League of Legends: Patch 9.22 top lane tier list sees Kayle still thriving

New Additions

Viktor

New subtractions

None

Rising Champions

Fiora (A+ ⇒ S tier)
Jax (A+ ⇒ S tier)
Kled (A+ ⇒ S tier)
Urgot (B ⇒ B+ tier)
Gangplank (C ⇒ B tier)
Aatrox (C ⇒ B tier)
Rumble (C ⇒ B tier)
Maokai (D ⇒ C tier)

Falling Champions

Garen (A+ ⇒ A tier)
Pantheon (S ⇒ B+ tier)
Teemo (A ⇒ B+ tier)
Shen (B+ ⇒ B tier)
Tryndamere (B+ ⇒ B tier)
Malphite (B+ ⇒ B tier)
Singed (C ⇒ D tier)

Observations

• Kayle may be the highest-rated top laner on our list, but she was rated B tier by one site and C tier by two others. That’s not a great amount of consensus, especially compared to the other S tier picks on our list.
• Among the champions that rose in our tier list, the ones that appear to have actually gotten stronger in Patch 9.22 are Kled (1.7% win rate improvement) and Rumble (0.9%). For champions that fell and also saw a win rate decline, that list would include Pantheon (2.8% decline) and Tryndamere (1%).
• Kled, by the way, is the top laner with the best win rate in Patch 9.22, currently sitting at 54.1% (with a 4.5% pick rate). The worst win rate in the position, by the way, is Sylas at 45.3%. Just like in the mid lane, he’s still struggling despite the nerfs.

Buffed champions

Sylas

Speaking of Sylas, the buffs to his base stats and W – Kingslayer have been even less impactful in the top lane than they were in the mid lane. He remains in our F tier and still has the lowest win rate in the role. His win rate rose by only 0.2% from the last patch.

Nerfed champions

Kayle

Kayle remains an S tier pick in the top lane even after Riot’s nerfs to her Q – Radiant Blast and the mana cost on her W – Celestial Blessing. Her win rate is down 1.7% since the nerfs, but she still has the sixth-best win rate in that role.

Malphite

Unlike mid lane, not many people were building Malphite full AP in the top lane, so the nerfs to his R – Unstoppable Force‘s AP ratio weren’t as effective. His win rate dropped by less than 1% but he did drop to the B tier.

Pantheon

The last top laner touched in Patch 9.22, Pantheon took damage nerfs to his Q – Comet Spear and dash speed nerf on his W – Shield Vault dropped him all the way down from the S tier to the B+ tier. It’s not hard to see why, as his 51.8% win rate from the previous patch has dropped all the way down to 49% in Patch 9.22. In one patch, he went from a top-10 win rate to being outside the top 40 for top laners.