Three Essential Mastery Pages for Pre-Season Top Laners

One of the biggest problems that players have with patch 5.22 going live is the mastery set for each role. Since there are new mastery trees, and each role have multiple choices for them, in this article I will go through the three most common mastery pages for top laners. So, let's begin with the mastery page for the AP based Top Laners. 

AP Top Laner Mastery Page

So we have 18 points in Ferocity and 12 points in Cunning. Let's go through each Tier and say a few words about why we should pick the selected mastery. I'll start off with the Ferocity part, as it has more points. 

Tier 1: Since this is a mastery page for AP Top Laners, I pick Sorcery over the Fury mastery, because of the Ability Power and Spell Damage it grants.

Tier 2: So here we choose between Double Edged Sword or Feast. My choice here goes to Double Edged Sword over Feast. In this fast paced meta, bursting down enemies is key to winning the game, so the extra % damage dealt made the decision for me. 

Tier 3: We choose between Attack Damage and Ability Power per level buff from the Natural Talent mastery, and the instant Lifesteal and Spell Vamp from the Vampirism mastery. A lot of people would choose Natural Talent here, but I have chosen the opposite, because first, you have the Lifesteal and Spell Vamp buff from the beginning of the game. Next, at higher levels, with the items you get, Lifesteal and Spell Vamp will surely have more value than some more Attack Damage and Ability Power .

Tier 4: This pick-up is really interesting as I pick Bounty Hunter over the Oppressor. Bounty Hunter is my choice because of the importance of the burst damage in the current meta. However, this pick-up also comes down to your champion pick. If you are playing AP Burst champion in the Top Lane, than Bounty Hunter is the right choice. On the other hand, if you are playing a little bit of tankier AP Top Laner that has CC, then you can freely go for the Oppressor mastery.

Tier 5: Between the Armor Penetration and Magic Penetration buff, the choice is obvious. Since this is Mastery Page for AP Top Laners, Piercing Thoughts mastery is a must pick up.

And in the last Tier the choice was between Fervor of Battle and Deathfire Touch. Since Fervor of Battle adds Attack Damage to your basic attacks, the choice came down to Deathfire Touch, as I consider it far more valuable mastery for AP based champions. 

Now, a few words about the Cunning part

Tier 1: Here I pick the Savagery over the Wanderer mastery, as I consider that increasing the damage output is more valuable than increasing your Movement Speed when out of combat. 

Tier 2: Since you will use more potions and elixirs than Jungle buffs, taking the Secret Stash over the Runic Affinity seems like the Obvious choice. 

Tier 3: Here we choose between increasing your burst potential or the mana regen. Both of these masteries are ok, so you can try both of them, but it again comes down to the champion you are playing. If you are playing burst Mage in the Top Lane, Merciless is the right pick up. Otherwise, if you are playing more utility based AP Top Laner, Meditation could work as well. I prefer Merciless over Meditation because the damage output your champion has is really important. 

Tier 4: And for the last tier from the Cunning tree, I choose Dangerous Game over Bandit, because I consider that Bandit mastery is a valuable pick up only on Supports. So, definitely Dangerous Game.

I mentioned the burst damage being a big part in the current meta, so let's continue with Mastery Page for AD Top Laners, oh well, for ones that love to go all in and burst people down quickly.

AD Top Laner Mastery Page

Here I prefer 12 points in Ferocity and 18 points in Cunning. Let's break down each Tier. Firstly, I will begin with the Ferocity part.

Tier 1: Like we picked the Sorcery mastery for the AP Top Laners, now it is obvious that we go with the mastery that scales better with AD based champions, so that is why I pick Fury.

Tier 2: As I said that this mastery page is who those who love to all in and burst people down, so the additional % damage dealt granted from the Double Edged Sword is the right pick up. 

Tier 3: I already explained in the mastery page about AP Top Laners why I pick Vampirism, so it is the same reason why I pick it here as well. 

Tier 4: In the last Tier of this tree, it is again your choice as both of the masteries work well, but I pick Bounty Hunter over Oppressor because I use this mastery page when I play burst focused AD Top Laners. 

Now, let's go to the Cunning part

Since the choice is same for the first 4 Tiers of the Cunning part as the mastery page for the AP Top Laners, and the reasons why I pick them is the same as well, I will only comment the choices in Tier 5 and Tier 6.

Tier 5: Bonus Armor and Magic Penetration, or increased Cooldown reduction and Cooldown reduction cap. So, the choice here can go in both ways, so you can try both of the masteries, but my choice goes to Precision over Intelligence. So, why is that? Since I use this mastery page when playing Top Laners that can burst someone down quickly, that extra Armor and Magic Penetration really helps me in assassinating enemies. 

Tier 6: This could either be Stormraider's Surge or Thunderlord's Decree. Since Thunderlord's Decree does scale from AP as well, and this about AD focused Top Laners, my choice is the Stormraider's Surge. Since you can burst people quickly, that Movespeed buff will greatly help. 

Moving on to the last mastery page, used when playing tanks in the top lane.

Tanky Top Lane Mastery Page

So, here I use 12 points in Ferocity and 18 points in Resolve. Let's start with the Ferocity part.

Tier 1: I choose Fury over Sorcery, because the Attack Speed granted can help you in last hitting, and I consider it more valuable than increased Ability Power and Spell Damage.

Tier 2: Since you are a Tank, the Double Edged Sword mastery is not needed, not because of the fact that tanks do not need damage output buff, but because you increase the damage taken as well, and you do not want that as a Tank. Also, 20 Health restored every minion wave can help you a lot in sustaining during the laning phase.

Tier 3: So here we choose between AD and AP per level from Natural Talent and Lifesteal + Spell Vamp from the Vampirism mastery. My choice here is the Vampirism over the Natural Talent, because of the fact that you do not need that bonus AD and AP, and some Lifesteal will surely be more useful.

Tier 4: It is obvious why we choose Oppressor over the Bounty Hunter mastery. As a Tank, you do not need to increase that damage output. Additionally, if you play a Tank with Some kind of CC, Oppressor will really be helpful.

Now let's go to the tankier part of the mastery page, the Resolve part

Tier 1: Both of these masteries provide valuable stats for a Tank Top Laner, so I personally suggest that you should try them both. However, since the item build itself would lead you to have a lot of defensive stats, I consider having that Health Regeneration from Recovery will help a lot in surviving the laning phase, so you can get to that point where you will be unkillable. 

Tier 2: Here I go for the Tough Skin because this is a mastery page about Tank Top Laners, and damage reduction is really helpful for the Tanks. 

Tier 3:  I have chosen Veteran's Scars here because I think bonus % Total Health is really valuable with the role you are playing. As a Tank for the team, with the items you are going to get, Veteran's Scars mastery has really huge value. However, if you are playing champion in top lane that has self heal (ex. Darius, Irelia), then you can also choose Runic Armor, because it will work well with your champion kit. 

Tier 4: Although having lowered cooldowns on your  Summoner Spells is important, my choice goes to the Perseverance mastery. The reason why I pick it is because as a tank you are often going to absorb a huge amount of damage, so the Health Regeneration granted from Perseverance will help you a lot. 

Tier 5: Both of these masteries work really well for Tanks, but however my choice goes to Swiftness over Legendary Guardian mastery. The reason why I pick it because of the item build. You will surely grant more Armor and Magic Resist than Tenacity with your items, so some extra Tenacity from masteries will come in handy. 

Tier 6: Bond of Stone is the obvious choice. As a Tank, damage reduction plays huge part in your ability to give your carries more time to deal damage, so I consider it the best pick up for Tanks. 

Conclusion 

With the first preseason patch going live, one of the biggest problems was adapting to the new mastery trees. Each role has a unique mastery set for itself. So, I hope that with this article I will help you in your decision what masteries to run when playing Top Lane. 

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