League of Legends: A balanced meta in the Patch 9.24b top lane tier list

League of Legends. Photo courtesy of Riot Games. /

We take a look at the League of Legends top lane meta in Patch 9.24b.

The top lane received the most direct buffs in Patch 9.24b. The best League of Legends champions patrolling the top side of the map are revealed ahead!

Support tier list

S tier: Mordekaiser, Darius (⇑)
A+ tier: Ornn, Fiora, Kled
A tier: Jax (⇐⇓), Quinn, Malphite, Camille (⇓), Kayle, Garen (⇒), Renekton (⇑⇒), Teemo (⇑⇒)
B tier: Shen (⇐), Rengar (⇐⇓), Singed, Vladimir, Tryndamere, Riven, Illaoi, Gangplank, Yorick, Nasus (⇑⇒), Yasuo ⇒, Aatrox (⇑⇒), Pantheon (⇑⇒), Urgot (⇑⇒)
C tier: Kennen (⇐⇓), Akali (⇐⇓), Irelia (⇐), Ryze (⇓), Heimerdinger (⇓), Maokai, Olaf, Nocturne (*), Rumble, Cho’Gath, Dr. Mundo, Poppy (⇒), Diana (⇑⇒)
D tier: Volibear (⇓), Lucian, Vayne (⇓), Gnar (⇑), Cassiopeia (⇓), Sion (⇓), Jayce
F tier: Sylas

Dropped: Swain, Wukong, Viktor

Key

* = new to the tier list this patch
⇑ = improved (rated at least one tier higher than the previous patch)
⇓ = declined (rated at least one tier lower than the previous patch)
⇐ = borderline-up (within 10% of being in the next-higher tier)
⇒ = borderline-down (within 10% of being in the next-lower tier)

Observations

More from Blog of Legends

The top lane meta is fairly diverse with a good mix of tanks (Malphite and Ornn), juggernauts (Mordekaiser and Darius), fighters (Fiora and Jax), and divers (Kled and Camille). Of all the roles, top lane is the most balanced in Patch 9.24b.
Two champions actually tied for the most improved in Patch 9.24b: Gnar and Diana. Diana climbed up to the low-C tier and Gnar made it to the mid-D tier in this patch. On the other end, Heimerdinger fell the furthest in this patch, down to mid-C tier following the nerfs.
Cassiopeia has the highest overall win rate among top laners (53.2%) but Ornn has the best win rate (52.8%) of champions with a pick rate over 5% (9.5%). The worst top laner in terms of win rate is Sylas at 45.4%, but his pick rate is below 1%. For champions with a pick rate over 5% the worst top laner in terms of winning percentage is Akali (48.7%).

Buffed Champions

Gnar

We mentioned that he was tied for the biggest jump in the tier list during Patch 9.24b and this is the reason why. Gnar got buffs to his Q – Boulder Toss‘s damage ratio and base damage on his W – Wallop that finally brought his win rate above 50%. The fact that tanks are also in a fairly decent spot also helps Gnar out.

Garen

Riot felt they went to hard on Garen in Patch 9.24, reverting the nerfs on his E – Judgment. However, Garen has remained in about the same place in both the tier list (low-A tier) and win rate (49.6%).

Nerfed Champions

Heimerdinger

As discussed in both the mid and AD Carry tier list, Heimer got nerfs to multiple abilities that really hit his oppressive laning phase. In top lane, it was no different, as Heimer suffered the biggest drop in our tier list from last patch.

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Methodology: These rankings were determined by finding the average standardized score of a champion from nine different tier lists from sites around the internet. This is done by assigning a certain weight to each different score, rank, or grade given by these sites (for instance, both a “Diamond” rating and “A” grade would be worth a 90 score). The standardized score is then determined by looking at the average score given to all champions in every role by that site as well as the standard deviation of scores given (so that sites that give out more high grades will not have their As be worth the same as a site that gives out very few high grades).

The full, underlying data can be found here. This link also includes the full listing of how the scores are assigned. Champions must be rated by at least half of the sites audited in order to qualify for our tier list.

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