Top laners that aren't easily countered?

Zap4WardenLel·12/13/2014, 11:28:13 AM·1 votes·3,124 views

I'm looking for someone who can build specifically to counter the enemy laner and can go full tank without requiring any damage items (or at most, one). I'm thinking maokai, but will Olaf/volibear work well since I already have them. The problem I find with Olaf is that there is no gap closer, and I personally hate the summoner spell ghost. Is there another way to deal with this or to use ghost better? I don't like it because by the time I use it and try to keep up, the enemy is at their tower, making a spell like flash a lot better.

Also this is my first post on boards, sorry if I posted in the wrong section.

Btw the reason I need a top laner like this is for ranked (I'm in silv 4). I main wukong in ranked but he is too easily countered.

Thanks (in advance)

10 Comments

Earl Eulrich12/14/2014, 1:32:38 PM2 votes

tank? toplane? that´s like asking to get countered, no matter what you do. Just play Lulu and turn anyone else into a tank, no way to counter her.

Bleediss12/14/2014, 1:34:17 PM2 votes

Nasus

People can only harass you for so long until you give zero shits and just get stacks then go full tank and destroy whoever you're laning against.

Gnar is a big problem though so ban him if you're using Nasus .

TyWdtSHg1K12/13/2014, 6:53:43 PM2 votes

Well I main nasus and got up to plat 3 with him.

The thing with him is dont die before you're lv 9.

He can start winnign effective trades post-lv 9 with 30-40 cdr

Sohleks12/14/2014, 1:25:07 PM2 votes

Good top lane champions that deal respectable damage with heavy tank builds....

Darius Darius: Very strong laner, known to poop on melee champs. He can handle ranged lanes too by buying heavy sustain (flask) and using his strong pushing power until he has some levels to do a good hook combo. Use max range Q to poke and waveclear. Later in the game he struggles in teamfights versus heavy kite and peel because Darius is a slow moving bad ass. Feel free to build this guy AD/tank.

DrMundo Dr. Mundo: While not a very formidable threat in the very early game, Dr. Mundo scales into an undying freak. As one of the tankiest dudes in the game he also runs fairly fast, and provides a lot annoyance for enemies in the form of constant slows. His damage is very very steady, and it can't really be increased outside of sunfire cape and magic pen but it's enough to kill people over time because it's hard to run from Mundo and much much harder to kill Mundo.

Gnar Gnar does everything you could want in a top laner. Massive CC/initiation, damage, tankiness, and generally safe manaless laning. It is safe to say Gnar is OP atm, however it will take some practice to fully utilize Gnar's different abilities as you you need to learn how to play as a squishy ranged champ and front line tank. It's not super hard though because Mega Gnar's ult is easy to land and if you build properly (tanky) you will be a tough kill in either form and still do good damage regardless. AD/brutilizer first for laning into pure tank is the build usually. There's a bit of a learning curve but Gnar is loads of fun.

Nasus I believe some others explained Nasus. Goal is to scale up your Q for damage and build heavy tank. Playing this champ is the closest you can get to forced pacifism early game because you do no dmg. Get tanky to survive. Late game Nasus is a god though.

Lanakila Au12/13/2014, 1:09:48 PM1 votes

Play nasus, he is basically free lp in low elo. Stack q and defense and laugh as you win game after game. Even if you get countered, just play passive and farm, you'll catch right back up and carry late game. I main mid but when I need a win and am forced to go top, I play nasus. My win rate is around 65% with him and I'm not even a top laner

Zap4WardenLel12/24/2014, 1:28:48 PM1 votes

Thank you for all the suggestions, but I think I'm gonna stick with Nasus/Olaf because they are solid tanks who still do tons of damage. I would use Darius as a counterpick only because S5 is all about sustain, which Nasus and Olaf both do a decent job of. Mundo is a bit of a useless champion now imho.

Druidrazor12/13/2014, 6:55:57 PM1 votes

I would recommend trying Vi top. She's pretty strong in lane and in low elo difficult to counter early. She has an easy time early to mid game, she can pretty much duel anyone. She can also be built as a full tank, assassin or anything in between, so there is always an optimal build for her in almost every matchup.

COWmanLord12/13/2014, 7:10:57 PM1 votes

Olaf is definitely someone I have had a lot of success with. I generally don't go fully tank on Olaf as I typically find him much stronger with 1 damage item on tp of the tank items, but it definitely works. I do not normally have to much of an issue with Olaf not having a gap closer, especially now that you can build righteous glory. So far the only counter I have for for Olaf is garen, but even there its a don't feed and you will out scale type of lane.

Volibear is also pretty good, and works very well full tank, but isn't great if you ever need to carry a team. Still he is a solid pick and I played him a lot before I hit thirty.

Nasus can be very strong if you know how to play him. If the other team doesn't stop you you can get crazy amounts of stacks, build full tank, and do tons of damage. One fun example is a game where I managed to get around 500 stacks by the twenty minute mark, and would half-shot their adc with only spirit visage and frozen heart. He is like Olaf in that he does not have a gap closer, but his wither can be crippling on an adc.

Trundle is great for split pushing, and gets a burst of extra tank stats when you ult someone. Damage falls of late game, but can still be pretty scary.

Shyvana is also a decent pick if you want a tank. She has good initiation and teamfight damage, but lacks crowd control.

Overall I would say try out these uys until you find what you like. I am the same rank as you, but so far this is what works for me when I play top. I would also keep playing wu kong if I were you. As long as you play him when you won't get counter picked, he can do a lot of damage and be a great tank at the same time.

junglerboy1612/14/2014, 2:41:25 PM1 votes

Volibear is ok top lane, but he is very binary. If you get ahead, you will totally stomp. If you fall behind, you fall back hard. Volibear is a great duelist and can build pretty much full tank and still deal huge amounts of damage with his frenzy bite (dat execute doe). His passive is on a longish cool down, and he gets countered by ignite and morrellonomicon (not good, since morrellonomicon is really good right now). Olaf is also pretty good, but based on what you said, you probably won't do too well with him. Maokai is good top lane if you survive without getting killed before you get a catalyst. I have been playing him top since before they "reworked" him into the top laner he is now (he was actually stronger at it before except for his ult being stationary) As several people have said, Nasus is a great pick up since all he needs to 1v1 anyone in the game is farm on his Q and not be behind in items.