ADC is uniquely dependent on teammates in a way that no other role is. You need a support who enables you in lane, a jungler who helps when you're behind, and a team that peels for you in fights. This makes it harder to hard-carry as ADC than as a mid or jungle. But with the right champion picks and the right mindset, you can absolutely climb consistently.
The ADC Solo Queue Problem
When our boosters play ADC on accounts, they notice one thing immediately: the support matters enormously. An ADC with a Thresh who lands hooks will have a very different laning phase than the same ADC with a support who never roams or engages. This is why self-sufficient ADCs — champions that can generate pressure without relying on the support — are the best picks for climbing.
Best ADC Picks for Climbing Right Now
Miss Fortune — Highest Win Rate for a Reason
Miss Fortune has consistently topped win-rate charts in lower and mid elos for years. Her Q bounces for extra damage, her E slows enemies for your support's follow-up, and her ultimate — used correctly in a grouped teamfight — is a game-ending ability. She also has a strong laning phase, which is critical when you don't know what support quality you'll get.
Best for: Iron through Gold. Her win rate dips slightly in Emerald/Diamond because players know to avoid her ult.
Jinx — The Late-Game Reward
If you can survive laning phase with Jinx, she becomes one of the strongest ADCs in the game. Her passive gives her a massive AS and MS steroid on takedowns, her rockets deal AoE damage to grouped teams, and her ult is a global execution tool. Solo queue games go longer than pro play — Jinx rewards that. Build Kraken Slayer first into Runaan's Hurricane and watch teamfights evaporate.
Best for: Bronze through Platinum.
Caitlyn — Safe and Consistent
Caitlyn's attack range is the longest of any ADC in the game at baseline. This means you can deal damage in lane while opponents with shorter range struggle to trade back. She's not the highest damage in teamfights, but she's safe, consistent, and punishes opponents who step on traps. Her ultimate finishes low-health enemies reliably.
Best for: Silver through Emerald.
Jhin — High Burst and Utility
Jhin's fourth shot deals massive damage and crits for bonus damage. His W slow sets up kills for supports and junglers. His E creates traps in strategic locations. And his ultimate can execute enemies across the entire river with slowing shots. Jhin requires you to manage your 4-shot rhythm but the payoff is tremendous burst damage and very long-range utility.
Best for: Gold through Diamond.
How to Survive the Laning Phase as ADC
The most common way ADC players lose the game is dying in lane before they have two items. Here's how to minimize lane deaths:
- Never use your lane position to last-hit at the expense of safety. A missed CS is recoverable. A death is not.
- Track the enemy jungler every time you see them on the minimap. If they're top, you're safe to play aggressively. If they've been invisible for 90 seconds, play closer to your tower.
- Coordinate with your support on recall timing. Never recall with a big wave pushing toward your tower — your support will be behind and your tower will take damage.
The Positioning Secret High-Elo ADCs Know
In teamfights, your job as ADC is to be the farthest back member of your team while still dealing damage. This sounds obvious but is rarely executed. Most ADC players start fights too close to the enemy because they're chasing kills. High-elo ADC players let the fight come to them — they kite back while attacking, never committing into the middle of a fight until it's won.