MSI prediction picks for patch 6.8 - Top Lane (Chpt. 1) YOUR OPINIONS

With the dawn of the mid-seasonal invitational just around the corner in Shanghai, we here at reddit have an opportunity to discuss which picks and bans will dominate the rift. The first chapter we will be looking at the top lane. At the start of the spring season, all remnants of Darius from the 90%+ p/b rate from the 2015 world champions completely disappear as Noxian axe-wielder was both battered by nerfs and thoroughly exposed through counterpicks. One of those aforementioned counterpicks, Fiora (the other being Gnar), dominated the start of the spring season across all regions along with Gangplank. With a high damage and a tanky build, Fiora was quickly hit with the nerf hammer. Gangplank soon received the same treatment as his performance plumetted with Riot gutting his kit. Ranged marksmen also found solace in the top lane as well. Graves and Quinn, quickly found themselves at home on the opposite side of the rift. What was once a solo queue type pick only, Quinn's rework gave her unprecedented dueling power, and roaming capabilities that saw her finding herself revered in professional multiple marksmen comps. As the meta was readjusting itself, safe picks such as reworked Poppy, Gnar, along with new niche picks such as Rammus (a champion who was discovered to be competant versus Fiora), appeared in the top lane before the next big pick came and annoyed the living crap out of people; Grasp of the undying. Ekko, an assassin with no natural sustain, found a great deal of utility from this keystone mastery. Not only did it mitigate a glaring weakness inherent in the kits of assassin champions, it encouraged a scenario where a highly mobile kit was able to be combined with tank items to devastating effect. With higher resistances, he found great bang for the buck on his Chronobreak. Usually, with a glass cannon build, the recovered health from this ability a cop-out for overcommiting. Now however, with the extra health backed up by resistances, it was, more than ever, like a second life. Which brings us to patch 6.8; the one which will be used at the Mid-Season Invitational. After Riot lowered Ekko's base stats and increased his Ability Power scaling, the community is hoping see him back in an traditionally offensive assassin role. Poppy, another powerpick that stood toe to toe with Ekko, also received nerfs to her kit in patch 6.7. So it leaves us wondering, who will be the contested top lane picks in the upcoming tournament? Tank Fizz has seen great success in solo queue with a tanky build in similar style to pre-nerfed Ekko. Just like him, the fishman has an escape and benefits greatly from the sustain in the Grasp mastery. He has no nerfs and recent patches and has a chance to be abused. And what about more traditional picks such as Malphite and Mao'Kai. What about Gragas that started appearing in North America towards the end of the season? What do you guys think will be the contested top-lane picks and bans in the upcoming tournament?