Reign of Gaming

Hey guys,

Im looking for input on who you all consider the best "Dive" champions, what I mean by this is champions similar to Xin and Vi (both of whom I play). I mostly Play Jungle and Top on SR and Jungle on TT. 

What I love about Xin and Vi is they are rewarded for their aggression, can dive into the enemy very well causing mass disruption and making plays for your team to follow up on. I also enjoy that both of these champions do enough damage to also be able to carry a team IE I have zero interest in say...someone like Maokai or Sejuani who rarely have the damage threat to carry off of or are relevant late mid to late game damage wise when compared to Vi and Xin. 

Also no Jarvan, he is a obvious pick but I do not enjoy him very much. 

What other champions are like Vi and Xin who can dive, jungle, have carry potential and reward aggression? Thanks! 

PS I have been trying out some Shyvana who has worked in 3s but from everything I read and heard she is a horrible champion in S3 which makes me  doubt investing time into getting good with her....input?

Thanks!

So AD Casters mid is a thing and one I enjoy as I like to play those champions greatly and having them be viable not just due to S3 stuff but also peoples mindsets is great. I am on two teams currently and I always get to go Mid or Top, as of late I have been running mid lane and another guy has been running AP top to great success. 

Right now the popular picks for AD mids:

Khazix

Talon

Pantheon

Lee Sin

Zed

I am wondering though if there are other good options that are less commonly picked? I like more options and as well do not like Talon at all and Lee Sin is to common, to often banned. I also wonder what will happen when AP mids get used to the meta shift and begin to run different rune and masteries to counter the meta. In which case we could see a split between more normal assassins and bruisers? Anyways how would these below do mid lane?

Nocturne - Has poke, spell shield and can ult sidelanes same as panth and TF at 6. He can build bruiser or due to midlane can go assassin / carry build. 

Jayce - Poke poke poke poke nuff said!

Vi - Could be tough versus some mid lane champions but she can still harass, strong mobility and massive burst means she chunks anyone who gets caught by her. Lvl 6 = death for most AP mids. 

Riven - Moblity, huge early game damage, snowball monsters, shield, stun....I think a good riven player could do well here. 

Wukong - Decoy harass vs squishy mages? sounds like a win to me if your good. 

I feel that the "meta" is very open right now. Like I said I been running the popular AD assassins mid, my friend been running stuff like Malz and Viktor top and wrecks people. Sure jungle ganks top are a concern but so far with proper warding, me pushing mid lane and roaming hard, and junglers being far less threatining this season it has not been a big deal. 

I play Elise often and my hardest match up would be:

Nidalee - She can harass non stop with just her superior auto attacks, she has mass sustain with her heal. At 6 things can go either way if it comes to an all in fight since Nids often get cocky at 6. 

Xin - To much damage, CC and mobility early game. By the time you get your web off your will have already eaten his main burst and knockup and that will be GG for Elise. 

Riven - Not as much as the other two but still strong due to her damage and mobility. Elise needs to get her web off on champions who try to dive her. Riven is able to more easily avoid that and if Elise misses her web and Riven makes it to her....could be bad times for Elise. More skill dependent matchup. 

Jayce - Not a counter but he safe in that he can farm and play passive and do just fine he can also counter harass well. 

Gangplank - He can counter harass, has superior sustain and can self cleanse, so he would be a good choice as well. Granted I never have done this match up but I can see him doing well. 

Yorick - Mass sustain, mass poke, can build counter items and not suffer for it, easily out farm Elise. 

Thanks for the detailed information was a very good read. SO what do you think top lane will be leaning more towards or will become meta? I ask because more and more I am seeing AD Casters mid lane, Jungler having to make up for that by bringing a lot of team fight presence and utility. So where does that leave top lane now?  Or at least where do you see it heading in terms of popular meta fits? I feel that is mid becomes commonplace for AD assassins that it could effect top lane in multiple ways. 

I mean before if the enemy team ran say Anivia mid that meant a lot of cc and AoE damage, plus normal bruiser top, tanky support jungler....so picking an assassin top was more risky due to them having a fat frontline, mass cc, mass aoe and it would be safer to then also run a bruiser who could withstand all of that and do their job. 

Now enemy teams run say Talon mid, this changes everything....the AoE and CC is gone, your carry is now in more danger....at this point I wonder do you still want the bruiser top? Do you want a strong peeler to counter the AD casters mid? Do you want another assassin top (your team has lee mid say) to ensure the death of the enemy back line?

Just wondering I guess if anyone has an ideas of where top is going since other lanes are changing up a bit and the AoE and CC power of AP mids is no longer a mus thave, mid has become far more flexible. 

Hello guys! I wrote the thread about picking my top lane champions. I am still working on that and trying things, been a real eye opener and if anything Riot has made to many fun champions hah!

However I do have a question and that is what exactly is the purpose of or expected of Top Laners NOW?

Friends have told me to main Jax since he can carry hard. Other have said top is expected to be at least somehat tanky so bruisers or tanks. To expand on that some have also said that strong initiation is important and wanted on a top lane. 

I Have noticed the game changing quickly since the S3 item patch. Junglers seem far less a threat then they used to be due to jungle creep changes, starting machete and so on, in fact as a top laner I see less ganks and when I am ganked the jungler is often times not even that scary. Their CC is scary buy beyond that seeing them come at me with a Machete and boots while I have boots, Brutalizer etc....

AP im seeing far less of UNLESS it is an AP assassin mid lane. In fact assassins overall are now commonplace seeing 1 or 2 per team. Sustain via flask and pots has changed things for many champions and I see even less AP top lane now as well. Another thing to note is even bot lane is seeing more kill lane setups then i ever remember seeing. 

So ToP LANE....where is at now?

I ask because I found myself REALLY enjoying stuff like Khazix, Nidalee, Akali, Elise etc top lane, snowballing early and being dominate normally shutting the game out. However as I said friends told me that I should focus on more tanky champions if I want to play top lane and with the GP10 item nerfs I see less support tanks jungle which he feels puts an even greater need to have a tanky top. 

Is Top Lane meant to be a more tanky bruiser lane? Will it turn into a second assassin lane? Carry farm lane? 

Do you want to focus on winning hard early and and closing the game sooner with champs like Elise or Akali?

Do you want to focus on hitting carry God status and focus jax or Irelia?

Bet on the lategame, lead team to vicotry like Singed or Hecarim or Malphite? 

With new S3 Items are tanks even worth it as much as before and if so is the focus on health stacking and then id assume that changes things as well. 

SO anyways I am confused I guess

I mean if I play a ton of Khazix and Akali top is that wrong and hurting my team? Darius and Singed so much safer and meta fitting? Tanks still that great or is it all about carries and assasins now?

Sorry I feel this is sort of jumbled so I hope everyone could follow what I wrote and make sense of it! ^^

Thank you, Thank you everyone for all the really helpful insight and tips! Im sure it helped others as well learn a thing or two! 

So my roster to get good with will be (also I forget to comment about learning a champ of each lane. I know in solo Q this is important. I am hoping though that my main champs are flexible enough to fill in other lanes.

Darius - Like a B horror zombie movie, horrible cheesy but damn good fun! (decent jungler, can sorta support lol)

Jayce - Good guy Jayce does good guy things for his team. (can also play as bot lane ADC)

Nidalee - Did I mention it's mating season? (Can also midalee or support)

Elise - Pray you don't have arachnophobia! (can jungle, mid, support)

For slots 5 and 6 I still need to try a few champs more to decide and input is more then welcome it is wanted! ^^

Singed or Volibear - I felt having another more tanky bruiser would be good since I really only have Darius for that. I like Malph / Shen as well but they are nearly always banned so I would rather pick something safer to learn. 

Riven or Vi or Lee Sin or Jax - Im leaning towards Riven but her nerfs seem really heavy from what I have been reading....what do you all think? Vi I want to try out more before giving up on her. Lee Sin is just a lot of fun, many abilities, good mobility, lots to learn but his falling off makes me worried. What exactly does Lee Sin do if the games carries on and he was never super fed early? As for Jax, yea he feels strong, he looks like a badass BUT he also feels very simple and generic to me kit wise and his voice sounds like some fat Yankees fan to me for some reason and does not fit how his character looks, annoys me...the small things :P 

---I actually tried Kayle last night and did not like it. Her damage was insane but she felt clunky and dated to me with regards to how she felt play wise. ----

---Thanks for Rengar info. I did try him on friends account, he was OK I guess but I think if I wanted anti carry bruiser Irelia works better (though his ult does help a lot) or an AD assasin for top I thnk Khazix is better for that but what do I know. ---

Anyways Input welcome, more so I decide the last two slots. 

Had a friend tell me to get Rengar....how is he? I know he was strong but got gutted recently. Can he carry or is he mostly just single target assassin?

I agree Renekton is fun and a true terror early laning but how has S3 treated him? Can he carry now or still the same where he comes out strong as can be and then tires out quickly into a punching bag. 

Ok well not to spam my own thread but this is where I am at after a lot of thought. I will go with 6 and I can narrow down if need be as I learn them more and find what works for me. 

For sure playing:

Darius, Jayce, Nidalee

Riven OR Vi for 4th spot

Olaf OR Jax OR one left from above (Riven or Vi)

Elise or Singed for needed AP. I actually tried out singed a bit ago and forgot how fun he is as long as you get past the first few levels and it could be good to have another meat bag outside of Darius. 

SO my questions would be...

How do you guys feel Singed is right now top lane? I have heard people say he is one of the best solo Q picks, does that mean he can carry games? I did my last match with him but dunno if that is normal thing. 

Looking for more Vi feedback...I keep feeling she is underwhelming and I keep trying to hang onto her since I got so amped for her relase but...I dunno. 

ty again fellas

About Elise, I agree that she beats most tops and has a good midgame as a sort of assassin or protecting backline but what I am concerned with Elise is, can she carry a game? We have all seen the fed Riven who is now murdering entire teams but can Elise snowball and murder teams or where does she fall in that regard? 

Im now leaning towards these ones...

Darius - nuff said

Jayce - Flexible, decent skill cap, good all phases of the game. 

Riven - Huge snowball potential, good skill cap, fairly safe lane pick?

Nidalee - Flexible, split push, punishes most lanes, good skill cap

Jax - The CHAMP, snowballs hard, safe laning phase, mixed damage

Lee Sin - I like 6 ability champs? , good mobilty, strong early game....transition issues? He has good ratios and can snowball early...why does he fall off hard?

Elise - Cuz AP. (I tried Vlad today and hated it, just felt so slow to me, plodding along with his Qs) so yea elise..AP...fun to play....but i want to know how she does later, I know she can kill, she can be an assassin but can she carry? ALso wut do vs heavy team? I played a 3v3 with some friends, went Elise...they had Garen, Singed, Darius....Id combo my heart out but could never seem to get the job done. 

-- Removed from my list--

Vi- Like everything about her except her kit which feels clunky and the fact she feels weak unless people just let you wail on them so far....would love more input on her still though! :)

Akali - Sorta to situational and unless heavily fed I feel would need a good team to work with. 

Khazix - Probably better in jungle im thinking

Wukong - He is great but his poor mathcups against so many tops make me more wary in picking him, more so for SoloQ where you may have to the THE GUY to carry your team but due to poor laning are perhaps behind on CS or died or whatever. Still bit on fence with him if i was convinced otherwise.