[Top 10] LOL Best Hard-Carry Champions

Updated:

29 Nov 2023

There are five roles in League of Legends: Top, Jungle, Mid, Bot, and Support. All of them have one thing in common, which is the potential to hard carry games. Hard-carry champions, regardless of the role they fill, are important for winning games. They can dictate the outcome of the match by making big plays for the team. This does not necessarily mean going into a 1v5 and coming out victorious. Sometimes, they help all their other teammates do well. In this article, we will look at the top 10 best hard-carry champions for you to prevail in your games.

10. Blitzcrank

Blitzcrank, the Great Steam Golem

How to carry EVERY game as Blitzcrank Support (90+ KILL GAME)

Starting off the list, we have Blitzcrank. As a support, he is not the one killing the entire enemy team. Instead, he puts immense pressure on the opponents. He can punish them for any slight missteps taken. No other support instils as much fear into the opposing team as he does.

Unfortunately, since he is not the one who has killing power, he might not be so effective if his team does not follow up. Nevertheless, he has been one of the best supports to pick, since he has the potential to single-handedly dictate the flow of Bot lane.

Why Blitzcrank is Good for Hard Carrying:

His lane pressure: Rocket Grab, Blitzcrank’s Q ability, allows him to pull an enemy towards him. He is able to create a lot of space in lane because of the threat of this ability. Enemies are forced to consciously position well against him. He can zone them off minions, denying gold and XP.
His roam potential: Thanks to Rocket Grab, Blitzcrank is able to pull off deadly roams, especially when working with the jungler. He can pull the enemy laner towards him, forcing a 3v1.
His pick potential: Squishy enemy carries are forced to play extremely carefully when moving around the map. Blitzcrank could be waiting in the fog of war to hook them into his team. Even in team fights, they have to position properly at all times as a single mistake could cost them their lives.

Pick Blitzcrank if:

The enemy has squishy carries: Although Blitzcrank has insane pick potential, it may not be useful if the enemy team is full of bruisers. If he hooks them into his team, he might inadvertently cause his allies to die.
You like to make plays as a support: People often see supports as champions without any play-making ability. However, Blitzcrank can end a fight before it even starts. He just needs to hook the enemy carry and the opposing team will be forced to back off because of the number disadvantage.
Your laner has enough damage: When Blitzcrank hooks an enemy, the goal is to kill them quickly. If your laner is weak in the early game, you might not have enough damage to kill the target. The enemy laners could even turn it around and kill you.

9. Nilah

Nilah, the Joy Unbound

How This Nilah DESTROYS Korean Pro Players

In 9th place, we have Nilah. She is a really underrated champion. This is because even though she is a marksman, she does not have a traditional marksman playstyle. Most of them prefer to stay in the back and auto attack safely. However, she has a shorter attack range, requiring her to get up close to the enemies in a fight.

Due to her unusual playstyle, her pick rate is not very high. Most people may not be used to going in as a marksman. Nevertheless, she has strong hard-carry potential as she is amazing in team fights.

Why Nilah is Good for Hard Carrying:

Her W ability: Jubilant Veil gives Nilah movement speed and causes her to take less incoming magic damage. She also dodges all auto attacks. Since she will be in close proximity with enemies, having a defensive ability is essential for hard carrying. She will be able to survive longer to deal more damage.
Her R ability: When Nilah casts Apotheosis, she deals damage to nearby enemies and pulls them towards her. This ability makes her excellent in team fights as she can displace the enemy team. Her team can easily follow up with even more crowd control (CC) abilities.
Her healing: Her Q ability, Formless Blade, and Apotheosis heal her for a portion of the post-mitigation damage she deals to enemies. Having this innate healing is great for her in fights, as she is able to heal up the damage she takes. She can continue playing aggressively, even in long fights.

Pick Nilah if:

You are confident in making plays: Nilah is able to initiate fights, requiring the player to be sure of their decisions. If you prefer following your team, she may not be the best pick for you.
You want some CC: Nilah is one of the few marksmen with hard CC, which comes in the form of her ultimate ability. When used in tandem with her teammates’ CC, the enemy team will be unable to do anything.
You want some mobility: Nilah’s E ability, Slipstream, lets her dash to a target, dealing damage to enemies that she passes through. She has two charges, allowing her to dash twice at once. Having mobility is always a good thing since she can chase enemies or escape, depending on the situation.

8. Syndra

Syndra, the Dark Sovereign

Syndra but we're SMURFING in Masters...

Syndra comes in at 8th place. She is a long-ranged AP champion. Her passive, Transcendence, allows her to collect Splinters of Wrath. As she collects splinters, her abilities will become stronger. At 120 splinters, her ability power increases by 15%. This makes her more and more powerful as the game progresses.

Patch 13.22 introduced some attack speed changes for multiple champions. For Syndra, her attack speed is getting increased. This helps her auto attack faster, making sure that she does not miss minions. This is important as killing large minions will give her stacks. She does not want to miss out on any splinters as she wants to reach 120 splinters as soon as possible.

Why Syndra is Good for Hard Carrying:

Her E ability: Scatter the Weak knocks enemies back while dealing damage. If she pushes her Q ability, Dark Sphere, into them, they will also get stunned. At 80 splinters, the ability becomes wider and slows targets. This is incredibly useful against assassins. As soon as they get on top of Syndra, she can push them away. This makes it hard for them to kill her.
Her R ability: Unleashed Power collects up to 7 Dark Spheres and shoots them at the target, dealing more damage for each sphere shot. At 100 splinters, it executes the enemy if they are below 15% maximum health. This gives Syndra a lot of burst power, deleting squishier enemy champions.
Her scaling: Thanks to her passive, Syndra only gets scarier as the game goes on. She will be able to one-shot targets before they can even have the chance to react.

Pick Syndra if:

You want a safe laning phase: Syndra’s abilities have a long range, allowing her to stay far away while farming. Her W ability, Force of Will, even lets her pick up minions. She can throw them down to deal damage and slow enemies hit.
The enemy has few assassins: Although Syndra’s Scatter the Weak can knock enemies back, it has a long cooldown. She can defend herself against one assassin, but if there are too many of them, she will still be very vulnerable.
Your team already has a tank: Syndra, like most mages, needs a front line to make space for them. This enables her to fire abilities safely. If your team does not have a tank, it will force you to play much more cautiously.

7. Orianna

Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork

Fun Orianna Gameplay

Next, we have Orianna in 7th place. She is known for pulling off crazy combos with her ultimate, Command: Shockwave, which stuns and displaces enemies. She does incredibly well in team fights, dealing a ton of magic damage. Her innate passive, Clockwork Windup, lets her be accompanied by The Ball. She is able to move it freely around her, giving her vision. This lets her check bushes without having to enter them.

Patch 13.22’s attack speed changes also apply to Orianna. Her auto attack missile speed is increasing. This means that her auto attacks will travel faster. This could also help her with killing minions. She would miss less minions, making sure that she gets as much gold as possible to reach her late-game strength.

Why Orianna is Good for Hard Carrying:

Her wave clear: Her Q ability, Command: Attack, and W ability, Command: Dissonance, allow her to push waves quickly. The enemy laner will be pressured to catch waves while she is free to roam and impact other lanes.
She does well against most match-ups: Since Orianna has shorter range, long-ranged champions, like Lux, can do well against her. However, even if she goes even with them, she will not be useless. She scales extremely well and can still burst enemies down.
Her team-fighting capabilities: As mentioned, Command: Shockwave is one of the best team fighting abilities. Not only does it provide utility, it also deals a high amount of damage. A well-timed ultimate from her can easily turn the fight around.

Pick Orianna if:

Your team has engage: Orianna’s E ability, Command: Protect, lets her place her ball on an ally, granting them a shield. If she places it on a champion that can dive into the enemy team, she will have a good set-up for Command: Shockwave.
Your team lacks magic damage: Since Orianna does magic damage, she can fill that gap for your team. It is important to make sure that your team does not consist of only one type of damage. This will make it easy for the enemy team to itemise against you.
You want a safe laning phase: Orianna can farm safely using Command: Attack, which causes her ball to fly to a target location, dealing magic damage to enemies hit. She can avoid dying a lot in the early game, allowing her to scale without much trouble.

6. Ornn

Ornn, the Fire Below the Mountain

NEW ORNN BUILDPATH MAKES RENEKTON LOOK BALANCED

At 6th place, we have Ornn. All champions can only purchase items when they go back to their base. However, Ornn is unique. His passive, Living Forge, lets him buy items anywhere on the map. He will craft the item for four seconds before acquiring it. Enemies can interrupt this so he has to keep that in mind.

Patch 13.20 introduced some snowballing adjustments. This has caused games to last longer. Ornn greatly benefits from this. Another part of his passive allows him to increase the resistances and health he gets from all sources. This means that the more items he gets, the tankier he will be compared to other champions.

Why Ornn is Good for Hard Carrying:

He can make all his teammates stronger: For each level after 13, Ornn is able to upgrade one of his teammates’ items. All members of the team will have stronger items, giving them an advantage over the enemy.
His tankiness: As mentioned, Ornn gains bonus resistances and health from all sources. This allows him to soak up a lot of damage and the enemy carries will struggle to kill him. They are forced to use their abilities on him while they are vulnerable to his carries’ attacks.
His R ability: Call of the Forge God summons a fire spirit that moves towards Ornn, dealing damage and slowing enemies. He can recast the ability to dash at the spirit, sending it back in the same direction, knocking up and stunning enemies hit. This can heavily displace the opponents. They must position far from one another to prevent the whole team from getting hit.

Pick Ornn if:

Your team lacks a front line: If your team does not have a tank, Ornn is a good pick to consider. He can tank massive amounts of damage and take up space in a fight. His team will be able to deal damage while standing safely behind him.
You want to initiate fights: Call of the Forge God is great at starting fights because it has the potential to catch enemies that are out of position. Your team can easily follow up once the target gets CC’d.
The enemy team lacks champions that can shred tanks: If the enemy can deal true damage, Ornn’s resistances will be useless. That damage will ignore the resistances and he will have a hard time. If the team already has a tank, picking someone else might be a good idea.

5. Jarvan IV

Jarvan IV, the Exemplar of Demacia

S13 Jarvan JUNGLE Gameplay Guide

Jarvan IV comes in 5th place. He is an AD champion that is commonly played in the jungle. He ganks a lot, making him annoying for the enemy team to play against. The laners must constantly have vision on common pathing routes. Otherwise, they will always fear dying to one of his ganks.

Other than his continuous ganking, Jarvan IV also gives players early-game agency through objectives. He can apply a lot of pressure on them. The enemy team has to ensure that they keep an eye on him to prevent losing objectives.

Why Jarvan IV is Good for Hard Carrying:

His ability to support his team: By ganking a lot and taking objectives, Jarvan IV helps his team out greatly. This is unlike some junglers who farm a lot in the early game. By giving much aid to his allies, he helps all of them get ahead of the opponents.
His Q + E combo: Jarvan IV’s E ability, Demacian Standard, places a flag on the ground. He can use his Q ability, Dragon Strike, to dash to the flag. He will knock up enemies that he passes through. This allows him to be fairly mobile. He can escape or engage as he pleases.
His R ability: Upon cast, Cataclysm causes Jarvan IV to jump onto a target, dealing damage and creating a ring around them. Champions are unable to go in or out of the ring. Jarvan IV is unstoppable during the jump, making it impossible for enemies to deny him when he engages.

Pick Jarvan IV if:

The enemy team lacks mobility: Champions that have dashes can easily escape Cataclysm. Jarvan IV will have to lock them down again, making it harder for him to engage freely.
You want to initiate fights: Jarvan IV can follow up his Q + E combo with Cataclysm. This allows him to cover a lot of distance between him and the enemy. He makes it easy for his team to deal damage since the enemies will be trapped in the ring.
You like action: Jarvan IV is able to fight as early as level two. This is because of his Q + E combo, which lets him invade the enemy jungler. He can steal their camps or even fight them, potentially getting an early kill. He is very strong in skirmishes so even if laners come, your team is likely to come out on top.

4. Briar

Briar, the Restrained Hunger

Challenger Teaching You Briar Jungle For Dummies

The newest champion right now, Briar, is 4th place. She is also a jungler. When she was first released, her win rate was extremely low. However, as people learned more about her and discovered new builds, she became really powerful. She can either go for a bruiser build or a lethality build.

Even though Briar got nerfed in Patch 13.19, Patch 13.21, and Patch 13.22, she is still an amazing pick for the jungle. Her win rate also continues to remain high. You should play her before she gets nerfed even further!

Why Briar is Good for Hard Carrying:

Her duelling strength: She is able to clear jungle camps while remaining quite healthy, letting her fight safely. She can also hold her own in a 1v1 against most junglers. This lets her invade the enemy’s jungle if she wants to.
Her R ability: Certain Death is a global ultimate. Briar is able to dash to the target hit by it, dealing damage and fearing nearby enemies. This allows her to help her teammates regardless of where she is on the map. She can also look to catch enemies when they are isolated, making her an incredible assassin.
Her power when ahead: Once you are ahead of the enemy as Briar, it is very difficult for opponents to stop you. Her attacks have a lot of innate healing because she does not have any base health regeneration. This makes it hard for the enemy to do enough damage, especially when you are ahead, to shut you down.

Pick Briar if:

The enemy team has many squishy champions: Since Briar is an assassin, she excels at deleting squishy champions. The enemy carries will die before they can even deal any damage to her.
You know when to go in: Briar does not have as much health as other melee champions. If you go in recklessly, there is a chance that you get bursted down before doing anything.
The enemy team lacks CC: Briar does not have many tools for her to disengage from a fight. If she gets CC’d, she will be extremely vulnerable. She will probably be unable to escape, dying quickly.

3. Naafiri

Naafiri, the Hound of a Hundred Bites

G2 Caps Plays Naafiri Mid vs Jayce! Season 2023

Coming in 3rd place is Naafiri. She is one of the new champions that came out this year. She is an AD melee champion who is commonly played in Mid lane. She is a really strong AD assassin right now, being able to catch enemies out and burst them quickly.

As long as Naafiri is able to get even a minor lead, she will be able to snowball. This is in spite of the snowballing adjustments made in Patch 13.20, a testament to her strength. Enemies will have a really difficult time playing against a fed Naafiri.

Why Naafiri is Good for Hard Carrying:

Her mobility: She has two dashes and a movement speed buff in her kit, allowing her to catch enemies easily. This is especially important for her as an assassin, since she needs to get on top of the enemies to deal damage. She can chase enemies even if they are mobile, preventing her from getting kited.
Her burst potential: As mentioned, Naafiri is currently the best AD assassin. When her abilities are used together, no other assassin can really compete with her damage output. Enemies do not even have time to react once they have been spotted by her.
Her vision: Vision is imperative in the game. Naafiri’s W ability, Hounds’ Pursuit, and ultimate ability, The Call of the Pack, allow her to reveal enemies. Her ultimate reveals them even if they are in the fog of war. She will have knowledge on the enemies’ positions, letting her decide if it is safe for her to engage or not.

Pick Naafiri if:

You like to roam: Naafiri is extremely good at roaming and impacting the other lanes due to her mobility. Once you shove the wave into the enemy turret, you can look for opportunities to grab easy kills in the other lanes.
The enemy team has many squishy champions: As an assassin, Naafiri thrives when against squishy opponents. She can one-shot them with ease, as opposed to tanks, whom she will have a harder time dealing with.
The enemy team lacks CC: Naafiri will be very vulnerable when CC’d. Although the packmates that surround her can block skillshots, she will still get hit by point-and-click CC. It would be hard for her to escape, especially if the entire enemy team focuses on her when she is CC'd.

2. Camille

Camille, the Steel Shadow

Everything YOU Need To Climb To Master With Camille!

Camille comes in 2nd place. She is very versatile because of her passive, Adaptive Defences. Her next auto attack will give her a shield against magic or physical damage, depending on the type of damage the target deals. This helps her win the trades she takes because she is sure to block some of the damage taken.

Even though Camille, like other champions, has poor match-ups, her scaling is too good. As long as she does not die too much in the early game, once she completes some items, she will win most of the 1v1s she has in the late game.

Why Camille is Good for Hard Carrying:

Her duelling strength: She is able to win most 1v1s throughout the game as long as she plays her cards well. As she gets more items, she can even take on two or more opponents at once.
Her mobility: Camille’s E ability, Hookshot, allows her to dash to terrain. Once she reaches it, she can recast the ability to dash again. This makes her hard to catch. She can also chase opponents efficiently.
Her split pushing ability: Camille is an excellent split pusher. She deals a lot of damage to champions and turrets alike. When she is in a side lane, the enemy team is distracted and forced to deal with her. They often require more than one person to deal with her since she is so strong in a 1v1.

Pick Camille if:

You are confident in fights: While underestimating enemies is a bad thing, overestimating them will lead to many missed opportunities. As Camille, you should recognise when you are able to win the 1v1 (or 1v2) so you do not lose out on potential leads.
Your team already has a tank: It may not be in your best interest to pick Camille if you do not have a tank. It is optimal for her to have a front line to take damage for her. She will be able to engage using off-angles, making her more effective.
The enemy laner is not a lane bully: Although Camille can come out ahead as the game goes on, it will still be difficult for her to deal with lane bullies. She is relatively weaker in the early game so they will have lane control over her.

1. Vayne

Vayne, the Night Hunter

Rank 1 Vayne : DESTROYING Korean High Elo!

In 1st place, we have Vayne. She is a marksman who is known for her 1v5 potential. She can do very well in long fights. Additionally, there is a new build which allows her to burst enemies. This gives her flexibility when itemising against different enemy team compositions.

The snowballing adjustments in Patch 13.20 are also beneficial to Vayne. Snowballing is harder, which means that games last longer. Since she needs the game to drag out for her damage to ramp up, these adjustments will help her to reach her full potential.

Why Vayne is Good for Hard Carrying:

Her Q ability: Tumble causes Vayne to dash in a target direction, empowering her next auto attack within three seconds to deal bonus damage. This is her signature kiting ability since it has a short cooldown. She is able to be very mobile, dodging many skill shots.
Her E ability: Condemn deals damage and pushes the target back. If the target hits terrain, they are stunned. This lets Vayne peel for herself since she can keep her distance from potential threats.
Her R ability: Final Hour gives Vayne bonus damage and reduces Tumble’s cooldown. She also gains invisibility when casting Tumble. This makes her extra slippery as she becomes even more mobile. The invisibility can also misdirect opponents.

Pick Vayne if:

The enemy team has many tanks: Vayne’s W ability, Silver Bolts, causes her auto attacks to apply stacks. Every third auto attack will remove the stacks, dealing true damage. This makes her really effective against champions with a lot of resistances.
The enemy team lacks point-and-click CC: Although Vayne is able to dodge skillshots, she cannot dodge point-and-click CC. Abilities like Twisted Fate’s W will reach her even if she goes invisible, making it dangerous for her to go against them.
The enemy laner is not a lane bully: Vayne will struggle against aggressive lanes since she is weak in the early game. They can zone her away from the valuable gold and XP that she needs to scale. She will be forced to play very safely to prevent herself from dying.