League of Legends: 7 Good Solo Top Champions

This article is current as of Season 2

Introduction

The solo top role is probably one of the hardest roles in League of Legends. You are matched up against 2 champions in one lane, versus only yourself. To be successful, you have to have the ability to put up a strong offense, while keeping a pretty good defense. Each champion is different and you have to adjust your strategy with not only your champion, but to counter the champions you might be facing. This guide will help you on a select 7 champions. You will learn how to use them more effectively in combat and possibly win a game for you and your teammates.

7 Solid Solo Top Champions

1. Nasus

Nasus is a great beginner solo top champion. Not only does he have a nice set of skills that help him with this role, but he also has great sustainability and a good defense. Nasus has a passive ability that grants him bonus lifesteal. This is great for staying in a lane for an extended period of time. His Q ability charges up his next strike to do bonus damage. The tricky part about this ability is that if you kill your target with the ability, minion or champ, it causes that ability to do more damage the next time. Using this ability on creeps in your lane will gradually increase the amount of damage you do. Nasus' W ability slows his targets movement speed by a great deal. This ability is great for chasing down opponents, or making that quick escape. Use this ability to slow an enemy that is being targeted by your tower, or to finish a kill. Next, his E ability opens up a ring of fire that does initial damage and damage over time. This is great for harassing an enemy from afar or farming minions. Finally, his ult which I like to call "God mode". Nasus gains additional health and does damage to all foes around him for an extended period of time. This ability is great for team fights or targeting an enemy with another close by. Basically your strategy with Nasus is to farm minions and build up your Q ability until you have a bunch of gold and start a good build. Once an enemy gets to about half health, open up the E ability to do damage. Next, slow your target with the W ability. Once you have caught up with the enemy, use the Q ability to finish them off. In the event that another enemy has joined the fight, pop your ult to finish off one enemy and scare another off.

2. Darius

Darius might possibly be the best solo top champion out of all champions available. He has an amazing offensive capability, yet a strong defense. His abilities allows him to tower guard and chase down his opponents. Darius can easily handle two champions simultaneously. Darius has a great passive ability. It automatically deals damage over time to any opponent he attacks. This is great for farming minions as well as doing massive amounts of damage to an opponent. His Q ability spins his axe around doing damage to all opponents surrounding him. The further they are in the axe's radius, the more damage this ability will do. This ability is great for last hitting minions and harassing enemy champions simultaneously. Darius' W ability grants him additional damage on his next strike. Additionally it slows their attack speed and movement speed. This is great for starting a brawl. Use it to give you the upper edge on a 1v1 fight. It is also very useful when for Darius' ult. Next, his E ability will pull all enemies within the area of the ability toward Darius. If you immediately use the Q ability after this ability, you will do great amounts of damage. Also, this ability passively grants armor penetration. Finally, Darius' amazing ult. Darius jumps into the air and pretty much cuts his enemy in half. This does massive amounts of damage. The more times Darius' passive ability is stacked on the target, the more damage it does. This is the ultimate finishing move. Now, Darius strategy. You want to tower guard and farm at the beginning of the game. Once an opponent gets cocks and begins to attack your tower, pull them in with E and apply the Q ability. Next, use the W ability to charge up your next strike and begin applying your passive to the ability for each strike. Once they get out of the range of your tower, chase them down and use your ult to finish them off. Repeat this over and over and you will be amazing.

3. Jayce

What is unique about Jayce is the fact that he is a ranged and a melee champion. This is extremely useful at the solo top position because he can stand back at the tower and do damage to his foes, but when the time is right he can jump into the melee position and finish off an enemy. Jayce's passive ability grants him bonus movement speed every time he switches stances. This is good for chasing an enemy down, or running away. Jayce has a different ability for each stance. His Q ability is either a jumping hammer strike that slows an opponent, or shooting an energy ball from his cannon. It just depends which stance you are in. Use the jumping hammer strike to start a fight and slow an enemy. Use the energy ball to harass. Next, Jayce's W ability can either be an energy field that does damage over time actively, and restores mana on basic attack passively in hammer mode, or increasing attack speed to max for 3 shots in cannon mode. Use the hammer mode version to farm or sustain damage over time in a fight. Use the cannon mode version to heavily damage a tower or do significant damage to a single opponent. His E ability can either be a heavy hammer strike that does a percentage of the enemies health in hammer mode, or an energy "line" that increases movement speed as you run through it in cannon mode. The good thing about the energy line is that if your Q ability (the energy ball) passes through it, it almost doubles the range and damage of that energy ball. This is great for harassing from afar or finishing an enemy behind their turret. His ult is just the switching between the stances. The first attack upon switching to hammer mode does additional magic damage, and the first attack upon switching to cannon mode lowers the opponents armor. You can increase this amount the more you level that ability. Managing your stance switches is key to doing the most damage. Jayce strategy you might ask? Well, you want to tower guard early and farm as much as your can. You can do damage to both enemies at the same time with the E & Q combo in cannon stance. Once you have farmed and created a pretty decent build, use the E & Q combo to do a large amount of damage. After that, switch to hammer mode and lead with the Q ability. Immediately turn on your W (energy field) to do more damage. Since the target will be slowed, try to get in front of them and use your E ability to knock the opponent back away from their tower. Next, switch back to cannon mode and apply the W ability to do 3 quick attacks to finish off the enemy. Use this strategy with a view variations and you will be successful. Just don't forget to farm early on.

Jayce is also great on Dominion!

4. Shen

Shen is normally played as a tank, but as a solo top, he brings quite a bit to the table. Not only does he have an amazing defensive capability, he also has a great ability to trap an enemy and use their offense against them. Shen will be able to hold the top position for quite a long period of time. This champion if a flippin ninja. His passive ability grants him additional attack damage every 9 seconds. This is great for last hitting minions as well as starting a fight. His Q ability throws out a dagger. After this knife hits, all basic attacks to that enemy will return life for a duration of time. This is great for gaining some life back when your health is low. Shen's W ability grants him a shield that resists incoming damage. This is an excellent spell blocking move and will keep you alive if timed correctly. Next, Shen's E ability is a taunt where Shen dashes forward. If you use this ability near your tower, the tower will begin to target that enemy and do heavy damage. You also receive only 50% damage while taunting. Finally, Shen's ult teleports him to any ally champion on the map and gives that ally a temporary shield. Basically, you have to be pretty careful with Shen. Tower guard and farm early on try to lower the opponents mana by using your shield to spell block. Once the enemy champ gets cocky and tries to attack your turret, use the taunt to do heavy damage to them with the turret. You can get kills if you build Shen properly, using his passive with the help of your tower. Remember that he is energy based so you can spam his abilities if needed.

5. Yorick

Yorick is a great solo top champion because all of his ability give him range and a great harassing ability. Every time he uses ability, he summons some type of ghoul that will chase champions. This is great because the ghouls can be used offensively and defensively. They will give him the ability to start and finish a fight. Yorick's passive gives his ghouls a percentage of his attack damage and health. This means that the more health and attack you build towards Yorick, the more damage and health his spells will have. His passive also allows him to take less damage and do more damage per each spell active. Yorick's Q ability cast a ghoul on his next strike that does additional damage. This ability is good for last hitting creeps, as well as finishing off enemy champions. His W ability burst a ghoul out of the ground from a distance. All targets within this area are slowed and chased by the ghoul, which does additional damage. Use this ability to harass, or set up a gank. Yorick's E ability attacks an individual target. A ghoul is summoned and attacks that target and returns damage done back to Yorick's health. Use this ability to harass and regain health. Finally, his ult creates a copy of himself to attack an enemy. The cool thing about his ult is that if Yorick dies, his copy will stay alive and you will be able to control it for a few seconds. This is great for finishing off that enemy that thought they had you. As far as solo top strategy goes for Yorick, the key elements are harassment, farming and setting up ganks. Your jungler will be your best friend. I start with the E ability. This does the most ranged damage and isn't as noticeable. After you cast E, quickly cast W. This will do even more damage and slow your target. At this point the target is being attacked by two ghouls. Next, go in and use your Q ability. This will do the most damage and summon the third and final ghoul. You and your opponent will duke it out now for a while. If your opponent has the upper hand, use your ult to step up your game. Even if your opponent kills you, you will stay alive and finish them off. However, if you build Yorick right, that will never happen. You will always win.

6. Gragas

Gragas is another melee champion that has a pretty good ranged ability. Not only does he have a great ability to replenish his health, but he also has a great ability to damage. He overall has the greatest sustainability out of all of the champions on this list. If you use Gragas properly, they won't even touch you. Gragas' passive ability regenerates his health by 2% of his maximum health every time he uses an ability. You should try to have good mana regeneration so you can continue to spam abilities and stay in good health. His Q ability throws out a barrel of booz that explodes on command. This is a great farming and harassing tool that will give you some range. Gragas' W ability is a buff. Gragas pops open his barrel and chugs. This reduces damage coming in and increases his attack damage. This ability doesn't cost mana, so be sure to spam it to farm minions and regenerate your health. Next, his E ability charges Gragas forward. If he comes in contact with the enemy it does damage and slows them. This is a good combo ability that is also a great escape tool. It will allow you to charge up cliffs and make quick get aways. Finally, his ult. Gragas' ult is similar to his Q ability, but on steroids. He throws a giant barrel out that explodes and launches enemies all over the place. This is a great finishing move. I have seen this used well for enemies that are hiding behind their tower. You can either finish them or push them away from their tower to set up a kill. Solo top Gragas strategy goes as follows. Gragas is weak at the beginning of the game. Be sure to farm minions to build enough ability power to do great damage. To kill an opponent. Start by using your W ability to gain some stats. Next, use the Q ability to do initial damage. Then, use the E ability to charge in and slow your target. At this point you will do more damage to them, then they are doing to you because of your buff. After they realize they are losing, they will begin to run. Use charge again to slow them and do some more damage. After you get to a finishing point, use your ult to completely decimate them. Be cautious however to Gragas' health. He might look like a tank but is a lot squishier than he may appear.

7. Blitzcrank

Blitzcrank is a really fun champion to play in the solo top position. He has a great ability to tower guard and also has a great ability to finish off an opponent. Blitzcrank uses a great system of combos with his abilities that he can perform from behind the protection of his turret. Blitzcrank's passive ability converts his current mana into a life shield when his health drops below a certain point. This is great for surprising enemies into thinking they are about to kill you. For this reason, make sure to stack a lot of mana. Blitzcrank's Q ability is his claw. He shoots out his hand and if it contacts an enemy, it will pull them to Blitzcrank. Use this when under your tower, in the jungle or in the brush. Blitzcrank operates on a system of combos, and this starts the combo. Next, his W ability gives him a buff. It increases his attack speed and movement speed for a short period of time. You want to time this right so that it lasts during the fight and for the possible chase you might have to do. You can also use this ability to escape if need be. Blitzcrank's E ability knocks his opponent in the air with his next basic attack. This is part two of the combo. Use this to devastate the enemy under a tower or in the jungle. Finally, Blitzcrank's ult. It passively shoots a lightning bolt at a nearby enemy every few seconds. When activated is sends out a shockwave that silences nearby enemies. This is part 3 of the combo. This ult has a very low cooldown so you can use it to farm as well. Blitzcrank strategy is pretty simple. Tower guard until you reach level 6. Use the claw and the pop up combo while under the turret to catch your opponent off guard and do massive amounts of damage. After reaching level 6, use the 3 hit combo to do massive amounts of damage and then kick in your buff on the W ability to chase them down and finish the job. Don't forget to farm minions early in the game though. This will help you in getting enough strength to do enough damage to be a real threat.

Blitzcrank also can dominate bottom lane as a support!