Introduction
A common conversation among League players: Who has the highest skill ceiling in League? This question has fascinated league players for years. We’ve come a long way from when the game first launched in 2009 and now there are so many different difficult champions to sink your teeth into.
Continue reading to learn which of the 164 champions released up to this point have the highest skill ceiling.
Leblanc, the Deceiver
This champion is notoriously difficult to play. Several factors contribute to her challenging gameplay. Firstly, LeBlanc’s kit revolves around her ability to deceive and outmaneuver opponents. Her passive, Mirror Image, creates a clone that confuses enemies, requiring precise timing and mind games to maximize its effectiveness.
Secondly, LeBlanc’s burst damage potential is immense, but it demands precise execution. Her combo-oriented playstyle necessitates quick decision-making and flawless execution to eliminate targets swiftly. Properly chaining her abilities, such as Sigil of Malice, Distortion, and Ethereal Chains, requires practice and a deep understanding of her mechanics.
Furthermore, LeBlanc’s mobility is both a blessing and a curse. While her distortion ability allows her to dash in and out of fights, it also requires careful positioning and map awareness to avoid overextending or getting caught out.
Lastly, LeBlanc’s high skill ceiling lies in her ability to deceive opponents through mind games and misdirection. Successfully tricking enemies with her passive, juking skillshots, and creating confusion in team fights demands exceptional game sense and strategic thinking.
The biggest challenge for Leblanc is when players are experienced enough to be wary of her clone’s misdirection and when she is facing beefy melee characters that don’t care that you get in their face.
Nidalee, the Bestial Huntress
Nidalee, the Bestial Huntress of League of Legends, is renowned for her high skill cap and the challenges she presents to players. Several factors contribute to her difficulty in gameplay.
For starters, Nidalee’s versatile kit requires players to seamlessly transition between her human and cougar forms. This demands quick decision-making and the ability to adapt to different situations on the fly.
Secondly, Nidalee heavily relies on landing skillshots, particularly her Javelin Toss in human form. Precise aim and prediction are crucial to maximize her damage potential and secure kills. Additionally, her Takedown ability in cougar form requires players to position themselves correctly to maximize its damage output.
Furthermore, Nidalee’s mobility is a double-edged sword. While her Pounce ability allows her to swiftly navigate the battlefield, it also requires precise positioning and correct execution. Plus if you use it to get out there is a good chance you can’t get out.
Lastly, Nidalee’s playstyle revolves around map control and objective control. Her ability to clear jungle camps quickly and efficiently, as well as her potential for early game aggression, demands excellent jungle pathing, decision-making, and game sense.
Only those who invest time and effort into mastering her mechanics can truly harness her potential in the Summoner’s Rift.
Akali, the Rogue Assassin
Widely regarded as one of the most challenging champions to master. Several factors contribute to her difficulty in gameplay.
Let’s start with her kit, Akali’s kit is highly complex and requires a deep understanding of her abilities. Her passive, Assassin’s Mark, and her shroud, Twilight Shroud, demand precise timing and positioning to maximize their effectiveness.
Akali’s playstyle also revolves around her ability to burst down enemies quickly. This requires players to execute her combo perfectly, chaining her abilities such as Five Point Strike, Shuriken Flip, and Perfect Execution, while also managing energy resources effectively.
And while her mobility is a key aspect of her gameplay. Her ability to dash around the battlefield with her Twilight Shroud and Perfect Execution demands exceptional positioning and map awareness to outmaneuver opponents and avoid getting caught.
Lastly, Akali’s high skill ceiling lies in her ability to outplay opponents through her shroud and mobility. Successfully utilizing her shroud to deceive enemies, dodging skillshots, and making calculated engages requires exceptional game sense and mechanical skill.
Qiyana, the Empress of the Elements
The unique Qiyana is another super hard champion to play and master. Several different things contribute to her difficulty in gameplay.
As always, her kit is a big part of the why, Qiyana’s kit is incredibly versatile and requires a deep understanding of her abilities. Her passive, Royal Privilege, and her elemental abilities demand precise timing and decision-making to maximize their effectiveness.
Secondly, Qiyana’s playstyle revolves around her ability to quickly burst down enemies. This requires players to execute her combos flawlessly, chaining her abilities such as Edge of Ixtal, Terrashape, and Supreme Display of Talent, while also considering the environment and utilizing the right element for each situation.
Furthermore, Qiyana’s mobility and map control are crucial aspects of her gameplay. Her ability to dash around the battlefield with Terrashape and utilize the environment to her advantage demands exceptional positioning, map awareness, and the ability to quickly adapt to different scenarios.
While Qiyana’s mobility is good, it’s not as good as some other champions in the game, so she actually has to be very composed in front of the enemy team, failure to be patient will lead unexperienced Qiyana players to be targeted first in all team fights, and while her stealth can help, it’s not something that will save you always.
Lastly, Qiyana’s high skill cap lies in her ability to make game-changing plays through her elemental interactions and terrain manipulation. Successfully utilizing the right element, coordinating with teammates, and making decisive engages requires exceptional game sense and mechanical skill.
K’Sante, the Pride of Nazumah
The new champion K’Sante might be one of the hardest toplaners released in a long time. His challenging gameplay is a mix between a standard bruiser-style gameplay and that of an assassin.
You can kind of guess how this goes, you need to perfectly position yourself while learning more than the standard 4 abilities per champion to be successful with K’Sante.
His ultimate is very conditional, it’s quite difficult to consistently land this one on experienced players, so K’Sante players will need to find creative ways to land this ability, this is in stark contrast with many other ultimates in the game which are basic point and click big AOE for example.
K’Sante objectively is the hardest champion in the game as of this patch (13.15) sitting at 48% win-rate in Emerald league. Crazily enough, K’sante has even less win-rate than Yuumi who has been famously “destroyed” by the balance team so she wouldn’t dominate professional play.
If you want to see what proper K’Sante gameplay looks like you’re going to have to watch pros and high ranked players play, because you won’t see it in the common lower ranks. He is for sure one of the hardest champions to play in League of Legends.
Azir, the Emperor of the Sands
For a long time Azir has been long considered one of the most difficult champions to play with at any level. There are many things that contribute to his difficulty in gameplay.
This champion’s kit is highly complex and requires a deep understanding of his abilities. His passive, Shurima’s Legacy, and his soldiers demand precise positioning and micromanagement to maximize their effectiveness, any mistake will be severely punished in a way that is similar to an ADC playing in mid lane.
His playstyle revolves around his ability to control the battlefield with his soldiers and poke down enemies from a safe distance. This requires players to have excellent positioning, map awareness, and the ability to manage their soldier placements effectively. Failure to properly do this will result in a crippled and slow champion doing bad damage and dying to anything that dives him.
Furthermore, Azir’s mobility is really limited, making him vulnerable to assassins and divers. Proper positioning and decision-making are crucial to avoid getting caught out and to make the most of his abilities.
Lastly, Azir’s high skill ceiling lies in his ability to orchestrate team fights and make game-changing plays with his ultimate, Emperor’s Divide. Timing, coordination with teammates, and strategic decision-making are essential to utilize his ultimate effectively.
Conclusion
While there are many other difficult champions in the game, for a mechanical point of view we wanted to focus more on overall difficulty and not only one part of it. This is why champions like Riven, Lee Sin and Ezreal didn’t make the list.
Think about it, while those champions are definitely hard to play, they’re still easier to play than the ones we mentioned because at the end of the day you can at least put up a decent fight even if you’re not using all of their tools.