





While top laners often get the short end of the stick in professional play, the role has a much bigger impact in solo queue. Not only because it puts a player’s laning phase and mechanics to the ultimate test, but also because it directly affects junglers and their early-game macro decisions.
With every new patch, figuring out which champions are best to climb the ladder can take time. To make it easier, here’s a breakdown of the best top laners in Patch 25.18, highlighting the top picks and explaining their position in the meta.

The strongest champions of the patch are Fiora, Riven, and Yorick. The first two continue to be the ideal top lane carries, having the snowball potential and exerting higher-than-average influence on the outcome of the games. Both of them, however, are mechanically demanding so it’s not as easy to climb unless you are proficient on those champions.
Yorick is a much easier champion to learn and master but also has limits when it comes to his ability to be useful in the teamfights. If you’re able to capitalize on his laning phase and split pushing potential, however, he is the top laner to play this patch.
The top lane meta has remained somewhat similar to the previous patches, with champions like Warwick, Irelia, and Ambessa all holding strong in the S-tier. Irelia falls in a category similar to Riven and Fiora, with the main difference that she has great trading and better skirmishing potential in the mid game.
Mordekaiser is often considered the best AP top laner in the meta and his ultimate will always be a powerful tool to use in teamfights, especially in a late-game scaling meta where removing the enemy’s biggest threat can be the difference maker. Jax is getting a buff next patch 25.19, despite already being in a decent position. He’s got some tough matchups but he’s usually not considered a blind pickable champion anyway.
In A tier, the main change is Jayce’s addition following his Q buff in the early levels, as well as the drop in priority of Shen and Sett. With more high-mobility champions coming back in the meta across other roles like mid and jungle, their power has gone down.
The best picks right now are Fiora and Yorick. Fiora is often considered great to carry games as a top laner thanks to her dueling potential while Yorick excels in split pushing and creating side lane pressure at all stages of the game.
Jax is one of the best choices for lower ranks thanks to his straightforward kit and strong carry potential. Warwick is also often a strong pick thanks to his sustain and outplay potential during early-game trades.
If your goal is to solo carry, champions like Fiora, Riven, and Irelia are your best bets. They have excellent dueling power and mobility, allowing for high outplay potential. Jax can also be used to carry games, though he suffers a lot to get advantages when he is put against bad matchups.
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