League of Legends: Best Champions to Play on Patch 10.4

League of Legends' latest update, patch 10.4, has finally arrived. In it came many changes that are bound to shake up the meta quite a bit. Though the meta is changing, the desire to win surely is not. Whether you're trying to gain LP or take home the trophy in this weekend's Clash tournament, these champions will make your goals all the easier.

Ornn

First up on this list is Ornn, the Fire Below the Mountain. On patch 10.3, Ornn was steadily rising into popularity, but 10.4 turns him into a monster. He's already incredibly tanky and boasts very high damage for a pure-tank character. This means it's easy to win trades against the majority of other champions. In addition, he has one of the best team fighting/engage ultimates in the game.

But, the recent changes to Bami's Cinder and the items it builds into will be making Ornn players super excited. Before, the Immolate passive on the item passively burned enemies around the player. Now, Riot Games has added a second part on top of this passive burn. It deals an extra fiery explosion of damage every 10 seconds when the wearer immobilizes an enemy. What's more, is that the extra explosion damage scales off of bonus health.

Sunfire Cape is already a core item on Ornn, and with his high CC and damage kit, this buff might put him over the edge. Forgefire Cape gives crazy high stats, and with one item alone, Ornn will be an absolute terror to deal with since it will boost the Immolate damage further. According to OP.GG, Ornn had just below a 13% pick rate last patch. Likewise, Games of Legends reports that he's had a 63.1% presence in professional play. Ornn was in a good spot before, but he's going to benefit so much from the Immolate changes that he’s destined for a top tier meta spot.

If you’re looking for a strong champion to play in the top lane, look no further than Ornn. But even mid laners and supports can pick him up too. His utility and damage give him viability in all lanes that should not be underestimated.

Garen

Up next is Garen. The Might of Demacia tends to have the stigma of a braindead champion, but this patch is doing wonders for him. In fact, he's receiving two different sets of buffs. First of all, a number of changes occurred to Garen back in patch 9.20 that overall gave him more damage and more viability for offensive-oriented builds. He became problematic for a brief stint but was nerfed a couple of times to put him in a reasonable spot. But, the big takeaway from it was that though he received damage, he lost tankiness.

As such, the first buffs that Garen got this patch were focused on restoring his tank builds. His Courage (W) now increases his armor and magic resistance by 10% when he reaches max resistances from enemy kills. Plus, the shield is getting a hefty buff too. It only shielded for 10% of maximum health before, but now has a base shielding amount that adds 20% of bonus health for shielding. This makes it generally have more usefulness at all points in the game.

The second buff Garen received was a bit of a strange one. It was focused on Garen’s jungle clear of all things. His Judgement (E) damage was increased to deal 150% damage to monster camps. It should be noted Garen also got a slight damage increase on his Decisive Strike (Q), but this isn’t quite as impactful.

Talon+Zed

Moving right along, we have two AD assassin champions that do similar things. Zed and Talon are infamous for their strong early game and level six all-in pressure. In addition, their mobility options give them many opportunities to roam. They've had their time to shine in metas past, and this might be another one for them to.

They’ve long been residents of the mid lane but now have the ability to branch out. Both of these assassins received buffs focused on clearing jungle camps. Talon’s Blade’s End (Passive) damage now wounds all monsters for 120% damage. On the other hand, Zed’s Contempt for the Weak (Passive) damage is increased to 100% against monsters and has a higher maximum damage potential. The buffs for these champions will do wonders for their jungle clear.

But does that mean they have to queue for jungle and bring smite? No, actually. Talon and Zed are both capable of snowballing quite hard. Solo killing their opponents and roaming are all just par for the course for these assassins. While roaming is typically the next step in the plan for these types of players, these buffs introduce more options.

With a lead, or even from behind, Zed and Talon can utilize their newfound jungle clear to invade and steal away camps from the enemy. This allows them to maintain a higher tempo in the game and snowball more efficiently.

In the end, both champions are now flex picks. They’ll be terrifying to play against as junglers, as their high damage ganks can be deadly, but their mid lane impact increases too. They can amass a ton of farm and gold if they play it correctly. They still have weaknesses against certain matchups, but the changes give them more options to play around.

Miss Fortune

For the AD Carry spot, we have a champion untouched by patch 10.4 but still benefitting from it in a way, Miss Fortune. She's been a staple meta pick for a while and might just become the best ADC on the patch. A couple of patches ago, Senna and Aphelios were all the rage. Then, Senna got hit by nerfs focused on her as an ADC, and now Aphelios got hit by nerfs in 10.4. The Aphelios nerfs might not hit too hard, but regardless, these two dropping down gives Miss Fortune her time to take center stage.

She doesn’t have the utility or flashiness the two newest marksmen have, but she does have a lot of one thing: damage. Miss Fortune delivers tremendous damage in all parts of the game. Her laning is fantastic with Double Up (Q) bounces and decent Love Tap (Passive) damage. The option to build multiple Doran’s Blades or lethality items allows her to index more on this point in the game as well.

Leona

Last, but certainly not least, we come to the support position. This patch isn't touching the support role much at all, besides Soraka and Sona who've been played in solo lanes, so there isn't a clear or emerging top tier pick. Regardless, Leona appears to be at the upper echelon of support champions. Despite the nerfs that hit her in 10.3 that reduced her damage, she still persists as a fantastic support that excels in the current meta.

Currently, the meta is focused on engage and tanky supports. Others, like Thresh, Nautilus and Braum are staples here, but Leona deserves much more respect. Her Solar Flare (R) gives her the option to pick off lone targets or clumped up enemies from afar. It’s a reliable engage tool that doesn’t necessitate her risking her life by diving forward.

In terms of laning, she’s also one of the best. Her lockdown ability is terrifying, which gives her great gank setup and 2v3 turnaround potential. Paired with something like Miss Fortune, she can dominate the majority of lanes and enable her ADC to output huge damage.

As of patch 10.3, Leona had a 51.73% win rate and 18.03% pick rate. This is an impressive win rate to have, especially when so many people are playing her. It is a dominant one, but doesn’t cross over the line to OP status. She’s simply a great pick, which is something to value when consistency is valued.

All in all, Leona is a fantastic support pick to play on patch 10.4. She does everything you’d want a support to do and is a well-rounded champion. Things can get dicey without an escape, but she can navigate around this and most matchups completely fine. If you’re searching for a good support, look no further than Leona.

Honorable Mentions

These are just a few of many strong picks on the patch. Others that are likely to be relevant picks are as follows:

Top: Sett, Mordekaiser, Gnar, Jayce
Jungle: Olaf, Ekko, Karthus, Darius
Mid: Jayce, Vladimir, Kassadin, Diana
ADC: Aphelios, Ezreal, Caitlyn
Support: Thresh, Nautilus, Blitzcrank, Bard

The main focus of this patch was on moving some top laners to the jungle. It'll be difficult to say how all of the changes will land, but if you play the role or these champions be sure to experiment a bit. If anything, 10.4 is going to be a very interesting patch to watch unfold.

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