LoL: How One Champion Decides Which Others Are Playable In The Top Lane

League of Legends has over 160 playable champions in its roster and many of them fit into multiple roles. But how do you find out, which champions are viable for the top lane? Well, one champ can be seen as the indicator. Here is everything you need to know about this test.

League of Legends Renekton
A Champion who survives the Renekton rotation is fitting for the top lane |©Riot Games

How do you know, that the champion you want to play fits into the position on the map or the role you have chosen? This and other questions are the most common ones in League of Legends, a game with over 160 playable characters and a wide variety of roles and positions. Well, according to the community there is a way to find out, at least for top laners.

LoL: How The Renekton Test Works

Every player with some in-game hours under their belt, knows that certain champs have a distinguished position, in which they're able to use the full potential of their abilities and stats. Caitlyn for example, excels in the bottom lane, where she can use her massive range to poke the enemy laners while getting protected by her supports.

In every other lane she would be dead within a second, since she doesn't have any spells to disengage and not enough HP to withstand trades with tanks, bruiser, mages or assassins. But how do you know if champions are viable for your chosen lane? Well, there is something called "game knowledge", which comes with experience.

Other ways to find out, whether your champion can be played in a specific role, would be through tutorials from long-standing players, or by taking a look at the champion's stats on statistic websites.

But for the top lane, there is another option, at least according to some community members on the League of Legends Subreddit. These guys call it "The Renekton Test", and the idea behind it is quite simple.

One Reddit user asked "Why isn't Lissandra played on top lane?" and beside many direct answers to the question, user "Jhomas Tefferson"explained "The Renekton Test".

Why isn't Lissandra played top lane? by u/Brutus_Khan in leagueoflegends

As the user stated the Renekton test works as followed:

There's an old idea that some refer to as the renekton test. It is the way to test whether or not a squishy is viable top and or whether you have the game knowledge and mechanics to play top. The way the test works is this. If renekton can dash onto you, land stun and kill or force a back very consistently, you can't play toplane. This is an old idea based on renekton being a kind of gatekeeper to toplane. It may have theoretically evolved into something similar but with a different champ, but the idea is the same.

And to be honest, this test might be a functional way to determinate if a champion fits the top lane. Renekton is one of the older champions in the game and to use him as a "gatekeeper" is a nice idea, since he possesses a rather aggressive kit and is known for his strong snowball potential.

Renekton 31
Renekton can be used as the "Indicator Alligator" |©Riot Games

So if your chosen champ isn't able to hold back Renekton, or at least survive a full ability rotation you might want to play a different champ in the top lane. Of course, this test isn't really full proof, since it depends on your own abilities on the chosen champ, your experience in the top lane and in League of Legends itself.

The same goes for your lane opponent. And obviously it all depends on your ELO as well. So one single game might be not enough for a final decision. I will certainly use the Renekton test in the future, just to find out if my support mains are viable for the top lane as well. But I might know the answer already.

Henning Paul
Henning Paul