Even though League of Legends is a team-based game, we’ve all had times where we cannot count on our teammates. In those cases, split pushers will help you have more agency in the game. They often work alone to try and push a side lane, or to distract the enemy team away from your allies. They do not necessarily push all the way to the enemy’s base. Sometimes, they are just crashing the wave before helping their team. In this article, we will explore the best split pushers for you to take the game into your own hands.
10. Tristana
Tristana, the Yordle Gunner
Tristana Beginners Guide Season 13
Starting the list at 10th place is Tristana. She used to be played in Bot lane. However, she is better in Mid lane now. She is a good AD carry as she has both burst and sustained damage. She can also farm safely while being aggressive in lane.
Unfortunately, Patch 13.20 introduced some snowballing adjustments that negatively affected Tristana. Her effectiveness is reduced since she does not create as big of a lead as before with her early game pressure.
Why Tristana is Good for Split Pushing:
- Her Q ability: Rapid Fire increases her attack speed briefly, allowing her to destroy turrets quickly.
- Her E ability: Explosive Charge can be used on turrets. It will explode after a short duration, dealing extra damage. Tristana’s attacks will cause the bomb to deal even more damage on explosion, enhancing her pushing prowess.
- Her ability to escape: When the enemy team comes to deal with Tristana, she can easily get away with her W ability, Rocket Jump, and her ultimate ability, Buster Shot. She can escape by jumping away and knocking enemies back. This is important since split pushers do not usually have their team to support them directly.
Pick Tristana if:
- The enemy laner has a weak early game: Tristana can be a lane bully in the early game, making her good against champions like Kassadin.
- Your team has another strong marksman: Make sure that your team has consistent AD damage in team fights before you split push as Tristana. Otherwise, your team might lose pressure on the map and you will not be able to push freely.
- Your team has sufficient crowd control (CC): Tristana lacks any hard CC of her own. It is best for your team to have some CC to shut down any fed opponents before they can deal damage. This will enable you to make plays safely.
9. Sion
Sion, the Undead Juggernaut
MY NEW SION BROKEN BUILD!
Next, we have Sion. He is notorious for his passive, Glory in Death. After dying, he revives and is able to attack until his health fully decays. During that time, he has increased attack speed and his attacks heal him, dealing more damage based on the enemy’s maximum health.
Sion’s playstyle could involve dying a lot and this might not be everyone’s cup of tea. You will need to have a good understanding of when to die. Otherwise, you might just end up feeding.
Why Sion is Good for Split Pushing:
- His passive ability: As mentioned, after dying, Sion is still able to attack enemies and turrets. He does not need to worry about the enemy team since he can keep fighting after death. He can even kill one or two opponents because of his increased damage output. This buys more time for your team to take objectives on the other side of the map.
- His ultimate ability: In the late game, dying is usually a bad thing because of the long respawn timers, even for Sion. Unstoppable Onslaught allows him to charge away quickly in order to escape dangerous situations.
- His mix of tankiness and damage: Even when building tank items, Sion does considerable amounts of damage. He is thus able to take on multiple enemies at once. This is great for split pushers because enemy teams could send more than one person to deal with them.
Pick Sion if:
- Your team lacks a front line: Even if you are split pushing, you should always consider your team composition. If your team has no tank, Sion could be a good option to soak up damage when needed.
- You like to engage in team fights: After crashing a wave, the enemy has to deal with the minions that have been pushed in. During this time, Sion is perfect for forcing a 4v5. Charge in with your ultimate and watch the enemy team fall!
- The enemy team cannot deal with tanks: If the enemy team lacks damage based on maximum health, it will have a hard time dealing with Sion.
8. Tryndamere
Tryndamere, the Barbarian King
S13 Tryndamere TOP Gameplay Guide
Everyone fears Tryndamere for his ultimate ability, Undying Rage, where he becomes unkillable and gains fury stacks. There is nothing the enemy can do but run away or try to hang on until the timer runs out. Even though it only lasts for 5 seconds, it can feel like an eternity.
Although he sounds scary, the popularity of tankier champions in the Top lane right now makes Tryndamere less potent. He is reliant on his ultimate as he deals more damage when low on health. However, he has a hard time killing tanks before the 5 seconds are up.
Why Tryndamere is Good for Split Pushing:
- His ultimate ability: As mentioned before, Tryndamere can become unkillable, making him a formidable duelist. He can single-handedly turn fights around when the enemy team comes to deal with him.
- His E ability: Spinning Slash allows him to dash to a location, dealing damage to enemies hit and generating fury stacks. He can also reduce its cooldown when landing critical strikes. This allows him to split push safely, annoying the enemies as he escapes swiftly whenever they arrive.
- His Q ability: Bloodlust allows Tryndamere to convert his fury stacks to health. This sustain allows him to split push safely even after a fight, since he will not be pressured to go back to base and heal up.
Pick Tryndamere if:
- The enemy team lacks a good frontline: Tryndamere excels in bursting squishy champions due to his high critical strike chance. Tanks, however, pose a challenge to him.
- The enemy team lacks hard CC: When Tryndamere uses his ultimate ability, he only has a 5-second window to fight or escape. Teams that can CC him during that time are a huge counter to him.
- Your team already has a tank: If your team requires some front line, Tryndamere might not be a good pick. Having a tank will allow you to take riskier duels by yourself without worrying about your team.
7. Gwen
Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress
Gwen OTP has had enough and becomes a filthy splitpusher
Gwen, a relatively newer champion, comes in at 7th place. She is a melee AP champion who is also one of the few champions that deal true damage. She is also fairly easy to pick up so newer players do not need to spend so much time learning how to play her.
Gwen has good scaling, allowing her to do well in the mid and late game. However, even though she is a melee champion, she is relatively squishy. You need to be careful when playing her or you will die quickly.
Why Gwen is Good for Split Pushing:
- Her E ability: Skip ‘N Slash allows Gwen to dash to a location, gaining more damage, attack speed, and range. This lets her cut down turrets with ease. She can also reduce its cooldown by auto attacking within 4 seconds, enabling her to be highly mobile.
- Her W ability: Hallowed Mist grants her extra resistances and makes her untargetable to enemies outside of it. This makes her an excellent duelist as she becomes deceptively durable. She also forces ranged champions to get close to her or run away, forcing the fight into her favour.
- Her passive: Gwen is able to heal herself when she deals damage to enemies because of Thousand Cuts. This makes her amazing at longer duels as she will have better and more consistent innate sustain than others.
Pick Gwen if:
- The enemy team has many tanks: True damage ignores any resistances the opponent has. Since Gwen has both true damage and maximum health damage, she is able to melt tanks.
- The enemy laner is not a lane bully: Gwen is more squishy than the typical melee champion. She will have a hard time if the enemy laner puts a lot of pressure on her because of the long cooldown of her W ability.
- Your team already has a tank: This is especially important for Gwen since she is, as mentioned, on the squishy side. Other melee champions could be tanky enough to get away with missing a tank. However, Gwen would not be able to survive for long enough.
6. Jax
Jax, Grandmaster at Arms
Rank 1 Jax: This 2000LP Jax is a BEAST!
Following that, 6th place goes to Jax. He deals both magic and physical damage, making him annoying to itemise against. He gets scarier as the game goes on. Imagine if he had a real weapon!
Although he is well-known for being a good split pusher, he also has his own share of weaknesses. He has really bad match-ups, especially against some of the other champions on this list. This makes it extremely difficult for him to play against them.
Why Jax is Good for Split Pushing:
- His passive: Relentless Assault gives Jax stacking attack speed of up to eight times, enabling him to destroy turrets fast.
- His innate ultimate ability: Grandmaster-At-Arms empowers every third of Jax’s auto attacks, dealing extra magic damage. This even works on turrets.
- His active ultimate ability: When Jax uses it, he gains bonus resistances. His empowered auto attack comes every two attacks instead of three. This makes him an incredible duelist, who is tanky and deals a lot of damage.
Pick Jax if:
- The enemy team relies on auto attacks: Jax’s E ability, Counter Strike, causes him to be immune to all auto attacks. He can recast the ability to deal damage and stun opponents. He effectively renders champions who rely on auto attacks useless.
- The enemy team lacks hard CC: Although his E ability counters auto attacks, he is still vulnerable to CC. He becomes extremely weak if he is unable to get on top of the opponents.
- The enemy team does not have many long-ranged champions: These champions can harass Jax from afar with their abilities. He would be too low to engage and will have to back off.
5. Illaoi
Illaoi, the Kraken Priestess
