Hey guys! Im a level 20 player on the NA server, and I'm starting to play alot of top lane recently. I wanted to see a few tier lists for top lane so I could get idea of the meta, and who I should play. By the way, I like burst champions and bruisers. (I play alot of Jayce, Irelia, and Karma Top right now) Thanks! :)
as far as im concerned, literally every champion can go top lane yeah top meta isnt a thing its like a team comp vs counter pick vs comfort zone/expertise sort of lane
ex. what sort of champion compliments my team's comp tanky? damage? etc. what counters the enemy top laner? who am I good at using?
It's actually hard to make a tier list for you, especially since you're level 20, but what you see at higher levels of play and in competitive is pretty much this:
BROKEN Tier: -Gnar, you can pretty much pick him into any matchup and he will at worst be able to farm with Q from insane range. He's also an extremely oppressive laner if the matchup allows him and can turn the laning phase of most toplaners into a living hell. He also does a CRAPLOAD of damage without building pretty much any damage items. You're going to see him banned or picked in every single competitive game these days, he's just too strong right now. He's pretty fun to play but not really easy (not really hard either), you might want to check him out.
Awesome Tier: -Irelia, a strong mobile bruiser with a pretty good laning phase (can also handle Gnar and most ranged matchups if played decently) which is great at diving carries in teamfights as you can pretty much build a Trinity Force and then go tanky and still be really useful. -Rumble, not the best laner (he is GOOD in lane, just not the BEST), does a shitload of damage but is kinda hard to use. -Lissandra, strong poke, really safe laning phase, WAY too much croud control and untargetability. -Maokai, REALLY easy to use, a lot of CC, great sustain and good damage early on. -Jayce, you mostly see him mid these days but he's still a great ranged toplane lane bully with great damage output. -Kassadin, great damage and mobility, is innately tanky against magic damage.
Pretty Good Tier: -Jarvan IV, good burst, much utility, scales well. -Dr. Mundo, really safe laning phase, great sustain, good damage. Becomes one of the thickest tanks in the game. -Sion, can farm from range and is pretty safe in lane, has a lot of crowd control and becomes extremely tanky. -Nidalee, ranged, has sustain and good burst.
There are a few more you might want to check out, Riven for example, but that's pretty much it. Remember than at level 20 you pretty much have to use what you're good at, what works against the people you're used to play against. If you can stomp people with Garen and Darius then do it, that's completely fine.
I'll add a couple more good top laners: Nasus- if they've already picked top/jungle- this can be a great pick. No escape, but great sustain, and can build full tank and deal massive damage by stacking q.
Singed- Another wait and pick top laner. He's extremely difficult to kill, but really easy to learn/play. Basically poison trailon, engage the enemies, ult as you engage.
Cho'gath- Currently suffers against the ranged top lane, but when you learn to farm/poke with q, you'll be fine. Scales fairly well into mid/late game
jax- one of the safest top lane picks. Has an engage/escape, high burst, stun, and high defenses.
Annie :)
The goal should not be to find the best top laner, the goal should be to find YOUR best top laner. Look into champions that you find interesting and then see from there who you are best with. The meta will always be changing so don't conform to it when you are still learning the game...
Thanks guys! I'll check all of them out.
Mart,
I think what the previous comment said is completely valid. I've seen all kinds of champions go top. Heck, I've gone Ap tank Janna top (she beats Garen, if you want to know). Just play who you have fun with and excel at.
If you want to get some more specific advice :
http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/tips-tricks/W7KqoJiI-free-coaching-from-diamonds
I got diamond friends who coach Saturday nights (this week is Sunday due to a tourney on their stream). You're welcome to stop by and ask questions every night though, they're always happy to help.
-T
Jax and Irelia feel similar in that they have nice burst and are bruisers. Jarvan IV is naturally a jungler, so if you learn him in lane you'll be fine jungling with him later on. Pantheon if you want to annoy your opponent and then cheese him with bursty crits when they are low health... he too is a natural jungler so you have a nice transition. Wukong has some good burst if you build him right for top lane and he can jungle too.
Lissandra is an AP burst champion that's squishy like Jayce but has a source of mobility and convenient utility; if you learn Liss top, then you can take her mid and you also have an ap champion for your top lane pool rather than just ad champions. Nidalee can be built ad for sustained dps and some burst or ap for even more burst... she too can go mid rather than top. Riven has pretty much as much burst as Jayce (if not more) but is just as squishy... she can go mid as well - at least she has an annoyingly large, low cd shield and is insanely mobile at the cost of being melee.
I'm sure I missed some people but those are the champions that come to mind in terms of burst for top lane. Notice that a lot of them can go elsewhere than just top lane though.
As for tier lists... Lissandra seems to be pretty dominant in this patch. Maokai, Rumble, and Gnar too. I'm sure the latter champions have burst as well.
