These past couple of patches have been absolutely massive, and the meta shifted drastically as a result. We’ve got you covered though, as we’ll be breaking down three of the best solo carries for every role in Patch 14.11.

Camille’s Dominance in the Top Lane

One top laner who’s been gaining a ton of priority over the past few patches, and arguably the best solo carry top laner for 14.11, is Camille. Even with the nerfs coming through, we don’t expect them to significantly alter Camille’s solo queue strength. In 14.10, we saw so many top laners hurt by the nerfs to ghost, removal of the tenacity rune, and the removal of lethal tempo. Camille was not affected by any of those changes, so she’s walked away from the patch better off than most.

The early trading power of Camille, with her passive shield, grasp proc, and by running ignite, is really nasty if you just play around your passive and grasp cooldowns. It’s so easy to win out on those short trades with Camille. This is very important to understand because the longer drawn-out trades are where you can run into issues, at least early on in the lane. The quick burst from Q, while you have your passive shield up, is difficult for most champs to trade back against. Use it to your advantage. Whittle the enemy down with the short trades, and then once they’re in kill range, it’s so easy to jump on them with E, pop ignite, and pick up the kill.

Advanced Trading Strategies

For a more detailed look at how to trade most effectively as a top laner, our season 14 trading course is a really great resource to help you out. To be most effective on Camille later in the game, being able to reliably dive the backline of the enemy team is important. Using your ban on a meta peel support like Lulu or Janna is good value. The core build for Camille consists of a Trinity Force rush into Ravenous Hydra second and Sterak’s Gage or Spear of Shojin third. For the rune page, take Grasp with Shield Bash, Bone Plating, and Overgrowth. Optimal secondaries are free boots and biscuits. Camille is a little more of a high Elo skewed champion.

Set as a Solo Carry Top Laner

So, if you are in the lower ranks, one of the best solo carry top laners is Set. Set has been given a bunch of added strength in 14.10 with the introduction of Overlord’s Blood Mail. The item is perfect for him because it offers a bunch of bonus AD based on his missing health and allows for Set’s W to deal a ludicrous amount of damage. The ideal build that you’ll be looking to run for this patch is a Stridebreaker rush into Hole Breer second and Overlords Blood Mail third.

This core turns Set into an incredibly strong duelist, as the 1v2 strength is even very real if you are ahead of the curve. Champs that can kite out Set and play from range, or who you’ll run into most issues against, so banning out Kennon or Vain is good value. The best rune page for Set consists of Conqueror with Triumph, Alacrity, and Last Stand, followed by Second Wind and Overgrowth for secondaries.

Trendir’s Strength in the Current Meta

A champ who’s been loving the 14.10 item changes and a phenomenal split-push top lane pickup is Trendir. Phantom Dancer or Infinity Edge changes have been great for Tren, and he hasn’t really been missing Lethal Tempo at all. This is because Grasp actually works great with Trir as it amplifies his quick trading power in lane.

What you can do with Trend early on in lane is stack up your passive on minions and, when Grasp is available, look to trade when the enemy is going for a last hit. Often times, if you can walk up to the enemy, land that Grasp auto, and then use E to disengage, you’re going to win the short trade. Using E to retreat from a trade instead of using it to initiate the trade is optimal in a lot of cases, as it gives the enemy very little chance to fight back.

Mastering Trendir: Optimal Strategies and Counterplays

Once you’ve whittled the enemy down, that’s when you can look to strike by using E forwards. The core build for Trend is just super OP for a split push champ as you rush Ravenous Hydra so that you can one-shot waves and sustain up in the side lane, while Phantom Dancer slots in for the mass amount of attack speed and then Infinity Edge rounds it out so that your autos begin hitting like a truck.

Matchup wise for Trir, you really want to avoid Mal Fight as his attack speed slow and armor stacking hard counter Trin’s DPS. There are two really strong rune setups that you can look to run on Trend right now: Grasp is the cookie-cutter Keystone that you can’t go wrong with, but there are some high Elo Trendir that are liking Phase Rush. By going Phase Rush, you’re able to bypass running the nerfed Ghost and instead take Ignite for your second Summoner spell.

Shinzo’s Rise in the Jungle

This way, you’ll still have some nice sticking power but some added kill threat as well. Moving on to the jungle now, one of the best junglers that you can play for the current meta is Shinza. Shin has become a lot stronger as of recent for a couple of different reasons. The first is that Black Cleaver was just buffed, and he builds the item second in almost every game.

The ADC item rework has also been quite positive for Shin because he’s one of the best pure ganking junglers in the game. Getting your ADC ahead of the curve is a really great win condition with how OP ADC items are right now, and Shinzo is one of the best at making that happen. Using your ban on a support who can nullify your early gank threat like Morana or Janna is a good idea.

The standard core build that you should be running on Shinzo revolves around a Sundered Sky rush into Black Cleaver second and Sterak’s Gage third. For the rune page, run Conqueror with Triumph, Alacrity, and Cigra; Magical Footwear and Cosmic Insight are optimal secondaries.

Lilia’s Dominance with Blackfire Torch

Blackfire Torch has burst onto the scene as one of the most OP items for AP junglers, and you should really be taking advantage of it on Lilia. With Tiia and Carus both directly nerfed for 14.11, Lilia is going to be the best Blackfire Torch user, especially for the lower ranks. Carus and Tiia are much more difficult to pick up and find success with right away, while Lilia is a little more noob-friendly.

Lilia has held one of the highest win rates for any jungler in Platinum and below over the past patch, and we don’t expect that to change moving forward. The new Haste Rune and also the fact that Blackfire Torch has Haste is actually really nice for Lilia now too, because prior to 14.10, she literally had no Haste in her build. All of a sudden, she now has access to 40—a lower cooldown Lilia ultimate is just so impactful for solo Q.

Lilia’s Ultimate Impact

The champ is a completely different monster with her R available. The mix of constant damage output and AOE crowd control potential allows for Lilia to impact team fights extremely well. Fishing for catch plays with E prior to objective spawning has literally zero risk but all the reward if you can land that E on the enemy fed carry and follow up with your R; it can single-handedly win you games.

The core build that you should be running on Lilia consists of a Blackfire Torch rush into Liandre’s second and Rylai’s third. Lilia really likes playing into comps that lack gap closers as it makes landing her E so much easier. So, using your ban on a meta champ like Ahri is good value. The optimal rune page for Lilia has you taking Conqueror with Triumph, Haste, and Coup de Grace, while Free Boots and Cosmic Insight are for secondaries.

Auction’s Item Adaptation

Moving into the Mid Lane, top three for 14.11 who’s benefited greatly from the recent item changes is Auction. It feels like Auction was one of the more forgotten champions when it came down to those who would benefit from 14.10, as he’s loved the direction of everything. Kraken, Blade of the Ruin King, Infinity Edge, and The Collector changes have all been great for Auction as he can run many different setups and adapt to each game very well.

Kraken gaining the movement speed feels really nice and, in combination with the slow from Blade of the Ruin King, helps Auction kite out situations a lot easier. With The Collector and Infinity both nerfed for 14.11, core build of Kraken and Blade should become an even higher priority if you’re against a very squishy enemy team comp. Running a heavy AD stack build to where you can just one-shot everything in sight is viable as well.

Matchup wise for Auction, Brand and Yasuo are two of the more difficult lanes for him in the meta right now, so banning either one of them is good value. Press the Attack is the best Keystone rune for Auction, while the rest of the Rune page consists of Presence of Mind, Alacrity, Coup de Grace, Bone Plating, and Overgrowth.

Midlane Brand’s Continued Strength

One of the bigger surprises heading into 14.11 is the fact that midlane Brand has not been nerfed in any way, shape, or form. If you’re Emerald or below and are looking to climb from Mid Lane right now, Brand is a no-brainer to add to your champion pool. Brand is relatively easy to pick up, has an incredibly powerful core build, team fights better than most midlaners, and can actually lane quite well into many of the more annoying melee mids. Most mages really struggle against the higher mobility melee mids, but Brand actually has a positive win rate against Yasuo, Silas, Katarina, Zed, and Yone.

Vex’s Counterpick Strength

Rounding out the top three for Mid Lane as we head into 14.11 is Vex. If you simply brand and Vex as your two core Mid Lane champions for this patch, you’re setting yourself up really nicely. Brand can be used as more of a blind pick, while Vex is one of the best counterpick mids in the entire game. It’s actually ridiculous how strong of a champ Vex is when played into mids with dashes. Vex has been absolutely stomping all over Yasuo, LeBlanc, Akali, Katarina, Silas, Zed, and Yone, and those champs are all played quite often in solo queue.

It’s just the longer-range pick champs that are troubles for Vex, so banning out Lux or Syndra is what we’d advise. When you’re in those melee matchups, you can really dominate the lane. However, if you’re against a ranged mid, you can more so just look to perma shove with Q and try to generate a lead off roams or by playing around your jungler.

The optimal build for Vex consists of a Luden’s rush into Shadowflame second and then it’s situational from then on out. Rune page revolves around Electrocute with Taste of Blood, Eyeball Collection, and Ultimate Hunter, while Manaflow and Transcendence are for secondaries.

Ash’s Advantages in the ADC Role

The Collector and Infinity Edge both being nerfed for 14.1 will affect a bunch of the top-tier ADCs. However, one who walks away unscathed is Ash. Ash has been a very solid ADC as of recent, and she should take an added step forward this patch due to many other champs dropping in power. The new Kraken Slayer has turned out great for Ash, as she hasn’t minded losing the crit while gaining the movement speed, which is really nice for an ADC who lacks a gap closer. You can run the three-item core of Kraken, Trinity Force, and Terminus to some really great success right now, with more melee supports coming back in meta over the past patch.

Ash’s Early Lane Advantage

It’s been really nice for Ash as she’s an ADC who wants to press early on in lane. You don’t really have to worry about banning any specific ADC right now and instead can prioritize your ban towards a pick support like Blitz or Pyke. Losing access to Lethal Tempo has not negatively influenced Ash at all, as she runs Press the Attack, and it’s working perfectly for her. Even with the nerfs to The Collector and Infinity Edge coming through, we don’t expect the relative strength of Jyn to fall that much.

Impact of ADC Item Changes on Jyn

So, he’s back in the top three for 14.11, with the plethora of other ADCs also being negatively affected by the changes. It’s more so just going to bring down the power of the role as a whole instead of nerfing a few champs in specific. Jyn does get hit a bit harder than some due to the fact he builds both The Collector and Infinity Edge, but even then, the nerfs are pretty light. With The Collector losing some lethality for the next patch, we may actually see players prioritize the Infinity Edge rush a lot more.

The Collector has been so good as a rush due to that early lethality, but with the stat being nerfed, there’s less incentive to build the item. A build that we will be keeping an eye on for Jyn this patch, that we think has a lot of potential, consists of an IE rush into Fire Cannon second and Yal Wild Arrows third. Yal is currently the best performing third purchase on Jyn in solo queue, but it’s not getting very much attention just yet.

Jinx’s Versatility with Supports

It doesn’t really matter who you pair up with; she adapts really well to playing with any archetype of support. With a lot of ADCs, you’ll notice that they’ll have very high win rates with certain supports and much lower win rates with others. Jyn, for example, wins a ton with melee and mage supports but isn’t that impressive with enchanters. Jinx, on the other hand, has as good of a win rate with Soraka and Janna as she does with Blitzcrank and Pyke.

With melee supports, you have some really nice follow-up due to E and W, so capitalizing on catch plays is great. Since Jinx scales incredibly well into the mid to late game, playing with an enchanter who can buff her up and provide her more utility works amazingly too. Overall, it just makes Jinx a really solid blind pick ADC and one of the best that you can spam for solo queue.

Champs with easy backline access are who Jinx wants to avoid playing against, so using your ban on Camille or Zed is a good idea. The rune page that you should be taking with Jinx consists of Fleet Footwork, followed by Presence of Mind, Bloodline, and Cut Down, while Absolute Focus and Gathering Storm are for secondaries.

Leona’s Return to Meta

Making a nice push back into meta for support and breaking into the top three for 14.11 is Leona. Melee support saw a nice uptick in strength last patch with Knight’s Vow and Zeke’s changes, and Leona was one who benefited. We’ve also seen a priority shift for ADCs as of recent from where it was a few patches back, which has suited Leona super well.

A few patches back, it was mostly Ezreal and Zeri who were being picked a ton in solo queue. Now, as a result of the ADC item changes, these weaker early game picks have disappeared, and we’re seeing much more of Jyn, Jinx, Cait, Lucian, and Samira, who can all follow up on Leona’s engage very well.

The standard build for Leona consists of Locket and Knight’s Vow, while Zeke’s Herald is the optimal item upgrade. Supports with strong peel power are who Leona struggles more against, so using your ban on Janna is what we would recommend. The best rune setup for Leona revolves around Aftershock with Font of Life, Second Wind, and Overgrowth, while Triumph and Tenacity are for secondaries.

Blitzcrank’s Role in the Current ADC Landscape

These melee supports with strong early game snowball potential are extremely powerful right now, and Blitzcrank is one of them. Getting your ADC ahead is way more rewarding due to the recent item buffs, as they have a lot more power after completing item spikes. If you can play a good Blitz right now, you’re setting your lane and potentially the game up for success.

Blitzcrank’s Early Game Dominance

Now it’s extremely valuable as landing that one hook in lane can heavily dictate the outcome of the game. Losing Moby boots hasn’t even been bad for Blitz either, as Swiftness boots have taken over and are performing extremely well. The new boots that replaced movies, called Symbiotic Souls, are definitely viable, but Swiftness boots are outperforming right now as they just provide more upfront strength to help you snowball the early game.

Movement speed is such a key stat for Blitz because it makes the champion so much easier to execute. If you have a ton of movement speed, you don’t need to even lead with your hook, as you can just run right up to the enemy, use your E, and then follow with Q while the enemy is knocked up for the guaranteed grab. After you rush your Swifness boots, you then build into Trailblazer for even more movement speed, and Locket is generally a good pickup to follow.

Celestial Opposition and Blitz’s Counters

Celestial Opposition is going to be the support item upgrade. Supports who can nullify Blitz’s catch power by their own tankiness and defensive elements are who you should prioritize your ban towards, and for the current meta, Braum is a good option. For the rune page, it’s Glacial Augment followed by Hex Flash, Biscuits, and Cosmic Insight, while Nimbus Cloak and Celerity are for secondaries.

Poppy Support’s Rise in Popularity

A support that we’ve been seeing a lot more as of recent in pro play and even in solo queue is Poppy. Poppy support is rounding out the solo carry top three for this patch as she’s by far the most underrated support in the game. Initially, before Camille’s support ended up becoming super popular in solo queue and eventually nerfed, we featured her in the solo carry list quite early on, and we’ve got a similar vibe with Poppy right now. We wouldn’t be surprised if the champ really explodes in popularity over the next few patches, so take advantage while you can.

Poppy’s Enhanced Role in Support

Poppy has been good for a while now but got even better in 14.10 due to the spike in play rate of many melee supports. With Poppy’s E and R, she does a really good job of peeling melee supports off carries, while both spells can be used as exceptional engage tools as well. You’ve got many ways in which you can approach fights with Poppy, which makes her a very versatile pick. If your ADC is super fed, then you can play back with them and just look to peel. Vice versa, if your ADC is useless and it’s your melee dive champs that are most fed, you can play to dive the backline with them.

Poppy’s Build and Tactics

The raw strength of Poppy support is also extremely deadly as you rush Swiftness boots and can get around the map very fast. The first core item in your build is Dead Man’s Plate, which adds even more raw strength to the pick. Bloodsong is the support item upgrade, as the added damage allows for Poppy to capitalize on those catch plays really well.

Similar to Blitz, it’s champs who can nullify Poppy’s catch power that you should prioritize banning right now, and Braum is a great option in that case. For the rune page, Hail of Blades has been seeing a lot more play instead of Aftershock, leading to much better results in the process. It’s the skirmishing of Poppy support that makes her so strong for solo queue, and by going Hail of Blades with Bloodsong, your quick burst is incredibly strong.

Thank you for diving into our guide! Discover our exceptional League of Legends boosting services and elevate your gaming experience with our top-tier boosts.