Top 5 Champions in a Lane You Wouldn't Expect

I'm sure everyone at one point or another has felt the exhaustion of facing the same set of champions game after game. Certainly, it's generally because the most used champions are indeed the most effective, but it's nice to see something different every once in awhile.

In recent tournaments, we've seen Dyrus run a lot of Kayle in the top lane, and even before that, Team Dignitas gave us the controversial survivability comp consisting of Soraka, Lulu, and Janna all on one team. In this blog, I’m going to give you my 5 favorite champions in lanes that you normally wouldn’t expect them in. So without further ado…

 

5. AD Sona

Credit to glodefunk for the great art, and undeniably factual statement within said art.

AD Sona certainly isn’t the most viable of these, but it is probably the most fun. The key to making this one work is an early Sheen and well placed Power Chords. The amount of early game burst you have with these two items is tremendous. AD Sona performs best with supports who, likewise, have large chunks of burst, such as Blitzcrank or Taric. I would even recommend Soraka for infinite mana and heals in lane. You may be skeptical, but give it a try, I guarantee your first kill with AD Sona will bring a smile to your face.

 

4. Support Fiddlesticks

 

"LULULULU CAWWWW CAWCAWCAWCAWCAW!!!" - HotshotGG

Fiddlesticks makes a dangerous damage dealer, but his kit also has some very frustrating annoyances that can stall out an enemy team. Fear at level 5 is possibly one of the strongest, if not the best, single target CC in the game. There’s also Dark Wind, which makes early laning simply a chore for the enemy. Start this out like you would a normal support, opting for a Kage’s Lucky Pick instead of a Philosopher’s Stone. From there, try and acquire a generous amount of cooldown reduction for maximum control. And, as always with Fiddlesticks, troll hard with your ultimate!

 

3. AP Tristana

 

"I'mma bouncy guy!" - videogamedunkey - image courtesy of Nestkeeper

When someone mentions burst AP carries, usually the champions mentioned are LeBlanc and Annie. I always immediately think of AP Tristana. 3 of her 4 skills have AP scaling; quite generous AP scaling at that, with her ultimate scaling at a massive 1.5 times her Ability Power. Not only will your rotation hit like a truck, but kills and assists will refresh your Rocket Jump, giving you the opportunity to chain kills in a team fight, or escape tower range after a dive, similar to Katarina.

The real weakness of this path is that her cooldowns are quite long, with her Rocket Jump at 14 seconds at level 5, Explosive Shot at 16 seconds, and Buster Shot at 60 seconds, before any cooldown reduction. Do not, however, let that dissuade you from trying out this lean, mean, Rocket Jumpin’, health bar chunkin’ machine!

2. Jungle Karthus

ULT FACE ENGAGE!

Now here’s one I’ve actually seen in high ELO streams! And with the unfortunate lack of AP Junglers, it’s a welcome addition. Karthus, of course, brings Wall of Pain to a team, which is not only an incredible spell for team fights, but one of the best tools for ganking a champion could have. I’ve also seen Jungle Karthus with Teleport as a secondary summoner spell, initiating incredibly effective ganks with well placed wards in lane. You will encounter a bit of weakness in your early levels of jungle clearing, and certainly Karthus isn’t a very powerful duelist compared to likes of other jungle counterparts, like Shyvana or Dr. Mundo. If you can make it past the early stages though, you’ll be a fierce asset for your team.

1. Mid Nocturne

U mad, squishy AP Mid?

I’ve only ever seen this one attempted by a friend of mine by ingame name of Eatenbydistance… and I can’t really see why anyone else doesn’t try it. AD mid champions, like Pantheon and Talon, have proven their effectiveness of being deadly damage dealers, cutting through low armor AP mids like a paper sack.

Nocturne is really no different. On top of your hard hitting physical Duskbringer that you can poke with, Nocturne has useful tools to fight toe to toe with the enemy. He also has surprising good lane sustain, via his Umbra Blades passive. The main weakness I’ve seen with mid Nocturne is his dependency on mana, which Blue Buff has no trouble fixing. For items, you want to build Doran’s Blades as needed early game, and try to get an early Phage for best kill potential.

So hopefully these champions should be enough to sate your diversity hunger for awhile. I encourage every to experiment with, not only these champions, but EVERY champion. Who knows? Your innovation could be the new meta!