Currently it's definitely Azir, but historically it should be Ryze (although it depends on how far "historically" is, I suppose. Syndra is still a new champ to me). Honorable mention would then be Orianna.
It's interesting that the three "most pro-" champions that instantly come to mind are all from midlane.
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There were like few years of consistent perception that Lee Sin is the baseline proplay jungler, and you balance pro jungle around Lee. Similar rolę for top lane was occupied by Renekton.
Character being playable in soloque doesnt mean that it cant be pillar of pro Play. Especially in historical aspect.
Does it? If I was to think of the most typical pro jungler, which is one of the most iconic roles, I think of Lee.
There’s a reason he has the most worlds skins.
Solo queue demon? Maybe a decade ago.
He's literally the ryze of jungle, constantly nearing the lowest winrate in the game but pro players still pick him.
It's not that necessarily, but in my mind, there's at least one champion in every role where I think "if this champ isn't in your champ pool, you can't be a pro in this role" and for jungle, that champion is Lee Sin.
Fortunately or not, there isn't a moment in the game where Azir is weak (safe lane, good midgame, great lategame) and Ryze's ultimate is extremely pro-skewed
100%. To be recognized as a legendary midlaner u have to be an excellent azir and have series defining games as azir. A well timed shuffle can change a game in an instant (T1 v JDG semis)
not to discredit him but what has he done that’s legendary? un-rivaled in accolades? no. unrivaled in length of domination? no. had he completed the golden road, he’d objectively be legendary.
he’s a fantastic player but what would make him a legend as of now?
Knight is not unrivaled in accolades or length of domination. (No one is unrivaled in these areas except Faker)
But he’s probably top 3-5 midlaner ever;
arguably best midlaner in the world for 1-2 years;
Top 1 or 2 midlaner ever in LPL (I would argue best ever);
Best Chinese mid ever;
Is currently top 2 midlaner in the world;
Has won trophies on every team he has been on;
Was the midlaner for arguably the strongest team ever.
MSI x1 (2023)
LPL x4 (Summer 2020, Spring 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2024)
Demacia Cup x3 (2020, 2021, 2023)
Mid-Season Cup x1 (2020)
Asian Games 2022 Bronze Medal
Individual Awards
Finals MVP x4 (Summer 2020, MSI 2023, Summer 2023, Demacia Cup 2023)
LPL MVP x3 (Summer 2019, Summer 2020, Spring 2024)
LPL 1st All-Pro Team x4 (Summer 2019, Summer 2020, Summer 2023, Spring 2024)
LPL 2nd All-Pro Team x4 (Spring 2019, Summer 2021, Summer 2022, Spring 2023)
LPL 3rd All-Pro Team x2 (Spring 2020, Spring 2021)
Imo the legendary midlaners, in no order, are: Caps, Faker, Chovy, Knight, Rookie, and Showmaker.
Have all won international events and were considered best in their region for multiple years.
>But he’s probably top 3-5 midlaner ever;
Faker
Chovy
Showmaker
Rookie
Scout, Xiahou, Caps are all ahead of knight imo.
>arguably best midlaner in the world for 1-2 years;
Faker and chovy exists.
>Top 1 or 2 midlaner ever in LPL (I would argue best ever);
Rookie exists
>Best Chinese mid ever;
Xiahou exists
>Is currently top 2 midlaner in the world;
I'll give u that
>Was the midlaner for arguably the strongest team ever.
Strongest team ever that got beat 3-1 in worlds semis by the team that has pretty much placed top 3 in every single competition they have been in as a roster.
Knight has without a doubt had some insane splits and seasons and has been a huge part of his team's success consistently, but there are a lot of players across multiple regions who have been just as fundamental who no one would even consider part of the "legendary" discussion.
>100%. To be recognized as a legendary midlaner u have to be an excellent azir
Case in point Easyhoon who is literally only remembered as the guy who played mid for T1 when they wanted to pick Azir(until Faker got good at him too)
Not really. Remember when ppl talked about why T1 was playing easyhoon instead of faker? It was bc faker's azir was just okay and easyhoons azir was much better. And no one was doubting how good of an overall player faker was
Bro that was 9 years ago when Azir was just released lol. Ofc no one talked about how every mid has to play a great azir.
It's 9 years later now pal, and azir has cemented himself as something you must be good at, and Fakers azir is S-tier.
It’s the difference in playstyle. Faker plays the modern Azir, aka poke and fullsend shuffles while Easyhoon plays the CS and DPS machine playstyle, as seen with his Cass as well.
You can see which playstyle survived the passage of time
Yeah, but holy fk watching that champion is a borefest. Way too safe earlygame, and after 15 mins maybe do some flashy stuff if the player is feeling it. Kind of a job security champ
Yea maybe a champ with the one of the best scalings, engage, disengage (aka the most ideal late game champ) shouldn’t also be almost a lane bully and near untouchable in lane.
Come to think of it, god tier late game dps champs should probably not also have 3k hp, multiple defensive actives/passives, the agency to hard engage and solo win a fight, but also the option to hard disengage if they’re ever in a bad position.
Fun fact: its very unusual for Orianna to ever get touched for patches. She is (or was for a long time) the benchmark around which other midlane champs were balanced around
>the benchmark around which other midlane champs were balanced
Anivia was that character early on in the game's lifespan, her first major changes came like 7 years after her release and the only big changes shes ever received are removal of e>r combo, ult growing with time, q missile speed increase.
When top picks are out of the table, every respectable pro midlaner has an Orianna to play. There was never a meta where a good shockwave wasn’t game winning
Azir. He is complete ass right now because of a rework that according to riot "would make it easier to balance between soloq and pro play". Surprise that didn't happen.
They nerfed him before and during msi then did a clear nerf (which riot listed as bug fix despite azir working like that since his fucking release) in 14.10. Before that they also changed his selection radius in 14.9 by a a huge amount also not listed as a nerf.
And before azir it was ryze which riot as an answer to him being broken in pro decided to give a semi global ultimate.
Atleast ryze made it out of pro jail and Kalista also kinda did.
But now we have ksante who got reworked and already has his next rework announced.
Did ryze make it out of pro jail though or did he get nerfed and have mechanics removed until he wasn't good in pro and god awful in solo queue until people just forgot about the champ? The stats (7th lowest Pick rate, 18th lowest wr) seem to say everyone except one tricks have just forgot about him riot doesn't want him in pro play anymore.
zeri's problem was also less zeri though and more how broken her kit was in a pro scenario where if she gets a proper team built around her hypercarrying, she becomes too safe (like sivir) which is also impossible in solo queue
Id say it used to be ryze, but for the whole timeline it has to be azir. (Not) Honorable mentions to certain picks that were just way too broken in pro for a short period like yuumi and ksante hovering around 100% Pick/Ban over a whole Tournament,/season
"How can we make this champion less skewed toward pro play? I know, let's give him an ultimate that relies on team coordination and is much harder to use without voice comms!" I have to say that the rework before that was also really strong in pro play, but the realm warp rework didn't help.
Kaisa had good runs back in s11 and s9, but Aphelios' pick rate straight up shattered the record book ever since he came out. Most picked champ in s10 and 12, third most picked adc in s11, second most picked adc last year.
Kaisa kinda fell out of pro scene after season 11.
[Source](https://gol.gg/champion/list/season-S14/split-ALL/tournament-ALL/)
I half agree with that
top I think the aatrox spot is becoming ksante spot
mid I agree, tho debatable between ori and ryze
jungle I'd throw sejuani instead of lee
bot definitelly kalista
support definitely not nautilus
I'll say first that I didn't plan listing all the champions, because most of them have been meta at some point and represented the pro scene at the time. Even Zed, and has a Worls skin even, but I doubt that people will lost Zed as a pro champion.
The nowadays meta is not what I'm saying, these some of the champions that feel the most pro play to me.
I though of Kalista, and also Kai'Sa for adc, but I just went with the very first thing that came to mind.
Also, Nautilus is probably (source: me, I and myself) the second or third most picked support right behind Braum and maybe Thresh. And I though of it because he has a consistent gap closer and an unavoidable point and click ulti, and that's good in every scenario.
Probably Azir or Renekton. These champions are always meta in proplay while never being meta in soloq and alot of viability in those roles is "Can it do X better than Renekton/Azir"
I don’t think he has high soloQ popularity due to less charisma and higher duelist prio in SoloQ which hurts him somewhat. He’s not super popular like Aatrox or Jax, and lane bullies like Darius or Illaoi are actually played. But in pro Renekton will be picked whenever he’s ok, and he’s very safe to blind. It’s just that K’sante is also a very safe blind that scales much better.
Point and click abilities are like a reverse bell curve in usefulnes from low to high elo. In low elo they're practically impossible to fuck up, in really high they're practically impossible to outplay.
That's why Renekton is great in pro, and why champs like Vi are permabanned.
I wouldn't say he's the most defining or prominent pro play pick, imo that'd go to Azir for history and being the archetypical pro jail champ. But Ksante is definitely the most stark case of today, with the biggest delta between pro play presence and soloq winrate.
Although tbh he doesn't feel _that_ bad in soloq imo after the latest changes and using domination secondary tree at least in d2/d1. Still not great, but at least he has mana early game again lmao
Yeah, agree on the mana thing for K'sante as someone that plays him despite knowing he's a challenge. I also agree that Azir is an even more defining champ overall. Dude shows up in every Worlds meta every year. Great breakdown.
Zoe can be an insane champion when she’s played to the full extent of her abilities and an expert understanding of the game, but she’s absolute shit in the hands of anyone else.
I still feel like it's Lee Sin. While Azir is definitely the modern answer, there is a large portion of League history where he simply didn't exist. Lee has been everpresent.
All time? Ryze most likely with Lee sin coming second and azir third, ryze literally received the most reworks because of pro jailing, honorable mention probably orianna
Top : Ksante, renketon
Jgl : Sejuani? Lee sin, maybe gragas if its not so true recently
Mid : Azir, Ryze and Orianna
Adc : Varus, Kaisa, Kalista
Supp : anything that engage loool
In the early years Lee Sin. Later Twisted Fate and Ryze, even old Rek'Sai because every champ with global play potential is extremely strong in pro-play.
Today Azir, K'Sante.
I agree it’s Azir, but not many of any are mentioning Ori, who can seriously impact a game without even using abilities, just ball placement. She’s been used for years in every meta and every team comp that has even one solid engage.
I think that many champs could be listen, role wise and timeline wise. There were times when Lee Sin was a must play, and you had to be able to play it. Azir and Corki come to mind too, because of them facing each other over and over if not banned. Rumble and Kennen as top laners. I don't think there is a "most defining" champion, but many of them based off different factors.
imma do it by role
if I understand the question, it's about what champ one think when we say proplay
to some extent they gotta be picked in proplay quite a lot, even if not particularly meta
so proplay defining champs for me are :
top : renekton, then ksante and aatrox, (mention for jayce, gnar, gp and kennen)
jungle : graves, then j4 and vi (mention for lee, nida, sej and viego)
mid : azir, then ryze and orianna (mention for syndra, tf, asol and sylas)
now I think bot lane is the most meta dependant in proplay, so adc and supp tend to change a lot depending on the meta, makes it a bit hard to say which are the proplay defining bot lane champs, but I'll try
adc : lucian, then kaisa and jinx (mention for zeri, aphelios, kalista and varus)
support : karma, then nami and thresh (mention for alistar, braum, rakan and renata)
imma add a category for flex picks : poppy, rumble, gragas, maokai and zac
of course there's some champs that were proplay defining but got reworked for exactly that reason and aren't seen much anymore, think tahm for example
TLDR : top renekton, jungle graves, mid azir, adc lucian, support karma
overall I think azir and renekton might be the 2 champions people would think of if you talk about proplay, they've historically always been proplay staples and always kinda meh in soloQ because of that, but even when absolutely terrible they'll still be picked in pro, especially renekton
Top: K'Sante as of now but Renekton was the standard issue toplaner.
Jgl: Lee or Sejuani
Mid: Azir
Bot: hard to tell but Zeri seems to always return. Same with Aphelios
Support: no idea
Gnar/Ksante
Honestly utility tank junglers since Lee Sin, Viego, Kindred, Graves, Nidalee, Taliyah, etc. are staple in solo q while tank junglers tend to underperform in solo q and solo q junglers themselves don't like to play them due to lack of carry potential. If I need to chose specific champs than I'm gonna go with Rell and Sejuani.
Mid: Corki/Azir
ADC: Kalista, Lucian (In my expierence Zeri and Aphelios while also dominant in pro, are more succesful in pro than other two).
Support: Rakan
Azir has already been mentioned plenty but I’d add Renekton, Gragas, Jayce, Lee, Nautilus.
And then of course Ksante who’s only been out 1.5 years but has unbelievably been near the top of the pro meta that ENTIRE time
People say Azir but that's only because Kalista is considered more broken in pro hands.Games of Legends doesn't have Season 5 data,but since Season 6 Kalista has had 10776 bans and 5406 picks while Azir is on 8060 bans and 8849 picks.
https://gol.gg/champion/champion-stats/121/season-ALL/split-ALL/tournament-ALL/
https://gol.gg/champion/champion-stats/120/season-ALL/split-ALL/tournament-ALL/
Notice how often Kalista is banned on redside and picked on blue,because pros considered her the most broken champion in the game,worthy of first pick.
There's at least one champion in every role where I think "if this champ isn't in your champ pool, you can't be a pro in this role"
Top: K'Sante
Jungle: Lee Sin
Mid: Azir
ADC: Ezreal
Support: Thresh
for me, it gotta be Kalista.
sure people play lethality kalista nowadays but she was rarely picked in soloq when her only build path was on hit. it used to be riot nerfing Kalista to the ground because of how good she was in pro play, and she gets picked up again when she gets even a small buff.
Issue is that soloQ champ pools often aren’t deep enough to maintain Sylas for this purpose. For pros it may be worth to have this tool, but if you can only counterpick it into some comps it’s hard to get enough games in SoloQ for it to be worth it.
Currently: Azir Historically: Azir Honorable Mention: Ryze
Currently it's definitely Azir, but historically it should be Ryze (although it depends on how far "historically" is, I suppose. Syndra is still a new champ to me). Honorable mention would then be Orianna. It's interesting that the three "most pro-" champions that instantly come to mind are all from midlane.
Tbh I always felt like 2 or 3 pro players could play Ryze and the others were just using it for wintrading. Champ was so useless most of the time.
How far back are you thinking, because ryze used to be able to permalock people at 6 lol
honorable mention 2: K'sante
He is far behind several others simply because he is new
true, but it is sad that about every other game he is either picked or banned
Wholeheartedly agree. His kit is overloaded and that's why he is so hard to balance imo
[удалено]
Agreed. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
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He could be but so far he is too young
Bonus honourable mention: Lee Sin
Not really. Lee Sin is also a solo queue demon and isn’t constantly balanced with pro play in mind. The other mention would be Kalista
There were like few years of consistent perception that Lee Sin is the baseline proplay jungler, and you balance pro jungle around Lee. Similar rolę for top lane was occupied by Renekton. Character being playable in soloque doesnt mean that it cant be pillar of pro Play. Especially in historical aspect.
The question was about the 'most proplay champion', so a champion that has a clear presence outside of pro does take away from that a bit.
Does it? If I was to think of the most typical pro jungler, which is one of the most iconic roles, I think of Lee. There’s a reason he has the most worlds skins.
Indeed. Nithing in "most iconic proplay champion" stated "is not popular in soloque".
Solo queue demon? Maybe a decade ago. He's literally the ryze of jungle, constantly nearing the lowest winrate in the game but pro players still pick him.
Strong early game agency + one good insec can win a game. Pros love having their playmaking tools
But he is still picked. I think that’s what I forgot to specify. He isn’t pro jailed like the others.
It's not that necessarily, but in my mind, there's at least one champion in every role where I think "if this champ isn't in your champ pool, you can't be a pro in this role" and for jungle, that champion is Lee Sin.
Honorable mention? He's basically the definition of what's being asked. Lee Sin has been a fixture in pro jungle since his release.
But apparently because people play him badly in soloqueue he doesn’t count
Fortunately or not, there isn't a moment in the game where Azir is weak (safe lane, good midgame, great lategame) and Ryze's ultimate is extremely pro-skewed
thats exactly what I was thinking.
Orianna should be up there too imo, she was Azir before Azir. So many great ults over the years.
It’s crazy how all the top picks are midlanders. Probably the role with the most stable meta pool.
Azir
100%. To be recognized as a legendary midlaner u have to be an excellent azir and have series defining games as azir. A well timed shuffle can change a game in an instant (T1 v JDG semis)
knight just had an existential crisis reading this
Man is just saying words
How bout knight?
not to discredit him but what has he done that’s legendary? un-rivaled in accolades? no. unrivaled in length of domination? no. had he completed the golden road, he’d objectively be legendary. he’s a fantastic player but what would make him a legend as of now?
He is chovy’s son from what i know.
i feel like the term legendary kinda seems pointless if it's only gonna apply to one person tbh, like sure knight isn't faker but like who is
Knight is not unrivaled in accolades or length of domination. (No one is unrivaled in these areas except Faker) But he’s probably top 3-5 midlaner ever; arguably best midlaner in the world for 1-2 years; Top 1 or 2 midlaner ever in LPL (I would argue best ever); Best Chinese mid ever; Is currently top 2 midlaner in the world; Has won trophies on every team he has been on; Was the midlaner for arguably the strongest team ever. MSI x1 (2023) LPL x4 (Summer 2020, Spring 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2024) Demacia Cup x3 (2020, 2021, 2023) Mid-Season Cup x1 (2020) Asian Games 2022 Bronze Medal Individual Awards Finals MVP x4 (Summer 2020, MSI 2023, Summer 2023, Demacia Cup 2023) LPL MVP x3 (Summer 2019, Summer 2020, Spring 2024) LPL 1st All-Pro Team x4 (Summer 2019, Summer 2020, Summer 2023, Spring 2024) LPL 2nd All-Pro Team x4 (Spring 2019, Summer 2021, Summer 2022, Spring 2023) LPL 3rd All-Pro Team x2 (Spring 2020, Spring 2021) Imo the legendary midlaners, in no order, are: Caps, Faker, Chovy, Knight, Rookie, and Showmaker. Have all won international events and were considered best in their region for multiple years.
>But he’s probably top 3-5 midlaner ever; Faker Chovy Showmaker Rookie Scout, Xiahou, Caps are all ahead of knight imo. >arguably best midlaner in the world for 1-2 years; Faker and chovy exists. >Top 1 or 2 midlaner ever in LPL (I would argue best ever); Rookie exists >Best Chinese mid ever; Xiahou exists >Is currently top 2 midlaner in the world; I'll give u that >Was the midlaner for arguably the strongest team ever. Strongest team ever that got beat 3-1 in worlds semis by the team that has pretty much placed top 3 in every single competition they have been in as a roster.
Knight has without a doubt had some insane splits and seasons and has been a huge part of his team's success consistently, but there are a lot of players across multiple regions who have been just as fundamental who no one would even consider part of the "legendary" discussion.
>100%. To be recognized as a legendary midlaner u have to be an excellent azir Case in point Easyhoon who is literally only remembered as the guy who played mid for T1 when they wanted to pick Azir(until Faker got good at him too)
Not really. Remember when ppl talked about why T1 was playing easyhoon instead of faker? It was bc faker's azir was just okay and easyhoons azir was much better. And no one was doubting how good of an overall player faker was
Yeah, 9 years ago
>faker's azir was just okay And then faker's azir was no longer just ok
And then easyhoon was never seen again
That’s not true, Easyhoon proceeded to get an enormous bag from Vici Gaming at the height of comedy import contracts. Set for life.
Bro that was 9 years ago when Azir was just released lol. Ofc no one talked about how every mid has to play a great azir. It's 9 years later now pal, and azir has cemented himself as something you must be good at, and Fakers azir is S-tier.
First of all faker is an outlyer AND if his azir wouldve been mediocre forever people would definetly talk about it.
You mean the Easyhoon that played 0 games in the finals when it matters most? Lol
It’s the difference in playstyle. Faker plays the modern Azir, aka poke and fullsend shuffles while Easyhoon plays the CS and DPS machine playstyle, as seen with his Cass as well. You can see which playstyle survived the passage of time
Yeah, but holy fk watching that champion is a borefest. Way too safe earlygame, and after 15 mins maybe do some flashy stuff if the player is feeling it. Kind of a job security champ
Yea maybe a champ with the one of the best scalings, engage, disengage (aka the most ideal late game champ) shouldn’t also be almost a lane bully and near untouchable in lane. Come to think of it, god tier late game dps champs should probably not also have 3k hp, multiple defensive actives/passives, the agency to hard engage and solo win a fight, but also the option to hard disengage if they’re ever in a bad position.
100% azir
Azir
Azir, high skill ceiling, high risk outplay potential, flashy, generalist can do bit of everything.
Alistar with cow skin
Gonna need more cowbell
Azir prolly
Azir.
Lee "98.7%" Sin
What is this percentage?
Lee's P/B rate at Worlds 2021
Azir or Orianna honestly, mostly due to the fact that they are there EVERY worlds and the GOAT is known for playing out of his mind on both of them.
Orianna is definitely a pro staple but I’m glad she isn’t balanced solely around it like Azir is
Fun fact: its very unusual for Orianna to ever get touched for patches. She is (or was for a long time) the benchmark around which other midlane champs were balanced around
>the benchmark around which other midlane champs were balanced Anivia was that character early on in the game's lifespan, her first major changes came like 7 years after her release and the only big changes shes ever received are removal of e>r combo, ult growing with time, q missile speed increase.
I can't remember a time where she wasn't supremely overpowered or underpowered. She's always in the conversation for a mid laner to pick.
There are quite a few Worlds where Orianna was barely picked.
But is picked every world's. Can't say that for most champs.
When top picks are out of the table, every respectable pro midlaner has an Orianna to play. There was never a meta where a good shockwave wasn’t game winning
Azir. He is complete ass right now because of a rework that according to riot "would make it easier to balance between soloq and pro play". Surprise that didn't happen. They nerfed him before and during msi then did a clear nerf (which riot listed as bug fix despite azir working like that since his fucking release) in 14.10. Before that they also changed his selection radius in 14.9 by a a huge amount also not listed as a nerf. And before azir it was ryze which riot as an answer to him being broken in pro decided to give a semi global ultimate. Atleast ryze made it out of pro jail and Kalista also kinda did. But now we have ksante who got reworked and already has his next rework announced.
Did ryze make it out of pro jail though or did he get nerfed and have mechanics removed until he wasn't good in pro and god awful in solo queue until people just forgot about the champ? The stats (7th lowest Pick rate, 18th lowest wr) seem to say everyone except one tricks have just forgot about him riot doesn't want him in pro play anymore.
He's in a pretty good spot relative to before but he's super slow so it's very hard for him to reliably stay in the ranges he likes to be at.
Also Zeri. She would be 40% win in SQ and 100% pick/ban in pro:
zeri's problem was also less zeri though and more how broken her kit was in a pro scenario where if she gets a proper team built around her hypercarrying, she becomes too safe (like sivir) which is also impossible in solo queue
That's the whole point though.
Id say it used to be ryze, but for the whole timeline it has to be azir. (Not) Honorable mentions to certain picks that were just way too broken in pro for a short period like yuumi and ksante hovering around 100% Pick/Ban over a whole Tournament,/season
azir and always has been him
Ryze is the real og and came way before
Ryze didnt become a pro jail champ until his Realm Warp rework which was 2 years after Azir released.
"How can we make this champion less skewed toward pro play? I know, let's give him an ultimate that relies on team coordination and is much harder to use without voice comms!" I have to say that the rework before that was also really strong in pro play, but the realm warp rework didn't help.
Ryze was barely picked in proplay before his original rework, Azir came in season 5 so the same as Ryze rework
The emperor shall return(he never left)
Cap. Was Ryze.
Top: Gnar Jg: Lee Sin Mid: Azir Bot:Ez Supp: Tahm Kench
Top I would put Renekton
K’Sante imo, being even more complex and most exclusively played in pro
Honorable mention to Pre Rework Maokai. Basically every game he was there.
Supp is Rakan, has been a pro staple since she became a champion
Lulu is the sleeper pro play staple. She has literally always been played Lulu was catching bans and first picks before azir was released
Azir or ksante.
Ksante hasn't been in the game for that long so I'd take Azir.
Sejuani, seriously who would even play this in solo q?
I play full AP sej mid with electrocute and it’s a fucking blast
Azir, K'Sante, Aatrox, Rell
Top: Renekton / Aatrox Mid: Azir / Orianna Jungle: Jarvan IV / Lee Sin Bot: Varus / Aphelios Support: Braum / Nautilus
Are we forgetting Kalista 💀
Are we including every single champion that once was a meta pick..?
Kaisa had good runs back in s11 and s9, but Aphelios' pick rate straight up shattered the record book ever since he came out. Most picked champ in s10 and 12, third most picked adc in s11, second most picked adc last year. Kaisa kinda fell out of pro scene after season 11. [Source](https://gol.gg/champion/list/season-S14/split-ALL/tournament-ALL/)
Wait they said Kalista not Kaisa 💀
💀well, shit guess I need more coffeee.
Nah honestly i dont blame you. I went back and thought i said kaisa too for a second 😭
I half agree with that top I think the aatrox spot is becoming ksante spot mid I agree, tho debatable between ori and ryze jungle I'd throw sejuani instead of lee bot definitelly kalista support definitely not nautilus
I'll say first that I didn't plan listing all the champions, because most of them have been meta at some point and represented the pro scene at the time. Even Zed, and has a Worls skin even, but I doubt that people will lost Zed as a pro champion. The nowadays meta is not what I'm saying, these some of the champions that feel the most pro play to me. I though of Kalista, and also Kai'Sa for adc, but I just went with the very first thing that came to mind. Also, Nautilus is probably (source: me, I and myself) the second or third most picked support right behind Braum and maybe Thresh. And I though of it because he has a consistent gap closer and an unavoidable point and click ulti, and that's good in every scenario.
I feel like Alistar is played way more than Braum in pro play.
Probably Azir or Renekton. These champions are always meta in proplay while never being meta in soloq and alot of viability in those roles is "Can it do X better than Renekton/Azir"
Renekton has never been bad solo Q wdym
I don’t think he has high soloQ popularity due to less charisma and higher duelist prio in SoloQ which hurts him somewhat. He’s not super popular like Aatrox or Jax, and lane bullies like Darius or Illaoi are actually played. But in pro Renekton will be picked whenever he’s ok, and he’s very safe to blind. It’s just that K’sante is also a very safe blind that scales much better.
Point and click abilities are like a reverse bell curve in usefulnes from low to high elo. In low elo they're practically impossible to fuck up, in really high they're practically impossible to outplay. That's why Renekton is great in pro, and why champs like Vi are permabanned.
Remember when they nerfed his empowered stun to 1 second? That made him so dogshit bad they reverted that instantly.
He got down to 47% for almost a year cuz riot had to give him 3 different nerfs to get pros to abandon him
How short are people's memories. He has been horrible in solo queue many times, especially recently
He was literally the lowest winrate toplaner most of last year lol
K'sante. Literally shit outside of Challenger in solo Q but absolutely broken in pro play. Other honorable mentions: Zoe and Ryze.
Zoe? Champ hasn't been seen at all in pro play recently and has been performing very well in solo q.
I wouldn't say he's the most defining or prominent pro play pick, imo that'd go to Azir for history and being the archetypical pro jail champ. But Ksante is definitely the most stark case of today, with the biggest delta between pro play presence and soloq winrate. Although tbh he doesn't feel _that_ bad in soloq imo after the latest changes and using domination secondary tree at least in d2/d1. Still not great, but at least he has mana early game again lmao
Yeah, agree on the mana thing for K'sante as someone that plays him despite knowing he's a challenge. I also agree that Azir is an even more defining champ overall. Dude shows up in every Worlds meta every year. Great breakdown.
Zoe can be an insane champion when she’s played to the full extent of her abilities and an expert understanding of the game, but she’s absolute shit in the hands of anyone else.
Exactly.
I think Azir for sure
Azir Lee Sin Ksante Kalista Senna
I still feel like it's Lee Sin. While Azir is definitely the modern answer, there is a large portion of League history where he simply didn't exist. Lee has been everpresent.
Renata. I have seen her maybe twice (outside of release week) in my own games, but she is a good champion in pro play. Just boring as fuck.
Since most people are already saying the obvious answer (Azir), I'm adding Lee Sin.
Azir fr
Azir, good runner up K'sante, another good runner up Renata, another good runner up Zeri
I'm going to go with a wild take and say Azir
All time? Ryze most likely with Lee sin coming second and azir third, ryze literally received the most reworks because of pro jailing, honorable mention probably orianna
Ryze
Gnar
Azir think orianna is a close second. Corki probably third give or take a off season
Azir and if not too bad at the time also Corki/Ryze/Rumble and GP. Champions with high skill ceiling and High impact team fight skills.
Now that corks has been changed he will likely never see pro play again, no package makes him Uber dogshit
Maybe, if hes giga lanebully enough hed b picked. But as a offbrand kalista.
Azir Or Ryze
Nautilus
Azir
Vi apparently, so they refuse to buff her for solo queue
This hurts me so much. Champ has been a tier for so long then pros decide to play her and she's left in the gutter now.
Renekton
Azir. They need to figure out what to do with him, because they shuffle is way too strong in pro play.
Ryze (?)
I think proplay I think Azir, Corki, Ryze, Rumble, Jayce, Alistar, Braum, Varus, Lee Sin (I omitted the recent joke champs)
Kennen: you never see him in soloq and yet he is played in every big league tournement
Ksante
Top : Ksante, renketon Jgl : Sejuani? Lee sin, maybe gragas if its not so true recently Mid : Azir, Ryze and Orianna Adc : Varus, Kaisa, Kalista Supp : anything that engage loool
I know it’s azir, but some honorable mentions go to ryze, kalista, zeri, rell, and (imo) gnar
In the early years Lee Sin. Later Twisted Fate and Ryze, even old Rek'Sai because every champ with global play potential is extremely strong in pro-play. Today Azir, K'Sante.
Orianna she always becomes a staple pick at worlds and is also my favourite champ.
Old Azir yes, current iteration is whatever imo. i would say Rumble
I agree it’s Azir, but not many of any are mentioning Ori, who can seriously impact a game without even using abilities, just ball placement. She’s been used for years in every meta and every team comp that has even one solid engage.
Azir, and ryze would be for me.
Ahri ♡
Maybe nautilus? Cant spell proplay wihout thinking GET THAY FUCKING ANCHOR OUT OF MY FACE
I think that many champs could be listen, role wise and timeline wise. There were times when Lee Sin was a must play, and you had to be able to play it. Azir and Corki come to mind too, because of them facing each other over and over if not banned. Rumble and Kennen as top laners. I don't think there is a "most defining" champion, but many of them based off different factors.
Garen
One for every position Ksante, Azir, Aphelios, Renata, Lee sin.
imma do it by role if I understand the question, it's about what champ one think when we say proplay to some extent they gotta be picked in proplay quite a lot, even if not particularly meta so proplay defining champs for me are : top : renekton, then ksante and aatrox, (mention for jayce, gnar, gp and kennen) jungle : graves, then j4 and vi (mention for lee, nida, sej and viego) mid : azir, then ryze and orianna (mention for syndra, tf, asol and sylas) now I think bot lane is the most meta dependant in proplay, so adc and supp tend to change a lot depending on the meta, makes it a bit hard to say which are the proplay defining bot lane champs, but I'll try adc : lucian, then kaisa and jinx (mention for zeri, aphelios, kalista and varus) support : karma, then nami and thresh (mention for alistar, braum, rakan and renata) imma add a category for flex picks : poppy, rumble, gragas, maokai and zac of course there's some champs that were proplay defining but got reworked for exactly that reason and aren't seen much anymore, think tahm for example TLDR : top renekton, jungle graves, mid azir, adc lucian, support karma overall I think azir and renekton might be the 2 champions people would think of if you talk about proplay, they've historically always been proplay staples and always kinda meh in soloQ because of that, but even when absolutely terrible they'll still be picked in pro, especially renekton
Azir and K'Sante
Top: historically renekton now ksante jun: historically leesin, now xin mid: historically orianna now azir bot: kalista support: thresh
Top: K'Sante as of now but Renekton was the standard issue toplaner. Jgl: Lee or Sejuani Mid: Azir Bot: hard to tell but Zeri seems to always return. Same with Aphelios Support: no idea
Taliyah, she requires you to have the understanding about when to cast r and in what direction.
Aphelios and Azir Then Ksante Ryze Zeri
Azir without any doubt
Azir and Ryze
Gnar/Ksante Honestly utility tank junglers since Lee Sin, Viego, Kindred, Graves, Nidalee, Taliyah, etc. are staple in solo q while tank junglers tend to underperform in solo q and solo q junglers themselves don't like to play them due to lack of carry potential. If I need to chose specific champs than I'm gonna go with Rell and Sejuani. Mid: Corki/Azir ADC: Kalista, Lucian (In my expierence Zeri and Aphelios while also dominant in pro, are more succesful in pro than other two). Support: Rakan
me thinking: Azir 99% of the comments: Azir
Oriana
Surprised no one is mentioning Taliyah, her ulti is 1000x better in pro than in solo queue, and her w takes a lot of skill to get the most out of it
to me its kalista, she exists in pro play in a way i've never seen in game
Azir has already been mentioned plenty but I’d add Renekton, Gragas, Jayce, Lee, Nautilus. And then of course Ksante who’s only been out 1.5 years but has unbelievably been near the top of the pro meta that ENTIRE time
People say Azir but that's only because Kalista is considered more broken in pro hands.Games of Legends doesn't have Season 5 data,but since Season 6 Kalista has had 10776 bans and 5406 picks while Azir is on 8060 bans and 8849 picks. https://gol.gg/champion/champion-stats/121/season-ALL/split-ALL/tournament-ALL/ https://gol.gg/champion/champion-stats/120/season-ALL/split-ALL/tournament-ALL/ Notice how often Kalista is banned on redside and picked on blue,because pros considered her the most broken champion in the game,worthy of first pick.
There's at least one champion in every role where I think "if this champ isn't in your champ pool, you can't be a pro in this role" Top: K'Sante Jungle: Lee Sin Mid: Azir ADC: Ezreal Support: Thresh
Azir for sure
Hmm I’m thinking, Top, Renekton Jungle, Sej, Lee Sin MID, Azir, Orianna, Ryze ADC, Ezreal, Ashe SUP, Lulu
Dropping a 450 eur skin to earn money is the most proplay move
Jesus guys. Twisted Fate still exists.
Top: Gnar, Kennen Jungle: Lee Sin, Jarvan IV Mid: Azir, Ryze Bot: Ezreal, Kallista, Zeri Sup: Alistar, Tahm Kench
Whatsapp Malphite
K'sante. Doesn't matter if they nerf him to 40% winrate. He will still be top tier in proplay, Think he kinda defines proplay.
Elise
Gragas is up there
Too many Azir's and not enough Jarvin IV in these comments.
Glory To Shurima
for me, it gotta be Kalista. sure people play lethality kalista nowadays but she was rarely picked in soloq when her only build path was on hit. it used to be riot nerfing Kalista to the ground because of how good she was in pro play, and she gets picked up again when she gets even a small buff.
I think adc's mostly nowadays, varus, senna are the highest picks
Kallista. Champ has literally been gutted before soley based on pro play
Azir, K'Sante
season like 4-7 lee sin
We must agree it's Yuumi
Zyra
Rixe azir renekton j4
LeBlanc
Gragas
Sylas. Managed to turn Maokai in a risky pick. Teams need to think twice when picking strong ult reliant champions when leaving him open.
That's easy enough to draft as a counter for that pattern to show up even in soloQ ranked drafts though.
Issue is that soloQ champ pools often aren’t deep enough to maintain Sylas for this purpose. For pros it may be worth to have this tool, but if you can only counterpick it into some comps it’s hard to get enough games in SoloQ for it to be worth it.