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Tanky Zilean top: Hidden OP or not? You tell me

thicc as fuk·7/23/2014, 6:03:54 PM·3 votes·2,203 views

This is my first thread ever on the League of Legends forums. I normally talked about League on a smaller forum and decided today that I would test the waters here.

So lets get to it.

Tanky Zilean top. Zilean

So I only tried this three times and it went extremely well each time. Coincidentally each time I tried this it was against a Tryndamere which was kind of ironic what with our ults.

The three reasons I went tanky. 1: I felt since I'm taking up top lane with my troll pick the least I can do is fulfill my roles purpose and bring a little tank to this team. 2: Zilean is extremely squishy and I assumed most top laners like Tryndamere Riven Renekton would be able to jump on me once, take half my health and effectively force me out of lane in fear of dying to another engage. 3: I felt his base damages were high enough as is and since Zilean doesn't really have any kill pressure in lane I saw it as being a waste.

How to play Tanky Zilean top: I started your typical AP start. Dorans ring 2 pots. Depending on who you're laning against you could start Cloth Armor 5 pots or if that just feels better to you then more power to ya'. Being Zilean you don't have much kill pressure in lane but you have amazing harass so do your best to freeze lane and deny CS with your bombs. When your opponent eventually leaves lane either voluntarily or by force, is when you use your incredible wave clear to push the wave to their tower and back yourself. This is a farm lane so treat it as such. Don't guy diving people just 'cause your ult is up. You never know when you might need it.

Summoners: Like I said before. Zilean doesn't have much kill potential and he is focused on being a farm lane so I am personally in favor of Teleport, Flash.

Runes/Masteries Runes http://i.gyazo.com/5ba34bbffa19179e51c94e138a393ab9.png Behind the Runes and why I use what I use. I've been personally favoring scaling health over armor with the recent armor rune nerfs and all. Even more so on ranged champions, the hybrid pen marks are for csing. His autos are pretty weak.

Masteries http://i.gyazo.com/4e837140c9c623b67448add8b7de1fc9.png Behind the masteries and why I use what I use. With all my AP casters I favor 21/0/9 but not your typical extended buff masteries. I go for biscuits and extended potions to increase my sustainability in lane. This isn't only for Tanky Zilean top. I use the same masteries for most of my mid laners as well.

Tips and trick: Walking up to someone and placing a bomb on them is fun and all but can draw minion aggro to you or even worse put you in range of your opponents gap closer thus allowing them to effectively trade with you. Try instead of placing a bomb on them to place it on a minion they are going to last hit. (Assuming they're melee.) This will force them to decide between taking free harass or getting CS. It's extremely effective for winning trades early game and for controlling your lane. Remember. You are a farming lane so CS is more important than kills and harass. Make sure you last hit your minions before you drop on a bomb on your opponent. Another cool tip is do not be afraid of two person dives. In all of my three games as Tanky Zilean top I was two person dove in each one by the enemy laner and jungler. (You tend to attract a lot of attention if your enemy laner cries to their jungler that they can't get CS.) Keep in mind you have two slows and a revive ultimate. Chances are you will survive the dive if played smart and end up getting a double. I did in each game. Of course do not underestimate your enemy jungler. If he/she is fed you might be better of just speeding yourself up and running out of there.

Build path/Items: Remember this is Tanky Zilean and he is extremely item dependent to reach this "Tanky" status. Seeing as he has no natural tank (His revival aside.) I personally love rushing item 3024 Glacial Shroud which I later turn into either a Frozen fist item 3025 Or Frozen Heart item 3110 You will eventually build both. I prefer building them both first for strong early tank/mana fixing. If you decide to go Frozen Fist first. Be careful with how its passive effects your lane. Remember you are trying to freeze lane and deny CS. The aoe damage could could end up pushing your lane a lot faster than you want it to effectively putting you near their tower which not only allows your enemy laner to somewhat safely CS but also makes you susceptible to ganks. I personally enjoy building both for the 30% CDR, tank, and mana fixers. This is a very versatile build that allows you to be creative once you've built your two frozen items. Depending on whether your enemy laner rushes MR or not will decide which one you go first (Frozen Fist or Frozen Heart.) After those two items I like to get a Zhonya's item 3157 More tank, a nice passive and a great amount of AP that will make your bombs hit a lot harder and surprise most people with how much you're dealing. As for boots feel free to buy them in between either of your frozen items. I personally don't think Zilean is in need of boots what with his MS boost and all but when it comes to boots I like Mercury Treads item 3111. Sorcerer's Shoes being just as good item 3020 From there you can improvise with whatever you want really. From Abyssal Scepter item 3001 to Banshee's Veil item 3102 It all depends on your enemy team and like I said this is a very versatile build.

Why should you play Tanky Zilean top? Well of course it is an out of the meta pick but it brings its advantages to the team. His passive is great for bot lane allowing them to get ahead. Especially if you have a lane with Leona. We all know how strong a Leona instant engage as soon as she hits 6 is. Same goes for mid lane with laners like Zed, Syndra, Katarina. All having strong level 6's

Then there is the utility of his short CD ult and his bombs are great harass when you want to siege a tower. All and all this is a fun pick to test out in normals with friends. He is a strong laner that can easily gain control of his lane and maintain it and all around a fun pick.

My name is Cav and I hope you enjoyed this guide. I'd appreciate any and all feedback seeing as this is my first post. Feel free to ask any questions. I'll answer as many as I can

10 Comments

Eunie7/23/2014, 6:14:39 PM1 votes

HI CAV!

Zarkkast7/23/2014, 6:45:36 PM1 votes

Considering we're talking Zilean, I think Iceborn Gauntlet and Spirit Visage are a must, cause Zilean needs that cdr to be able to make any pressure. I don't think Frozen Heart is as good as an option as the Gauntlet cause it doesn't give any AP, only if there's a very attack speed reliant adc on the enemy team like Tristana.

Maybe even getting Mikael's Crucible if the team has a lot of AP, even though it's a support item. Mana regen is also a must on Zilean.

Then finish with Zhonya's and Randuin's (the movement speed debuff synergyzes well with Zilean).

GundayMonday7/23/2014, 8:33:10 PM1 votes

I'm going to try this out. The passive exp gain is helpful too. It's kind of like soraka top, even if you go even in lane, you still help your team with your global presence. Probably falls off hard late game though.

KingSmizzy7/25/2014, 12:29:39 AM1 votes

Lol, in soloq every champion that you know how to play is OP. But in terms of general effectivness the reasons zilean isnt amazing is because he has no reaction skills. If someone dives a renekton he can stun and dice away. If someone dives a zilean, he puts a bomb that blows up 4 seconds too late. Short engages or long distance poke can ruin your laning phase.

Being up against a toplane mundo for example, as a mundo main I would build a Spirit Visage first item, take no dmg from your abilities and outscale you in power.

Also, teamfight zilean is really only good for his ultimate, and thats a scary thing, because if you misuse it then you lose a lot of potential power. His dps is really low and he only has a single target buff/debuff so in large/fast engages he isnt of any use.

All that being considered if you can force the right kind of engages (2v2 or so) then he's stupid OP, its all about playing your champion to their strengths.

Miles Lupine7/25/2014, 12:30:28 AM1 votes

Definitely an interesting way to think outside of the current metagame. If it is half as annoying as Zilean is in ARAMS it definitely would draw a lot of attention of the jungler to try to help some. A lot of people would think troll pick but thing is they may just underestimate it because of that and just get snowballed too hard to bounce back. Fact that people tried to dive you and only fed you more just shows that unconventional does have a certain edge at times. Not respecting a damage source as one is just a sure fire way to get exploded.