Being a beginner in League of Legends, or at least a new player in the top lane, can be really overwhelming. There are so many things to learn about this game, and that doesn’t come easy to anyone.
Luckily, you can make your life much easier by picking the right champions right from the start.
A good beginner-friendly champion will make your gameplay much more enjoyable. And it’ll be easier for you to progress in the game and learn new things.
Myself, I’m a veteran with over 10 years of experience in League of Legends. And in this post, I’ll put myself in the shoes of a beginner to help you choose the best champion for yourself.
So here are the 10 best top laners for beginners in League of Legends!
1. Garen
Garen might be the best champion for beginner top laners and new LoL players in general. He has a strong yet simple kit that will allow you to dominate your opponents effortlessly.
Garen’s Q is an auto-attack reset, which means that you can press it right after auto-attacking the enemy, and it will make your combo faster. It also silences the target, which means that they will not be able to use their spells for a short duration of time.
His W gives a small shield and increases Garen’s resistances while his E makes him spin around dealing damage to all nearby enemies but it does bonus damage if it’s hitting only one target.
Garen’s R is an execute spell, so it’s best used for finishing off low-HP enemies.
Another great thing about Garen is his passive. It heals him whenever he is out of combat, meaning that if you are not attacked by an enemy for a short period of time, it will start regenerating health.
This is really great for beginners because losing trades will not be punished as hard as when playing other champions.
The be successful as Garen, you will want to farm well and trade well.
To farm well you will simply need to learn to last-hit minions, which is not that hard with this champion as he has great auto-attack damage. And to win trades, you will mainly want to trade with your Q and E, going in and out as Q comes back from cooldown.
Read Also: Top 10 Best Champions with Resets in LoL
2. Malphite
Malphite is another staple for beginner top lane players. But unlike Garen who is an AD bruiser, Malphite is an AP tank.
Malphite is extremely easy to learn and execute. And you’ll only need to play a few games with him to start performing reasonably well even in ranked matches.
Most of the time you will want to play Malphite as a full tank, primarily building armor. This is because his base stats synergize with armor, and this also means that you should primarily pick him against heavy AD compositions.
Since Malphite is not particularly strong in the early game, you should mostly farm and do your best to stay even until the mid to late game. In the mid to late game, you will want to join your team and pressure the enemies with your ultimate.
Most of you reading are probably familiar with Malphite’s ultimate. It is a spell that makes him charge in a certain direction, and knock up every enemy that stands in his way. It is one of the most powerful spells for teamfights. It’s definitely his biggest win condition!
Read Also: 10 Best AP Top Lane Champions
3. Nasus
Nasus is as easy as the two champions I mentioned already, but he has more exciting mechanics in my opinion. It is a great beginner top lane pick for those who like the “raid boss” playstyle.
As Nasus, you will mainly want to make use of your Q which gets increased damage each time you last hit a minion while it’s active. This mechanic is called stacking, and you are most likely already familiar with it.
And to become good at Nasus, the two key things to learn is to stack well (and as fast as possible) as well as when to actually fight.
In the early phases of the lane, you will hardly beat anyone. This means that you should only last hit minions, preferably with Q, and keep yourself safe.
If an enemy is oppressive and does not let you stack, it’s all right. You should simply farm using your E, and keep yourself in the range for minions’ XP. Losing a few stacks is better than dying and giving the enemy a huge advantage.
At level 6, you hit your power spike and you’ll be able to beat most top lane champions. It is also a point where you are strong enough to contest objectives with your jungler and make other small plays around the top lane.
As the mid game approaches, around minutes 15-20, you will want to join your team. This is where you will be the most strong as Nasus. Fights, where you are present, are essentially 6v5 due to how strong you are.
4. Warwick
Warwick is another noteworthy champion that had to be on this list. He is a little harder to learn, but the benefits of learning him are immense.
Warwick has a passive that makes him heal more the less HP he has and it allows him to bait the enemies into thinking they are stronger than him.
The only way to consistently beat Warwick in fights is to have an execute spell. This means that when he gets low, you simply shut him down, not allowing him to use the extra healing. But execute champions are a rarity in League.
Unlike the champions I already mentioned, Warwick is much stronger in the early game. Thanks to his passive, he can win most 1v1 duels. An additional tip would be to use Barrier which will make you even stronger and unpredictable for the enemies.
Since Warwick falls out in the late game, you will mostly want to make plays early and around the mid-game. Once you are done with your laner, you can use the WW’s naturally high movement speed to hunt down other enemies.
In the late game, you will mainly want to make use of his infiltration potential. This means sneaking up to the enemy’s strongest carry, CC-ing, and preferably killing them.
Read Also: The 7 Strongest AD Top Laners
5. Darius
Darius is another great contender on this list. He truly has the potential to 1v9 games when played correctly.
Darius will have the strongest level 1 power spike off of all the champions mentioned on this list. This is thanks to his passive, which stacks up to five times and deals true damage to enemies in a form of bleed.
To easiest way to make use of Darius’ passive in the early game is to rush to a top lane bush and wait for the enemy. If they walk up, you can quickly stack up your passive on them.
To do this I would recommend upgrading your W since it will give you a much-needed slow on the enemy. Oftentimes, this will result in a free kill or at least a Flash out of an enemy.
As Darius, you should be fighting the enemy laner every time they get in your range since there aren’t many champions that can win against Darius in close combat.
This is also what makes Darius really great for beginners. When you are playing vs. other beginners, they will not be aware of your dueling strengths, which will make them easy targets.
The last tip I would recommend for Darius is running Flash and Ghost. Flash is really an essential summoner and you need the Ghost for chasing down the enemies. If you take Ignite instead of Ghost, you will gain some extra damage and kill pressure on level 1, but you will lose out on much-needed mobility.
6. Tryndamere
Tryndamere is a champion with a low entry barrier, but he offers a lot of room for improvement. He is great for learning to split-push well as a top laner.
Much like Darius, Tryndamere is also good for early fights. If you level up your dash/E first, you will be able to run down many enemies on level 1.
Your second power spike will be on level 2 when you can stack up his passive and make short trades with enemies, then heal with his Q.
For those unfamiliar, Tryndamere’s passive is fury and not mana. It stacks each time you auto-attack, and it increases his crit chance and healing on Q.
The most important power spike for Tryndamere is level 6. This is where you unlock the ultimate which gives 5 seconds of immortality.
Tryndamere’s R, Undying Rage, is so powerful that it can survive even execute spells. And learning to use it is what distinguishes an excellent Tryndamere player from the average one.
The most important skill you need to develop to be a good Tryndamere player is split-pushing. Split-pushing is an act of pushing a lane to exert pressure on the enemy team.
When you are performing a split push and you are really ahead, enemies will have to send multiple people to stop you.
This will allow your team to take objectives around the map. If you are behind, however, split-pushing can be beneficial as well. And this is because the enemy will have to send someone who is stronger than you to defend, making the 4v4 for your team easier.
Here’s my in-depth guide on how to split-push effectively in League of Legends if you’re interested.
Read Also: How to Carry as a Top Laner in League of Legends?
7. Jax
Jax is one of the best duelists in the game, which makes him a great beginner top laner pick. He is an essential champion to know, as he can counter some of the most oppressive melee top laners, such as Irelia, Tryndamare, and Camille.
Another great thing that makes Jax a powerful beginner pick is his hybrid nature. Most of his abilities have both AD and AP scaling, and his core stats synergize well with any type of resistance you can build.
And this simply means that you can play many combinations of builds on Jax and still perform well.
To play Jax like a pro, you will want to make use of his passive, Relentless Assault. This effect increases his attack speed each time you hit something with a basic attack. So stacking it on minions before a fight will make you significantly stronger.
Jax’s Q is really helpful too. You can use it to close the distance between enemies, but you can also use it to escape unfavorable fights. It can be casted on Teemo’s shrooms, Jarvan’s flag, Thresh’s lantern, blast cones, and ally wards.
As Jax, you can spend your time split-pushing or teamfighting. Both of these strategies highly depend on the circumstances at hand.
If you can not win teamfights despite being strong (and your team is behind), split-push is the way to go. But if you are sure that you can walk over the enemy team you should prioritize fights.
The most important thing when it comes to fighting with Jax is being calculative and patient.
Many inexperienced Jax players will chase the enemies, get out-kited, and even be killed. But if you really want to perform well, make the enemy come to you and fight on your own terms. You can do this by taking objectives and pressuring the enemies to contest them.
8. Vladimir
Vladimir is an OP AP carry that requires a lot of patience but is really a fantastic beginner-friendly champion. He has the ability to regenerate HP from unfavorable trades with his Q, and he does not require much game knowledge or mechanical skill.
To be successful as Vladimir, you need to focus on collecting as much gold as possible in the early stages of the game and scale faster than your enemy.
This is because Vladimir is an extremely gold-efficient hyper-carry that becomes stronger than almost all League of Legends champions.
The best Vladimir player in the world, Elite 500, is a living example of this principle. He won’t help his jungler in early-game skirmishes if he is not at least 80% sure he’ll win the fight. You will also often see him Flashing and Ghosting not to miss a cannon minion. This is an extreme case, of course, but you get the idea.
So, in the early parts of the game, you should be simply focused on last-hitting minions and generating gold. There are a few matchups you can win this early, but you can always ping for your junglers assistance.
Scoring a kill or two with your jungler when you are getting pushed in is a great way to snowball the game too.
Due to his AOE abilities, Vladimir is a great champion for teamfights.
As soon as you get three or four items, you should be forcing teamfights in order to close out the game. If your team is extremely bad, you can simply continue farming a side-lane, until you are strong enough to carry.
Vladimir is also one of the best mid lane hyper-carries and I always recommend him to new players!
Read Also: The 7 Worst Top Lane Picks
9. Maokai
I would recommend Maokai to calm beginner players who enjoy being strategic and want to play the game in a more slow-paced manner. Maokai is a perfect CC tank for teamfights, and it is hard to punish him due to his insanely high defensive stats.
In the early parts of the game, you will want to CS, and trade with the enemies when your Grasp of the Undying is ready. You can always put a sapling in the bushes and deal extra damage to enemies that way.
As Maoaki, you never want to push your lane, as that will make it easy for your enemy to punish you. The best thing you can do is keep the minion waves near your tower and set up ganks for your jungler. Not many junglers will refuse to gank a CC machine like Maokai.
To survive the early game, never fight with champions like Darius, Sett, and Fiora. They are designed for long fights and shredding enemy resistance.
Once the mid game hits, you will most likely be the least killable target on the map. It is a perfect time to start invading the enemy jungle and group with your team.
And once the teamfights start, you will want to either peel for your carries or completely disable the enemy carries. You can do this all the way through the game, until the end.
10. Dr. Mundo
If you want a good beginner-friendly top laner, Dr. Mundo is a great choice. He has decent skill expression through his Q, but he’s generally very easy to play.
Unlike other tanks, Mundo can start dominating most enemies as soon as the game starts. You can accomplish this by getting good at throwing his Qs.
Each Q you hit brings you closer to victory since you will force enemies into a certain playstyle.
When you get the enemy low enough, they are susceptible to ganks and can not make plays around the map. And if they reset, they lose out on CS and you start out scaling them hard.
Much like Maokai, Dr. Mundo scales really well, and he becomes extremely strong after just two items. He has mixed defenses, and he is really hard to take down. It usually takes multiple enemies with multiple damage types to take him down.
When it comes to the late game, Dr. Mundo requires no sophistication. You can simply activate your R and run through the enemy back line. His playstyle is really encapsulated well by his quote “Mundo goes where he pleases.”
Read Also: 10 Best Junglers for Beginners in League of Legends
Conclusion
No matter what playstyle you enjoy there are plenty of beginner top lane champions you can play.
For those who are truly completely new players and who are just getting the hang of the game, I would recommend Garen and Malphite. This way you will have a well-rounded pick for both AP and AD categories, and you will be able to learn the game much faster.
If you are a beginner top laner with ambitions to solo carry the game, you will have the option of playing the AP carry Vladimir or the strong duelist Darius. And for those who enjoy a unique playstyle and raid-boss experience, I would recommend Nasus.
Read Also: 7 Most Aggressive Top Laners
