Ranking all top laners at worlds 2019 (OPINION)
To preface, let me just say that I've watched all 4 major regions, but only watched LMS/VCS/TCL/OPL/LCL/CBLOL to a lesser degree. I haven't watched any LLA/GPL/LJL so those I'm going on based on MSI play ins, since they're the same teams and have mostly the same roster.
- G2 Wunder
- FPX GimGoon It was a toss up between Wunder and GimGoon here. To me, top lane is the weakest position at this worlds by far, perhaps because top lane in the pro scene has become somewhat of an island as of late with solo carries like Gangplank, Rumble, and Aatrox being prominent for the last couple of months. The difference between Wunder and GimGoon to me, however, is that Wunder outright wins lane a lot of the time while GimGoon goes 50/50 on the GP and becomes a teamfight carry.
- IG TheShy
- DWG Nuguri TheShy and Nuguri are very similar players to me - extremely aggressive laners that can either solo carry games or just outright feed the enemy team. TheShy, at his highs, has been the best player in the world (see: Worlds 2018 and Spring Split 2019). At his worst, he just gets stomped by mid tier LPL teams like LNG (see: Summer split playoffs). Nuguri is very similar - he can pull off insane 1v3s and 1v4s but can also just go into a 1v3 situation and then die for free, multiple times. Look out for both of these players - if they perform, their teams will definitely go far. If they don't ... they'll be out by quarters at best.
- FNC Bwipo - Another coinflip player. I rated him lower than TheShy/Nuguri because imo his highs aren't as high, but his lows are still almost as low (random ints in game).
- TL Impact - GimGoon lite. You can count on him to never lose lane and scale into the mid/late game.
- SKT Khan - Khan was definitely heralded as the best top in the world at one point, but those days are over on SKT. Khan isn't given much opportunity to carry, taking a backseat role to Clid/Faker/Teddy, but the latter half of Summer proved that he can perform. Quite underrated by reddit/people that only watched MSI.
- C9 Licorice
- CG Huni
- SPY Vizicsacsi
- GRF Sword/Doran
- RNG LangX - really wanted to rate him higher, but my god RNG just ruins toplaners. RNG is the Uzi team, and although Karsa/Xiaohu have shined throughout 2019 summer, LangX has really taken a backseat.
- GAM Zeros
- AHQ Ziv
- JT Rest
- RY Armut
- UOL Boss
- LKE Hani
- FLA Robo
- HKE 3z
- DFM Evi
- MEGA Rockky
- MMM Fudge
- ISG Buggax
Overall, LEC and LCS match up pretty well in terms of top lane with regards to the East. GAM's Zeros couldn't crack the "major region top 12" although he had pretty strong showings in VCS, and the rest of the rankings are fairly arbitrary. I was impressed by Armut, Hani and Evi. Fudge could be a little higher, but in my eyes OPL is just too weak as a region and needs to prove themselves in at least one play in (Bombers 3-3 was ok but nothing special)
