League of legends’ premiere game mode is summoner’s rift and all the complicated strategies revolve around that game mode, which means every season and every patch, strategies get updated for the META.
Champion releases also greatly affect the META and as we have noticed, the champions released nowadays are mostly leaning towards team fighting champions. These are champions that tip the odds to their team’s side by having abilities that can help other team mates or set up wombo combos for their team. Most of these champions have AOE abilities that can either stun multiple enemies or simply burst them all down.
Top lane is the farthest lane of them all and only matters if the Rift Herald or Baron Nashor is up, so it means they won’t be able to help their team unless they have teleport or they push their lane’s tower faster than their opponent. Top lane champions can be mid to late game team fighters and can be the win condition of most team compositions. Keeping all that in mind, I have gathered different data from my years of experience in League of Legends and made a list of the top 5 best team fight top laners in the game, read on and find out in detail.
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1. Ornn
There is a reason why Ornn is one of the highest picked champion in the pro scene. Pro players focus on team fighting champions and rarely greedy picks that will only benefit from their own lane. If you really want to win a game, then team fighting is the way to go as nobody can really take a coordinated team down.
Everything in Ornn’s kit screams team fight, his Q that puts a terrain in the middle of the enemy team which slows them, he can also headbutt that said terrain and knock all enemies within its range. He also has his W that makes enemies have the Brittle stat which extends the effects of immobilizing abilities.
Not mentioning his strongest team fighting ability, his R that calls a huge Ram spirit which makes every champion it passes through brittle, and he can headbutt said spirit to knock every champion it passes through the second time airborne.
Now if you think that’s all Ornn can offer for his team, he even has a passive that upgrades the mythic items of his team mates. Let’s see any other champion out there top that, Ornn is the best team fight top lane in the game and the reasons I just stated here are the very reason why.
Best item for Ornn
Sunfire Aegis
Knowing that Ornn can cast crowd control on most enemies, it just means he can proc Sunfire’s explosive passive multiple times in a row. Sunfire Aegis also provides Ornn almost all defensive stats he needs for an early Brawl especially if he is running either Grasp of the Undying or the Aftershock rune.
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Different Playstyles For Each Phase
Early Game Playstyle
Most Ornn players start with their Q simply because it provides free damage and you prevent an early confrontation with your opponent, plus you can use it to take CS if your opponent is a ranged top laner. Assess the situation and avoid fights if your enemy has gap closers, you won’t be able to outrun champions like these when you start an early game trade with them.
Play safe until your jungler comes near you, if you catch your enemy with your Q + E combo, go all in with your jungler and only go in for the kill if your jungler is around. Otherwise, just sit tight, take CS and wait for the mid game so you can team fight with your allies.
Mid Game Playstyle
When mid game comes, look to push your lane fast as Ornn can quickly clear minion waves with his combo, slow push your lane then crash the wave you just accumulated and look to roam to mid lane. Give your mid laner and jungler a heads up that you will perform a tower dive, If you already have your Sunfire and armor boots, Ornn can easily tank a few tower shots.
Ornn can easily secure the kill for his Jungler and Mid laner because of his ultimate, he can cast it from afar so the enemy mid laner won’t anticipate it. Keep on repeating this tactic while managing your wave in top lane and you will easily see the results of your team’s effort.
Late Game Playstyle
When late game Objective timers are close to zero, try to regroup with your team as you will be the deciding factor if you can take said late game Objectives. Your AOE spells and crowd controls will be a key factor for your team to take care of the enemy team. Your initiates can lead to wombo combos that will also lead to objective secured and eventually victory.
2. Lilia
When Lilia was released, she was massively played in the jungle because of her clear speed and her ability to make multiple enemies sleep, little did players know that her abilities make for a great 1v1 playstyle in the top lane. Landing your ultimate on the enemy top laner and making them sleep, gives you the opportunity to dance around them and even plan your next move or wait for your cooldowns without having to deal with other champions.
She is a great team fight top laner because of her ability to make the enemy’s entire team sleep. If she manages to make all of the enemy team’s champions sleep, her team can easily come up of a way to do a wombo combo and burst all of them down. Her abilities also deal AOE damage meaning she can jump right into the fray and just deal insane DOT(damage over time) damage on them.
Best item for Lilia
Liandry’s Anguish
Lilia’s passive lets her deal damage over time to enemies with her Q, this will extend the effects of Liandry’s Anguish stopping the healing abilities of her opponents for a long time. She can even combine it with Demon’s mask item to improve the damage and extend her DOT damage on the enemies.
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Different Playstyles For Each Phase
Early Game Playstyle
Try to cs and avoid fights in the early game but make sure to try and poke your enemy laner with your Q or your E everytime they start their basic attack animation on a minion, this way you will also have value even if they score a CS and eventually gain an HP advantage over them. Having the HP advantage in the top lane is very important because it takes too long for a champion to recall and walk back to lane if they don’t have their teleports up.
Mid Game Playstyle
Mid game Lilia is the best phase for her because this is the best time for her to roam and provide assistance for her entire team. While roaming mid or teleporting bot lane, make sure however that your lane is not pushed all the way in by your opponent or it will be you who will lose value if he destroys your plates and have the tower advantage over you.
Late Game Playstyle
You can be a frontline champion in the late game provided that you have a Zhonya’s Hourglass to protect yourself from being picked off. When you see an opportunity, you can simply flash in the middle of the enemy team and hit them all with your Q and make them all sleep.
3. Gnar
Gnar is another champion that most pro players pick because of his ability to hold his ground in the early game and his ability to transform and stun multiple enemies at once while having a great gap closer. Gnar’s kit revolves around his rage bar that he can build up everytime he damages a unit while in his normal form. Players can play around this passive and hold it out for as long as they can before transforming into Mega Gnar so that they can decide when the team fight starts.
We have all seen that play in Worlds in the past where one player manages to stun the entire team of their opponents with his ultimate and follow it up with an AOE damage from his Q and AOE stun with his W, it easily led to the massacre of their opponent’s entire team that eventually led to a victory. That is how strong Gnar is as a team fighting top laner.
Best item for Gnar
Sterak’s Gage
Mega Gnar increases Gnar’s damage as well as his maximum HP, Sterak’s gage will improve it even further when Gnar triggers it. It’s great because Gnar will be his team’s frontline which means he will be the one to dive into the fray and take all the initial damage from the enemy’s team when he uses his ultimate combo.
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Different Playstyles For Each Phase
Early Game Playstyle
Gnar starts off in his normal form where he is a ranged champion that can poke enemies with his basic attack and his Q. He has one of the strongest laning phase because not only is he ranged and has an ability that slows enemies down, he can also build up on his rage and go all in when he goes Mega Gnar and stun his opponent. Only trade with your enemy top laner if you are close to fill up your Rage meter
Mid Game Playstyle
Mid game Gnar doesn’t usually roam, he just bullies his enemy laner and scores the first tower gold and continues to do so until he has all his core items.
Late Game Playstyle
This is the time where Gnar truly serves as a team fighting champion, late game is filled with team fights and that is where Gnar should be. He can easily win objectives for his team in the late game because the Dragon and the Baron pits are the best places for him to use his ultimate. Cramped spaces make for a good initiation for Gnar, especially for his W and his R.
4. Rumble
Rumble has faced lots and lots of nerfs from the past making him a very unpopular pick in season 12, but his AOE abilities prove otherwise and can still be very helpful because of several items introduced in season 10. His Q is a great frontline ability that can be combined with Grievous wounds inflicting items and bottleneck the healing abilities of their enemy.
His Equalizer or his R ability also has a very long casting range meaning he can simply roam and not show himself and help his ally finish an enemy off by cutting the pathways of their opponents. Equalizer also deals insane damage especially in the late game and can also be used to initiate or disengage from team fights.
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Best item for Rumble
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter
Rumble has an ability that can slow enemies down and it comes from his E, but for him to slow multiple opponents down with his Q, he’s gonna need this item.
Different Playstyles For Each Phase
Early Game Playstyle
Rumble is a lane bully that can easily gain the lane advantage by chipping away at his opponents HP and gaining an easy HP advantage. Just don’t go harassing your opponent at level 1 because you won’t be able to kite them with just your Q, you need your E to slow them down whenever they are trying to get close to you or runaway.
Mid Game Playstyle
Once you reach level 6, you can simply walk to mid lane and drop a quick equalizer to initiate a kill for your allied mid laner. Only do this if you have control over the minion wave in your lane
Late Game Playstyle
Securing late game objectives is easier than ever if you have a Rumble on your eam, he can cut the enemy’s path off with his equalizer and if they choose to walk over it, they will be sacrificing a huge chunk of their HP just to get near to you. Rumble can also be a frontline and face all of the opponents team alone by doing all the AOE damage he has and backing it up with a Zhonya’s Hourglass so he doesn’t die easily.
5. Malphite
Low elo’s king of AOE damage, Malphite, while being a tank can also be built as a mage with multiple AP items. His ultimate is his commonly used team fighting ability that knocks all the enemies within it’s large AOE range.
He can even follow it up with another AOE ability with his E that easily shuts enemy ADC’s down as it reduces all the affected champion’s attack speed.
Malphite’s ultimate can also be combined with a wide variety of champion abilities that can start a wombo combo, just like Yasuo or Oriana’s ultimate abilities.
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Best item for Malphite
Everfrost
In season 12, there are lots of team fight items that champions can build and Everfrost could very well be the best of them. Right after Malphite knocks everybody up with his ultimate, he can extend the CC by rooting all enemies down with Everfrost.
Different Playstyles For Each Phase
Early Game Playstyle
Malphite is a tank, but he can hold his ground in 1v1 situations thanks to many of his abilities. His Q can be used to poke enemies and it can even be combined with the Arcane Comet rune to improve its damage.
His W passively increases his armor meaning he can max this first if he is against an all AD champion like Tryndamere. He can make quick bursts and eventually finish enemies off even if they manage to flash away thanks to his Q that steals the speed of his enemies.
Mid Game Playstyle
Upon reaching level 6, Malphite can easily roam mid lane and score a takedown with his mid laner, his knock up and slow will prove too much for their enemy.
Late Game Playstyle
During late game, when team fights are at its peak, Malphite can be a very durable frontline champion because he can stack lots and lots of defensive stats thanks to his passive. Being in the frontline also means he is closer to the enemy than any other champion in his team, meaning he will always be in range to knock multiple enemies up.
Conclusion
Notice that all of the champions that we included in this list deal AOE damage or AOE crowd controls, this is because AOE spells benefit your entire team and these are the abilities you should look for in team fights. Assassins won’t be able to score that much during team fights because they can easily be burst down by the opposing team.
(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)
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