It is always rewarding to learn the way League of Legends is played with the introduction of new patches every few weeks. New patches bring balance changes to champion kits and also to systems existing within the game. With over 158 champions in the game, not all of them produce the same results when thrown into a ranked game. It is not the best feeling to see your favorite champion get nerfed, and perform poorly in terms of win rates in a particular patch.

LoL Patch 12.6 has been up and running for almost a week now, and players have been testing out new builds and new champions in Solo Queue. Naturally, new patches have the potential to change the state of the game, both in esports and in Solo Queue. They also help gain insight into what can be expected in the future patches, which is why we pay close attention to which champions are doing well and how the early win rates are panning out to be.

It is important to remember that the statistics only reflect the current status of the new patch and will change over time.

Here are the top three champions that are rated S+ tier in LoL Patch 12.6, according to U.GG:

1. Ahri

2. Darius

3. Zed

Ahri - 51.98% win rate

One of League of Legends’ most iconic mages, Ahri seemingly trailed off the meta after the release of champions that just simply had better kits than hers. In an attempt to bring her back into the meta, Riot Games gave her a partial rework of her abilities in Patch 12.3, which has seen so much success, both in Solo Queue and in the pro scene. Ahri has now become highly mobile, with better sustain in the lane.

She was nerfed in LoL Patch 12.5. Riot wrote in the patch notes, “While we’re happy that players are charmed by Ahri’s refresh in 12.3, she’s been a little too strong since. We’re pulling some power out of her early game to reduce her overall strength.”

She currently has a win rate of 51.98% in over 65K Solo Queue games in Platinum and higher tiers as analyzed by U.GG. Her pick and ban rates are 14.5% and 16.2%, respectively. Notably, Ahri has been rated S+ tier for the last two patches.

Darius - 50.8% win rate

In LoL Patch 12.6, Riot said, “Darius has been lagging behind other juggernauts after the fighter item changes, so we're giving him a beefy damage boost. (As a reminder, his ult's total damage can increase by up to 100% based on his passive stacks.)”

Looking at the following stats, one could say that Riot’s intention of buffing Darius worked well:

• Win rate: 50.8%

• Pick rate: 9.3%

• Ban rate: 19.4%

His R - Noxian Guillotine now does 125/250/375 (+75% bonus AD) minimum true damage at the respective levels.

Darius is a big lane bully and his early game is really strong since no champion can straight up duel Darius. With adaptive build paths, Darius can be a tank that also dishes out ample damage. But, due to his immobility, Darius is vulnerable to ganks and can heavily fall off in the late game.

Zed - 50.88% win rate

According to U.GG, in over 35K Solo Queue games that were analyzed, the following are the stats for Zed in LoL Patch 12.6:

• Win rate: 50.88%

• Pick rate: 7.9%

• Ban rate: 35.5%

The pick and ban rates are not surprising given the fact that most players ban Zed or Yasuo with their eyes closed. A good Zed can assassinate the team’s carries in the blink of an eye and make it out without a scratch and this is truly scary. Even though Zed can take out a champion right before a crucial fight, he is almost useless without his R - Death Mark. The only thing to remember while playing Zed is that one needs to shove in the wave before roaming to other lanes. In the late game, it gets difficult to take down champions as easily because of the itemizations that they could have chosen to combat Zed’s threat.

Regardless of skill tier and ranks, it is always good to understand what the current meta is and which champions are finding success.