Pretty much no reason to ever go top lane as a jungler now unless the enemy jungler is dead somehow and you have a heavy snowball champ since you'll lose dragons, and buffs for your ADC > kills on a top lane who probably can't carry anyway.
Sohleks19 votesThe way I see it honestly... the point of a top laner is to 
to someplace more relevant and be the swing factor. It's odd to say that because that summoner is available to everyone, but you know it's true...
I do see where you're coming from though. Personally I think dragon buffs are overtuned currently. 5 stack drake snowballs into free barons, and that compounds the problem.
Whacky and unfun suggestion, but maybe 5 stack dragon and baron buff should cancel out the previous one. That way if you get 5 stack drag getting baron is a decision, not a freebie.
If they did override I bet eventually common practice would be to siege the enemy with your super drag buff then prep for baron before drag falls off. It would still give the advantage to the team in control of the neutral objectives, but in a less direct and oppressive way.
FluxBound1 votesyeah, rek sai top lane could be a thing, tele to dragon fight, and ult over there later. Top lane Rek Sai might be viable in higher tiers where lane swaps or when the top lane follows the jungle are more common
LucidLunatic1 votesFrankly, if you're getting to 5 stacks of dragon, then you are probably in a position to win the game anyhow, since your team clearly has better objective control, unless you're also losing a tower or something for each of those. I don't think the new dragon buff is necessarily that over powered, but I'd need to see data. I do know that Riot originally stated that one team was getting 5 dragons about 2% of the time in S4. How much do you believe that has changed?
Konidias8 votesYou have as much impact as you're capable of.
If you are crushing top lane and forcing the enemy team to send reinforcements, you're having a huge impact.
If you are pushing top lane hard and then roaming mid for ganks, you're having a huge impact.
If you have teleport and you can coordinate a tp to dragon and outnumber the enemy, you're having a huge impact.
If you spend all of your top lane just farming and making some equal trades with the enemy top laner, then you have no impact.
serpensortia11 votesUnless you're Nasus and your team can hold out long enough for you to massively stack your Q.
serpensortia11 votesUnless you're Nasus and your team can hold out long enough for you to massively stack your Q.
Xonra2 votesYou have as much impact as you're capable of.
If you are crushing top lane and forcing the enemy team to send reinforcements, you're having a huge impact.
If you are pushing top lane hard and then roaming mid for ganks, you're having a huge impact.
If you have teleport and you can coordinate a tp to dragon and outnumber the enemy, you're having a huge impact.
If you spend all of your top lane just farming and making some equal trades with the enemy top laner, then you have no impact.
If you are playing solo queue and not in a ranked team good luck with that.
You can't just say the best case scenarios as your argument because in solo queue games, from bronze to challenger, you aren't going to get those best case scenarios even most of the time.
The fact you are forced into having to have tp completely screws things up as far as choices. If you dare to not take tp you are screwed right now, and the fact that Riot basically builds and balances around flash in most cases means you are going flash tp on most champs.
All of what you said above SOUNDS nice, but like I said, you can't best the game on the best case scenario when the worst case can lose you a lot more than you gained and has a higher chance of happening with 4 random team mates.
Konidias1 votesThe skill levels vary so much that you aren't just going to "Crush" just because you want to. It is a nice idea but not something you should ever bank on being a legit strategy.
It should at least be your primary strategy going into a lane. If your lane opponent proves to be really challenging, then you can just try to push the lane and roam.
If you are pushing top lane hard in solo queue chances are the enemy jungler will just come kill you and then they can still take dragon as now the enemy laner can just tp down while you are dead, assuming your opponent doesn't just push back cause they aren't a bot. Not to mention if you are playing against me and you leave the lane...you just lost a tower. Good luck with that roam, and most top laners are the same.
If you are pushing top lane hard, you should be prepared for a gank from their jungler. That's the point. You ward well, and then you push hard... you get the jungler to come up... You know he's there... and then you bait him to stay... You get just close enough to where he feels like he might have a shot, and then you back off. You repeat this until he catches on that the bush is warded, and then he leaves. Congrats, you just wasted like 30 seconds of his time. Plus with good map awareness you can estimate where the jungler is. If you just saw him pop up bottom on the minimap, you have free reign to shove the lane hard.
The fact you are forced into having to have tp completely screws things up as far as choices. If you dare to not take tp you are screwed right now, and the fact that Riot basically builds and balances around flash in most cases means you are going flash tp on most champs.
I play top lane a lot and never take TP. I go Flash + Ignite. I play Quinn top... so I can handle the 1v2 situations, not to mention I can interrupt teleports (ALL TELEPORTS)... oh and I also have my ultimate that gives me insane movespeed. I can literally walk into top lane river out of sight, and within a couple seconds I'm ganking mid. By the time the top laner realizes I'm gone, I'm already at mid. I do what I need to do mid, and then I instantly run back top before the top laner can even push to my tower. THAT is how you effectively push a lane and gank.
You are right that most top lane champs are forced to take TP... because they have limited mobility otherwise. But Quinn is an exception to the rule. It also doesn't hurt that she is ranged and pretty much dumps on 90% of top laners. :)
KlNGPlN1 votesYou have as much impact as you're capable of.
If you are crushing top lane and forcing the enemy team to send reinforcements, you're having a huge impact.
If you are pushing top lane hard and then roaming mid for ganks, you're having a huge impact.
If you have teleport and you can coordinate a tp to dragon and outnumber the enemy, you're having a huge impact.
If you spend all of your top lane just farming and making some equal trades with the enemy top laner, then you have no impact.
THIS.
Sire Hippington3 votesthe main problem for toplane is that strong early jungler can afford to gank it a few times early allowing their laner to snowball, while weak early jungler can't help their top against a snowballing enemy without loosing dragoncontroll. This makes playing toplane extremly unfun right now, especially if ur team has a more lategame focused jungler.
with other words, toplane is now even more dependend on the jungler matchup as befor, which really sucks. I thought the whole point off making the early jungle more difficult was to decrease the impact jungle has on lanes early on...
JadeKnightblazer2 votesI feel top lane is for easy ganks and tower dives. You just have some teammate you forget about and hope they play smart n safe. Then when team fights start you magically have an additional teammate.
Top lanes seems to be the "come 1v1 me bro" lane, until... Well... The jungler rudely comes XD
Fried Noob2 votesThe point of top lane in the early game is to provide enough pressure in order to force the jungler to come and deal with you, allowing your jungler to take objectives on the other side of the map. It's not as flashy as other lanes, but done right, along with tactical use if TP, can swing the game in your favor early. At least, that's how I see it.
FalconPawwwwnch5 votesOr, the jungler can not fall for your bait, and camp bot lane instead.
You're basically saying that you can't make any plays yourself, just rely on the enemy jungler to not be smart.
Dayblazer2 votesOr, the jungler can not fall for your bait, and camp bot lane instead.
You're basically saying that you can't make any plays yourself, just rely on the enemy jungler to not be smart.
Except camping bot lane has a much higher risk of going horribly wrong. And top lane is still get 1 kill win lane. Yes drag control is more important now but a top with TP can help alot if its warded properly.
Yandere Carry1 votesBot lane is 2-4 kills + drag vs 1-2 kill and lose drag top lane
supes the lost1 voteshowever, if you are playing a snowballing top laner, or are just generally smashing the lane, you are a problem to the enemy team, and the jungler would have to deal with you to prevent you from taking top lanes towers.
Yandere Carry1 votesAgain, watch worlds to see why splitpushing stopped being a thing. Teams just force engages 4v5 and kill your team. The preseason changes reward grouping even moreso now too.
Dayblazer1 votesBot lane is 2-4 kills + drag vs 1-2 kill and lose drag top lane
yes its also a massive throw if it goes wrong. Hence why its more risk/reward. While 1 gank top can snowball him completly out of control.
Yandere Carry1 voteslosing a 3v2 is just as easy as losing a 1v2. We are assuming that the enemy jungler went with your plan of camping top. Yea, it goes great if you win top and bot lane wins 2v3.... But let's be realistic and pretend people are competent.
Both lanes die to ganks. You lose dragon and your top laner has a lead. unfortunately Preseason changes have made splitpush strats pretty terribad so you need to group (all the new changes encourage grouping). Meaning, that your team is weaker than theirs.
Dayblazer1 votesI certainly didnt say camp top. Nor would I actually recommend it. However I see junglers now completely ignore top. And a 3v2 is alot harder to pull off then a 2v1 if you use your CC correctly. While bot lane supports are quite capable of peeling well. I agree that splitpushing has changed. Its not gone though when a top can 2v1 at a certain point because he's snowballed off 1 or 2 ganks. Which several are capable of nowadays.
Edit: Specially since any support worth his salt has warded the crap outta his area.
MaknBacnPancakes2 votesThe role for top lane is to dominate your opponent, get a two level lead, get fed, and after taking your tower, driving mid or follow the jungler til your tower gets attacked, return, clear to mid and repeat. If anything.. The new dragon keeps jungler AWAY from top lane.. And I'm cool with that
Yandere Carry1 votescan't do that vs competent opponents. Yes, you might be able to get it done every now and then, but it's a maybe~ that you could carry. Assuming you can absolutely obliterate lane everygame in a game where you're equally skilled is asinine.
MaknBacnPancakes1 votesYour odds are increased however, due to the fact that if top is a stalemate, the jungler has no reason to be up there. Thus, it is within you to maximize your time and build how you need to to compliment your team. Supplemental damage, tank, etc... I am coming to learn that it's all about position, and once you know your role, once you learn proper position, you win more.
Yandere Carry1 votesyou clearly don't realize how the game works. good luck to you.
GoldenLeSpoink2 votesI dont see any real snowballing in the new dragon or baron, I think people just can't efficiently deal with them. I have gone through tests in game, where I don't pick up drag/baron and the enemy team does, and you still win.
Moe Moe Kyuun2 votesI always thought of top lane as the 1v1 lane. Besides, I always see top getting ganks in my games so, not sure what's up with your games. It could be the top laner you pick, it could be your jungler doesn't trust you or just sees better opportunities on bot.
Yandere Carry1 votesiirc it's because he's diamond.
Critmaster Garen2 votesthey could change scuttler. if the same team has both of them active, it could act as tp between both of them. allowing top to have an inpact on bot lane.
Frankly, if you're getting to 5 stacks of dragon, then you are probably in a position to win the game anyhow, since your team clearly has better objective control, unless you're also losing a tower or something for each of those. I don't think the new dragon buff is necessarily that over powered, but I'd need to see data. I do know that Riot originally stated that one team was getting 5 dragons about 2% of the time in S4. How much do you believe that has changed?
thats not how it works. a snowballing bot lane snowballs harder, the more dragons they get. they will have better objective control, just ebcause they already got the first 2 stacks.
Drunk Rummate2 votesall this guy ever does is complain about ranged champions and act like the lane he mains is useless
why do you even top lane if you feel this way about it? just pick a different one. or maybe a different game.
http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/player/NA/FalconPawwwwnch?content_type=discussion
just read the titles... it's actually kind of sad. you should try to enjoy yourself instead of perpetually feeling like the world is against you.
Nausicäa 2 votesPart of the reason is that Dragon is made of paper and can be easily solo'd by multiple champions early in the game. If Dragon were at least somewhat challenging to kill similar to but not as hard as Baron i think things would be better.
OneDragonArmy1 votesThe prevalence of TP at higher levels of play seems to counteract your statement, (unless you look at it as the only way top lane can actually affect the rest of the map) but I still feel having top lane as a place for frontliners to duke it out has a place in mid-game teamfights. Not to mention tp becomes less effective the closer you are to the objective you're trying to pressure, so top laners running tp feels healthy to me.
LordOfTheLeague1 votesCool, that mean I can push to your nexus freely.
Renaille1 votesGetting a double kill bot was always more influential than a single kill top.
Kuroi861 votesTop lane has two purposes.
Pressure.
CJ Entus CoCoa1 votesi still like playing top lane, i always bring teleport and pretty much always win lane vs someone bringing ignite. if you know how to trade + cs + tele at the right times you effectively won the game
Khristophoros1 votesI think it's more like early dragons no longer benefit top lane. Before, the immediate gold from dragon would help you, the top laner, become more relevant, more able to cause pressure.
YourBoner1 votesyea i notice that as well. previously junglers didnt gank top much. now junglers wont gank top at all even when asked. but its an illusion because i had a games where enemy jungler did gank top and snowball his top laner. even though we got dragon a couple times the top laner became their mid to late game. the problem is ppl think adc is the shit. but hes a glass cannon. u need ppl to protect him. if your top laner (who is likely your tank and front line) is going to be weak because you didnt gank, adc will get shat on late game. ive seen a lot of games where enemy adc can climb back in because of top lane being a big precence and allowing them easy turtle.
Dayblazer1 votesyea i notice that as well. previously junglers didnt gank top much. now junglers wont gank top at all even when asked. but its an illusion because i had a games where enemy jungler did gank top and snowball his top laner. even though we got dragon a couple times the top laner became their mid to late game. the problem is ppl think adc is the shit. but hes a glass cannon. u need ppl to protect him. if your top laner (who is likely your tank and front line) is going to be weak because you didnt gank, adc will get shat on late game. ive seen a lot of games where enemy adc can climb back in because of top lane being a big precence and allowing them easy turtle.
its because alot of junglers buy into the whole top does nothing stuff. Top lane champs are one of the most snowbally champs in the game. If you get a lead top you tend to keep it unless your playing poorly. Now drag doesnt even help top lane to come back abit because the 8% dmg is negligible unless your even.
Quepha1 votesTop lane has less impact on the game than ever now
not counting seasons 1-3 before tp was buffed to be the dominant spell for top laners.
Xonra1 votesAs someone who plays a lot of top, sadly this is true. Top lane is so irrelevant so far this season compared to everywhere else. Unless you tp in, and assuming the other laners doesn't just follow you, you can't do a lot all the way up there.
You are no where near dragon without TP, You are basically forced to take TP to be relevant, if you do tp out you are almost 100% going to lose your tower and farm/xp for a while, now your enemy can roam a lot easier.
Bot lane is so much more important, which is frustrating as all hell seeing as the end of season 3 was "did the ADC do good? you win? Did the enemy ADC do good? You lose" 90% of the time.
Mid lane just depends but they are versatile where they go, and the jungler is important except in the new jungle you aren't allowed to be as impactful as often.
I really hate playing top lane with the dragon changes where I was really getting into it before. Now I just feel like a random guy playing in a 4 v 4 + 1 v 1 until laning phase is over.
idl11 votesThere's 5 minutes between dragons, if that's not enough time for you to clear your top jungle and even go steal a buff from your opponents top jungle and maybe gank someone or two in between I don't know what game you're playing.
Map awareness.
DarkenedSoul4201 votesWhy cant mid and bot help watch drag if the jungler has to gank top? Why can't top tp to drag? The jungler isnt the only champion watching drag, it needs to be a team effort.
hobomann21 votesthe dragon changes basically forces top's to take teleport if they want to be relevant in the first 20 minutes of the game
Ryvaku1 votesI don't believe that. If you can distract the jungler with your bullying in lane. You're doing a wonderful job.; 