Overview
The Domination tree is designed for burst damage, single-target elimination, and roams. Assassins, junglers, and burst mages take Domination to amplify their kill pressure and snowball leads. If your game plan is to delete a priority target before a fight starts, Domination is your tree. Learn more about the League of Legends rune system and how Domination fits into different champion builds.
Domination keystones reward aggressive play and successful ganks. They fall off in prolonged fights compared to Precision or Conqueror but provide unmatched burst potential in short trades and ambushes.
Keystones
Electrocute is the standard burst keystone, dealing bonus adaptive damage after three separate attacks or abilities. It is the go-to for champions like Zed, Talon, LeBlanc, and Fizz who can proc it instantly with their combos. Dark Harvest stacks by collecting souls from low-health champions, scaling infinitely and dealing damage on your next auto or ability against a low-health target. The Domination page on the LoL Wiki covers all rune mechanics in detail.
Hail of Blades grants a burst of attack speed on your first three attacks against an enemy champion, then goes on cooldown. It is excellent for champions who need to stack a passive quickly — Xin Zhao, Jax, and Tryndamere all benefit from the sudden attack speed. Predator (reworked) was a roaming tool for junglers, but currently Electrocute and Dark Harvest dominate the Domination keystone picks.
Slot 1
Cheap Shot deals bonus true damage to enemies affected by impaired movement (slowed, stunned, rooted). It pairs well with champions who have reliable CC in their kit. Taste of Blood heals you when you damage an enemy champion, providing lane sustain for aggressive traders. It is the default choice for most assassins in solo lanes.
Cheap Shot is particularly strong on junglers who gank with red buff slow, or laners like LeBlanc who chain CC into burst. Taste of Blood is more versatile and helps survive poke lanes.
Slot 2: Eyeball Collection
Eyeball Collection grants bonus adaptive force for each champion takedown, up to a cap. Once fully stacked, it provides a significant chunk of bonus AD or AP. This rune rewards aggressive players who consistently participate in kills. It is the most popular Slot 2 choice because the stats are unconditional once stacked.
Zombie Ward replaces destroyed wards with allied zombie wards, providing vision control. It is a strong alternative for supports and junglers who actively clear vision. Ghost Poro leaves a poro ward when you enter a bush, granting vision for a period. It is less common but provides defensive vision.
Slot 3 (Hunter Runes)
Treasure Hunter grants bonus gold on each unique takedown, accelerating your item power spikes. This is the most gold-efficient choice for snowballing assassins. Ultimate Hunter reduces your ultimate ability cooldown, excellent for champions defined by their ultimate like Nocturne, Rengar, and Karthus.
Relentless Hunter grants out-of-combat movement speed, ideal for roaming mid laners and aggressive junglers. Ingenious Hunter reduces active item cooldowns, valuable for champions that rely on item actives like Zhonya's Hourglass, Youmuu's Ghostblade, or Prowler's Claw.
Domination as a secondary tree is common even for non-assassins. Taste of Blood + Ravenous Hunter (or Ultimate Hunter) provides sustain and CDR that many champions value. Don't feel locked into Domination primary — dipping into it for the lesser runes is often optimal.
