Former Xin player in need of some community help

Hello all - FIrst time in a long time I've been on the forums but I am at my wit's end and hoping someone can help a casual player out. I play LoL one night a week on average with friends and I always play Xin Xhao. He's an easy champion that I really enjoyed playing and I was good with him against intermediate competition. After the rework he is unplayable to me. The nerf in damage output killed my play style. Early game top lane I would mostly play possum till lvl 6 then when the enemy champ got a little aggressive I'd dive in with E, then R, then Q. They take a big chunk of dmg and try to flee and I can usually chase them down and get kills. By late game I could afford to build how I want. The playing experience for me was a lot of fun.

I understand he is great in team fights now, but he was decent enough before and the damage nerf for me is so noticeable early on I just cant do it.

I was hoping for suggestions on a champion to play that does good dmg around levels 6-12 but who also isn't squishy. I've done ok with Aatrox but I find he dies too easily. Garen is a little slow for my style but I havent given him much of a chance yet.

TLDR:

I am an average player at best who played Xin Xhao really well before the rework. The nerf in damage especially in mid game kills my playing style with him and I'm in need of suggestions for an easy champion to play who is similar to old Xin/does good burst dmg but is also a little tanky.