If you’ve playedLeague of Legendsover the years, you’ve probably changed roles several times. The same can be said for the many champions available, and you’ve certainly had to deal with changes in their usual positions after a few seasons. You’ve either had to shape up or shift out of your mains.
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We’ve also seen the return of certain characters to their former roles. Some newer characters have also ventured into other roles, and have found a lot of success in switching lanes. With just a few tweaks and changes in their builds, these champions changed lanes all for the better.
10Ashe
Ashe didn’t exactly change lanes, but her role shifted from ADC into support. While this was a hotly debated role swap, most had a positive reception of her as a support character. A pretty strong champion throughout the game, and she has always been capable of dealing damage through ranged attacks against enemies.
With her volley of arrows, Zombie Ward, and Cheap Shot runes, it would be difficult to be a bad shot with her. This isn’t to say that Ashe ADC died, but it was great to see older champions reinvent themselves.
9Wukong
Wukong was a well-known jungler who also became a viable top laner. Particularly when you’re a new player, Wukong has always been one of the strongest and easiest champions to play. This was all due to buffs made to his kit, meaning he had little downtime and could be a good bruiser.
Wukong in the jungle was still good, however — and even great inWild Rift— with his faster Q cooldown optimal for the position. With the Monkey King’s high burst damage, he could solo the top lane easily — and it also helped that he sported a high win rate in the top lane.
8Yone
There was a lot of speculation before Yone’s launch. He was often a strong, competent mid laner,much like his estranged sibling, but soon became a decent top laner too. Both positions were welcomed by the community, with top lane coming to dominate the charts for his gameplay.
His ability to extend himself during his E skill was great for reaching enemies quickly, and ideal for disappearing when you needed to. His E also made his burst stronger, which could kill enemy champions easily if it was timed right. Yone has always been about timing, since he’s never been as buff as other tanks in the top lane.
7Sett
Popular in the top lane, infamous in the mid lane, and even an obscure jungler, Sett has always been as flexible as he can get. Despite originally being intended for the top lane, he showed that he was more than capable in mid. This shift wasn’t surprising, since his kit has long-ranged attacks that were ideal for the lane — despite being a skirmisher.
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Those who played Sett in mid reveled in his longevity against trickier assassins and mages, with just about enough range in his E to poke enemy champions. His burst wasn’t for any squishy champion, as it could slam anybody on the ground to deal great damage.
6Viego
Viego was once popular as a top lane pick, and then subsequently grew into the jungle role. Not everyone was convinced that he was viable there, but we’ll leave that for you to debate. In another twist, the Ruined King began to thrive within the mid lane in pro and casual play, and even popped up as a niche support option.
This is even more surprising when you look at Viego’s win rate ratio in the support role. His long-range attack allowed him to efficiently play mid, but also as a support in the bot lane that can unleash a damaging burst.
5Riven
From famous mid laner to top laner, Riven is a champion that never goes out of fashion. She was once in the spotlight for being Faker’s often-picked champion in the mid lane, but a change of lane didn’t mean retirement for her. She enjoyed bruising in the top lane following her evolution, with an uptick in pick rate and win rate in her new lane.
While mid lane Riven remained viable, she definitely saw lower pick rates there compared to her top lane counterpart. There were much different builds emerge between the lanes, but with her high damage and quick feet, it’s easy to see why she became a top lane champion.
4Ezreal
Ezreal didn’t leave the bottom lane, although there were rogue mid laners playing him in the wild. However, a more recent development was his switch into the support role, seeing a better win rate there compared to his winrate as an ADC.
The reason for this was that there wasn’t a lot of modification needed to his runes when being played as a support, but there were nuances in how he was played. You couldn’t really tank your way through as an Ezreal support, instead focusing on dishing out ranged damage to keep enemy champions under their turret.
3Jhin
Jhin is another ADC who found a role as support, even popping up in pro play. The development of support Jhinwas all fun and memes, until people realized that it actually worked.
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His Q could be used to push enemies back, and long trades eventually made him more dangerous to opponents. His W also poked at enemies who were farther away, something that was great when playing him and horrible when on the receiving end. Technicalities aside, support Jhin was just incredibly fun to play.
2Diana
She was a staple pick in mid lane, but Diana made her way back into the jungle too — with some even touting her to be the strongest jungler. She’s always been a difficult champion to learn, but a flexible pick for either role.
She was also strong in the early game, ganking players in other lanes who were only looking ahead. Her mobility was also a notable advantage, which allowed her to cover distances faster in the jungle and within the lanes when she needed to grab a kill.
1Gwen
Gwen has always been considered a powerful top laner, but she also simultaneously found success in the mid lane for a lot of players. That wasn’t a bad thing, but it just meant that you’d found another fun way to play her.
She was strong even in the early game, and could be built like a tank with the right runes and items. With her Q, she could poke and inflict damage even on ranged enemies, and could scarily snip, snip, snip away with her E. Getting chased by a pair of scissors is the last thing you’d want in real life, let alone in a game.
