As of now, tank tops are once again back on the throne but it's not as simple as build Sunfire Cape, Iceborn Gauntlet and win. You must identify what role your champion fits in by the identity of said champion. Do you choose Darius and rely on snowballing in lane? What about Nautilus? A strong ability powered teamfight tank with an overwhelming amount crowd control and great teleport usage.

First, you must identify what is it your champion does throughout all stages of the game. Are you frontline? Are you engaging? Do you peel well? Do you dive the backline or become an impassable brick wall? Reading through this guide will give you an understanding of why some picks are important, when to pick them and the idea of carrying your team doesn't depend on racking up the most damage in a post-game report.

Choosing Your Champion & Why

Follow these guidelines when choosing a champion.

• Keep your teams damage mixed - It's easy to itemize defensively against one type of damage.
• Never go full damage, if your team hasn't got a tank. Play a tank - Your team will be ran down and forced to endlessly kite back.
• Stick to what's strong - Champions in League of legends aren't always relevant, try to avoid picking thing like full attack speed Nunu top.
• Go with what your team needs - Teamwork makes the dream work. If you have three mages, it's highly unlikely you need a forth.
• If you're unsure. Ask your team what top laner they prefer - It's human nature to feel more comfortable with familiar surroundings.

Now if we ignore "play what you're comfortable with" and "master a select few champions" it's important to choose a champion that fits your team composition or your play style. If you're within the first few picks of champion select, I advise you to pick a top tier pick. Here are some examples of a few different top laners, why they're picked and how they can be effective.

 Ekko - The Boy who Shattered Time.

High mobility, mixed damage and has a safe laning phase. Ekko has it all right now, but this won't win you every game. Ekko doesn't have reliable engage compared to his top lane counterparts but what he does bring is the ability to create space and havoc in team fights with the use of his Parallel Convergence and Chronobreak. Low cooldowns synergies with the commonly bought item Iceborn Gauntlet, which helps you achieve an easy 40% cooldown reduction and with the use of Phase Dive you'll stick to any target all day long.

Ekko's role in the game right now is to simply win lane, take tower and to be as slippery as can be while dealing tons of damage, both when split pushing and in team fights. He's great to pick blind and great to pick into most matchups. Diving back line and then Chronobreaking on back to provide assistance for your team is a beautiful play.

Need extra damage while being a tank and the team isn't lacking crowd control? Ekko should be your priority pick.

Malphite - Shard of the Monolith

An attack speed slowing, movement speed stealing, hard engaging, area-of-effect ability powered tank. Malphite is never a sight for sore eyes when he's on your team. Easy to play, rock solid and a becomes a safe laner. His split push isn't so effective when compared to his teamfight potential.

Malphites role within a team is to safely farm while looking for opportunities to use his Teleport effectively. Roaming with Unstoppable Force can help snowball your teammates and the game. Push out top and group group group.

If your team is lacking primary engage, crowd control or a tank, then Trundle is a top tier pick.

Trundle - The Troll King

Oppressive. Trundle will stick on you and there's nothing you can do about it. His King's Tribute passive empowered with his auto reset, the attack damage lowering Chomp, makes trading and the lane phase a breeze. His Pillar of Ice and his resistance stealing ultimate has even made Trundle a viable support.

Trundles role is very versatile. He can be both an excellent split pusher and a strong team fight presence. Sapping away an enemies resistance in a team fight can be game changing, especially with the changes to Quicksilver Sash. He creates so much pressure with Pillar of Ice as it lets him catch immobile carries as well as peeling for his own. Trundle is a unique threat who deals tons of damage with the purchases of Iceborn Gauntlet and Titanic Hydra while maintaining a tank role from other itemization choices and the correct use of Subjugate.

Pick the Troll King against attack damage matchups to maximize the effectiveness of his Chimp, low mobility champions or against a heavily resistant enemy such as Dr. Mundo or Rammus.

What Role Are You?

Breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of a champion reveals its identity, which in turn allows you to place yourself within a role. Keep your win conditions simple and remain focused on the role your champion innately has. Analyze what your team can do and what you can do to help your team. The role you are depends heavily on a multitude of variables. Look at how to identify specifically what roles are available and which champions best fill them. Here's a short breakdown of some roles.

• Engage - Without a clean way to initiate a fight things can become messy and unpredictable compared to when you're proactive with hard engage.
• Tank - Some champions excel with a strong frontline. For example, Kog'Maw and Azir struggle to stay alive without a sturdy tank blocking danger.
• Peel - If your frontline can't contain the barrage of damage, the next defense is strong peel, Nami and Thresh both have key abilities that provide strong crowd control to assist locking down and disrupting targets.
• Assassin - An attacker specifically built to eliminate a single target. Great when used against strong back lines and priority champions.
• Split Push - Alone in a side lane. Some comps can't team fight well and splitting the map can often benefit your team.

A lot of champions can fill multiple roles but it's imperative to understand where and when to apply each of these play styles. My hopes are that you can take the help this guide provides and think more before locking in.

My names Adam and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to comment or add me on EUW - Adámm. Until the next article, thank you for reading.

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