[Top 10] LOL Best Melee Champions That Wreck Hard

Updated:

24 Oct 2020

Fists, Swords, and Lamp Posts. Oh my!

It doesn't matter which weapon you hit your opponent with, so long as you have mastered that weapon. This is as true for a champion mastering their weapon as it is for you mastering the champion. If you want to get into the thick of a fight and be the last one standing, check out these absolute units.

10. Kha Zix, The Voidreaver

Kha’ Zix is a jungler assassin who loves to pick off lonely targets. Your abilities will evolve throughout the game, gaining new features that augment your capability to kill. With a solid understanding of the game, playing Kha’Zix will give you tools to defeat any enemy, in any game.

Strengths

Single Target Burst
Stealth (Allows you to get close to squishy targets without the frontline interfering)
Sustain
Mobility

Strategy

Focus on getting your first item or two, you won’t be one-shotting before then
Beware of using E to enter a fight before it’s evolved, it may be difficult to survive
Evolve Q for more reach and more damage
Evolve W for more poke, a stronger slow, or to reveal invisible units
Evolve E for multi-kills, or to escape after one kill
Evolve R for extended fights, where you will want to stealth more

9. Riven, The Exile

Riven is a hyper-mobile top laner that slices and dices with style. Using dashes, stuns, and knock-ups, Riven can dip in and out of battle until she is ready to execute them with her ultimate ability. No top laner has the same combination of mobility and crowd control, making Riven one of the best melee fighters there is.

Strengths

Mobility
Crowd Control (AoE)
Durability (Shields)
Execute Damage

Strategy

Use your cooldowns wisely in the early game, they are very long
Don’t just use her E as a dash unless you know you don’t need to block any damage
Take short trades, and leave yourself a way out. Repeat when you have your cooldowns again
When enemies are low enough, go in for the final kill with your ultimate
Flash is your best offensive tool. Combo it with W and Q3 to catch enemies by surprise

8. Xin Zhao, the Seneschal of Demacia

Xin Zhao fights his way onto this list as one of the most iconic melee champions in the game. In fact, Xin Zhao had to be entirely reworked, because at one point his kit was just unstoppable. Seriously, this guy could backdoor your base with no minions, tanking the towers by himself while healing off of them. Crazy, right? But let’s talk about what makes Xin so great today.

Strengths

Sustain
Crowd Control
Durability (Immune to long-range damage during ult)

Strategy

Xin Zhao is an early-game ganking machine. Gank as early as level 2
If you can close in on a target without using your dash, do so. Save your dash for when they flash
Try to spread out your crowd control as much as you can, this will continually slow the enemy’s escape
Be sure to hit your target before your ult, or it will knock them away
When you need to survive damage from enemies at a distance, ult to become immune

7. Aatrox, the Darkin Blade

Aatrox’s ultimate is called World Ender, and for good reason. This Darkin is hell-bent on destroying everything in his path, and it shows in game. With each ability, Aatrox threatens to destroy his opponent, and at the same time sustains his own health from the damage he deals.

Strengths

Crowd Control
Mobility
Sustain, Sustain, and more Sustain
Teamfighting God

Strategy

Aatrox isn’t the strongest early-game. Focus on farming and getting plenty of Cooldown Reduction so you can start using your abilities frequently
Related to the above, don’t use your abilities frivolously. If the opponent engages while you don’t have them, things won’t go well
Make good use of your passive. You reduce it’s cooldown by auto-attacking and hitting your W sweet-spots
Try to balance damage stats and tank stats. Your healing is more effective that way
Group whenever you can! Each kill resets your ultimate, and obviously your Q is insanely powerful in a skirmish or team fight

6. Irelia, the Blade Dancer

Of all the melee champions in the game, Irelia destroys her opponents with the most grace. Constantly dashing, many players struggle to keep up with a master of Irelia. Investing some time into this one will pay off, as Irelia is certainly the most difficult to master in this list.

Strengths

Sustained Damage
Mobility
Durability
Teamfight Power

Strategy

At level 1, you can out trade many opponents if you stack your passive by killing minions with Q
If you got a good trade level 1, go in for the kill at level 2
Be cautious, don’t fall behind early. You can scale into the mid and late game very will
If you are struggling to 1v1 your opponent, that’s ok! A good Irelia can carry a teamfight with her ultimate
Splitpushing is also an option. Leave some minions alive to continue refreshing your passive on

5. Rengar

Rengar is the hunter in the jungle. He excels best where he has brush that he can leap from, and when that isn’t the case, he can hunt down stragglers with his ultimate. Rengar has some of the highest burst damage in the game.

Strengths

Burst Damage
Durability
Crowd Control
Mobility
Backline Access

Strategy

Consider invading the enemy jungler if they aren’t very strong early. Rengar can do immense damage to something like a Karthus
Always move to brush when you can, this gives you a free gap closer to your priority target
Use Empowered Q for more damage
Use Empowered W to break cc and/or heal
Use Empowered E to root your target in place

4. Darius, the Hand of Noxus

Darius is potentially the most feared champion in the top lane. Using his axe to apply stacks of damage to his target, any player would be a fool to take an extended trade with him. Darius is the bane of all immobile melee champions, because once you are within his reach, he is not letting you walk away alive.

Strengths

High Sustained Damage
Burst Damage
Tank Shredder
Healing

Strategy

If facing another melee champion level 1, try to take an extended trade with them. Few can beat you when you stack your passive
Movement is key, make sure the outer edge of your Q is hitting champions so that it heals you and applies your passive
Your W is an auto-attack reset, use it directly after attacking to maximize your damage
Use your E to pull targets in and engage, or to keep targets from running away
Use your ultimate when it will execute the target, this will reset it and grant you a HUGE damage buff

3. Camille, the Steel Shadow

Camille is a high-scaling, hyper-mobile champion that specializes in single target lockdown. The true-damage scaling on her Q makes her one of the most feared late-game threats in League of Legends. Don’t be caught in a sidelane against her past 30 minutes, you won’t make it out.

Strengths

Mobility
Crowd Control
Single Target Lockdown
True Damage

Strategy

Your early game isn’t the best, but you can take short trades with your passive shield to come out on top
Be sure to wait a moment to recast your Q, this is how you proc the true damage
You can roam with your jungler to gank with your Hookshot. Use it to engage fights
Farm up! Your late game is key
In teamfights, make sure to use your ult on the highest threat enemy. This will allow your team to kill them with no chance of the enemy escaping your Hextech Ultimatum

2. Sett, the Boss

Sett’s lore is basically a story about how nobody will mess with him because he is an unstoppable beast when throwing his fists. It was tough not to put this guy in first place for this list, because Sett is undoubtedly the scariest champion in this game if you aren’t using weapons. Play Sett if you want to make the enemy question why they ever picked a fight with you.

Strengths

Durability
Crowd Control
True Damage
% Max Health Damage

Strategy

Use your Q to either gap-close, or to reset your auto-attack timer
Your W does more damage based on how much damage you have taken recently. Time this properly to burst your enemies for insane numbers
When you tackle somebody with your ult, plan your landing so it deals damage to others around you
Avoid fighting champions that can kite you too easily
Try to use your W shield multiple times in a fight to survive much longer

1. Jax, Grandmaster at Arms

Jax is THE melee champion. He is known for being such an amazing fighter, he doesn’t even use a real weapon. What does he use? A lamp post. That’s right - A lamp post. But don’t underestimate him; Jax’s kit allows him to go toe to toe with the best of the best, and walk away laughing.

Strengths

Durability
Stacking Attack Speed
Sustained Damage
Mobility
Auto-Attack Immunity

Strategy

If your opponent is auto-attack based, trade with them level 1 since your E will deny most of their damage
Try to continually attack minions prior to an all-in. This will stack your passive and give you insane amounts of attack speed
You can Q jump to wards, save them for escapes or chases over walls
Building Attack Damage will give you Armor during your ultimate. Building Ability Power will give you Magic Resistance. Build accordingly
Split pushing is the name of the game with Jax. Take their towers down and dare them to stop you. In the mid and late game, you should be able to take on 2+ enemies on your own. If you’re snowballing, you can take all 5.