With Patch 14.13 now live, many League of Legends players are looking for their next OP pick for solo queue. Since every patch brings a lot of changes to the meta, we will be taking a look at the best of the best when it comes to top lane champions so you can start climbing up the ranked ladder.
We will give several examples of champions per tier, so you can decide for yourself which pick fits your play style and which toplaner will give you the best chances of carrying your team to victory.
Given how much the meta can shake things up, you should pay attention to each patch as your favorite champion might be hit with the nerf hammer, as Riot unleashes a new broken champion on the top lane.
Table of Contents
- Tier List Explanation
- League of Legends 14.13: D-Tier Top Lane Champions
- League of Legends 14.13: C-Tier Top Lane Champions
- League of Legends 14.13: B-Tier Top Lane Champions
- League of Legends 14.13: A-Tier Top Lane Champions
- League of Legends 14.13: S-Tier Top Lane Champions
- Summary of Best Top Lane Champions in League of Legends Patch 14.13
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Tier List Explanation
This tier list will examine some of the most-played League of Legends champions in the top lane.
- D-Tier: You should avoid playing these champions as much as possible.
- C-Tier: Although they can be somewhat decent, you are better off with other picks.
- B-Tier: Viable and reliable in most situations, you can manage rather decently.
- A-Tier: Great options but lacking just slightly either in terms of damage or utility.
- S-Tier: The best champions you can use to ensure you are always victorious.
NOTE: Although this tier list strives to be as objective as possible in terms of viability, you should not limit yourself to strictly adhere to this list, but rather experiment and see which champion feels fun to play with.
League of Legends 14.13: D-Tier Top Lane Champions
K'Sante
K'Sante is still rolling in the mud as his win rate is still at a staggering low with Riot Games unable to balance him properly.
PROS:
- Incredibly tanky
CONS:
- Difficult to master kit
- Terrible damage
- Can struggle against ranged comps
Jayce
Jayce has been struggling for quite some time in the top lane as his current kit and playstyle do not favor most of the top-tier matches you will face in your ranked game.
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Gangplank
Although GP got some changes to his barrels, his kit still remains difficult to master thus making him a hard champion to pick up to ensure easy wins.
Skarner
The Skarner nerfs hit pretty hard in 14.13 as this champion has quickly sunken down to the very bottom.
League of Legends 14.13: C-Tier Top Lane Champions
Poppy
Poppy can be a great counterpick to dive-heavy teams as her W ability can basically prevent champions from getting on top of your backline.
Rumble
Rumble has been struggling to maintain his relevancy as more and more players are opting to play him in the bot lane.
PROS:
- Great AP damage
CONS:
- Passive needs constant maintenance for optimal damage
- Needs good setup either from the jungler or support for team fights
Sion
Sion is doing a bit better, however, his proxy playstyle is not ideal given the massive meta shift with ranged AD champions dominating ranked.
Yorick
Yorick is once again struggling to maintain top lane relevancy as he still remains a niche choice for one tricks.
PROS:
- Great split pushing potential
- Annoying lane bully
CONS:
- Lacks mobility
- Can be easily kited
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League of Legends 14.13: B-Tier Top Lane Champions
Varus
Varus is a very odd choice when it comes to the top lane, however, it can be viable if your team lacks poke or a way of shutting down powerful top lane champions that are laning phase-dependant.
PROS:
- Adequate damage and tower pushing
- Good tank killer
CONS:
- Very squishy
- Can struggle against heavy engage comps
Irelia
Irelia has seen better days, and although she can quite a menacing champion, she requires some mastery to overcome most of the difficult matchups that are higher up on the list.
Ryze
Ryze can easily become a late-game monster if he is able to safely farm until the mid-to-late game, however, his lack of presence in the early game can be detrimental when it comes to objectives.
PROS:
- Intuitive gameplay
- Amazing scaling
CONS:
- Weak early game
- Short range
Cho'Gath
Cho'Gath is fairly easy to play given his straightforward kit and his great health scaling, making him quite the threat in the late game.
Singed
Singed saw some much-needed buffs to his Q damage and ultimate cooldown, so you will be seeing this toxic scientist more often proxying you.
PROS:
- Very fun playstyle
- Absolute monster in team fights
CONS:
- Proxy playstyle can be tricky at first
- Lower damage than most top laners
Gnar
Gnar can be quite powerful in skirmishes due to his two forms utilizing both ranged harass tools and CC.
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League of Legends 14.13: A-Tier Top Lane Champions
Ornn
Ornn is seeing a slight revival due to his passive changes, making it a lot more beneficial to your teammates.
PROS:
- Tons of CC
- Good laning phase
CONS:
- Needs proper setup from team to effectively utilize CC
Urgot
Urgot is doing surprisingly well, given how much harass and pushing potential you have, you can easily choke out your enemy into giving up CS and plates.
Nasus
We've decided to place Nasus a bit lower in this patch as while he still has S-Tier potential, his difficult-to-overcome laning phase can be quite the bother to deal with.
PROS:
- Great split pushing and scaling
- One of the most oppressive slows in the game
CONS:
- Very weak early game
Aatrox
The changes to Aatrox have slightly increased his win rate, making him again viable to play against most top lane matchups, however, you will need to have a good understanding of his combos.
Quinn
Quinn is also making a comeback as her playstyle can enable you to roam almost seamlessly as well as effectively shut down enemy top laners as her kit allows her to harass without much issue.
PROS:
- Incredible mobility
- Great skirmisher
CONS:
- Can struggle against tankier champions
Gwen
Gwen has been popping off as of late. Her laning phase coupled with the sheer damage she can unleash in fights.
PROS:
- Incredible damage
- Oppressive laner
CONS:
- Can struggle against poke-heavy comps
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League of Legends 14.13: S-Tier Top Lane Champions
Camille
Camille has once again become a monster in the top lane as not only do you become an unstoppable late-game threat, but your split pushing is hardly ever matched.
PROS:
- Incredible laning phase
- Superb damage
- Can apply a lot of pressure on the map
CONS:
- Has some annoying counters
Fiora
Another amazing duelist, split pusher, and overall lane bully that can easily tilt enemies into doing bad plays, Fiora is your key to victory.
PROS:
- Great sustain
- Amazing utility
- Oppressive laning phase
CONS:
- Can struggle against ranged
Vladimir
Vladimir is once again a great AP pick in the top lane as his late-game scaling is almost unmatched in terms of damage and sustain.
PROS:
- Great lane sustain
- Very oppressive kit
CONS:
- Can struggle against ranged teams
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Shen
Shen has made it back to being one of the best top lane champions due to his global map presence, decent laning phase, and overall oppressive crowd control.
PROS:
- Built-in tankiness
- Great CC opportunities
- Great cross-map potential
CONS:
- Needs good followup from your team to succeed in team fights
Tryndamere
With the crit item changes in Patch 14.10, Tryndamere has now secured his spot as one of the best top laners currently.
PROS:
- Incredible damage
- Decent lane sustain
- Deadly splitpusher
CONS:
- Can struggle against CC-heavy comps
Darius
Darius is one of the most scary juggernauts you can face currently. Not only can he easily 1v1 almost any matchup, but his tankiness makes him even more difficult to deal with.
PROS:
- Oppressive kit
- Great execution damage
- Very terrifying snowball potential
CONS:
- Lack of gap closers
Mordekaiser
Surprisingly, the Mordekaiser changes have finally resulted in this AP champion taking control over the top lane.
Malphite
Malphite has once again returned to the top as a strong anti-AD pick, given how much his kit suppresses auto-attack heavy champions.
PROS:
- Incredibly tanky
- One of the best ultimates in the game
- Great laning
CONS:
- Low damage
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Summary of Best Top Lane Champions in League of Legends Patch 14.13
All in all, this list is surely to change based on balance changes the devs implement but it should give you a general idea of which champions are strong and which might need some additional tuning to become more viable.
Patch 14.13 is certainly shaking things up on Summoner's Rift. With that being said, League of Legends can be quite challenging at first, but once you master your favorite champion and try out these picks, you should excel in your games a lot more!
Tier | Top Lane Champions |
D-Tier | K'Sante, Jayce, Gangplank, Skarner |
C-Tier | Poppy, Rumble, Sion, Yorick |
B-Tier | Varus, Irelia, Ryze, Cho'Gath, Singed, Gnar |
A-Tier | Ornn, Urgot, Nasus, Quinn, Gwen |
S-Tier |
Camille, Fiora, Vladimir, Shen, Tryndamere, Darius, Mordekaiser, Malphite |
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