League of Legends: Top five Top Laners on Patch 9.24

One decade of League of Legends. One decade of the top lane island. Here are the top five top laners to play on the final patch of 2019!

Patch 9.24 introduced us to the 147th champion added to League of Legends, Aphelios, the Weapon of the Faithful, who has since taken over the bottom lane. But, if you want to stay as far away as possible from the latest broken champion the balance team has chucked onto Summoner’s Rift, go ahead and play top lane!

On previous patches, Garen was the #1 top laner and has since been nerfed to reduce his dominance over the meta (although, he received a small buff on Patch 9.24b). As a result, there’s a new face at the top of the top lane tier list, along with four other strong champions we recommend playing on Patch 9.24:

5 Gnar

Gnar doesn’t yet boast the win rate to support the claim that he’s a top five top laner on Patch 9.24, but the small buffs he received on Patch 9.24b are enough to add him to the conversation of meta top laners in the current meta. Here are the changes from the patch notes:

"Q – Boulder TossDamage Ratio: 1.2 Total Attack Damage -> 1.4 Total Attack Damage.W – WallopBase Damage: 25/45/65/85/105 -> 25/55/85/115/145."

On the surface, these buffs aren’t huge. Compound that with Gnar’s already weak state across all stages of the game (49.14% win rate), and it’s unlikely that he’ll be climbing up the tiers before he receives one or two more helpful changes. That being said, his all-in potential did just receive a significant buff that could catch opponents off-guard if not respected in team fights.

Obviously, his game-changing ultimate is the ability to look out for when Gnar “rages out”, whether that be in lane or in skirmishes, but now Boulder Toss and Wallop will both pack a meaty punch. Take advantage of these easily ignored buffs by picking Gnar in solo queue, waiting to hit 100 Rage, then hopping on your lane opponent for a quick burst of damage to take advantage in the early game.

4 Malphite

Regardless of the meta, regardless of your lane opponent, Malphite is always a rock solid pick for solo queue thanks to his inherent tanky stats and his easy to use, game-winning Ultimate – Unstoppable Force. That being said, Malph has started to slowly climb up the top lane rankings in recent patches and has established himself as an A tier champion on 9.24 with an impressive 52.70% win rate.

Why should you pick him? Basically, for the reasons stated above. Usually, Malphite is the ultimate choice for an auto-filled top laner thanks to his ease of use and low skill floor, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t master him in preseason for some free LP.

Simply farm out the early game, avoiding confrontation and poke, then set up for ganks once you reach Level 6. Don’t be afraid to build AP, but in most circumstances, a tank build is going to be better for your team. In team fights, your job could not be easier: Press R, soak up damage and let your team do the rest. That’s literally it.

3 Kled

Kled has been almost permanently hovering on the cusp of the top lane S tier for the entirety of 2019, but with champions around him seeing multiple nerfs, we might finally see Kled rise to the top on Patch 9.24.

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His dueling, backline dive, and team fight ultimate are all strong and are vital to a top laner’s impact on the current meta. On top of that, he thrives in certain top lane matchups and can easily snowball a lead if allowed to pick up one or two kills early on.

Overall, Kled is ready to take the top lane by storm and this is illustrated by the Yordle’s 52.32% win rate on the current patch. Lock him in, head towards top, and throw out multiple Bear Traps on a Rope to force trades and establish your dominance over your lane opponent.

2 Darius

Darius is one of two champions to survive the Patch 9.24 cull and retain his place in the S tier of top lane through to the end of the year. He’s been at the top for a while now, so his strengths in dueling, team fights, snowballing, and gank set up should be obvious to everyone by now.

Although he only has a 51.45% win rate, it’s clear that he’s a feared solo laner as 30.8% of games see him completely removed from champion select to avoid his onslaught. With the rise of ranged top laners like Gnar and Quinn on the horizon, perhaps Darius will start to struggle in the coming patches? Hopefully…

1 Mordekaiser

Top of the list is an all-too-familiar name to those who have played League of Legends over the last few months. Mordekaiser has somehow avoided balance team nerfs for yet another patch and will continue to dominate the top lane tier list going into 2020.

High damage numbers, high tank stats, versatile spells, and one of the most annoying ultimates in the game, is there any wonder that Morde has a 52.73% win rate on Patch 9.24 (even with an unbelievable 27.4% ban rate)?

Nerfs are undoubtedly heading his way, but if you want to take advantage of Mordekaiser in his current, broken state, then lock him in while you still can and grab that free LP!

Next. Reviewing the four new Sugar Rush skins. dark

Have we missed any OP top laners on Patch 9.24? Do you think Fiora deserves a place on this list? Let us know in the comments!

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