Hello, Librarian Husky here! Welcome back, everyone, to a brand new update on the best Solo Carry Champions. We’ll be covering three picks for every single role that are incredibly powerful for the current meta in Patch 14.14.

Warwick: The Underrated Solo Carry Top Laner

One of the best Solo Carry top laners, who’s really not getting as much attention as he should be right now, is Warwick. Ever since patch 14.10, Warwick has been performing extremely well in the top lane as he was indirectly buffed that patch with the Summoner spell changes. Warwick runs a very unique Summoner combination of Flash with Barrier, and Barrier duration and shield strength both got buffed. If you can play a good Warwick, the sky’s the limit with the champion as his skirmish early on in lane is absolutely incredible. All the sustain you get when dropping low on health gives the enemy this false sense of security that they can easily kill you, but with Barrier available, it’s so easy to bait enemies into taking fights that may look good to them but are always winning for you.

Warwick’s Counters and Core Build

She’s a good ban option. Warwick needs to be up close in auto range to be effective, and those are the kind of champions Illaoi plays very well into. The core build for Top Lane Warwick consists of a Blade of the Ruined King rush into Stridebreaker second and Sterak’s Gage third. For the rune page, it’s Press the Attack with Presence of Mind, Alacrity, and Last Stand, followed by Second Wind and Revitalize.

Volibear: Top Tier Solo Carry Champion

No nerfs to Jack of all trades or Volibear for Patch 14.14, so he remains a top-tier solo carry champion. Volibear is just an all-around very reliable top lane carry right now as he’s pretty easy to pick up, doesn’t have too many bad matchups, and scales incredibly well into the mid-game with his meta build. The only matchup that a lot of Volibear players have had more difficulties against in recent patches is Jax.

Jax Nerf and Volibear’s Advantage

Jax is actually nerfed for this patch, so that’s a win for Volibear. Despite the nerf, it’s not going to fix why Volibear struggles in the matchup, so Jax is still who we would recommend you ban out. A massive perk to Volibear‘s core build is that it’s super cheap compared to a lot of other bruiser builds.

Volibear’s Core Build and Runes

2600 gold for Rod of Ages and another 2600 for Flicker Blades, which puts you at a total of 5200 gold for two items. A bruiser like Jax who builds Trinity Force into Serylda’s Grudge is paying 6400 gold for those two items, so it’s literally 1200 gold cheaper for Volibear‘s core build. This allows you to hit your spike much quicker than most fighters and gives you a huge edge in skirmishes for the early to mid-game. The Jack of all trades synergy is another huge reason why the build works so well as you’re able to get that 25 adaptive damage bonus from this build.

Optimal Runes and Builds for Solo Carry Champions

Taking Press the Attack followed by Presence of Mind, Haste, and Last Stand. Optimal secondaries are Triple Tonic and Jack of All Trades. For the third solo carry top of the patch who’s been a staple for a while now is Sett. Other than Volibear, Sett is one of the best fighter top lane champions, and he only gets better for this patch with Rumble and Jax both being nerfed.

Sett: Dominant Top Lane Fighter

Sett has one of the best three-item cores for any bruiser right now as his ability to abuse Overlord’s Blood Mail gives him a lot of strength. You just have so much durability and damage output, as a well-timed Sett W in a team fight can absolutely wipe out an enemy squishy’s health bar. Range tops are where Sett can run into more issues due to lacking a gap closer, so banning out or dodging Vayne is a good idea.

Sett’s Rune Page

The best rune page is Conqueror with Triumph, Alacrity, and Last Stand, while Second Wind and Overgrowth are for secondaries. A lot of Sett players continue to run Unflinching instead of Overgrowth, but especially with Overlord’s Blood Mail being in meta, Overgrowth is way more valuable right now.

Udyr: Rising Jungle Powerhouse

A jungler who has slowly but surely been creeping back into meta for solo queue and cracking the top three for Patch 14.14 is Udyr. The 14.10 changes to jungle XP were really good for Udyr as he’s a champ who can farm quite quickly and really take advantage of that.

Udyr’s Core Build

We have seen a shift in build priority for Udyr over the past few patches as more players have gravitated towards running Dead Man’s Plate as a core second pickup.

Udyr’s Core Build and Playstyle

It’s a two-item core of Liandry’s and Dead Man’s that’s working incredibly well for Udyr right now as he has a lot of sustained damage and tankiness. The ability max order that you should be playing with this build consists of R first into W second and E third. With the R max and Liandry’s rush, it’s just a bunch of reliable damage that you’re able to output with the champ and gives you a very clear power spike to play off of.

Udyr’s Matchups and Ban Recommendations

Lillia has actually been one of the few meta matchups that Udyr has had a negative win rate against in recent patches, so with Lillia nerfed in 14.14, that’s a win for Udyr. Since being kited by CC is Udyr‘s main weakness, using your ban on a support like Janna or Lulu is good value. The optimal rune page for Udyr is Conqueror with Triumph, Haste, and Cut Down, while Free Boots and Approach Velocity are for secondaries.

Fiddlesticks: The Best AP Jungler

With so many AP junglers nerfed in recent patches, it’s given a lot of indirect strength to Fiddlesticks. We’ll even go as far as saying Fiddle is now the best AP jungler that you can play for solo queue as Lillia, Brand, Karthus, and Taliyah are all significantly weaker. The champion is just so undervalued for solo queue because you give your team such an advantage just by locking in the champion.

Fiddlesticks’ Impact on Gameplay

With Fiddlesticks‘ gank threat at level six, you force the enemy team to play more reserved, which gives your teammates the ability to play more freely. If the enemy team does not respect your gank threat and plays up in lane, well then, it’s just a free kill.

Fiddlesticks’ Gank Potential and Build

For you, Fiddlesticks‘ R gives him some of the best gank access for any champion. Even if the enemy team is playing safer back at the tower, if they are lower on health, you can just look to dive them. So, you’ve got the ability to impact the game super well when R is available. The core build performing the best on Fiddle is Liandry’s rush into Malignant second and Zhonya’s third.

Banning Supports and Optimal Runes for Fiddlesticks

Banning out a peel support like Janna or Lulu is good value when picking Fiddle, as they can limit your ability to impact team fights. For the rune page, Predator is now outperforming First Strike after all the recent rune changes, and you’ll take Inspiration for secondaries with Future’s Market and Cosmic Insight.

Nocturne: A Top Solo Carry Jungler

To round out the solo carry top three for jungle, we have Nocturne. If you have both Nocturne and Fiddle in your champion pool for jungle right now, then you’re setting yourself up really well with a good AD and AP jungler. Nocturne doesn’t have the same kind of team fight impact as Fiddle, but his gank power at level six is just as good if not better.

Nocturne’s Core Build and Strategy

Able to access the enemy backline without any issues in the mid to late game, banning out a peel support like Janna or Lulu is good value. The core build for Nocturne consists of a Stridebreaker rush into Hexdrinker second and Black Cleaver third. For the rune page, grab Conqueror with Triumph, Alacrity, and Last Stand, followed by Eyeball Collection and Ultimate Hunter for secondaries.

Vex: Top Tier Mid Lane Solo Carry

Back in the top three for mid lane for another patch as one of the best solo carries is Vex. It’s a pretty uneventful patch for mid with no meta-shifting changes, so Vex remains a great solo queue pickup. LeBlanc priority continues to be very high for solo queue right now, and Vex is the best answer for her.

Vex’s Strengths and Matchups

Vex not only has the ability to completely shut down so many meta mid-laners in lane, but her ability to snowball off of that is amazing as well. The pushing power of Vex is incredibly strong, so with any early advantage, she has the option of either staying mid and looking for solo kills or shoving out and playing for roams. At level six, the skirmish strength of Vex is super high due to the reset from her R, and she’s able to enter fights from a distance due to the spell’s long range, allowing her to follow up on her jungler plays really well.

Vex’s Core Build and Rune Page

It’s longer-range mages who Vex struggles against the most, and with Lux being one of the most played mages in solo queue, she’s a good ban. The core build for Vex consists of Luden’s Echo rush into Shadowflame second and Zhonya’s or Rabadon’s third. Roll with Electrocute for the keystone rune, followed by Taste of Blood, Eyeball Collection, and Ultimate Hunter. Manaflow Band and Transcendence are the best secondaries for a midlane mage.

Lux: The Second Solo Carry of the Patch

You really can’t go wrong with Lux. What sets Lux apart from a lot of other mages and makes her a phenomenal champion for solo queue is the fact she can one-shot a target from long range. Just hitting one Q on a squishy target in the mid game can immediately lead to a kill with Lux, which gives you a lot of agency over how games play out.

Lux’s Strengths and Playstyle

As long as you’re playing around the fog of war and are focused on objective timers, finding picks with Lux and giving your team the numbers advantage will snowball into a lot of wins. Not only is Lux‘s midgame catch power incredibly strong, but her early laning is pretty safe. Long range from E means that Lux can sit back and farm from a distance in more difficult matchups, as it’s quite hard to actually punish a Lux who spaces well.

Lux’s Core Build and Rune Page

This allows you to be very consistent with your farm, and if you’re hitting high CS levels with Lux on a regular basis, you’re going to have great impact come the mid to late game. The core build for Lux consists of Luden’s Echo rush into Horizon Focus second and Rabadon’s third. For the rune page, First Strike is still performing best for Lux. Even though it is a more underplayed rune, it is just very easy for Lux to consistently proc, so you get a lot of value out of it.

Neeko: The Top Assassin for Mid Lane

Rounding out the top three for mid lane as the best assassin for yet another patch is Neeko. Neeko is just so powerful while being relatively easy to pick up, which makes her great for solo queue.

Neeko: A Top Tier Mid Laner

For the average solo queue player, Neeko’s laning strength was just heavily bolstered in patch 14.12, and the champion has been top tier ever since. A pretty crazy stat coming out of 14.13 consisted of Neeko winning over 57% of the time in the LeBlanc matchup. That’s just an unprecedented stat line that you very rarely see, and with LeBlanc being the most popular solo queue champ right now, it makes having Neeko in your champion pool really valuable.

Neeko’s Matchups and Core Build

Neeko has also been winning upwards of 55% against Sylas and Akali, who are quite popular for solo queue as well. One matchup you will want to try and avoid when picking Neeko is Vex, as her fear does a good job at shutting down Neeko’s engage. The core build for Neeko revolves around an Eclipse rush into Ravenous Hydra second, and it’s situational from then on out.

Optimal Runes for Neeko

We’ve been seeing a lot more Comet as of recent on Neeko, especially in the higher elos, and it is winning at a pretty equal level to First Strike. You just have more early game poke power when running Comet, so the kill threat and snowball potential in lane is higher.

Misfortune: Returning to the Solo Carry List

Cracking the solo carry list for the first time in a while as a result of her recent 14.13 buffs is Misfortune. The buffs ended up boosting Misfortune‘s overall win rate by just under 4%, so they’ve been extremely impactful. It’s not just the buffs that have provided Misfortune with more strength, though, as her new meta build is a big factor as well.

Misfortune’s Core Build and Playstyle

Players have stopped rushing The Collector on Misfortune and are instead taking Bloodthirster. Bloodthirster, coupled with Barrier for your secondary summoner spell, gives Misfortune a lot of added durability and gives you more margin for error.