No one likes to get auto-filled in League of Legends, but it is always best to be prepared just in case it happens. To help when stuck in that situation, here are five easy-to-pick-up champions to try when auto-filled in the top lane.
Darius
One of the strongest and most played champions in the top lane, Darius is an ideal pick for those with little experience in the role. The champion is adept at one-on-one and group fights and can be forgiving with his strong suite of abilities even after making a mistake.
Darius’s passive also allows him to deal a large amount of DoT (damage over time), so even if the enemy happens to get away with low health, there is still the chance to pick up a kill even after the initial fight is over.
When Darius is used with the summoner spell Ghost or the rune Conqueror, he can also make up for his shortcomings on mobility and sustain. With Ghost, he can much more easily close out fights from a more mobile champion like Riven, and with Conqueror, he can make sure that he lives long enough in fights to use his ultimate or to make the most out of his passive by stacking it on multiple enemies.
Garen
Garen is another classic League of Legends champion in the top lane. Unlike Darius, Garen has a bit more mobility and has the sustain to help keep him in lane even if he takes a hefty chunk of damage. Where Garen differs, however, is in damage: Darius focuses on going hard to make a big, all-in, flashy play, while Garen works differently.
The goal to winning with Garen is to make multiple small fights in lane and chip away at his opponent’s health or mana and abuse his passive to regenerate health under tower so that the fights he takes can favor him. After that Garen can easily move in on his opponent to silence them with his E ability and make an execute with his ultimate when his opponent inevitably gets too low from those early trades.
Dr. Mundo
Dr. Mundo became a powerhouse in the jungle after his rework, but that isn’t the only role he is skilled in. Taking this champion into the top lane allows for him to flex his tankier side and assist his team through different means than his jungle gameplay.
Dr. Mundo wants to use his Q ability in the top lane to poke out opponents from a distance and survive the laning phase. Then, once that stage ends, Dr. Mundo’s role becomes much more teamfight-oriented.
Once the laning phase is over, Dr. Mundo wants to peel as much as he can for his carries with his ultimate and tanky nature. The more he can get his carries ahead, the more likely the chance there is that his team will be able to win. When playing Mundo auto-filled, it is important to identify which ally or allies can carry and protect them so that they can help in teamfights.
Dr. Mundo can certainly make big plays when the situation calls for it, especially with his ultimate. He can regenerate so much health with it that he can easily dive towers or reenter a lost skirmish with enough HP to turn the lost fight into a much more successful one.
Kennen
While most top laners are usually on the tankier side, Kennen is somewhat of an exception to this trend. He isn’t tanky by nature but can build items like Night Harvester so that he can compensate for his squishy nature, allowing him to survive the laning phase. However, Kennen is also capable of building more damage-oriented items, enabling flashy plays once the later stages of the game start to creep in.
Kennen has a lot of perks for players unfamiliar with the role. He can easily secure farm from a distance with his Q ability, poke out enemy laners and bully them away from CS. He is also fairly mobile with his E, making it easy to dodge abilities, leave a bad fight or even engage on a good one.
Kled
Kled is certainly near the top of the list of the most annoying champions to play against. He may not have the strongest abilities or do the most damage, but his sustain makes it very easy for new players to recover from a mistake. Be it a bad engage in laning phase or a team fight turning sour, Kled can easily fight his way through it and get his team to the other side.
His passive ability, called Skaarl, the Cowardly Lizard, allows him to remount his scaly companion once he has filled up his designated resource bar. This ability also gives Kled extra health when mounted, so in those bad fights, remounting not only gives Kled more powerful abilities, but it also heals him for enough health to easily reenter a fight.
Another key component to winning as Kled is to properly use his ultimate. By making sure that this ability grants his team the most advantage, it is important to pick out the carry of the team and dive straight for them. Since it is so hard for immobile carries to get away from this ability, and other forms of immobilizing abilities going on these targets is ideal for getting the best advantage and allows Kled’s team to start a fight that is most likely won from this first pick on an enemy carry.
