The best LoL champions for new players

Nicholas James Published 19/03/2023

If you’re a newcomer to the biggest video game in the world and are looking for where to start, here are the best LoL champions for new players.

League of Legends is an incredibly complicated game, and with over 140 characters to choose from, it can be hard to decide where to start. Riot Games tries to rate champions based on their difficulty in the client, but these ratings are unreliable and often don’t match up with the reality of the champion’s skill requirements. Here are the best LoL champions for new players and why they’re good for starting out.

The best LoL champions for new players

Top Lane

Malphite

Malphite is a classic tank champion that gives new players very few mechanical problems to worry about, instead focusing on laning and contributing to team fights. Malphite’s entire kit revolves around one incredibly powerful ability, his ultimate. Malphite ultimate is one of the most influential abilities in the game, with an AoE knock up that can set up his team for game-ending combos. Malphite isn’t exciting most of the time, but he’ll help new players figure out what they need to do in order to succeed as a tank in League of Legends.

Shen

Shen is another classic tank that’s great for new players. With a powerful laning phase that punishes many melee top laners, and an ultimate that lets him show up to allies in need, Shen does it all. He specializes against champions who rely on auto-attacks for much of their damage, which makes him excellent as an answer for many juggernauts and fighters. Shen also allows new players to play on their own away from their team before arriving to fights at key moments, teaching them about macro play and rotations.

Jungle

Warwick

Warwick may be one of the perfect LoL champions for new players. The Beast of Zaun is a tanky, aggressive jungler with early-game pressure and midgame agency. Thanks to his blood trails, new players can be made aware of low-health enemies without needing to move their screen. At the same time, he has a reasonably low skill floor. So new players will find it easy to figure out what to do. He’s not very complicated, which makes it easy to figure out other aspects of the game that aren’t combos or character specifics.

Udyr

Udyr’s rework has made him one of the most-feared junglers for months. Thanks to having no traditional ultimate, more of Udyr’s power is available from the start of the game. Udyr has crowd control, protection, and damage aplenty. This means new players are less likely to lack the tools they need in any given game and can contribute to their team early. As a result, new players won’t feel like they’ve lost a game from Champion Select as often as other characters.

Mid Lane

Swain

Swain is a tanky control mage with lots of tools for new players to use. With a spamable ability for wave clear and lots of opportunities to contribute to teamfights, Swain is rarely weak. Since Swain’s ultimate incentivizes him to walk into enemies during fights, new players don’t have to worry about distancing as much. Tankier characters are able to make more mistakes and still succeed, and Swain is an especially tanky mage.

Tristana

Tristana is a great LoL champion for new players because she has one of the strongest laning phases in the game. Tristana has easy wave clear, easy kill potential, and tons of turret damage. This lets new players get an early lead against many mid lane mages they’ll encounter. While she might not be a traditional mid lane, Tristana is still a great starting point. Playing a marksman will also teach new players to trade with their auto-attacks to win advantages in lane.

Bot Lane

Miss Fortune

Another character with a strong laning phase and the ability to dominate team fights, Miss Fortune can be a great pick for new players. She harasses enemies in lane and has strong wave clear as the game goes on. At the same time, her ultimate means new players can help their team in fights with the click of a single button. Miss Fortune pairs well with all kinds of supports. There are few things the pirate queen does poorly, making her a great pick for newcomers.

Jhin

Jhin is a complicated character in some ways, but still can be great pickup for newbies. With very clear moments of strength built around his four-shot passive, new players will grow to understand moments of strength and weakness. He also is able to contribute to fights from long range, letting them sit back and get used to an ADC’s duties. While he might not be the most “normal” champion, he’s a great tool to have in your belt.

Support

Nautilus

There are few supports as straight forwards as Nautilus. Your job is to find squishy enemies, hook them with your Dredge Line, and lock them down. You’re tanky, and as long as you start the fight on your terms, you usually succeed in your role. He’s not complicated, he’s not very tricky, but he’s perfect for newer arrivals to Summoner’s Rift.

Blitzcrank

Yet another hook-based champion, Blitzcrank is another simple catch-focused support. Hit exposed enemies with your hook, pull them into your team, and let your allies do the rest. These types of supports are all about setting up your team, which is just what new support players should focus on. At the same time, it will teach them about the ebb and flow of a League of Legends game that supports need to keep an eye on.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

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