Some of the most popular champions in League of Legends are assassins. Comprised of characters who excel at 1v1 situations, the assassin is a low stamina, high damage and mobility type of champion meant to pick people off quickly. The class has gone through plenty of tweaks and reworks in Patch 6.22, leading to its competitive resurgence. Nowadays, the class is as popular in solo queue as it has e

There are three things that are permanent rules in League of Legends. First is that Thresh will always be relevant, second is that Lulu's polymorph will always be the most obnoxious crowd control in the game and third is that Jayce can be played anywhere.That's right, that's four different links of different Jayce games in different roles. But there's one thing missing in this five-piece Exodia, a

Patch 7.12 has dropped into our waiting hands, and with it a whole host of changes focused on support itemization. Riot’s intended goals are clear: support items are focused on a particular few, namely Locket of the Iron Solari and Redemption, which are too strong at saving teammates when combined. Lowering their relevance will allow other support items to shine, particularly when they are b

Header Image:Blast Cone = RedScryer’s Bloom = BlueHoneyfruit = GreenEver since Patch 6.22, the flora of Summoner's Rift has changed drastically, giving birth to a new mechanic in the game known as "Plants." Though we've had plenty of time to dwell on plants and their uses, a lot of lower Elo play sees the game-changing greenery largely ignored, unless someone is trying to use a B

Welcome to Off Meta, where U of T Head Analyst Gabriel Zoltan-Johan shakes loose and shows you a more zany way to play your favorite League of Legends champion. Instead of traditional guides, Gabe gives you ideas that are so crazy, they might just work.Traditional top lane matchups often involve the holy trinity of the following roles: lane bullies, split pushers and tanks. Broadly, in a “rock, pa

In League of Legends, even the best players and best teams fall behind. SKT, the best team in the world and current world champions, are exemplary at stalling games out when they are in a massive gold deficit. Afterward, they allow the percentage gold gap to close and outperform their opponents as a result. Even at their apex, SKT did fall behind early and employed this stalling tactic to great su

Elise, next to Lee Sin, has been one of the staple champions of the jungle in League of Legends. The spider queen has been recognized as one of the most versatile picks in competitive League of Legends, and her recent prominence has made that especially clear.Elise sports the second highest pick rate in Korea, and still has the fourth highest win rate, giving credence to the idea that the champion

Starting items in League of Legends have varied greatly, but there’s always been one constant set of items that League players can rely on. Though builds such as the old Red Elixir start have come and gone, the Doran’s items have been solid early game investments throughout the entirety of League of Legends, existing in the beta before even the official initial release. Their strength has generall

Kled is one of the newer champions in League of Legends, making enemies with the rest of the cast through his aggressive all-in playstyle and undying affection for his mount, Skaarl. Together, the two form a trusty duo that will split push and teamfight very well in the top lane. The one downside to the Cantankerous Cavalier is the level of commitment you need to be ready for. When you go in, you&

Support is the role most often belittled and ridiculed by solo queue players. It’s a role many aren't familiar with and even less want to play. The situation becomes a bit of a chicken and egg dilemma as a result: players don’t want to play support, and then lose ELO because they aren’t experienced enough or focused enough on how to be successful in the role.But don't bel

The midseason patch hasn't impacted jungle routing much, if at all, but time with the new jungle has opened up new and innovative paths that exploit conventional wisdom on what is optimal.One path in particular has seen a lot of praise from commentators and analysts. Three out of five of the opening games in the LCK feature this path, and led to great early game starts from the jungler who proacti

Looking to climb the ladder on Patch 7.9? theScore esports has you covered as we take a look at the five best mid lane champions in each elo.RELATED: Infographic: Top 5 Junglers in Bronze, Silver and Gold on Patch 7.9Though the the Nine-Tailed Fox only takes the top spot in Bronze, her high pick/ban rates show that she's a force to be reckoned with both because of her power level in the curren

You finally made it to Platinum, but do you want to know what champions to play to get all the way to Masters on Patch 7.9?Well we've got you covered. Here are the highest win rate champions in the higher elos.RELATED: Infographic: Top 5 Platinum and Platinum+ Junglers on Patch 7.9Ahri might be popular, but you can see by Aurelion Sol and Anivia's higher win rates that counter-picking her

With the new midseason items, certain champions rose to the top of top lane. In particular, we looked at the ways in which Death’s Dance changed split pushing builds and let top lane AD bruisers and carries have more survivability. With this, tanks have had to shift priorities and resources in order to be the same early bully and also be a late game menace that can match split pushing throug

As Season 7 progresses, one of the biggest meta shifts has been the transition from "ultimate-bot" AD carries to those that are meant to be the main reason teamfights and games are won in the mid to late game. Twitch is one such carry that has snuck past the rest as a standout AD carry in the midseason.The rat that goes ra-ta-tat-tat has made a return to the bot lane, carrying very high

The only position in League of Legends with the “carry” title imbued in it, the bot lane AD carry is one of the highest pressure positions. More often than not, solo queue revolves around the bottom lane, and for good reason. Less coordinated games often go later than they’re supposed to, meaning that the ranged carry in question has a lot more time to scale up.Accordingly, people often tunnel vis

In early Season 7, many AD carry mains fretted over the fact that the AD carry position was restricted to only having champions that provided excess utility over damage. Jhin, Varus and Ashe were the primary picks, and while they do see some play in the current meta, they’ve made way for more impactful picks in the late game. In the Mid-Season Invitational, we’ve seen that shift come i

The midseason changes have seen Kassadin rise in popularity and win rate. A splitpusher and diving champion, Kassadin was considered a scaling counter to a few champions but was too niche to ever see consistent competitive play.Far from his days in Season 3 as an essentially permabanned champion, Kassadin has nevertheless re-emerged as a powerful mid laner in the new patch due to his resilience, m

Welcome to Coaching up to Gold, a series where U of T coach Gabriel Zoltan-Johan teaches you some basic gameplay concepts that will help you climb in solo queue.One of the biggest differences between ELO tiers that I have witnessed is the way in which laners tend to trade with each other. Often, they constantly attempt to attack their opponent, not paying attention to what factors actually make a

Season 7 has featured a diverse cast of champions in the mid lane, but the midseason has seen a settled and balanced mix of control mages and assassins. Prior to patch 7.5, aside from the permanently banned LeBlanc, the mixed success of Zed and Katarina, and the occasional Ekko as a counterpick to Syndra, mid lane had been predominantly different types of control mages.However, some recent patch c