7 Best AP Bot Laners to Climb With in LoL

AP bottom laners have been extremely strong throughout Season 26 in League of Legends. In the past few patches, we have seen many different AP bottom laners played, and many of them are currently S-tier in League of Legends.

An ADC who wants to climb in Season 26 needs to adapt their playstyle and their champion pool and add these champions to their roster if they want to climb further and quicker in League of Legends, as they’re generally stronger compared to many of the ADCs currently being played.

In this article, we will go over 7 of the strongest AP champions you can play in the Bot Lane role in League of Legends during Season 26. Our list is in no particular order, and the win rates are from mid-patch 26.18. You can find up-to-date win rates, play rates and more by heading over to our Mobalytics Tier List.

The first champion on our list is Viktor. Viktor forces the enemy ADC into a farming matchup early on and can totally dictate the laning phase. He can push waves quickly with his E, especially once it upgrades, and no AD champion can match his pushing power. He can easily stack his Passive to get his upgrades much faster than when Viktor is played in the mid lane.

He synergises exceptionally well with hard engage Supports such as Leona, Nautilus, and Blitzcrank, and with any champion who can keep enemies locked down so he can layer his W and CC chain them. 

Your goal when playing Viktor is to avoid risky early trades and focus on farming/poking with your E. Save your W at all times so you can counter-engage, follow up, and layer your Support's CC chain. Viktor is quite vulnerable, especially when it is on cooldown, so avoid throwing it out randomly.

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The next champion on our list is the one everyone hates to lane against in the bottom lane, whether they’re played as carry or support: Xerath. Xerath APC is a feared opponent thanks to his consistent and oppressive poke. Xerath can consistently chip away at the enemy's health bar from far away until they’re forced to concede farm, die or return to base. 

Xerath Bot is best paired as a double-poke or long-range matchup with other champions such as Vel’Koz, Lux, or Morgana, as they can keep poking and harassing the enemy while staying relatively safe. However, he also does well with a variety of other Supports.

When playing as Xerath, the key is to stay at max range at all times and poke from afar. He is very squishy and immobile, especially with boots, so stay at max range so they cannot all-in you or trade with you. Also, make sure you’re tracking your Passive and weave in basic attacks when needed to keep your mana bar topped up so you can keep poking with your Q and W.

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Veigar is a traditional AP champion in the bottom lane. He is rather weak early and needs some time to come online, but if you understand how to lane on him, then you can become unstoppable! Veigar focuses on stacking his Passive early with Q to get a lot of free AP. He should save his E and use it defensively to lock down mobile enemy ADCs and protect himself from all-ins.

However, Veigar can also use his E to follow up on his Support's all-in. He synergises well with champions who can hook/set up all-ins with his E. These strong all-in champions include Thresh, Pyke, and Nautilus. They are ideal picks because he can follow up with E, or start with E and then CC them into his cage.

His E is versatile and doesn’t always require you to stun the target, since it can zone enemies in and trap them so you can take objectives or make plays. With time, increased AP and lower cooldowns, Veigar can become a monster and one-shot champions if the team gets caught out by his E and follow-up damage.

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Syndra is another strong AP champion in the bottom lane right now. She has good burst damage with her Spheres, self-peel with her E, and long-range setup with her Sphere and E combo that can set up skirmishes out of range. Traditional bot lane carries will struggle versus her, as she has CC tools which many lack, meaning she can interrupt exchanges and get out safely. 

Syndra works well with high-burst Supports such as Nami, Pyke, and Swain, who can follow up and set up plays in the bot lane. They all have CC tools, so Syndra can almost guarantee follow-up CC and burst with her Passive and Ultimate.

However, while Syndra is fantastic at engaging/setting up fights, her weakness is her cooldowns. When her Q and E are down, she is vulnerable to attack so you should only throw out your E if you’re basically guaranteed to hit it as a proactive ADC will look to engage while it is on cooldown. Focus on poking from afar, avoid auto-attack trades, and keep poking/farming with your Q.

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We couldn’t write this article without mentioning one of the strongest AP champions in the meta right now: Seraphine. Seraphine is unmatched in wave clear, poke, and teamfighting, and her ultimate is a massive AoE CC tool! Unlike other AP champions, she makes any laning phase relatively safe with her consistent shielding and sustain. With one item, she can keep poking the enemy down while staying safe and topped up.

Seraphine works well with enchanter Supports who can also empower or match her damage output. This includes champions like Senna, Karma, and Sona, who can also dish out damage and protect Seraphine while trading. These champions also have tools to set up Seraphine's E to CC the enemy target!

Seraphine can make any lane into a farming lane, and she can outsustain most matchups. She will often force enemies to adjust their item build, which can delay power spikes and allow her to snowball an early lead. While she may lack early damage, she is fantastic at setting up ganks with her Ultimate alongside her Jungler to get early kills/advantages, which can snowball into mid- and late-game team fights.

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Whether you feel Karthus is strong or not anymore, there is no doubt he belongs on this list! Karthus has been a strong Bot Lane AP champion for several seasons in League of Legends because of his poke, wave clear, and the fact that he is a great pick when teams are already AD-heavy. Karthus can keep poking the enemy down with his Q, and even when he dies, he can still dish out damage during his Passive to turn trades around.

Champions with lockdown like Amumu, Taric, and Thresh are absolutely amazing with Karthus, as they can lock the enemy down for a long time, which lets him follow up with his Q, E, and W. He works with most CC champions in the meta right now!

Karthus is probably the hardest Mage Bot laner on our list, as his playstyle differs from other traditional ADCs/APCs and his mechanics are unique. Unlike traditional ADCs, he may want to run into the enemy rather than kite away like many other champions. Furthermore, his core abilities are quite low-ranged, so he has to get right onto his enemies to kill them. However, post 6, he can pick up free kills around the map with his Ultimate!

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The final champion on our list is another champion that can be played in the Support, Mid, and ADC role, and that is of course, Brand. Brand destroys squishy, immobile enemies with his Passive, which deals insane damage over time. He is fantastic at turning around 2v2s or 2v3s with his Ultimate and Passive, which let him deal considerable burst damage to opponents.

Brand in the Carry role works best with aggressive CC champions who can hard engage and keep the enemy locked down longer, while he gets his E>Q or W>Q off and layers his CC. Some example Supports are Amumu, Rell and Leona, as they can all lock enemies down easily.

Brand is quite vulnerable to all-ins, and he is squishy. So you need to watch your positioning and stay out of range so they cannot lock you down and kill you. Focus on farming early, and then when you get your first component item, look to push the wave and poke the enemy. Ideally, aim your E>W when the enemy is in the minion wave so you can push and poke at the same time.

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Some of our picks have just come into the meta in recent patches, but many of the names have been strong laners for quite some time. Regardless of that fact, these champions are currently very good picks in the bottom lane if you do not want to play an AD champion, are looking to learn the Bot lane role or want to pick something when you’re off-role.

Check out our tier list to find out who the strongest champions are in League of Legends right now!