From Laning to Pentakills: The Best ADCs in LoL Ranked January 2025: In League of Legends (LoL), the role of Attack Damage Carry (ADC) is crucial in both the early and late stages of the game. ADCs typically focus on farming during the laning phase, scaling into powerful damage dealers who can carry games through the mid and late phases. Their success often hinges on mechanics, positioning, and synergy with their support. Here’s a breakdown of some of the best ADC champions for climbing ranked, from laning to securing pentakills:
In League of Legends, the ADC (Attack Damage Carry) role is one of the most vital positions in both the early and late phases of the game. ADCs typically focus on farming during the laning phase, scaling up to become powerful damage dealers who can carry the team in late-game teamfights. They rely on positioning, mechanics, and item scaling to make an impact.
The best ADC champions in ranked play have unique strengths, whether it’s poke, burst damage, mobility, or scaling. Champions like Jhin offer strong poke and utility with his Deadly Flourish and Captive Audience, while Kai’Sa provides high mobility and adaptability with her Killer Instinct. Aphelios boasts versatile weapons and immense late-game damage, and Ezreal is a safe pick with high mobility and poke potential.
ADCs like Miss Fortune shine in teamfights with her ultimate Bullet Time, Samira excels in aggressive all-ins with her mobility and burst damage, and Tristana dominates in the late game with her scaling and tower-taking abilities. Caitlyn provides exceptional range and poke, while Zeri offers fast movement and sustained damage.
Players can choose the right ADC based on their preferred playstyle—whether focusing on the laning phase, scaling into the late game, or maximizing teamfighting potential. Pairing ADCs with the right support champion and maintaining strong positioning is key to climbing the ranked ladder in League of Legends.
From Laning to Pentakills: The Best ADCs in LoL Ranked January 2025
1. Jhin
- Playstyle: Jhin is a unique ADC with a 4-shot auto-attack system, where every 4th shot critically strikes. His strong laning phase, high burst potential, and utility with his abilities (like Deadly Flourish and Captive Audience) make him a great pick for aggressive play.
- Strengths: Strong poke, high damage, crowd control with his ultimate (Ultimate: Deadly Flourish), and great scaling into late-game teamfights.
- Key Items: Galeforce, Kraken Slayer, Lord Dominik’s Regards.
2. Kai’Sa
- Playstyle: Kai’Sa is a versatile ADC who can adapt her build depending on the game. She can deal magic or physical damage, making her unpredictable and hard to counter. She excels at diving into the backline, repositioning with her ultimate (Killer Instinct).
- Strengths: High mobility, great scaling, strong dueling potential, and burst damage.
- Key Items: Kraken Slayer, Nashor’s Tooth, Rylai’s Crystal Scepter.
3. Aphelios
- Playstyle: Aphelios is a mechanically challenging ADC who has access to a wide variety of weapons. His damage output is unparalleled when mastered, and his versatility allows him to adapt to almost any situation.
- Strengths: Extremely high damage potential in teamfights, great scaling, and an ultimate (Moonlight Vigil) that can wipe out teams.
- Key Items: Galeforce, Kraken Slayer, Infinity Edge.
4. Ezreal
- Playstyle: Ezreal is an ADC with a strong poke and kite potential. He doesn’t rely on auto-attacks as much as other ADCs, using abilities to deal damage at a distance. His Arcane Shift provides excellent mobility, and his Essence Flux and Mystic Shot offer a lot of poke.
- Strengths: High mobility, long-range poke, consistent damage in the late game, and solid wave clear.
- Key Items: Manamune, Triforce, Immortal Shieldbow.
5. Miss Fortune
- Playstyle: Miss Fortune is a powerful ADC with strong laning potential, particularly due to her poke and zoning with Make it Rain. She is also one of the best teamfight ADCs with her ultimate (Bullet Time), capable of dealing massive area-of-effect (AoE) damage.
- Strengths: Great poke, strong scaling, fantastic AoE damage, and strong in teamfights.
- Key Items: Kraken Slayer, Galeforce, Lord Dominik’s Regards.
6. Samira
- Playstyle: Samira is a high-risk, high-reward ADC who thrives on her ability to get close to enemies and unleash massive damage. Her ultimate (Inferno Trigger) can decimate entire teams if she can stack her style points in combat.
- Strengths: High mobility, incredible all-in potential, and massive burst damage.
- Key Items: Kraken Slayer, Immortal Shieldbow, Guardian Angel.
7. Tristana
- Playstyle: Tristana is a hyper-carry ADC who excels at taking down towers and dealing massive damage in the late game. Her explosive scaling with Explosive Charge and her ability to jump in and out of fights with Rocket Jump make her a dominant force.
- Strengths: Great scaling, high burst damage, and strong tower-taking potential.
- Key Items: Kraken Slayer, Runaan’s Hurricane, Infinity Edge.
8. Caitlyn
- Playstyle: Caitlyn is a long-range ADC who excels in the laning phase. Her ability to poke and harass enemies from a distance with her Piltover Peacemaker makes her one of the safest ADCs to play. She also excels at setting up traps with Yordle Snap Trap.
- Strengths: Strong lane control, great poke, long-range damage, and solid pick potential with traps.
- Key Items: Galeforce, Kraken Slayer, Lord Dominik’s Regards.
9. Zeri
- Playstyle: Zeri is a relatively new ADC with a unique movement mechanic. She gains speed and can rapidly reposition herself in fights, using Burst Fire for continuous damage output. She excels at dueling and sustained fights.
- Strengths: Mobility, high sustained damage, great scaling, and versatile builds.
- Key Items: Kraken Slayer, Immortal Shieldbow, Berserker’s Greaves.
10. Draven
- Playstyle: Draven is one of the most snowbally ADCs in the game. If he gets ahead early, he can snowball the game with his massive damage output from his Spinning Axes. However, Draven’s weakness lies in his reliance on hitting his axes and positioning in fights.
- Strengths: Extremely high damage output, strong laning phase, and great at snowballing.
- Key Items: Kraken Slayer, Essence Reaver, Infinity Edge.
Key Considerations for ADCs in Ranked:
- Positioning: ADCs often rely on staying safe in the backline while dishing out damage. Good positioning is crucial in teamfights.
- Farming: Ensuring you have a solid laning phase and building items fast can make a significant difference in the mid to late game.
- Synergy with Support: Choosing the right support can make or break your game. Champions like Jhin or Kai’Sa pair well with aggressive or peel-heavy supports, respectively.
- Scaling: ADCs that scale well into the late game (e.g., Kai’Sa, Aphelios) are often more reliable in the later stages of the game.
- Teamfighting: ADCs that can contribute significantly to teamfights (e.g., Miss Fortune, Samira) or provide excellent poke (e.g., Ezreal, Caitlyn) are important in mid to late-game engagements.
Whether you’re in the laning phase or pushing for a pentakill in late-game teamfights, these ADCs provide a mix of reliable damage, mobility, and power to help you climb the ranks.
