The best champions to pick in League of Legends Classic

Naerlyn Published August 6, 2026

League Classic has just come out on live servers. With 60 champions and more to come, with every item being new (or rather old), it’s hard to figure out which picks are good, and which ones are only driven by nostalgia. Here are the best champions in League Classic, and when and why to pick them.

The best champions in League Classic

1. Pantheon (Top/Jungle/Mid/Bot)

Back then, Pantheon was a laner. Originally one of the biggest lane bullies, the limited roster elevates him to perhaps the strongest early game pick in League Classic.

The Spartan’s Q and E give him incredible damage in lane, while his W and passive leave no room to fight back. The best answers to lane Pantheon are tanks, or solo lane Nunu.

Pantheon can be a bully both top and mid. He can even be picked bot lane with Taric or Leona, and make the opposing ADC realize that maybe facing mages wasn’t so bad after all.

So far, Pantheon is the best champion in LoL Classic. Image credit: Riot Games

2. Master Yi (Mid)

In a rare case, Master Yi was hyped up and is indeed one of the best champions in League Classic. The champion’s gameplay consists in poking the opponent in lane by Q’ing minions. Then, in fights, he waits around until someone drops low, and the penta can begin.

3. Fiddlesticks (Jungle/Support)

Fiddle is one of the strongest beneficiaries of people not being used to Classic yet. First, his drain lasting for five seconds makes players miscalculate their 1v1s. Second, no one is placing wards. That gives free reign to his team-nuking Crowstorm.

4. Anivia (Mid)

Like many other champions, Anivia had stronger damage with the trade-off of longer cooldowns and significantly higher mana costs. Mostly, she had access to a much higher burst, which remains surprising to players. Most importantly, her strongest counter at the time in Orianna is not in Classic yet.

5. Cho’Gath (Top/Mid)

The Cho of old didn’t look so unalike from today. However, he played quite differently. A tanky mage rather than a full-blown tank, Cho had burst with stronger CC at the expense of lacking the DPS he has now. Classic Cho’Gath doesn’t have health scalings either.

The pick is a considerable mid game threat as a top or mid laner. Cho shuts down lane bullies in both lanes, and makes the game a pain for divers later on.

The best champions in League Classic: Cho’Gath. Image credit: Riot Games

6. Morgana (Support)

2013 had the triangle theory for supports. Poke champions beat engagers, who beat enchanters, who beat poke champions in turn. However, the roster is skewed notably with the lack of Zyra.

As a result, enchanters have little room to exist, pushing Alistar, Leona and Blitzcrank up. Which, in turn, makes Morgana the best support in League Classic, especially with the supports rarely being the ones choosing the bans.

7. Leona (Support)

While she loathes Morgana, the Solari has a great time otherwise. Back then, Leona was the terror of ADCs and enchanters for her incredibly high early damage. That remains wholly true in Classic. Furthermore, any actual support champion who purchases wards will perform well.

8. Wukong (Top/Jungle/Mid)

Labelled as a jungler, Wukong is also one of the best champions in League Classic for top and even mid lane. Sporting more damage than today, the Monkey King has a deadly trading pattern of E – AA – Q – W. With the decoy, he can end the trade and remove the minions’ aggro. Then once the time is right, his ult finishes off his prey.

Wukong in LoL Classic. Image credit: Riot Games

9. Ezreal (Bot)

The museum thief historically stole builds from every other lane. The best ADC in League Classic, Ezreal has access to regular marksman items as well as his famous Blue Ezreal build.

The false good picks in Classic

Kassadin

To address the elephant in the room, Kassadin was the champion everyone spent a decade talking about. League Classic has a heavily nerfed version of him.

In this game mode, Kassadin has no damage reduction, a lowered silence, and less range on his ult. Additionally, everyone conveniently forgot that he was hard and risky to play, particularly outside of pro. The Voidwalker scales for sure, but he usually won’t get there. Kassadin is not among the best champions in League Classic.

Sion

Similarly, the playerbase somehow remembered AP Sion as this unstoppable one-shot machine. At the time, the reality was that he was barely picked for a reason. That remains true today, as his antics are severely gated by mana and range, and Banshee’s nullifying his whole game plan.

LoL Classic AP Sion is not as good as players thought. Image credit: Riot Games

Gangplank

GP was a meme pick, and gold generation GP didn’t even exist outside of videos. The gold gen items do not pay off without upgrading them. As for regular Gangplank, he has a great level 1, and hurts with his Q. Once his Q is on cooldown, he’s useless and in range of an ADC.

Who do you think are the best champions in League Classic? Feel free to share your thoughts on our forums.

Featured image credit: Riot Games