Top League of Legends Solo Queue Picks: Week of 05/21/17

Pantheon

Now that Sejuani has been put in her place, the top lane meta game has once against stabilized in a somewhat predictable fashion. I say "somewhat" because while the man on top is no surprise, everything beneath him sure is. Pantheon may have retaken the top slot this week, but he does so by a narrow margin over some frankly bizarre champions. Somehow Yorick, Akali, Irelia, and even Mordekaiser have all broken into the top ten top laners for this week, and all four of those were champions that were thought to be all but extinct.

it should be easy to figure out how Pantheon ended up with the top slot, though. He absolutely smashes all four of those champions, and with the exception of Darius he curbstomps every member of the top ten. As always, though, the late game is your enemy as Pantheon. Use your ultimate early and well, and take control of the whole map with the lead that you're almost sure to rack up. Calling your jungler top for a free kill and then using your ultimate to take down the enemy mid laner is a common line of play with Pantheon that will ompletely cripple the enemy team, assuming the game is still somewhat even. Whatever you do, just don't let the game go to 45 minutes, since by then all you'll be is an exceptionall long range initiator.

Zac

In what may be one of the most impressive comeback stories in the history of League of Legends, Zac managed to go from the worst champion in the game to the absolute best at his role in the space of a single patch. He not only got a hotfix to buff his damage up at the end of 7.9, he also received massive buffs in 7.10 that made his utility and damage both overbearing. While he wasn't quite able to play assassin Zac like in the days of old, he still was able to out damage champions like Elise by the mid game, which was absolutely a problem, especially since Zac wasn't even leveling up damage abilities to do it.

Consequently, Zac ate some hotfix nerfs the other day that toned down his damage a bit, but the results have been pretty negligible. He's still strong -- he's second in win rate only to Nunu -- and he's definitely a pick that players should be looking to abuse, even if the ban phase seems to be targeting him more often than not.

Aurelion Sol

The sassy dragon is back, and better than ever. It was really only a matter of time before all the Aurelion Sol mains came back after the changes to Banshee's Veil, and it seems that time has finally arrived. While Aurelion Sol is still a fairly unpopular champion -- he barely clocks in above the 2% threshold that it takes to make it in this article -- he's also one that any solo queue player needs to be ready to face. Fighting an Aurelion Sol isn't like playing against any other mid laner, and treating him like any other mid laner is a recipe for disaster. Watch the orbs and keep your distance when they're down, and do everything you can to get close to him when he expands them.

Now if you instead want to harness the power of the stars for yourself, then you have a long road ahead of you. While Aurelion Sol has been one of the best mid laners in the game since his inception, he's never really caught on with the play base as a whole for one reason. He's extremely difficult to play until you're used to his unique mechanics and roam-heavy playstyle. If you want to pick up Aurelion Sol, know that you will certainly lose a game or ten while you get used to him. Once you do get used to him, though, he'll easily become one of the strongest arrows in your quiver, ready to smash the immobile mages of the world.

Twitch

Twitch has once again regained his throne in the bottom lane now that players are getting more and more used to the sudden popularity of Draven and adapting accordingly. It probably also helps that Bang has been making Twitch look like the best champion in the game all throguhout the Mid-Season Invitational. Regardless, Twitch is a monster in solo queue thanks to his stealth and overwhelming damage output. Experienced players may be able to track Twitch well enough to keep him from sneaking kills, but in more disorganized games he's able to win the game almost by himself.

The key to beating Twitch is the laning phase. While he's no pushover early on, he's still definitely amongst the weakest laning ADCs in the game, and he's quite vulnerable to both poke and strong engage. Need to take down a Twitch lane? Give them a taste of a combo like Leona and Miss Fortune, and you'll never need to worry about another death from the shadows again.

Thresh

At this point, is anyone surprised? Blitzcrank, Sona, and Thresh are the three most popular supports in the game. Thresh counters both of the other two, all while bringing playmaking ability that is entirely comparable to Blitzcrank's. He does everything you could ask of from a solo queue support except deal damage, and that's something best left for other roles anyways. I'd tell you all to start playing Thresh, but judging by his 40% pick rate, you already were.