.
AlwaysByMySide42 votesSend em top. Most top laners just need to get tanky. doesn't matter how bad they lose.
Enjoy the 9/0 Fiora/Graves/Quinn/Riven/Pantheon/etc.
Top lane is the most unforgiving lane in the game. You don't get a support to help you out, the lane is long so prepare to lose a lot of farm or die if you fall really behind, and you basically never see your jungler's face since he's too busy helping mid and bot.
forresto7 votestrue but: no one wants a fed mid laner no one wants a fed adc. a jungle who's really good can completely turn a game in their direction. Plus, they can fill the role of a carry as certain champs like fid, diana etc. therefore a bad jungle is a massive wasted opportunity. a top lane who gets wrecked is certainly a problem, but unless their opponent proceeds to destroy the game, it's generally less of a problem than if another lane got fed.
Anu3isII6 votesYou forgot that bot lane is a 2v2 lane... One good support can cover the weaknesses of a bad ADC, while a bad support with a good ADC will most probably just play passive (because bad supports know only that specific play style...)
Stevev451 votesThat support can't make the ADC team fight properly though.
Anu3isII1 votesTrue, but if your ADC is good enough to right click on enemies, your only job is to protect him as much as you can if you play Utility Supports. If you play tanks, just hard engage on enemies when your whole team is there.
I sincerely prefer to play Snowbally Utility Supports (Morgana, Sona, Karma) to finish the game before teamfights happen.
Duke Anax3 votesNo they can't, neither Death Sentence nor Flay work on allies and even Braum can only take so much.
And bad supports usually play offensive.
Unstoppable Monk2 votesWeird, in NA the good supports are offensive due to the extreme amount of terrible ADC mains.
Duke Anax3 votesWell our good supports are offensive too.
It's just that our bad supports die trying (;
Unstoppable Monk5 votesThe Demacian Way.
Anu3isII1 votesHave you ever played with a bad Blitz Support? 95% of those players buy coin and just watch your CS, they don't even try to use their grab once!
And the classical "I just heal" Soraka... The last change to her W was literally meant for this kind of players xD
swiftsnipe1 votesyea that's why you put the derp in that lane. Their job on the team is often being the tank. They can fill that role while being 0/9 after they get 2 items.
obviously a fed fiora is bad. But i would rather deal with her than a fed leblanc that has no counterplay or a fed adc that i will never reach.
points:
Alphadef16 votesExcept a bad player probably won't build defense
Hyrum Graff7 votesExcept a bad player probably won't build defense
lol, wp
Left Hook Larry2 votesHell no. You die once top lane you are fucked.
Slamurai Jack6 votesDepends on how much worse we're talking about here. If they're only a little bit worse, I'd rather they be on adc than anything else. A mediocre adc can very easily be carried by the rest of their team. ADC is easily my worst role but good supports can get me through the laning phase and good tanks on my team can make even me look good in teamfights. If you're talking significantly worse, I'd rather they jungle. They'll just feed if you put them anywhere else and at least they should be able to farm decently. It's much easier to play around a bad jungler than you play around a super fed enemy.
Sire Hippington2 votesi agree on the adc part, but not on the jungler. I think it's most horrible to play about a bad jungler, if not impossible(uless the opposing one is just as incompetent)
Slamurai Jack9 votesIt's obviously horrible. But I believe it's the least horrible position of the 5 to have a terrible player. A terrible mid or top laner leads to a super fed enemy solo laner that's impossible to deal with. A terrible adc or support will bring down both players while likely feeding 2 enemies. A terrible jungler by comparison is, at worst, going to leave your team to deal with the enemy jungler on their own. Pick safe champions and play smart, and this is manageable. There's very little manageable about an enemy mid, top, or adc that's 5/0 at 10 minutes.
Sire Hippington3 votesI usually find it easier to contain one fed laner than 3 that are ahead, as that usually is what a bad jugler leads to. If the opposing jungler has free reign cause he isn't challanged, he will easily take over the game unless multiple of his lanes loose hard.
And if the dude is so bad that he will go 0/5 as adc in 10 min despite a good sup, then it doesn't matter there you put him, you'r prettymuch screwed either way
Slamurai Jack3 votesAdc is probably the other best place to put him if he's really bad, yes. But for me, the absolute worst place to put him is in either solo lane. Solo lanes that get really fed early are absurdly hard to shut down and tend to use their power to win the rest of the map.
Sire Hippington6 votesadc, if the sup is good he can carrie him through the lane, and if the rest of the team does well it's usually sufficiant for the adc to just rightclick. Decent CSing is somewhat required though.
Jungle is the probably most important and als complicated role, imo most games get decided by who has the better jungler in the first 10 min. Support has more impact on the early lane, if the sup is shit, the adc will suffer, and proper warding is really important. Mid is also a incredible imprtant role, especially if mid works well to gether with the jungle, as midlane can most easily roam to other lanes or into the oppsing jungle if ahead. Top sadly does not have a big impact - unless it really snowballs out of their own. Putting your weakest member here risks exactly that.
however, that all depends alot on what 'worst' means. If a player has bad meachanics, bug good understanding of the game and macroplay, jungle with a champ like xin would be a good spot, or sup with someone like sona or taric. Even mid with someone like any should work out, though mid you should atleast know how to cs. If a player has good mechanics but poor macro, top or adc should work out for them.
Jokerman091 votesjust tell him to get 
and as long as he has a basic concept of jungling, its ezpz
foinhas1 votesNot really. Jax is one of the weakest champions pre-six and very easy to invade. Plus, since he's a snowball champ, if he doesn't get a couple kills until 10 min mark, he won't do sheit. In fact, if you invade him early with something like shivana or lee and get a few camps, you'll pretty much shut him down for the rest of the game
disregardable5 votesBad player can take top lane. Jungle is pretty much the determining role in the game. If you have the better jungler, you almost always win. So not that one.
I'm going to take ADC, so that's out. As the AD, I know you need a decent support. That leaves top and mid. A fed enemy mid laner will one shot me. A fed top laner has less upfront damage, and i can probably kite and position around him.
If I didn't take ADC though, I'd vote ADC. Even if the enemy ADC is fed, I can just one shot them.
Zero Skill Tank4 votesThis is really hard call, most people will say top or support, but support is actually very important role AND most supports actually rely on mechanical skill - if you miss Thresh hook and flay, you don't have any easy high damage ability to make up for it, you just turned from extremely impactfull champion to useless one. Fed toplaner might seem less upfront scary because he won't roam, but fed toplaners are the often the hardest ones to deal with later, and top is quite a hard lane when you just need to beat your opponent 1v1 all while perfectly managing wave to not lose cs. Obviously I don't want bad midlaner, so enemy assassin can't snowball on him and ADC is a demanding role.
I vote jungle, I know how impactfull this role is, but there are some pretty easy junglers like say 
and if I'm on voicechat with the dude I can just tell him where to go so he will be fine, and if it's really bad he can always just farm up devourer. Laners are in constant pressure, it is hard to make someone bad to suddenly position nice and avoid bad trades.
That is if we have one noticeably bad dude and 4 relatively equal ones. If one of us is much better than others, I'd like him to go jungle as well to snowball others.
S H A Y C 04 votesThe problem here is that every role is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL. Any one of them being trash is a serious problem, because they are the most likely to feed. That being said, when laning phase ends who on your team will has the least negative impact if they are behind and underfed.
Supports: They are designed to function well on low amounts of gold and can continue to do their job. Enemy ADC's being fed is a problem..but as you all have found out already, any fed enemy is a problem..at least this one will have 0 defensive items and still be able to be assassinated by your mid laner when the 5v5 comes around.
Its not ideal, and presumably your carry is also under fed which makes it worse. but there is still a way to win the 5v5 as long as your front line stays relevant. Your support will remain relevant with their kit, and we didnt put our garbage on our other tank/anti carry top lane or jungle so there is still hope.
my opinion
cuddlykitten43 votesBad support is a bad idea. You've played ranked right? At least half the games are lost because the support doesn't understand the role and just assumes it's a "my team will get me a win" role.
ModThe Djinn4 votesGoing to go out on a limb and select "Marksman" here. A few reasons for this --
--It lanes with someone who can help it survive. A good support can't usually WIN a lane, but they can prevent you from losing it hard. --It doesn't create an unstoppable monster like a fed Jungle / Mid / Top can create in the early-to-mid game. --If it DOES create a monster, they're a Marksman, and thus typically easy to jump on and kill. --Marksman need less awareness to function. A good Marksman has a lot, and is deadly -- but a bad one can still contribute quite a lot by just surviving and right-clicking whatever is within range. --You lose less CC / initiation / important peeling if the Marksman isn't on point. Other roles bring more valuable utility to the team. --Your enemies may still target the Marksman first, meaning your worst player is the first to die -- which leaves your better players more time to position to exploit the enemy's dive.
67chrome2 votesWhich role would you want the "worst" player on your team to have?
Actually tried this out with a Skype buddy of mine that's SR level ~10 with a group of me and other level 30s.
He did really well with Tahm Kench Support. Pretty solid with Amumu support as well. Not so much with top, mid, or ADC.
As a support main I can certainly appreciate how much of a difference a good support player can make; you can snowball lane and send 2 people ahead rather than 1, then transition into a crucial initiation/counter-invitation roll late game. But if you have voice chat you can generally get your buddy on-board with ~70% of what they need to be doing as well as teach them new mechanics like how to freeze lane, play passively, which minions to go after with Brace, how to coordinate attacks, who to focus first, and when to strike: allowing them moments to shine when they're otherwise at a serious skill/rune/mastery disadvantage.
With trinkets, max ward per player limitations, and all huge boost in free gold for a support you don't really need to be that on top of things to make a difference.
But throw a player at a huge skill disadvantage in top, mid, or ADC? you're looking at serious issues and generally a 7-1-4 carry, along with the poor guy having 1/3rd the CS of his opponent.
A few seasons ago it was top lane as you were stuck on an island vs. a tanky derp, but with all the carry top-lanners that can run there now, teleport being more prevalent and really favoring strong map-awareness, and the current tanky DPS itemization placing top-lane carries on equal footing with mid and bot-lane carries, you're going to have issues when someone starts loosing top lane to a Riven/Fiora/Jax/Darius/etc.
Carpe Victoria2 votesIt's hard to say. I think the defining factor is whether they would feed really bad. If they're kinda just not doing much impactful but not feeding super hard i'd say top since it's isolated. If they're likely to feed maybe adc because you can shut down a fed enemy adc easier than fed Jax/Fiora/Nasus etc. and you can spoon feed the bot lane back up with ganks from jungle and mid easier. Big factor on who the enemy top laner is or if your team has enough damage to win without an adc. I'll argue the sup is more important than adc because if the sup is the bad player they probably won't be able to protect a good adc late game so then you just end up with 2 people shut down.
Or, well, if your team is really likely to do well in every lane i guess you could just put them in jungle!
Xonra2 votesJungle would be my last choice here for starters, as jungle easily decidea games early, and a good jungler can help a bad laner.
Support needa to be competent for multiple reasons so not there.
Mid needs to know how to not die to strong bursty mid laners, as well as roaming when needed and so on. No way I would choose mid.
Adc is what I would pick if I wasn't playing support. A jungler can help a bad asc but a supports success is heavily tiee to adc unless they go roam or laning phase ends early.
Top would be my choice if I were putting 5 people in a game I wasnt playing in. They can do so much to pull the enemy top to make other lanes easier, or be pushed under tower to give your jungler easy gank opportunities. A fed Fiora sucks, but she is reliant on tp to make plays in other lanes, where a fed Zed just walks to bot or top and gets more fed.
Anu3isII2 votesIn my opinion, a Solo Laner can be really powerful (and deadly), especially if fed.
A good jungler can apply pressure all around the map, secure objectives, and make lanes snowball.
So the ADC and the Support are left. While some of you would disagree with me, having a bad Support is like playing 1v2 for the ADC. They don't really know how to play in the lane, to punish mistake and most importantly, to position. About the bad ADC... I think he can be carried. And a good support will make sure that the carry will survive, unless the ADC is horrible ;)
TanzLeona2 votesNo, having a bad support is like playing 1v3 for the ADC. Especially when the enemy 
and jungler is hiding in the bush forever and the trinket is on cooldown, and the duo laner 
is standing behind you, typing "oh I didn't expect him to be there". And later in the game, "well at least I am not the one that's feeding"
True story.
Anu3isII2 votesYeah, I never really met this scenario because when I play Bot, I either play 
or 
xD
I love so much to taunt enemies with them, is like they don't understand I want them to give me free Mana Pots/let me engage on them with ease.
But I understand what you say, bad supports are a real nightmare :(
TanzLeona2 votesA bad Jungler feeds every lane even if the laners are doing at least somewhat ok.
A bad mid laner feeds the enemy mid so that they can snowball and one shot any squishy champions.
A bad support never buys sightstone, leaves the ADC to die, does no damage in teamfights and probably is not even tanky. It can be so much worse if the support feeds after the ADC is dead.
A bad adc will be ok as long as he doesn't feed much in lane. (He will die to enemy assassins in team fights no matter what) If the ADC feeds the enemy ADC too many times in lane (2 or 3), the game would get so much harder, but still winnable.
A bad top lane will be totally fine as long as he builds tanky. (A fed enemy Fiora? Well if she's all the enemy damage source , she will build full damage and be an easily focused squishy)
TL;DR, Jg> Mid > Supp > Adc > Top.
SpecterVonBaren3 votesProblem with that, a bad Top will just keep building damage even if they've fed 5 kills in 8 minutes.
stealthfox941 votes
Don't worry guys I counter Fiora
An Enemy is legendary
DeathcapShaco2 votesI'm saying ADC because if everyone else is good and causes pressure, the ADC can stand back and auto.
SoMNia2 votesMid. Ideally, you have more than one carry, so if there's going to be a weak link, it's better if there's some redundancy. Mid is easier to gank due to less vision and, well, being mid, especially if they're getting pushed to tower a lot. A weak player in a duo lane puts both of them behind, so that's not a good option. Top lane usually becomes the cornerstone of the team's frontline, so you want them doing well, though tank junglers are a thing, and so are carry tops. The jungler is in the best position to cover for a weak player, and the designated custodian of objective control is not the one you want falling behind.
DIRU2 votesAFK
10Tickler2 votesMid.
Midlaners are inherently Squishy, and while they can do huge bursts of damage, it's a single spell rotation, not that hard to pull off.
If the enemy Mid gets fed, that's fine, they're squishy and can be focused easy. ADC would be the other option, All they need to /do/ is AA, but positioning, Wave-handling and ult placement's more important on an Ashe/Lucian/Miss Fortune then it is on say...Syndra, Heimerdinger or Yasuo.
Toplaners generally either become Supertanks or Rolling balls of Damage stats, so we don't want either of those getting Fed so massively it hurts, and Jungling is all about presence, something that newer players don't understand quite yet.
TacoTheKitten2 votesJungle. You can't feed in the jungle.
Solidair32 votesTop lane so they can afk push and die all the time cuz they're only worth like 30 gold eventually.
Bad support means fed enemy adc so I'd rather both bot laners be good, mid is so important for early to mid game pressure they can't feed.
So yeah, top.
stealthfox941 votesI knew most people would say top. Thing is top does tend to be the least forgiving lane.
