2. Xin Zhao
Original release: 07/13/2010 | Roles: Top lane and jungle
When was he so strong? Right at release, Xin Zhao was a champion with almost no weaknesses, even being a bit dull and quite easy to play. His strength simply lay in having excellent stats and abilities (via Vars on YouTube)
What made him so strong? Xin Zhao had very few weaknesses and could use his abilities almost anytime. Also, the timing of his release was beneficial.
- Quite good stats
- Incredible cooldown reduction through his former W ability:
- Passive Attack Speed
- When activated: Even more Attack Speed and every attack reduces the cooldowns of all his abilities, including his W
- With enough Attack Speed, he had practically no cooldowns
- Also, the dash on his E reduced cooldowns
- There was less CC than today to stop him, and his dash was said to work even during roots, like Morgana’s
- With Xin, you could easily activate all abilities continuously and defeat opponents with auto-attacks, thanks to his heal, he was almost impossible to stop
3. Jax
Original release: 02/21/2009 | Roles: Top lane and jungle
When was he so strong? Jax has phases where he belongs to the strongest champions in LoL. His probably strongest phase was during the beta, before there were seasons. This was mainly due to a stat and a mechanic that no longer exist (League of Legends Wiki).
What made him so strong? Jax’s kit is generally quite strong, and with the wrong stats, it can quickly become unfair. But beta Jax was incredibly strong due to the forgotten dodge stat.
- In the beta, items like Ninja Tabi or Phantom Dancer increased the dodge stat. With that, one could dodge auto-attacks and, more importantly, turret shots.
- His E ability additionally gave him up to 18% dodge
- Back then, it was still worth buying the same items, with Ninja Tabis and a few Phantom Dancers, Jax could achieve an absurdly high dodge stat
- He could then only be defeated with abilities and also comfortably dive towers without taking much damage
- Much worse: He could even defeat enemies in the base fountain, also dodging in that case
- It was also advantageous that there were significantly fewer CC abilities than today
