My name is Hippo, and I've been a jungle-top main for the last two years. I've tried different off meta picks through the years because they are really fun, and most of the time enemies don't know how to play against them, so you have a lead.

I have 50 (Ranked) Rell top games at the moment of writting this, and I think it is a viable champion with the right runes and build. I managed to climb from gold 3 to plat 4 in two weeks of playing her (most of the time with a duo in jungle or adc).

This is the first guide I've made, hope you enjoy it (and it is useful for you).

Rell was designed as an hard engage support, so you might think she has no way of being viable on top lane.

Rell works on top because of her strong early game and high damage with both of her W's and Grasp. Enemies won't expect you to go all on low levels and out trade them almost every single time. She is really good at trades. Rell is incredible at teamfights and can turn any fight to your side. Plus she brings an extra peel to your most vulnerable ally and has great synergies with adc's.

This pick is extremely good if you are playing with a duo. If the jungler is your duo, you can probably free invade enemy jungler or get a few kills on the toplaner. Think of Rell as some kind of Alistar top.

If your duo is the adc, just try being a second support. You'll ALWAYS bring great peel thanks to your E.

Please keep this always in mind: Knowing your teammates (or having a duo) makes this pick so much better than just playing alone. You depend on your team.

Pros

+ High Early Damage + Great Synergy With Jungler + Flex Pick + Very Tanky + Good Early and Late Game

Cons

- Bad From Behind - Ranged Matchup Screws You - Low Mobility - Bad Waveclear - Strongly Depends on Team - Can't Win 1v1's on Mid Game

You NEED this spell. It's really hard to play without this.

Might be useful in some matchups like Darius, but I haven't really tested it yet.

Best summoner for you. Let you be on all fights, wich you need with Rell. I recommend this summoner most of the time since it's the most useful. Plus you can use it to comeback to lane after a bad trade.

Only use it if you know about wave management. If you have a bad wave managenent, you are going to fall behind. This summoner is very useful agains champions like Darius, Illaoi and Kayle if you wanna try stomping lane before level 6.

This helps against Morgana. She's just so annoying with her CC (you can break her black shield with your Q tho)

This might be the most important part of the Rell guide. You have to know how to play your early levels and how to expand your lead.

On level one, hit one or two minions to charge Grasp of the Undying. After that, instantly W your enemy (and try hitting minions to farm them) and keep hitting autos. You'll win most trades this way. Once you get your 2nd W, try chargin Grasp again. If you manage to hit your enemy with your 2nd W, he's probably death. (This will 100% work if you bring with you).

Keep doing this trades on levels 2 and 3 unless you are playing against Darius. He'll beat you if he brings ghost due to your low movement speed.

If you don't have Grasp of the Undying you can do the same trades. Electrocute deals more damage (tho it's not as consistent) and Phase Rush let's you escape even if you aren't mounted on your horse.

Be carefull on level 6. Your R doesn't deal much damage if you aren't building AP, but it might be useful against opponents with jumps (since your R cancel jumps)

Always remember, your W gives you enough shield to fight your enemy and survive long enough to get back onto your horse and run away or keep chasing. Most of your damage comes from Grasp of the Undying, so once again, I highly recommend that rune.

Your Q does little to no damage, so I don't recommend maxing that ability. Try saving your Q for breaking shields or for farming if you are losing lane.

If you have , try ganking botlane as often as you can. Your ultimate should get at least one free kill per gank. If you don't have , try roaming to mid when you can. Don't be AFK on toplane, but don't permagank either. If you get behind on EXP, the enemy toplaner will probably do more than you.
If you are playing against Fiora or Camille make sure to stop their splitpushes.

If you are losing lane, ALWAYS follow this steps:
Stay behind your minions and use your Q to last hit. It'll take you a while to get used to your low damage, but it has really high range, so you'll be safe farming that way.
Save your W ONLY for escapes. Your big shield will help you survive for long time, so try being on your horse as long as you can, and using your W to escape. Remember your W can be canceled by depositionings, so be careful with abilities like Darius' E.

Remember you'll be always strong on teamfights, so try farming and don't get low on EXP, that is the most important part. If you have at least Sunfire Aegis, you'll be able to do a lot on teamfights.

Your most important job is to start fights. The combo is really easy, but you have to know who and when to initiate a fight.

Most of the time, you want to grab as much enemies a possible. However, there are a few interesting ways of initiating fights with Rell.

You can cast your R while in the air with your W. This means, you can + W + R from BEHIND the enemy team, and drag them to your team.

This is really really good if you have a team comp made for TF's. Like Samira, Malphite, Diana, Amumu, etc. That's why Rell has so good synergies with them. Just be careful not to bring the danger closer to your carries. If they have a Diana on the enemy team for example, don't do this.

You can also have the rol of a support on teamfights. Stay with your carry at all times, and use your E, W, and R to stun assasins or any danger for as long as possible. CC is the best way of keeping someone away of your carry.

You also have really good pickup potential, even without your R, so don't be scared of fighting without it. Just be sure you aren't alone. You are tank enough to resist a fight, but not enough for being in the middle of 5 people hitting you.

If you are building AP or Bruiser instead of tank, wait for someone else to initiate the fight. If you do it, you'll just get deleted a few seconds into the fight. Remember your R deals damage over time. This is especially good with Riftmaker.

Please ONLY do this if you have . If not, you are just wasting a lot of your potential.
When splitpushing, keep in mind enemy team will have advantage over yours. As I said before, you can turn every fight around with your W + R.
To push lanes, you have to have Bami's Cinder and use your W on all the minions of the wave. This'll help you push much faster than just autoattacking and pressing Q.

When you aren't mounted on your horse, use your W to cancel autoattacks and hit the turret. This'll help you destroy turrets faster, since probably you don't have Demolish

When enemy team comes for you, DO NOT WASTE YOUR W.
If you aren't mounted on your horse, your low movement speed will just make it easier for the enemy team to catch you. Just run. If you have Death man's and/or Force of Nature you should escape just by running.

If you know you can't escape enemies, just try turning around and making as much time as you can for your team to take advantage.(Just pray they know what they are doing. As said before, you strongly depend on your team).

I don't recommend splitpushing as Rell, but if you aren't winning teamfights, or your team is far behind, this might be the best option. Just keep in mind you have to have communication with your team, or this'll be just a waste of time. Rell isn't the best champion at splitpushing, so keep your limits in mind. (Low mobility, and you can't use your E, since you have no allies close).

If enemy comp is better than yours (at teamfight) and you know you'll have to splitpush, you can take Demolish. However, take in mind you'll be kinda weaker in laning phase. It's not that bad, just a little bit worse.

Rell top is a good pick if you have a partner you can trust. I personally think she's stronger as a toplaner than a support, but it might be my inexperienced perspective. Rell's a really fun champion to play on the toplane, since your enemies don't really understand what you are doing, and you can snowball really well if you get a lead. Building tank it's pretty consistent, and the AP/Bruiser build is really good if you are fed (it's a really fun build if you manage to complete it).

It's not the best pick, since other toplaners as Malphite do the same job as her, but if you know what you are doing, you can make it work.
By the way, I highly recommend muting your teammates if they flam you for the pick.

Thanks for reading, good luck!