Methodology
Sauron.wiki ranks League of Legends builds by simulated combat, not by win rate. This page explains what the simulation measures, how the rankings use those measurements, and where the model has limits.
Why simulate instead of using win rates
A win rate mixes many things: player skill, matchups, team compositions, and how long games last. A build that only experienced players buy can show a high win rate for reasons that have nothing to do with its items. A simulation removes those factors. Every build of a champion fights the same targets under the same rules, so the difference between two builds comes from the items and runes alone.
The two test dummies
Every build is scored against two dummies. Both come from average Emerald+ ranked champion stats.
- The defense dummy (the standard target) has the average health, armor, and magic resistance of an Emerald+ champion. It measures how much damage a build deals.
- The DPS dummy (the attack dummy) is the games-weighted average Emerald+ champion in its most popular build. Its physical, magic, and true damage measure how long a build survives.
Damage and survival
Champions are level 18 with a full build: boots and five completed items. For damage, the champion uses its basic attacks and abilities against the defense dummy for 10 seconds. The result is damage per second (DPS) after armor and magic resistance, under the build's best damage rune page.
For survival, the DPS dummy attacks the champion while the champion fights back, so life steal, healing, and shields count. The result is the time until the champion dies. A build that lives through the time limit gets a projected survival time.
The Pareto frontier
More damage usually means less survival. Each champion page shows a Pareto frontier: the builds where no other build found both deals more DPS and survives longer. The frontier starts at the max-DPS build and ends at the max-survival build. Builds between the two ends show the trade-off at each step, so you can select the balance that fits your game.
OP score and the tier lists
OP score is DPS multiplied by seconds survived, up to 30 seconds. It is an estimate of the damage a champion deals before it dies. Each champion's OP score is the highest score among its frontier builds and its most popular build. The tier list ranks champions by this score, overall and within each role.
Build views
Each champion page has build views with different item rules:
- Recommended: an automatic classification of the champion selects one of the other views.
- Unrestricted: AP and AD items can be combined.
- AP only: no AD, lethality, or armor-penetration items.
- AD only: no AP or magic-penetration items.
- Burst: unrestricted items, scored by the fastest kill of the standard target in at most 10 seconds.
The classification uses the AP and AD items of the champion's most popular Emerald+ build. When that build gives no clear answer, the classification compares the DPS of the restricted views.
Purchase paths
A full build is only part of the answer, because you buy items one at a time. For each calculated build, the purchase path takes, at every step, the purchase with the best mix of DPS per gold and survival per gold. Each step is scored against enemies that hold as many completed items as the champion, so early purchases are scored against early-game enemies.
Comparison with popular builds
Each champion's most popular Emerald+ build is scored with the same engine as the calculated builds. Build Gap ranks champions by how much DPS or survival the calculated builds gain over the popular build. A large gap shows where common builds leave value unused in the simulation.
ARAM and Teamfight Tactics
The ARAM pages repeat the analysis with only the items the ARAM shop sells, and compare them with the most popular ARAM builds. The Teamfight Tactics pages use a different simulation: hex-board fights between full teams, with movement, mana, abilities, traits, and items. Team comps are ranked by their power in these fights and by how easy they are to build in a game.
Data updates
The site checks for a new League of Legends patch every hour and updates the champion, item, and rune data when a patch releases. The popular Emerald+ build data updates once a day. The simulations then run again, so the rankings follow the current patch.
Limits
The results depend on the combat model, the test dummies, and the champion mechanics the simulation supports. A simulation does not show teamfights, positioning, or player decisions. Simulated rankings are not win-rate rankings and do not guarantee in-game performance. Build searches do not prove that a build is the best build possible.
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