In the competitive world of League of Legends, there are 5 main roles to play and a cast of 148 champions as of June 2020. With the intensity of LoL, one person can’t keep track of everything going on in the scene. For casual players, there are outlets dedicated to providing this sort of information. By working together with the community, Riot has managed to make the game extremely beginner friendly and understandable to an extent. 

If you are a new player or a returning veteran, knowing the best champions to play in 2020 is highly beneficial to a successful ranked experience. The meta is always changing, so your favorites won’t always dominate the ranked scene. If you keep accruing a large number of losses on your League of Legends account, you might end up messing up your ranked LP gains and losses. This in turn, makes your ranked MMR a lot more confusing, and you can end up in games that seem stacked against you.

If you want to avoid these issues, a vital step is to know the right champions to play and dominate in the ranked competitive ladder.

Top Lane

Darius

Darius ‘The Hand of Noxus’ is a fighter champion that brawls with enemies and dunks on them. If you want a champion to dominate opponents in the top lane, Darius is a great choice. His passive ability ‘Hemorrhage’ allows him to bleed out non-structure enemies, so basically anything that moves. His basic attacks trigger this passive which stacks up to 5 times over a duration of 5 seconds. During these 5 seconds, any enemy close to Darius should run away or face an inevitable defeat.

His Q ability allows Darius to spin with his axe to deal damage to enemies within the circle. If an enemy is around the outer circle, Darius can trigger his hemorrhage and deal extra damage to enemies.

Darius’ W is great for slowing down enemies to quickly deliver a fatal blow. His E ability allows him to pull enemies closer to keep them within range for his deadly abilities. Darius’ ultimate is a game changer. When Darius has his Noxian Guillotine, any enemy bleeding from hemorrhage should say goodbye. His ultimate ability completely strikes enemies down and resets temporarily if the enemy is killed by his R. Once you’ve fully levelled up Darius’ ultimate, the reset becomes permanent.

Darius allows you to climb the ladder by taking what you must and mowing through enemies, however, he is not the best choice for players that prefer a little more freedom of movement. Besides, owning enemies with Darius allows you to increase your chances of earning an S- ranking to unlock a Hextech chest for a possible chance at earning your favorite LoL items and LoL skins.

Middle Lane

Diana

Diana ‘Scorn of the moon’ is a League of Legends champion that has recently begun to shine in the ranked scene a lot more. With Diana, you have access to a lot more mobility to close the distance between you and enemies. But Diana is more of a hunter, so she is not as good at running away compared to chasing down opponents.

Her passive is Moonsilver Blade, an ability that allows her on-hit attacks to gain a 3.5 second stack effect. Once you’ve stacked twice, Diana’s on-hit attacks deal extra magic damage and consumes the stacks. This damage is 50% more potent when attacking non-epic monsters like regular jungle camps. 

Diana’s Q is Crescent Strike, an ability that produces an arc that deals magic damage to enemies and afflicts them with moonlight. This moonlight affliction interacts with Diana’s E, Lunar Rush.

Her W ability is Pale Cascade. Diana shields herself for 5 seconds and creates three orbs that move around her horizontally. When you come in contact with an enemy, the spheres are detonated to deal magic damage to the enemy and other enemies nearby.

Diana’s E is Lunar Rush and it has an active effect that is the source of her mobility towards enemies. The E ability allows Diana to dash to an enemy and deal magic damage. Before her rework, this was her ultimate ability. Now, you can access your mobility a lot easier.

Finally, her ultimate (R) ability pulls in at least a single enemy champion and deals damage to every enemy inside after 1 second. If there is more than 1 enemy champion within this radius, it deals more magic damage.

Playing as Diana is a great way to keep your enemies on their toes. Since the trajectory of your abilities aren’t predictable, they are always watching for your first move. Taking advantage of this paranoia allows you to make the most of Diana’s abilities. 

Beyond her abilities, Diana is a champion with arguably the most charming collection of LoL skins. Playing as Diana makes you a spotlight (or moonlight) which is nice if you want to show off your fancy LoL items.

Bottom Lane (ADC)

Aphelios

Aphelios ‘The Weapon of the Faithful’ is probably the most unique and unconventional League of Legends champion in the roster. Released in December 2019, he has an unpredictable and deadly kit for an ADC champion. Aphelios has access to 5 moonstone weapons which have their own innate advantages in a fight. This makes Aphelios extremely versatile. However, playing as this champion will require a great deal of skill with timing your weapons and knowing the right time to use abilities.

At any given moment in the game, Aphelios has a main weapon and off-hand weapon. Each weapon has a limited amount of ammo before it goes back in line for the next weapon.

Calibrum, Severum, Gravitum, Infernum and Crescendum are the 5 weapons that can either be a main weapon or off-hand weapon. Mastering what each of these ranged monsters can do will pose a great advantage against enemies.

With champions like Aphelios, there is no middle ground, and enemies expect you to either be really good or really bad. Therefore, it’s great to leave an impression on them with your skill and mastery.

Jungle

Olaf

Olaf ‘The Berserker’ is a League of Legends champion with a relentless need to channel his reduced health for more damage. The lower his HP, the faster, better, and stronger his attacks become. If you’re someone that wants to do the bullying in the jungle, you can’t go wrong with Olaf. Other LoL players are like hungry wolves and when they’ve reduced your HP, they almost feel like the battle is over. That’s where Olaf shines with his passive ability that increases his attack speed based on his missing health.

His ultimate ability, an accurately named Ragnarok spells the end of an era for the enemy team. Olaf cleanses himself from crowd control and becomes immune to all forms of crowd control for a 6 second period. With this ultimate ability, you can fully ensure that any enemy champions around you will be eliminated. His ultimate even lets him gain movement speed when moving towards any visible enemy champions.

Olaf will be perfect for climbing through your ranked journey to earn those spicy LoL items at the end of the season.

Support

Leona

Leona ‘The Radiant Dawn’ is a support champion with an aggressive playstyle. If you’re someone that loves being proactive in a match, Leona is a great match. With a close relationship with Diana in the League of Legends lore, Leona mirrors some elements of her abilities. One of these is her sunlight effect from her passive which is quite similar to Diana’s moonlight effect.

However, these two champions play quite differently. While Diana is great at running after enemies or bringing them close for damage, Leona is a lot less mobile but great at preventing mobile champions from running away. Her Q ability allows her to deal bonus magic damage for six seconds and stun enemies. Similarly, Leona’s ultimate slows enemies within a radius for 1.5 seconds. If they are hit in the middle of the circle, the enemies are stunned.

By playing as Leona, you can create great opportunities to immobilize enemies and allow your ADC to pump out tons of damage. If paired with a champion like Aphelios, Leona can totally dominate the bottom lane.

There you have it! The best LoL champions to play in 2020. With these guys, you’ll find you LoL account steadily making its way to the top of the ladder. However, remember to hone your skills with these champions and other aspects of the game.