I began playing Lulu top when I wanted to earn mastery tokens on her, and I started really liking the pick. She has a lot of versatility with runes and item paths, along with an innately useful kit. In this guide I’ll go through the different builds and plays styles you can use to crush top-lane (and your opponent's mental) with this off-meta Lulu pick!

PROS ✽ Strong laning phase with poke and harass ✽ Good disengage/escape from ganks ✽ You will basically always be useful because of your peel ✽ Very versatile with runes and builds

CONS ✽ Doesn’t have good engage ✽ Mana hungry ✽ Not great at dueling multiple enemies in the side lane compared to other champs like Irelia or Fiora ✽ Will get flamed for pick (tip: /mute all)

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As a ranged champion in top lane, Grasp of the Undying is a great rune to take against melees to poke them down and start stacking some extra health (Lulu gets 3 permanent health for each grasp proc). I’ve found that I can get solid amount of grasp stacks during the laning phase (about 40-50), and the damage begins to chunk once you start buying health items.

Since Lulu has so much poke, she has strong potential to dominate lane. Demolish allows you to get some extra plates and money during the laning phase, and help you gain a greater income lead over your opponent. It also scales off of max hp, so it can help you split push faster. Shield Bash is also a viable option if you plan to play more defensively in harder matchups by using Help, Pix! on yourself.

Any of the runes for this section are good options, but very dependent on lane matchup. Take Bone Plating when against bruisers and other melee champions. Take Second Wind when against poke champions and take Conditioning when against safe matchups and need scaling.

Overgrowth has great synergy with Grasp of the Undying and Demolish since they both scale off max hp while also giving you a decent amount of bonus health. Overgrowth is my favorite choice, but you can take Revitalize if you plan to play more utility based or Unflinching if you’re playing into a heavy CC team comp.

Presence of Mind gives you enough mana sustain during combat and helps restore some mana after small trades so you can stay in lane longer. Make sure not to use your spells on waves because you will run out of mana fast if you’re not also attacking an enemy champion.

Since most of Lulu’s damage will be coming from her auto attacks, the extra attack speed from Legend: Alacrity is really helpful f or farming, trades, and overall damage output in prolonged fights. Take Legend: Tenacity when against heavy CC and don’t already have Unflinching.

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Press the Attack will be your go-to against tankier team comps. It’s a good source of damage and is easy for Lulu to proc in the top lane since she’ll be into mainly melee matchups and can punish the enemy laner for stepping up to farm. Press the Attack also has good synergy with on-hit items like Blade of the Ruined King and Guinsoo's Rageblade. I’ve seen some people take Lethal Tempo but it’s subpar compared to Press the Attack because you’ll be building on-hit items which will give you more than enough attack speed. Also the extra range from Lethal Tempo isn’t really necessary for Lulu since you’ll already be a ranged champion in top lane (Lulu even outranges other ranged top-laners like Teemo and Quinn with their base attack range).

Same explanation as above. Definitely the best option for Lulu since her spells are integral for fights.

When taking Press the Attack, any of these options are good. The extra attack speed from Legend: Alacrity is nice, but remember that your bonus attack speed has a cap at 2.50 and you’ll be buying items that will give you a lot of attack speed already. Take Legend: Tenacity if you need more escape power. I haven’t been a fan of Legend: Bloodline since the life-steal nerf, but it’s still not a bad option when going on-hit Lulu.

Again, this is a situational rune. If you’re only going to be building on-hit/attack-speed items because you’re against a tanky team, Cut Down is the best option. Between Coup de Grace and Last Stand, I always end up getting more damage with last stand, most likely because fights last longer in the top lane and you’re bound to lose some health. Last Stand also does more damage (11% increased damage while below 30% maximum health) than Coup de Grace (8% increased damage to champions below 40% health) in fights where you and the enemy are both low health. So basically, take Cut Down when against a tank-heavy team comp and take Last Stand in every other case.

Bone Plating provides enough durability for a majority of top lane match-ups that can engage on you. If you’re against a poke matchup, opt for Second Wind instead.

Overgrowth gives Lulu extra sustain and durability in the top lane which is more helpful for the prolonged fights that occur there. Lulu’s kit has enough escape power with Whimsy and Wild Growth, but Overgrowth will help you survive long enough to actually escape.

FLASH Flash is just a staple, and something you should be taking in all lane matchups. Only use your Flash when it will save your life or get you a guaranteed kill. Basically, don’t use it unless you have to. IGNITE Take Ignite when you feel confident that you can get a kill early and snowball. I’ve found you can usually get a kill with Lulu into most matchups with Ignite in the early levels. TELEPORT Take Teleport into harder matchups or if you want to have more map pressure and play for team fights.

DORAN'S RING

★ For this build, Doran's Blade would also work perfectly fine. But I like Doran's Ring more for this build path because it makes farming easier, helps a bit with Lulu’s mana problems, and will also give my abilities more damage early for better poke.

ANATHEMA'S CHAINS

★ Rush Anathema's Chains and use on your enemy laner. It gives you a lot of extra health and reduced damage from your opponent so that they can’t burst you down. Also, the extra health will make your Grasp of the Undying procs hurt a lot more.

PLATED STEELCAPS

★ Buy Plated Steelcaps when your laner/most of the enemy team is AD. You can also buy Plated Steelcaps against heavily auto champions like Kayle or Teemo.

MERCURY'S TREADS

★ Buy Mercury's Treads if your laner is AP/has a good amount of CC and/or if the enemy team is mainly AP. If the enemy team has a lot of CC but mostly AD, you should buy Plated Steelcaps and also take Legend: Tenacity or Unflinching in your runes.

RIFTMAKER

★ I really like Riftmaker for its stats. This item does synergize better with lulu’s kit than the other mythic options I listed below, and the true damage is helpful in more prolonged fights.

TRINITY FORCE

★ Trinity Force is really good for raw, consistent damage from your auto attacks, and is also helpful for split-pushing since it does damage to turrets.

DIVINE SUNDERER

★ Divine Sunderer works well into tanky teams, but I have a hard time picking this over Kraken Slayer. Nonetheless, this is a viable choice if you wanted to build more bruiser Lulu into a tanky team.

TITANIC HYDRA

★ The aoe damage from Titanic Hydra is extremely helpful for Lulu to farm. If you want begin pushing waves faster, you can rush Tiamat. Also, it’s passive of converting bonus health to AD synergizes well withe these items.

BLACK CLEAVER

★ Black Cleaver works really well at carving down tankier teams. The only problem with this item is that it doesn’t build out of Last Whisper, so you won’t get the armor reduction until you build the full item, which takes a while. I do still prefer this item over some like Lord Dominik's Regards because Black Cleaver’s stats synergizes better with the other items.

HULLBREAKER

★ If you want to split-push and only split-push, get Hullbreaker. This is probably something you would want to rush instead of Anathema's Chains.

WIT'S END

★ Wit's End is such a great item for the extra attack speed and on-hit damage. The only scenario I don’t buy this in my last items is if the enemy team is all AD. If the enemy team is all AP, you can rush this item.

THORNMAIL/ FORZEN HEART

★ If the enemy team has a lot of healing, you can rush Bramble Vest and sit on it, and then build Thornmail once you already have your core build. Frozen Heart is good against high attack speed champions like Tryndamere or Jax.

MAW/ SPIRATE VISAGE

★ If the enemy team has a lot of AP assassins like Kennen Katarina or Nidalee, you can buy Hexdrinker to avoid getting bursted, and later build it into Maw of Malmortius. Spirit Visage has great synergy with all Lulu’s healing and shielding in her kit, runes, and other items. It’s also a nice purchase if your team has a lot of healing/shielding in their kit like Lee Sin or Ivern jungle, Lux or Orianna mid, and all enchanter supports.

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DORAN'S BLADE

★ The extra omnivap from Doran's Blade is nice for lane sustain. I personally like Doran's Blade + Health Potion over a Long Sword + Refillable Potion because the extra health and omnivap is helpful for laning.

BORK

★ Against tankier team comps, Blade of the Ruined King will be your holy grail item. You want to rush this item, and prioritize Recurve Bow over Vampiric Scepter  It will actually allow you to do damage against your enemies, and also has synergy with Press the Attack to help shred your opponents.

BERSERKER'S GREAVES

★ Look, if you feel confident and just want to power out some damage, Berserker's Greaves is perfect for that, since it’s the cheapest full attack speed item in the game. Personally, I like to go defensive boots.

DEFENSIVE BOOTS

★ As I said, I prefer defensive boots, either Plated Steelcaps or Mercury's Treads, because I like the extra sustain in case I get jumped on. Plus, I feel like I get more than enough attack speed from my other items.

KRAKEN SLAYER

★ Kraken Slayer is a staple for a lot of lulu top players. If you build a lot of attack speed, this item will let you do a lot of true damage. Kraken Slayer is what you should buy if you plan to be a second adc for your team.

GALEFORCE

★ Galeforce is nice for the extra damage, and its passive is nice for having an extra dash and also for finishing off enemies trying to escape.

TRINITY FORCE

★ I like Trinity Force for its bruiser stats, but also gives enough damage and attack speed. Think of Trinity Force as the most balanced mythic options. It won’t let you excel at any particular thing (like damage or tankiness) but provides enough of both.

GUINSOO'S RAGEBLADE

★ Guinsoo's Rageblade is a staple for building on-hit lulu. This items helps you feel like a machine gun and really begin to pump out damage.

RUNAAN'S HURRICANE

★ I opt for Runaan's Hurricane when I need fast wave clear to split push and to take enemy jungle camps faster. Pix, Faerie Companion doesn’t proc on the bolts, but it still is good for aoe auto attacks.

STORMRAZOR

★ The passive from Stormrazor gives you a lot more sticking power to enemies so they can’t run away from you once you get in auto range.

WIT'S END

★ Same explanation as above. Wit's End gives you attack speed, magic resist, and on-hit damage. If the enemy team is all AP, rush this item.

PASSIVE ABILITY

Pix, Faerie Companion ✦ when you’re fighting an enemy, try not to have the minion wave between you and your target as Pix, Faerie Companion gets blocked by minions or just use Help, Pix! on your target before you start auto-attacking them pix skill showcase

Q

Glitterlance ✦ good base damage but also a high mana cost ✦ try to hit both bolts from Glitterlance because it will do 25% extra damage ✦ one Glitterlance bolt comes from Lulu and the other comes from pix. So, if you cast Help, Pix! on an ally, and then use Glitterlance one of the bolts will be coming from your ally ✦ tip: if your enemy is staying out of your auto-range, you can cast Help, Pix! on an enemy castor minion (without killing it) and then cast Glitterlance to reach your target from far away (this does chunk your mana just for poke though) ✦ it slows by 80% decaying over 2 seconds, so save it for sticking to enemies or for running away Q skill showcase

W

Whimsy ✦ Whimsy is your holy grail ability ✦ your W cast on an enemy with polymorph them, which keeps them from doing anything but move ✦ during the laning phase, you can use Whimsy on the enemy right before they can last hit a cannon minion (this will really tilt your enemy and if you do this for every cannon wave it’ll give you a significantly higher gold lead assuming u can CS well) ✦ in late game and team fights, you’ll want to use Whimsy on the enemy team’s carry or assassins that jump on you/your carries ✦ you can cast Whimsy on yourself or allies to give them bonus move and attack speed. I will only use this on myself when I’m running away or if I’m already fed and just want more DPS. W skill showcase

E

Help, Pix! ✦ In the early game, use Help, Pix! to help harass enemies since it has good base damage and will send Pix, Faerie Companion to them which will do more damage with your autos ✦ When laning, you can use Pix, Faerie Companion to guarantee last hits on cannon minions since it has a really short cast time ✦ In the mid-late game, this will not really do a significant amount of damage, so you’ll want to use it for the shield (either yourself or allies as needed). Exceptions are for using on an enemy that has stealth since it grants true vision. ✦ Remember, Help, Pix! can be cast on both ally and enemy minions too E skill showcase

R

Wild Growth ✦ Learning when to use your Wild Growth both offensively and defensively is key. If your jungler engages in a gank, you can use it on them to knock up the enemy. You can also use it in duels to give you that extra health you need to win a fight. In team fights, use it to save yourself or other carries if getting jumped on. ✦ if you’re low health and have Wild Growth up, you can bait the enemy into diving you ✦ Also, the remaining bonus health you get from Wild Growth is not affected by grievous wounds R skill showcase

EARLY GAME: Lulu is really strong during the laning phase, since she can poke enemies down with her high base damages. You will usually be able to get lane priority by forcing the enemy to back. I like to think of laning with Lulu sort of like laning as Teemo––you have good damage, and want to be poking the enemy with autos whenever they come up for a CS. Make sure to be using your full attack range because that’s really your big advantage here in the top lane. You want to punish enemies whenever they walk up for a creep so you can force them to either back away or lose a chunk of their health. Try to get good recall timers by pushing waves under enemy towers and then backing immediately when you have an item spike. Don’t sit on too much gold because it’s useless if it isn’t spent. So, if you do have an advantage over your opponent, you’ll want to increase it by taking tower plates, getting deep vision, or roaming.

Okay but let’s say you’re in a hard matchup, getting camped, or basically just not doing well. I know it’s not fun, but just play safe. Farm under tower, ping a couple times to see if maybe your jungler or midlaner can help with a gank, and be willing to lose farm if you’re too low health and need to back (just lose the farm, don’t stay and int). As Lulu, you are pretty hard to tower dive with your Whimsy and Wild Growth, so often you can bait enemies to dive you and if you have Ignite up, you can get that kill you need to get back in the game. Luckily, since you’re Lulu, you will always be useful even when behind because you have a lot utility, so try to roam to fights since you have the ability to turn them. If you’re pretty behind and someone else on your team is carrying, you can definitely opt to be a second support for your team and just build Lulu support items.

MID GAME: Whether you’re playing Tank/Bruiser Lulu or On-hit Lulu, you will want to play as a split-pusher. Play around objective timers. Basically, when there’s an objective coming up, you want to be split-pushing in the farthest lane from it, to draw pressure to that side of the map (if dragon is spawning soon, go top lane; if baron is spawning soon, go bot lane). This allows your team to take objectives while you force members on the enemy team to deal with you.

LATE GAME: Lulu will get outscaled in the late stages of the game by a lot of champions. However, you can still annihilate the squishies while also countering all the fed champions with Whimsy. At this point, you’ll probably want to stick with your team and take objectives together so you avoid getting picked.

last updated patch 12.16