5 Most Picked Top Laners in Professional League of Legends

5 Most Picked Top Laners in Professional League of Legends

Professional players always pick the best champion to do the job. Compared to your average Solo Queue player, they spend a lot of time learning the ins and outs of every champion they play, and they’re pretty darn good at them too.

Have you ever thought about who are the most picked champions in the Top lane of professional League of Legends? No? Well, some of the champions on today’s list may surprise you. What has historically been great in Solo Queue doesn’t always transition well to pro play, as we will find out in today’s article.

Looking for more stats for champions in League of Legends? Or if you want any more tips and tricks to play any champions on our list, then make sure you sign up for a free Mobalytics account.

Before we begin, we would just like to say that these stats and all the other stats we are using in this series of Esports guides are taken from GOL.GG. The filters we are using are all seasons and all roles, and we are not including any champions that have been released in the last year or so (however that doesn’t affect this guide in particular).

5 Most Picked Top Laners in Pro League of Legends

1. Gnar
2. Renekton
3. Ornn
4. Aatrox
5. Camille

1. Gnar

Gnar is a strong champion in pro play, thanks to his versatility and strength in team fights. His Ultimate and transformation are pretty good in fights as he can become stronger and lock down and pick off targets. Gnar is pretty simple, but playing around with his rage bar is key.

Gnar is a safe Top laner that can handle the majority of Top laners in LoL. However, he is quite squishy. Gnar is dependable and safe and can escape ganks and skirmishes with his jump. He can also set up his Jungler post 6 with his Ultimate.

I don’t rate Gnar as a Top laner right now. I think there are stronger champions around. However, I will say that he is good in Clash and Flex if your team is on voice comms and have good synergy.

Quick Tips

• When against melee champions, use your range advantage to harass enemies. Whenever they have 2 stacks on them, make sure you auto-attack or use your Q to proc your W.
• Try to delay a team fight for as long as possible while you stack your Rage Bar. When it’s up, force a fight before you go back to Mini Gnar.
• Before using your E aggressively, take a look at the mini-map to make sure the enemy Jungler is not nearby and ready to engage once you’ve overextended.

2. Renekton

Renekton has always been one of my favourite Top laners in the game, and I feel like a large portion of Top lane mains like him as a champion. Although, many of them may not like to play against him as he can be quite infuriating to play against and hard to handle once he is ahead.

Renekton, while not very popular nowadays, used to be good in the Top lane because of his skirmishing power and strong duelling potential. He could handle the other strong Top laners, and he could also set up his Jungler. Renekton’s build is very versatile and can be built in a variety of different ways.

I think Renekton is a strong Top laner and someone who is good if you want to learn how to play Top lane because he is easy to learn and quite forgiving thanks to his dashes and the heal.

Quick Tips

• Renekton is a strong early game champion. With this in mind, try to play aggressive and use your strength to get ahead.
• If you’re in need of health, use your empowered Q to heal back up. If you’re in need of damage, use your empowered W. Don’t bother using your E if your next ability will be empowered.
• Attack from the side in team fights for a better chance of dishing out damage and killing the enemy. Renekton cannot really run towards the enemy in a team fight as he is easy to kite and get away from.

3. Ornn

Ornn is an extremely flexible and popular champion in pro play. He is a great team fighter because of his Ultimate which he can use to catch enemies out of position. While he is a tank, he can deal an extraordinary amount of damage.

He is played in pro play for his Ultimate which can allow him to catch enemies out of position. Furthermore, his Passive is really good at assisting his allies as he can upgrade their items and make them stronger. He synergises well with every champion because of this.

I don’t recommend you play Ornn in Solo Queue because he relies too heavily on his allies. However, if you’re playing flex with a five man premade or if you’re playing Clash, I think he is fine.

Quick Tips

• Hold on to your dash unless you’re looking to fight. You never know when your dash will come in handy and save your life.
• In team fights, look to use your Ultimate aggressively to start the team fight. Only do this if your teammates are in a position to follow up.
• Whenever given the prompt, make sure you upgrade your ally’s items with your Passive.

4. Aatrox

Aatrox is the next champion on the list. Aatrox used to be a really strong champion in the earlier seasons of League of Legends. However, he quickly fell off. He was then reworked, and then he was played often again. Unfortunately, he doesn’t see much play right now.

He was a very strong skirmisher that could contend with the other strong duelling champions and tanks of the time. When he was ahead, he could take be extremely challenging to deal with thanks to his damage output, CC and sustain.

I think Aatrox is an oaky champion, but I don’t see any point in playing him right now. There are far easier, much stronger and way better top laners you could play instead.

Quick Tips

• Try and play around with your Passive and trade when it’s up. Don’t look for an extended fight unless your Passive is up; otherwise, you’ll miss out on extra damage.
• You can use your E to reposition your Q sweet spots. This includes using your E forwards, backwards and even left or right.
• Play safe at level 1, and then look to play aggressive from levels 2 to 6. Aatrox is an early game dominant champion, so make sure you play aggressive early on.

5. Camille

The final champion on our list is Camille. Camille is a strong skirmishing champion who can perform well regardless of how far ahead or behind they’re. Camille was often picked back in the day, but she isn’t as popular as she once was due to the current meta of champions.

Camille had good gank setup and good pick potential. Her E is very strong, and it can enable her Jungler to gank her. She can also use it to start skirmishes with the enemy. Post 6, her gank setup increases, and then when it comes to team fights she can always lock down one target.

I think Camille is a great champion for Solo Queue, but she is extremely hard to play. I wouldn’t recommend her in low ELO, but higher ELO top lane mains would do really well with her.

Quick Tips

• In team fights, don’t run directly towards the enemy. The best way to team fight for Camille is by flanking the enemy from the side and then using your Ultimate on a carry.
• Before using your E aggressively, check the map to see if the enemy Jungler is nearby. It’s important that you do not engage if they’re nearby.
• If you’re not able to get any kills in the top lane post 6, you could look to roam and help another lane out with your Ultimate.

Final Thoughts

That sums up our list of the 5 most played Top laners in professional League of Legends. Are you surprised by anyone on our list? If you found any of the champions interesting and want to give them a try for yourself, head over to Mobalytics.