We've come a long way since preseason and the game has changed a lot. Plants were added, jungle EXP got reworked twice, and AD Carries were broken and fixed so many times we don't even know how good they are any more. But we're not here to reminisce about the "good old days" of preseason 7, we're here to talk about Worlds. Ah, Worlds. The culmination of every competitive League of Legends game played since January. A climactic battle between the irrefutable cream of the crop from all around the world. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and do our homework first and take a look at how the Worlds meta is shaping up as of Patch 7.16!

Some quick disclaimers before we begin. Riot has stated that the patch Worlds will be played on is Patch 7.18 and there is a chance, no matter how minimal it is, that by the time 7.18 comes around this entire analysis could be completely wrong and secondly this article will be primarily focused around the current competitive meta which I'm sure you're aware is leagues different to solo queue of any elo. Now without further ado, let's get to it.

We'll start our journey with a trip to luxurious Top Lane Island. And, oh, what a surprise there are tanks everywhere, but there are a few that stand out in particular.

Galio owed his popularity throughout the Summer Split to three things: his ability to peel, his global map pressure with his ult, and his above average wave clear in the laning phase. However two of these things have been nerfed since the Colossus' debut on the LCS stage. The base damage on his Q was nerfed back in 7.13 to hit his safe early laning but Galio was still picked thanks to his ultimate, Hero's Entrance. 7.16 might be the end of his LCS run for now, at least. Hero's Entrance's cooldown was increased to 180/150/120 at levels 6/11/16 from 160/140/120. Additionally, the allied damage reduction during the channel was reduced at all ranks as well. All these nerfs accumulating over time means I doubt we'll be seeing Galio this Worlds patch and certainly not in the knockout stage.

Gnar is a champion that really started to pick up steam during the tail end of the Summer Split. With tanks on the rise, it was only natural for Gnar to hop/crunch into the top lane meta. Gnar has received few buffs over the course of the season, a decent buff to his Q damage and a slight range increase in Patch 7.13. What propelled Gnar into the meta was his strong laning with Mini-Gnar's range and percentage max HP damage and Mega-Gnar's insane teamfight presence. There is one caveat though, for a team to fully utilise Gnar's strengths and weaknesses they need to communicate about Gnar's "Gnar Bar" and organise TPs accordingly and pick a Jungler that allows Gnar to play aggressively in lane and create an advantage for himself and his team and ward for him. With the meta the way it is right now, I'm almost positive we'll be seeing him on the Worlds stage.

Shen is a champion that is no stranger to competitive play and it's no secret why. His ultimate "Stand United" is easily the most recognisable thing about him and also the biggest reason as to why he's been a competitive staple recently and throughout past seasons. Teams can it as both a defensive peel tool or aggressive engage tool. Slap it on a beefy tank like Alistar or Zac and you've got yourself free Ninja delivery express serving up five man taunts 24/7. Slap it on an immobile back liner like Cassiopeia or Tristana and they'll have all the space they need to pop off and carry the fight. On top of the great ultimate, Shen has percentage max HP damage on his Q, utility in the form of his "Spirit's Refuge", and strong side lane presence even later on in the game.

To say that Maokai has had a tumultuous run in Season 7 is putting it lightly. Right after his rework in 7.9 during the tank update, Maokai was easily the worst for wear out of the 3 but after some sizable buffs he found his place in the meta... as a burst AP support. Yes until quite recently Maokai was terrorising the bot lane as a mage lane bully. Fortunately, after some nerfs to the AP scaling on his Sapling Toss and tweaks to his passive, he's back where he belongs soaking up damage in the top lane and boy is he good at it. Maokai's passive "Sap Magic" augments his ability to frontline for his carries by allowing him to heal ludicrous amounts of health just from getting hit with abilities. The point and click root on his W and massive AOE zone control from his ultimate also add to his impressive teamfight presence. With the meta the way it is and Maokai being as good at what he does as he is, I'm sure we'll be seeing him come Worlds.

Trundle is pretty much in the same boat as Gnar. That boat being the SS "I Make Tanks Cry". However, unlike Gnar, Trundle did receive a decently sizable buff back in Patch 7.13. That buff was that he can Chomp towers again. So not only does Trundle, as I said before, make tanks cry he makes towers cry too. He also has a pretty solid mid game if you can use his E correctly to cut immoblie targets off and interrupt dashes and channels. But there is one caveat though, Trundle trades his incredible laning and split pushing for pretty poor team fighting. Sure, he does become a super tank but if you can keep him at arm's length (which most meta carries can do) he isn't much of a damage threat and it's just a matter of waiting out his ult. Teams that like putting their top laner on a heavy split pusher will definitely be trolling with Trundle come Worlds.

But what's this I see? Past all these tanks there are some damage options that are viable in the meta which we'll look at before all this tank talk puts you to sleep.

Fiora is an old competitive favorite for many professional top laners following her rework, so I'm sure they're ecstatic to be able to play her again. Fiora is another regular of the infamous SS "I Make Tanks Cry" so it's no suprise that she's making a resurgence after her small quality of life buffs in 7.16. Fiora brings a very good laning phase and unparalleled split pushing. One can liken Fiora to a ticking time bomb if she's in the hands of a skilled player, she has everything you could want in a late game split pusher: Free sustain, percentage max health true damage (try saying that three times fast) and insane 1v1 power. Fiora is the kind of champion that wants to forget that League of Legends is a 5v5 game and just win the game through top.

Gangplank is another champion that benefits from the tank meta by proxy. Gangplank's biggest weakness is his laughably weak early game but even if the meta tanks shove him around a little, they'll never be able to kill him on their own. So with a little help from his jungler, Gangplank can safely farm to his two item power spike. While GP and Fiora are both carry top laners, they both go about it in completely different ways. Gangplank wants to farm to his power spike then start team fighting immediately. The crux of Gangplank's kit and team fighting are his barrels. GP's barrels are what give him his infamous damage and zone control. The only issue with Gangplank's game outside of lane is the fact that he isn't a tank... and tanks make team fighting a lot easier.

Jayce is a carry top laner that sits comfortably in the middle of the split/team fight spectrum. Couple that with him being a strong lane bully, poker, and assassin you got yourself possible the most versatile top laner at the moment. If a team plays around Jayce to get him ahead, he can snowball the game and take it to the Nexus sub 30 minutes easily. The one down side of Jayce however is when he doesn't get said snowball. If Jayce isn't ahead out of lane, he doesn't really do much of anything. His Accelerated Shock Blasts don't chunk people enough, his hammer combo doesn't one-shot anyone, and he basically just becomes a liability for his team.

Notice anything about all the carry tops I've mentioned? They're all AD based and that's where Rumble comes in. Rumble is definitely no stranger to competitive play and has been a player and crowd favorite since his release. He's got the full top lane spectacle package: Strong laning, mechanically advanced and, the coup de grace, his ultimate The Equalizer. Countless teamfights have been won and lost by Rumble ultimates throughout League's history and I'm sure we'll witness a whole lot more on the Worlds stage come September.

And there you have it folks, the 2017 (theoretical) Worlds top lane meta in a nutshell.

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