Kha’Zix: The Solo-Queue Assassin Who Feasts on Panic

Kha’Zix remains the best jungle carry for ranked climb this week because of his unmatched isolation damage and resets in skirmishes. With the current patch favoring early dragon fights, his evolved Q allows him to delete carries in under a second, turning 2v2 river brawls into immediate 3v1s. The key to climbing with Kha’Zix is not just farming—it’s pathing toward the enemy jungler’s weak side before first scuttle spawn. In solo queue, most players fail to track enemy jungle positions, and Kha’Zix punishes that lack of map awareness harder than any other champion. Build Duskblade into Serylda’s Grudge for maximum burst and kiting, then take Ingenious Hunter to get your trinket and item actives up more often. This week’s win rate spike comes from the buff to his R evolution cooldown at rank 3, letting him enter and exit fights twice in one engagement. If you are below Diamond, focus on invading after level 3—enemy laners rarely collapse in time, and even if they do, Kha’Zix’s leap resets make him almost unpunishable. Forcing the enemy bot lane out of lane at level 6 with a four-man dive is the fastest way to break open a game. Avoid blind picking him into heavy tank comps, but with the top meta full of squishy bruisers, he is a near-free win.

Orianna: The Control Mage That Wins Every Teamfight

Orianna has climbed to S-tier this week because her ball provides both safety and engage in a meta where vision control and flanking are everything. Unlike many midlaners who rely on snowballing, Orianna can go even in lane and still outvalue her opponent at the twenty-minute mark. Her Shockwave can turn a losing game into a double-kill for your ADC—something solo queue desperately needs. This patch’s changes to ability haste items benefit her build path, especially with Luden’s Companion into Cosmic Drive giving permanent movespeed and lower cooldowns on Command: Dissonance. In ranked, the best way to use Orianna is to place your ball in the enemy jungle entrances before dragon or Baron fights. Most players in platinum and below walk face-first into a ready ball, giving you free picks without needing Flash. Your laning phase should focus on not dying to ganks while poking with Q-W combos; her shield also nullifies most poke supports in mid. If you’re climbing with a duo, ask your support to play engage—Orianna’s ball on Leona or Rell makes every initiated fight a 5v4 advantage. Even as a solo player, her defensive ultimate can shut down champions like Katarina or Yone. The current meta rewards players who understand teamfight positioning, and Orianna is the single best teacher of that skill. Her 52.1% win rate at all ranks makes her a safe first pick that rarely gets counterpicked hard, since she can adapt with zhonya’s or banshee’s.

Leona: The Engage Support That Forces Objective Fights

Leona is the strongest support for climbing this week because she removes hesitation from your team. In solo queue, the biggest reason games are lost is passive play around neutral objectives—Leona solves that by pressing R and walking into the enemy team, forcing a reaction. With Doran’s Shield start and aftershock, she can dive turrets at level 3 if your ADC follows, creating massive gold leads that snowball bot lane. Her point-and-click Q provide reliable lockdown for hypermobile champions like Zeri or Ezreal, who dominate this patch’s bot pool. The trick to climbing with Leona is wave management: you want to crash the third wave into enemy turret, then immediately walk to dragon pit. That timing ensures your mid laner has respawned and the enemy jungle is still clearing top side. Even if the play fails, Leona’s ultimate is a 60-second cooldown—meaning you can re-engage 30 seconds later while the enemy just burned Summoner Spells. Build Locket into Knight’s Vow for teamfight durability; avoid greedy AP builds in ranked. Her win rate jumps to 54% when paired with a hypercarry like Jinx or Aphelios, both of whom protect poorly early but scale hard once Leona locks down one target. If your ADC is passive, roam mid with your jungler after level 4—Leona is still one of the best gankers in the game because her E range is deceptively long. The mental pressure you apply as Leona often causes enemy supports to misposition, giving free kills before first dragon. In a meta full of enchanters, her all-in engages are simply unstoppable.

Gwen: The Scaling Top Laner Who Splits and Army-Breaks

Gwen is this week’s secret top lane pick for climbing because her late-game power offsets poor laning phases, and she outduels every common top laner from level 6 onward. The recent buff to her Hallowed Mist cooldown makes her nearly untouchable in short trades, allowing her to survive against Darius or Renekton without falling behind in CS. Once she completes Nashor’s Tooth and Rabadon’s, her Q can shred tanks and squishies alike—combined with her W, she can win 1v2 dives under enemy turret. In ranked, the best strategy with Gwen is split-pushing in the side lane while keeping teleport for dragon fights. Her E cooldown resets on every auto attack, letting her melt towers in under four seconds with Lich Bane. If the enemy team sends three to stop her, your teammates should be able to take Baron or an uncontested dragon. The hardest part is not dying before level 6—play conservatively, use your W to dodge key skill shots, and wait for ganks. After two items, you should never lose a 1v1; only champions with point-and-click CC like Rammus can stop your split push. In teamfights, time your ult after the enemy’s main engage to slow the backline, then dive their carry with Zhonya’s as your W covers the entire fight. Gwen’s 53.4% win rate in Emerald+ is a direct counter to the current Bruiser-Mage hybrid meta. She is the best investment for players who trust their mechanics and want a true 1v9 carry that doesn’t rely on random teammates to work.

This week’s ranked ladder rewards proactive play and scaling insurance—pick a hero that fits your style, master their objective timings, and watch your LP rise.