Say what you want about Hashinshin

He is right on this one.

Let me introduce myself first for those smart asses who can use eune.op.gg http://eune.op.gg/summoner/userName=xgotas This is my ranked account, that is currently sitting on Diamond 5 with Diamond 4 MMR. My highest peak was Diamond 3 0 lp with Diamond 2 MMR when I stopped playing due to minor mental issues climbing ladder induced in me.

Recently Hashinshin made excellent comment on state of top lane tanks and it nailed what I couldnt quite put into words myself yet. Hashinshin stated that tanks cockblock your carry potential simply by existing. What does he mean by that? Tanks are currently balanced this way, they have super high base stats on their main ability, which means their power spike on lvl 9 is consistent and you cannot play around it. Their incredible power in early game however is "justified" with how they fall off lategame. Which is true but makes matters even worse.

This means that when ever you decide to main top lane, main certain champion or archetype of characters, for me it is bruisers and divers, your enemy has option to either match your pick with another skill reflective champion and make top lane priority for ganks because outcome could mean amazing teamfights. Or, they can choose to shut you down with any tank pick. Remember tanks have consistent level 9 power spike and then they slowly fall off, this is the reason why all tanks have highest win rates around 15-20 minute mark.

Why is that an issue though? Simple, tanks cannot carry their games. They have to rely on team, which makes class unpopular among majority of playerbase. When ever you pick a tank, you arent counterpicking enemy, you arent trying to beat him, you are simply not allowing him to play. Fighter matchups on top lane can be approached multiple ways. Both sides can decide when to prioritize offense, defense, when to start roaming, when to splitpush and when to duel. Tank matchups always go same way. Farm and wait. Dont die and wait. Build defense and wait. Deny his farm and exp and wait. Bait for ganks and wait. Waste his and his junglers time.

Now you could say that tanks reward patience and strategy. This isnt true, patience will eventually loose your game, strategy is a gameplay mechanic all classes have to master. Tanks simply reward players for actually not playing the game. Or rather making enemy not play the game. Top lane has this issue alone, no other lane has same problem. Mid can always roam and bot has too high priority for such a thing to happen.

The reason why I have never experienced issues with snowballing this season or last season is that I have mained top lane. You cannot snow ball on top lane in majority of tank matchups. Which is past diamond 4 elo, a lot of match ups. This is why top laners feel so powerless in their games while challengers will tell you that top lane is fine. In challenger you will not win your game by slowing your enemy down, you actually have to carry yourself. That is the reason why challenger tank mains do not exist.

How to fix it though? This will require a lot of time and effort from Riots side, which we all know, is never going to happen. Top laners will have to bear this polarizing experience until they eventually quit because of getting bored out of the lane. Top lane back in season 4 used to be exciting because you could play your own way and it was only your fault when you couldnt do anything. Right now though, you are forced to not do anything which feels horrible. And the fact that tanks are all incredibly easy to pick up only makes matters worse. Riven one trick with 1000 games on her will be powerless against autofilled mid lane main on most tanks. That alone is the reason why people hate playing top lane and why tank meta will be failure when it comes.