Due to the complex nature of the game, League of Legends might confuse some of the players with how the power cap works in the game. New players especially might feel very confused on why or how their early dominance suddenly faded away. This trade-off that most early and mid-games champions do can be quite frustrating to those who do not understand the power dynamics of a complex MOBA.
There are champions who will absolutely shine during the first levels. Some will gank lanes from routes that players judged impossible until a skilled player pulled out something impressive. And then, nothing will matter if the game doesn't end before those characters become shadows of their mid-game selves.
Updated on September 19, 2021, by Juliet Childers: Even though the meta in League of Legends changes all the time, many champions don't see many changes in where they fall in terms of scaling. For example, Veigar will always rank highly when it comes to late-game AP scaling.
With many players wanting to achieve higher and higher ranks, it's imperative to know which champions fall off late game. Keep in mind that this is based on general numbers, overall utility, and performance. Your individual mileage may vary.
15 Urgot, The Dreadnought
Urgot, known affectionately as the anti-ADC ADC, can be helpful in very specific team comps. However, his single-target suppression can easily be fixed with items like Crucible or QSS and summoner powers like Cleanse. Note: this does not remove the damage and only removes the CC.
Still, Urgot does not scale as well as an ADC or bruiser Top Lane champion. He is also a bit of a "one-trick pony" with no follow-up after his ultimate even in late-game scenarios.
14 Nautilus, The Titan Of The Depths
A favored support champion by the likes of CoreJJ, Nautilus has seen a fantastic renaissance in the competitive segment of LoL. His early game advantages like the CC, ability to chase, and gap closes become less relevant as a game stretches onward. Ideally, you're just super tanky and peel for your ADC late game.
However, that's really all you can offer as Nautilus support late game. As Nautilus jungle, there's even less to offer. Some players have found success with Nautilus in Top Lane, however.
13 Kennen, The Heart Of The Tempest
Kennen, historically, has not seen a ton of love from the developers at Riot. The Yordle ninja has one of the coolest lore-related powers in using lightning and his ultimate is next level in ARAM games. But his AP scaling falls off hard in late game and his kit doesn't really work in the current meta.
Though Kennen can be a bully in lane, he is often outscaled in a 1v1 Top or Mid Lane and lacks reliable CC. He can also be much more brittle late game than other burst damage AP characters.
12 Pantheon, The Unbreakable Spear
As many players will tell you, Pantheon lacks the defensive tools of other champions with AD scalings. This means that, if they build no defense, they can easily get one-shot. But if they build any amount of defense, Pantheon players likely contribute very little damage in team fights.
Furthermore, Pantheon's ultimate is very situational and takes a great deal of practice to get right (like a Lee Sin kick or Bard ultimate). Despite his late-game failings, Pantheon still sets up S-tier ganks with the right champions.
11 Bard, The Wandering Caretaker
Most players will be surprised to find Bard on a list of worst late-game champions in LoL. His stats, theoretically, offers infinite scaling, but players can easily let one mistake snowball into feeding with Bard. In addition, pinning down when and how to use his "Magical Journey" and ultimate abilities take practice.
It's also not easy to build anything but utility with Bard given the way his kit works. Though wizards like PolyPuff make it look easy, dealing damage with Bard is difficult. You're best off reliably landing your Q, placing your heals decisively, peeling for your ADC, and using support items to buff the team.
10 Olaf, The Berserker
Looking for a violent death to escape the prophesied peaceful passing to the other, Olaf is always looking for a reason to swing his hand axes. An unstoppable ganker who gets stronger when he loses Hit Points, Olaf is a force to be reckoned with.
He is a scary character to deal with up to mid-game. Unfortunately, Olaf does not provide much to his team past that. He lacks any powerful Crowd Control, he won't be able to take infinite amounts of damage, and once his Ultimate is gone, he is just a bruiser with no mobility.
9 Elise, The Spider Queen
Up until mid-game, Elise is a scary ganker who can drop on someone's head, dish out tones of damage, and stun them when they are getting away. She can clear the jungles fairly quickly and has scary burst damage at mid-game.
Late game, though, she lacks the survivability to affect Team Fights in a powerful manner. Her damage is still good, but not enough to make up for her lack of durability and short-range. Besides, she is very squishy when everybody else has all the items.
8 Shaco, The Demon Jester
This champion of nightmares is one of the most annoying characters in League of Legends' history. Shaco is known for his sudden appearances and backstabbing. He might pop up and sneak attack someone mispositioned in their lanes only to quickly vanish right after.
Unfortunately, Shaco is one of those champions who lack utility when everybody else is fed. His damage is never bad but is not impressive. He is a melee champion that lacks enough survivability to have strong ganks, making him fall off quickly when mid-game is about to end.
7 Garen, The Might of Demacia
This champion is a powerful early game character who "spins to win". Although he can have some trouble against certain characters, the tallest Demancian warrior is able to regenerate by staying out of combat. This makes the lane phase quite easy for a patient player, which translates into raw mid-game power.
Unfortunately, Garen's damage does not scale well. At some point, he just feels weak. He will have a lot of defense and hit points, but he won't be able to directly affect team fights except by trying to spin to win, dealing really low damage per second for the long time he is alive not adding much to Team Fights.
6 Xin Zhao, The Sensechal Of Demacia
This champion was condemned to the fighting pits of Noxus but was later freed by Demacian forces. This made Xin Zhao dedicate his life to the brave liberators and their homeland, Demacia.
Although he has a cool concept and fun, simple gameplay, Xin Zhao falls off quickly. During mid-game, he is already less relevant. As time goes by in a match, he starts lacking the damage to be a decent DPS, and also the survivability to be a decent bruiser. If built exclusively to do one of the two, he either won't deal damage or won't live enough to do so.
5 Rek'Sai, The Void Burrower
The only female Void character so far, Rek'Sai is a complete nightmare during the lane phase. In the hands of a good player, she can surprise champions coming from unusual routes and providing amazing 2v1 ganks, ulting to finish off those who barely escaped her claws.
Unfortunately, she lacks utility and crowd control to stay relevant later on. There is not enough damage or durability for her to stay relevant. Being a melee champion, she can easily be controlled and outranged by someone with high damage.
4 Lee Sin, The Blind Monk
This champion is a martial arts master who is able to channel the essence of the dragon spirit in his attacks. Lee Sin is a powerful ganker in skilled hands. Although he is very hard to play, the reward is there for a team that has a good Lee Sin. Especially for those who can use correctly his ultimate, one of the best ults in the game.
However, Lee Sin's damage falls off quickly after the mid-game. His durability is not very impressive either when the enemies have all their items. Unfortunately, to Lee Sin, his late-game is attempting a play that might get himself killed and then doing nothing but mediocre damage.
3 Renekton, The Butcher Of The Sands
Nasus's brother, the Ascended crocodilian from Shurima is a dangerous warrior. Made insane by the years wandering off after the fall of the old Shurima, Renekton wrongly blames his brother for the personal hell that he has been through.
Renekton has decent mobility and survivability to bully his adversaries during the lane phase. As most strong early game champions, he will remain strong and powerful up to mid-game. Especially if he was able to get fed. But from there, he will start to fall back.
2 Teemo, The Swift Scout
This little critter is an ever-cheerful Yordle who is exuberates enthusiasm. Teemo is an example of a hero, with unwavering morals, a heart in the right place, and the talent to make a difference. Some players still joke that his passive is actually his "global taunt"; you either love Teemo or totally despise him.
Teemo can be a complete nightmare right when the game starts due to his poison dart. Combine that with his invisibility, and Teemo becomes one of the most annoying creatures to deal with. But it gets worse when he can fill Summoner's Rift with invisible, explosive mushrooms. Unfortunately, all of that is more of a gimmick than an effective late-game strategy.
1 Nidalee, The Bestial Huntress
There should be no late-game if Nidalee is played correctly. The Bestial Huntress is a dangerous shapeshifter who can be deadly as both a Cougar and a Spear thrower. However, knowing how both forms synergize and using each to extract her maximum potential is not easy. This is also what makes a Nidalee player especially dangerous.
Unfortunately, Nidalee's skills do not scale very well into the late game. However, this works just like any other dangerous Champion that shows extreme power up to late game. So players who pick this character must make sure their team is going to have the upper hand early.