The Competitive Edge: November 2013 League of Legends Tier List

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

We're in the calm before the competitive League of Legends storm. With major events like IEM Cologne, WCG, Dreamhack Winter and the LCS approaching, The Competitive Edge is here to give an idea of what the pros might break out in these major tournaments.

For those new to this, the competitive tier list is completely objective and based on the past month’s highest level picks and bans at premiere LAN events from around the world, not on the opinion of any one person. When the big money was on the line, these were the picks and bans you saw from the professionals. September/October's stats come from the LNL, Season 3 World Championships, LPL Playoffs, NA Summer Split Playoffs, and the GPL. This month is a little different in that two months were surveyed in order to get a large enough sample of games.

The Professional League of Legends Champion Tier List is a representation of the recent picking and banning trends of professional level teams in premier events. The list itself is completely mathematically based off the usage and effectiveness (wins and losses) of the champions by professionals and not the potential usage and subjective strength of said champions. Several high end tournaments and leagues throughout all regions of the League of Legends playing world were surveyed with relevant stats (painstakingly) gathered from each of them.

From there, each champion’s stats are put into a formula that spits out a rating that accurately represents the usage and effectiveness of the champion(as seen under each portrait). That rating is then used to split the champions into five main tiers.

God Tier: Picked or banned in most games

Despite several nerfs through Season 3, the professionals have consistently displayed their respect for Shen throughout the year. Touting a 92% pick/ban rate on top of an already impressive 63% win rate, Shen's flexibility to perform in 2v1 and 1v1 situations effectively in the early game while giving an extremely potent split push ability late game has made Shen a prime all year.

Top Tier: Often picked, commonly banned

The second Aatrox dropped onto the tournament realm, he's been doing work in the jungle and on top. He gives teams strong sustained damage source with a splash of crowd control. Combine that with a Guardian Angel passive and it's no wonder why he is considered a fearsome foe.

Mid Tier: Sometimes picked, uncommonly banned

Oh the power one person can have on professional pick and ban trends. Royal Club's Tabe single-handedly brought Annie into the limelight. When he wasn't drawing targeted bans, Tabe was mercilessly punishing the enemy's bottom lane with support Annie. Since the World Championships ended, GPL teams have started using Annie extremely effectively. Expect to see more of the Dark Child in the near future.

Low Tier: Situationally banned, common specialty pick

It is interesting to note that, besides Sona, most supports being used are not 'conventional supports.' Zyra, Annie, and now Fiddlesticks have been utilized for their high powered crowd control and their strong early game damage. Bottom lane has evolved to become more aggressive in order to get AD Carries fed a little faster while delaying the growth of opponents.

Lower Tier: Situational and specialty picks

How far the mighty hath fallen. Though Twisted Fate was a 'God Tier' champion for most of 2013, he managed a measly 12.3% pick/ban rate and an unimpressive 42.9% win rate through September and October. Its possible the change of the global gold-earning passive that Twisted Fate had has pushed him into the basement of picks and bans.

Irrelevant Tier

Everyone else.

Next up on the list was Singed who saw the battlefield six times and only drew one ban.

Raw Stats