Top lane; last but not least. The meta may be filled with tank tops right now, but some of these top laners will not tank your standings.
#1 Ssumday (Dignitas – NA LCS)
Was there really another choice? This man was the second best top laner in the world last year, and now he moves to a much easier region. I mean, come on, even NA and EU’s best could not touch him; now he gets to play against some of their worst as well.
Not only is Ssumday a great all-around player, but he is one of the best laners in all of League of Legends. Impact made the meme “Top Die,” but Ssumday will make the Meme “NA Die” as he demolishes all of the other top laners. If you are a fan of a team that isn’t Dignitas in NA, then you better hope Ssumday struggles with getting used to the NA lifestyle.
#2 Expect (G2 – EU LCS)
What do you know, G2 has another high scoring player. Like I said in all of the other summaries for G2 players, he has great matchups this week, as well as great teammates. G2 should be 2-0 at the end of the week, and Expect will score big points.
#3 Odoamne (H2K – EU LCS)
It may be risky to put Odo this high, but I have always enjoyed the consistency out of him. He will no doubt have one really good game, and as a team, I have H2K winning both of their series this week. Look for Odoamne to possibly fall down closer to number five in the coming rankings though.
#4 Flame (Immortals – NA LCS)
I wanted to put Flame higher, but I think this spot keeps me safer in case he does not show up in week one. When Immortals took to the stage at IEM Gyeonggi, we all wondered how well Flame would synergize with his team and even though they looked bad as a whole, Flame shined.
Dardoch and Flame are going to be the bright spots on this team, regardless of their standing, and I will bet that in a best game format, Flame will always be in the top-five. He is just simply too talented of a player to not find success against some of the top lane talent in this league. Look for him to have a big game against TSM this week, possibly taking a game off of them. Then, come Echo Fox, watch out; Flame will be let loose against that team.
#5 Darshan (CLG – NA LCS)
I wanted to put Seraph here becuase of his potential, but the smart pick is Darshan. As a player, Darshan has started to become a more team-fight focused player who you know what you are going to get from him. As one of CLG’s only weapons, he will be sure to have a solid couple of games and you never know when he will pull out some crazy pick and go off on it. I like Darshan as a solid pick each week this season for now. Look for him to have good games in both series this week, as he plays Liquid and EnVyUs.
#6 Seraph (Team EnVyUs – NA LCS)
When you put Seraph in your lineup, it is almost like playing the lotto; he will either score you big points, or feed uncontrollably. This week, though, I like his chances to have some big games. Against CLG, he should have some opportunities to have a big game. As a team, CLG isn’t going to overpower you in lane, which should allow Seraph to have chances to make an impact. However, their second series is where Seraph should shine, as he takes on FlyQuest. On paper, FlyQuest is the weakest team in the LCS and it is not even close. They do have the “Hai Factor,” though I do not think he can puppeteer his way to victories with the cast he has around him. Seraph should be uncaged in this series, resulting in him scoring a ton of fantasy points.
#7 Hauntzer (TSM – NA LCS)
Hauntzer falls a bit this week due to some potentially tough matchups in Cloud9 and Immortals. Against Cloud9, it could go either way and I expect the games to be quite close, with Hauntzer probably playing a tank top, which does not bode well for his fantasy points. Then, against Immortals, the matchup in the top lane gets really rough. More then likely, Dardcoh will be making trips to the top lane quite often, which really puts Hauntzer on his back heels. But, keep an eye on Hauntzer throughout this split. If TSM is going to have success, I think a lot of it will be due to Hauntzer elevating his play.
#8 Impact (Cloud9 – NA LCS)
Top Die has made himself quite far down the list after a poor showing at Worlds. Coming into this split, Impact has some question marks around whether or not he even wants to continue playing, and that worries me. If the motivation is gone, then we will see more of the Impact that disappointed for a lot of last season.
Matchup-wise, he has to go against one of the best top laners in the world in Ssumday, then has to play a very close series with TSM. I do not think Impact has it in him anymore to turn it around, though you never know, he may be able to spark up some meme magic once again.
#9 Lourlo/Looper (Team Liquid – NA LCS) and (Echo Fox – NA LCS)
Both of these players have one really good matchup this week. For Lourlo, it is FlyQuest, and for Looper, it is P1. Obviously, I think Looper is the strong player, so you may think to automatically go with him, but his team is very weak on paper. I think Lourlo has almost a guaranteed win coming this week against FlyQuest, and he should be a much stronger player than Balls. You really have to pick your own poision between the two; my money would be on Lourlo, oddly enough.
FeelsBadMan Starts of the Week
When looking through the other top lane options, I see three names that shine above the rest: Alphari, Cabochard, and Vivicsacsi. Picking between the three this week is quite easy though, as Cabochard and Vivicsacsi play each other, so that pretty much negates the two of them from my consideration.
Alphari, among some other Misfits players, is on my list of people I want to stash on my team. Misfits, as a roster, has quite a bit of potential and could really contend for a top spot in EU right away, so keep an eye on them going forward.
Who is your starting top laner for week one? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @GAMURScom.
