8 Best 1v1 Champions in League of Legends

When it comes to Solo/Duo Ranked games or even normal, and we are a solo laner, we always want an easy match. If you are playing ranked, you don’t want to have one of the first picks because that means your match is going to be compromised, by choosing your champion, you let your enemy choose something that naturally could beat you up in the early, mid, late game. But some champions are pretty strong, even playing with some counter picks. Below, you will find a list with the 7 Best 1v1 Champions in League of Legends.

Before we start with the topic, let’s be clear, 1v1 is not an honorable match, 1v1 means using all your resources to get a kill, including Summoner Spells, Activable Items, and dirty tricks like running in and out of a bush.

Knowing this, you must understand this list is based without any of these perks, it is just about champion skills and damage, and of course, all of these matchups can be different all the time because it requires skills and luck, and unfortunately, we can’t have both all the time.

1. Renekton

Renekton is a champion that naturally is great for duels, the skill set is just great, being a melee champion, it might struggle a bit against ranged champions, but when he hits level 3 then things start to get interesting, then Renekton has finally his three skills available which allows him to get good trades if playing smart. Regardless of which itemization path you take and which Summoners Spells you use, Renekton can be very dangerous.

The best part of playing Renekton is that it can be tanky and do damage (Bruiser/Off-tank) and also the life steal provided by the Q with Rage, which gives him sustain, most of the damage from Renekton comes with very fast trades, waiting to have rage bar and enter with E, then use the W with rage to deal more damange, hit the Q when the enemy is stunned by the W, you can do one auto atack or walk behind of the enemy (or both if you are reckless) and get out with the second activation of the E to get out safe and sound.

Just bear in mind that you have to be aware of the enemy jungler becasue in the end you have wasted everything and if the jungler is waiting for you then you will be an easy target. But you can do this combo every 10-15 seconds when all your abilities cooldown is restored. So you can push your enemy very fast, froze lane, force him to go back or if your enemy is as reckless as you, then kill him.

In the mid-game/late-game, Renekton is great to chase carries, play the tank role or even peel your carries. It is very versatile, and it is tough to stop a Renekton that has been feed.

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2. Mordekaiser 

Mordekaiser is a champion that almost every Top Laner hates, it is a pain to play against him because it deals a lot of damage, and it can be off-tank. His skill set is good, especially when playing against melee champions, it can harass easily with his Q and engage very easy when needed, the downside is his mobility, which is not great, but the truth is that Mordekaiser could easily do a 1vs2 while going back to tower without having actual risk.

Especially when hitting level 6, ganking Mordekaiser is something you might want to consider, especially if he is full hp (or close to it) because his ultimate can isolate you or your teammate and turn a 2vs1 from your favor to his. The sustain that Mordekaiser has is fantastic, it will help you stay on the lane for a long time, even if you are playing against a ranged champion.

In mid/late-game, it is handy because his ultimate can work in every composition and according to the team needs. It is tough to win a 1v1 against Mordekaiser (not impossible), but when Mordekaiser gets to feed, it is better to think about how you plan to control him. 

3. Irelia

Irelia has been one of the best champions Riot ever made, no wonder why, before her rework, everyone took as a meme “Better Nerf Irelia.” Irelia got nerfed too many times that players just realized how useless (or useful for some) was. Despite how many times Riot nerfed Irelia, it was still strong; sometimes the nerfs were too much, and Riot just returned to the stats she had before.

In any case, with the new Irelia, the one that we know nowadays, it is one of the craziest champions to play against, especially if Irelia is in good and well-experienced hands. The Q’s are the primary skill due to the mobility, as you might know Irelia’s mobility is not the most fantastic point of her, but knowing how to use precisely her Q is going to save you from many complicated situations and, of course, grant you the chance to get easy kills. Her Q gets automatically up after “last hitting” A.K.A. killing, so if you use the Q on an almost dead minion, you will move automatically to that place, and you will have your Q again to use, so basically, if there would a be a line made of agonizing minions from a fountain to fountain you could easily travel all across the map with her Q.

In any case, the Stun, the true damage, the health regen, and the life-steal/spell vamp make her a highly complex match up to face. Just don’t expect to play Irelia for the first time (in ranked, of course, we all like to test champs in ranked) and be an unbeatable God, Irelia requires a lot of practice and good mechanical skills (and also, let’s not forget about the PING (ms)). It is hard to counter Irelia because even the ranged champions can struggle. 

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4. Fiora

Most of the players consider Fiora the excellence when it comes to 1v1, and no wonder Riot decided to call her, “The Grand Duelist.” Fiora was a monster pre-re-work, the ultimate which made her untargetable was a headache. However, nowadays, Fiora is still a monster, even though that ultimate is gone (for good). When you pick (or somebody else) Fiora, there is an automatic message for everyone, “Top Lane will be a carnage”, it means you are going to play agressive becasue there is no way you can play passive with Fiora (unless you hug tower). Fiora’s skill set are made to be trading always, all the time, to push, to harass, and especially to kill.

Her passive grants marks in short periods to be hit by Fiora with Auto Attacks, deal true damage to the enemy and get a slight boost of mobility for a few seconds. Then we have Riposte to return the CC and get away quickly when you are in complicated situations. Still, some attack speed, range bonus, slow the enemy and do a critical hit (sound appealing, right?).

If that’s not enough, the ultimate grant you automatically 4 marks on your enemy that can be broken by an auto atack in that direction, taking all those marks, or taking at least one and killing the target will create a healing zone for Fiora and her allies, don’t forget either you have a bonus of speed while being around the target. Incredible, right? Fiora can do a lot of damage and in mid/late-game, is a total game-changer for the time if well used.

5. Pantheon

Pantheon is a good champion, incredibly useful when it comes to 1v1 he has one of the best damages early level and escalates very well. One of the biggest fears is the ability to get closer to the enemy with a leap, stun him/her, and then deal damage with a Q and come out almost clean with the E is one of the biggest fears when playing against him. It escalates very well in the mid/late-game, and his ultimate grants the chance to help other lanes, especially bot lane, secure kills and take objectives like a dragon.

Pantheon is a very flexible champ with good damage, it can’t take as much damage as a tank would, but the skill set provides him with suitable tools to face 1vs1 or even 1vs2 and help to team securing kills feeding the carries or contesting objectives. Pantheon is a bully, and if you are against him, the best option is to get help from your jungler to keep him there without feeding him.

6. Jax

“Here’s to you, kid” is by far an excellent champion to duel, especially when you are facing another duel champions and some bully ones like Fiora/Irelia. Jax has good mobility with his Q that allows him to leap into an enemy or an ally, giving him the chance to engage or disengage quickly, he can also jump towards in the same Lee Sin style.

His E grants him invulnerability for a while and reduce damage from AoE sources, as well as stun his opponent(s) within the range, the W increases the damage from his next Basic Attack, a good tool when farming because it can reset your Auto Atack if you have good timing, and the ultimate grants passively one extra hit by every third, so this combined with cooldown reductions and high attack speed it makes him a fighting machine hard to put down.

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7. Cho’Gath

Cho’Gath is a champion that won’t be as aggressive as the previous options, but it will be hard to send him back to base and keep him pushed. Cho’Gath is great when it comes to farming and doing passive damage, his mobility is terrible, but his Q and W can help him to disengage. His passive is excellent, it gives him very good sustain with HP and MP that allows him to harass a bit more when gaining some levels.

When it comes to the 1vs1, Cho’Gath is strong, can deal a good amount of damage, and the ultimate is just the cherry on top of the cake; dealing true damage to the enemy can secure a kill even when the enemy doesn’t expect to be killed. With time Cho will grow in size due to his R gaining HP and increasing his size to become a true monster.

8. Nasus

Nasus is a champion that will take your patient to a different level. Nasus is not just about farming, is about knowing what you can do and when you can do it, the late the game is, the better for him. His Q stacks every time he kills a monster or a minion and grants him an unlimited amount of extra damage, which it is terrible (for the enemy) during the late game.

The R is just great to increase the size, give damage around him, and bonus armor and magic resistance, of course, range in his auto-attack. The W will slow the enemy very much, this is great to engage and disengage, and the E will damage a circle area on the floor and reduce the armor of the affected. 

Nasus is not something to worry about when it comes 1v1 in the early game. Still, if you let Nasus farm it will definitely be a problem in the late game, one common mistake is thinking destroying Nasus tower and pushing all the time is going to make him to have a bad game, but the truth is that you are just helping him to farm better. So better to play smart, and if you are Nasus, even more! Farm, but never let your team down if they need you!

Conclusion

This is just a general list, and more champions can have a place in this list, especially if you are a solo Laner that only plays that lane, it is hard to make a shortlist about all the champions in the game because some of them are better in your hands than other, and of course, you might prefer some champions over the ones listed here. Your opinion is very important to us, so let us know what you think and your best champion in 1v1.

Which champions would you change and why?