Top Lane – Kayle
The current version of Kayle that we are playing is not actually her strongest form after the rework. Initially after her rework, Kayle was a monster once she hit level 16, with her auto attacks dealing true damage and being able to crit. Later, she was adjusted to be a bit stronger in the mid-game and a bit weaker in the late game, but the essence of Kayle remains as a super carry in the late game.
If you play Kayle long enough, having low farm is not too big of a problem; what she fears most is falling behind in experience and not leveling up quickly. Therefore, it is extremely easy to bully this angelic character for about the first 25 minutes of the game, but once Kayle reaches level 16, the story will be completely different.
Jungle – Karthus
Karthus is one of the classic mages in League of Legends; however, due to the unbearable mid-lane meta, he had to go to the jungle to have the most peaceful farming phase possible. Karthus’s playstyle can be summed up in one sentence: “afk farm for 30 minutes, then press R to obliterate everything”. This shows that this champion relies heavily on items and levels, and to achieve that power, he has to wait until the late game.
Mid Lane – Kassadin
No matter how many nerfs he receives, Kassadin remains an unstoppable monster in the late game. Currently, the Void Walker has returned to the professional scene and is proving to be extremely effective in countering another carry, Azir. Kassadin’s overwhelming power compared to most other mid-lane champions is his incredible mobility with his ultimate ability.
A simple calculation shows that with 45% cooldown reduction at level 16, Kassadin’s ultimate has only a 1.1s cooldown; with the Wind Dragon buff, it will reduce even more. Just imagine a high-damage champion being able to teleport every second—how overpowered is that? Of course, to reach that power level, Kassadin needs a lot of items and levels, which is why he is always an unstoppable force in the late game.
ADC – Vayne
Although she doesn’t have the teleportation ability like Kassadin, Vayne is still one of the most mobile champions among ADCs. The truth is that in the current ADC position, the damage output of most champions in the late game is quite similar; what matters is whether you can maintain your position and kite the enemy constantly. Vayne excels at this with her Q – Tumble having a short cooldown, not to mention becoming invisible when activating her ultimate.
The most difficult thing about progressing Vayne’s power in the late game, and for most ADCs in general, is that you often fall behind in levels compared to other players because you are duo-laning. However, by the late game, when everyone is full items and max level, positioning becomes crucial, and Vayne is the strongest name that can help players maneuver easily in this very important moment.
Support – Sona
Most Support champions have a disadvantage in the late game due to limited items since they cannot farm and are restricted in levels, so they need to be strong in the early game to survive. However, Sona is different; this champion interacts very strongly with items and levels, and the more points in her ultimate, the faster her skill cooldowns become.
This somewhat unusual design by Riot Games led to a period where Sona was played as an ADC, being given resources and paired with another support for better scaling into the late game. Of course, in the traditional support position, this is hard to achieve, but at level 11, there are very few Support champions that can continuously buff both damage, health, and movement speed like Sona.