If you’ve scrolled through champion select screens, watched pro LoL streams, or seen viral time-manipulation outplays, you’ve probably asked is ekko in league of legends at least once. The short answer is a resounding yes—he’s been one of the game’s most popular and versatile picks since his release, beloved for his high skill ceiling, playful personality, and game-changing ultimate ability. I’ve mained Ekko on and off for six seasons, so I’ve put together everything you need to know to decide if he’s the right pick for your playstyle, plus pro tips to avoid the most common mistakes new Ekko players make.
Is Ekko in League of Legends? A Quick Breakdown of His Origin and Identity
Ekko first joined the League of Legends champion roster as a Zaun-based prodigy who invented the Zero Drive, a device that lets him rewind small windows of time without permanent consequences to the world around him. His lore ties him to other iconic Zaun and Piltover champions including Vi, Jinx, and Heimerdinger, and his in-game voice lines reflect his scrappy, optimistic attitude even in high-stakes fights. He’s classified as a burst assassin first, but his kit lets him flex into multiple roles depending on your team’s needs.
You’ll see him picked in every rank from Iron to Challenger, and he’s a regular pick in pro LoL tournaments too. Riot has reworked his kit slightly a few times over the years to keep him balanced, but his core identity as a time-bending skirmisher with high outplay potential has never changed. Even if you don’t play him often, you’ve almost certainly died to a well-timed Chronobreak outplay at least once in your LoL career.
Ekko’s Core Kit: Key Abilities You Need to Master Before Playing
Every part of Ekko’s kit ties back to his time-manipulation theme, and learning to combo all his abilities together is the key to making him work. His passive, Z-Drive Resonance, is easy to overlook but incredibly powerful. His passive is the backbone of all his burst damage: every third hit on the same target deals extra magic damage and gives him a movement speed burst. You always want to stack that three hits on enemies when trading or going for kills, even if it means holding onto an ability for an extra second to land that third auto attack.
His Q ability, Timewinder, lets him throw a spinning device that deals damage on the way out and way back, and slows all enemies hit along the path. The sweet spot for Q damage is when both the outgoing and return hit the same target, so practice positioning to land both parts as often as possible—missing the return hit cuts your Q damage almost in half. His W, Parallel Convergence, throws a slow-moving circle that slows enemies inside, and if Ekko walks into the circle once it fully forms, he gets a large shield and stuns every enemy inside for 1.75 seconds. New players usually only use it for stuns, but the shield can save you from full all-in trades even if you don’t stun anyone.
His E ability, Phase Dive, is a short dash that makes your next auto attack deal extra magic damage and teleport you directly to the target. This is your main mobility tool, and you can use it to chase low-health enemies, escape ganks, or stack your passive faster. His ultimate, Chronobreak, rewinds time 4 seconds, returns you to your position from 4 seconds prior, heals you for a percentage of the damage you took in that window, and deals high burst damage to all enemies around your rewind spot. You don’t have to only use R to escape bad fights—you can also use it to dive enemies under turret, reset your position in team fights, or even one-shot squishy targets if you land all your other abilities first.
Best Roles, Builds and Playstyles for Ekko in Current Ranked Play
Right now, Ekko has two fully viable roles in ranked play: mid lane and jungle. Mid lane Ekko is the classic pick, played as a full AP burst assassin that farms up until level 6 then roams to side lanes to pick up kills and help your team take objectives. Jungle Ekko has become more popular in high elo over the past year, thanks to his fast clear speed, strong gank potential with his W stun, and ability to build either full burst or a mix of AP and durability to fit his team’s needs. Off-meta picks like top lane Ekko work in normals, but they’re not consistent enough for ranked play right now.
For mid lane AP Ekko, your core build should be Luden’s Tempest, Shadowflame, and Rabadon’s Deathcap for maximum burst damage against squishy targets. You can swap Luden’s for Hextech Rocketbelt if you want extra mobility to chase down enemies or escape crowd control. For jungle Ekko, you’ll start with the jungle item that gives AP and ability haste, then build the same core items as mid lane Ekko, or swap Rabadon’s for Zhonya’s Hourglass if you need more survivability in team fights. Runes are pretty consistent across both roles: take Electrocute as your keystone, plus Presence of Mind, Tenacity, and Last Stand for secondary runes.
Most new Ekko players run into the same small mistakes that hold them back from climbing with him, even if they understand his kit. I’ve made all of these mistakes myself, so keep these in mind during your first few games:
- Wasting Chronobreak to escape minor poke, leaving you with no out when the enemy jungler ganks 30 seconds later
- Forgetting to stack passive before all-inning, leading to you missing out on 30-40% of your potential burst damage
- Throwing W directly on top of enemies instead of predicting their movement, making it easy for them to walk out of the stun range
Playstyle varies a lot between roles. If you’re playing mid lane Ekko, focus on farming safely until level 6, don’t waste your E ability on trades unless you’re sure you can get a kill, and roam to side lanes as often as possible once you hit level 6. If you’re playing jungle Ekko, start on your red buff to get a faster first clear, and prioritize ganking lanes that have hard crowd control to set up your W stun easily.
Pros and Cons of Picking Ekko for Your Ranked Climb
Ekko is a great pick for a lot of team comps, but he’s not the right fit for every player or every game. The biggest upside of picking Ekko is his versatility: you can play him in two roles, adjust your build to fit your team’s needs, and he’s viable in every rank from Iron to Challenger. He also has almost unmatched outplay potential—you can turn 1v3 fights around if you time your R correctly, and you can one-shot most ADCs and enchanter supports in under a second if you land your full combo. He’s also strong in every phase of the game: he can farm safely early, has amazing mid-game roam power, and is still a huge threat in late game team fights if you position correctly.
That said, he has some pretty big downsides you need to consider before you lock him in. First, he has a pretty high skill floor: if you can’t land your Q, time your W, or use your R correctly, you’ll do almost no damage and be a liability to your team. It takes most new players at least 15 to 20 games to get comfortable with his kit, so don’t jump into ranked with him right away. He’s also incredibly squishy: if you get caught out without your E or R up, you’ll die almost instantly to even minor burst damage from enemy champions. Champions like Leona and Morgana can shut down Ekko completely if they land their stuns before you can use your abilities, and anti-heal items cut the healing from your R in half.
If you’re playing against a team with lots of hard crowd control, make sure to buy a Zhonya’s Hourglass as a fourth item to give yourself an extra layer of protection. You should also avoid picking Ekko if your team already has three or more squishy damage dealers—you’ll have no frontline to soak damage for you, and you’ll get focused down instantly in every team fight.
At the end of the day, if you were asking is ekko in league of legends, you now know he’s not just in the game—he’s one of the most rewarding picks you can learn if you love high-mobility, high-skill champions. Don’t rush to play him in ranked right away; spend a few games in normals practicing your Q aim and R timing, and you’ll be pulling off viral outplays in no time. Even if you don’t main him, learning how Ekko works will help you counter him more effectively when he’s on the enemy team, so the time you spend learning his kit is never wasted.