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League of Legends Top Lane Tier List 11.11

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League of Legends Top Lane is the most confusing lane. In some games, Top Lane is an island. Meanwhile, it can be the most ganked position on the map. Furthermore, the top lane is typically the split push lane and is the lane requiring Teleport. Because of its nature as a split pushing and team fight-focused role, many different Champions can go in that position. Here is our Top Lane Tier List.

Ranking Methodology

  • S contains the best Top Champions that are dominating either the esports meta or the Solo Queue meta. Most of the time, there is a hint of both the best solo queue Top Laners and competitive champions in this section.
  • A ranked Champions are very good picks, most notably being more prominent Solo Queue Champions or niche Tops for both the game and competitive. Some of them are hard to play, but when they work, they feel compelling.
  • B Top Laners, which are typically reasonably well-balanced picks. They tend to encompass some of the older champions that work well or picks a little under tuned that still perform for various reasons.
  • C tier Tops that are slightly under tuned or are only good at one role. Typically this relies on them setting themselves up to work on role successfully. Otherwise, they fail and don’t do much.
  • D Completely terrible picks, avoid at all cost. 

Top Laners Ranked

  • S: Camille, Darius, Gnar, Lee Sin Nocturne, Renekton, Wukong, Shen.
  • A: Cho’Gath, Fiora, Gangplank, Gragas, Jax, Kennen, Malphite, Mordekaiser, Ornn, Riven, Sion, Sylas, Urgot, Volibear, Yorick.
  • B: Aatrox, Dr. Mundo, Garen, Heimerdinger, Illaoi, Jayce, Kayle, Kled, Mao’kai, Poppy, Quinn, Rumble, Sett, Vladimir, Teemo, Yasuo.
  • C: Akali, Irelia, Nasus, Sejuani, Singed, Tahm Kench, Tryndamere, Vayne, Viego, Warwick, Yone.

S Tier Highlights

Most of the Top Laners rank in the S bracket of this Top Lane Tier List are fairly good early game players and perform well in team fight settings. Most of these picks are great in pro play, and all perform well in solo queue.

Prominent Season 11 Meta Picks

Nocturne 0

It should be no surprise that Camille is one such champion. Camilla is the go-to assassin Top at the moment. She has a huge burst with her Q, nice dodge ability with her W, and solid engagement with her E. Her R can lock down a target, allowing others to dive and kill priority targets. Furthermore, Camille is a solid split pusher with Trinity Force, with great escape if needed to escape a team collapsing on her.

Gnar is a pick that has come a long way in Season 11. The mini form is an annoying ranged version, poking down his lane opponent with AA and his Q. He has several CC abilities in Mega Gnar and an ultimate that lines up fairly well with his Mega form timing. Both forms make him good at countering anything in the top lane while scaling throughout the game as a tank, with great engage.

Renekton has always been the king of the Top Lane Tier List. The crocodile has a great early game, winning almost every laning phase by default. However, he does fall off in the mid and late game. Renekton is great in solo queue for smashing lane and winning that way and works well for team play in competitive modes. Overall a solid Top, and will always S Tier unless Riot decide they have had enough of him.

Solo Queue and the Rising Meta Stars

Darius is arguably the biggest Solo Squeue stomper in the game. Darius is one of the most banned Champions because of his ability to dominate every laning phase. Darius sustains himself very well with his Q and has an engaging tool with his hook. He can stay on top of a target by slowing them while applying a passive stack using his W. The addition of Stridebreaker makes Darius even more powerful with a viable dash and AOE slow.

Lee Sin got some interesting changes in 11.8, so much so he became top laner capable of trading very well. His E cooldown is lowered in 11.11, although, that change won’t stop him from slapping the floor and performing very well in every elo and the meta.

Nocturne’s flex priority continues to maintain in the top lane, with his dive potential and Stridebreaker locking him in as a meta top laner. Nocturne has the kit he needs to push in top, with built-in ability denial on his W and a fear tether few can realistically escape. The only downside is his passive naturally shoves the wave in, so that’s one aspect to watch out for.

Shen is a tank that surprisingly can consistently trade. He is also one of the only Tanks that can cheese ranged Top Laners with his spirit blades aura. Like other tanks, Shen has great engage, and his global ultimate that shields an ally is always welcome to any team. The shielding on his ulty got a max hp scaling buff in 11.9. resulting in huge late game shields for his allies. This buff has pushed him into S Tier for Top Laners.

Wukong is making a comeback in Top. Wukong is good into carry Tops, as he can match their pressure. Even against tanks, Wukong can match them with Tank builds. The core of his build focuses on Divine Sunderer, dealing mixed damage and reliably healing from the proc. Another key item is Randuin’s Omen, which synergizes by setting up opponents into an ult combination. Furthermore, items like Sterak’s Gage, Ravenous Hydra, and situational items work for the more AD focus builds. During the LEC Spring Playoffs Finals, İrfan Berk “Armut” Tükek demonstrated Wukong potential to its full.

A Tier Picks

Tanks

Cho’Gath is an easy to play Tank that many players can jump on and perform. He has a nice silence, decent wave management, a knock-up and an ult that deals true damage to enemy Champions. The ult makes him tankier, growing in size alongside Frostfire Gauntlet. A very good tank, with some light mana issues preventing him from being top tier.

Gragas is one of the best flex picks, with the top lane being a lane he can attend. He has two builds, the tank or the AP build. The Tank build is the better option of the two, with his CC being a great kit and his sustain making him hard to kill on lane.

Just like Cho’Gath, Malphite is a decent engage tank. He also suffers from mana issues early, but he can pop off in team fights when he gets going. Easy to play, and it’s clear and reasonable to achieve his win conditions in team fights.

Ornn has calmed down in Season 11, but that doesn’t mean he is weak. Ornn’s base damage on lane is still good, with solid CC to set up Jungle ganks or escape if needed. Furthermore, his team fight ultimate is still amazing, and his unique item upgrading is always attractive to any team comp.

Sion is one of the few tanky top lakers making it into pro play. Sions passive hp build by from his W is good, and his ultimate into charged up Q works wonders. However, his ult can be slightly hard to use, making him not as accessible as other tanks.

Volibear is an S Tier pick at the moment, though his priority is shifting to the Jungle. Although, that doesn’t dismiss him as a viable in the Top Lane Tier List. Volibear does solid damage, decent sustain if fights are allowed to extend past the burst window. Volibear jungle sustain is better in the jungle, and his roaming kit does work better for the jungle. 

Yorick’s buffs in Patch 11.6 put him a bit too powerful. LoL 11.8 patch toned him down, reducing his zombies base damage but putting the damage enhancements into eight attacks after the E lands instead. It seems to be enough to have put the crazy solo laner split pusher down, but he is still fine at the moment.

Carries

Riven 0

Fiora is an excellent carry Top Laner for Solo Queue players. Her mobility is solid, dashing and poking at the same. Like Irelia, she can deny an ability with Reposte. Furthermore, her team fight and sustain when she procs her ult is an amazing tool. The added bonus of her ult is that Fiora can be quite a good split pusher as she 1v1s whoever comes to stop her.

Gangplank is one of the Top Laners that is higher than expected in the Top Lane Tier List. Gangplank is incredibly hard to play, needing lots of practice to get his Barrels and Dubloon mechanic going properly. For this reason, Gangplank can be a C Tier Champ in the wrong hands. But when in the right hands, he is amazing.

Jax is a simple yet effective carry and split push Top Laner. He has a fairly simple kit that anyone can pick up and get to grips.

Kennen feels more of a niche pick, although the players who pick him know how good he is. He has a great engage tool and is a ranged Top laner to give him a better early game. Better suited to team fight players looking to fight their way up the Solo Queue Ladder.

Mordekaiser is the metallic monster of the Top Lane. He does plenty of damage, doing, even more, the longer fights go on for with his passive. He has a solid shield mechanic and an ult that allows him to isolate key targets in his realm. Furthermore, Morde is an excellent counter to Renekton.

Riven was the original Top Lane carry. While she fell off in previous seasons, she is back in Season 11 as a legitimate skill match up pick into Camille. Furthermore, items like Stridebreaker and Goredrinker make her even better.

Urgot’s natural cleave and poke make him a decent laner, with an execute allowing him to carry. By the mid and late game, Urgot can become nigh unkillable, dishing out lots of damage, too. He was one of the most popular pick at MSI, although, Riot has toned his late-game AD scaling on his W by 2% AD. It means he is not as big as an unkillable damage dealer in the late game, but he is still very good.

B and C Tier Highlights

The B and C Tiers are certainly weird compared to other League of Legends Tier lists. Unlike most other lanes, the comparison to champions in the same role is night and day. However, even the C Tier in the Top Lane Tier List have their place. Here are some highlights on some of the rankings here.

Garen is a B Tier Champion on our list, and that is largely because he is a Solo Queue Champion that propels against worse players. Garen has the tools to gap close, silence, do damage and execute. However, it is very easy to predict Garen’s movement. Those that know how to counter Garen will do. We recommend playing him in lower elo games only.

Irelia has sadly seen better days. She was once the best assassin Top, but the Season 11 changes don’t do her justice. She is okay, especially on Irelia mains. But Fiora, Riven and Camille are just better alternatives.

Kayle is a hyper carry typically played top lane. She is a B Tier in our Top Lane Tier List because of her high-risk high-reward. She needs to farm and scale before she gets to a point where she can win the game. The Top lane typically is the safest option, but she also struggles against many lane matchups.

If you wanted another hyper scaling Top pick, here’s Nasus. Nasus aims to farm Q stacks, increasing the ability’s overall damage. Eventually, Nasus can one-shot squishies with the ability after 25 minutes of farming. Most players will punish Nasus, but when it pays off, it is big.

Rumble has seen more playtime in Mid recently, but his top lane gameplay is better now. He contends better against Tankier opponents, with better damage to deal with them. He won’t fit into the meta but fulfils an interesting niche for certain players.

With Sejuani a weak tank jungler in the current meta, some players have opted to play her Top Lane. Her kit suites the lane, with engage, CC, and some wave control. Not too great at skirmishes, though. I figured it was worth mentioning, especially after IG played her top in the LPL. Although, we fail to see its appeal over other A Tier tanks mentioned above.

Vladimir was recently buffed in 11.8, allowing for better ability usage. This makes Vladimir a lot nicer to play, but not enough to propel him higher. Overall, Vlad is a very safe Top, able to sustain and farm forever.

Conclusion

This concludes our LoL Top Lane Tier List. We will update our ranking every patch, reflecting trends, play rate, success rate, and other useful metrics. We hope you get the most out of the Top Lane Tier List for League of Legend’s current patch with these highlights and analysis.

Staff Writer AT WEPC

Craig Robinson

Craig has spent several years in esports. He began his journey as a volunteer, writing about games he loved whilst studying at University. Upon graduating, he worked as a freelance writer, talking about esports and gaming for several years before landing in WePC's gaming section.