LoL Wukong Solo Top Lane Guide

LoL Wukong Solo Top Lane Guide by Wundrous

TOP LANE I know not everyone plays Wukong (one can only hope!) so I decided to write a general guide on how to improve on top lane.

Summoner spells:

IGNITE: A spell used to snowball. You are supposed to win lane if you grab this spell as it helps a lot with kills and it gives you an advantage over their laner if they are running teleport.

TELEPORT: Probably the most viable top lane spell in this meta because of how emphasized objectives and team plays are.

Choose wisely as both have their advantages and disadvantages. It all comes down to personal preference. I like to use ignite in most situations.

Top lane is a very snowbally lane. You, however, do have the ability to choose most of your fights. You can either win hard or lose hard. Currently, the meta has shifted to tanky top laners with teleport in order to assist the bot lane and focus on team plays rather than trying to win your own lane. This has led to smite teleport champions like fizz, hec, shyv and various other tanks. This is also done to reduce the potential snowball of the enemy top laner. As a tank, you are a lot more useful if you are behind compared to other squishy strong champs such as riven, wukong and tryndamere. However, it is also important to remember that while these champions are weak when behind, they are monsters when ahead and can even 1-man carry games. As I have noticed, I am one of the few people who still runs ignite on the top lane. I’m not suggesting that this is better than teleport but it is certainly still viable. I still strongly emphasize winning lane and I do so with ignite and a snowbally champ (Wukong).

Here are some key changes on how to get better and how to win lane.

MAP AWARENESS

Always look at your map. I admit that I rarely buy wards (I usually wait until I am level 9 so I can upgrade my trinket). While wards are VERY important, so is map awareness. ALWAYS LOOK AT THE MAP BEFORE YOU FIGHT. If you want to engage on their top laner, check to see if their jungler is anywhere near you. If not, do it without hesitation. If you cannot see the enemy jungler, do not risk a fight unless you know you can either get a countergank OR you can 2v1 (VERY RARE). Don’t let your ego get to you.

If you do get a lead (such as a kill).

Try your best not to lose it. CSing is also very important in the top lane but it is more of a relative importance. Your goal is not to try to get as much cs as you can in 20 minutes like an ADC but rather, it is to zone your enemy top laner as much as possible while also maximizing your cs. For example, if you are 60 cs at 6 minutes and you are playing Riven but the enemy nasus is also 60 cs. That is not very good because the enemy will eventually outscale you. Early pressure is very important because even the slightest advantage can turn into a big one. This is why map awareness is very important. One gank can easily shut you down. Remember that you (most of the time) CAN pick your fights so pick them wisely. If I have a lead, I usually do not have optimal cs compared to my ADC but I will have a huge advantage from their top laner. If their top laner is unable to get items, they will not be able to itemize against your lead and you will only get stronger.

If you get behind,

try focusing on helping out your team rather than trying to come back from your lane. A lot of people make this mistake and they try to continue fighting the enemy top laner. It is extremely hard to comeback (in most situations) as the top laner already has an advantage on you. Obviously there are many other variables such as counterpicks and scaling so use your judgment but for the most part, do not focus on trying to win lane if you are losing.

In the end, what it all comes down to is practice. You will get better if you just practice as with everything else. Behavior plays a huge factor in your ability to learn. Try to be aware of your own faults and improve them while keeping your skills strong. Do not blame others for ANYTHING even if they may be at fault. Always just try to think about how you can improve and what you could have done better. Results do not happen overnight. Remember that your teammates do not stick with you to the end and your main goal is to improve. Don’t be toxic. There is no point as it helps no one. You may release some steam from insulting others but in the long run, it tilts you harder and people will hate you. Everyone makes mistakes EVERY game and I still do as well so do not be too harsh on yourself as well.

MECHANICS

Unfortunately, I cannot write a guide on how to get better mechanically. This is improved through practice and it is mainly what sets the difference between ranks. All I can say about this is watch streams and understand their movements and thinking.