Why do people get so mad when I take Leona top lane?

Shentimate·Dec 13, 2016·13 votes·2,927 views

I was a support main when I had a lot of people to play with. I love support and Leona was one of my favorite Champs, but unfortunately my friends all started playing other games. Now I have no one to play with most days and do a lot of solo que. I started playing top lane a few months ago and have gotten pretty good at it. The other day I decided I wanted to play leona and take her top. I did relatively well in Lane 2 kills and 1 death, and kept up on cs. I excelled in team fights though due to being far more built then I would as a support. I only built a trinity force for the damage the rest was tank. We won the game yet people still gripped at me for doing something not in meta. I don't see why leona top would even be a bad thing. She has 2 cc's an engage that makes it almost impossible to get away from her, and she is unbelievably tanky. So why would people gripe right?

43 Comments

Linna ExcelDec 13, 20166 votes

She's not meta. That's enough to upset people.

ShentimateDec 13, 20167 votes

That's what I'm saying but why get so mad about it? She is an extremely viable top laner, even if she isn't "Meta"

ScissorsNstuffDec 13, 20161 votes

probably because you are in the habit of jerking off to how edgy your pick is rather than actually giving a convincing explanation.

Why do you take Leona top. Assume youre speaking to your teammates, You are not to exceed 40 words or 200 characters including spaces and next line

Linna ExcelDec 13, 20168 votes

I'm thinking fear of the unknown. They aren't used to seeing it (or seeing it done well often) and assume the worst.

SkiasDec 14, 20163 votes

{quoted}

That's what I'm saying but why get so mad about it? She is an extremely viable top laner, even if she isn't "Meta"

I play Taric Top, bro. I play him as a support fighter, I transition like a beast into teamfights. People will still hate you, even if you stomp out your competition. I've gone like 6/1 and ended games by 23m and been called trash. Don't let them get under your skin. If you are doing well and seeing success, do your thing.

Friendly RamDec 13, 20165 votes

leo top is great. Don't worry about what other people say and have fun.

WeatheredDec 13, 20164 votes

Because there is too much emphasis put on things like statistic sights, pro streams, etc etc so people assume that there is always a right way to do something.

They also don't trust you to play Leona top, because a lot of people feel that the game is fun only if they win.

ShentimateDec 13, 20163 votes

I wish that would change. The game is incredible, but the community is really bad. The game is fun either way for me, because you learn from your mistakes get better and win more.

Hauling AsheDec 14, 20163 votes

Because they don't praise the sun. Diana

PS Leona is bae.

Big LincolnDec 13, 20162 votes

she's an unconvential top laner, and for good reason; she's very risky.

VolcanuzDec 13, 20168 votes

A LOT of top laners are risky. So many of them if first picked alone can be countered SO hard that there can at times be no point in picking the champion. To name a few, Illaoi, Riven, Fiora, Irelia, Mao and Graves. All can if you know they are going top, be hard countered by just one or two champions and you won't be so lucky as to get more than 1 banned for your self.

Leona can translate into team fight time even with just one item. Like Malph. So i have to say Leo is less risky than those i mentioned before, because her major function is CC.

I agree, if your team looks like this > Tank top (leo), Amumu jungle, Sivir bot, Janna Supp and anyone mid. You might have a problem, as you will lack hard damage. But with damage supports being more of a thing, i doubt Leo top will affect the game that much or be too risky. Actually i would love to have that in some of my games.

ShentimateDec 13, 20165 votes

Leo top I feel is far more viable than someone like teemo. Not that teemo isn't good top because we'll he's cancer. If you take him anywhere you could wreck people. I just feel that leona contributes the team really well as a top laners. Being able to solo farm and buy more items, not having to worry about the sup like items, and being able to have basically two supports in team fight is awesome.

VolcanuzDec 13, 20163 votes

This is where i disagree.

Teemo offers pretty much the same as Leona does as a top.

The difference is how the team plays with the two. Take Leo, if your team don't follow you in on your initiate you will be useless as leo.

Same for teemo, if your team don't fall back or kite into your shrooms or utilize them to survive you will be useless too. So it all comes down to how your team uses your kit, teemo is more a defensive peel, Leo is an offensive peel.

The biggest difference is teemo does godly damage if played right and can split push like a mother fucker. Leo can't. She is totally team based and even if built with damage she still lacks the power to push or solo.

Leo top is a great pick, but only if your team is awake and uses you. Sadly people are fucking morons in SoloQ and just want to follow meta and not try anything new unless a pro does it first. I mean take brand for instance, i always played him support, for years, 4 or so years. But i always copped flak until a pro played him as support. Its fucking stupid how much the community relies on a pro to play something for it to suddenly become viable.

SkiasDec 14, 20161 votes

{quoted}

This is where i disagree.

Teemo offers pretty much the same as Leona does as a top.

The difference is how the team plays with the two. Take Leo, if your team don't follow you in on your initiate you will be useless as leo.

Same for teemo, if your team don't fall back or kite into your shrooms or utilize them to survive you will be useless too. So it all comes down to how your team uses your kit, teemo is more a defensive peel, Leo is an offensive peel.

The biggest difference is teemo does godly damage if played right and can split push like a mother fucker. Leo can't. She is totally team based and even if built with damage she still lacks the power to push or solo.

Leo top is a great pick, but only if your team is awake and uses you. Sadly people are fucking morons in SoloQ and just want to follow meta and not try anything new unless a pro does it first. I mean take brand for instance, i always played him support, for years, 4 or so years. But i always copped flak until a pro played him as support. Its fucking stupid how much the community relies on a pro to play something for it to suddenly become viable.

Leona's teamplay is far more reliable than Teemo's.

VolcanuzDec 14, 20161 votes

Very true.

I never said it wasn't though.

I was just explaining how teemo can be effective in team and on some points more than leona due to his bully nature with Q/R and E.

As others have said Leo just can't bully without help, she can lock someone down for a beat down but if that person doesn't utilize her she is about as useless as a Jhin top.

SkiasDec 14, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Very true.

I never said it wasn't though.

I was just explaining how teemo can be effective in team and on some points more than leona due to his bully nature with Q/R and E.

As others have said Leo just can't bully without help, she can lock someone down for a beat down but if that person doesn't utilize her she is about as useless as a Jhin top.

Leona certainly can bully. I've seen Leona tops do it. I saw one dude put Darius under his tower. If he came out, he got instalocked, ganked and killed. Her gank pressure after 6 is almost unbeatable.

Tukan TonkoDec 13, 20163 votes

{quoted}

A LOT of top laners are risky. So many of them if first picked alone can be countered SO hard that there can at times be no point in picking the champion. To name a few, Illaoi, Riven, Fiora, Irelia, Mao and Graves. All can if you know they are going top, be hard countered by just one or two champions and you won't be so lucky as to get more than 1 banned for your self.

Leona can translate into team fight time even with just one item. Like Malph. So i have to say Leo is less risky than those i mentioned before, because her major function is CC.

I agree, if your team looks like this > Tank top (leo), Amumu jungle, Sivir bot, Janna Supp and anyone mid. You might have a problem, as you will lack hard damage. But with damage supports being more of a thing, i doubt Leo top will affect the game that much or be too risky. Actually i would love to have that in some of my games.

Exactly! I mean, people underestimate battlefield control champions, to name few Cassiopeia AurelionSol Taliyah Viktor or support like Bard or Janna . Just because they don't have that much damage (I am not talking about Viktor and Cassio now) they are not bad. If you can control teamfight everything is better for you and your team. I wish we had more champs focusing on controlling the battlefield rather than just raw damage ones.

VolcanuzDec 13, 20162 votes

Yeah control champs are key for the game. It is either you go a full burst team, full CC team or a balanced team with a control champ. My biggest issues is those control champs you mentioned bar Vik have been nerfed to the ground constantly, every patch one of those you mentioned gets a nerf. I mean look at Tali, i planned on maining her top/mid but they just nerfed her so much and hit her over and over with the bat.

Same with sol, that change to his Q killed the champ. He just can't deal at all with melee champions, not one bit.

legionnaire99Dec 13, 20161 votes

Her average winrate for a main with 125+ games is 85% ^.^ Pa a Yasuo main tends to get 55%

VolcanuzDec 13, 20161 votes

Its that for yas because most yas mains are bitches who complain and int at the slightest sign of losing.

Tychusfindlay919Dec 13, 20161 votes

{quoted}

A LOT of top laners are risky. So many of them if first picked alone can be countered SO hard that there can at times be no point in picking the champion. To name a few, Illaoi, Riven, Fiora, Irelia, Mao and Graves. All can if you know they are going top, be hard countered by just one or two champions and you won't be so lucky as to get more than 1 banned for your self.

Leona can translate into team fight time even with just one item. Like Malph. So i have to say Leo is less risky than those i mentioned before, because her major function is CC.

I agree, if your team looks like this > Tank top (leo), Amumu jungle, Sivir bot, Janna Supp and anyone mid. You might have a problem, as you will lack hard damage. But with damage supports being more of a thing, i doubt Leo top will affect the game that much or be too risky. Actually i would love to have that in some of my games.

Many tanks have decent farming mechanisms, leona has no good way to farm.

Bullies like Darius will shred her ass to pieces or shove in two milliseconds and deny her farm, and other top tane tanks like Malphite Poppy will be able to shove her to turret and she'll lose cs because she sucks at farming.

VolcanuzDec 13, 20162 votes

Poppy is more of a bruiser, and Darius is a bruiser. So sure of course they beat her. But darius is banned nearly every game. And poppy is hardly picked top anymore. Malph is picked but he would be a strong lane to gank as you need to remember Leo has 3 CC abilities and a tank steroid. To be honest if i were leo i would loved to be shoved it would make farming a little easier. All she really needs though is to get to 6 and enough for a Bami. From there she just gets stronger.

Tychusfindlay919Dec 13, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Poppy is more of a bruiser, and Darius is a bruiser. So sure of course they beat her. But darius is banned nearly every game. And poppy is hardly picked top anymore. Malph is picked but he would be a strong lane to gank as you need to remember Leo has 3 CC abilities and a tank steroid. To be honest if i were leo i would loved to be shoved it would make farming a little easier. All she really needs though is to get to 6 and enough for a Bami. From there she just gets stronger.

"darius is banned nearly every game"

No he isn't. If that statement held true I'd have a shitload more nasus mastery than darius mastery, but even in platinum 1 I almost never saw darius banned.

VolcanuzDec 13, 20161 votes

Man maybe i should move to America then. As he gets banned all the time in my country/region for me. Just look at my OP.GG for this account alone, this account is in Bronze atm but even in bronze he is a must ban or just on the major player list for bans.

I always found him simple to vs as i Illaoi/teemo top because im a dick. But yeah lots of people panic when they think of him in OCE.

SkiasDec 14, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Many tanks have decent farming mechanisms, leona has no good way to farm.

Bullies like will shred her ass to pieces or shove in two milliseconds and deny her farm, and other top tane tanks like will be able to shove her to turret and she'll lose cs because she sucks at farming.

She's actually not that easy to bully. Her trade is actually pretty decent.

Tychusfindlay919Dec 14, 20161 votes

{quoted}

She's actually not that easy to bully. Her trade is actually pretty decent.

She's the only tank top lane who would have neither a shield nor a heal.

Nautilus Poppy Malphite Shen etc. have what's called SUSTAIN. Very very few champions with zero sustain can make the cut top lane, especially melee champs.

The only legitimate zero-sustain top lane champs I can think of are Jayce and Jax

ScissorsNstuffDec 13, 20162 votes

because they know theres like 2 people who do it right and you're not one of them

Tychusfindlay919Dec 13, 20162 votes

She cant even bully a Q max nasus...

ShentimateDec 13, 20164 votes

Your right, but that being said there are counter pics for every champ. With that logic no one would ever pick anyone but rumble.

SnugglePuggle94Dec 14, 20161 votes

I disagree. First time I did Leona top was against a Nasus. I bullied him early game and even killed him, but then he got a power spike at 6 and got me back then but still she can bully some that you wouldn't think she could at all.

Tukan TonkoDec 13, 20162 votes

Dunno. I played 5 man premade, and I didn't ban Irelia and they picked it. I already locked Leona but my top lane didn't want to play against her so I went top with Leona. I knew I would win because I played her top once or twice. And I destroyed her so much that she had to be under turret because I was punishing her when she tried to cs. Finally, my wave came to turret, where I just tower dived her again and again and again, imagine that, TOWER DIVING IRELIA! xD I had like 7/0 in 15 min just because I was farming her under turret! So, yeah, I hate people that flame you just because you play something like Leona top. It is not even troll pick, she is good there! Like, she can just come to you, give you 3 attacks almost instantly, stunning you and beating you badly. You will win almost every trade like that. And when it comes to mid game it's just like support Leona. But she has more items, she can kill enemy easily and do her job better like that.

Btw. try Braum top! fun as well!

ShentimateDec 13, 20162 votes

I am horrid with braum or I would. I agree though Leona is incredible when she has items. Just her base scaling damage is good build one, maybe two damage items and tank, and you wreck anything that gets to close to you.

A Basic IslandDec 13, 20162 votes

every time i have seen leona go top she gets shit on so hard and ruins the game

play what you want but you'l upset some players

hopefully they aren't asses about it and are only upset internally

Tukan TonkoDec 13, 20162 votes

Tbh, I find Viktor strong enought even after the nerfs. He really needed those. Even when drunk and with one eye and left hand I would be able to kill anyone, because E was all he needed back then. And that ultimate, hell no! I just played a ranked with him, enemy picked Cassiopea so I picked Viktor because I needed to somehow stop her when she comes for me. I was able to. And before you ask, yep, she was good, she was diamond. Cassiopea is a very very weir mage tbh. I don't know if she needs nerfs or not. Because you need to be good with her to do good. But after you are good enought with her you do a lot! her new W is really strong and it's not because of damage, and I like that. You can change teamfights with that ability.

On the other hand, Aurelion, well, he is hard to play, you need to position yourself well and if someone jumps on you you are dead. And after this rylai nerf he is just going lower and lower. Nonetheless, his presence in teamfight is really strong if played well, he can peel really well and his controlling abilities are something I enjoy on him. And our beloved Thalyah. I wanted to main her too, lol. I was doing really well on her and I don't know why I stopped playing her. But maybe because I like Azir a bit more. xD I love that champion, sreiously, but those nerf are just bad. I mean, you an still do very well on her, she neserved nerf after she was released but that's all, I don't see why she would be nerfed again after that. If they gave her more tools to control fights I would gladly lose some damage. But like this... even rylai nerf, oh god.

I wish they create someone to control fights more, preferably jungle or support, that would be fun!

SpookyNeedleDec 13, 20162 votes

Can you share your build? Have been meaning to try Leo top

CrazyBear1987Dec 13, 20161 votes

to be fair, out of the 4 games you played Leona top, you only won one game, where you dc'd ?. there is just so many more better champs to pick.

you lost to cho gath, xin zhao and yasuo(or rammus)

DunkinNoobsDec 13, 20161 votes

Because it sucks. I love playing it too but even I recognize just how bad it is.

Zen FuryDec 14, 20161 votes

The problem with Leo top is farming. If she's up against someone with even mediocre wave clearing/harassing she's going to be pushed back under her turret. Her stun isn't long enough for her to effectively trade unless she charges her shield before E'ing, and anyone with half a brain is going to know to back off when that happens.

I play a lot of Leona as support, and she works really well in that role. Most tops are going to bully her out of lane if they have half a clue what they're doing.

In modes where it's ham and high gold, she can be a non-trad nightmare. In the rift though, I can't really see Leona top working much beyond the low elos.

ZT XperimentorDec 14, 20161 votes

Because some people are inflexible, and panic if things aren't cookie-cutter.

BeldairDec 14, 20161 votes

I get the same thing with my support picks..we may win the game but I still get raged at for who I picked for support.

2 good examples are Nasus and Rumble.

When I played support as both of them, I get the usually attacks (He's a Troll, GG, etc). Even after I got them their kill, they still tell the enemy to report me for trolling. Enemy team argues with then on why, when my pick actually works.