Fewer things are more satisfying in League of Legends than pressing a button and making an enemy disappear. This dopamine hit is one of the main reasons assassins are always popular regardless of power in the meta. However, another class of character notorious for performing these magic tricks are burst mages.
Burst mages come in various flavors. Some are more assassin-oriented, looking to use mobility and smooth combos. Others are control mages, using the threat of burst to warp the battlefield. There are even artillery mages, wielding long-range spells to safely wipe out an entire team. The context of a kit needs to be considered, but more often than not the best ability is the Ultimate. In terms of raw power and that sweet dopamine hit, some excel to the highest levels.
Updated November 29th, 2021 by Russ Boswell: There has been an abundance of champions added to League of Legends over the years. Mages continue to be one of the most popular choices for players that love to dish out large amounts of damage. Those looking for the best mages in League of Legends and are intent on steamrolling past their enemies may want to consider using a LoL Mage with a bursty Ultimate ability. To better shine a light on some of the best Mages in League of Legends with Burst Ultimates, the following list has been updated to include even more entries.
12 Neeko - Pop Blossom
Neeko is a burst mage that excels at locking foes down for extended periods of time. Aside from some cheesy on-hit builds, her best builds utilize her roots to maximize the power of the rest of her abilities. Some may say that Neeko requires a bit of skill to utilize deception with her W and passive, but the real strength comes in slamming with the Pop Blossom.
Pop Blossom requires 1.25 seconds of wind-up, and then Neeko is locked in place as she unleashes a large and powerful AoE. At max level, this ability deals 650 (+130% AP) damage. She also gets a shield to help her survive to actually get the ability out. A five-man Pop Blossom may be hard to land, but landing it is beyond satisfying.
11 Annie - Summon Tibbers
Speaking of big AoE ultimates that apply CC, Annie's Summon Tibbers is in the same tier. Few things are more recognizable to players of every level than seeing an Annie do a spicy Flash/Tibbers combo. Whether it lands on multiple targets or whiffs completely, the power of the bear is still intimidating.
The summon deals a sizeable amount of damage in an AoE, and can easily be combined with Annie's other abilities to erase a target. If that doesn't work, Tibbers is also a controllable unit, giving Annie a body to hide behind and an ally to run down targets that are out of range. Don't disrespect the aura damage on Tibbers either; with the right build, it can ruin the day of an entire team.
10 Karthus - Requiem
Karthus is hardly a "burst mage." He fills a battlemage role, dealing consistent magic damage to enemies. He favors longer fights over short skirmishes, and often will simply jungle and play PvE for twenty minutes. However, Karthus also delivers one of the most iconic ultimates in League of Legends: Requiem.
Requiem has a long channel time, but upon casting deals massive damage to every single enemy. Its Karthus's only burst ability, but it doesn't hold back. It cannot be dodged without becoming invulnerable. Sure, it starts off weak, but with Dark Harvest stacks and a lot of AP, it becomes a button to push to win games. It still requires proper timing, but a perfect Requiem can shatter games wide open.
9 Veigar - Primordial Burst
Veigar, in recent metas, comes up woefully short of other control and burst mages. He's still effective at zoning enemies with his Event Horizon, but his laning is too weak and risky to be used against aggressive jungle picks. After losing the safety of Hextech-GLP, he's struggled to compete in season 11.
However, this doesn't change the power of Primordial Burst. When a Veigar is able to effectively scale into late-game, he's still a monster. Primordial Burst is a simple point-and-click damage ability that deals increased damage based on the enemy's missing health. As a combo finisher, it can delete squishy targets near the start of the game with ease. At the end of the game, even tanks will have to fear the Tiny Master of Evil.
8 LeBlanc - Mimic
LeBlanc is more assassin than a mage, using high mobility to execute priority targets. She has fairly straightforward combos but requires solid mechanics to utilize properly. The most important ability to erase targets, however, is the one that deals no damage. This is her ultimate, Mimic.
Mimic copies LeBlanc's last ability, giving it increased power. Her regular abilities are all very useful, and her Mimic allows her to make the most of each of them. A good LeBlanc will use them appropriately, like doubling chains to maximize CC on a single target. However, the feeling enemies of LeBlanc are familiar with is getting double-tapped with her Q. With enough AP, even her W can delete a target with Mimic.
7 Ziggs - Mega Inferno Bomb
Those looking for a little extra explosive damage in League of Legends will feel right at home with Ziggs, a chaotic Yordle that specializes in lighting up the battlefield with an array of bombs. His kit is exceptionally punishing, chipping away health from range while also making use of area denial via his Hexsplosive Minefield.
His ultimate is the Mega Inferno Bomb, a massive piece or ordinance with a Target Range of 5000 that will grant sight in a 600 unit radius. It does a hefty amount of damage to champions caught in its blast radius, doing 50 percent more to those that are closest to the center of the explosion. Ziggs can effectively punish teams that group up together and his Ultimate is capable of blowing squishier Champions to smithereens.
6 Vex - Shadow Surge
League of Legends has a new Yordle but this one's a bit different from the funny-looking happy-go-lucky pint-sized heroes that players are used to seeing. Vex is all about doom and gloom, something she takes very seriously. Her dark and shadowy nature translates to the battlefield, turning her into a very capable burst mage that rewards skill shots and can dominate a match if left unchecked.
Her ultimate, Shadow Surge, allows Vex to sling her shadow entity out at enemies, dealing a large amount of Magical damage to a Champion and "marking them." At any moment after, Vex is able to teleport to the marked champion, consuming the mark and dealing a massive amount of Magical damage to the target. What's worse is that she's able to use the ability again almost instantly if she manages to eliminate her mark. It's got intense range and in the right hands can catch even the most cautious players off-gaurd.
5 Lux - Final Spark
Lux is an artillery mage that can use both burst and supportive abilities in equal measure. Her utility with the root on Light Binding and the slow on Lucent Singularity makes her oppressive to lane against. Her shield, Prismatic Barrier, gives her a bit of safety and helps allies. Any Lux worth their salt will maximize the power of her ultimate, Final Spark.
The ability formerly known as "Finales Funkeln," Final Spark fires a laser of light, sniping targets at a long-range. It's an instant burst of damage and can apply and proc her passive. In late-game scenarios, getting hit by a Light Binding always leads to eating a Final Spark. The cooldown is short enough that she can even just use it to poke during sieges. It's an effective tool.
4 Syndra - Unleashed Power
Syndra is a control mage that requires a fair bit of skill to pilot effectively. She needs to manage her Dark Spheres and space properly to win lane. There are a lot of skill matchups for Syndra, and it's exciting to face one in battle. What's less exciting is when a Syndra wins by just hitting the gameplay button, Unleashed Power.
Unleashed Power is similar to Primordial Burst in that it's a point-and-click burst ability. Unlike Veigar, however, Syndra doesn't need to scale to erase targets. Unleashed Power will fire up to four Dark Spheres around her at a target, dealing bonus damage for each orb she had laying around. A max damage Syndra ultimate is rare, but will just delete someone a squishy target from full HP. If that happens to you, just remember that you just got outplayed by the superior gaming intellect hitting the R button.
3 Orianna - Command: Shockwave
Orianna is almost always meta. She's a safe character, able to control waves with ease and lane safely against pretty much everyone. She has good and bad matchups, but it's rare for Orianna to get counter-picked. And even if Orianna isn't able to win lane, she can still win a game with a perfect Command: Shockwave.
Shockwave commands the Ball to unleash an AoE attack, dealing massive damage and pulling them a set distance towards the Ball. In chokepoints in the jungle, Orianna's ball alone can deter enemies from taking a specific path into a fight. It's best used with a hard engage tank, but Orianna's can get creative to land 300 IQ Shockwaves. It's a classic ability, but seeing a game-changing Shockwave is still awe-inspiring.
2 Seraphine - Encore
Seraphine was billed as a control mage that could also play in the support role. In practice, she's capable of playing three roles effectively and abusing low-cost support items. Seraphine typically doesn't build high AP items, but she still combos much like a burst mage. Her ultimate is more than just burst; it's a total game-changer.
Her ultimate, Encore, is arguably one of the strongest abilities in the game currently. Seraphine fires a line skill shot, dealing solid damage and charming targets that get hit. If the ability hits an enemy or ally, the range extends and can keep extending to an absurd length. It's like Sona's Crescendo, but better in every single way. Much like how Seraphine is just Sona, but better.
1 Sylas - Hijack
Every ability that has been listed varies in effectiveness. Some are great to delete targets. Others are great to change the pace of an entire game by single-handedly winning a team fight. These abilities, on their own, often define the champion. And every single one of these abilities can be stolen by Sylas.
Sylas's ultimate, Hijack, allows him to gain a copy of an enemy's ultimate ability. They scale with Sylas's AP, and the cost of the Hijacked ability is free. He can then save the ultimate to cast at any time for a set duration. In late-game team fights, it's possible for Sylas to Hijack multiple ultimates to use in a single fight. Some work better than others with Sylas's kit, but every great ultimate is a new tool for Sylas.