Dominion Top Lane Tier List

I've decided to post some quick comments about every champion in the game. Here's A-tier and B-tier.

#A-tier: Amumu: Max his Q. You can either build him as a full tank, or go Rylai’s + Liandry’s. Get max CDR, as with any tank (except Shen). Borderline B-tier. Annie: Bulky mage that both bursts and deals great damage. One of the easiest champions to do well with. Braum: Now, Braum is a bit trickier to play compared to most tanks, but his Q is fairly wide, and his E, even when used non-optimally, is still quite strong. Build him full tank. Jarvan IV: Can be built either as a semi-squishy armor penetration champion or as a bulky bruiser. Practice your E+Q combo, aside from that he’s pretty easy to play. Jayce: Slightly harder to play than most A-tier champions, but it’s not really that hard to do well with him. Can be built either as a squishy damage dealer (focusing on the ranged form) or as a semi-bulky bruiser (mixing forms a bit more). Very versatile. Karma: She’s a champion ready to fight over and over again, thanks to her low “ulti” CD. Great poke, great damage, great shields, together with movespeed and a snare. Versatile and strong. Leona: Cookie-cutter tank champion. Incredibly tanky, great cc. Nautilus: Incredibly tanky, great cc, and his damage is fairly good for a tank too. Pantheon: Has a click-stun and deals a lot of damage, without a single skillshot. His ultimate is great for ganking and defending points and applying pressure in general. Poppy: Bulky bruiser that deals a lot of magic damage thanks to her Q. Near assassin-level single target damage, while being very tanky. Her ultimate is broken (in an overpowered way). Fairly easy to play too, although positioning for the E stun takes some practice. Urgot: Build Muramana, Frozen Heart, and Odyn’s Veil. Try to hit your E, and spam Q (with alternating auto-attacks for maximum dps), and spam your shield. He would’ve been S-tier if not for the Frozen Heart nerf. Vi: Good damage, decent bulk. Even if she misses her Q she can just press R and still win many fights. Borderline B-tier. Xin Zhao: Bulky bruiser that deals a lot of damage, while being incredibly sticky. He’s one of the easiest bruisers to play.

#B-tier: Ahri: Ahri is one of the strongest mages on Dominion, with good poke, good cc, good burst, good sustained damage, and good mobility. Oh, and true damage. She’s fairly easy to play together with Rylai’s and Liandry’s, which is one of her best builds anyway, although she does have two skillshots. Brand: Brand is easily one of the best mages on the map, but he’s slightly hard to play, so he’s B-tier instead of A-tier. Rylai’s + Liandry’s is great on him. Corki: Corki is actually stronger than you might think, with good poke, mobility, and damage. Get Trinity Force. Darius: Juggernaut with very little mobility. Does well vs melee, takes a moderate amount of skill to hit Q and R correctly though, prone to kiting. Diana: AP assassin/bruiser, she’s great at melting squishies but risks her life when going in, and she’s generally not tanky enough to withstand AoE damage that well. Great duelist. Dr. Mundo: Easy to play with great poke and kiting, and he deals a lot of damage while being tanky. He doesn’t add that much to teamfight comps though. Borderline C-tier. Elise: AP assassin/bruiser, similar to Diana in many ways. Her stun is great, and her human W can be used to scout brushes. Evelynn: Can be built AP or AD/bruiser. Easy to play, lacks cc unless you get Rylai’s, great at surprise bot lane ganks. Borderline C-tier due to being somewhat weak versus juggernauts. Ezreal (AD): Good poke, fairly good burst, good mobility for an ADC, and a global ultimate that’s great at stopping caps and assisting in teamfights. One of the best ADC in Dominion (with a caster build). Very skillshot reliant. Fizz: Fizz is an AP assassin that combines high mobility with high damage. Garen: Juggernaut with limited mobility but good damage and tankiness. Very easy to play. His W is somewhat hard to stack on Dominion, though. Hecarim: Decent juggernaut/bruiser that is easy to play. Irelia: Easy to play bruiser with decently good mobility, true damage, and a stun. She also gains a lot of tenacity. Jax: Great duelist that struggles a bit in teamfights. Easy to play, not that great vs juggernauts. Lissandra: Solid AoE burst mage. Moderately hard to play though. Malphite: Situational anti-AD tank. His E reduces a lot of attack speed, and his ultimate is great. He’s not as great versus teams heavy in magic damage though. Easy to play. Morgana: She’s not the beast she used to be, but she’s still a good champion. Good cc, moderately good damage, and a great anti-cc shield. Kha’Zix: Would probably be A-tier if not for the bruiser buffs. Takes some skill to know when to go in, but melts squishies really well. Lee Sin: Lee Sin has a high skillcap, but he can build fairly tanky while still dealing a lot of damage, so he’s B-tier instead of C-tier. Master Yi: Easy to play, easy to do well with, weak to cc. Maokai: Solid tank that deals decent damage, has a great anti-damage AoE ultimate and can “ward” the map with saplings. Nidalee: She’s a beast when played right, but she’s somewhat tricky to play right. Struggles vs juggernauts. Nocturne: Good ganking pressure with his ultimate, he can dish out a lot of damage in a short amount of time but has several issues, such as a lack of a gapcloser aside from his ultimate and being somewhat squishy. Borderline C-tier for those reasons. Olaf: Juggernaut with cc immunity, true damage and a spamable slow. Easy to play and often quite strong. Rammus: Make sure you gank bot a lot, since your teamfight potential is weaker than average for tanks. Easy to play, solid power. Skarner: The rework made him quite strong. Bulky, decent damage, very strong duelist, and good roaming with his passive. Reasonably easy to play. Sejuani: She’s a strong tank with high damage, fairly easy to play too. Sona: Borderline A-tier. She adds a lot of hidden power to her team; her auras are really underrated. She’s quite easy to play too, and she does incredibly well together with bruisers. She’s possibly the best Ardent Censer user on Dominion. Swain: Sustain-tank/AP bruiser that managed to be tanky while dealing damage. Low mobility. Tahm Kench: Tahm Kench is interesting, since he has A-tier traits (raw damage, tankiness, and top level potential) and C-tier traits (can do harm to his team). Make sure to stack hp on him, since he scales incredibly well with it. His ultimate and W can be hard to use and might mess up for the team though, which is why I considered C-tier. Still, his Q is easy enough to land, so even if you don’t use W or R optimally you’ll likely add slows/stuns, damage, and tankiness to your team. One of the best tanks, but also one with the most potential to screw over your teammates. Talon: Talon would be A-tier if not for the bruiser/juggernaut buffs. He’s basically a squishier Xin Zhao with more damage. Easy to play. Teemo: Dominion currently has lacking anti-stealth options, so Teemo’s mushrooms are quite potent. The rest of his kit is situational. He’s kind of like an AP Shaco that’s a bit better in teamfights. Trundle: Good anti-bruiser with pillars. Pretty weak versus certain comps though. Borderline C-tier for that reason. Varus (CDR): Varus with max CDR and lots of armor penetration is one of the best poke champions in the game, and should be played as such. Poke with Q, use E for the slow (and to proc his W passive), use R to escape or snare someone offensively. Ghostblade helps you also work somewhat as an ADC in teamfights. He’s very strong, but requires good map awareness to not get caught and killed. Vel’Koz: Very strong mage that’s somewhat hard to play. Four skillshots. Warwick: Bulky sustained bruiser, easy to play, good ganks with his ultimate. Zed: In the right hands, he’s probably the strongest AD assassin. Great burst, great poke, great mobility, great zone-control. He’s somewhat hard to play optimally though. Zyra: Great mage that relies on good positioning to excel. One of the best mages on Dominion.

#C-tier: Akali: Hard to pull off, but Akali is really good vs certain teams. Has a tendency to either to really well or really poorly. Alistar: The bruiser buffs made Alistar a bit less valuable, but he’s actually a pretty strong tank still. Unless you can pull off W+Q fairly consistently I don’t recommend him, hence C-tier. Anivia: Anivia is really hard to pull off. She has several major flaws, such as: High mana costs, no reliable stun, no mobility, and no instant hard cc (aside from the wall). Furthermore, her passive CD is very long by Dominion standards. Bad walls can get your teammates killed, while good walls can be really helpful. She does work, but it takes a lot of skill and experience. Ashe: Solid ADC, but she’s still an ADC on Dominion, and the Randuin’s change hurt her (as did the Pillager change). Can be built with high CDR or more traditional attack speed/crit, both work. Azir: First off, Azir has no passive on Dominion, and I believe the recent SR-oriented nerfs made him a bit undertuned on Dominion. Azir is a very hard champion to play well, but if you use his ultimate well he can be very powerful. Blitzcrank: A good Blitzcrank can be quite scary, but he faces some issues. His roaming potential has been nerfed pretty hard due to the W nerf, and he doesn’t appreciate the increased number of bruisers. Still, good hook are still really strong. Build him tank/bruiser, AP is meh. Caitlyn: Auto-attack based ADC, easier than most, pretty decent by ADC standards too, but she’s still an auto-attack based ADC. Use her traps to punish gapclosers. Cassiopeia: Her passive takes a long time to charge on Dominion, and she’s semi-hard to play as it is. She does have a lot of damage though. Cho’Gath: Cho’Gath is a champion with a lot of flaws on Dominion, one of the most glaring being how hard it is to keep ulti stacks. He’s viable but not great. Ekko: Ekko is pretty strong in the right hands, but he’s easy to do poorly with. Still, his kit is good, his damage is good, and he’s a solid assassin. Borderline B-tier. Ezreal (AP): AP Ezreal bursts really hard, but he’s much harder to play than AD Ezreal without actually being stronger. You’re playing a mobile AP champion with no cc. Fiddlesticks: Better hope they didn’t pick any champions that counter you, a lot of champions do. More often than not, Fiddlesticks will struggle, but he can occasionally do well. Fiora: The reworked Fiora is pretty strong in the right hands, but she’s really hard to teamfight with unless you’re good with her. Solid champion that’s somewhat hard to play. Gangplank: The rework made him a bit stronger, although you’ll have to use his barrels well in order for him to do well, and his early damage is pretty low. His ultimate is great though. Galio: Bulky tank with mediocre cc outside of his ultimate. Gnar: Managing his passive is very hard on top lane Dominion, due to the lack of real laning. Gragas: Decent tank with moderate cc, great tankiness and pretty good damage. The W damage nerf in 5.17 hurt him. His ultimate is hard to use well and can save enemies if you use it poorly. AP Gragas is meh. Graves: Below average auto-attack based ADC, his range is a bit short. Still viable, especially if you have good peel. Heimerdinger: Great versus players that windmill (push the lane into the top point, the Windmill), not that great versus teams with lots of AoE. Janna: Janna is the best support together with an ADC that needs peel. However, ADC are generally not that common and she might be somewhat hard to fit in a comp. With that being said, Janna can be quite strong when played right (although if you mess up her ultimate you might cost your team some kills). Jinx: CDR Jinx is borderline B-tier, ADC Jinx is meh. Max her W and poke, similar to Varus. Katarina: Doesn’t do that well vs tanky champions. Kayle: She’s somewhat undertuned right now. Kalista: Mediocre ADC. Kassadin: Late game monster who is gated by a fairly poor early and mid game. Karthus: Great in crowded teamfights, bad solo, tends to get caught a lot, ultimate CD very long. Kennen: Kennen is a hard champion to do well with for a few reasons. Firstly, he has to get fairly close to dish out most of his damage. Secondly, he’s gated by energy. Thirdly, his stats are a bit undertuned. Kog’Maw: AD Kog’Maw deals a lot of damage but is very vulnerable, AP Kog’Maw has good poke but is very vulnerable. LeBlanc: Melts squishies, struggles vs tanky champions, high skillcap. Lucian: Above-average ADC. Lulu: Map-specific nerfs to her ultimate prevents her from being B-tier. Weaker than most other supports and utility mages, but can fill a niche as an anti-burst support. Lux: Decent mage that relies on good positioning and the ability to land skillshots in order to do well. Malzahar: Great damage, good cc, underrated top lane pick that’s moderately hard to play. Miss Fortune: Decent auto-attack based ADC. Mordekaiser: Bulky damage dealer than deals a lot of damage if he’s able to keep auto-attacking with his Q. Somewhat prone to kiting though. Borderline B-tier. Nami: Potentially the strongest support in the game, but also the hardest to pull off due to how easy it can be to dodge her bubbles. Orianna: One of the best mages on Dominion, but also one of the hardest to play. Quinn: Pretty decent, although her blind is very situational, and she struggles versus some champions. Rek’Sai: Decent bruiser, not great though. Renekton: You’d better not get kited, or else you’ll be very weak. His rage is somewhat hard to keep too. Rengar: Somewhat decent assassin. Riven: Highly situational. She struggles hard versus certain teams, and you’d better be really skilled with Riven if you’re taking her top. Rumble: His ultimate CD is a bit long, but she’s not that bad. Ryze: He can be really strong if you manage his passive properly. He’s pretty mediocre if you don’t. Singed: You pretty much run around and poison people. He’s decent, but doesn’t necessarily bring what you’d want in a tank/AP bruiser. His fling can hurt your team if you’re not careful. Sivir: Somewhat mediocre ADC, very team-reliant. Shaco: AD Shaco is a fairly strong assassin with a high skillcap. AP Shaco is an annoying trapmaster who is really weak in teamfights. AD Shaco is generally stronger. Do note that Shaco is probably the most hated champion on Dominion, both to have on your team and to play against, so you might want to keep that into consideration before picking Shaco. Shen: Shen is not even that bad. He has some major energy issues, so you might actually want to avoid getting much CDR on him, which does mean that his ultimate CD will be quite long. Soraka: Soraka has some major flaws. She’s awful at 1v1s and struggles to survive if she gets caught, she hurts herself when healing her allies, and her cc isn’t that great. With that being said, she can do quite well in a bruiser-comp that can protect her, letting her heal the frontline and applying some mild pressure with her Q and E. Her global ultimate is nice, as well, and she’s great at applying Ardent Censer. Syndra: Quite powerful, if you’re consistently landing your stuns. Taric: Good auras, although his cc and stickiness aren’t that great. Thresh: Getting souls is pretty hard on Dominion, so his stats will be a bit low. He struggles a bit with fairly high cooldowns, meaning he doesn’t get to do all that much in fights. He has some use thanks to a strong kit. Tristana: One of the weakest ADCs on Dominion, but still viable. Twisted Fate: Very hard to do well with, but in the right hand he’s moderately strong. Udyr: Juggernaut that’s weaker than the updated juggernauts. Prone to getting kited, can work though. Varus (ADC): Why aren’t you getting CDR? Varus without CDR is somewhat mediocre. Vayne: Probably the strongest auto-attack based ADC, but also one of the hardest to play. Twitch: Pretty average auto-attack based ADC. Veigar: Have fun getting AP stacks! Good burst though, bit undertuned and immobile. Viktor: High power, high skillcap. Vladimir: Vladimir top can work, but he’s generally weaker than most other champions. Volibear: Mediocre bruiser. His flip can and often will hurt your team unless you’re careful. Xerath: Long range AP siege that might be a tad undertuned, and somewhat hard to play. Yasuo: Very strong together with a knock-up comp, pretty weak without. Yorick: Has a niche as a tanky bruiser with a strong ultimate, but he has a lot of flaws for top lane. Zac: Mediocre tank that’s borderline D-tier. Zilean: Deals very little damage, but has good utility. Kind of like a weaker Janna. Hard to double-bomb for the stun (unless you slow first). Timing the ultimate can be hard as well. Ziggs: Poke-champion that’s a bit undertuned

#D-tier: Aatrox: His passive CD is far too long, and he’s a squishy melee that’s not really all that strong for most of the game. Late game he becomes pretty strong though, but he’s weaker than most alternatives. Bard: I could see him being C-tier, his stun is quite good and his Magical Journey can be useful as well. His passive is somewhat weak on Dominion, as is his W, and his R is hard to pull off correctly and might end up hurting your team. Draven: In theory, Draven deals a lot of damage. In practice, it’s too hard to really pick up the axes on Dominion. His passive is weaker too, since he’ll die a lot and won’t farm minions much. Nasus: A juggernaut that relies on Q stacks to do well. He doesn’t get many Q stacks, hence he doesn’t do well. Nunu: His Q does very little, his W is a nice buff and his E is a nice debuff, and his R is good crowd control, but overall he does too little to really justify the pick. He’s not all that tanky and his cc is moderate, and his damage is fairly low. Shyvana: She’s too reliant on her ultimate, which is hard to use on Dominion. Oh, and she lacks cc. Sion: He doesn’t get to farm much hp from his W passive, he’s somewhat kitable, and his ultimate doesn’t work as it should on the Crystal Scar, due to the design of the map. Tryndamere: He struggles to build rage, and he’s reliant on his ultimate to do well, which means he generally won’t do well when his ultimate is on cooldown.

Sylian, I would split up tier 1 and add a "God-tier" section for especially broken champions so that people get the point.

That aside, I disagree on the Lissandra, TF, and Maokai placements. Liss and TF are too high and probably need to be bumped down a tier or 2, and Maokai needs to be up in God tier alongside Kha.

Well, I guess you can leave him where he is right now. The nerds are coming. We are coming to EUW, Sylian. We will raid you for all of your monthly RP and every trophy Ryze skin that you hold dear. Please leave Maokai unbanned.....

So, it’s time to update this tier list, and I’ve decided to do a major overhaul. Before the overhaul, I kind of assumed that the champions were played ideally and with ideal teamcomps when it came to placement. The problem with this is that a lot of champions are hard to do well with, either due to they being hard to fit on a team, they having vulnerabilities to certain enemy champion, or simply that they’re hard to play.

Instead of tiering champions based on their best case scenario potential, I’ve decided to tier them based on how likely they are to succeed in blind pick. Each champion is tiered based on a few factors, such as how hard the champion is to play, how strong it is in general, how well it fits teamcomps and meta, and how vulnerable it is to certain common picks. This doesn’t necessarily mean that a lower tier champion is weaker than a higher tier champion, but it does mean that a higher tier champion is generally easier to do well with. Certain C-tier champions can, in the right hand or right team composition, do better than certain A-tier champions. Some champions are very strong in the right hands and right comps, but easy to do poorly with, so they’ll end up in C-tier despite having a lot of potential.

The main purpose of this tier list is to help people pick champions for Dominion normals. There are five tiers. S-tier is the tier for overpowered/broken champions, such as old Kassadin, old Talon, old LeBlanc, and Urgot before the Frozen Heart nerf. S-tier champions tend to be regarded as cheesy, and I recommend against picking them too often in normal, or else you might get a bad reputation as an OP spammer.

A-tier consists of strong champions that I recommend for inexperienced Dominion players. These champions are fairly easy to learn and do well with, and they tend to be strong in many comps. Note that they’re not necessarily stronger than B-tier champions, but they tend to be easier to play.

B-tier champions are the bread and butter of Dominion. Most of these are reasonably easy to do well with, although there are a few that are somewhat hard to do well with. These champions are not A-tier for a few reasons: Perhaps they have significant vulnerabilities that limit them versus certain teams (such as being weak against kiting), or perhaps they just don’t have the raw strength to reach A-tier with their current power level. Some would be A-tier if they were easier to play. I recommend playing these champions.

C-tier champions are situational. A few are actually close to A-tier in power but are very hard to play right. Most of these champions are champions that can do well or okay in the right hands and/or comp, but tend to be hard to pull off. I generally recommend against picking these champions, but they’re all viable in the right hands with a decent team comp around them. So, yeah, you might want some other champion, unless you’re a Diamond/Master/Challenger level player, a very experienced and skilled Dominion player, or if you’ve played that champion a lot. That is my recommendation, anyway.

D-tier champions struggle to do well in Dominion, and tend to be weak. I recommend against playing D-tier champions.

So, my general recommendation is: Play A-tier and B-tier champions. Avoid S-tier and D-tier. Play C-tier if you know what you’re doing.

A short note about marksmen/ADC: Most auto-attack based ADC tend to be really hard to play in Dominion, for a few reasons. They require good positioning and good orb-walking mechanics, and even if you possess those skills, you might struggle against assassins and high mobility bruisers, and even tanks might prove an issue since they get a lot of gold and can buy a lot of armor and health. Almost every auto-attack based ADC falls into C-tier; viable, but hard to pull off. They’re much stronger together with a dedicated support, but support players tend to be somewhat rare in Dominion.

(Please upvote this post so people new to the thread find it quickly. Thanks!)

That "tier list" is, from what I've gathered, just based on statistics. It's not very accurate at all when it comes to evaluating the strength or viability of champions (Vi and Karma in tier 4, for instance). My tierlist, meanwhile, has undergone a lot of testing, and a lot of discussion with other top level Dominion players on NA and EUW.

My goal is to help people have a list of viable champions to select from. Tier 2 is essentially the tier I expect people would pick from, although they could make tier 3 champions work, or play tier 1 champions if they're okay with playing OP champions. Tier 4 is the tier of weak champions that I generally don't recommend. I do think having tier lists can be viable resources for a mode, if done right. Dominion player Sauron used to have a tier list as well, as did RCIX. Unfortunately, they do not maintain their respective tier lists anymore.

Anyway, the tier list you linked is not very useful.

Tier 1 used to have some 10 champions or so. Over time, Riot nerfed most of those, bringing them down to a balanced level. Should I artificially add champions to tier 1 that aren't really OP? I don't think so.

If you disagree with any tier 4 champions, feel free to make an argument for why they should be higher.

CDR Ashe: Prospector's Blade, Boots, pots. Brutalizer, upgrade to Ghostblade. Last Whisper. Upgrade your boots to CDR boots at some point. Next item is most likely Pillager, although Lightbringer is situationally good on her. W>Q>E skill order.

CDR Jinx: Same build, although you could potentially exchange Pillager for something else, but it's still nice since you get attack speed from Q. W>Q>E skill order.

Armor pen marks and quints. Armor/level or hp/level seals, MR/level glyphs. You could run CDR/level glyphs and skip CDR boots and get Merc's instead, although chances are if you get cc:ed you'll die anyway, so I like CDR boots in order to save some money.

The main difference compared to Season 3 is that assassins are less dominant. More champion roles are viable and less champions are broken in general. Revive trinkets are a good thing for the mode, and overall it's more balance now that before.

My initial impression of Gnar is tier 2-3, Azir tier 3-4, but I need to see them more to properly place them.

Is there a reason to have only 4 tiers instead of 5?

I'd agree that a 5th tier might help clarify the strength of some borderline champions (Katarina, for example, as you've previously mentioned her). Not necessarily "God Mode Tier", but maybe adding one between Tiers 2 and 3. Those seem to be the most muddled of the tiers.

Another point of clarity might be to add a quick note at the top on what attributes make a champion stronger or weaker in Dominion. Many don't realize how strong a champion with high mobility, survivability and even extra vision can be in Dominion (Karma, Fizz, Maokai...), or how a champion with a kit heavily focused on laning or farming tends to fall short compared to others (Thresh being a big offender of this).

Then again, I'm not exactly the most knowledgeable person when speaking of Dominion (well.. League of Legends in general), but those tend to be major deciding factors in many of the higher and lower tiered champions.

One other question. Are you planning on adding Bottom lane tiers as well, or is the focus on Blind Pick the reason for listing Top lane only?

It's really hard to argue about almost every champ being placed in 2-3 tier.

Cass and Zilean are both good when played right, Cass is just hard to play and Zilean needs to be played like a support and not a retarded full tank / no CDR build.

I don't see why you have Graves and Sivir in 3 but Draven and Trist in 4. If anything they are equally bad (or good, w/e). And MF is mushroom tier ie: definitely the worst AD carry in Dom with no redeeming factors.

Also I super lol'd at the list in 2nd post, so many amazing champs in crap tiers, wat.

Time for an update! I've decided to update my tier descriptions. It will be harder to reach tier 1 and tier 2 now. Tier 3 was split into tier 3+ and tier 3-.

Rough guidelines of what each tier means: Tier 1: Really OP champions. Right now, Dominion is fairly balanced and Kha'Zix is the only one that fits for Blind Pick, and even then I'm not 100% certain. Leona and Wukong are looking really scary though, although they might depend a bit on their team to really do well. Champions in tier 1 are kind of rude to play too much of, since they are so OP. Champions that would fit tier 1 are Fizz before the recent nerf/soft rework, and Talon while he still had his silence. Season 2 Kassadin would definitely qualify as well, being the most OP Dominion champion of all time.

Tier 2: Overall strong champions. When played right these champions will do well most of the time, and I think they should often be the go-to champions for normals. Tier 3+: These champions are often quite strong as well, but they have flaws that make them less reliable or weaker. Perhaps they require team support to do well, or perhaps they are very vulnerable to certain enemy teamcomps. Some just don't have the numbers to take them to tier 2, like current Lulu. You can often safely play these champions in normals and do well with them, but take a moment and consider your teamcomp before you lock in. Tier 3-: These champions are flawed. They tend to be somewhat on the weak side, but they are somewhat viable. I generally don't recommend playing them, but they can work. Tier 4: These champions are bad and should be avoided for top lane. Note: Being bad is not the same as being useless, it's quite possible to do well with a tier 4 champion, but they are generally underpowered or unfit for Dominion and will often make it harder to win compared to other champions. I don't recommend them. (Of course, it's fully possible that I'm underestimating some of the tier 4 champions, since they're rarely played. You may write a post where you argue why a certain tier 4 champion should be placed higher and I will take it into consideration).

Many of the former tier 2 champions will drop to tier 3+ simply because tier 2 is now harder to reach. I'm not going to mention how the old tier 3 champions were moved into tier 3+ and tier 3-, all the champions in tier 3+ and 3- that aren't mentioned in the change list were in tier 3 before.

Change list:

Definitions: Tier 1 - Overpowered in Blind Pick. Tier 2 - Strong champions that often will perform well. Solid picks in many comps. Tier 3+ - Champions that sometimes are strong and sometimes not that strong. Tier 3- - Champions that tend to be weak, but can sometimes function well. Tier 4 - Weak champions. They usually aren't worth the effort.

Down:

Ashe (CDR) down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Diana down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Dr. Mundo down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Elise down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Ezreal (AP) down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Fizz down to tier 2 from tier 1 Gragas down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Jinx (CDR) down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Lulu (Blue) down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Lux down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Malphite down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Malzahar down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Nami down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Rammus down to tier 3+ from tier 2. Rengar down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Riven down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Ryze down to tier 3- from tier 2 Syndra down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Twisted Fate down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Vayne down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Vi down to tier 2 from tier 1 Viktor down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Warwick down to tier 3+ from tier 2 Xerath down to tier 3+ from tier 2

Up:

Cassiopeia up to tier 3+ from tier 4 Gangplank up to tier 3- from tier 4 Garen up to tier 3- from tier 4 Mordekaiser up to tier 3- from tier 4 Shaco (AD) up to tier 3+ from tier 4 Tristana up to tier 3- from tier 4

New:

Azir added to tier 3+. Gnar added to tier 3+. Kalista added to tier 3-. Rek'Sai added to tier 3+.

I'm glad you enjoy this thread. On EUW there are still some really skilled Dominion players active (Dominion tournament players), and a bunch of decently skilled players as well. From what I've gathered, most NA tournament players have more or less left Dominion, unfortunately, though I still talk to some of them from time to time, since even if they don't actively play Dominion they might have some insight into how champions work, and some of them do occasionally play still. If any NA player is in high MMR Dominion and feel that you have good insight on the states of champions, you could add my NA account if you want. It's SylianEUW.

While this thread isn't primarily about general advice, I'm going to give a very important piece of advice to you all, something that could help you step up your game and win significantly more often (and enjoy the mode more as well). It's this: Avoid windmilling.

What is windmilling? The windmill is the top point, the most contested point in Dominion, for good reason. It's the easiest point to defend, aside from your bot point and your mid point. This is the reason windmilling is so risky, though. If they all sit on the windmill and you push into it, you risk a teamfight you might not win. Have you ever tried diving a point 4 versus 4 and lost badly? Yeah... Even if you're not pushing with your whole team windmilling is risky. Let's say two of you are pushing, and one of them is defending their point. Suddenly, two enemies appear behind you, and you both die. Now your team is in trouble. Windmilling is a risky strategy that actually is rather passive, and it's high risk for often low reward.

What are the alternatives? I see three main alternatives. The first is to set up an ambush in the jungle. If you and a few of your teammates manage to catch and kill one enemy champion qucikly, you gain an advantage. With a large enough advantage you can take a point or sometimes even two, if you manage to kill all four of them.

The second alternative is backcapping. All four of them are sitting at windmill? Backcap their mid. You might get it neutral or fully capped, and either way you're applying pressure. Step up your game and have some allies intercept and kill the guy they send to stop you and you can gain even more. Make sure your team knows what you're doing so they don't engage a 3v4 teamfight while you're off backcapping. Make sure you don't die while backcapping.

The third alternative is ganking bot. Not all champions are good gankers, but if you are playing a good ganker, strongly consider ganking bot. Make sure your team knows what you're doing so they don't engage a 3v4 teamfight while you're gone. Be careful so you don't get counter-ganked and killed, though if you're playing in an MMR where most people are constantly windmilling, chances are they won't be expecting ganks. One of the main reasons I managed to climb the Elo ladder in Season 2 rather quickly was because I played Blitzcrank and Warwick a lot and ganked a ton. If you can get their bot, they'll have to send down a bunch of people to recapture it, and then your team can take windmill.

So, now I've explained windmilling, why it should usually be avoided and what the alternatives are. If you have any relevant questions, feel free to ask them.

Time for some updates!

Change list:

Down:

Darius down to tier 3+ from tier 2. Fizz (AP) down to tier 3+ from tier 2. Irelia down to tier 3+ from tier 2. Jax down to tier 3+ from tier 2. Kha'Zix down to tier 2 from tier 1. Shaco (AP) down to tier 3- from tier 3+. Volibear down to tier 3- from tier 3+. Yasuo down to tier 3+ from tier 2.

Up:

Cho'Gath up to tier 3- from tier 4. Evelynn up to tier 3+ from tier 3-. Nautilus up to tier 2 from tier 3+. Ryze up to tier 3+ from tier 3-. Thresh up to tier 3- from tier 4. Urgot up to tier 1 from tier 2. Yorick up to tier 3- from tier 4. Zilean up to tier 3- from tier 4.

New:

Bard added to tier 4. Blitzcrank (AP) added to tier 3+. Fizz (AD) added to tier 2.

Time for some updates!

Down:

Blitzcrank down from tier 2 to tier 3+. Blitzcrank (AP) down from tier 3+ to tier 3-. Jinx (CDR) down from tier 3+ to tier 3-.

Up:

Garen up to tier 3+ from tier 3-.

Removed:

Fizz (AD) removed.

Explanations: The Blitzcrank W change hurt him a lot on Dominion. He lost so much map roaming potential and 1v1 sustained damage (5 sec attack speed instead of 8 sec attack speed), and the slow can be really punishing.

The Jinx R close range nerf actually hurt her a lot. She used to be able to have a shot at killing someone if they jumped her, now her close range R damage is much weaker which leaves her much more vulnerable to assassins and bruisers. The CDR build is still probably stronger than the ADC build, but they're both in tier 3- now.

Garen got his ultimate CD reduced by 40/20/0 seconds, making his level 6-15 game a bit stronger. The Black Cleaver rework also benefited him a lot. I think he's a fairly decent champion now.

AD Fizz got nerfed hard by the W changes. Is he even worth using right now? I'm leaning towards "No", but if anyone thinks he can still be of some use (perhaps in tier 3-), go ahead and tell me.

The 5.7, 5.8, and 5.9 patches buffed and nerfed a whole bunch of champions, but the buffs and nerfs didn't seem to make many characters change tiers. I'm still evaluating some champions (such as AP Fizz, Kassadin, Zilean, who might all potentially move up a tier), but overall I'm fairly happy with most of the placements in this tier list.

Ok, what did 5.15 do to shitrat? His shrooms now take minimum 2-3 hits based on melee/range, even from AD champs with . That's massive walling power from them by just leaving them in the open to slow enemy movement.

I don't think that Heimerdinger is very good. The rework, however, made him stronger for top lane Dominion in general. He gets options for which ability to enhance with his ultimate, and he can do somewhat okay in certain circumstances. It's also rather painful to face him as a melee champion, since he can Wooglet's and let his turrets do massive damage while he's in stasis.

Rammus is very strong. He can 1v1 in general, but his main strength is the pressure he adds. Rammus bot lane ganks are scary, and he can quickly move across the map, making it hard to stop him even if you suspect you know where he's going.

As for Vi, her being tier 1 is not for certain. Her early game is somewhat lacking, but her mid game and late game potential is just so strong. Even if she misses a Q (which, ideally, she shouldn't), she can often just press R and still win the fight. She's not without counters, and she's not gamebreakingly OP, and she might be high tier 2 rather than tier 1, I'm not sure. In tournament play, she's highly prioritized and usually first-banned or first-pick, and in normals, she will do well when it comes to late game the majority of the time. Her ultimate base cooldown is just 80 at level 16, which means 48 with CDR.

Should I keep updating this thread here? This new boards system seems like a pretty bad idea so far, and it's hard for Dominion to compete with SR content. Should I keep this thread updated? If not, I'll keep my thread on EUW updated, at least we still have the old forum system there, at least for now. http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1781788

I want to see more of it, but Riot is keeping their "Fuck you" attitude towards anything non-e$ports, and loves to keep it buried.

I could update this, but do enough people around here care about Dominion for it to be worth my time?

Tier definitions updated for clarity.

Tier 1 - Overpowered in Blind Pick. Tier 2 - Strong. Solid picks in many comps. Tier 3+ - Decent. Some are situational, others are just not strong enough for tier 2. Tier 3- - Mediocre. They tend to be very situational but can work. Tier 4 - Weak. They usually aren't worth the effort.

Okay, so I figured I'd post some potential changes in order to try to start some discussions, and let you guys know what I'm up to. Here goes:

The new patch buffed and nerfed quite a few champions. Some of them were solid in tier 2 and are still solid in tier 2. Champions that might move because of the 5.5 patch:

Kassadin: They removed the map specific nerfs, thus making his cooldowns really short. His issues are poor base damage and high mana costs. My initial impression is that he's still tier 3-, although perhaps he might be tier 3+ with the correct build?

Lissandra: Lissandra got some nerfs to her Q damage. Lissandra was already one of the weaker mages in tier 2, this might drop her to tier 3+, although I'll need to see her in play some more first.

Nautilus: Nautilus has been getting small buff after small buff, and now it would seem that he has hit jackpot. His W shield damage is weaker now, although if you treat it as a one point wonder, it's not that bad. The E cooldown buff is massive, with a max CDR tanky build Nautilus can provide a lot of cc and tankiness. Skill order E>Q>W, and you might want to pick up Frozen Heart since Nautilus has some mana trouble otherwise and Frozen Heart is an amazing item right now anyway. Nautilus packs good cc, good tankiness and good damage, although he is clunky and has trouble dodging skill shots. His ultimate is really good for singling out AD carries and AD casters, it's weaker vs APs because many build Wooglet's. Nautilus will most likely move up to tier 2.

Nidalee: Just wanted to say that I think she's still tier 2, even if her traps do pathethic damage now.

Sion: The Q buff isn't too bad. He's not a champion I enjoy playing though, has anyone here had any experience with him? Should he move up to tier 3-?

Trundle: The buffs are not bad, but he still struggles from being somewhat situational. t3+ seems accurate to me.

Urgot: Wow, that's one massive buff. With CDR/level glyphs, armor pen marks and quints, hp/level seals (armor/level probably works too if you don't have hp/level), Muramana, Frozen Heart, Odyn's Veil, Mercury's Treads, and Last Whisper means he'll be really tanky with good poke while dealing a lot of damage. Skill order QWE. Anyway, I'm considering him for tier 1, the W shield is so huge now.

Varus: The Q charge buff is actually pretty significant, but it helps CDR Varus more than ADC Varus, so I suspect ADC Varus will remain in tier 3- and CDR Varus won't go to tier 1 anytime soon.

Veigar: So his Q and E will be easier to land. That's nice. I'm not sure how much I'll see him played, so if anyone feels like testing him to see if the buffs are enough to move him up to tier 3+, that would be sweet. I think he's probably tier 3- still, but I'm not sure about that.

Zilean: The Q early game CD buff is actually pretty nice. Enough to put him in t3-? I'm not sure.

Some other champions that might move:

Cho'Gath: Cho'Gath is not all that strong, but he seems to not be that awful. He's fairly good at defending points, he has some presence in teamfights and his ultimate now refunds half it CD and mana cost when used on minions, which gives him some chance to get hp stacks. I'm considering him for tier 3-. Thoughts?

Darius: Darius can build pretty tanky and still deal damage, though he has some issues with champions that kite a lot. He might move down to tier 3+, I'm not sure yet.

Jax: Jax has similar issues as Darius and might move down to tier 3+, although I'm not sure.

Shaco (AD): AD Shaco scales incredibly well with Pillager and Statikk Shiv. His Q is great for getting away and getting to a target, and he can gank, backcap, and assassinate targets. He can also grant vision for his teams with his JiBs. He has several flaws that make me unsure if he should be tier 3+ or tier 2, I'm on the fence right now.

Shaco (AP): AP Shaco has several flaws that make me consider moving him down to tier 3-, although I'm not sure. He's mostly good for setting up traps, his teamfight potential is inferior to AD Shaco's and most other champions in the game.

Volibear: I might move him down to tier 3-, I'm not sure. He is somewhat prone to kiting and somewhat weak versus high mobility champions, and his cc is rather lackluster.

I wouldn't really worry TOO much about Urgot top, but I do fear he has returned to his original tier 0 bot.

I'm curious how much the PBE buff will affect Darius. I'm thinking he can't go lower than tier 2 with it, and at low level play may become quite problematic. Making his ult free at 16 isn't that huge since there's more than enough mana around anyway, but the full reset on kill means he becomes insanely oppressive the instant he hits that mark.

If only MWAB were still around to keep an eye on such changes as candidates for map-specific balancing.

My experience with Urgot top is that he's probably the best champion in the game right now. He's very tanky while dealing a lot of damage, with poke and some moderate cc. Seems he can substitute Frozen Heart for Hextech Sweeper if needed.

I won't rank for PBE changes until they're actually in the patch notes. The ultimate buff for level 16 is indeed quite nice, and the mana cost reduction at level 11 might help him a bit too. We don't know for sure that Riot will actually push that change, though.

MWAB is still around. The Elixirs were added to Dominion, Kassadin's map specific nerfs were removed and Blackfire Torch were removed.

"Lulu (AP, Blue)" What is this?

and yeah, agreed on Nautilus. He is pretty massive now.

DOMINION HYPE! There are a lot of new champs since this post's update, how do you feel about Bard? People are making early judgements that Bard sucks in Dominion but I feel that he brings heavy utility if he just builds Gauntlet tank.

Unless i've misread, Riven hasn't been placed.

• 1. tfw mundo isn't tier 1

Can't help but notice, Renekton is still tier 4. What's going on here?

If Sion got a map-specific buff to give his ult just a fuckton more turning speed, would that move him up a decent amount?

Hmm, good question. I barely even see Sion though, so I have no idea

Also, I feel like Gangplank is better than listed here. usually gets highest damage on team, and that heal is REALLY good, especially early/mid game. I tend to do well with him, at least.

Surprised Teemo's detection bug was never fixed, but how would you reclassify the reworked "juggernauts"? Mostly curious about Garen's functionality now that he's an armorless squishball, and Darius' insta-quadra potential.

Old tier list, in case anyone's interested. Do note that it's not updated.

►Tier list

→ Tier 1 Urgot.

→ Tier 2

Ahri, Akali, Alistar, Amumu, Annie, Brand, Braum, Corki, Ezreal (AD, Blue), Janna, Jarvan IV, Jayce, Karma, Kha'Zix, LeBlanc, Lee Sin, Leona, Lissandra, Lucian, Maokai, Master Yi, Morgana, Nautilus, Nidalee, Orianna, Pantheon, Poppy, Sejuani, Sona, Swain, Talon, Varus (CDR), Vel'Koz, Vi, Wukong, Xin Zhao, Zed, Zyra

→ Tier 3+

Anivia, Ashe (CDR), Azir, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Cassiopeia, Darius, Diana, Dr. Mundo, Elise, Evelynn, Ezreal (AP), Fiddlesticks, Fizz (AP), Galio, Garen, Gnar, Hecarim, Irelia, Jax, Katarina, Kayle, Lulu (AP, Blue), Lux, Malphite, Malzahar, Miss Fortune, Nami, Nocturne, Olaf, Quinn, Rammus, Rek'Sai, Rengar, Riven, Rumble, Ryze, Shaco (AD), Skarner, Syndra, Taric, Teemo, Trundle, Twisted Fate, Vayne, Viktor, Warwick, Xerath, Yasuo.

→ Tier 3-

Ashe (ADC), Blitzcrank (AP), Cho'Gath, Fiora, Gangplank, Graves, Heimerdinger, Jinx (ADC, CDR), Kalista, Kassadin, Karthus, Kennen, Kog'Maw (AD, AP), Mordekaiser, Shaco (AP), Sivir, Thresh, Tristana, Twitch, Udyr, Varus (ADC), Veigar, Volibear, Yorick, Ziggs, Zilean.

→ Tier 4

Aatrox, Bard, Draven, Nasus, Nunu, Renekton, Shen, Shyvana, Sion, Singed, Soraka, Tryndamere, Vladimir, Zac.

Tier 1 - Overpowered in Blind Pick. Tier 2 - Strong. Solid picks in many comps. Tier 3+ - Decent. Some are situational, others are just not strong enough for tier 2. Tier 3- - Mediocre. They tend to be very situational but can work. Tier 4 - Weak. They usually aren't worth the effort.

I haven't played PvP Dominion in a long time (like "since shortly after we got Revive trinkets" long time). However, I'm tempted to come back and try again.

Do low-to-mid-tier players still windmill frequently? I feel like when I tried to go off on my own instead of helping the windmill push, I just flopped (with minimal impact on my team--who might then get pushed into their own tower). Did I just not communicate with my team effectively enough? It's been so long since I've played that I forget how accurate that is or isn't.... More importantly: What should I do when my allies are windmilling?

How would Azir's passive, say, turning into a right-click pseudo-Garrison on Dominion potentially affect him?

What would potentially change if we (and maybe ARAM) received counterpart items/"echo items" to (Sated) Devourer, Warrior, Runeglaive, and Cinderhulk? (mostly Devourer and Cinderhulk; Youmuu's seems to be "Warrior 2.0" while Runeglaive's gimmick was gimped to be jungle-only.)

e.g. something akin to

Devouring Claws (Dominion) 2100 gold + + 750 gold

60% Attack Speed 25 on-hit magic damage

Every 20 seconds, increase the on-hit magic damage of this item by 1. Kills and assists grant +1 magic damage, while Storm Shrine captures grant +2 magic damage. At 50 magic damage (25 bonus magic damage total), this transforms into Sated Devouring Claws (Dominion)

Sated Devouring Claws (Dominion) Special + rad scythe 25 extra magic damage stacks

60% Attack Speed 50 on-hit magic damage

UNIQUE Passive: Phantom Hit: Every other basic attack will trigger on-hit effects a second time.

Gandair's Crystal Runestave (Dominion) 2500 gold + +480 gold

80 AP 200 Mana 10% CDR

UNIQUE Passive: Spellblade: Your next autoattack or single target spell after casting a spell will deal additional AoE magic damage equal to 100% base AD+0.3 AP to all enemies near your target, then restore 5% of your missing mana. 1.5s CD.

Nome's Lighthulk (Dominion) 2100 gold + + 920 gold

400 health +50% base health regen +15% bonus health

Unique passive: Immolate: Deal 15+0.6 per level magic damage to nearby enemies. Deals 200% bonus damage to minions. OR Unique passive: Immolate: Deal 15+0.6 per level magic damage to nearby enemies. Nearby allies receive a stacking shield each second, up to 75+3 per level.

Wolf Warrior's Axe (Dominion) 2600 gold + + 63 gold

50 AD 10% CDR 10% Crit strike chance

Unique Passive: +10 flat armor pen. Does not stack with Youmuu's Ghostblade or Brutalizer flat armor pen. Unique Passive: Your autoattacks deal an additional 60% of your bonus attack damage as physical damage over 3 seconds. If the target is beneath 40% HP, the bleed also applies Grievous Wounds.

As far as bringing jungle parity to Dominion, don't focus on the stats at all. The one and only thing that might warrant an item is the phantom hit passive.

It would fit best on a reworked Kitae's Bloodrazor. 2.5% max health is equal to SR sated vs 2400 health, and better vs tanks and less oppressive vs squish which is better design for such an item overall. It also forces the same "better later on" curve without needing stacking. Just get rid of the AD that old kitae's had. You're buying AS and magic on-hit. Keep the price balanced without bloating stats. Maybe some CDR if you need to prevent the passive from showing up too early by inflating the price a little, but no more than 10.

Enjoyed the post, learned a bit from it. Definitely going to try out a few more champs now!

Something that I should mention: CDR is very important on Dominion. I try to go for 40% CDR on almost every champion. The main exceptions are auto-attack based ADCs (such as Miss Fortune, Twitch, and Caitlyn), since their abilities don't tend to be as important as other champion's abilities. I've seen so many people play tanks without CDR, and this is a mistake (unless you're Shen, he's energy-gated and can't really afford to spam his abilities). CDR/level quints are great.

Veigar got a nice little buff. Veigar top getting Q's AP bonus off assists puts him on a better pace for that scaling.

Speaking of scaling, Kindred. A weird case. Normally just another weak ADC, but the passive changes things up. They should fairly easily cap out the speed of stack gain when sticking with their team, meaning 1 stack per 90 seconds. This adds up to a pretty big %current on-hit effect. The question is, how effectively can they use it? As %current, it's best against full targets, but those are also the ones who are going to delete them the fastest. WQ doesn't scale with CDR (tho the W itself does), so relying on that to move around and stay safe is not perfect.

The way I see it, optimal build would be LW and GB for armor pen into a tanky AS build. One of the few cases where Dervish might see play. A bork might also be good, since I believe lifesteal applies off of the passive as physical on-hit, and stacking the gimmick with a bonus execute can't hurt. Focus on resistances to make the healing an effective part of the tanking, and you get a lategame monster. 15 minutes in you're over 20% current per auto with time to build up some resistances. A supremely weak early game probably means your team is behind, but with that much power and the respawn advantage, they should be able to blitz through and close out the game.

It's probably even OP when played optimally with a good team (never thought I'd say that about an ADC), but with such an insanely weak startup I have no idea if it's remotely reliable enough to even worry about. Probably the most polar champion in a long time, relying on ramping that passive for lategame power.

Thank you for updating.

It's unfortunate to see Sion so low. However, I must agree his counters are many on Dominion. New Fiora, in particular, gives him a rough way to go. I feel like he would be a bit better if Riot reverted the nerfs to his shield. Early game is what hurts him the most on both Dominion and 3v3. Unless he's at bot lane he has a very hard time coming back from a bad start.

EDIT: I still think Sion is a better pick than a lot of the champs in C-tier (when played well) though.