The LoL Arena tier list for every champion

Nicholas James Published 07/12/2023

The new League of Legends game mode is here, so we’ve put together a LoL Arena tier list that covers every single champion in the game.

The New League of Legends game mode is a 2v2v2v2 deathmatch mode. You’ll play with a teammate and fight other duos in varying rounds of combat. If you want to learn more about the mode itself, check out our complete guide to the new game mode. Champions in this tier list will be loosely separated into four tiers that show how well they’ve been performing in the Public Beta Environment. S-tier champions are the best of the best and are worth a ban if you don’t want them taking over a game. A-tier champions are very good, but are held back from being at the tippy top. B-Tier champions are perfectly playable but suffer from a few issues, C-tier champions have many weaknesses or glaring issues in the new mode. D tier is reserved for champions whose abilities have specific non-combos with the game mode. Champions within a tier are sorted alphabetically, not by power. With that clarified, let’s dive into our LoL Arena tier list.

LoL Arena tier list

S-Tier Champions

S-Tier champions are the best of the best and are some of the most prolific forces in the Arena mode. If they’re in S-tier on our LoL Arena tier list, they’re likely going to be all over the live servers when Arena releases.

• Alistar: Touting incredible amounts of peel and crowd control, Alistar is one of the best tools for zone control in Arena. He can take huge amounts of punishment and becomes especially dangerous as the circle closes, able to headbutt enemies into the fire and to their deaths. He’s a worthy choice to lead our LoL Arena tier list.

• Dr. Mundo: Tanky characters that can still dish out damage excel in Arena, and Dr. Mundo is the tank’s tank. Mundo has tons of augments that supercharge his power level, and he’s one of the best defensive picks in the game.
• Gragas: Gragas offers damage, tankiness, and crowd control all in one exceptional package. Gragas can survive for absurd amounts of time all while outputting damage. His Ultimate is also amazing as the circle closes.
• Heimerdinger: Arena is all about fighting over control of a few objectives (plants and cameos) and the center of the map. Heimerdinger wants nothing more than to set up his turrets in one spot on the map and wait for enemies to come to him. Arena is Heimerdinger’s dream environment and he shines in the new mode.
• Tahm Kench: Another absurd tank who can become nigh-unkillable with the right Augments, Tahm Kench is one of the game mode’s premier tanks.

• Taric: There’s no other champion in all of LoL Arena that offers the level of peel, healing, and shielding that Taric does. He’s an absolute force of nature when paired with juggernauts and slayers, and shouldn’t be underestimated.
• Vladimir: Vladimir is a hard scaling champion who abuses all sorts of healing and damage-based Augments like no other mage.
• Warwick: Warwick is a juggernaut with lots of healing and plenty of durability. That makes him ideal for the mode, and when paired with similarly brawly teammates, he can be an immortal werewolf straight from myth.

• Yuumi: In a game mode about 2v2 fights, a Yuumi supercharging an ally, especially a juggernaut ally, is going to be a constant looming threat. Summoner’s Rift players know exactly why you don’t want to face a Yuumi constantly attached to a top laner, and Arena will make you do that all the time.
• Udyr: The last thing most champions want to do is slug it out with an Udyr toe-to-toe. In Arena, that’s the only option you have. With maximum health burn damage from Demonic Embrace and his usual insane durability within fights, Udyr is emerging as one of the game mode’s early OP champions.

A Tier champions

A Tier champions are those just short of glory in our LoL Arena tier list, be it short range, squishy nature, or being outclassed by others, something is stopping these champions from reaching S tier.

• Aatrox: Aatrox is a champion who loves skirmishing against a small number of opponents, and Arena is a game mode where that’s all you do. With healing, exceptional damage, and the ability to leverage many Augments in his favor, Aatrox is a beast of Arena, but not quite as good as some of the S tier picks all of the time.
• Akali: Akali is highly mobile and packs tons of damage, exactly what many Arena teams are looking for. She’ll struggle against tanky juggernauts who can withstand her initial burst, but she’s still a potent threat against squishy champions and wields Augments fantastically.
• Annie: Annie is one of League of Legends’ simplest champions. She packs lots of damage and easy-to-hit crowd control. She makes a great threat and enabler for many comps thanks to Arena’s confined quarters.

• Aurelion Sol: As with many scaling champions, Aurelion Sol can consistently become a multi-item menace in Arena. He’s a fantastic damage dealer and can gather lots of Stardust for free and during battle. His one weakness is how vulnerable he is to being locked down by tanky enemies and killed.
• Camille: Camille absolutely adores 2v2 skirmishes with lots of terrain to Hookshot to and from. Arena gives Camille space to shine as the Batman-inspired grappling hook-wielding menace she is. Paired with other offensive melee champions, Camille becomes a premier option.
• Anivia: Like many A-tier champions, Anivia is a mage who excels at locking down space and disrupting enemies. This makes her a fantastic Arena pick, able to pair with tanky melee champions to shred enemies with overwhelming damage. Her wall and CC also become formidable problems as the circle closes.
• Ahri: Ahri is a skirmishing mage through and through, and this shines in Arena. Ahri’s mobility, damage, and pick potential with her charm make her a great mage pick.
• Darius: Juggernauts are the kings and queens of Arena, and Darius is no exception. With most teams needing a tanky presence, Darius can easily build up his bleed passive and pump out serious damage. Darius has always been terrifying in 2v2 fights and that remains true.

• Fiora: Fiora is perhaps the most-feared skirmisher in top lane, and she’s not stopping now. Bringing withering damage and tons of mobility, a well-played Fiora can dismantle many enemy teams with ease.
• Gangplank: Gangplank is an exceptionally difficult champion, but can be exceptionally rewarding in Arena. His late-game damage is second to none, and his Q gives him free resources on-use rather than while last-hitting like it is in Summoner’s Rift. If you can farm up Serpents and gold, Gangplank can become a serious menace.
• Garen: Garen’s one of the better Juggernauts in Arena, but he’s not exceptional enough for S tier. Garen wants to run at his enemies and then disappear post-fight to heal back up, and Arena rewards him for it.
• Gwen: Gwen is a skirmisher who loves smaller fights where she can take over the engagement. This makes her perfectly suited for Arena, bringing melee magic damage to balance out many teams.
• Hecarim: Hecarim is a champion who shines with his Augments and items especially. With the ability to run straight through walls with new boots, Hecarim can brute force fights against even the slipperiest teams.
• Jax: Jax is a hammer in Arena, simple, unsubtle, and good. Jax’s ability to leap onto enemies, stun them, and then tear them apart will always be useful in arena. He struggles with mobile enemies who can avoid or kite him easily.
• Jinx: Many AD carries struggle in Arena, but Jinx still manages to shine. Her lack of mobility is a problem, but getting a single Get Excited proc in a fight usually means the game is over. Jinx needs a tanky teammate to buy her space and she can quickly take over once they do.

• Kai’Sa: Another ADC who manages to shine in Arena in Kai’Sa. She’s able to have diverse builds that stack well with Augments, and her % Max HP damage comes in handy against Arena’s tanky meta. Kai’Sa pairs best with a melee champion who can peel her.
• Karma: Support Karma is fine in Arena, but tank Karma is where it’s at. Tank Karma brings so much healing that she can consistently plan to outlast enemy teams after the circle fully closes and both sides are burning to death. Tank Karma maxes Karma’s W for the % Max HP heal.
• Kayle: Kayle is likely the scariest late-game champion in the game, and she can easily reach her frightening stages in Arena. As always, Kayle will need somebody to stand in between her and the enemy team in order to excel.
• Kled: Kled absolutely loves constantly fighting, and he packs the damage to be able to do it. Kled is an unsubtle all-in champion, but that doesn’t stop him from putting up a fight in the new 2v2v2v2 mode.
• Kog’Maw: Kog’Maw is another incredibly scary late-game threat, and the right choice in teammate makes all the difference. Kog’Maw can become an unparalleled threat in Arena, but he needs to be paired with the right Enchanter ally. When paired with Milio, Kog’Maw is essentially an S-tier champion, but he requires too much support to be S-tier on his own.
• LeBlanc: Some of Arena’s craziest Augments are for mages, and Leblanc’s mobility and burst damage make her one of the best users. She suffers for her lack of durability, but a good LeBlanc should be able to pack truly stupendous damage in Arena.
• Lillia: Lillia absolutely loves skirmishes in small, winding spaces where she can fight and speed around with ease. Lillia’s speed lets her easily control spaces around plants and Cameos, and her ultimate is fantastic for setting up her ally. All of this and she still does excellent damage and can abuse several Augments.

• Master Yi: Just like in ARAM, Master Yi loves this game mode’s confined quarters, as it allows him to force enemies to fight him when he wants. With massive damage and great Augment use, Yi’s only problem is the prevalence of lots of crowd control in many teams.
• Milio: While many Enchanters struggle in Arena, Milio is one of the best pairings for Marksman who want to play the game. His W grants a % of its target’s attack range, scaling with level. This means that with Arena’s free scaling, Milio can very quickly turn an ADC into a long-range sniper. He’s at his absolute best when paired with Kog’Maw.
• Mordekaiser: In a game mode focused on 2v2 fights, Mordekaiser’s ability to choose an enemy to freely isolate in his Death Realm is fantastic. Mordekaiser’s Ultimate is a fantastic tool in the mode and can beat whole enemy teams on its own.
• Olaf: Olaf packs tons of damage and sustain, and can be theoretically immune to CC for an entire fight. He’s another all-in Juggernaut that excels in a mode built around skrimishing.
• Pantheon: Pantheon’s point-and-click stun is the main reason he’s good in Arena. That may seem simple, but that’s why it’s good. Pantheon’s ability to walk up to and lock down any target means he brings consistent set up and shines with both his tanky and damage-focused builds.
• Riven: Another mobile skirmisher who absolutely loves duking it out in 2v2s, Riven is great in this new mode. She’s fast, brings crowd control, and can make great use of many Augments all while her class suits the game mode.
• Rumble: Rumble is a mage who leverages so many Augments well that it’s hard to keep track. As a melee that packs tons of magic damage, he also helps round out compositions that involve an AD Juggernaut.
• Seraphine: Seraphine is one of the game’s best supports, but she needs to be paired with one of the game’s best juggernauts in order to reach her full potential. Her poke, healing and massive ultimate all compound well with tanky allies that pile on damage.

• Sett: Sett is yet another juggernaut who absolutely loves the new Arena mode. Able to take tons of punishment and return the favour with Haymaker, his Ultimate is also one of the best tools to forcing an enemy out of the circle and into the fire.
• Shaco: Shaco’s slippery nature and consistent damage make him a menace in Arena. Able to abuse Mage, Assassin, and Marksman Augments depending on his build, he’s also very annoying to teams with one squishy member that he can hunt down.
• Swain: Swain, like Olaf, can theoretically be in his Ultimate for an entire match if the fight goes long enough. This, combined with the power of many of the Mage Augments and his low-cooldown kit means that he’s a demon, pun intended.

• Sylas: In a game mode where many champions are being chosen for powerful Ultimates, Sylas excels. He’ll always have two Ultimates to choose from in a fight and he’s a hyper-mobile Battlemage anyhow, a class that loves Arena. Like many champions on the LoL Arena tier list, Sylas is stronger or weaker depending on his opponents.
• Syndra: Like Anivia, Syndra is a Control Mage who excels at locking down space and keeping enemies at arm’s reach. This makes her a great pick in Arena, where spacing and peel are key.
• Urgot: Another champion who loves long, extended fights, Urgot will be a consistent threat in Arena. Once unlocking his W as a toggle at level nine, he’s yet another AD Juggernaut to fear when you see him load in.
• Veigar: Veigar’s ability to control space with his cage and execute enemies with his Ultimate are his best tools in Arena. His scaling isn’t always the biggest factor in a game, but he enjoys many of the Augments that the game offers around Ability Haste and enhancing spells.
• Volibear: Volibear is good for all the reasons that most Juggernauts are. He brings crowd control, enough damage to terrorize squishy enemies, and insane durability against all but the most buffed-up hyper-carries.
• Yone: Finally getting the spotlight from his younger brother, Yone is the better of the two wind brothers when it comes to Arena. His damage in fantastic and he’s incredibly flexible when it comes to Augments.

B-Tier champions

B-Tier champions are strong but flawed choices. This is the most populated tier of our LoL Arena tier list, so don’t feel bad about locking a B-Tier champion.

• Amumu: A bread-and-butter tank with tons of synergy for magic damage allies, Amumu gets the job done but suffers when he can’t get in range.
• Azir: Struggling against Juggernauts with many of the higher-tier damage threats, Azir is a potent damage dealer, he’s just a fragile bird.
• Bard: Bard is built for short fights and roaming, and he can’t really do either effectively in Arena. He can still be built for burst damage and offers lots of disruption, his overall playstyle just suffers from the new mode.
• Braum: If you want more crowd control on your team, Braum’s not a bad call, but he’s not as good as many full tanks.

• Blitzcrank: Blitzcrank’s influence in Arena is feast or famine. If he can hit his hook on the right target, he’s fantastic. If not, he’s going to suffer. He’s too inconsistent to reach higher on the tier list.
• Caitlyn: Caitlyn’s range makes her a good AD choice, but she’s still worse than many of her higher-tier peers most of the time.
• Diana: Diana suffers from the fact that her Ultimate’s damage scales with targets hit, and there are only, usually (Shaco clones and the like), two targets at most to hit in Arena.
• Cassiopeia: Cass is a consistent magic damage threat, but she’s too easily threatened by tanky enemies and Juggernauts to be top tier.
• Draven: While Draven can still take over a game, just like Summoner’s Rift, the risk and reward are both very high. Draven’s lack of consistency and vulnerability to tanks set him back.
• Ekko: Still one of the better assassins thanks to his Ultimate and W, Ekko’s only downside is that he’s difficult to play. Ekko players will have to work harder than many others to perform as well, so he’s sitting in B tier.
• Fizz: An exceptionally slippery champion, but too squishy to excel.
• Illaoi: Illaoi suffers somewhat due to her Ultimate’s tentacle spawns being capped most of the time at three. She’s still great against melee enemies, but doesn’t have quite the same turn potential.
• Irelia: A fast, high-damage diver, Irelia suffers from not having minions to build up her Q stacks off of before or during a fight.

• Jarvan: Telegraphed engage and damage, Jarvan’s a perfectly good pick that is best paired with a damage dealer who can join him in his Ultimate.
• Jayce: Jayce has good poke and skirmishing potential, but can struggle with Juggernauts that itemize against him.
• Kassadin: Mana isn’t a problem for most champions in Arena, but Kassadin’s Riftwalk is one of the few spells that can still completely drain a mana bar. Kassadin is good, but due to this, he’s less consistent than other champions.
• Katarina: Another Assassin whose only downside is her vulnerability to CC, Katarina is still perfectly playable.

• Kayn: Kayn’s main strength would be walking through walls, but many champions can do that in Arena thanks to the new boots. With this loss of unique identity, Kayn suffers.
• Kennen: Big magic damage burst and plenty of crowd control, Kennen’s biggest risk is how squishy he is.
• K’Sante: K’Sante’s main strength is his ability to separate enemy carries from their team and solo kill them with ease. While this is made harder by a lack of thick terrain, K’Sante is still fine.
• Lee Sin: Skirmishing is the name of the game to Lee Sin, he simply struggles into many of the better champions.
• Leona: All crowd control, Leona needs a high-damage ally to pair with, and is still outshone by many pure tanks.
• Lissandra: Lissandra’s short range holds back her potential in a mode full of Juggernauts and Fighters.
• Lucian: Lucian’s short range means players have to work far harder to get as much out of him as champions like Kog’Maw or Kai’Sa.
• Lulu: While she offers tons of protection and poke, Lulu herself is too vulnerable to be high tier. She’s still very good when paired with the right champion, however.

• Malphite: Malphite still offers tons of setup for his ally, but he doesn’t bring as much damage as other tanky characters further up the tier list.
• Maokai: A fantastic tank, Maokai can be perfect peel for many squishy champions. The only problem is that he doesn’t pose much threat on his own, even as the circle closes.
• Miss Fortune: Miss Fortune’s lack of mobility makes her damage harder to get off. The right Ultimate can swing the game just as easily though.
• Morgana: Morgana offers good protection from enemy mages, but she can’t save herself and a teammate and that makes her less good than she could be.
• Nami: Nami is sadly outpoked by many other champions and outhealed by others, but she’s still great when combined with certain skirmishers who really leverage her power.
• Nasus: While he gets some free stacks from time, Nasus’ main strength is being yet another Juggernaut that can slug it out for a long time with other tanky champions.
• Nautilus: Nautilus doesn’t offer enough chain CC to be as good as other supports, but hooks will always have the ability to disrupt a game, so he stays in B.
• Neeko: Neeko has a hard time disguising herself in this mode, but her heavy magic damage and team fight presence make her a good, if not excellent, pick.
• Nilah: Nilah’s strength is skirmishes cannot be underestimated, but her weakness to melee champions who can get up in her grill keeps her in B tier.
• Orianna: Orianna’s effectiveness is limited by her Ultimate, the strongest ability in her kit, only hitting two opponents. She’s still good, just not exceptional.

• Ornn: Ornn is a fantastic tank, but doesn’t bring quite enough damage on his own to carry games without the help of a teammate. A team with Ornn won’t be short on CC, though.
• Poppy: Poppy can become excellent in dash-heavy lobbies, but other tanks have her beat in a take-all-comers sense.
• Qiyana: While Qiyana does have access to her elements, her teammate will often end up being the target of the enemy as she slips away.
• Renekton: Renekton’s scaling woes hold him back, but he’s a fantastically powerful early pick. Renekton shines with other tanky characters who can follow him into the fight.
• Rengar: Rengar may have plenty of bushes, but he loses the element of surprise on such a small map.
• Senna: Senna can scale and has lots of damage potential, but she essentially needs to be paired with a melee champion with damage.
• Shen: While he’s great in skirmishes, Shen’s powerful ultimate is hurt by the smaller map size.
• Soraka: Soraka does offer tons of healing, and can be similarly immovable to Karma. However, many characters can focus her down too quickly for her to shine.
• Talon: Talon, like many assassins, has trouble keeping up in the sustained fights that Arena promotes. He can still bully squishy champions, but he’ll run into problems against many higher-tier champions.
• Thresh: Supports with peel have a pretty high floor in Arena, While Thresh just isn’t the best at that job, he’s still good at it.
• Trundle: Trundle loves nothing more than to brawl, and his Ultimate can help cripple many of the more tanky targets of the game. Trundle is good into other Juggernauts, but has unfavorable individual matchups into certain specific champions.
• Twitch: Twitch’s lack of mobility is the main thing holding him back, he can still be a top-tier threat, he just requires specific teammates and will feel useless with the wrong partner.

• Varus: Varus offers unparalleled burst and consistent damage depending on his build. This flexibility is useful, but he suffers from the same issues as many other ADCs in the new mode.
• Vayne: Vayne’s short range means she’s often in engagement range of lots of champions she wants nothing to do with.
• Viktor: While Viktor can control space well, his long cooldowns can mean he’s left waiting for his next ability by champions who can tank his first salvo.
• Wukong: Wukong has some fantastic Augments, like Blade Waltz, but he’s less tempting than the best Juggernauts when it comes to Arena. He’s still a powerful enabler with plenty of his own damage, just not the best.
• Xin Zhao: Xin Zhao needs to snowball an early lead or powerful Augment to really take over an Arena game. He’s still fun, he just takes more work to exceed than many better champions.

• Zac: Zac’s telegraphed engage is his biggest weakness. It’s much harder for a Zac to get a huge engage when playing against two people who both know where he should be most of the time.
• Zeri: Zeri is one of the better B-Tier ADCs, as her consistent damage and ability to kite enemies are great. Unfortunately, she can still get killed very quickly by Juggernauts who crowd control her.
• Ziggs: Zigg’s Ultimate loses a fair amount of its power with a smaller map. He can still poke enemies out, but most of the time champions will weather his damage and chase him down eventually.
• Zilean: Zilean is feast-or-famine in Arena. His zone control is second to none with items, but relies on hitting bombs against many targets that will be able to avoid or tank them.
• Zyra: For similar reasons as Heimerdinger, Zyra likes a smaller map and a shrinking circle. However, her plants aren’t quite as threatening as Heimerdinger’s turrets and she’s very squishy.

C-Tier Champions

C-tier Champions are most of the champions in the game, they’re not awful but there are things pulling them down the ranks of this LoL Arena tier list.

• Akshan: Akshan’s best at roaming and picking off enemies, something he just can’t do in Arena. His only unique offering is the resurrection from the Scoundrel passive
• Aphelios: Aphelios’ biggest weakness has always been being run down by tanky champions, and that means he really struggles in Arena.
• Ashe: For the same reason as Aphelios, absolutely 0 mobility limits how safe she can be in such a confined map.
• Bel’Veth: Unable to leverage her split push threat and too squishy to go truly toe-to-toe with tankier enemies, Bel’Veth struggles in Arena.

• Brand: Brand’s lack of mobility makes staying alive a serious problem for the flaming mage. Nonetheless, he does pack a wallop of % maximum HP damage in his kit.
• Corki: Corki’s too poke-heavy to excel in Arena, where all-in and sustained fighting are the name of the game.
• Cho’Gath: Cho’Gath can buy lots of space and threaten squishy enemies, but he struggles into many similarly tanky targets. This issue in the tank and juggernaut mirror is what makes Cho’Gath struggle even more.
• Evelynn: Evelynn is best when you don’t know she’s coming. Enemies have eyes on where Evelynn spawns from the start of the match, which makes her job especially hard.
• Ezreal: While Ezreal is slippery, he can be too easily caught after one E. Other ADCs have more consistent damage and leverage Augments better.
• Fiddlesticks: Fiddlesticks wants to engage from out of line of sight, and that’s hard to guarantee in Arena. Without that added Fear effect, he feels like a much less scary scarecrow.
• Galio: Galio’s biggest strength is the ability to join allies from far away, something that doesn’t come up in Arena. While he does pack lots of CC, his Ultimate feels far less useful than in Summoner’s Rift.
• Gnar: Gnar needs to build up to Mega Gnar, which means he doesn’t have any CC to offer early on. This holds Gnar back, as well as a lack of truly impressive Augment synergies.
• Graves: As with many other champions, Graves’ biggest problem is his short range. It’s not damage he lacks, it’s the ability to do that damage safely.

• Ivern: Ivern feels out of place in Arena and is only saved by the strength of support items. Daisy offers peel, but most teams will tear Ivern apart.
• Janna: Without enough consistent peel to truly keep allies safe, Janna falls down to C-tier.
• Jhin: Jhin brings lots of damage to the table, but doesn’t have enough ways to protect himself to truly excel in Arena.
• Kalista: Kalista takes too long to scale and too long to build up enough spears to be truly terrifying.
• Kha’Zix: Most of Kha’Zix’s damage comes from isolated targets. You’ll almost never have an isolated target in Arena unless you’re already in a 2v1, at which point you should be winning anyhow.
• Kindred: Kindred’s short range is her main problem, and with her Ultimate being available as an Augment, it’s hard to see many teams that need her.

• Lux: Lux is another poke-heavy champion who is too easily killed once somebody can get to grips with her.
• Malzahar: Malzahar wants several members of a team to stand behind and cast spells safely, but only one teammate makes him exceptionally hard to keep safe.
• Naafiri: The new assassin unfortunately doesn’t have the raw damage necessary to slug it out in Arena. She struggles against tanky targets, which Arena is full of.
• Nidalee: While Nidalee’s poke is hard to hit, her Cougar Form is the reason to want to take her most of the time. Nidalee’s best at targeting the weakest teammate, but that’s not always a good strategy.
• Pyke: Pyke just doesn’t have the health to live very long against the best champions in the mode. He needs to dip in and out of the fight to be durable and plenty of champions won’t let him.
• Quinn: Quinn wants to whittle her opponent down over a long period of time before committing to a fight, and Arena doesn’t really allow for that playstyle.
• Rakan: Rakan is able to engage like no other support, his issue is surviving long enough afterward to make it useful. Nonetheless, Rakan has great setup and can help peel and protect squishy allies.

• Rek’Sai: Rek’Sai just doesn’t have any tools that make her good at Arena, all-in-all
• Rell: While Rell brings tons of CC, she doesn’t bring nearly enough damage or consistent peel to make her a top-tier pick.
• Renata: Renata has a few specific interactions in Arena that make her interesting in Arena, mostly involving staying alive in the circle for a long time, but the rest of her kit struggles.
• Ryze: Ryze’s identity as the machine gun spell-splinging mage is somewhat less unique with the addition of Augments and his short range leads to easy punishes.
• Samira: Samira needs the right support to be powerful, but she still touts lots of damage. She suffers from the need for a heavy CC teammate.
• Sejuani: While Sejuani does bring lots of crowd control, she brings less damage and sustain than the tanky characters that are her betters. She’s a perfect example of a C-tier champion in this LoL Arena tier list.
• Shyvana: Shyvana is a very binary champion, and neither of her builds serve Arena well. AP Shyvana is too poke-oriented and easily punished by better champions, and her AD bruiser build pales in comparison to actual juggernauts.
• Singed: Unfortunately for the creator of Rule 0 in League of Legends, trying to force enemies to chase you is not a good strategy. That’s all that Singed does, unfortunately.
• Sivir: Without a full team to stand behind, Sivir has a hard time doing enough damage to be excellent before enemies get to grips with her.
• Skarner: Skarner is a Juggernaut who has very little sustain, which makes him less appealing than many other champions, but he’s still alright.

• Sona: Unfortunately Sona is one of the less-useful enchanters in Arena due to her need for items and grindy playstyle.
• Taliyah: Taliyah is a champion who shines with the right teammate and struggles without. With a teammate that can push enemies through her minefield, she’s fantastic. But otherwise, she’s outclassed by more traditional control mages.
• Teemo: Teemo just simply doesn’t protect himself enough to be top tier, and he can be CC’d and killed quite quickly by a savvy team.
• Tristana: Tristana is feast-or-famine and too inconsistent to rank higher than C. While she packs loads of early damage, her Rocket Jump often takes too long to save her a second time.
• Tryndamere: Tryndamere only has one option in Arena, run at the enemy. If the enemy team can damage him enough and kite out his Ultimate, Tryndamere tends to suffer. He can be scary, but he’s too predictable to be consistent.
• Vel’Koz: Vel’Koz is an artillery mage who simply can’t protect himself enough if the enemy team focuses him down. His damage is fine, but his playstyle is what hurts his ranking on this LoL Arena tier list.

• Vex: Vex wants to get several resets of her Ultimate during a Summoner’s Rift game, and it can only reset once in Arena. She has more potential into dash-reliant teams, but still falls behind the best mages.
• Vi: Vi is a victim of Arena’s tanky meta, as she can often find herself without a good target for her Ultimate. Vi needs to start the fight for things to go her way, and she’s too telegraphed in the way she starts it.
• Xayah: While Xayah has the protection of her Ultimate, it doesn’t tend to be enough to keep her safe long enough to do the damage she needs to.
• Xerath: Xerath is yet another artillery mage on our LoL Arena tier list who has a really hard time with Arena’s claustrophobic setup. The damage is there, the self-preservation isn’t.
• Yasuo: Yasuo hates not having minions and other enemy units to dash through and his mobility is hugely reduced in Arena, landing him in C-tier.
• Zed: Zed is one of the stronger C-tier champions, especially when it comes to assassins. His main issue is that many of the best champions can happily build lots of armor and ignore most of his damage.
• Zoe: Zoe prefers a duck-and-dodge, guerilla-style warfare from Fog of War that Arena just doesn’t support. With less hidden angles to play, Zoe is up to far less trouble.

D-Tier Champions

D-Tier Champions are scraping the bottom of the LoL Arena tier list, they tend to have specific and glaring problems with how they play in the 2v2v2v2 mode.

• Elise: Elise just struggles in Arena, she’s not the best mage, assassin, or even skirmisher, and her bursty playstyle is easily countered. Elise simply isn’t meant to go toe-to-toe for prolonged periods of time and it shows.
• Karthus: Karthus’ main problem is that if he wins the match during his undead form, he will still be counted as losing the match. It’s an unfortunate interaction that plummets him to the bottom of the tier list, same as Sion.

• Nocturne: Nocturne’s main strength is his global threat presence, and that is massively reduced in Arena. With less of a map to stalk for ambushes, Nocturne falls flat on his face and is at the bottom of our LoL Arena tier list.
• Nunu and Willump: Unsurprisingly, the power-farming tank jungler who excels at roaming has a really tough time in Arena. Even full AP builds often can’t find the space to ult for long enough to be useful.
• Sion: Sion has the same issue as Karthus, killing the last opponent while in Sion’s zombie form will still lose you the match.
• Twisted Fate: Twisted Fate is another champion whose global presence got slashed by Arena’s smaller size and becomes far less useful as a result.
• Viego: Viego is meant to abuse his Possession mechanic by getting multiple resets, but the most resets that Arena will ever offer is one. This makes Viego a much less powerful champion.
• Yorick: With no ability to spawn ghouls outside of his Ultimate in Arena, Yorick is a shade of his former self and contributes nothing over other Juggernauts.

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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