League of Legends boasts one of the deepest champion rosters in modern gaming—or any gaming franchise, really. This, of course, ranges from the easiest characters to the true demons that, in the right hands, totally dominate Summoner’s Rift.
League’s toughest champions aren’t for the faint of heart; it’ll take you dozens of losses and hundreds of games to get used to these power picks. Ranging from the most mechanically intensive junglers to one-half of the infamous sword brothers and including several unique ADCs, here are the most difficult League champs to attain true mastery on.
Hardest League of Legends champions to learn and master
Aphelios
We’re counting down the list alphabetically, but I would have put Aphelios at number one regardless of the list order—this gun-toting ADC is easily one of the most convoluted champions Riot has ever made. Launched all the way back in late 2019, Aphelios sports numerous weapons that he can swap between, often with relative difficulty.
These are his five weapons:
- Calibrum (Rifle): A long-range attack that marks enemies
- Severum (Scythe Pistol): Boosts speed and dishes out two attacks
- Gravitum (Cannon): Roots and slows enemies
- Infernum (Flamethrower): Blasts enemies in a cone
- Crescendum (Chakram): Deploys a sentry
This boils down to Green, Red, Purple, Blue, and White respectively. You have to cycle through them during battles, making it one of the hardest characters to pilot on the fly in any teamfight. This constant need to adapt to the situation with different weapons and keeping track of everything is mighty challenging, which is why Aphelios never really entered the mainstream meta, and he remains a B-tier champion by u.gg’s standards with a 49.6 percent win rate. That isn’t to say he’s a bad pick, though, as in the right hands, Aphelios can and will perform well, though compared to other, simpler carries, he just doesn’t get as much attention as the trade-off isn’t really worth it.
Azir
The ancient risen ruler of Shurima from season four has long been one of the hardest-to-play champions in League because you have to split your time between several summoned soldiers, Azir, and his long-ranged attacks. It’s no surprise that the Emperor of the Sands has dominated pro play for much of his decade in the game while struggling to eke out a reasonable win rate in ranked games.
However, despite his relatively high performance in the most prestigious of Elo levels, this traditional mid laner suffers at the moment in regular ranked matchmaking with a 46.7 percent win rate according to u.gg‘s statistics.
While we could blame some of his shortcomings on his high difficulty and APM requirement, Azir simply isn’t in the best of states right now, with Riot hopefully eyeing a buff for him in the near future.
If you spend time figuring out all his abilities—and their combos—though, you’ll certainly enjoy a sharp spike in your wins, especially in the mid lane.
Gangplank
Gangplank is an odd case here, and not many people would claim him to be one of the most difficult champions in League of Legends. However, we are talking about the most difficult to master rather than just learn, which is why Gangplank had to be mentioned somewhere around here. This relic of a champion came out during League‘s infancy in 2009 and saw his major rework in season five during the famous and major Bilgewater event that Riot hasn’t topped to this day.
His challenging nature comes from his Barrels, which need to be carefully placed and managed in the blink of an eye, thus requiring a ton of muscle memory and learning to master. He is a fast and mobile champion, with his passive burn and movement speed boosts, and you’ll need to be at the top of your game from the moment that level seven Barrel buff comes around until the end of the match.
He is best suited for the top lane, being a brawler and all, and is currently well-positioned in the season 14 meta at a 50.4 percent win rate.
Hwei
Hwei is one of the newest champions in the League’s roster, having released in Dec. 2023, and if Aphelios is the hardest to master, this champion is a solid number two. Most glaringly, the champion has 10 active abilities, with Q, W, and E each having three different versions, depending on Hwei’s current stance. But don’t ask me what they do since I usually ban Hwei in my games.
Jokes aside, while Hwei’s complexity is one of his biggest pros, it’s also his greatest weakness. With so many tools at their disposal, he’s capable of three different roles: mid lane, ADC, and support. Though he saw quite a rocky upbringing in his first few months, players have managed to master him quite well as a mid lane mage carry with stellar win rates across the ranks.
Kalista
Kalista finds her place among the hardest characters to master because she boasts a gameplay style a little different from most others in her role.
While most ADCs—and I would include myself in this—play the role of sticking to powerful, relatively similar champions, Kalista offers up a unique, kiting-heavy auto-attack pattern. If you can’t kite (a pretty standard mechanic these days), then Kalista is going to look very daunting, but when you master it, you’ll master Kalista and bot lane at the same time.
However, she is a case similar to that of Aphelios, and simpler carries simply are more popular and attractive to the hardcore player. This old ADC is currently not that popular in Emerald and higher ranks with poor win and pick rates on the bot lane.
Lee Sin
This blind master really demands the most out of his League players. So much of his gameplay revolves around landing his Q skillshot (no easy feat), but then he also has several staple combos like the famed Insec. Skilled Lee Sin pilots can look graceful and incredible when played properly.
One of the key reasons why Lee Sin might prove to be a challenging champion to master (aside from his reliance on skillshots and good combos) is his age, coupled with his massive need for proper game sense. Lee Sin is among the oldest champions in League and hasn’t seen many updates over the decade and a half he’s been part of the roster, and you’ll likely need just as many years of experience to properly utilize this powerful jungler. Lee Sin is the Blind Monk, and you’ll have to guide him well to get the most out of him.
There’s a pretty simple trick here I used to master the Blind Monk: don’t make the flashy plays. Instead, ignore that “Lee Sin-drome” and stick to the basics, including his Flurry passive and taking advantage of his Safeguard shielding. Play like this, and you might be among the better half of his players who actually managed to pull over 50 percent win rate with him in the current meta.
Nidalee
There are plenty of tough elements to Nidalee, enough for the Bestial Huntress to well and truly earn her place among the hardest League champions to play, let alone master. Players have to optimize her dual roles—human and cougar—which have seven abilities spread across them, and get their eye in with her iconic Javelin Toss, and on top of all that, they just have to learn jungle, too.
Even worse, she’s an early-game character, meaning if you fail at pathing, ganking, and balancing her forms across those two jungle jobs, she can quickly become quite obsolete in late-game fights, as her 49 percent win rate shows.
Riven
Combos are the key to Riven’s gameplay, and for that reason, she earns her place on this rankings list. I’ve found myself in enough battles where a weaker Riven tries to pull off her knock-ups and playmaking just to fall flat on her face—a tough thing to watch. Then, on the other side, I think we’ve all been on the receiving end of the “main character” Riven that solo carries the entire match.
Despite being one of the first champions Riot ever released, Riven maintains a solid reputation as a tremendous, though challenging, top laner, with u.gg’s statistics showing her carrying a massive 51.2 percent win rate in high Elo matches. The higher in rank you go, the more powerful Riven becomes, as in the right hands, she’s probably one of the best League champions in existence.
Zed
The Master of Shadows has lost some of his meta-defining power from seasons past—I remember he used to be a nightmare on the Rift in seasons three, four, and five—but those who spend the time mastering him still bring back that fear and strength, especially when hunting down poor little AD carries that have been split off from the pack.
Zed embodies League assassins with his shadow abilities and one-target kill pressure. It can take some time to balance using his Living Shadow (which deals out damage at range) and especially how to use his Death Mark ultimate ability effectively, but it all eventually comes together in a glorious cacophony of death. Once you have a handle on this mid laner, you too will become the master of shadows and quick kills, as this Lethal(ity) assassin will probably never leave the meta of any season at any point in time.
Yasuo
Is Yasuo tough to play? I mean, let’s just ask any player who has ended up 0/10/0 on him in ranked and then quit the game entirely. I think any League player has a war story like that (and there’s a reason it’s a meme in the fandom), and it answers that question quite succinctly—yes, Yasuo is hard to master.
He’s not impossible, of course, but the sword brother we’ve had in the roster longest (since 2013) is basically the poster boy for trying to learn tough characters. Once you do get the hang of his movement, which is the core part of his gameplay loop, you’ll finally be able to escape that 0/10 power spike joke people have been throwing at you, or, better yet, you’ll finally move to the simpler, more powerful wind brother—Yone.
Taliyah
This eight-year-old mid lane mage is often the butt of many jokes and does not carry that lethal reputation of being an all-powerful champion as the likes of Zed, Yasuo, or Yone. However, she is quite the killer once you get the hang of her Q and ultimate and learn how to utilize them properly for high damage and fantastic teamfight utility. Taliyah’s four spells are simple in nature but require a ton of muscle memory and speed to execute effectively, earning her a spot on our list right here.
And high Elo players absolutely adore her. With a stunning 52.56 percent win rate in Emerald and higher ranks, Taliyah is among the best-performing champions of the late season 14 and is likely to remain that way for a long time. Keep in mind that achieving this performance requires a ton of skill so be sure to practice her a ton before hopping into the grindfest that is League‘s matchmaking.
Bard
Supporting in itself is hard. Like, really hard. And playing Bard as a support is just giving yourself an extra challenge. This seemingly benign creature has been in the game since 2015 and has remained consistently performative since the moment he stepped on or floated above Summoner’s Rift. He relies heavily on casting his tunnels properly, as well as binding enemies to each other for prolonged stuns, and on top of all that, he needs to hit that ultimate just right so as not to ruin the entire match with a single spell cast. The amount of care one has to put into playing Bard itself earns him a spot on the list as one of the most difficult League champions in existence.
Nevertheless, despite his challenging nature, Bard continues to perform even in season 14 and shows no signs of relenting in his supporting onslaught.
