Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia is an AP mage in the top, and on patch 16.11 they grade out as a top-tier pick — a 52.9% win rate, 0.7% pick rate, 7,599 ranked games sampled. On the power curve, Cassiopeia is a scaling champion: comparatively weak early, but one of the strongest picks on the map once core items come online — so the plan is to survive the laning phase and take the game over late.

How Cassiopeia wins: grouped 5-v-5 teamfights, where Cassiopeia tips the fight, and winning the wave and turning push priority into map control. The kit grades 8/10 teamfighting, 8/10 waveclear, 7/10 split-push. Play around where Cassiopeia is thin, disengage and mobility (3/10, 2/10), and the enemy loses their angle.

The most-played core build is Rod of Ages, Archangel's Staff, Rylai's Crystal Scepter, which holds a 56.6% win rate across 1,055 games this patch. Pick the enemy team to adapt each item slot to the specific matchup.

The matchup to respect is Xerath, where Cassiopeia sits at just 45.8%, the lane swings the other way into Senna (58.2%), and on the team side, Cassiopeia gains the most from a Vel'Koz (+12.1% pair win rate).