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You wreck him pretty hard until he gets BotRK.. After that, just use your ult to get your jungler to come in on him with you. If he has any possible escape route, get your jungler to come in at his face while you ult in far enough behind him that he won't be able to jump over you. Ez ganks, EZ life.
Camille
She's a real bitch. If you can get your jungler to come early enough, (Around levels 3-4) and you both have enough cc to lock her down for about 3 seconds or so, then you're in the clear. Just try to keep a control ward in the bush at all times so she doesn't see your jungler coming. Get them to jump on her with you after she dashes in on you. Start either Cloth and pots or Corrupting Potion. Be ready to recall a lot.
Darius
This piece of shit will destroy you. His bleed and true damage ult completely counter you. Don't pick Tahm into him. If you do, be prepared to sit under tower and farm all game.
Fiora
Honestly more of a skill matchup than anything. She deals way more damage, but you're almost too tanky for her, especially if you build plenty of armor. Early Sunfire into a Deadman's Plate, Into Sterak's is really good in this matchup. If you're still behind, build Thornmail to deal with her damage. If you can bait out her Riposte without actually using any of your cc abilities or getting hit by it, you win easily. She gets locked down too hard to fight back. If you fuck up, you're toast though.
Galio
The match-up favors you, but neither of you are going to get kills without ganks unless one of you messes up really hard.
Gangplank
He's just going to eat oranges and run away when you cc him. Not sure if his W can do anything about you eating him though, so maybe try that?
Garen
You deal more damage than he does once you hit 6. Try to stack your passive on him at the start of a fight, and when he uses his Q to silence and then spin on you, hit him with your Q once the silence wears off, back out of the E range until it's almost over to mitigate some of the damage, then eat him and throw him into your jungler if they're nearby, or into your minion wave to get more damage on him. If you're quick enough, you can shield his ult right before it actually hits. Once you've got the timing down, you're all set. Nothing he can do about you anymore.
Gnar
This little shit is pretty annoying, but if you can catch him while his leap is down, the fight is definitely in your favor. That being said, he's probably not going to let that happen, and even if he does, his W procs will chunk you pretty heavily. He's actually easier for you to fight once he's in Mega form since he can't just sit back and slap you around. I'd say Mini-Gnar is an 8/10 and Mega-Gnar is more like a 3-4/10.
Illaoi
You fuck Illaoi up. She has no escapes, you're too tanky for her to kill, and you lock her down with cc pretty hard. You can actually kill her at level 1 pretty easily if she's stupid enough to let you fight her. Once it gets to late game, you can literally take her out of fights by eating her before she gets a chance to ult and walking her away from your team so that she only gets 1-2 tentacles on her ult.
Irelia
Not too difficult early game. You're too tanky for her, and if you can get your acquired taste stacks on her and stun, then eat her, you out-trade her extremely well. She does have pretty decent sustain in lane though, so it may be hard to get a kill. Get your jungler to come nearby and spit her towards them so you can lock her down with even more cc. Remember, CC = GG.
Jarvan IV
He hits really, really hard. That's about it. Build a ton of armor and get your jungler to sit near the top lane pretty often and punish him for trying to flag and drag you. Once he's blown his escape, he's not difficult to lock down and kill.
Jax
His E blocks your autos and therefore your passive and empowered abilities. If you can catch him right after he's used it, you win the fight pretty easily, especially if you killed him early. If you didn't though, he's going to farm up pretty hard and hit like a truck. You're much more useful in teamfights though, and it's decently easy for you to peel him off your team, so you win late game. Build lots of armor.
Jayce
This bag of dicks. He's just going to slap you away when you get close enough to start stacking your passive on him. Ganks are pretty much necessary to keep you in the game. I would not recommend picking Tahm into him.
Kennen
He's going to poke you and run. If your jungler comes to gank, he's just going to E and get out. If you do get ahold of him though, he's a squishy little shit and will die easily. That said, the matchup is in his favor because that's probably not going to happen.
Kled
Surprisingly, not actually that difficult of a lane. He uses his skills to jump on you. You want to be on him to stack your passive to deal damage. Just build a bunch of armor early and then into your Titanic Hydra and you're going to dumpster him. Be careful early though.
Nasus
You fuck Nasus up hard early game, but he returns the favor once he gets a chance to stack. Don't give him a chance to stack. If he's under 200 stacks at 20 minutes, you've done a good job. Don't let him even hit 300 by the end of the game. If he gets to stack, you're finished.
Pantheon
Really annoying until you get tanky enough that he can't kill you. I'd say about 2-3 items in and you're good. At that point, once he tries to combo on you, slap him around while he's using his E, then Q and W him and then throw him into your minions and go to pound town on him. Once you spit him out, your Q should be almost up by the time you spit him out. Stack your passive on him again if you can and then Q stun him again. Watch him get really sad.
Early laning difficulty: 8/10. Post 6 difficulty: 4/10. Overall rating: 6/10
Quinn
Just don't pick into this. She'll blind you, shut down your passive stacking, and kill you. It's not a fun lane. Trust me.
Renekton
Similar to playing against Kled, except a bit more annoying. He's going to just dash in, combo you, and dash out until you're low enough to one shot. Take E at level 2 to sustain better and max it second. Sit back and farm until you get a couple ganks/kills on him. Once you get Titanic Hydra and a couple tank items you'll dominate him.
Rengar
Very easy lane, but you don't see it very often. If you suspect someone is playing Rengar top lane, lock in Tahm immediately. You'll wreck him hard.
Riven
Pretty hard early, but if you can get the timing right to shield her ult, she simply can't kill you. Make sure she doesn't roam and get fed. An unfed Riven is a useless Riven.
Shen
Skill Matchup. Ganks and farm determine this matchup. If he ults to a lane and you've got your Ult or TP up, try to get there as well. Don't let him just go gank lanes without at least attempting to help that lane out. If he gets assists from his ult, he's going to get a gold advantage on you and then you're gonna get wrecked.
Sion
If he's an amazing Sion, it's a gank dependent farm lane. If he's not incredible, you're going to roflstomp him. You deal more damage and cc him super hard. You also get just as tanky as him. The only thing he has on you is that his shield pops to deal damage.
Trundle
He's gonna get really, really tanky when he ults you. In fact, if you can manage to not be around when he ults, you're going to do a much better job of not getting your team killed. You win fights when his ult is down.
Tryndamere
Build Sunfire, Ninja Tabi, and Randuin's. Stack your passive and save your cc for when he ults. Stun him once he ults and then eat him. His ult will be pretty much over once your W duration is over. Spit him under your tower for the lulz. Spit him into your minions. Spit him into your team. Just throw him wherever you want as long as you're gong to be able to catch and kill him afterwards.
Vayne
Very bad matchup. Don't even think about playing this. She's gonna fuck you up like the scrub you really are. She'll sit behind minions and just chunk the absolute shit out of you and then spam her taunt, laugh, and mastery symbol over your dead body. 10 out of 10, would get shit on again.
Wukong
I love Wukong. He's my baby. The first champ I ever mained. I always get sad when I have to write something that shits on him. That being said, he's fucking weak in this matchup. The only thing he has going for him is that his clone can block your Q. That's it. Once you get Sunfire, Ninja Tabi, and Hydra, it's completely over. You're going to outdamage him in every situation. RIP Danky Kang. :(
Yasuo
About the same as Tryndamere. Build an early Warden's Mail, then Tabi, then Sunfire, and then finish off your Warden's Mail into a Randuin's Omen. GG Get Rekt Skrub. You have enough cc to lock him down, and since he dashes through your minions, they won't block your Q from hitting him. I've seen way too many overconfident Yasuo mains flashing their shit Mastery 6/7 symbols at me after they hit me with their first Whirlwind only to dash in and get absolutely fucked. Really worth to watch them rage.
Yorick
Not really a huge threat, but a HUGE fucking annoyance. Get your jungler to come help wreck him, especially early game, and he'll be completely useless.
Against Akali top you shouldn't have too many problems. Your shield prevents her from bursting you to death, and you should be able to CC her enough to shut her down pretty hard pre-6. She's still going to be a huge pain in the ass once she gets gunblade, but you should have the necessary items to take her at that point.
Anivia
Anivia top is somewhat common these days, and it's a huge pain in the ass. She sits back and throws shit at you, occasionally dropping the storm from the end of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer right on top of you before throwing an icicle at you and chunking you for half health. Then there's her passive that makes it nearly impossible to get a kill on her in the early game. If you can get your jungler to gank early and often, the lane is yours. If not, or you get ganked, get used to sitting under your tower until your screen turns grey.
Annie
Annie top is a thing that actually happens sometimes. She's not going to know what hit her. You can easily kill her starting at level 2-3, depending on when you took your W, and you need to get either a Spirit Visage or a Banshee's before she hits level 6, preferrably with Merc Treads on the side. If you get there, she's toast.
Cassiopeia
Cass top is a thing sometimes. She has no escape other than Flash and you can easily lock her down with your CC and laugh as she dies.
Cho'Gath
Get boots early. Dodge his Q's. When his E causes him to inevitably push under your tower, get your jungler to gank, Q stun him then use your W to grab and throw him under your tower. RIP Voidbeast.
Dr. Mundo
I lumped Mundo into the AP champs because I can. His cleavers are going to hurt you. Really, really bad. % Health damage on a champ that builds health is never a good thing. I'd tell you to get ganks to help out, but let's be real, once he hits 6, it's nearly impossible to kill Mundo without the whole team, or at least the ADC or someone with Ignite. Farm Lane.
Ekko
Ekko is more annoying than anything. He can't really kill you once you get a couple MR items, but you can't kill him once he gets his ult. He's just going to regain all his HP and run away from you. Get some ganks and it's GG easy.
Fizz
Fizz is a decently rough lane. He can kill you if he's even a little good, but you can't kill him unless he's really, really bad. If he uses his E to jump in on you, go apeshit on him. He'll have to use his Q to dash away if he has it up, and if he doesn't, you get a free(ish) kill.
Gragas
Annoying but doesn't have the damage to kill you. Same goes for you though. Farm lane.
Heimerdinger
Q+W combo his turrets to throw them all into eachother or just away from you. His turrets are gonna keep the lane pushed towards you, so use that to your advantage to call for ganks. When he eventually drops his big turret, eat it and throw it away from you and your team. Watch him be sad and never use it again.
Katarina
I have actually played this top lane once before. It was legitimately the easiest lane I've ever played. She DC'd after 10 minutes and 6 deaths.
Kayle
Kayle can harass the fuck out of you with her E, but you can kill her really, really easily if you can catch her out. Her ult isn't even a problem since you can just eat her once it's active and by the time you spit her out it'll be over and she'll be dead.
Lissandra
Barely a problem once you get some MR. Only difficulty is her ult locking you down. Just get a gank or two early if she uses her E to come in on you so she has no real escape but Flash.
Nunu & Willump
His Q will let him out sustain you, but you outdamage him heavily. You can stun/Devour him to cut his ult short and lessen the damage. Don't forget to pop your E if you're low and he's ulting on you.
Rumble
Pretty annoying, but you can beat him pretty easily with a few MR items and Sunfire Cape. Just walk right up to him while he's spewing flames all around you that do literally no damage and eat him alive. Mmmm, delicious.
Teemo
Satan is your Number 1 counter. His poison constantly ticks down your health and his blind cucks you when you want to use your cc on him. He can decide to build AD if you're building AP, he'll go AP if you build Armor, and he'll build really fucking annoying tank builds if you build hybrid defense items. 0/10, would not pick into again.
Swain
Really annoying, but nothing a gank or two can't fix!
Hello! My name is Plunk Senpai, a Top/Jungle main on the NA server. Please feel free to send me a message if you want to play a norm or two sometime!
I've been playing Tahm Kench since the day of his release, and I never actually enjoyed playing him as a support. Once I took him into top lane and the jungle however, it was a completely different story. I realized that Tahm can actually be a late game carry that deals stupid amounts of damage, is nearly impossible to kill, and can lock down a single target with crazy amounts of cc as long as he can stick to them.
Pros / Cons
Pros / Cons
Pros:
Tanky with decent single-target cc.
Lots of damage with Titanic Hydra active.
Shield shuts down a lot of execute ults and regains you some health.
Strong early game and stronger late game.
Cons:
No real escapes but flash.
Can be kited pretty easily.
Using shield burns your gray health and you can't get it back.
If your opponent picks a counter, you almost always lose lane, even if they're not great with them. (Especially Teemo.)
To be Continued:
To be Continued:
I'm going to come back to this guide and add some more info over the next few days. For now though, I've spent way too much time on it and just want to get it out, even incomplete.
Time to play some League! Hope you like the guide so far. It will be finished by 7/14/17.
Build Guide By Plunk
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