3 Hardest Top Lane Champions to Master in League of Legends

League of Legends new to the game? If you're just starting out, it won't surprise you to hear from a first-person player that you should stay away from certain champions. League of Legends can sometimes feel simple to players. Other times, it can become a game that players hate, get bored of, and get frustrated with. Are you in a promotion match? Are you going to hit master after one more win? Then it's high time you read our guide. I'm assuming you're a pro player, so I won't be sharing the abilities of the champions I'm about to list. If you want to master these top laners, you'll need to play countless hours of League of Legends without shying away from just learning their kits.

So, which champions demand more from you than just "spinning to win" in top lane? How long does it take to master any of these champions? With that, let's take a look at the three hardest champions to master in top lane!

League of Legends' Hardest Top Lane Champions

3. Gangplank

Gangplank isn't a tank, which makes his health bar especially squishy, particularly early on. Early game is his weakest phase, so you'll need to play safe. Also, don't play him against extremely mobile champions like Riven. Pair him with teammates who can follow up on his initial damage or let him land solo hits with his barrels on opponents.

What makes him so hard? You'll need to learn how and where to place barrels to roll your combos. The ultimate also needs to be positioned correctly, otherwise you'll waste it. You'll need a lot of game sense to truly master him, but it's worth it in the end.

Gangplank can deal insane damage numbers thanks to his area damage and global ultimate power, but you'll probably suffer a bit before you get to the point of mastering him. Why? Because the combos you need to learn with him take time.

2. Irelia

Irelia is the queen of outplays. She can dance around enemies, deal damage over time, and make you look like a mechanical god. That is, if you know how to play her — otherwise, you'll look like a fish out of water struggling to survive.

To play Irelia you'll want to duel and fight your opponents, but you have to constantly be aware of stacking your passive, otherwise you're not dealing any damage to your opponent, which doesn't matter if you're fighting — you still want it to happen.

Once you've learned how to use your skillshots and when to engage, you'll be able to take down everyone on the enemy team. Thanks to her Q, you can farm under tower, and it's also nice that she has built-in sustain. But mastering her will take a long time, so be patient while learning her.

1. Riven

Did you think another top laner would be number one? Riven is probably the hardest top lane champion and the toughest to learn, but man, once you learn how to play her, you'll only want to play Riven. Once you've unlocked all the combinations and possibilities her kit offers, she's a ton of fun.

Riven is a high-damage, mobile champion in top lane. She can fill many roles depending on which build you choose. Once you understand which attack patterns work best for her, she can leave her opponents behind in no time. Until then, you'll probably jump into a fight and die, since Riven has no sustain tools of her own.

She's a bit weak early on, but once you've picked up your Goredrinker, you can dive into danger and chain your abilities together to kill your opponents quickly. Because of the long learning curve, no champion feels as rewarding to master as Riven. If you have the patience and the time, master her, and no one will be able to keep up with you!

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