How is Top Lane now a days???

ZanjotheMonster·May 26, 2014·4 votes·263 views

I've been playing for close to a year now and have found my home in top lane, but it seems like Riot is making changes towards what this game is supposed to be...A TEAM FIGHT. I like that shift so that if one player is falls behind, it doesn't mean doom for the team.

But sadly though Top lane is still played mostly as an island until jungle comes and ganks, then it becomes a babysitting service. In the past two games alone, my opponent and i traded just fine and were having a good fight, then the jungler does their job and helps get them a kill...which i don't mind, its how the game works and i creates the challenge i like, but then no matter how the rest of their team is doing the jungler is always there babysitting....

is that how top lane works now? does the jungler really NEED to stick around for about half the game to make sure the laner gets kills?? I'm just puzzled by this is all (not trying to sound like a crybaby about it). I love this game and all the challenge that comes with it, but i just want to try and understand why things happen in this game that just ruin the fun that comes with it.

9 Comments

PatMcGroynMay 27, 20146 votes

First off, you need to ward. If you get ganked more than once, just keep tri & baron warded at all times. Second, if the enemy jungler is camping top, good! That means you're drawing pressure away from your team mates, and if you aren't dying, then you're successfully wasting their time.

If your team is good, they will take dragons, make plays on mid & bot, and generally just do well because they're not getting pressured by the jungler. I personally like to play very aggressive, and pressure super hard to make the jungler come up to my lane. People talk about top lane like it's an isolated little world, but if you're drawing the jungler and/ or mid laner to you, and you aren't dying, then you're providing a shit load of global pressure.

MackleDogeMay 26, 20142 votes

I find that often times, especially in the solo queue environment, if a jungler gets a successful gank in one lane but not the other two lanes on the first try, the jungler will just repeatedly try in the lane that succeeded. Or they'll try to camp someone to get a snowball that they can hopefully take advantage of so they pick a lane and never leave it.

Now, don't take this the wrong way because I don't mean it to sound like you aren't paying attention or something rude like that. Maybe it just seems a bit odd since it happened back to back recently. I see bot and mid lane get camped pretty frequently in game or watching games, especially when the jungler gets a successful gank there or burns the opposing lane's summoners.

My suggestion if someone starts camping you top lane:

Let your team know what is happening and keep vision up there the best you can. This lets your team know where the enemy jungler is and lets them play their lanes accordingly.
Organize with your team when they gank you so that your jungler can gank another lane and get an advantage there or take an objective somewhere else on the map. If your team gets a dragon for your death, that's worth. If your team can take a turret somewhere else on the map when you die then it was probably worth. Dying can sometimes be the best option in a situation, especially when you know you are getting camped and can't change it.
If you aren't too far behind or if you have a really strong 2v2 with your champion and your jungler, then try to organize a strong counter-gank. This will mean that not only do you get an advantage off of them trying to shut you down, but it also has the potential to break the camping spell you're under, give your team more confidence in fighting that 2v2, or just give you personally a better feeling in top lane and hopefully give you a bit of a mental boost.

ZanjotheMonsterMay 26, 20143 votes

Thats some really good advice, i've gotten comfortable enough in lane to judge fights but just a little too late :P I'm starting to main DrMundo and i usually win out in lanes anyway XD but that camping things sure does get annoying lol

MackleDogeMay 26, 20142 votes

Mundo is one of my favorite tank top lanes. Best thing to learn is managing a creep wave and learning to CS under tower as him. Glad I could help though! Things like recognizing trades and fights just comes with practice and time, you'll get the hang of it if you keep up the work and make sure to go over your mistakes in a game and try to practice a few details at a time. It's all a learning process, and the more you critique yourself and learn from your mistakes the better you will get.

WorgslargMay 27, 20141 votes

The laning phase of the game is a part which I dearly love. However, a jungler gank snowballs the lane to hard

In my opinion, the problem lies not with toplane, but with the inherent trouble in finding a middle ground for the jungler. too powerful, and they control the games, too weak, and they do nothing worthwhile.

I have to echo the sentiment for counterganking if you are being camped. if they( enemy top/ jungler) are very far ahead, organize a 3 man gank with help from mid

The Red WardenMay 27, 20141 votes

Playing Mordekaiser almost forces jungle interaction.

HeímerdingerMay 27, 20141 votes

Yeah I know what you mean.

The Red WardenMay 28, 20141 votes

He mostly has two scenarios that happen in matches.

The jungler or mid continually gank or camp him so he is held back in gold and can't use his abilities without pushing his lane too far, where he is an easy target.
The enemy team does not think he is that much of a threat so he easily can push and destroy turret to take that first lead which he uses to snowball massively off of. He has quickly gotten so fed that it takes 3-4 people just to have a chance of killing him, with his sheild and spell vamp negating most of what they do.

KingSmizzyMay 29, 20141 votes

I main DrMundo when i play top as well, I love his in your face style of fighting.

The only advice i have is that if you feel like top lane is too much of an island then do the roaming yourself. Walk down to botlane and coordinate a dragon, push mid and help take a tower, tp to a teamfight or join one and tp back.