This page is under construction. It is posted for criticism and will be organized, expanded, and illustrated shortly. Feel free to use the items, masteries, and runes to help with some of the details in the meantime. Thank you!

Gangplank was my first IP purchase a very long time ago and his constant changes have yet to deter me from playing him in any lane or the jungle. However, with a new, stronger bottom lane meta, we often find ourselves matched up against what some players (myself included) would call a "kill lane". The idea behind the champion, rune, mastery, and first item selections is to have an extremely boosted potential for a level 2 (or even level 1) kill. This can be used to invade the enemy jungler's territory, camp the first bush for an easy kill, or a golem/red buff kill to make laning ultimately more simple. This is where Gangplank comes in. He is a strong top laner with a great poke. He has the means of escaping the new meta or hard CC's and fast damage with his Remove Scurvy. He has a more powerful poke in his updated Parrrley which will refund mana when used to last hit (or last crit a fleeing champ) and allow him to have a nice cash flow with his items--while not stealing gold from the ranged ADC paired with him. This also gives him one of the more important qualifications for a "kill lane"--being able to zone the ADC while simultaneously provide a huge steroid to his own ADC. Raise Morale gives GP and his partner(s) everything they need to initiate an early kill, push a turret, or escape unscathed from a poor teamfight. Pair the versatility of GP support with the right mindset, and you can give your ADC a huge gold advantage, while giving your team and great initiator and extra damage throughout the game.

The runes here are slightly unconventional, following suit with this entire guide, but they will achieve what we are trying to do in the most effective manner. They are your standard rune choices for any champion who would be considered a bruiser--armor, MR/level, and ARM Pen Quints. The differences is the integration of critical chance runes into each color. With our first item choice (Brawler Gloves) and our rune choices, we start the game with a 19.17% crit chance. this allows you to poke with Parrrley and it will crit 1 out of every 5 shots. Since you are a pirate, however, it happens close to every other shot (no math necessary). This is a huge burst at level 2 and 3 allowing you to hit a squishy support champ for around 200-250 damage. The fact that you won't always crit will have the enemy lane underestimating your damage potential until they have to see a great big line of red text reading "FIRST BLOOD" flash across their screen while they wait to respawn.