Sion – Buffed

• Base Health: 655 + 87/Level ⇒ 655 + 95/Level
• R – Unstoppable Onslaught, Damage Increase over the First 3s of Channeling: +0 – 166.67% Base Damage, 0 – 100% Ratio Damage ⇒ +0 – 200%

I’m expecting a small buff that will increase winrate up to 0.25-0.5%. Remains B tier.

Sion has been looking rough for competitive ever since the nerfs back in 26.13 and this might put him back on the radar a tiny bit more. Though he’s been alright in solo queue. I like that these buffs incentivise splashing a bit of AD bruiser items in the build such as titanic hydra and Bloodmail, though he still is mostly a meat shield.

Darius – Buffed

• Q – Decimate, Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5s ⇒ 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 4s

Buffed. Expecting up to 0.25-0.5% win rate increase. Remains A tier.

I doubt Darius will see competitive play due to these buffs because he will still get CC’d and one shot in coordinated play regardless of Q being up. Though i find it very bizzare that Riot is buffing a champion that is more than well positioned in solo queue compared to most champions in top lane. Darius might genuinely be one of the best top laners to climb with in any elo bracket at the moment. Check out RaiderGO for some proper Darius gameplay.

Varus – Adjusted (top nerf)

• Q – Piercing Arrow, Damage Calculation: Max Damage scaling, 53.33 – 240 (+80% bonus AD) to 80 – 360 (+120% bonus AD) ⇒ Min Damage scaling, 50 – 230 (+80% bonus AD) to 85 – 391 (+136% bonus AD)
• Q, Damage Increase over Channel Time: Up to 50% ⇒ Up to 70%
• W – Blighted Quiver, On-Hit Damage: 4 / 13 / 22 / 31 / 40 (+15% bonus AD) (+25% AP) ⇒ 4 / 10 / 16 / 22 / 28 (+20% bonus AD) (+30% AP)
• W, Per Stack Damage: 3 – 5% (+1.3% per 100 AP) Target Maximum Health ⇒ 2.5 – 4.5% (+1.4% per 100 AP) Target Maximum Health
• W, Active Missing Health Damage: 6 – 14%, increased by up to 50% based on Q Channel ⇒ 6 – 10%, increased by up to 70% based on Q Channel
• W, Basic Ability Cooldown Refund: 13% per stack, increased by up to 50% based on Q Channel ⇒ 11%, increased by up to 70% based on Q Channel

On hit should be completely dead after these changes. Expecting 1.5-2% wr loss if not more. Varus removed from competitive tier list and demoted to C tier for solo queue.

Yone – Nerfed

• Q – Mortal Steel, Damage: 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 (+110% AD) ⇒ 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 (+105% AD)

This is the usual Riot Yone buff/nerf whenever they want to change him a bit. Expecting a 1% win rate nerf here. Yone nerfed but remains A tier.

A lot of players have picked up on the rush shieldbow as 1st item which makes Yone much more durable allowing him to take and win trades he has no business of doing so. Don’t be fooled, Yone has been eating good this season with the Doran’s bow and not being forced to run teleport (eg. playing exhaust instead) allowed him to manuever many of the tough matchups he used to struggle against more.

Wukong – Adjusted (lane buff, jungle nerf)

• Base Health Regeneration: 3.5 + 0.65/Level ⇒ 5.5 + 0.65/Level
• Passive – Stone Skin, Armor per Stack: 6 – 10 (based on Champion Level) ⇒ 4.5 – 10 (based on Champion Level)

I’m expecting a small 0.25-0.5% win rate buff. Wukong remains C tier.

Small passive nerf won’t be very noticable as he already has more armor than most champions due to the passive itself, while the regen will feel quite nice. Wukong is a bit of a weird champion that in theory should be well positioned to counter other ad melee champions (like Yone, Fiora, Camille, Darius, Aatrox..), but his base stats basically make him a champion that has to all-in and pray that it goes well. This change should help me become less feast or famine as a champion that won’t crumble in lane after 1 bad trade. Basically, it won’t be so punishing to lane with the extra regen.

Ryze – Buffed

• Q – Overload, Flux Bonus Damage: 15% / 40% / 65% / 90% increased damage ⇒ 10% / 40% / 70% / 100% increased damage
• Q, Bonus Move Speed: 28% / 32% / 36% / 40% / 44% ⇒ 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50%
• W – Rune Prison, Damage: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+60% AP) (+3% bonus mana) ⇒ 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+70% AP) (+3% bonus mana)

Ryze has some breathing room for solo queue buffs. Unfortunately these are scaling buffs that won’t help out toplane that much. Expecting 0.25-0.5% win rate at best. Ryze will remain C tier.

Item change: Hubris

• Base Bonus Attack Damage: 12 ⇒ 15 Melee / 10 Ranged
• Bonus Attack Damage per Stack: 3 ⇒ 3 Melee / 2 Ranged

Some AD (unc) or marksmen champions have been doing well with Hubris. Though so, have some toplane champions such as Fiora, Kled, Aatrox, Riven.. If you’re the type of person to rush Hubris in some games, you will enjoy the buff, especially these ad toplane champions with some sort of % AD steroid in their kit or big benefits from buying flat AD.

Item change: Bastion Breaker

• Lethality: 22 ⇒ 18
• Shaped Charge Damage: 50 Melee + 1.5/Lethality / 25 Ranged + 0.75/Lethality ⇒ 40 Melee + 1.5/Lethality / 20 Ranged + 0.75/Lethality
• Sabotage Duration: 90s ⇒ Infinite (the time you have to use the bonus damage against objectives)

This item has been doing some crazy damage and jungler’s have been abusing it quite well. On toplane you’d sometimes see this built on Jayce, or some snowballing champions that also prefer to play sideline like Fiora, Yorick, or champions with globals like Pantheon and Gangplank. Overall, it wasn’t really a core item on anyone except maybe Pantheon that rushes this item, at least in Korean solo queue.

Item change: Gluttonous Greaves

• Total Cost: 1000g ⇒ 1100g

Nerf for marksmen mostly, though I still believe these boots were a design mistake and I’m hoping they just get removed in the future. Gangplank is also a bit sad i guess because big crits heal quite a bit and it’s easy to get stacks with the ultimate.

Other changes, toplane not primary role

Xin Zhao: Q 5% more ad per strike (3x) – Buffed
Viktor: movespeed down by 5, Q shield uptime 0.5 sec less and less flat + % dmg on Q – Nerfed
Azir: mana per level increased by 10 – Buffed
Tristana: less attack speed on Q (20% less on rank 1- same on rank 5, -5% per level of skill) – Nerfed

other champions not mentioned, not played top.