League of Legends: how to pick your main champion

Published: December 14 2022

Last updated: May 9 2023

League of Legends: how to pick your main champion
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New to League of Legends? Or simply lost between all the champions to choose from? In this guide, we will discuss the different roles and champions available to help you find the best option for your game style!

Let’s be honest; we all have our favorites, whether that is ice cream, books, films, shows, or people. And the game we all know and love, League of Legends, is no different. Most League of Legends players have a favorite champion or playstyle, but finding the one that suits you best is quite a challenge. With more than 160 different champions, it can be quite daunting to start picking the champion that represents you best and that you enjoy playing the most. 

However, don’t be afraid; there are many ways to start narrowing down what champion suits you best, and we are here to help you start the journey! Also, don’t forget to check how G-Loot can make your League of Legends game more rewarding and help you track all your stats!

Breakdown discussion of roles & champions in League of Legends

Before we can start closing in on which champion suits you best, we first have to look at what types of champions and what roles exist in League of Legends. There are five roles in League of Legends, Top, Jungle, Mid, Bot, and Support. Each has a different playstyle and several champions exclusive to the position. For example, players commonly play Fighters or Tank champions in the Top lane. The reason is that the position of the lane is far away from the action in the early game, resulting in a more 1-vs-1 playstyle. 

Similarly, the bottom lane fields two players; the best outcomes come from using a ranged “glass cannon” style champion (often referred to as the AD-Carry) alongside a protector or healing-type character in the supporting role. 

The Mid and Jungle positions are interesting as they have more diverse options, with the optimal strategies heavily depending on the other champions on your team. Let’s look at the Jungle role first. Players here can choose a variety of characters, including Tanks, Fighters, Mages, late or early-game-oriented champions, or a mix to suit their exact needs. A great example is Jarvan IV, a champion that primarily focuses on impacting the game in the first four levels, after which you choose between a fighter playstyle or a primary tank and supportive playstyle, depending on the state of the game. 

Especially at the lower ranks of League of Legends, the Mid lane role is open to most playstyles. Whether you want to be a Mage, a Tank, a Fighter, a Marksman, a Healer, an Assassin, or anything in between, you can make it work. The large variety in the lane makes the Mid lane role so popular in League of Legends. 

For almost all players League of Legends isn’t the first game they play. As such, we can look at the “Collections” tab in the League of Legends client to get an idea of which champions may suit our preferred playstyle from different games. The categories are quite broad, including Assassins, Fighters, Mages (or Spellcasters), Marksman (or AD-Carries), Supports, and Tanks. The Assassins category is by far the most popular as everyone loves to try and make a highlight play to impress their team, but it is also often the most difficult to pilot correctly. 

Free-to-play week rotation in League of Legends

Unlike other Moba games, League of Legends requires players to purchase all champions they wish to play. While the game has become much more generous with how quickly you can unlock the champions through in-game rewards, finding the one you enjoy the most takes some time. One great way to test out new champions is League of Legends’ Free-to-play week rotation. 

There are two separate free champion rotations. The first is the classic free-to-play week rotation, which allows players to try a selection of sixteen champions every week, ranging in playstyle and difficulty. There is a new champions rotation every Tuesday, so be sure to give them all a try before the new rotation arrives! 

Second is the free-to-play selection for the ARAM (All Random All Mid) game mode, which Riot Games implemented to prevent ARAM-only accounts that used to purchase only the best-performing champions for the game mode. Sixty-five champions are always available for the ARAM game mode and the weekly sixteen champions. 

Champion cost & difficulty connection in League of Legends

Now that we know a bit about what champion styles exist, what roles you can play, and how you can test out a bunch of champions for free, there is still one thing left to discuss. While the rule is imperfect, there is a strong connection between the cost to unlock a champion (RP/Blue Essence) and the difficulty of that champion. Many of the older League of Legends champions are just much simpler in design, though there are always exceptions (looking at you, Ryze, you keep getting more difficult somehow). 

Let's look at some examples. Champions like Amumu, Annie, Ashe, or Dr. Mundo, are all available for as little as 450 Blue Essence. These are among the first released champions in League of Legends and are ideal characters for new players. Do remember just because a champion is “simpler” does not mean it is stronger or weaker than other champions in the game. 

Annie and Tibbers League of Legends pets

We hope these tips help you get more direction toward finding the right champion. As a final note, don’t be afraid to switch up your main champion or to try and focus on multiple champions. In the end, the only thing that matters is that you enjoy the game as much as possible, whatever that takes for you. 

Picking your main Champion in League of Legends and suggestions for champions worth playing. 

So, you are now aware of the different categories and playstyles available in League of Legends, let’s look at what champions are worth trying in the current meta. 

Best champions for Top Lane position in LoL

For the Top lane position, the best performing champions are champions often referred to as “Bruisers,” a mix between Fighters and Tanks. A champion like Shen is incredibly simple to play, which is a great introduction to the Splitpushing strategies in League of Legends. With his Ultimate ability, Stand United, you can assist your teammates in a pinch by shielding them and teleporting to them from anywhere on the map. Other champions like Darius and Aatrox are two other picks that are always popular in the Top lane position. These two are more difficult to pilot, but greater power comes with greater difficulty. If you can get ahead, you can control the game all by yourself. 

Best champions for the jungle role in LoL

Especially in the SoloQ environment, the Jungle role heavily favors champions with strong playmaking abilities. High damage, an ability to cross terrain, and strength in one vs. one scenarios. Champions like Graves, Fiddlesticks, and Udyr all perform well in the role, but these are more difficult to play efficiently. For players new to the role, champions like Rammus or Zac, two characters with a focus on setup and tanking, are much less complex to pilot. 

Best champions for Mid Lane position in LoL

Like the Jungle role, the Mid lane’s best performers are higher-difficulty Assassin champions. Champions like Vex, Zed, and Katarina can completely take over games in the right hands or can put your team into impossible-to-recover-from scenarios at the flip of a coin. For more consistency, champions like Annie, Syndra, and Viktor are much easier to play, as they fight from a distance and prioritize outputting damage throughout a fight instead of trying to take out the strongest members of the enemy team. 

League of Legends Vex

Best champions for Bot Lane position in LoL

The Bot lane remains the least diverse position, with the champions fitting into a few distinct categories. While they are rarely in the meta, players can occasionally use Mages in the Bot lane, such as Karthus, Heimerdinger, and Seraphine. The more common options are Marksman, which we can divide into the other two groups. There are long-distance characters like Caitlyn, Jinx, and Ezreal. And then there is the “assassin” style Marksman with champions like Kai’sa, Vayne, and Samira. The second group, the Assassins, are much more volatile and difficult, as a simple missed step can mean your death.

Best champions for Support position in LoL

For Supports, there are three main archetypes, ranging from simple (Tanks), to slightly more difficult (Healers/Enchanters), to extremely difficult to master with champions like Thresh, which relies heavily on positioning yourself right to assist your teammates throughout the fight. Champions like Nami and Lulu are always fantastic choices for the Healer or Enchanter role. They are simple to understand, yet leave a lot of opportunity for you to improve. 

Best champions for Tank role in LoL

Lastly, we have the Tank role, which often features champions like Amumu, Blitzcrank, Leona, or Alistar. Your goal with these champions is to run interference in the teamfights, far more so than to compete in the laning portion of the game. Depending on the other characters on your team, you may also be responsible for starting fights, which can take some getting used to, especially for players new to the game. 

Ready to find the perfect League of Legends champion for you?

Now that you got all this knowledge about the different champions, positions and rotations, it is time for you to explore while playing League of Legends. Why not track your stats with G-Loot and gain rewards meanwhile? Join G-Loot to access daily Missions, leaderboards, and more! 

Arend Zijdenbos

Arend Zijdenbos
Arend Zijdenbos

Writer. Explorer. Gamer.