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Top lane tips, tricks, and counters

Zahkara·1/3/2015, 12:08:56 PM·4 votes·25,676 views

Hi I'm a support main and a "decent" jungler and I want to expand into top lane. Other than mid, top lane is the lane I fear the most since that is usually where some of the "OP" champs are. (ex. Jax, Fiora, Darius, Riven, etc.) I would appreciate it if I could get some basic tips on how to top lane in general since I'm not a very good solo laner. Also some counter tips and champions against the "OP" champs I listed. I've already looked into Darius and Riven and I've learned that for Darius is distance, harass, and high health. For Riven I learned CC to stop her combo and escape/chase, high armor, and to never tower dive her. Anymore counter tips would be great especially against Fiora. (I really hate Fiora)

The champs I have that can go top lane are... Malphite Irelia(have only used in jungle) Pantheon Jarvan(have only used in junge) Vladimir(have had little game-time with him) Shyvana(Have only used in jungle) Xin Teemo(Not really used since I mainly play tanks and I don't do very well being squishy... also I am not satan) Tryndamere(have had little game-time with him) Cho Gath(used as a support) Garen

10 Comments

RiotPhreak1/4/2015, 4:32:37 AM4 votes

The biggest lesson I learned for top lane was that minion waves are everything.

At level 1 or 2, most champions are pretty closely matched in an all-out brawl. However, if one of you has minions hitting you and the other doesn't, they auto-lose. So if someone dives into the other guy's minion wave to start a fight, it's pretty bad. Similarly, you can kite back to your wave to make the fight easier.

Flannel Mannel1/3/2015, 3:52:33 PM4 votes

Congratulations on expanding your roles :) I've mained top and jungle for awhile now (I dabble in support sometimes too), so I'll try and give it a shot. The key to top lane is actually very little about counterpicks (yes some key counters are crucial in some lanes, but overall many other things are important). Having lane control is very crucial (e.g. being able to push faster, freezing lane and pushing lane at opportune moments, being better at farming, learning how to effectively trade as each champion you're playing, and eventually learning how to effectively use the minion wave correctly in trades as well as orbwalking as a melee champion). Generally speaking, one of the most surefire strategems top lane is to deny the enemy farm (you can't always do this, it is nearly impossible to deny Nidalee farm, for example). Another is to always push to enemy tower (remember ward the river and tribrush, deeper if they have a Rengar or Nocturne or Pantheon jungle) so the enemy laner must farm under tower and miss last hits (they miss less at higher rankings, but even pros miss some sometimes). Two other advantages of always pushing is 1:) That you will slowly damage the enemy tower, making it easy to take down if you force the enemy out of lane or get jungle help and 2:) You will draw jungle pressure from the enemy jungler because you are so pushed up (Remember your wards, this is why they are crucial. In drawing the enemy jungler top lane, you can cause him to waste significant time by baiting (just be careful) him into a bad gank or wasting up to a minute or so top lane. That 60 seconds is crucial in the jungle, your jungle can coutnerjungle 2-3 camps by then or take Drake or get a kill mid or bot or even help push a tower elsewhere. Heck, he can even come countergank for you and get you guys a double kill. Finally, if you're being camped a lot, feel free to freeze lane near your own tower. Some champions have a really easy time doing this ( Singed Shen ) and others have a hard time doing it ( Teemo ), but with practice most champions can. This will force the enemy top and jungle to dive you if they want to gank you, and that can easily turn the 1v2 in your favor. Especially if you're Malphite Irelia JarvanIV Chogath .

Side-note: One of the most important things to remember as well, counters can be countered by item builds. For instance, Singed counters Jax. However, if Jax builds correctly, he can win lane (e.g. sustain ---> dmg --->tankiness). That is the case for most counters, they can be outplayed both in lane and through buying correctly.

Okay, so now that the general rules are out of the way, I'll get into some champion specifics. is a really solid situational pick. He is exceedingly strong against champions that are AD (even stronger if they also require attack speed). If you see a Aatrox Darius Fiora Garen Irelia Jax LeeSin Rengar Riven Warwick MonkeyKing Vayne go top, Malphite is your key to making their day miserable. Max his E for it's attack-speed debuff. Then max his W or Q depending if you need more Armor/AD or Movespeed/Spell Damage. Remember to make use of his shield by delaying engages until it comes back up. Use his ult for when the jungler ganks, and for when you get tower-dove. Be wary, he is very mana hungry, especially early. I would even consider buying a item 3028 on him (especially if against an AP laner. Against AD though, item 3024 might be better). Build him mostly armor and HP. Your core build should look something like item 3143 item 3102 item 3110 item 3047 . Feel free to switch out the Frozen Heart for an Iceborn Gauntlet or the Ninja Tabi for Mercury Treads, though. Depending on the lane, of course. Lane matchups that would suck for him would be Akali Chogath Diana Gragas Kennen Kayle Lissandra Maokai Rumble Vladimir . For those though, just freeze lane and build Magic Resist and save armor until 2nd item and you'll be okay. Mid/late game just ult things and stay on the enemy auto-attackers using your E every time it's up.

As for Irelia, attack speed is king. She has a weak early game, and needs tankiness. Build Ninja Tabi or Mercury Treads fast. Also rush either a Chain Vest or Null Magic Mantle quickly too. Then comes your item 3153 item 3078 . After that just go full tank, depending on the enemy team (consider a item 3091 ). She isn't particularly mana-hungry, but you should still be careful because being caught without mana for a stun can be terrifying. Her innate sustain is good, so max W first, and then usually E and then Q. She has strong matchups versus squishy champions like Akali Gangplank Jayce MasterYi Nidalee and tough matchups versus mostly Renekton Rumble Riven Yorick . The key to Irelia is surviving early and the scaling into late game where you can either be a teamfight monster or a splitpushing threat. If you want really good Irelia tutorials though, I recommend looking for things posted by Irelia Carries U, he's a Diamond Irelia main that helped me out a lot. PS: Irelia can win almost any lane, she's really balanced.

For Pantheon, you need to focus on bullying early. Pick him against auto-attack champions with a bad early game like Jax Irelia Gangplank . Against harder lanes like Chogath Jayce just farm and try to force something with your jungler. You're gonna be mana hungry, which sucks. Rush a mana item early and then your Brutalizer. You should in theory be able to have a sizeable advantage on most lanes by level 6 (possibly with jungle help). That's when the fun begins. Feel free to try an ult-gank in mid or against the enemy jungler. Feel free to take at least one tower shot in the gank, you have passive. Also know Pantheon is exceedingly strong in dragon and baron fights during midgame. Just be careful because he is innately squishy.

JarvanIV is pretty strong in the jungle, but he can get shut down pretty hard top lane. If you pick him top, pick him against champions that can't bully him, like Zac DrMundo Gangplank because champions like Kayle Jayce (ranged in particular) will hurt a lot if Jarvan doesn't get jungle help. However, WITH jungle help, Jarvan can take on almost anybody in the game (arguably one of the best 2v2 champions for top lane, right up there with Shen ). If jungle is helping you, focus on keeping lane near river and bullying the enemy laner with your lead. If jungle is not helping you, freeze near your tower and dare them to dive you. If they dive you, get free kills due to your ult and combo. Also, his build is relatively similar to jungle, as well. Things like item 3143 item 3190 item 3102 are incredibly strong on him. Late game just frontline and CC as many enemies as possible, particularly their backline. As I'm sure you know, as well, J4 is so much less fun when enemy team has a Vayne , because she can knock you into your own wall.

Vladimir is really weird. He's really strong late game, does tons of damage, and splitpushes and duels like nobody's business. However, his weak early game and lack of good CC is the tradeoff. He's incredibly strong versus Aatrox Garen JarvanIV Malphite Pantheon Shyvana Zac Teemo and weak against Galio Fiora Darius Kayle Nasus Riven Rumble Tryndamere . Champions that have a shield to block his trades (Riven/Shen/Rumble) usually fare well, as well as Kayle because she can block his ult damage. However, late game, one E from Vlad clears a whole wave. He's relatively easy to play save as, due to his sustain, natural health buff, and his W. If you're in a bad matchup, just play safe. If you're against a ranged champion, know Vlad has one of the best All-In potentials of any ranged top-laner. You can usually win. Early game, itemize against your laner. However, your first (at very latest 2nd) major item should be item 3157 . Make sure to get item 3145 relatively early too. From there, you have 3 options. AP Vlad should build item 3128 item 3089 item 3135 item 3151 , while Tank should build something like item 3083 item 3065 item 3143 item 3068 , and bruiser should go item 3001 item 3116 . Late game either group and throw down your ult or splitpush and get towers. Use your W, Zhonyas, and W again for a lot of untargetability (use your E-Q Combo in between, and your ult at some point during it, it amplifies your damage). Make sure to keep 4 stacks of E whenever possible, even use it on the way back to lane so you have 4 stacks when you get there. It boosts your healing and damage.

Shyv is really strong, and can beat everybody except for Vladimir Renekton Gnar Rumble in lane simply by out-bullying them early. Just play aggressive, build item 3153 early (arguably a little armor or magic resist first, though), and force the enemy away from farm. You can push super-hard, and if you get big enough, can decide the outcome of the game by your splitpushing. Counter-jungle the enemy once you get ahead. Use the huge movespeed steroid in your W to get around everywhere on the top half of the map and drop vision. Keep vision. Make plays happen with your movespeed, because you lack CC (excluding your ult). You excel at taking towers, feel free to roam mid and help take it when the enemy mid needs to recall. After BoRK, either go damage, tank, or a mix (depends on which your team needs). I feel tank is better though, because you have to dive in to do anything. Late game, either fight with your team if you guys are ahead or farm and splitpush if not.

skippersd1/3/2015, 1:44:51 PM2 votes

Well then. Out of your top lane ideas, Malphite, Irelia, Vladimir and Garen make a nice bunch.

Garen: He's a shutdown lane. You want to pick him against a guy who's weak early but gets out of hand, or your sole job is to keep the guy down. For example, Riven, Nasus, renekton. Malphite: The go-to champion against anything that relies on attack speed (jax, irelia, fiora). Don't pick him into not AS reliant champs (ie: Nasus, Riven), or AP top laners (lissandra, Rumble, vlad). Vlad: He is the sptpush-teamfight menace. With a wota you can literally outsustain anyone, but he IS weak early game. I'd recommend him if your team has an AD mid laner, or heavily 5v5 wombo-combo oriented. Irelia: She is the most all-around champion, you'd want to pick her if you don't know what the hell are you supposed to pick. There is only one exception, Don't EVER pick her if the enemy can pick Nasus.

As to the how to counter:

Darius: The standard counterpick is Kayle, but my favorite is Karma. As you are a support main, you probably can play her, and as a top laner she is a top lane support, with AP and farm. Fiora: The go-to counter is jax, but as she is an AS based champ, Malphite works. Jax: You can pick Nasus into him as his W stops jax, and his Q + tankiness lets him outscale him, Or you can beat him early with Garen. I do not reccomend picking irelia into jax, because most top laners are very familiar with the matchup. Riven: Pick something with decent laning, tankiness AND damage. My go-to is irelia, since past tri-force she wins by default, but you can go garen.

Most importantly: Know your champion pool. I play Karma/Lissandra/Irelia/jax/Poppy top lane, and i never try to counterpick by picking "the best" counter. You can win top lane in three ways, you outscale the enemy, you shutdown them, or you will be more useful in teamfights. Know your champion pool, know your goal, and play accordingly.

ps: Don't worry. You will feed sometimes, and lose horribly, and your jungler will ignore you. Or the enemy jungler will camp you. That's just top lane.

ChimeiTekinaNasu1/6/2015, 2:42:11 PM1 votes

lol. I main top lane and most of those champs are easy to beat. To kill Fiora, you can go Garen, Renekton, Volibear, Jax, and I think someone said Malphite. She is pretty much free kill for Renekton/Volibear.

Irelia is great in the top lane. I think maybe better than jungle. Also, Pantheon counters Fiora and Riven. Forgot to mention him in the list. He is actually great in top lane, and in jungle as well. You can also counter Pantheon with Renekton or Volibear. This one Pantheon I faced said he always had problems against Volibears and that apparently Volibear counters Pantheon. So there's that. Forgot to mention. Volibear>Irelia. I still remember the Platinum 3 Irelia I faced in ranked, almost as if she never faced Volibear before.... She stayed in lane when she had 200 health left. Thinking that she can stun me when her health is that low. So I used Q to charge to her, then used W while charging once I got in range, aaand she died just like that. She was funny, the entire match, thinking she could take Volibear on. Even late game. Volibear too much. lol Got to say, it had to have been their first time facing the bear cause I just wanted to question everything that was done. Like there are some things you shouldn't do when vs the bear.

Jarvan counters Riven. That q damage though. Poke her with q often. She does not have the health regen to sustain that kind of poke. Go long sword and 3 health potions. or 2 health potion, 1 mana potion if you think it'd be easy lane for you and just spam q more. Also, remember Jarvan's e/q combo. Use your E to toss the flag, then Q to go to your flag and you knockup anyone caught in the pathway of that. Then you bang 'em and activate W for shield. Jarvan seems to do well in top lane in general.

Shyvana seems to do well in top lane in general. I think Renekton counters her so there's always that. Oh, and I think Jax as well. I saw this one Jax going crazy on her, like wow. Oh, Irelia beats Shyvana, too.

Xin can be good in top but is more beast in the jungle. Would advice against Teemo top. He is generally free kills, really. Only matchup I seen him do well in is Teemo vs Nasus. I think that's it.

Tryndamere. Easily beaten with Renekton or Volibear. I think he's generally good against others, but.... I have seen some very beastly jungle Tryndameres lately. Like carry game so hard good, like wow.

Cho'Gath is nice in top lane. Great sustain. I think I go Doran Shield/health potion, and try to get flask early with some wards. Then focus on items. Sometimes I struggle against a Gangplank but Cho'Gath seems to do very well against him. Jayce, I've always hated him, but managed to hold my own against one as Cho'Gath.

Garen is pretty nice. He counters Fiora, and I think Riven as well. Volibear can also beat Garen. I think Renekton vs Garen is a skill matchup, but you need to time your stun right as Renekton to beat him. One Garen I beat and I noticed he started with his Q, the silence. The Garen I lost to started with E, and had this very interesting strategy with his spin. I was like nope, not a match for that.

Oh. You wanted counter tips for Jax, Fiora, Darius, and Riven. Especially Fiora. Jayce/Renekton/Volibear/Jax>Fiora. Very easy lane vs her with those champs. As for Jax, Renekton/Volibear/Jayce>Jax. Jayce wins so hard. Like nope, don't want any of that. Darius is also very easy to deal with. Renekton/Volibear and probably Jayce as well. and pretty much same ones apply to Riven as well. Oh. Shen counters Jax. Forgot that one. Shen counters a few but it's more of a situational pick and more of a team fighter when people pick Shen. Of the ones you list, Darius and Fiora are the easiest ones to deal with. Some Rivens can be a pain.

Also, a good top laner is Jayce. He's like, fed since level 1. Like when I see Jayce on enemy team, I am just done already with top lane and don't want to face him. Those retarded 6 abilities, melee/ranged like so so so much range, and has very annoying poke. I hate Jayce so much. I rarely get to face him in top, but when I do, i get my face bashed in like no tomorrow. Always has problems with him as Renekton, but a friend of mine says he can beat all jayces easy with Renekton. So maybe I'm doing something wrong vs him, and don't have much experience vs him anyways. Also, in a ranked match of mine yesterday. This Irelia was solo killing Jayce non-stop. Like wow. She said Irelia can kill him solo easily. Mind blown. I don't really know which champs can solo take him down, but wow. Actually, I think it was once said that Fiora can kill Jayce...hmmm...I might need to use Irelia/Fiora more to see how it goes.

Earl Ciel1/3/2015, 11:59:18 PM1 votes

Top lane is my favorite role and I would love to help someone else improve on their top lane skills. Starting at the top of your list here...

Malphite: I can not say that I play much malphite, nor prefer him in many maychups. His play patterns revolve around poking with his q, and shoving lane. He can set up and follow up ganks well. To counter him try to make him hit you with q around level 2 as it will do little damage and burn his mana. Take health sustain such as Crystaline Flask.

Irelia: One of my least played champions, and I am not very good with her. These other posts do a better job than I.

Pantheon: My original baby. Similar play patterns to Malphite, but pantheon does a lot more damage. Focus on ganking mid lane when playing as pantheon. To play against him you're going to need health sustain items, and need to keep your distance.

Jarvan: I do not use Jarvan in top lane as I feel he is outclassed by most other bruisers and tanks.

Vladimir: An excelent counterpick to every champion you said you needed counters for (Darius, Riven, Jax, Fiora). He is very annoying to play against and very safe in lane. Vlad's W can cancel Frioa's untimate, didge rivens, and stop Jax from stunning you. Be sure to get Zhonya's and Will of the Ancients.

Shyvana: She is still a strong lane bully, but her lack of cc makes her a bit difficult to teamfight with. Don't play her in to a ranged matchup as you will be very unhappy.

Xin: More of a jungler. I have seen it work in top lane but his kit lends itself to jungling. Playing a ranged champion against him makes him nad, especially if they have cc and a way to get away from xin after he uses E.

Teemo: Your team will have wither 1 or no tanks. I do not suggest running a squishy, no cc, 2 ability champion in top lane, though it is fun in blind pick sometimes.

Tryndamere: The god. Get to level 2 first and win the lane. You have a 35% chance of winning lane at level 2. Playing a ranged champion against him works wonders also.

Cho Gath: Very annoying to go against currently, but not very strong. He loses most lanes unless he does extremely well. Like 4/0/0 with 100 cs at 10 minutes well.

Garen: A rather easy champion to use to get used to the playstyle of tanks, or tanky champions in general. Very good for learning and very easy to pick up and play well.

Some general counter tips for top lane:

If you're against a champion that relies on mana to poke, such as Pantheon and Malphite, get some sustain in your starting build. Against pantheon I would go cloth armor and 5 health potions, for example.
If your lane opponent has mainly auto attacks to poke you with then either a cloth armor or doran's shield is advisable.
Don;t get too caught up in "Counter Picking". Most of what top lane is is strong picks. No champion wins every matchup, though Vladimir will win against almost every melee only champion, as well as Gnar. Tryndamere will win almost every melee matchup.
Try to get to a point where your jungler doesn't have to give top more than one gank. His time is better spent between mid and bot lane so he can contest dragons and get the carries... carrying.

Hope this was helpful to you!

SecretAgentHulk1/3/2015, 6:02:38 PM1 votes

Hmm... I have experience with Malph and Cho; they're both super fun. I usually max their Q's first and poke really hard, but depending on what I need I'll also opt for better waveclear (Malph W/E, Cho E) or Cho's silence. You definitely want to have at least one point in all three by level 5. Also rush Sunfire Cape on Malphite. Once I have that and my ult even Gnar can't duel me.

Jax I haven't played since they nerfed his armor a bit and the ranged top became a thing. I can't farm well enough to do well, but that might be my failing more than Jax's. Yasuo has replaced him in my heart, just spam Q and get a couple/three points in E early so it has the low cooldown.

Teemo's an incredibly fun little shit if you can teach yourself to play like the devil. Once you know who you're against, you should figure out if you should max and spam Q or max E and AA to death (I usually max Q, but against e.g. Yas I will probably go for E). The recommended build is pretty much perfect. You should never be without Liandry's, Nashor's, and a Void Staff. Don't be afraid to be cautious, either. Teemo can lose almost any all-in vs a fighter, so you don't want to be involved in one. Finally, if someone does all-in you, blind them with Q so their AAs miss, drop a shroom so they die while they pointlessly AA you, then start AAing them yourself. Ignite may be needed to finish them off. Usually the first couple post-6 all-ins I can win this way, and then I snowball to victory. Teemo's also a much better assassin than teamfighter, so strategically, I just stick to top lane forever--either their top will roam and I will take towers, or I will tie him up so that he doesn't help their team in fights.

(Also remember, whether playing him against Darius or Darius against him, that Blinding Dart outranges Apprehend by 30 units, and a smart Teemo will be further away than that by the time Darius figures out that Blinding Dart was cast. Against Yasuo, remember that his shield will almost completely negate your Blinding Dart, so maybe get an AA in before you cast it.)

xSyndicate1/4/2015, 6:59:11 AM1 votes

I go Darius top always, and i usualy poke them with q till lvl 2, then get e and grap them, q, ignite, and they dead