Rounding Out My Champion Pool for Ranked

taznkid··4 votes·700 views

I have been practicing about 1.5 seasons now, so I am now getting ready to try climbing ranked. I took a dip in Season 7, placing Silver 1 after placements. I want to reach Gold just to prove to my bronzie friends that I am better than the average player. I was a Pantheon main, but after seeing the limits of click to target skills I switched to Shen and have been happier with more consistent games regardless of match ups (since Shen scales better, farms under turret and unfavorable match ups better).

I need a secondary top pick though (Shen is getting banned or picked more than I expected), one that is a solid pick but can also cover some of Shen`s harder match ups (like Illaoi or Yorick). I am thinking Cho Gath or Sion, but want some secondary opinion.

Also wondering if I should pick ADC or Support secondary. I am a solid Jhin, Caitlyn, and Ashe player (all of which suck right now unfortunately), but I prefer to play make, as I am a decent mage support as well as Thresh (by extension Blitzcrank too, but I like to have more peel options for my carries). I am afraid to put support secondary because I fear getting placed support too often though my primary is top (more confident in my support play than my ADC play though, especially in current meta...then again, I have had much more ADC practice lately than Support).

Thanks in advance for your input.

6 Comments

Vapor Wave Vibes2 votes

For top lane I would say sion since he's pretty good right now. Other than that illaoi. For bot lane I would say support is a better role for climbing than the adc since yeah adc is the most important role right now, having a good support in lower elos is rare. So unless you can play a solid enough to consistently carry your support and all he has to be is a meat shield, I'd say you should go with being a support like brand, zyra, or morg

13900 Essence1 votes

Ornn is still great and isn't in the spotlight for nerfs after his last round of them. Camille is also good if you are looking for more of a carry/split push playstyle. Gangplank is extremely good right now, but they are in the process of gutting his kit instead of nerfing what makes him overtuned (klepto).

Support may have less pressure to perform but games are essentially out of your control post-20 minutes. I'd go with ADC unless you like to gamble on your team being good.

taznkid1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Serial Tickler,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=yV6yuWJv,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2018-02-19T03:54:36.123+0000)

Ornn is still great and isn't in the spotlight for nerfs after his last round of them. Camille is also good if you are looking for more of a carry/split push playstyle. Gangplank is extremely good right now, but they are in the process of gutting his kit instead of nerfing what makes him overtuned (klepto).

Support may have less pressure to perform but games are essentially out of your control post-20 minutes. I'd go with ADC unless you like to gamble on your team being good.

Tbh I prefer tankier champions (than Gangplank)since they tend to be more forgiving, and usually greatly boosts my team´s teamfight since everyone and their dog seems focused on just killing things. I kind of forgot about Ornn, but I will now definitely keep him in mind. I do like to split push, but with the ability to join my team as necessary (because for some reason they like to pick fights when they are outnumbered). I have considered Camille, but do not feel she is particularly reliable playing from behind.

Average Gerg1 votes

Nasus, Gnar, GP, Camille, and Sion are all great options for top. You'll definitely get Support more often if you put it secondary, but you likely will still have mostly top games. Though that depends on the RNG solo queue gods.

You may just want to pick up some mid laners if you want to maintain play making effectiveness. Twisted Fate has a similar map effectiveness as Shen. And Galio all the same. Orianna is another good play making mid laner. Could be worth it. Also Mid secondary is an easy way to almost always get your primary role.

taznkid2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Gregori the Gray,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=yV6yuWJv,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2018-02-19T06:14:35.016+0000)

Nasus, Gnar, GP, Camille, and Sion are all great options for top. You'll definitely get Support more often if you put it secondary, but you likely will still have mostly top games. Though that depends on the RNG solo queue gods.

You may just want to pick up some mid laners if you want to maintain play making effectiveness. Twisted Fate has a similar map effectiveness as Shen. And Galio all the same. Orianna is another good play making mid laner. Could be worth it. Also Mid secondary is an easy way to almost always get your primary role.

You know that is...actually really insightful. I do not know why I did not think of just trying the other solo lane. Now I can consider picking up Galio and Twisted Fate. Thanks!

Average Gerg1 votes

I'm a Mid/Top main myself. And I remember my first climb to Gold. The path is littered with toxic teammates, but the benefit is that they become less frequent the higher you climb.

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