There are around 100 days left in the final split of Season 26 in League of Legends. That means you still have plenty of time to grind out some games and climb the ranks to hit your end-of-year goals! Here at Mobalytics, we have tons of guides, tips, and tricks to help you climb, and in this guide, we'll cover 5 of the strongest Top Laners to main in the final months of League of Legends.
Before we begin, the data in this article is from our Mobalytics tier list. It is also using Platinum+, global and mid-patch data. While some of these champions might not be statistically the best, they’re very strong overall, and our list is in no order...
1. Darius
Darius is one of the strongest Top Laners in League of Legends this season, thanks to his strong duelling with his Passive. His Passive applies a bleed that, when fully stacked, deals heavy damage over time. In extended and all-in trades, very few champions can match his trading, and that is down to his Passive.
In Low ELO, players tend to misjudge trading patterns or go for extended trades when they shouldn’t. Darius can easily exploit this and get an early kill. He can then get kill after kill if he freezes the wave closer to his side of the map or starves the enemy laner of CS and XP.
Outside of the laning phase, Darius is a very strong split pusher who can continue to 1v1 or 1v2 most enemy teams, especially when he is ahead. He can apply pressure ot side lanes while the rest of his team takes another objective, or, if left uncontested, he can just keep taking objectives off the map.
How to Play Darius
2. Malphite
Malphite is one of the simplest and most consistent Top Laner picks in Season 26. He is great for beginners and off-role players, letting them blind-pick him safely regardless of the meta or matchup. Malphite has few bad matchups, and as long as he can get CS/XP and core items, he will be great later on. Malphite's main challenge is not running out of mana from spamming abilities to poke or clear waves.
You pick Malphite for his overall tankiness, which lets him soak up a lot of damage for his team and use his Ultimate. His Ultimate is one of the most impactful abilities in the game, and you can use it to catch a key target or start a team fight by knocking up the whole enemy team around objectives like the Baron or Dragon.
Even when behind on Malphite, he is still a fantastic pick thanks to his Ultimate, even if he is not as tanky. And don’t forget, your build path lets you adapt to situations easily. You can build heavy armour items against mainly AD comps, or go for a more magic resistance build against AP ones, which is especially popular right now because of the AP bot meta.
How to Play Malphite
3. Irelia
Irelia is the hardest champion on our list because she's high-skill and mechanically challenging, with a very steep learning curve. A good Irelia can manage the minion wave effectively, play around minion health bars, and use her Q to stack her Passive and go for hyper-aggressive plays. A good laner can turn any small advantage into a large health or kill lead.
Irelia does suffer in teamfights and the mid-game, though. She is effective in 1v1 situations and split-pushing, but she struggles in team fights, especially when she has no frontline champions to go in with her. In those team fights, she may also struggle to manage her Q resets, leaving her vulnerable and with no way to escape.
Irelia is an ideal pick for someone who wants a challenge and loves to play hard, high-APM champions. If you fully understand her kit, you’ll climb very high, very fast, because she is very rewarding for players who put the time into practising her.
How to Play Irelia
4. Mordekaiser
The only AP champion on our list is one of the strongest AP Juggernauts in the game. Mordekaiser is straightforward, yet highly effective in lane with his simple trading pattern. He looks to land his Q on the enemy, pull them in with his E and once he activates his Passive, he just out-damages most champions in those extended fights.
One of Mordekaiser’s main strengths is his Ultimate, which can isolate a key enemy target for up to 7 seconds. It lets Mordekaiser completely neutralise a high-threat target, like the enemy Jungler around objectives, or take down isolated squishy carries like the enemy Mid, ADC, and even the Support.
One of his biggest weaknesses is that he is quite immobile and can get kited easily, but you can play around it by attacking from the side and using the fog of war. He is a fantastic pick in Low ELO, since you might be paired with players who pick full AD team comps, and having him available is necessary.
How to Play Mordekaiser
5. Renekton
While Irelia might be extremely hard, Renekton is not! Renekton is a lane bully who dominates the early and mid game. His Fury mechanic lets him empower his abilities to deal extra damage or gain additional sustain. Combined with his double dash and his W, a CC tool, he can go for short, bursty trades frequently, leaving no room for the enemy to counter him!
To fully exploit Renekton in Low ELO, you need to be an aggressive player. He needs to gain leads in lane- early kills, early tower plates, an early Rift Herald and Grubs to fully exploit his kit and gain a gold lead. If this sounds like your playstyle, Renekton might be for you.
Renekton does fall off in the late game compared to some of the other champions on our list and some champions in the game, but if you can become unstoppable, buy GA and have a large lead, then you can still be very useful in those late-game fights.
How to Play Renekton
Final Thoughts
And that is about it for this article. We hope you enjoyed it and can climb the ranks quickly and effectively with one of these five champions. Make sure you head over to our guides page, as we are cover alot of other material, including guides for the other four roles that will help you climb as well.