So, I have been trying to get better at playing top, I enjoy playing tanks, and mages. I really want to improve my gameplay, and I have been told maining one or two champs will help. What champs should I try to main for top?
Rumble's really strong if you're looking for somebody who can really turn a team fight around. A Well placed Ult can turn a even a well timed gank on you into a well appreciated double kill.
People typically don't run into Rumbles anymore, but he's versatile in most match ups, so if you learn the guy you won't find yourself in many hard counters. And since people don't really know how to fight Rumble all the time you can cheese out a few wins just by knowledge advantage.
Pros: High sustain damage, versatile, beefy if played right, can shred tanks and burst squishies, Ult is amongst the strongest in the game, manaless poke/sustain, amazing team fighting. Cons: High skill floor, low kill potential pre-6, mediocre escape, easy to wiff ult, misunderstanding your Heat leads to free kills for the enemy, no hard CC.
And ultimately, you don't even gotta learn how to play Rumble to win games! Buy Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Rumble and just spam taunts and abilities off CD and force the enemy laner to afk!
If you're maining a single champion top lane you will always run into matchups that are incredibly difficult. It's the biggest con to picking a main in the least consistent lane in the game. With this in mind I would suggest picking based on what you enjoy, over what is effective. You'll learn the matchups either way, however if you're going to get counterpicked a bunch you might as well play someone you enjoy, it makes learning those matchups way easier.
EDIT: For the record I main Garen, and have mained him since season 1.
Singed.
Singed and Sion are my go-to's.
Been thinking of Moakai, too since he's the only champ that ever gave whipped my rear as Sion.
, afk sustain, damage steal, aoe buff zone, troll, pillar + aoe slow, defense steal/life steal/%max hp damage
. He is mage, he is tanky, he has a really terrible AA animation that forces you to get good at last hitting, and a trollpool that can save his life in an emergency.
She's constantly joked around....
Better Nerf Irelia.
P.S. Irelia has only been nerfed like 4 times I think :)
Top lane mage-tank that can go into most matchups? Sounds like you'd like 
.
Personally, I'm really enjoying 
currently.
I like kennen, lulu and karma top :D
id play gnar. my fav
- He is a really good tank and very strong right now.
- Nid is a really strong mage at the moment, but is probably about to get nerfed.
- A very good bruiser at the moment, he is somewhat hard to pick up though.
- D-Cane.
- Very strong lane bully and fantastic tank.
- A strong ap threat.
- If your looking to put a lot of time into Top Lane, RIven is your best bet because once you are able to master her she is super strong. Also Riot will probably not nerf her for a while due to lack of competitive viability.
For Top I play
Out of all of them I probably like the best for his ability to lock down hard to catch Top laners, namely and 
. I use an on hit attack speed build to increase his lockdown by getting his passive out more often. If you get into a prolonged duel with a tank you may end up stunning them 4 or 5 times.
is also nice because it procs onhit effects.
In lower elos and a decent amount of game knowledge, I can comfortably pick Nasus into almost anything and get away with an excessive amount of stacks because they don't know how to stop it. One gank failed and they ignore you for 15 minutes.
And at 20 minutes there's a 400 stack nasus doing whatever the hell he pleases with maxed cdr.
It depends what your goal is imo. I'm not a top lane main and I don't really want to learn all the mechanics and difficult matchups for finicky lane bullies like riven. I just play nasus, buy a ton of potions, and become useful at 13-15 minutes no matter what.
If you want to learn just one champion to main top with and carry hard every game, it's good to pick someone without any/many hard counters.
I was bronze 5 and then one day i decided to play rumble, My VERY FIRST Rumble game I was up against another rumble with over 5000 games on him, needless to say after he beat me horribly, he taught me how to play rumble in every role (besides adc of course). One week later and i am bronze 1 about to be in promos for silver and my account gets perma banned... anyways thats not the point, play Rumble
Wukong is a very strong choice! Strong laning phase, good initiation, and he is naturally tanky due to his passive. Even with one damage item you can crap on carries. Really good for carrying low elo.
Irelia is a really good pickup, but she might struggle a bit if people start picking a lot of tanky tops.
Maokai is a great tankier pickup. He deals a lot of damage with just a RoA.
Riven is a fun, but difficult, pub stomp champion.
Fizz top (AD w/ triforce/botrk/tanky) is popular and super strong right now if you're into that. He can also jungle.
Lissandra is a great toplane pickup into melees. She does a decent amount of damage and has great teamfight utility.
Lulu is a good lane bully. Best used with 'protect the carry' compositions where you have to kite a lot. May be really good if Kog Maw starts to get popular.
For top i like:
Mechanically: Riven, Lee Sin, Nidalee, Irelia Tanking: Mundo, Shyvana, Maokai, Malphite, Shen, Cho'gath AP: Singed, Lissandra, Kennen, Lulu, Vlad, Swain Assassins: Kha'zix, Rengar, Kass (Counter pick), Zed Bruiser: Jax, Wukong, Jarvan IV, Udyr, Trundle
(But I'm a top lane main, And own pretty much everyone :P)
Out of those, I'd learn: Jax, Maokai, Shyvanna , Lissandra, Trundle
Jax -> Good AA Counter, Carry / Assassin style / Hybrid
Maokai -> Great if your team needs AP / Tanky
Shyvanna-> Farm, with great AOE team fight potential. AP / AD (Botrk -> Tanky)
Lissandra -> Great CC and initiate
Trundle -> Counters tanks
As a top laner, It's all about match ups. Unlike Mid or bot, you can't just farm from a distance, and if you get behind it can be hard to come back. (Remember to buy and use wards, Lvl 9 Warding trinket upgrade is great if you're splitting or helping with objectives!)
