League of Legends Patch 9.12 tier list – top lane edition
By Josh Tyler
Mordekaiser and Ryze
As we did in the mid tier list, let’s address why we don’t have Mordekaiser and Ryze on this tier list. These two champions are being left off this tier list intentionally because we weren’t confident that enough sites would be able to give accurate rankings for them following their reworks. In fact, both champions were only graded by half of the sites we aggregated data from.
However, with that said, I will note that Mordekaiser definitely appears to be the stronger of the two. He is solidly listed in the A or S tier of three of the four sites that did grade him, so he definitely appears to be a strong pick right off the rework. On the other side, Ryze got mostly D grades, indicating that so far his rework has been underwhelming.
New Additions
Karma
The buffs to Karma’s Q – Inner Flame and E – Inspire have proven to be very significant, enough that she is in our top lane tier list. Though she may only be C tier, this rating is accompanied by her being rated highly in both the mid and support roles. Now, she’s mostly being rated in the C to B range, but at least one site has said that Karma mid is an A tier pick, so be aware of this off-meta pick.
Hecarim
I think this one is a matter of personal preference. The sites we audited for this patch decided to list Hecarim more often than last patch, so he eeked on, but no site gave him higher than a B grade. I wouldn’t put a ton of practice onto top lane Hecarim.
New Subtractions
None
Rising Champions
Vladimir (B+ to A tier)
Although his win rate has been pretty steady (though not stellar) the Crimson Reaper got a nice bump back into the A tier. Elite500 will be thrilled.
Camille (B to B+ tier)
I expected Camille to take a hit from the nerf hitting her favorite starting item, Corrupting Potion. Although her win rate remained stable, there wasn’t a noticeable shift in the opinion of her strength in the top lane, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she drops again next patch.
Pyke (C to B+ tier)
Pyke got under-valued in Patch 9.11 because he was brand new to the top lane meta. His win rate has risen from 50.7% to 52% in Patch 9.12 and half the sites we pulled data from graded him as an A tier top laner.
Teemo (B to B+ tier)
Teemo is another top that could have been hurt by the Corrupting Pot nerf, but his win rate has also remained fairly static. Last patch, his grades were mostly a mix of Cs and Bs, but now it has shifted a bit towards mostly Bs.
Kayle (B to B+ tier)
The variance of opinion surrounding Kayle decreased from the last patch to this one, meaning sites seem to have a better understanding of where she fits in the meta. Right now, that’s right on the boundary of B/B+ tier.
Poppy (C to B tier)
Although her win rate rose by over 0.7%, Poppy just barely skirted over the border to get into the B tier. Considering the majority of sites gave her a B grade, I think she has potential to rise a bit higher given her win rate is top ten among top laners.
Sion (D to C tier)
Sion flew up the tier list with one of the biggest increases of all top laners in Patch 9.12. The reason, however, I do not understand, as he has the 30th-best win rate in the position (just above 50%) but just about every site we examined gave him a C grade.
Gnar (D to C tier)
He also got a pretty big increase in his ranking despite the 49th-best win rate (below 50%), with a few sites giving him B grades. The rest were mostly Ds and Fs, and my estimation is that is where Gnar is probably going to be next patch.
Malphite (D to C tier)
Continuing a bit with the trend of tanks rising on our list despite no noticeable change to their win rate (Malphite’s is currently at 47.3%), Malphite didn’t get a uniform rise. Instead, it was a couple sites giving him As and Bs that outweighed the rest giving him Cs and Ds.
Yasuo (D to C tier)
Oh no. Please don’t let it be so. Yasuo saw his win rate rise by 1.3% in Patch 9.12. He’s getting more C grades that could become B grades. Please keep the bad man away.
Vayne (F to D tier)
She got a little bit of power back in a mid-patch update in 9.11 and as a result her win rate rose over 2%. At 50.8%, Vayne is dangerously close to returning to being a legitimate, annoying cheese pick in top.