// LOADING LOLMAUK
Top is the island - isolated, self-reliant, and full of choices. Whether you want to soak damage, brawl, or take towers on the side, here are the picks that deliver.
By LOLMAUK Staff
Top lane is famously the island. You are the furthest from your team, ganks arrive late, and for long stretches it is just you and one other player deciding a 1v1. That isolation is also freedom - top laners have more control over their own game than any other role. The catch is you have to pick a champion whose plan matches the kind of game you want to play.
Top archetypes fall into three buckets: tanks who soak damage and start fights, bruisers who brawl and duel, and split-pushers who win by pressuring a side lane while their team plays four-versus-four. Each wins games differently, so pick the style that fits how you like to play rather than chasing whatever is highest on a tier list this week.
Tanks are the most forgiving top laners because they are hard to kill and their value does not depend on going even in lane. Ornn can lose lane, still be a wall in teamfights, and upgrade his whole team’s items on top of it. Malphite is the emergency button against AD-heavy enemies - one ultimate can end a fight.
Ornn
Immovable frontline that upgrades the whole team’s items
Tank
Malphite
AD-lane bully and a single-button teamfight starter
Tank / Engage
Sion
Scaling tank with a game-ending engage and split threat
TankTanks do not need to win lane to win the game. If you are losing, farm safely, scale, and remember your job starts at the first teamfight, not the first trade.
Bruisers want to fight, and top is where they thrive. Sett is beginner-friendly - point-and-click damage, a built-in shield, and a big ultimate that repositions the enemy carry. Aatrox is the drain-tank skirmisher who wins extended fights, while Camille is the high-skill dueler who can single out and delete a carry.
Sett
Simple, tanky brawler - a great first bruiser
Bruiser
Aatrox
Drain-tank skirmisher who wins the long fight
Bruiser
Camille
High-skill dueler that isolates and deletes carries
DuelerSplit-pushing is a whole playstyle: you pressure a side lane, force the enemy to send people to stop you, and let your team take the map elsewhere. Fiora is the queen of it - she duels almost anyone and takes towers absurdly fast. Jax is the more forgiving version, scaling into an unkillable tower-taker who wins side-lane 1v1s late.
Fiora
Best duelist and tower-taker for a split-push game plan
Split-push
Jax
Scaling split-pusher who becomes unkillable in side lanes
Split-pushTop laners live and die on matchup knowledge and knowing when to teleport in versus hold it for a split. Pick one champion from the style that appeals to you, learn its two or three toughest lane matchups, and pair it with the drafting habits from the counter-picking guide. The island rewards the player who plans their own game instead of waiting for help that arrives late.