So I had the pleasure of laning against a Darius again and I wonder...

... what was this guys weakness supposed to be again?

You cannot trade him very early, due to the passive. You cannot trade him later on, because he will heal up anyways while you play a tranditonal toplaner that hasn't gotten a free bullshit heal into their kit. And poking... most ranged poke abilities of toplaners are laughable in terms of damage, that's if they have one, and only exist to start a trade, which you can't, since Darius pretty much wins by default.

So what can I do? Sit at my turret and wait until he's gone so I can cs?

Only pick Lissandra top because only range can have an even game here?

Cry for ganks? Yeah, congratulations. That's not exactly counterplay. That's having shit design that is so strong, it requires multiple players to counter it starting from minute one - manpower that is usually needed elsewhere.

At this point I'd rather play against the pre-rework version of him with all the issues it had. At least, that guy got punished for every tiny miscalculation in his trades due to a lack of sustain.