League of Legends Patch 9.5 tier list: top lane edition

A bunch of League of Legends champions got changes in Patch 9.5, including buffs to Cho’Gath, Mundo, Gangplank, and Tryndamere. How will our tier list be affected?

The top lane meta received a bunch of changes after Patch 9.5. Not only were several League of Legends champions in the top lane getting changes, in addition to the big change to Conqueror. But what does our aggregated data – based on multiple data-based and expert tier lists – say about the effect those changes had on the meta?

Top tier list

S tier: Riven, Jax

A tier: Vladimir, Kled, Jayce, Yorick, Darius, Sylas, Irelia, Nasus, Renekton, Wukong, Camille, Illaoi, Gangplank, Sion

B tier: Pantheon, Garen, Poppy, Yasuo, Kennen, Rengar, Teemo, Quinn, Malphite, Olaf, Singed, Fiora, Volibear, Rumble, Tryndamere

C tier: Maokai, Vayne, Kayle, Urgot, Ryze, Cho’Gath, Akali, Shen, Lissandra, Viktor, Dr. Mundo, Aatrox, Swain, Gnar, Cassiopeia, Malzahar, Mordekaiser, Ornn

D tier: Heimerdinger, Tahm Kench, Jarvan IV

Rising champions

Olaf (C tier to B tier)

The biggest improvement for any champion in the top lane is the Berzerker, even though he did not receive any big buffs or nerfs. During Patch 9.5, however, people began experimenting with using the new Conqueror keystone on Olaf and it’s been surprisingly successful. Despite the fact that Conqueror has gotten repeated nerfs, the fact that Olaf at least has a keystone to use in top lane pushes him to at least viability.

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Akali (D tier to C tier)

As we noted in the mid tier list, Akali got some nice buffs in Patch 9.5. Like in mid lane, she hasn’t risen back to becoming the terror she was after her rework, but at least for Akali players she’s in a playable state. It would be a stretch to call her viable in top lane, though, let alone meta.

Sylas (B tier to A tier)

We also touched on Sylas a bit more in-depth in the mid lane tier list, but my rough take is that as players have gotten more used to his kit, his effectiveness has risen. This is in spite of the fact that Riot has tossed him a few nerfs in recent patches.

Falling champions

Yasuo (S tier to B tier)

We discussed this as well in the mid tier list, but one thing I would like to point out is that Yasuo’s effectiveness dropped even more in the top lane than he did in mid. In mid, Yasuo remained an A-tier champion, whereas in top he’s dropped to B-tier. I’m sure (most) top laners won’t lament the downfall of the Unforgiven.

Yorick (S tier to A tier)

Yorick was a force with reworked Conqueror in previous patches, so it makes sense he would fall back after the rune was nerfed. He also received some nerfs to his ultimate in Patch 9.5 as well as how it synergized with Conqueror. At least now he’s in a semi-strong spot.

Rengar (A tier to B tier)

While Rengar can use Conqueror effectively, the high elo stats show that he is not overly-reliant on the rune. He can take keystones like Grasp of the Undying, Hail of Blades, or Electrocute effectively, so it’s a bit odd that he would drop to B-tier after being A-tier consistently for several patches.

Buffed champions

Akali

Noted above, the buffs have helped her, but she’s still not near worth picking or banning in your ranked games.

Gangplank

GP had some nice buffs to his Powder Keg and Cannon Barrage in Patch 9.5, which I posited would be fairly effective in pushing him towards top-tier. Gangplank has certainly been enjoying those buffs, jumping from C-tier in Patch 9.4 to A-tier in Patch 9.5. 

Dr. Mundo

Mundo got a buff to the passive magic resistance he gets on his E, but he still remains in the C-tier after the patch. A big reason that this is likely happening is that most of the mages in the top lane have dropped significantly, so this buff only helps him against the few AP champions – Vlad and Kennen mostly – that are featured in the top lane.

Cho’Gath

I called it a “baby buff” in the Patch 9.5 breakdown, and indeed that’s exactly what it was. His effectiveness has improved over this patch, but he’s still very much a C-tier champion.

Tryndamere

I thought this might put Tryndamere in competition with Yasuo for supreme late-game crit carry out of the top lane, and indeed I was right. Most of that was due to Yasuo dropping off a cliff in our tier list, but for his part, the buffs to Trynd’s crit scaling (off his fury) did bring him up to the B-tier after being C-tier last patch.

Nerfed champions

Yorick

We discussed it above that Yorick got nerfs to his ultimate, as well as his synergy with Conqueror. We predicted it would hurt him hard, and indeed it did, dropping him out of the S-tier.

Sylas

I know, I know, it makes no sense that Sylas would rise in effectiveness after getting some nerfs in Patch 9.5, but his nerfs were not that huge (and he got some compensation buffs too). As noted above, players getting used to his kit also helps.

Conqueror users

We’ve discussed it ad nauseum, but a lot of the big Conqueror users like Yasuo, Yorick, and Darius – fell off. However, champions like Olaf, Irelia (surprising because this change hurt her in mid lane), Riven, Jax, and Kled all seem to be doing just fine.

Aftershock users

On the other hand, the aftershock nerf has almost universally been bad news for the tanks that are using it. Champions like Maokai and Ornn who primarily run this rune have all dropped in some way in the tier list.

What are you most excited to see in the new Patch 9.5 top lane meta? Let us know in the comments!