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This is the second week of Origins with events being held across the globe, mostly featuring from 30 to 50 players on average, and played either in the Best-of-1 or Best-of-3 formats. In this more chaotic, casual friendly environment, it is harder to get a clear feeling of every legend's potential. Indeed, some legends are bound to post some results one week and disappear the other, or see their build change as we get information from very different sources. Still, there are a few trends we can observe:
- OGN-247 remains the undisputed best legend, no matter the context, format or metagame. Arguably, there is no point even discussing that until Set 2 or some balance updates are available.
- OGS-019 feels closer to the other legends than Kai'Sa in this diversified environment. In Regionals or the Chinese national tournament, the Wuju Bladesman was the only one able to compare to the Daughter of the Void, but this isn't the case in this global metagame.
- A proactive play style, focused on seizing the lead early and forcing the opponent to find answers is the clear best approach. Except for our immovable Top 2, the rankings seems to reward the legends most able to follow that approach.
- Nexus Nights feature much more variety while other events tend to be dominated by Kai'Sa plus a few others reaching top 8. Then, the builds coming out from the Nexus Nights likely played in a more casual friendly environment. I would consider almost any legend to be playable in those events, while City Challenges or tournaments worth $1,000 or more in prize tend to be much more punishing.
We still have two weeks to go before the next large Regional event held in Houston, the first outside of China. Until then, I expect most of the tournaments to be a way to help us figure who can be a competitive pick outside of Kai'Sa. There are about 8 to 10 candidates still, but most of them have a lot to prove.
Happy Tier List everyone!
| Tier | Champion |
|---|---|
| S Tier | Kai'Sa |
| Tier 1 | Master Yi |
| Tier 1 | Ahri |
| Tier 1 | Viktor |
| Tier 1 | Teemo |
| Tier 1 | Sett |
| Tier 2 | Darius |
| Tier 2 | Yasuo |
| Tier 2 | Annie |
| Tier 3 | Leona |
| Tier 3 | Miss Fortune |
| Tier 3 | Volibear |
| Tier 3 | Lux |
| Tier 4 | Jinx |
| Tier 4 | Lee Sin |
| Tier 4 | Garen |
- S Tier - Undisputed strongest legend based on results, whether we look at Best-of-1 or Best-of-3 events. There is no winning a tournament without going against it multiple times.
- Tier 1 - Great performer and strong presence in the metagame. Top cut placements or wins in the previous week across multiple events.
- Tier 2 - Recent results and solid track record. Able to perform in competitive environment, but likely struggling in larger events, or against some legends ranked in the first or S Tier.
- Tier 3 - Results in smaller events, such as a taking down a Nexus Night requiring to win 3 to 4 matches in a row. Struggling to post good results once on a bigger stage.
- Tier 4 - No results this week, either because it was not a popular pick, or because it failed to reach the top cut of any reported tournament.
S Tier
Kai’Sa
Six City Challenge wins amongst the nine recorded, alongside the trophy in two of the three other events reported this week (Rift & Runes Weekly, Rare Hunters), OGN-247 once again left no doubt who the alpha legend is.
The featured list is two cards different from the winning one in China's national tournament, which might indicate the right balance has been found for the Daughter of the Void. Expect to see Kai'sa keep her grasp on Riftbound until Set 2 comes around.
Tier 1
Master Yi
Outside huge events, OGS-019 isn't posting more results than multiple other legends. This week, the Wuju Bladesman won a City Challenge, a Nexus Night and placed second in PPG Summit Qualifier.
Plus, the winning list from a City Challenge was a OGN-160 list, something we haven't seen do so well in a few weeks, the more tempo oriented builds posting the best results in November.
Overall, OGS-019 keeps its second place due to being the only one able to measure to Kai'sa in Regional or National events in the past. Yet, it is clear the Body-Calm legend isn't dominant in a field made of smaller events.
Ahri
After her fumble on the big stage at China's national tournament, Ahri has quietly become the second-best legend in the smaller events metagame.
This week, the Nine-Tailed Fox won two Nexus Nights, the PPG Summit Qualifier and placed third at Rare Hunter $2,000 tournament.
The list has not changed a ton over the month, although top performing OGN-255 builds seem to be more aggressive, with most reactive tools waiting in the side deck. In the featured list, we can see OGN-043 and OGN-256 aren't in the main deck, while OGN-080 was added as a home run against Kai'sa (for OGN-248, OGN-122).
OGN-255 is designed to seize the lead early on and hold her way to victory. Since builds have been leaning on that play style more, the results have improved.
Viktor
Last week, Viktor was one of the most represented legends amongst top cuts, but failed to win anything. This time, the Herald of the Arcane managed to take down a City Challenge, a Nexus Night, and placed third in the Rift & Runes weekly tournament.
Once the larger tournaments come around, such as the Regional tournament in Houston in two weeks, I expect OGN-265 to struggle like it typically does on the big stage. Until then, the Mind-Order legend is poised to keep posting results in smaller tournaments.
Teemo
Except for Kai'sa and Master Yi, it isn't so often a legend is able to win City Challenges in back to back weeks. Unfortunately for Teemo, I have to put that feat into perspective :
- Teemo didn't post any other result but this City Challenge win this week, so it is difficult to say the Swift Scout has become any more reliable.
- The winning list packs OGN-189 instead of the typical OGN-201, a card I suspect caught a few opponents off guard.
Overall, I believe Teemo deserves to be in the conversation for top 5 legend in the game. Yet, I feel OGN-263 deserves that distinction when it manages to surprise the opponent, to profit from their mistake or come up with a create synergy or play-pattern.
The inclusion of OGN-189 did exactly that this week and earned that player a City Challenge win. However, until Teemo manages to post several results with the same list, I still can't call that legend reliable.
Sett
It is difficult to rank OGN-269 at the moment because its track record and current results are clashing.
If we look at what Sett did during the first months of Riftbound, the legend deserves to be in the top 5, maybe top 3 legends of the game. However, as time passes, Sett manages to post results here and there, but fails to be a consistent threat in the metagame.
Last week, a new build emerged with OGN-235 in the mix, posting better results than the OGN-244 lists regarded as best against Kai'sa. This time, the only build able to take down an event with a 3-0 record in a Nexus Night was mixing both.
I believe finding how to mix those powerful cards together in one single build is the future for OGN-269, at least until Set 2 comes around. In doing so, The Boss won't adapt to the competition much, but will at least pack a plenty of strong cards the opponent will have to keep in mind.
Tier 2
Darius
After a strong showing in China's national tournament, OGN-253 was nowhere to be found last week. I guess the Hand of Noxus likes to pick its moment, as the Fury-Order legend came back swinging, taking down two Nexus Nights and placing 2nd and 5th in the Runes & Rift weekly tournament.
It is clear OGN-242 is the key card for OGN-253 in this first set, and I believe this is why the legend is so inconsistent. Indeed, not only does it require finding the right balance deck building wise, OGN-242 also requires drawing the card alongside seeing our ideal target in those five cards we reveal. Add the fact gears are targeted in most side decks, and it becomes clear why Darius struggles to be consistent from a week to another.
Yasuo
OGN-259 gets some spotlight from the Nexus Night events, repeating last week's performance with two wins once again.
Until The Unforgiven manages to post some solid results in something else but these small events one can win going on a 3 or 4 games win streak, I am not ready to move it up to the more competitive tier. However, OGN-259 once again did enough to be a reasonable pick for anyone headed to a casual or semi competitive event and enjoying that particular legend.
Annie
The Dark Child has been losing momentum lately, after being considered a Dark Horse pick in October and early November. Last week, I said winning a Nexus Night would not be enough for Annie to remain in the tier alongside the legends most likely to top an event alongside Kai'sa. With just one win in a Nexus Night and nothing else to report, Annie now joins the "competitive but likely to fail on the big stage" group.
Tier 3
Leona
A widely appreciated, but not good enough to see much play legend, OGN-261 managed to win two Nexus Night this week, with one taking place in a peculiar format.
The eventual winner went 5-0 in a Best-of-1 format, but players were allowed to use their side deck prior to the match starting, with knowledge of their opponent's legend. Then, this would be closer to playing a Game 2 of a Best-of-3 match, with some information about your opponent, but still some mysteries about their possible flexible cards.
For those looking for more info, plenty of questions about the deck were answered in this post
Miss Fortune
Last week, OGN-267 managed to top an online tournament. This time, the pirate topped a Nexus Night, barely enough to be worth mentioning in this report.
What is interesting is the fact the Bounty Hunter manages to post these minor results using vastly different lists. Indeed, we had an aggressive build in our previous report, while it is a OGN-160 build this time around.
It is clear OGN-267 doesn't have what it takes to compete at the highest level. However, this is a legend deck builders could have fun tinkering with, as it seems the best list, nor the best play style has been figured out yet.
Volibear
OGN-249 failed to make any sort of impact in the Origins metagame, but occasionally posts a decent performance and gets his time in the spotlight. This week, the legend managed to go on a 5-0 run to reach Runes & Rifts top 8 cut, but lost soon after to end 5th place overall.
Lux
The Lady of Luminosity is widely considered too weak to be competitive, and most of the Origins metagame seems to back that up. However, some players still dare to pick OGS-021 for a tournament. This week, one of the bolds reached the top 8 of Runes & Rift online tournament, unfortunately losing in the first round once in the finals bracket.
Tier 4
Three legends had no results reported over the past week and have not been ranked as a result.
Check out their dedicated pages to find out more about them :
