Top Lane has the reputation for being the lane where nothing ever happens. And a good way to break out of this monotony is to play more aggressive champions. This way you lower the risk of playing out a boring lane.
Aggressive champions will allow you to pressure your opponent and play the game on your own terms. This is not the way most top laners like to play, but for some (including me), this is the most enjoyable way of playing the role.
Here is a list of the 7 most aggressive top laners that will help you increase your champion pool and dominate your enemies.
1. Darius
Darius is arguably the most aggressive top laner in the entire League of Legends. He is a champion that can defeat anyone in a 1v1 combat, and who does not leave room for enemies to make a mistake.
The thing that makes Darius powerful is his passive, Hemorrhage. It stacks by auto-attacks up to 5 times, and each stack will make the enemy take increasing amounts of true damage. This makes him extremely strong in every phase of the game.
To make use of this passive in the early game, I like to camp in places where I suspect the enemy will pass. Sometimes it will be on the exits of the enemy jungle, sometimes in a lane bush. When the enemy inevitably goes by me, I start auto-attacking them and using W to slow them and stack the passive.
This is an easy trick you can use which will help you win many early fights. Despite the trick being old, I still see people falling for it, even in my Diamond games. It is especially strong if you are low elo.
Your passive gets even stronger as the game develops. On level 6, stacking it 5 times will make your ult do additional true damage. Having 5 stacks also gives you the ability to transfer the stacks to other surrounding enemies with a single hit. This makes Darius great for skirmishes.
The most important thing to remember as Darius is that you are most deadly when you get close to enemies.
The enemies will simply have no means of escaping unharmed, most of the time. You will have your W for slow, E for catching them, and hopefully, Flash and Ghost ready.
2. Fiora
Fiora is almost as deadly as Darius when she gets close, but she’s also good at poking. And if you ever had the opportunity to play against her, you probably have a good sense of why she is on the list of most aggressive top laners.
As Fiora, you will have the opportunity to poke the enemy from the very beginning of the match. After leveling up the Q, you will win most trades on level 1. If your enemy happens to be shy, you can simply farm and zone them away from the minions.
Fiora is a champion that gets her power spikes really early. Unlocking E is generally the best thing to do on level 2. It gives 50% more attack speed on the next two auto-attacks. It also gives a slow effect to the first attack and makes the second one crit.
Upgrading W will make you one of the strongest duelists in the game. This spell will cancel enemy CC and counter-stun them if they are in range. It will also reduce their movement and attack speed.
Fiora has almost no real counters, and a well-used W along with great spacing and other mechanics can allow you to win even seemingly impossible fights. All this makes Fiora one of the best aggressive top laners you can ever play, regardless of the meta.
Read Also: The 7 Strongest AD Top Laners
3. Gangplank
Gangplank is mostly known for his interesting lore and playstyle, but not many people consider his playstyle particularly aggressive.
Since Gangplank is one of the best scaling champions in LoL, a lot of people assume that his early game is weak. This is actually far from the truth since Gangplank has really strong levels 1 to 3 which makes him an exceptionally powerful pick early on.
If you’re up against squishy champions, you will have an easy time picking up kills. I found that running Ignite makes this task much more efficient. To further my early pressure, I always aim for a 700 gold Recall. This is when I can buy Sheen.
Despite GP being a strong fighter champion, my primary goal with him is to stay safe during the early game. This is because it’s tough to play from behind. So to ensure safety, I will often take runes such as Resolve and Time Warp Tonic to make my life easier.
At level 13, I usually start joining fights. This is a major power spike, since the barrel’s HP ticks down faster, and they become easier to land. If I am majorly behind, I will just stay in a side lane until I catch up.
The last power spike happens at level 16 if you have at least two R upgrades. This is when you can start one-shotting enemies and solo-winning fights. In case you do not have two ult upgrades, you can simply farm up in the side lanes.
4. Warwick
Warwick is definitely the most unique aggressive top laner. His playstyle is based around baiting enemies when he is on low health. This is possible due to his passive which increases his healing the less HP he has.
Whether you like to play Warwick or not, it’s very important to know how much his passive heals. This will allow you to face him with much more ease, and it is the only thing you need to memorize in order to play him.
When Warwick is below 50% maximum health, his attacks heal him for 100% of the damage he deals. This healing is increased to 250% when he is under 25%. This is what makes WW so deceptive and hard to play against.
In other words, Warwick can be pretty annoying and constantly look for trades. Once he’s on low health and his opponent thinks he can take him, Warwick can retaliate and win the duel with ease.
If you chose to play Warwick, I would recommend taking either Ignite or Barrier. Ignite will be good for finishing off enemies, and helping you win trades. The Barrier is good for experienced players since it makes WW even less predictable.
Read Also: 7 Ultra Aggressive Junglers
5. Vayne
Vayne is one of the favorite aggressive top laners. She is really fun to play and is one of the few ADCs that can successfully stand in the top lane.
What makes Vayne such a good pick here is her ability to poke. Whenever an enemy goes up to CS, you can get at least one auto-attack off. And if you do this consistently, you will not allow your opponent to play the game.
A big part of her power is her W, which allows her to deal bonus true damage with every 3rd auto-attack on the same target. And because of that, it’s quite effective at countering top lane tanks that usually stack armor.
A big downside to playing Vayne top is that she is very squishy. This means that the enemy jungler will take every opportunity they have to gank you. To avoid this you will need to be good at tracking the enemy jungler and placing wards as a top laner.
A good top lane player will even go a few steps above that. When you master good warding practices and can track the enemy jungler, you will be able to predict when the enemy will gank you.
This will allow you to communicate the fact to your jungler, and help him make game-winning counter ganks.
When it comes to playing Vayne out of the laning phase, you will mainly want to stay with your team. This is because you will be the highest-level ADC on the map, and you will have the protection of your team. You can leave the task of side-laning to another teammate.
6. Irelia
Irelia is one of the highest skill cap champions in League and she is extremely satisfying to play. She is famous for her 900 gold power spike, which makes her one of the most aggressive top laners and champions overall.
At 900 gold Irelia can buy a Vampiric Scepter. This component makes it okay for you to lose trades since you can quickly heal up by dashing through minions with Q. It also gives a significant amount of damage.
To win fights with Irelia, you should make use of her passive. The passive stacks up to 4 times, and it increases attack speed and damage output. The easiest way to stack it is by killing low HP minions with it (the ranged caster minions are recommended). Once you have 4 stacks, you can easily fight everyone in the game.
Another big thing here is learning how to land your E. This spell will briefly stun the enemy, and mark them with your passive. This means that you will be able to Q the enemy once, have the cooldown reset and then Q them again.
You will also have Irelia’s ult to work with. This spell will slow every enemy it hits, and it will apply passive stacks as well. This opens more opportunities for montage-level combos and outplays.
Despite her having a seemingly overwhelming kit, you do not need to stress. She is still very strong if you know only the basics. Execute the stuns correctly, learn to stack the passive well and you are good to go.
Overall, Irelia is a great mechanical champion with a medium entry barrier and an almost endless skill cap. This makes her one of the most solid aggressive top laners.
7. Teemo
Teemo is a well-known top laner and everyone is familiar with his kit. He is extremely annoying to play against and he certainly deserves a spot on the list of the most cancer champions in League of Legends.
Playing Teemo is much like playing Vayne. You mainly want to poke the enemy as they go up to farm, and clear as many minions as you can. Unlike Vayne though, Teemo is more secure since he unlocks shrooms at level 6.
A well-placed shroom can prevent and slow down ganks. You will mainly want to place shrooms in places where the enemy jungler is most likely to path. You can also place traps in bushes on the lane which can be useful for baiting enemies during extended fights.
You should also know that Teemo can win many trades after level 6, especially if he has Ignite.
I see so many low elo players not knowing their limits, and escaping fights they can win. To avoid being this player, take a risk from time to time. Learn to poke well with basic attacks, and learn to poke enemies by throwing your R in their waves.
After pushing the T1 turret, you can start clearing the enemy jungle. As you do this more often, you’ll even learn to predict the enemy jungler pathing. Knowing their pathing will allow you to execute them in their own jungle. This will make you an advanced Teemo player.
Despite being simple, Teemo allows for many creative plays. The amount of pressure he provides from the start of the game makes him an ultra-aggressive top lane pick.
Read Also: 10 Best AP Top Laners
Conclusion
Top lane can be a monotonous role, and many picks will require you to play it in a really slow and controlled manner. A good solution to spice things up can be playing aggressive top laners. These will allow you to seize control of the game early on, and be your team’s carry.
The greatest and most aggressive top laner is Darius. His passive is simply too strong and it makes him an unmatched duelist. Other than Darius, there are many worthwhile contenders with unique playstyles.
For example Warwick with his baiting cheesy playstyle, Vayne who’s the best top lane ADC, or Irelia with her unlimited skill cap. Choose yours!
Read Also: 10 Most Fun & Enjoyable Top Laners
