My team just hit rank 1 on Twisted Treeline. It only took about a week.


Here are 5 tips on champion selection for anyone interested in winning ranked 3s. Most Twisted Treeline games are won during champion select because there are only a few high Elo players who plays Twisted Treeline so the mechanics and skills of players are not huge factors.



1. Pick tanky champs.
Singed Yorick Mundo etc.
Fights are messy clusters. There are no tank or support lines so all squishy champs would get burst down instantly.



2. Pick high skill damage/stats champs.
Farm is slow on Twisted Treelines so the game outcomes are decided before big items comes into play. Champions with high skill damage and free stats are king. eg. Lee Sin, Jax, Riven.


3. Pick non mana dependent champs.
There is no Blue Buff on Twisted Treelines so effectiveness of mana dependent champs such as typical AP mids are cut down dramatically. This shifts the spotlight to champions with other resources. Manaless: Riven, Mundo; Energy: Lee Sin, Kennen, Rage: Shyvanna, Renekton; Bruisers: Yorick, Udyr.



4. Pick high mobility/CC champs
The map is very small so you are able to get to a fight most of the times with mobility. Also being able to jump on to a target is very important in team fights. Focus fire is the key of winning team fights. High mobility/CC for chases and escapes is important as well.


5. Having Hybrid damage.
Try to have a team comp with equal amount of magic and physical damage so the enemy can not itemize defence effectively. There are many heavy magic damage melees such as Shyvanna, Mundo, Rumbo, and singed.


Bonus tip: Jax is victory. Pick if not banned. Ban if you do not have first pick.
He fits every criteria of being a top Twisted Treeline pick.
He is Tanky with a 100% dodge skill and free Armour and MR from his ultimate.
He has extremely high base skill damage with his W and ultimate and he is not mana dependent.
His Leap Strike can engage and escape and his Counter Strike is an AoE stun. Also his damage is Hybrid.

Good luck.

 

Something I noticed, at least at lower levels, was that a lot of people went Master Yi top. I was able to counter them every time with WW. Take a single point of Q to trade blows, then max W, Q, E and take R when possible, and you were pretty much set to steam-roll them. I haven't done it in a while, but the basic premise should be the same.

 

Granted I'm not playing ranked, but I've found on solo q TT, Xerath fucking rapes, which goes against most of your tips. His ranged just destroys anyone coming after him if he's near a tower, and when I wasn't I had my Shen babysitting me while I burst down their team time after time. Totally different then ranked where people actually have an idea what they're doing, but I enjoy going on TT from time to time to do this, lol.

 

Some mana casters do alright in 3s. But they don't reach their maximum potential due to the missing blue buff.

I forgot to mention that jungling on Twisted Treeline is just as important as on Summoners Rift. So champs with no escape could be shut down during lane. Ganks happens from jungle and lanes and happens frequently so an AP Champ needs safety mechanisms to survive early game.

Morgana can be quite good since she has lots of tankiness and safety with her Black Shield and Spell Vamp and also a lot of CC and AoE. Fizz can do well for similar reasons.

Xarath can work since his passive and range offers some safety and he has a lot of damage. As long as you are careful in lane.

AP champions usually go bot lane in 3s for one of the same reasons APs go mid on summoner rift. AP champions scale much more off levels isn't the reason but that mid lane has the shortest distance to the safety of their tower. Many AP casters do not have escape skills so they can flash away from jungle ganks to safety. It's much harder to escape when you are caught over extended in bot or top lane even with flash. Twisted treeline APs usually go bottom lane for the shorter lane and greater safety offered by a ward on Lizard.