When you’re at odds with other players, you indeed wonder who has the better Champion for specific situations. You’re looking at each other, seeking ways to engage and win the fight. But, there are Champions in League of Legends that strive in one particular aspect – duels.
They are built to fight 1v1, to duel, and battle to the death. Mobility and power are their core abilities, and they will rarely rely on anything but their basic attacks. Some, of course, have kits that are purposed for complementing their dueling capabilities.
Truth be told, these are some of my favorite Champions to play, and most are on my go-to roster for Ranked matches. But some of you might be unfamiliar with them and won’t know how to choose.
For that exact reason, I’ve compiled the 7 Best 1v1 Champions in League of Legends to help you get an overview of the League’s finest gladiators.
Without further ado, let’s begin with our list.
7. Tryndamere
Tryndamere is an old and straightforward Champion that’s been around for over 12 years. In that time, he’s barely been touched gameplay-wise, and his kit has remained the same throughout League’s history. His brutality, though, has only grown. New itemization changes gave Tryndamere a lot of new toys to play with and enhanced his strength.
Though they removed one of his core items, namely Statikk Shiv, Tryndamere now has many options to choose from as a replacement. He can go for Kraken Slayer, which will pump his attack speed over 2.0 with little effort, or go for Prowler’s Claw to get another gap closer.
But I think the best path to go down with Trynda is balancing Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed. Your E loses cooldown each time you crit, so criting a lot in succession can give you resets for days. You also get critical strike chance for being low on HP, meaning you won’t have to build as much due to your near-constant low HP state thanks to your Ultimate.
6. Riven
Riven is likely the most challenging Champion on this list. In general, she is one of the hardest Champions to master in the game. It takes a lot of time, practice, and effort to truly grasp what Riven is capable of.
And she’s capable of a lot. She has 4 dashes (1 on her E and 3 on her Q casts). This gives her excellent gap closing and escape options. Her E also acts as a shield, and her Q has a lot of damage and even a knock-up at the third cast. She also sports a stun on her W, a solid one, and her Ultimate gives her bonus AD for a duration and a 2nd cast that deals a load of damage and is an execute.
You can see how overloaded, and well equipped Riven’s kit is. But to be able to use it properly, you’ll need more than one game. A good Riven player, though, makes the game almost unbearable. She can counter a large number of Champions in the lane, so it can be frustrating to meet her if you’re inexperienced.
5. Master Yi
Many Champions on this list are turning out to be very old, and Yi is no exception. Like Tryndamere, Yi focuses most of his power on his basic attacks with some spells in place to help him out a bit. He runs fast and hits fast, and that is kind of all he does.
Yi is a shredder of health bars, an actual one. While Tryndamere hits for massive damage per hit, Master Yi goes in swords blazing (literally) and eviscerates enemy Champions. He utilizes on-hit effects a lot more than most Champions in the game, as they are paramount to his playstyle. His Q, Alpha Strike, grants him temporary untargetable status and does AD to nearby targets. Its cooldown goes down the more you attack, making it a great survivability and escape tool.
His W heals him and grants extra defenses, and his E gives True Damage on his basic attacks for a duration. His R is a speed boost, both for attacks and movement, and its duration extends if you get takedowns while its active. Yi must actively participate in fights to keep going. If fights are suddenly cut off, he must wait for his cooldowns to come back up to be at full strength again.
Also read: How to Counter Riven?
4. Yasuo
Whenever I look at the two wind brothers – Yone and Yasuo- I always choose the latter. However, for lists like these, it’s always either/or. If I choose one, the other will remain excluded due to their likeness and similarity in gameplay.
Yasuo is one of League’s banes and nightmares. This does change when in very high elo ladders, but it’s too true in lower brackets, unfortunately. He’s fast, he’s strong, and he’s a team-fighting god. I’ve spoken of his team-fighting ability in our 10 Best Teamfight Champions in League of Legends article, so be sure to check it out.
He can knock up multiple enemies at once and slice through them like paper. His passive doubles his crit chance, giving him extra item options. This is a commodity that few if any, Champions enjoy. Yasuo is a perfect pick against some of the stronger ranged Mid/Top laners that you may come across, as his W – Wind wall – will protect him from most projectiles (even Gangplank barrels).
3. Mordekaiser
No 1v1 list would be complete without the Death Emperor himself. With an Ultimate like that, I’d be a sin not to include him here. I love to play Morde, and you will too if you give him a shot.
Mordekaiser is an AP Juggernaut, meaning he can deal unexpected damage to Top laners that are more used to building flat armor early on. If he squares up against an AD Champion, a quick purchase of the Seeker’s Armguard item will solve that issue immediately.
A lot of your 1v1 potential is within your Ultimate. You literally pull enemies into your own realm, which is a makeshift ring of sorts. In there, you’ll steal a part of the enemy’s stats, making them a lot weaker than they’d usually be. This weakened state gives you more chances of winning the battle and keeping the stats for a duration. Mordekaiser’s Ultimate is best utilized when isolating valuable targets such as ADCs or that pesky Mid lane AP Carry that got overfed.
2. Fiora
Fiora’s title is literally – The Grand Duelist – and that should tell you all you need to know about her. But it wouldn’t be a proper list if I left it there now, would it?
Fiora has it all, CC, heals, True Damage, etc. But she is not that easy to play. You’ll need to master Fiora’s speed and agility to utilize what she has to offer fully, and she offers a lot. Her entire kit revolves around 1v1 duels. Her Q is a dash with a massively reduced cooldown if you hit with it. Her E empowers her attacks and her W, oh, her W. It is a deflect, i.e., it returns the spell to its sender. If the spell is a disable, it will stun your opponent if cast properly.
Her passive and Ultimate are similar and grant Fiora extra damage if she deals damage from random angles that are indicated. If she hits all 4 indicators when her Ultimate is active, she’ll get an AOE heal that is quite substantial. She’s broken and very hard to counter with disablers because of her W, so you’ll be able to shred through brutes like Renekton and Darius without much effort.
1. Jax
In the lore, Fiora is the only one to stand up to Jax’s might. But the Grandmaster at Arms is still the better choice. At least in the current patch, that is.
Jax is the one Champion who has constantly remained strong and a good pick throughout his League history. There hasn’t been a single item or Champion meta that has had a detrimental effect on Jax’s ability to dominate. After the so-called “Korean Jax” was popularized where he was more of a tank Juggernaut than anything else, he just became even more prevalent in the game.
You’ll be able to torture your enemies in the lane with your low cooldowns, good escape and gap closer, and massive hybrid damage. Building items such as the Divine Sunderer or Trinity Edge will give you all the versatility you need for the early to late game. If you wish to follow the Korean path, go for tanky items such as Sterak’s Gage, a situational Armor/Magic Resist item, and Guardian’s Angel. But the most fun Jax builds revolve around BOTRK, Guinsoo’s, etc. Decide what path you want to go down, scan the situation before making abrupt decisions. Whatever you choose, though, your domination on the Top Lane is inevitable.
Conclusion
1v1s are fun. And they’ll quickly become some of your favorite fights in League of Legends if you opt for any of the Champions listed above. But keep in mind not to go for 1v1s and overextend too often. Team participation is key for winning the game, so go for it if you have a solid isolated target. Watch out for any prowling enemies nearby, as it is easy to get ganked by a group of opponents later in the game.
Let us know if you love to fight in 1v1 duels. What Champion do you use most often for this purpose, and is it included on this list? If not, don’t miss out on telling us why. We always love to hear whatever you think about our lists, articles, and guides.
