Web edition · Reference · The Scaling Codex

Every champion's late-game grade

Name: The Scaling Codex
Author: Vambient

By Vambient · 174 champions · S to F · free, complete, no signup

Scaling is a champion's ability to consistently influence coordinated late-game objective fights once both teams reach full builds. That is the only thing this list measures: picture a 45 minute objective fight between two equal, coordinated teams, and how well each champion performs in it.

The list measures the ceiling, not the average game. High-skill picks are rated on what they can do when piloted correctly. It does not measure early strength, snowballing, side-lane carrying, or raw win rate. A weak late-game champion can still win the game by ending it before the late game arrives, which is what the rest of the library teaches.

★Split-push✚Utility∞Infinite◆Build-dependent

SBest late23 champions

These champions win games by existing at full build.

Ambessa: Can effectively win a game solo once she gets her ability haste rolling. Unrivaled team-fight pressure with her ultimate and ability weaving.
Aphelios: Long range, huge flexibility, very strong scaling, and damage.
Aurelion Sol∞: Infinite Stardust scaling gives him unmatched late-game range, plus an AoE displacement ultimate with very high damage, mobility, and crowd control.
Azir: Game-changing ultimate, top-tier target access, and range with a game-changing turret placement ability.
Gangplank: One of the global-ultimate exceptions. All abilities scale massively with more damage items.
Janna✚: Movement speed and AoE knockup. One of the best late-game supports since movement speed is incredibly oppressive at full build.
Jinx: Very top tier. AoE rocket damage hits the entire enemy team, and her range is quite high at full build.
Karthus: Global-ultimate exception. Very strong late game and forces the enemy team to itemize against him.
Kayle: One of the best true late-game scalers. Very good ultimate ability with strong range, AoE, and utility.
Kindred∞: Permanent range stacking plus a game-changing ultimate. Lamb's Respite only gets more decisive as death timers grow, since one saved carry can swing the fight.
Kog'Maw◆: Full AP build is S-tier scaling. Very long-range sustained AoE damage with his ultimate beam becomes nearly unplayable to deal with at full build. One of the strongest endgame damage threats available.
Lulu✚: Grouped at the very top with Janna. Massively impacts a game by enhancing one carry and providing polymorph and knockup.
Orianna: One of the top scaling mids. Game-changing combo ultimate with teammates puts her near the very top.
Ryze: Top-tier damage and tankiness combo along with a game-changing ultimate.
Senna∞: Infinite scaling range, damage, and utility, grouped with Aphelios and Jinx for very high range and impact. The 26.13 changes trimmed her damage and farming pattern, but ally-fed souls and her defining range and utility hold up in coordinated fights. Bottom of S.
Seraphine✚: Very strong late game. Similar to Lulu but rated a touch better with a team shield and heal, along with a game-changing AoE ultimate charm.
Smolder∞: Infinite scaling on his damage. One of the best scaling champions in the game, similar to Senna.
Sona✚: Possibly better scaling than Janna. Very good AoE ultimate stun as well as AoE healing, AoE speed boosts, and AoE damage amplification.
Syndra: Very long-range scaling, strong ability ratios, and a very long-range stun that is oppressive in late-game fights.
Twitch: Huge range and damage ratios. Can solo-delete an entire team in a very short amount of time.
Viktor: Beginning of S tier. Very long-range poke damage and a game-changing ultimate that grows stronger over time.
Vladimir: Incredibly strong late game. Can delete entire teams while being invincible under his pool and moving freely with his combo, while also healing his entire HP bar.
Xerath: Very strong late game. Long range and map-wide ultimate. The only drawback is mobility. GREAT LATE Strong scalers that do not quite hit the top tier.

AGreat late34 champions

Strong scalers that do not quite hit the top tier.

Anivia: Wall utility, strong AoE CC, and sustained AoE damage with full AP make her excellent in coordinated team fights. Her range is sufficient at max build.
Ashe: Her permanent AoE slow is always-on peel and kiting, and her ultimate is a premier longrange engage that coordinated teams turn into picks. Personal damage is the lowest of the marksmen at full build, so her placement rests on utility and not raw damage carry output.
Aurora: Game-changing ultimate damage, strong in endgame fights.
Bel'Veth∞: Bottom of S or top of A. Ability-haste and attack speed monster in the late game with infinite attack speed scaling from her passive. I think tanky build later on is very good because you still have a lot of damage output and you can do a decent amount of tanking too.
Caitlyn: Great late game, but loses some early trap and ultimate power. Not quite the highest range in the game.
Camille: Great late game with her mobility. Ultimate is game-changing as it locks down a single target for the team to focus.
Cassiopeia: Great game-changing ultimate and solid utility.
Fiora★: Exceptional dueling and percentage-HP true damage, but primarily a split-push threat. Less effective in coordinated 5v5 objective team fights where her targets can be protected.
Garen◆: Full-AD Garen melts entire teams while being very fast and tanky. Strong scaler with this specific build. Build note: full AD crit only
Graves◆: Full AD crit build. Serious damage, but somewhat squishy and able to be bursted down.
Gwen: Placed right next to Camille. Very strong scaling. Can be CC'd and kited somewhat in teamfight situations.
Hwei: Grouped with Lux and Aurora as a strong scaling mage with decent utility and long-range options. Damage is slightly weaker than that of the true S-tier mages.
Jarvan IV: Very strong late game. Damage scaling and team-wide utility hold up until very late. Ultimate is incredibly game-changing against flash-less targets.
Jax: Patch-dependent. Currently near Jarvan's tier. Counter Strike and stun combo change a lot about his kit.
Kai'Sa◆: AP build has very strong late-game ratios and range. AD build falls off slightly in team fights.
Karma✚: Downgraded from initial S once Serpent's Fang counterplay is considered. Team-wide shielding becomes less valuable when enemies build Serpent's Fang. Build note: full AD crit Build note: AP build only
Kassadin: Strong contender. Requires skill due to lack of CC and range. Can run out of mana and is susceptible to getting CC'd himself.
Katarina: Assuming optimal play, rated great due to team-wiping pressure with both AD and AP builds. Skill-dependent.
Kayn (Rhaast): Red form. The sustain bruiser that stays relevant in coordinated fights. Q and W shred plus healing let him keep fighting after he commits, unlike most one-way divers.
Lux: Long range, does not have to commit to plays. Very good utility with Q, W, and E. Solid choice for endgame fighting.
Master Yi: Can delete entire teams solo when building correctly. His ultimate damage steroid scales quite well.
Mel: Good damage and utility. Suffers from a slightly lower range but makes up for it with damage.
Milio✚: Right below Janna. The range buff is very powerful but highly dependent on team composition. Can be an S-tier scaling pick in the right team compositions.
Ornn✚: The only true team-scaling tank. Masterwork upgrades permanently raise the whole team's power, so he scales through his teammates, not his own damage. Can approach S depending on composition.
Riven: One of the top bruisers right now. Great scaling on all abilities.
Shyvana: Great, though falls off slightly towards very late in the game.
Sivir: Spell shield is very oppressive, and AoE damage is excellent, but she does not quite hit the absolute ceiling of the S tier because of range issues.
Sylas: Great team fighting ability and can steal game-changing ultimates from supports. Too conditional on enemy ultimates to be true S tier.
Tristana: Long-range scaling, but not infinite scaling. Good steroid with Q and packs a punch at max items.
Veigar∞: Infinite scaling via stacks, cage CC, and a large damage execute with his ultimate. Struggles with range late game and can be kited.
Yone◆: New AD Crit build scales much better than the old bruiser version. Damage and mobility both improve significantly late because of attack speed scalings.
Yuumi✚: Better than first impressions. Needs a hyper-carry partner and can reach S-tier with the right carry to attach to. .
Zaahen: Excellent data, and his passive stacks Attack Damage while granting a second life at full Determination. That revive directly answers the one-way trip problem, though his melee target access keeps him below S.
Zilean✚: Bomb damage, AoE stuns, massive slows, ability rewind, and the Guardian Angel ultimate make him excellent in coordinated late-game fights. OKAY LATE Functional, but outpaced by better-scaling compositions.

BOkay late51 champions

Solid late game, needs the right conditions.

Aatrox: Mediocre early, decent mid, scales up to a point, then plateaus. Anti-heal counters his healing.
Ahri: Strong early and mid-game. Lacks finishing damage late, and range issues start to show.
Akshan: Struggles late due to short range and a conditional revive mechanic that becomes harder to use as the enemy team groups up.
Brand: Decent late-game damage. Mini-Karthus. His spread damage requires landing abilities in almost melee range.
Corki: Strong damage scaling on abilities, but too meta and patch-dependent for a stable A-tier placement.
Diana: Same issue as Ahri and Annie. The close-range mage problem becomes a severe issue late.
Evelynn: Invisibility helps, but if seen, she is completely removed from the fight.
Fizz: Genuinely positive late data, and unlike most assassins he has a real way to survive or reposition after committing. Still short-ranged and vulnerable to coordinated defensive itemization, so A would be too generous.
Galio◆: Tank-utility Galio brings a global engage-and-peel ultimate and a long AoE taunt, real value in coordinated fights, and a fit for the buffed Imperial Mandate. The AP one-shot build scales worse once Banshee's Veil and QSS come online. Highly patch-dependent and can become A-tier if it’s the right game for it.
Gragas: Decent late game with full AP build, but very flash-dependent. Countered by Banshee's Veil and range.
Irelia: Full damage bruiser build produces high R ability pressure, but she is conditional on dash resets. Highly dependant on hitting a high value R button on enemy team.
Ivern✚: Enchanter-style enabling of carries is okay until enemies one-shot Daisy and build Serpent's Fang.
Jayce: Decent with full AD build. The range is a bit lacking, and no game-changing ultimate.
Jhin: Limited by a lack of tank shred options. Cannot attack faster to kill targets, which becomes very tough late game.
Kalista: Stacking damage through her E and her game-changing ultimate makes her better than Ctier in coordinated fights.
Kennen: Strong CC but range-limited. Similar situation to Annie, but with better range and utility.
Kled: Game-changing team ultimate, but can be kited later on.
LeBlanc: Strong until late but conditional poke-only value.
Lillia: Game-changing ultimate similar to Kennen's, but can be kited later on, and lacks great damage.
Miss Fortune: Her late-game ceiling is one channeled, interruptible ultimate. Without it, she has short range, no damage steroid, and no self-peel.
Morgana✚: Decent enchanter-adjacent support in the early to mid game. Ultimate ability becomes underwhelming later on.
Nami✚: Slightly better than Morgana in team value with the ultimate, but does not provide the same shielding and healing as top-tier supports.Can move up to A tier on an enchanter favored patch but currently not great at endgame fights.
Nasus★∞: Q infinite stacking is immense, but he gets kited badly in coordinated 5v5 fights. Primarily a split-push threat, however, he does scale infinitely, so in theory, very strong late if the game goes long enough for him to stack Q.
Neeko: High variance. Similar to Kennen with a game-changing ultimate, but only if she can get on top of the enemy team.
Nocturne: One-way trip problem. Must commit fully to engage with no reliable disengage tool. His ultimate is game-changing, but he himself is easy to focus.
Nunu & Willump: Better than expected, but hard to play correctly. Suffers from the same target-access issues as Rammus late. His attack speed steroid for ADC is very good, making him B instead of C.
Quinn: Great at picking people off in the side lanes, but team fighting is not her strong suit. Tends to trade one for one at best in endgame fights.
Rakan: High-variance engage, squishy, and outshone by ranged supports. But his AoE charm plus dash-to-ally mobility is really good teamfight value, and he can reposition rather than fully commit. Bottom of B.
Rell: Gets outranged and kited later as a tank. Difficult to land the game-changing ultimate. Still baits flash later on at least.
Renata Glasc✚: Conditional and hard to pull off. Not enough damage amplification for the team compared to Sona and Seraphine.
Sion∞◆: Infinite HP scaling helps, but HP alone is not great in the late game. Full AD Sion scales better depending on the current build viability.
Soraka✚: Anti-heal items hurt her too much. The silence is awkward at the endgame, where champions can outrange her.
Teemo: Okay-ish late game, but requires team setup around objectives to function in team fights with shroom set-up.
Tryndamere★: Relegated mostly to split-push duty. Outscaled in 5v5 due to vulnerability to crowd control.
Twisted Fate: Global vision-granting utility carries his value, but his damage becomes lackluster in the endgame.
Udyr: Decent tankiness. Q shred keeps him relevant against tanks, but susceptible to getting kited with no reliable crowd control.
Urgot★: Wants to be split-pushing in a side lane. Peel-back Bruiser Urgot in team fights is not bad, but there are better scalers.
Varus: Middle of the pack. The top variant of Varus is more viable than the bot lane variant but depends on patch for late game teamfights.
Vayne: B tier. In theory, percentage-HP true damage is elite. In practice, she is outranged by every ADC in S and A tier, gets poked out before she can close the gap, and has no reliable escape when team fights spread out. Range is the single biggest scaling factor for ADCs.
Vel'Koz: Decent poke range extends his presence late game. Very skill-based champion though.
Vi: Decent utility with ultimate. Highly risky if the team is not coordinated, but good if the team is good. Depends on the patch a bit for this champion.
Viego: Needs to get snowballing. Somewhat conditional on the quality of enemy champions a little bit as well.
Wukong: Okay-ish late game. Much weaker than the old one-shot version of Wukong that we once had.
Xayah: Better late-game kit than Lucian. Feather mechanics provide reliable damage, and her E gives her disengage tools that Lucian lacks. Ultimate is decent for peeling back as well but not great for chasing.
Xin Zhao: Bottom of B. Crescent Guard gives him rare protection after diving and can pull a priority target away from the rest of the enemy team. His statistics and melee target-access problems keep him out of A, but that defensive ultimate buys him more coordinated-fight agency than a normal C-tier diver.
Yasuo: Okay-ish late game. Target access remains an issue, but Windwall is pretty decent.
Yunara: Her crits add bonus magic damage and her Transcendent form brings a powerful slowing beam. The curve trends up over time, but a 50 percent absolute late win rate does not yet make her a premier A-tier endgame marksman. Starts in B.
Zeri: Strong when enabled: a hypermobile, infinite-range kite carry once she ramps. Zeri+Yuumi combo brings this champion up one tier.
Ziggs: Long-range damage and objective-zone control let him participate without committing his body. The data prevents an A placement and the range prevents a C placement, so he holds B despite a hard late win-rate drop.
Zoe: Okay-ish late game. High skill ceiling champion that requires a lot of mechanical prowess to be decent in the late game. Tends to get melted instantly in fights because she has to be close by to burst.
Zyra: Zyra is like Karthus except with a bit more utility but less damage overall. Depending on patch this champion can move up or down one, currently sits at B in Season 16. BAD LATE Close this out before the late game arrives.

CBad late46 champions

Falling off. Close the game before they get there.

Annie: Flash-dependent target access. Banshee's Veil and QSS hard-counter her entire kit. Her window to impact team fights is narrow and predictable.
Braum: Start of the bad-late tanks. Shield does less and less as the game goes on.
Briar: Outscaled and kited very easily. Good Briars can drag out their advantage a bit longer.
Darius: Essentially flat win rate, and his reset threat needs close-range access and several stacks before it becomes dangerous. Coordinated teams kite, peel, and deny that setup.
Dr. Mundo: Bad, like most tanks. Melts to shred items however, in the case that the enemy team does not draft any shred, this champion becomes unanswerable, similar to a Sion, Maokai, or any other massive tank option.
Draven: Loses impact later on a bit more than other ADCs. Lacks range. .
Ekko: Very conditional engage, susceptible to getting CC’d and burst down before any ultimate or Zhonya’s can be cast.
Elise: Pick-potential champion. Not great in extended teamfights and is very hard to play in the end-game teamfights.
Ezreal: Hybrid builds improved his late-game staying power. Better than his old pure AD builds in terms of scaling. Endless hunger (new item) is quite good on him, but it depends on how good the player is at using him. It is very easy for Ezreal to be completely useless.
Fiddlesticks: Extremely team-dependent. Very conditional and he is easier to spot than Evelynn. If spotted, this champion becomes useless and very easy to one-shot.
Gnar: Bad late compared to other top laners. His ultimate is too conditional and teams can easily play around it, as well as his range is a bit too short. He kind of does nothing later on unless the team can capitalize on his windows properly.
Heimerdinger: Range becomes an issue later on, and his kit is a bit awkward to land reliably.
K'Sante: Very good mid-late game scaling. Builds full tank, then deals massive damage as an assassin-tank. Falls off towards the endgame fights, though.
Kayn (Shadow Assassin): Blue form. The early and mid-game assassin with a one-way dive that falls off once fights become full 5v5. Lacks a bit of range and its hard to burst people through Guardian Angel.
Kha'Zix: Struggles with priority targets in late game teamfights, targets aren’t likely to be isolated anymore.
Lee Sin: Damage build keeps him relevant, but his output falls short of true higher-tier scalers. Better suited to mid-game windows.
Leona: Same tank issues as the rest of this group.
Lissandra: Low-range AP mage issue.
Lucian: Ultimate loses impact. Short range as well.
Malphite: Banshee's Veil can hard-counter him. Very team-reliant, but solid as a tank option or a counterpick.
Malzahar: Bad late once enemies hold QSS or Banshee's Veil.
Mordekaiser: Same issue as Malzahar, very tough to beat enemies with QSS.
Nilah: Range issue. Grouped near Draven. Lacks impact later on.
Olaf: Same target-access issue as Aatrox without the AD-build upside. Can be kited. Crit Olaf can scale a bit better into the late game, though.
Pantheon: He loses impact later on as an engage champion, and his global ultimate becomes less impactful as well.
Poppy: Similar range and tank issue later on, low range but does have a somewhat better ult.
Rammus: Not too great late despite the CC, suffers from the tank issue.
Rek'Sai◆: Bad late on standard build.
Renekton◆: Better with a full AD build, but he does not have a game-changing ultimate.
Rumble: Riot has said the current nerf preserves his scaling pattern, and Equalizer still provides important objective-fight zoning. Even so, very weak late data and heavy reliance on one major ultimate keep him out of B.
Samira: Close to Miss Fortune but not as strong. Struggles with target access and range issues later on.
Sejuani: Falls off as tanks do. Similar issues to Rammus and Nunu. Only the tank build is really viable.
Sett: Bruiser Sett scales okay into the late game, but struggles with target access, similar to other bruisers.
Shaco: He’s not as good in the late game as Kayn is.
Shen: Loses lane-dominance value. Shielding from ultimate also becomes a bit of a low-value global ability in teamfights.
Swain: AP drain tank. Kited later but functional until mid-late. Does not deal enough or tank enough at endgame.
Tahm Kench: Bad late. Similar tank issues.
Taliyah: Global-adjacent ultimate fades late. Suffers from range issues as well as an awkward slowmoving combo. Build note: Titanic Hydra / Sterak’s / Spirit Visage / Knight’s Vow sustain and utility pushes her to the top of B
Talon: Grouped with Zed-style assassins, very tough to play in the endgame teamfights as he is quite squishy and can be one-shotted or CC’d mid-combo.
Taric✚: Ultimate can be kited around and disengaged from. Slow to impact fights.
Thresh∞✚: Very conditional hook-reliant champion, has some decent other utilities but nothing too great in the endgame.
Vex: Stuck committing fully. Cannot disengage like Kassadin.
Volibear: Bad. Can be kited and outranged.
Yorick★: Relegated to split-push duty. Weak in team fights as he can get focused down without being able to fight back.
Zac: Does not scale well. Grouped near Amumu and his engage options are too slow and awkward.
Zed: Scales similarly to Talon. His assassination abilities are too slow to impact the game and he is susceptible to getting CC’d out and one-shotted. VERY BAD LATE The game needs to end. Now.

DVery bad late17 champions

Actively worse as the clock runs.

Akali: Very hard to play out late. Lacks CC and target selection and is also very squishy with most meta builds being full AP.
Alistar: Very bad late despite being a good tank earlier. He just doesn’t do enough utility or tanking for the team, easily ignored, honestly. The main way to play him is to roam around a lot early to make late game not matter as much.
Amumu: Pretty bad late game. Easily countered by QSS and Locket-style items. He also gets outranged and out kited and he doesn’t have alot of damage on him.
Bard: Weak scaling. W loses usefulness late and R is very hard to hit and also quite conditional. Recent nerfs have hurt him even more.
Blitzcrank: Entirely hook-dependent. If he hits a hook on a priority target, he is an S+ Tier champion. If not, please ban.
Cho'Gath∞◆: Very bad late and suffers from similar tank issues, unless playing the AP one-shot variant. AP Cho’Gath scales decently well and can threaten late game fights with silence into instant kill feast but its hard to execute. AP one-shot vs tank moves him up one tier.
Hecarim: Bad late. Very kiteable once he commits and anti-heal generally wrecks him. This is an end early champion if not for how well people generally play him in higher elos.
Locke: Provisional. First-patch late data is terrible, and his kit asks him to teleport or dash into range before landing execute-oriented damage. Since he only released in Patch 26.13, he stays out of F until the learning curve and tuning settle.
Maokai: Same issue as Malphite. Slightly better as a tank than AP, but he suffers from the tank issue without having an instant ultimate. His saplings become useless later on as well unfortunately.
Naafiri: Assassin with no escape from AoE abilities because she has to commit full combo to do damage later on. Zhonya's and Guardian Angel completely neutralize her assassination attempts.
Nautilus: Same bucket as Malphite. Gets focused and deleted, ultimate is easy to kite away from at endgame fights.
Nidalee: Not much late-game value aside from heal for allies. Spear damage is tough to hit and not very reliable. Typically gets engaged on later on and dies fairly easily, or gets ignored because she has no way in the fight without getting one-shot.
Qiyana: Spell shields or Zhonya’s are very common late-game items. One-way trip with no reliable escape from AoE abilities.
Rengar: Close to Rek'Sai. One-way trip problem. One-tricks can make him look good because they get good at doing a one-shot combo when very ahead. In a coordinated team environment, that is even, he is not too good.
Singed: Does not deal enough damage or tank enough to justify a role in coordinated late-game fights.
Skarner: Ultimate easily flashed or dodged. Tank issue.
Trundle: Feels really bad late. Pillar loses value against ranged comps. END EARLY PLEASE These champions actively get worse as the game goes on.

FEnd early, please3 champions

These champions actively get worse as the game goes on.

Illaoi: Bottom of the old D tier. Kited easily and enemies can move out of her ultimate fairly quickly.
Pyke: One of the worst late-game champions on the list, he is extremely squishy and ultimate has less value as the game progresses.
Warwick: Gets kited out extremely quickly and has no range. Ultimate is easy to interrupt as well because he is on the front lines. Must end early, so this champion usually enjoys permanently fighting for kills and objectives.

The grades are the what. The books are the how. The full Codex, with the criteria and build notes, lives in the library with sixteen more volumes.

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