Like all the other regions in Legends of Runeterra, Demacia has a sizable cluster of champions to bolster your decks with, nine, to be specific. Each of these iconic characters offers something different to your prospective strategies, making them unique in their own ways. Some synergize better with scouts, some with high-costing spells, some with defensive spells, some with rallies, and some with many other options.

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But, as can be expected, some of these champions are simply better than others, and this usually directly relates to how strong whatever they synergize with is. This article aims to rank them all from least effective on the battlefield, to most effective.

Disclaimer: Generally speaking, all the champions in Legends of Runeterra are win conditions in their own right. As such, almost any one of them can single-handedly win a game if they’re left unchecked by your opponent.

With that in mind, the following ranking system does not take this into consideration, but rather, considers everything else about the card, such as mana cost-to-stats ratio, its effect, its evolution conditions, how easy it is for an opponent to deal with said card, and more.

Updated November 11, 2022 by Shane Martin: Legends of Runeterra’s Domination expansion brought a great deal of new cards to the game. However, after a short time, a large number of these cards saw some nerfs and buffs due to how drastically the meta was shaken up. With that in mind, this article was updated to account for the latter, namely Fiora’s change and the addition of Vayne to the region of Demacia. As such, the order of the first few champions and their corresponding paragraphs were slightly moved around, as Fiora, in particular, became significantly stronger than she was in her previous state. Regarding Vayne, little changes to the order of champions needed to be made to fit her in, as she is presently the best in Demacia.

10 Lucian

Lucian is at the bottom of this list. His being in last place was a relatively clear choice, as, for starters, he only has two health, which means there are loads of spells that can take him off the board. Even if his Quick Attack makes it safer for him to attack, he remains remarkably vulnerable at two health.

Normally, the safest way to make sure you stabilize with him is to wait until a later turn (depending on your reserved spell-mana) so that way you can react to enemy spells with defensive ones of your own. What this does is give him a pseudo-cost of much more than two mana, making him even less worth it.

9 Poppy

Poppy’s is up next for a couple of reasons. First off, three health is greater than two, which means it takes a little more to take her off the board than Lucian. Secondly, and more importantly, unlike Lucian, Poppy buffs her allies when attacking, granting her value even after she dies. That said, her base stats are still two-attack, three-health, and for four mana, that’s a bit clunky, giving her one of the lower spots on this list.

8 Quinn

Quinn takes the third spot only because of the stats she gives. Having a three-attack, five-health minion on the board, plus a two-attack, one-health challenger minion is just nice. Champion or regular minion, and for only five mana, those stats are worth it.

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However, she only has Scout herself, and she can easily be removed before leveling up (and her level up isn’t the most impressive one).

7 Fiora

Fiora has received a nice change, landing her higher on the list than she used to be. Now being a four-mana minion with a break-even mana cost-to-stats ratio (four attack, four health), she has much more survivability, making removing her from the board harder. Her four health also gives more value to her Challenger keyword, as she can more freely take value trades.

A Fiora that takes more resources from your enemy to kill makes her inherently stronger, as even if she isn’t the desired win condition of your deck, she poses a threat as such, regardless, forcing her to be dealt with.

6 Shyvana

Shyvana makes number five here because of her total value. Being a three-attack, four-health unit for four mana, she already out-values Poppy and Fiora in terms of mana cost-to-stat ratio. But the main reason she’s above all the champions listed so far is because of her ability to buff herself. Quite a bit, actually.

Not only does she gain stats upon attacking, but she also gains stats upon killing an enemy, making her super sticky and able to survive enemy trades. Having four health, too, makes her hard to remove with just spells. With that in mind, she’s only number five because of the difficulty of evolving her, as keeping her in play long enough to see 12 damage from dragon allies can be tricky.

5 Garen

Next up is Garen, one of the best cards in Demacia, partially thanks to his incredible stat value. Five mana for five health and five attack stats is staple value, and the fact that he has Regeneration makes him a trading machine.

That, along with his five health, makes him super annoying to remove from the board. Furthermore, evolving him is very simple and something your opponent absolutely must react to — otherwise, you’ll be able to attack every turn.

4 Lux

Putting Lux above Garen in terms of value required some thought, but ultimately, it has to do with her passive. Yes, she has two less attack than Garen, but she has the same health, and truth be told, her attack power doesn’t really matter since her main way of dealing damage is through her final sparks. The main goal is to keep her alive, and the Barrier she is summoned with certainly helps with that.

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Either way, Lux and Garen are very close in terms of value, especially if a deck is properly built around them. But, at the end of the day, Lux barely pulls through due to her ability to OTK (one-turn-knockout) with her Final Sparks.

3 Galio

Galio’s mana cost-to-stat ratio is great value. He’s got zero attack, eight health, but due to him being Formidable, he attacks with his health, technically giving him eight attack on summon. All that for only seven mana exceeds the base value, and he even has a SpellShield to help protect him.

Just like Garen, his evolved ability your team grants Rally, regardless of whether you’ve got the attack token, adding even more value to him in the long run.

2 Jarvan IV

Up as the second best, we’ve got Jarvan IV, and he’s chock full of value. Admittedly, six-attack, four health (and Barrier) for six mana isn’t the best, but the fact that you can summon him directly into combat from your hand removes your opponent’s ability to react to him with any slow-spells.

Also, unlike any of the other Demacian champions, Jarvan’s evolution can be proc’d without him needing to be in play. Thus, you’re really paying six mana for seven attack, five health stats, plus a Barrier, which is amazing value.

1 Vayne

Rounding out the list as the best Demacian champion is Vayne. Her value is nearly unparalleled in the entire game, let alone Demacia. Providing you with a free attack with Tumble is massive value, as you still get at least one free attack even if she is removed on the turn she is played. Vayne’s Tumble can even act as a Rally for your entire board if you use it on a minion with Scout.

Her Tumble used to cost three mana at full value, but it was nerfed to four mana for good reason. Being able to play Vayne on turn three with full spell mana and use her Tumble on the same turn is a huge tempo swing in your favor. That said, that nerf still wasn’t enough to remove her as the number one Demacian champion.

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