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Tick, Tick! There are only a few days left in the current patch cycle. Are you almost at a new peak rank? Are you tired of losing to Caitlyn? Do you think you’re the unluckiest Top Laner and since your bot lane always loses you’re switching to bot because you’re better? If yes then lucky you. It is time to compile our best picks for the vital Bot lane. Yesterday we compiled the best picks for Junglers and today we at Cheat CC have analyzed the data and compiled the best picks for your current rank.
Way back when Bot Lane used to be considered the ADC or marksman role. However, as League of Legends continues to evolve the lane is now sort of dominated by mages with a few key exceptions. This is because wave clear is very important in League and most marksmen are forced to use their abilities on the minion wave to quickly clear it. This eats through the marksman’s mana pool which makes them weaker overall since they can’t use their abilities on the enemy. Mages’ on the other hand can clear the wave faster because bot minions don’t have magic resist AND they build mana in all of their builds. All in all, Mages are all the rage nowadays much to the detriment of the role.
However, there are exceptions. Here are the best picks for Bot Lane in Patch 14.22.
Caitlyn (Low ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 51%
- Pick Rate: 28%
- Ban Rate: 27%
- Countered By: Swain, Ziggs, Kogmaw, Sivir, Nilah
Kicking off our list we have maybe the strongest pick for low ELO, Caitlyn. Caitlyn is one of the most oppressive bot laners because of her base range. Only a few marksmen can compete with her range. Her build of choice is very strong as well but only for the rest of the patch. Collector, her first item, is getting nerfed and she is also getting nerfed in the next few days. So if you’re interested in abusing her then now is the time to do so. It’s truly unfortunate because she doesn’t get to be strong for very long due to her strength in lower ELOs. Maybe she’ll get a rework of some kind in the future.
Ashe (High ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 51%
- Pick Rate: 20%
- Ban Rate: 15%
- Countered By: Hwei, Kog Maw, Samira, Tristana, Swain
Ashe isn’t a bad pick in lower ELOs but she isn’t used to her full capabilities. Ashe is not a pick for carrying team fights with incredible damage. Her damage isn’t terrible but you really want to pick Ashe for her utility. A short cool down, global stun is perfect for picking targets who are out of position. Also, having a slow debuff on auto attacks that gets stronger as you scale throughout the game is very good. With good range and a simple kit to boot, Ashe is just a solid all-around pick if you need some extra oomph for your team composition.
Jhin (Low ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 51%
- Pick Rate: 20%
- Ban Rate: 9%
- Countered By: Swain, Nilah, Sivir, Ziggs, Vayne
A low ELO-friendly utility pick is Jhin. Not only does he bring great crowd control for his steam but he also does well into mages making him a safe first pick as well. He does have his counters and his playstyle is unconventional but he’s still very straightforward forward which is perfect for lower-skill brackets. He also has decent wave clear as well, there is no reason to not be playing Jhin this patch.
Corki (High ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 51%
- Pick Rate: 15%
- Ban Rate: 25%
- Countered By: Karthus, Lux, Draven, Swain, Zeri
Corki has been absolutely dominating this patch. He is for sure overpowered and will most likely be receiving a Nerf very soon. Corki used to be an unpopular champ that only the best of the best were using with great success. Now in high ELO, his pick rate has skyrocketed and it seems like anyone can make this champion work. If you have faith in your mechanics maybe you should pick him up while you can. We don’t expect him to continue to exist in this state for more than a few patches.
Miss Fortune (Low ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 51%
- Pick Rate: 11%
- Ban Rate: 3%
- Countered By: Swain, Nilah, Ziggs, Kog Maw, Jhin
Miss Fortune is another low ELO staple when it comes to bot laners. She’s strong right now because of her ability to build lethality. Lethality items are cheaper and come online sooner giving her what she needs to steamroll a team. Also, she has a unique interaction with her passive and the item bloodthirster that gives her the edge too. Next patch she’s getting buffed so why not get ahead of the curve?
Kog’ Maw (High ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 52%
- Pick Rate: 9%
- Ban Rate: 27%
- Countered By: Karthus, Yasuo, Tristana, Vayne, Ziggs
Kog’ Maw is the only on-hit marksman that’s good right now unless you count Ashe. This champ embodies everything it means to be a Bot player. To play him, your spacing, positioning, APM, and overall other mechanics must be completely on point. A good support is crucial and you’re more likely to run into good supports when the average player is good. You can find some success with him in the lower ELOs but his true potential doesn’t unlock until at least high Diamond.
Vayne (Low ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 51%
- Pick Rate: 6%
- Ban Rate: 4%
- Countered By: Nilah, Caitlyn, Aphelios, Miss Fortune, Swain
Oh, how the tables have turned. Vayne used to be a staple in higher ELOs and now after multiple nerfs and adjustments she is a lot better in lower ELOs. Technically she’s an on-hit marksman like Kog’ Maw but she has a Crit build that’s debatably more viable as the game evolves. You have the choice of building her on-hit or Crit but whatever you do, ban Caitlyn or Ashe first. Her range is incredibly short and she thrives off of running down her targets. If she’s bullied too hard in the early game then you can consider it GG. However, low ELO players struggle with ending games so who knows you might reach your power spike anyway.
Draven (High ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 51%
- Pick Rate: 5%
- Ban Rate: 30%
- Countered By: Lux, Miss Fortune, Kog Maw, Swain, Samira
Draven is incredibly good this patch. His pick rate is only so low because of the huge ban rate and many players are intimidated by his playstyle. He rewards those willing to play him exclusively and is probably the only high ELO-skewed champion I would recommend to anyone learning to play. If all you care about is winning and completely demolishing the enemy team there isn’t a champion that fulfills that fantasy like Draven. He has mobility, high damage, and a fun mini-game with catching his axes. His weaknesses are obvious and apparent to the best players but people would rather just ban him.
Ziggs (Low ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 52%
- Pick Rate: 3%
- Ban Rate: 2%
- Countered By: Nilah, Vayne, Jhin, Sivir, Swain
If you’re looking for a mage pick in low ELO that is low risk and has tons of agency, Ziggs is for you. With his phenomenal wave clear and extremely strong push potential with his passive and W ability, you don’t even have to do well in lane to still be useful to your team. If you really wanted to, you could play the game like PvE and ignore the enemy team entirely. Prioritize farming and pushing lanes and close out the game before they can even understand what happened.
Karthus (High ELO)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 55%
- Pick Rate: 1%
- Ban Rate: 14%
- Countered By: Hwei, Lux, Kalista, Swain, Xayah
Karthus is similar to Ziggs in terms of playstyle but he’s a lot harder to pilot. His abilities are straight forward but his main damage tool, his q ability, is really hard to hit. Also, players have to try and harass enemy champions with it without hitting multiple targets because it does more damage on those isolated. What really makes Karthus one of the best picks for Bot Lane is the fact that he allows players to cheat a very important part of playing bot.
Bot laners need to stay alive to deal damage in late-game team fights. However, Karthus upon death can use his spells for 6 more seconds allowing him to still be useful after death. This alone makes him a phenomenal pick not to mention his ultimate ability that targets every single enemy champion on the map and deals tons of damage. A good Karthus will be strong by the time team fights start and a bad one will become stronger each extra minute the game goes on.
Swain (Cheat CC’s Pocket Pick)
©Riot Games
- Win Rate: 54%
- Pick Rate: 2%
- Ban Rate: 6%
- Countered By: Kog Maw, Ziggs, Seraphine
Swain counters most of the Bot Laners in this list. If none of the previous picks seem interesting to you then why not pick up one of the most underrated champions of the patch? With no nerfs in sight, Swain is very quickly becoming one of the best champions in the entire game.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Riot Games.