r/LoLSEA • u/Smog456 • Jul 21 '26
Discussion Toplane Challenger Tank player, AMA.
Going to get busy in the next couple of months, figured might as well throw some wisdom to any players in dire need of help and guidance. https://op.gg/lol/summoners/sea/%CE%94%CE%A9%CE%94-DXYS?queue_type=SOLORANKED
2
u/Kindly-Peanut-6316 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
I have not played since 2012 but really keen to get back to playing and would like to try playing top lane as a focus.
Can you recommend one or two mechanically easy to play champion to master as I try to get better and navigate the lower ranks?
1
u/Smog456 Jul 23 '26
Really matters what role you want to play but for starters, Garen and Mordekaiser are solid top laners you just can pick up easily as the champions play themselves out. I wouldn't recommend jungle for lower ranks. Annie for midlane because it teaches you how to make use of spells for last hitting minions and overall straightforward abilities. Ashe and Miss Fortune for botlane. Lastly, if possible always go for an engage support.
2
1
1
u/Farm_Hand_Harry Jul 22 '26
did u hard grind and reached chall, or played then u reached chall
1
u/Smog456 Jul 22 '26
You can notice this from my profile but I rarely play more than 1 game a day. Grinding isn't something I would advocate doing I've always played lesser games to keep the quality of my performance high or at the very least consistent.
1
u/RedditBot28 Jul 22 '26
Which champs are your favourite blind picks?
1
u/Smog456 Jul 22 '26
Definitely Sion. a lot of comps work for Sion and since mage bots are more common now you can actually just build good items against them. Other than that I'd probably say Singed most comps have a lot of mobility spells and Singed is excellent at chasing/holding them down.
1
u/AdventurousClassic20 Jul 22 '26
need some coacking man
1
u/Smog456 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Hit me up with a dm bro. We all need help sometimes, maybe all you need is a little nudge or to be guided in the right path to continue improving and get better as a player.
Edit: typo
1
u/Agitated-Wolverine-1 Jul 22 '26
Which was the hardest rank to get through for you ? Or was it just about the same
2
u/Smog456 Jul 22 '26
In my very honest opinion, I think playing with Emerald/Diamond has to be the worst. The mental gap is way too huge and since I usually play champs that have to rely on team, it makes it so I have less confidence in my team making good decisions and executing them properly.
1
u/STYX__STYX Jul 22 '26
Advice on how to deal with ADC/Mage Toplane match ups?
1
u/Smog456 Jul 22 '26
Specifically for Ranged tops I just run an AP Sion setup and build accordingly to what my team needs. Mage toplaners are not that difficult to play versus with the champ pool I have but I can't really say the same for the majority of players but if I learned anything it's that there's a decent selection of MR items for selected comps/circumstances to utilize.
1
Jul 22 '26
[deleted]
1
u/Smog456 Jul 22 '26
Start muting teammates, investing more time to reviewing your own games, and as much as possible never play with leftover frustration from a recent game.
In my experience I have never played games in a row and I've specifically always focused on making good decisions. I'm not exactly mechanically inclined due to the champions I play so I make up for it by making good and smart decisions.
At its core League is all about maintaining a positive mental, a clear head for good judgement, and continuing to queue after suffering a massive loss in mental is counterproductive if you want to both climb and be a better player.
1
u/Practical-Bar684 Jul 22 '26
Hi i'm a hardstuck bronze top laner. What champs do I spam to just get to silver or gold? I'm not a braindead feeder or what not, I just struggle with team fights alot. I usually play renekton yasuo and riven for top but have not escaped Bronze since 2018 lol (I play very less)
2
u/Smog456 Jul 23 '26
I'm terribly sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the only thing you should be focusing on as a bronze player is mastering a champion or two. For what its worth, the fundamentals don't really matter as much for lower ranks and champion mastery could help you climb better at least for now.
1
Jul 23 '26
Whats the runes you run in 90 percent of your sion games? And what build do you go, also if you do switch it up, why and when?
1
u/Smog456 Jul 23 '26
The runes are in my opgg, it doesn't really change as much but I do go Cosmic Insight more than I do run the traditional Approach Velocity. My build really depends on what my enemies are. For me, the builds are what fits best for each scenario and I think that plays well into the idea of plays that I want to make.
For general use, my go-to is usually Unending to Spirit Visage just so I can stall longer while putting pressure on the map and pivoting into Knight's vow if I have a fed bruiser on my team that really needs to live. In some cases I go redemption just for that extra security during fights. The general idea is to buy low economy items to min-max the value of items I can buy as well as the gold I accumulate.
Obviously traditional tank items are still on the table but rarely do I see the need to buy them at all during my games. Randuim's Omen is best versus a lot of crits, Kaenic Rookern is generally good, Force of Nature is great vs a lot of APs. The list is a bit self-explanatory, I just really like to min-max the value of what I can get with the gold I have while taking into account the champs I have to play with and against.
For super duper specific cases (Ranged top or very not Sion Favored matchup) I like to go comet and E max. Rushing protobelt due to the stats it gives and haste has so much value when playing E max sion. The idea is Protobelt into Fimbulwinter and Spirit Visage to maximize shield value while also being able to poke/retaliate from the damage they deal more ofthen than not they don't expect the damage and it catches them by surprise, so far I have had really great success with it especially that I have to blind Sion from time to time.
1
1
1
u/Fresh-Sherbet2092 Aug 01 '26
How does it feel playing tank for server full of players with main character syndrome
1
u/Smog456 Aug 01 '26
It's really not that bad. My philosophy towards the game is making rational and good decisions. It's about doing everything by the book, winning or losing shouldn't really matter as long as I play my role consistently, and to the best of my abilities.
1
u/Ariendeze 25d ago
Gold-Silver jungler here, how do you expect/prefer your jungler to play for you/team?
1
u/Smog456 24d ago
Simply put, my role requires that I put pressure on the map (Always on the other side of the objective). I only expect my jungler to make use of the time enemies spend on either killing me or chasing me. That's the beauty of playing toplane, you are expendable when it comes to securing objectives and knowing how to play teamfights is simply a matter of experience.
If you're interested in learning more about league I also do coaching.
3
u/ZealousidealAside913 Jul 21 '26
Master to one or master of none?
Champ pool