Recently, Riot Mortdog – the lead engineer of the Teamfight Tactics project decided to create a tier ranking for the 5-cost champions that have appeared throughout all TFT seasons to date. However, despite being the creator of this project, Mortdog’s ranking has not received 100% approval from the player community. The criteria for this ranking are based on champion power, meta relevance, and their impact on the game.
Accordingly, the two names ranked in tier S are Sett and Azir from seasons 4 and 4.5. This is reasonable as both Sett and Azir are considered extremely important champions. While Sett has the ability to ‘wipe the board’ with just one blow, Azir is a champion capable of both defense and dealing significant damage. If luck is high and these two names are upgraded to 3 stars, along with the right items (Azir should additionally trigger the Sorcerer trait), they can completely annihilate the opponent’s team with just one ability cast.
The tier A ranking is also relatively reasonable with names like Gangplank, Ekko (season 3), Gwen (season 5.5), and Ornn (season 4.5) being extremely strong. While the first three names lean towards damage, Ornn has the ability to upgrade items for the entire team. As for Lux, she is the first and only 7-cost champion so far, and given her performance, it’s no surprise that she is also ranked in tier A. If Lux’s skillset were more flexible, she could even be ranked in tier S. The remaining names include Zed and Singed (season 2), Kayn and Aurelion Sol (season 3).
Notably, in tier B, Mortdog placed many champions considered to be extremely strong into this group. Among them are Lee Sin (seasons 4 and 4.5), Miss Fortune and Thresh (season 3), Akshan, Kindred, and Teemo (season 5 and 5.5). Most notably, this group also includes Karthus from season 1. According to the TFT player community, placing Karthus in this position is unreasonable as he is considered an easy champion to use, with an incredibly powerful skillset (if not on par with Sett or Azir). The evidence is clear, as so far, in the past 4 or 5 seasons of TFT, Riot has not indicated any plans to bring Karthus back.
Tier C is generally not surprising with 5-cost champions that are rarely favored or only fit certain metas like Volibear and Viego (season 5 and 5.5), Garen (season 5), Lulu (season 3), Lillia and Zilean (season 4).
However, equally surprising is the case of Kayle, the highly favored champion who is near the bottom in tier D. Although it cannot be denied that her skillset is very difficult to use and not suitable for every meta, plus she requires the right items, many were shocked to see Kayle ranked so low when her “Divine Sword” ability can wipe out an entire team with one cast. Another 5-cost champion making it into tier D is Darius, who is deemed too “weak” in the Riven team composition.
The lowest-rated names are Anivia and Miss Fortune (season 1). This is quite understandable as even at the time of their appearance, these two champions were considered much weaker than their 5-cost counterparts and did not stand out within the same trait. Aside from their use for triggering traits, not many players are keen on using these two names anymore.
Overall, Mortdog’s ranking is based on his personal assessment and the creations he has made. Of course, in a game with many variables like TFT, players finding ways to enhance the effectiveness of champions will make them stronger than others. And all rankings should only be used as a reference, while players themselves must be flexible according to the circumstances of each specific match.