Let's be honest, getting kills is fun. It's A LOT of fun. There are so many variables that can determine the outcome of any given match on the rift, but racking up kills early and often is one way to give you and your team a big advantage. We came up with a list of champions that can burst the enemy down within seconds. When these champions are played correctly you can do insane amounts of damage while giving your opponent very little time to react.
Zed
I still feel like Zed is broken, I don't even like playing as him because it feels unfair.
Kicking off the list is Zed, a champion who is almost always permabanned at low elos for his ability to snowball hard and take over the game. His damage output is just insane and his ability to take out carries with little room for them to respond makes playing against him incredibly frustrating. Riot recently nerfed his E damage but that won’t be enough to stop him from rampaging through the rift culling the weak. The new item Eclipse is absolutely absurd on Zed right now. Be sure to take advantage before Riot balances it out.
What makes Zed great for burst damage:
- When you cast Zed’s ultimate he drops a shadow. So if you W and then ult you will have two shadows plus real Zed. this will make the damage of his Q Razor Shurikens 525 + 225% bonus AD.
- A mark will pop up above a targets head when you’ve done enough damage for the second part of Zed’s Ultimate to proc and kill them.
- Most of the time Zed’s ultimate is overkill so don’t overstay and get killed when you could have returned to safety.
- While his ult is on cooldown his kill potential drops, but you can still do huge damage with your W-E-Q combo
Check out Zed’s insane burst damage:
Katarina
Would you rather see the person stab you or get stabbed in the back?
Katarina is a champion best known for her ultimate. The massive aoe damage, coming in the form of a storm of daggers, has huge pentakill potential if used at the right time. Katarina is able to burst down enemies if there isn’t any hard CC to stop her with high damage output if she can pick up/ catch her daggers. Her passive allows her to reset her cool downs and blink to safety once the damage has been done. She’s a great champion for against squishy comps or when your team has reliable cc like sejuani ult or amumu ult.
- What makes Katarina great for burst damage:
- Katarina’s Passive reduces her cooldowns by 15 seconds whenever you get a kill or assist, allowing for you to escape or get more kills/assists
- Cast your W right before your ultimate for an extra burst of damage that won’t interrupt
- Be aware of the enemy’s abilities so that you can get your ultimate off uninterrupted
- Picking up daggers reduces the cooldown on shunpo so don’t be afraid to go in with an E-W combo
Check out Katarina’s insane burst damage:
Talon
Is talon a ninja or just a guy in a cape?
The parkour menace himself. Talon is an AD caster assassin who specializes in early game burst damage and roaming. He's a threat to squishy opponents throughout the entire game. He can easily snowball out of control if left unchecked. His kit synergizes perfectly for single target elimination and Assasin’s path can help you escape sticky situations or ambush unsuspecting squishies.
What makes Talon great for burst damage:
- Keep the jungle warded so you can pinpoint the enemy jungler location or ambush unsuspecting targets
- If you use Talon’s Q Noxian Diplomacy just before Rake returns you can proc his passive with an auto resulting in big damage.
- Shadow Assault gives talon plenty of options during fights. You can use it to chase, burst targets, or escape from bad positioning.
Check out Talon’s insane burst damage:
Brand
After a millenia, Brand still has the worst skin care routine on the rift.
This list is dominated by assassins but Brand’s burst damage just cannot be ignored. Whether you play him mid or support, His EQW combined with his passive is absolutely devastating. Miss your Q and you’re a deadman because Brand is immobile and a bit squishy, but if you have proper positioning you’ll be able to kill most enemies before they can take you out.
What makes brand great for burst damage:
- You can use brand’s abilities in a variety of combinations to maximize damage in different situations
- Rylai’s and Liandry’s work incredibly well on Brand and you will be impacting the entire enemy team with your abilities.
- Magic penetration synergizes extremely well with Bran’s Blaze passive and you can can refresh and add more stacks of it by hitting targets with more abilities
- After three stacks of the passive, enemy champs and large monsters are marked with an area around them that explodes after 2 seconds ealing even more damage based on their max health and your AP
Check out Brand’s Insane Burst Damage:
Fizz
You shouldn't be punished for rage quittign against a fizz.
The champion of choice for making your opponents rage quit. How does hopping on a stick make you untargetable? I don’t know either but Fizz is a champion that allows you to pull off some nasty outplays thanks to his mobility and burst damage. At level 3 you can all in against your enemy and get a kill more often than not. Landing full range ultimates is satisfying but not exactly necessary to eliminate most enemies. Fizz can build a bit tankier or heavier on damage depending on the enemy team composition and how well you did in laning phase.
What makes Fizz great for burst damage:
- Fizz had enormous kill pressure at level 2 or 3. Being aggressive early can force your opponent to burn flash or land you a kill
- Use Q minions to avoid skillshots or gap close without using your E.
- Fizz can move through units thanks to his passive to so take advantage of this and Apply his W Seastone Trident as often as possible
- At level 6 Fizz can guarantee a kill on a squishy with Ignite, Chum the Waters, and the rest of his kit. Even if you are a bit behind
Check out Fizz’s crazy burst:
Khazix
Where's Sigrourney Weaver when you need her?
If this bug finds you alone you can forget about it. The extra damage from isolation is absolutely absurd even without being fed. After you hit 6 and evolve Q, its cooldown is reduced heavily against isolated targets and the damage cannot be ignored. Combine his q with his Unseen threat passive and the active from ravenous hydra and you’ll be able to kill enemies in less than a second. Kha’zix is able to empower his abilities each time he takes a point in his ultimate and this allows you to tailor your kit to different situations.
What makes Kha'zix great for burst damage
- Proc Kha’zix’s passive Unseen Threat as often as possible by using your ultimate to weave in and out of brush during fights and skirmishes.
- Running Electrocute will give you more damage to punish enemies with bad positioning.
- Kha'zix can snowball very quickly after only one or two kills so play aggressive.
Rengar
I would love to see Rengar get some company on the rift, a son? A girlfriend? <3
The predator to Kha'zix's alien, Rengar’s a champion that lives and dies by burst damage. Rush Tiamat and commence to destroy the enemy with your combos. Make sure you kill your opponent once you all in because he really has no way of escaping once he dives in. But with his massive damage output you should have no problem lining your bone tooth necklace.
What makes rengar great for burst damage:
- Rengar is able to leap from brushes at any time during fights allowing you to get onto priority targets
- Maxing Q will give you wave clear power and more burst while Maxing W will give you good AOE
- Using Rengar’s Ultimate Thrill of the hunt will allow you to passive over wards unseen
- Ravenous Hydra goes incredibly well with Rengar. Build it everytime
Check out Rengar’s insane Burst Damage:
Evelynn
Is Evelynn Twisted Fate's girlfriend?
Evelynn is scary. Very scary. I have seen many games end because Evenlynn decided to 1v5 the enemy team and completely destroy everyone. Her early game is very weak pre-6 but once she unlocks her passive and invisibility she becomes extremely deadly. Her ult gives you the potential to dive enemies under turret and ensure that they die and her ap damage is enough to shred the most tanky opponents.
What makes Evelynn great for burst damage:
- Eve’s ultimate Last Caress is a great option when you want to steal a dragon or baron or when enemies are trying to steal yours. Smite + ultimate combo will deal huge damage and allow you to escape easily.
- Trigger Allure with Hate Spike since it has more range instead of Whiplash
- Evelynn is very reliant on her level 6 power spike so focus more on farming until then. At level 6 she gets her invisibility.
- Her Ultimate will allow you to successfully dive the enemy under turret
Check out Evelynn’s insane burst damage:
Kassadin
Sub Zero Kassadin would be a dope skin!
You don’t lose games late with Kassadin, you only throw them. Kassadin is a mage hyper carry with the potential to scale extremely hard into late game. He’s very mobile and his ultimate can be used for offense or defense effectively. His early game can be challenging especially against ad matchups, but he shines mid game and can take over the game with his massive amount of damage and health. After getting a few stacks on this ultimate he begins to do big damage and netherblade turns into a nuke. As long as you can make it to mid game you should be able to carry from there.
What makes Kassadin great for burst damage:
- His W Nether blade becomes very strong when combined with lich bane and will restore massive amounts of mana
- Stacking Kassadin’s Ultimate Rift walk will allow you to flash oneshot carries and single handedly win team fights
- Extremely strong against AP carries, great pick when you want to counter mages
Check out Kassadin’s insane burst damage:
Annie
I don't care, Tibbers isn't a good name for a bear.
Annie is a relatively easy champion to play. Her Q helps you farm easily and her kit is straightforward. However, her burst potential is insane with her ultimate doing absolutely massive amounts of AOE damage and applying a stun if her passive is up. All it really takes is Luden’s Echo for Annie’s damage to start spiraling out of control.
What makes Annie great for burst damage:
- Her Ultimate is the ideal engagement tool, dealing big damage and possibly stunning multiple enemy champions
- Flash-Ultimate followed by Incinerate and Disintegrate deals huge damage with little warning for the enemy to respond
- Tibbers deals damage around enemies around him, like he has a sun cape. He will also gain movement speed and attack speed if Annie dies, usually avenging her
- Annie's E affects tibbers too giving him additional movement speed as well.
Check out annies insane burst damage:
