Hey guys,

When it comes to champion picks, I'm usually a very "meta-obeying" League of Legends player. My mindset, in short, is this: the meta picks are meta for a reason. If other, unconventional choices would be better, those would be meta instead. Naturally, this means I have the best shot at climbing in ranked (and generally becoming a better player) if I stick to these meta choices.

However, because I thought it might be fun to change that for once and experiment a little bit, I decided to start a little Good Mythical Morning-inspired project and try out a bunch of random top lane picks. In this blog, I will share my findings with you. Keep in mind that most these findings will be based on a low amount of games, so take it with a grain of salt (or, if you disagree with any of the verdicts, let me know!).

Naturally, there's no point in calling it an unconventional top laner if the champion involved is already known for being played in the top lane. This means the champions in the spoiler below are all excluded from this experiment (opinions on which champions should or should not be in here may differ; let me know if you feel anyone's missing or should be removed).

I'll probably share my thoughts on roughly three champions per blog, with today's theme being "Tanks". Let's go!

► Why I thought it might work With Frost Armor providing bonus armor and Flail of the Northern Winds dealing damage based on a percentage of the opponent's max health, Sejuani seems like a decent choice against (tanky) AD based champions in theory. Her W also provides waveclear, while the many forms of CC she has (knockup, slow, stun) make it easy for her to follow up on ganks or be useful in teamfights. ► In Game Observations Yikes, seems I underestimated the nerfs she has received (somewhat) recently. This may have been a decent idea when her Flail of the Northern Winds auto attack still dealt magic damage equal to 10% (pre 5.10) or 12% (pre 5.6) of a target's maximum health at rank 5, but now she simply deals nowhere near enough damage. Her ult projectile is also surprisingly thin, by the way (which sucks now that missing it only slows enemies by 30%). ► Verdict: Will It Top Lane? No! Play Nautilus instead.

► Why I thought it might work I knew from previous jungle experience that the damage Amumu deals with some (tanky) AP items is quite good, and his Tantrum passive makes him pretty decent at trading inside minion waves. His multiple forms of CC also make it easy for him to contribute to teamfights or follow up on jungle ganks. ► In Game Observations Tantrum made it a lot easier than I anticipated to last hit minions in lane, and the damage dealt was exactly as high as expected. The new Rylai's Crystal Scepter also turns his Despair into a strong AoE slowing aura which makes it impossible for opponents to escape once you hit them with your Q or ultimate. I think he might struggle against ranged mages in lane, but overall I was pleasantly surprised by the effectiveness of this pick. ► Verdict: Will It Top Lane? Yes!

► Why I thought it might work I've seen this one before, so I suppose I shouldn't give myself any credit. The resistance from his Defensive Ball Curl in combination with his passive & the armor reduction when taunting someone with Puncturing Taunt should make him a good choice against AD laners, while Powerball + Puncturing Taunt is a strong combo to use when Teleporting to other lanes or initiating teamfights. ► In Game Observations Though the Mordekaiser I ended up laning against (I picked Rammus in a Team Builder, so I didn't know what I'd be facing, heh) was not quite the ideal opponent, the damage taken from his poke was still pretty low due to the resistances of W, and following up on ganks was pretty easy too. What I liked most of all, however, was his ability to catch (up to) opponents during teamfights and swing a teamfight in our team's favour in the blink of an eye. ► Verdict: Will It Top Lane? Yes!

That's all for now, feel free to leave your feedback below. Also, the theme for the next blog will be "Supports", so please leave suggestions for that as well! :D