Best Toplaners of League of Legends Patch 13.13

Best Toplaners of League of Legends Patch 13.13 contains a returning face alongside some newcomers to the northernmost part of the Rift.

Patch 13.13 has dropped last week, which means that both the players and the meta of League of Legends had some time to adjust to the changes. After we looked at the winners and losers of the latest patch, it’s time to go over all the best champions in all the roles of the Summoner’s Rift – starting with none other than the top lane, the home of bruisers, tanks and fighters!

Best Toplaners of League of Legends Patch 13.13

Rek’Sai

PLEASE. PLAY. REK’SAI! The Queen of the Xer’Sai has been one of the strongest picks in the top lane for 3 patches now, but her pick rate still doesn’t exceed 0.5% percent, even though her win rate is almost 54% according to stats site Lolalyitcs. Of course, this is partly due to the fact that she’s an incredibly strong jungler in Solo Queue right now, so she has a near 30% ban rate, but her low play rate is still criminal.

Rek’Sai has everything you would want in a top laner: strong duelling potential, incredible sustain, no resource bar, quick rotations, and multiple build paths. Her Fury mechanic let’s her regen health after every encounter if you just go below ground, she can farm from afar with her Buried Q, Preyseeker in the toughest matchups, and some matchups are just incredibly easy for Rek’Sai, as she has pretty good base damage, and her E, Furious Bite deals True Damage if you’re on max Fury, which is incredibly useful against both squishy and tanky opponents as well. Her tunnel let’s you get back to lane and reach engagements quicker, and with her Tremors, she can sense incoming ganks before they arrive.

If you (finally) decide to play Rek’Sai, your optimal Runes and Build would be as follows:

• Conqueror for your Keystone with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Coup de Grace in the Precision tree, Demolish and Revitalize in the Resolve tree with a standard Attack Speed – Adaptive Force – Armor in your fragments.
• For your Summoner Spells, Flash is a must for those surprise knock-ups, and you can take Ignite and TP – but I believe TP is better for the split push potential.
• For your abilities, you can start with W into tough matchups so you can heal and knock-up if they engage, or Q if you want to trade. From then on, you max Q, then E, then W with putting a point into your R, Void Rush, whenever you can.
• For your build, you can either go full aggressive with a Long Sword and Refillable Pot or defensive with a Doran’s Shield and a Health Potion. Doran’s Blade is fine as well, but with her built in sustain, Rek’Sai doesn’t really need the Lifesteal. Your mythic should be Stridebreaker, as it helps you with duelling and chasing. After a situational boot, for example Mercury Treads, you can go into Hullbreaker if you have the option to split, which the Queen excels at thanks to her Tunnels. If there’s no way to do that, you can skip Hullbreaker (but try to find a way) and go straight into Titanic Hydra. From there, the game dictates what you need, but a Sterak’s Gage – Black Cleaver – Guardian Angel would be your standard course of action.

Please try Rek’Sai, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Poppy

If the Rek’Sais and other dashing champions run too rampant, the Keeper of the Hammer, Poppy could be a great answer. The Yordle has received some attention during this year’s Mid-Season Invitational after falling out of the meta at the end of last year – but not as a jungler, but as a top laner! Currently, pros are playing her in both positions, but she remained one of the strongest champions for top in the game, boasting an almost 53% win rate with a 2,5% pick and 3,5% ban rate.

She’s a great counter to leaps thanks to her W, Steadfast Presence, her Q deals % damage, so she can brawl with tankier targets while being incredibly tanky herself, her ultimate, Keeper’s Verdict has a number of uses from lockdown to knocking the enemy away to win a fight or secure and objective, while she can delete a squishier target – like and ADC with her full combo. While her most meta builds are full tank, we all know that tanks can still be deadly if they find an angle.

For Poppy, we suggest that you follow these steps to max out her potential:

• Get Grasp of the Undying with Demolish, Second Wind and Unflinching from Resolve, with Manaflow Band and Scorch from Sorcery, with an Ability Haste, an Armor and a Health fragment,
• Your best bet for Summoner Spells are Flash and Teleport, but Ignite is great to make short work of a priority target or stomp your lane,
• For Abilities, you can start E or Q depending on the matchup, but Hammer Shock is the safest option as it lets you farm easier. From then, you max Q, then E and W last, but don’t forget to put a point into Steadfast Presence at level 3! Keeper’s Verdict is a great too as well, so max It every time you can.
• For your build, you can start with the appropriate shoewear, as you’re a tank, so Mercury Treads or Plated Steelcaps. Afterwards, Sunfire Aegis boosts your tankiness and wave clear as well, with Iceborn Gauntlet helping in those departments as well. Of course, against heavy AP compositions, you can go Jak’Sho before Aegis, but Sunfire is so strong that I wouldn’t pass up on it. While Force of Nature is weaker than before, it’s Movement Speed passive is still incredibly strong, just like Dead Man’s Plate – if Poppy can get close to her target, it usually spells their doom. After these items, you can go situational, such as a Thornmail, a Frozen Heart or a Gargoyle’s Stoneplate.

Poppy is great into any matchup, but she excels against dive compositions – there’s literally not a bad time to pick her in the current meta.

Camille

If you don’t have a Poppy in the enemy team, Camille is a safe bet after the 13.13 League of Legends patch. She’s been steadily climbing through the percentages of Lolalytics, boasting an over 52% win rate at the moment. The Steel Shadown is the perfect answer to hypercarries and mobile threats as well, as she can lock them down and eliminate them, while her Q, Precision Protocol chews through tanks with ease.

Camille was very strong a few years ago, and even since her nerfs, she has seen some play in the eastern tournaments, such as the LCK or the LPL, where players can use her to her greatest potential. With the Trinity Force changes a few updates back, she saw a resurgence in pick rate, but her win rate didn’t improve as much. Now she’s back to her roots – and Divine Sunderer – to be a perfect counter for picks such as Malphite and Maokai.

If you want to slice your opponents in half, these tips should help you:

• For Runes, Pick Grasp of the Undying with Shield Bash, which works great with your passive, alongside Second Wind and Overgrowth from the Resolve tree, while picking up Magical Footwear and Biscuit Delivery from the Inspiration tree. While Camille doesn’t hate Attack Speed, you can pick two Adaptive Force Fragments with a Health pip to max your burst in the laning phase.
• In terms of Summoner Spells, Camille has more freedom thanks to her E, Hookshot, which can act as a pseudo-Flash in most cases. Thanks to this ability, she can take both TP and Ignite – but in difficult matchups, I’d still suggest you take Flash and Teleport, at least until you get a few games in with the Steel Shadow.
• Regarding her abilities, never start Q! While you can trade fairly well with your two auto-attack resets, W provides sustain in the lane as well as a good slow, while her E is great for running away from enemies that engage before you are ready. After level 3, you can start getting a bit more aggressive, but keep in mind that if you use your Hookshot without thinking, you can get killed easily.
• For Camille’s build, Divine Sunderer is the best choice, but if you’re feeling spicy, you can still go Trinity Force, which provides more damage against squishies, but makes you less tanky as well. After the boots of your choice, Ravenous Hydra can make you unstoppable thanks to the healing and damage it provides at full stacks. You can go into Guardian Angel or Death’s Dance if you want to protect your Hydra stacks, but Camille makes great use of items such as Hullbreaker and Sterak’s Gage if you need to fight alone or the enemy team has a burst composition. For your last item, you can get the one you didn’t buy yet, or top it all off with a Spear of Shojin to have 0 cooldown on your Q.

Camille is a great answer to enemy teams who try to play with one carry and many tanks – which is not an uncommon sight in the current meta.

Of course, many other champions can work for you – we are in a fairly diverse meta after all. Don’t forget to check out ESTNN’s other League of Legends articles to become proficient at Riot Games’ MOBA!