The Riven Test - How Good of A Toplaner Are You?

Hated Riven matchups for most of my time with League, her mobility, extreme burst, aggressiveness and basically everything about her. Once she kills you only one time and gets the snowball rolling, it becomes super frustrating to play against her, especially if she constantly outplays you.

Lately though, I have newfound appreciation for her. Because of her aggressiveness and oppressive feast-or-famine playstyle, playing against Riven and saving replays of it is the best way to learn how the toplane works, when to trade, when to fight, how to deal with a lane that is aggressive etc. With Riven, you are never going to let your guard down, you are constantly thinking about what she could be doing next and you become super aware of her and your own ability cooldowns, when and how to use them, how to use minions optimally . . . . just everything that you need to do to learn how to toplane properly.

Against the Super Tryhard BoxBox Jr. Diamond+ Riven One Tricks, I put myself through the "Riven Test", which basically consists of not getting her snowball rolling. This is harder than it sounds at first, those players are extremely good at the champion, they are trained in trading you under your tower and diving you and you also need to deep ward in advance to avoid getting dove by the enemy jungler, without running into her and risking getting outplayed. I already failed at that test last game, and once I start being good at denying the snowball, I will enter the second phase of the Riven Test which is actually beating her and getting the lead myself.

There are also some other champions and their mains that pur you in a similar situation, Renekton, Darius, Teemo, Yasuo and now with the worlds the new Rumble, Kennen, Gnar and Jayce picks. But for me, the Riven test is still the hardest.

The point of this whole thread is to basically just to encourage you to see the opportunity a bully matchup gives you. It is easy to just get frustrated about how seemingly unfair the whole lane is, but just endure it, save a replay of it, watch it and learn from it to finally put those bastards in their place one day, even if that day may be months or even years from now.