Quick Analysis of Viktor Top

Viktor top was virtually unheard of a few weeks ago, and now he is a top tier pick, leading to many people saying he is OP/unbeatable/freelo etc.

Viktor, contrary to popular opinion, does not win against every matchup, and he actually gets bodied by quite a few match ups.

> Champions to play against Viktor, kill rate >= 53% > (Going off of Lane Kill Rate because overall winrate does not always reflect the lane matchup accurately.) > : 70% Lane Kill Rate > : 66% Lane Kill Rate > : 62% Lane Kill Rate > : 62% Lane Kill Rate > : 61% Lane Kill Rate > : 60% Lane Kill Rate > : 58% Lane Kill Rate > : 58% Lane Kill Rate > : 58% Lane Kill Rate > : 57% Lane Kill Rate > : 56% Lane Kill Rate > : 56% Lane Kill Rate > : 56% Lane Kill Rate > : 54% Lane Kill Rate > : 54% Lane Kill Rate > : 54% Lane Kill Rate > : 53% Lane Kill Rate

There are more counters to Viktor like Talon, Zed and Cassiopeia, yet they are played mid instead of top, but you can always pick them into Viktor top.

> Champions you shouldn't pick into Viktor / play without banning Viktor, kill rate <= 47% > : 27% Lane Kill Rate > : 32% Lane Kill Rate > : 33% Lane Kill Rate > : 35% Lane Kill Rate > : 35% Lane Kill Rate > : 37% Lane Kill Rate > : 38% Lane Kill Rate > : 39% Lane Kill Rate > : 39% Lane Kill Rate > : 40% Lane Kill Rate > : 40% Lane Kill Rate > : 41% Lane Kill Rate > : 42% Lane Kill Rate > : 44% Lane Kill Rate > : 45% Lane Kill Rate > : 47% Lane Kill Rate > : 47% Lane Kill Rate > : 47% Lane Kill Rate

Don't counter pick yourself, or set yourself up to be counter picked with these champions.

> Champions that are a skill matchup / neither counter eachother, 48-52% kill rate > : 48% Lane Kill Rate > : 49% Lane Kill Rate > : 49% Lane Kill Rate > : 49% Lane Kill Rate > : 49% Lane Kill Rate > : 49% Lane Kill Rate > : 50% Lane Kill Rate > : 50% Lane Kill Rate > : 51% Lane Kill Rate > : 51% Lane Kill Rate > : 51% Lane Kill Rate > : 51% Lane Kill Rate > : 51% Lane Kill Rate > : 52% Lane Kill Rate > : 52% Lane Kill Rate

The main reason why Viktor is so strong right now is because of how well he scales and performs in team fights, and Iceborn+Klepto giving him a safety net to scale, which is why he often has a favorable winrate in losing lane matchups.

The best solution is to nerf Iceborn on ranged champions (ie reduce the slow by ~50% on ranged attacks), and nerf the base damage on his Q empowered auto attack, and increase its AP ratio. This removes his safety net in top lane and ability to recover from losing lanes early, without hurting his midlane too much.