[Top 10] LOL Best Top Laner Champions That Wreck Hard (2022 Edition)

Updated:

26 Jul 2022

Here we are in a role where people just wish to be alone and left to do their own thing. That thing is pushing the top lane so far up somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine and win the game. Most top laners will do that, especially in low elo because people do not care about team fighting or even being a part of the team.

It’s like these people are playing their own game alone and nobody else exists. Especially in season 12, Riot is encouraging this thanks to some new tank items that have been released. Of course, some champions might have fallen off their throne, some got buffed, some even went from mid or bot to top lane. I shall name a few of them today. So let’s not waste any more time and get into the best top 10 champions you can play for the top lane in season 12.

10. Graves

"Where is my cigar???"

The first on this list is Graves “The Outlaw” a champion that went from jungle to mid and now to top. Why? I dunno people wanted it that way. Don’t get me wrong Graves on top isn’t a bad pick at all. Especially with the extra armor that he gets from his E when he dashes towards an enemy.

Combine that with some poke from his Q ability along with his W that throws a smoke bomb on the ground and blinds anyone who’s standing in it and you got yourself a pretty niche top lane pick. If you’re worried about being ganked well you have a reason to be worried.

As Graves, you might find it a bit hard to escape an oncoming gank from the enemy jungler but you always have your trusty wards to save you from that. That you will surely place and won’t blame your jungler for not counter ganking right?

What makes Graves a Great Top Laner:

He’s ranged so he got an edge over a melee top laner.
Gains extra armor from his E which is perfect since most of the time your enemy will deal AD damage.
Can easily poke people with his Q ability and if he needs to get out of a bad situation he always has a dash from his E and his W to blind the enemy.
Graves’s ultimate ability can shoot down anyone who’s trying to get away with a small amount of HP.

See Graves in action:

9. Yone

"Wear a mask long enough and you forget the face underneath"

Next up is Yone “The Unforgotten”. Let me tell you this straight up. This champion can dash more in a single match than Akali ever will. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked. Because of the damn Q ability that allows him to dash forward every time it’s charged.

To charge the ability you just have to hit a minion or champion two times and the third time you’ll dash forward and knock them up if you manage to hit them. Yone’s other abilities go as follows with his W he swipes the floor with his sword dealing damage and shielding himself, with his E he leaves his puny mortal body and ascends to a perfect sigma male that deals stacked damage once he returns to his body.

His R ability allows him to dash forwards similar to his Q but this time he takes everything with him that he hits. Something like a tornado of sorts. Not only that but this champion can heal out of its ass for no reason. So good luck trading with him!

What makes Yone a Great Top Laner:

Yone has a lot of dashes in his kit and he can quickly escape an incoming gank.
For whatever reason, he can heal a lot so you can easily win trades without having to worry about a single thing in your life.
He’s great in team fights and can help out the team a lot if you use his abilities correctly.
He’s part of the legendary family of wind shitters.

See Yone in action:

8. Poppy

"Whose hammer is dis plz hilfe mir dear sir"

Up next is Poppy “The Iron Ambassador”. Oh, this little midget counters every single champion that has a dash in their kit. She does that by simply activating her W ability which cucks anyone who wishes to get close to her.

Poppy bonks the ground with her Q dealing a decent amount of damage and with her E she can tackle an enemy into a wall which CC’s them allowing Poppy to break their ankles. Last but not least with her ultimate ability she charges up the hammer and when it’s at its maximum potential Poppy sends an enemy to their momma crying.

This is useful when you’re being ganked and you just want some alone time with the enemy top laner. I should also mention that with her passive ability she chucks her shield at a target giving them a concussion. That’s Poppy, in a nutshell, everybody.

What makes Poppy a Great Top Laner:

She’s hard to gank once she reaches level 6.
With her E she can tackle a target into a wall stunning enough for you to break their ankles.
Anyone who has a dash in their kit won’t be able to get close to Poppy because of her W. This is pretty deadly if it’s used at the right time.
Even though she’s a melee champion she can toss her shield at an enemy dealing damage allowing her to get some long-ranged poke.

See Poppy in action:

7. Tahm Kench

"Call me king, call me a demon. The water forgets the names of the drowned."

Tahm Kench “The River King”. This champion is pretty much a frog version of a demon. Tahm Kench comes from Bilge Water and he prays on poor people to make bets with him. But there’s a catch: nobody ever wins a bet against him. He will slowly take from you until there’s nothing left but bones and then he will take even that and eat it.

Funny enough his ultimate ability allows him to eat people after he licks them three times. So they're not moist enough for him to eat or something so he has to lick them. With his Q he throws out his long tongue that he pokes people with, the W allows him to dive underwater and come up beneath a target knocking them up in the air this ability can also be used to escape from an incoming gank.

With his E Tahm Kench returns all of his lost HP as a shield that you have to take down. You pretty much have to kill this fat frog two times. How fun. Thank you, Riot!

What makes Tahm Kench a Great Top Laner:

He can take a lot of damage during a team fight especially when you have your full build.
W allows him to knock up people in the air or escape an incoming gank without a problem.
With R he can eat enemies after they’ve been moisturized or his teammates if they’re in danger. He’s like a short-distance uber.
Gains all of his lost HP as a shield so good luck killing him two times.
Fat frog

See Tahm Kench in action:

6. Malphite

"Hard as a rock ;)"

Here we have a giant mountain called Malphite “Shard of The Monolith”. I have to say that I love this guy and his abilities. You see, you can build Malphite as a tank or as an AP abomination that can one-shot everyone in the game. Not only that but with Malphite you can poke a target with your Q simply by clicking on them.

If the enemy gets too close to comfort you can empower your auto-attacks with your W and smack them like the pimp you are. If for some reason they’re still making a ruckus you can smash your hands on the ground like the true sigma male and yell at them “Enough is enough”. If for whatever reason they are still bickering about and crying like a baby Malphite can launch his whole body at them dealing massive damage and knocking them up.

His ultimate ability is known for causing distress, depression, and suicidal thoughts in people. Malphite also gets bigger and bigger the more armor you build on him.

What makes Malphite a Great Top Laner:

Can go either AP or as a tank. But know that his AP side is way deadlier than his AD side.
His ultimate ability can destroy a whole team in seconds if he’s full AP.
Easily poke your enemy with your Q ability.
Scales well with tank items, making him practically impossible to kill.
Launches his whole body at the enemy team. This ability will never get boring.

See Malphite in action:

5. Jayce

"The creator of hextech machinery."

Ah, Jayce “The Defender Of Tomorrow”, the creator of hextech in the Arcane series. You see, Jayce is somewhat of a brainlet. Well he is smart don’t get me wrong but he has fallen under the influence of politics and his love for Medarda. Something people would do in real life, not to lie.

When it comes to playing Jayce he has two forms. The first form is the melee form that is used for close-quarters combat, when enemies get right up in your face make sure to bonk them and cave their skulls in. The second form is ranged which is great when the enemy survives your melee form and they try to get away from you. You shall use this form and gun them down breaking several geneva conventions in the process. But you don’t care about that and you never will because you’ve been too busy going on your killing spree.

Jayce can easily escape when the enemy jungler is ganking or he can potentially try to win a 1v2. Which can happen but usually you’re going to die. Also, Jayce scales well with lethality and once he has one or two items he can start one shooting people.

What makes Jayce a Great Top Laner:

Has a melee and ranged form. Both have their uses in specific situations.
Builds lethality, after one or two items Jayce has the potential to one-shot opponents.
Has the potential to win a 1v2 situation if escaping isn’t your option.
One of the creators of hextech and sextech.

See Jayce in action:

4. Teemo

"Long live the scouts!"

Here we have the devil himself Teemo “The Swift Scout”. Why did Riot buff this lil fella and why do they think it was a good idea? I have no damn clue. You see, before the buffs Teemo was kinda in the middle. He wasn’t really good and he wasn’t that bad. He was mediocre at best. After the buffs, Teemo sorta became the bane of top laners.

Not only does he deal a ton of damage now but he also shoots his used needles faster and spawns his demonic shrooms more often. You can’t bully him around anymore as you used to. Now he’s the one who’s doing the bullying. You see Teemo’s abilities all revolve around drugs. His Q shoots out a used needle that blinds people, with his W he shoots himself up with heroin making himself go faster and attack faster and his E is a passive ability that does damage over time something similar when a drug addict goes to a rehab center.

His ultimate ability is one of the more iconic ultimates where he plants shrooms around the summoner’s rift. That’s all about this little drug lord Pablo el Teemobar.

What makes Teemo a Great Top Laner:

Ability to blind people with his Q making the opponent miss his or her auto-attacks.
Gains bonus movement speed with his W and his E can be deadly once you have two or three AP items.
Teemo can go invisible if he stands in one spot for a certain amount of time.
Can plant shrooms all over the summoners rift potentially being a problem for everyone in the later stages of the game.

See Teemo in action:

3. Viktor

"Long live the glorious revolution!"

Here we are with one of my favorite characters from the Arcane show called Viktor “The Arcane Herald”. You see Viktor used to be partners with Jayce before he turned into a cyborg. How did he turn into one? I will not tell you, go watch the show, it's damn good. But similar to Jayce, Viktor was one of the founding fathers of hextech machinery.

Now you might be asking yourself but isn’t he a mid laner? Technically speaking yes but this is season 12 after all and people have been playing him as a top laner for now because of specific items. Viktor has a cool set of abilities in his kit that range from broken to overpowered. Is Riot going to do anything about it? Nope, they won’t so feel free to start maining this guy.

Let’s take a look at his abilities really quickly. Viktor launches an electric boomerang with his Q and it zaps people, with his W he places an AoE bubble that freezes anyone who steps in it, with his E he slashes the ground with his laser, and for his last ability he sends out a little guy that zaps you and follows you until you die. As you can see all of his abilities are ranged and it’s a pain in the ass to deal with.

What makes Viktor a Great Top Laner:

All of his abilities are long-ranged, meaning Viktor does not have to get close to a target to damage them.
If the opponent gets too close you can put them in your W trap and freeze them.
Your main ability is your E which deals the most amount of damage.
All of his abilities can be upgraded through the item shop.
One of the best characters in the Arcane series

See Viktor in action:

2. Vayne

"Mommy dommy simulator"

For the number two spot, we have Vayne “The Night Hunter”. If you read my previous article about the best marksmen for season 12 you might have noticed that Vayne was at the number 10 spot, well here she’s number two.

The reason behind it all is that she shreds through tanks and bruisers thanks to her W ability that deals true damage. With her Q she’s able to roll and dodge incoming skill shots or abilities, this ability also turns her invisible once she uses her ultimate, and with her E she launches a huge bolt that pushes people away from her, if they hit a wall they’re stunned for a short period. You see it’s not easy getting close to Vayne when you’re a melee champion, if anything most top laners won’t even bother trying to start a fight with Vayne because they’ll lose it no matter what they do.

Especially in Season 12 since “Lethal Tempo” was reworked and made her even more broken on top. The only downside is that the whole League of Legends community will hate you for playing Vayne top.

What makes Vayne a Great Top Laner:

Vayne is a ranged champion that shreds through tanks and bruisers and deals a lot of true damage.
Can dodge almost every single skill shot with her Q if you’re skilled enough.
E pushes people away from you if they get too close.
The ultimate ability allows Vayne to turn invisible once she uses her Q making her even deadlier than before.
The bane of every top-lane player.

See Vayne in action:

1. Camille

"Precision is the difference between a butcher and a surgeon"

At our number one spot, we have the ultimate thicc legs top laner who dominated Season 11 and will dominate Season 12 as well and that’s Camille “The Steel Shadow”. She has everything in her kit that you need to demolish your opponents.

Her Q deals true damage and can even one-shot squishy targets, her W slows people and makes them more vulnerable to take more damage, her E allows her to dash from a wall to a target with insanely long-range similar to something from Attack On Titan, and her ultimate ability locks people in cages and forces them to fight her.

Camille is probably the only champion who can safely stand up to Vayne and take her down, simply because Camille gains a huge AP or AD shield depending on who she attacks first and can easily get close to her with her long-ranged dash. Combine her with some new broken items and you have a champion who can 1v9 on your hands.

What makes Camille a Great Top Laner:

Deals a huge amount of true damage with her Q.
Can easily catch up to people with her E or she can use it to easily escape an incoming gank.
Her R doesn’t allow people to escape from her as long as she’s alive.
Gains an AD or AP shield whenever she attacks a target.

See Camille in action:

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Mumin T.

As one of many people who sold his soul to Riot Games and spent many sleepless nights playing their game, Mumin has managed to keep his sanity and has learned to control his anger and rise above.

Gamer Since:

2008

Favorite Genre:

MOBA

Currently Playing:

League of Legends

Top 3 Favorite Games:

League of Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Fallout 4

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