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The League of Legends Worlds 2023 tournament is closing in with each passing day. 22 teams from various regions, such as China, South Korea, EMEA, and North America, will compete for glory. The most prestigious event in LoL Esports will begin on October 9, 2023, with the Worlds Qualifying series between EMEA's 4th seed, Team BDS, and North America's 4th seed, Golden Guardians leading the dance.
The competition will feature some of the best players in the world, each one eager to hoist the Summoner's Cup. The top lane is a role in League of Legends, which is extremely volatile and highly skill-dependent. This role is widely assumed by the most mechanically gifted pro players. Here are the 10 best top laners in League of Legends Worlds 2023.
The 10 best top laners at League of Legends Worlds 2023
10) Adam - Team BDS
Adam "Adam" Maanane is one of the most exciting top laners to watch in competitive League of Legends. The Frenchman stormed into the scene in 2021 with Fnatic after having a successful stint with Karmine Corp in the European Regional Leagues. The rookie didn't have the best showing at Worlds 2021 and had a myriad of controversies surrounding him for a while.
2023 would be the year where he would come back as one of the best top laners in EMEA. However, his playstyle has remained the same throughout his career as he tends to pick bruisers such as Darius, Olaf, and Garen and constantly fight his lane counterpart. His selfless nature of roaming around the map to help his teammates makes him a versatile asset to his team. With his amazing performance in the play-ins stage, where he dominated his opponents on his signature picks, Adam is riding a huge wave of momentum and will be looking to create chaos against the best teams in the world.
9) BrokenBlade - G2 Esports
Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik has successfully dispelled countless doubles in the 2023 League of Legends season. After a disastrous showing at Worlds 2022, many were highly critical of his performance. Despite these foibles, G2 Esports maintained their faith and retained the German-Turkish player for the 2023 season.
The top laner did not disappoint as he put on unbelievable performances and single-handedly dominated games with unique picks like Olaf, Darius, and Swain. The significant improvement in his champion pool, along with his laning capabilities, made him one of the better players at G2's underwhelming run at League of Legends MSI 2023.
Coming into League of Legends Worlds 2023, G2 Esports will be looking at 'The Topfather' to end their hopes for a Top 8 finish.
8) Canna - Dplus KIA
Kim "Canna" Chang-dong has endured an interesting trajectory over the last three years. From winning the LCK 2020 Spring Split title in his rookie season to having back-to-back eighth-place finishes in 2022 with Nongshim Redforce, the 23-year-old Korean top laner has faced a series of ups and downs. At present, he plays for Dplus KIA.
While Canna did not have the best performances in both splits of the 2023 League of Legends LCK season, he performed well in the regional finals, particularly on champions such as Renekton and K'Sante. It will be interesting to see if Canna can match up to the level of international competition after being absent for two years.
7) TheShy - Weibo Gaming
League of Legends Worlds 2023 will mark the return of legendary top laner Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok. The former World Champion will be participating in an international tournament for the first time in four years. Since his mercurial performance in 2018, TheShy began to regress and was often lambasted for his hyper-aggressive playstyle and tendency to throw away deaths.
However, after joining Weibo Gaming, the Korean player slowly started to regain his footing and get back into form.
2023 would be the year when fans got to see a much more consistent and better showing from TheShy. Despite not being anywhere close to his peak, he is a constant pressure point and often generates huge leads on his own. However, his usual tendencies of over-extending and dying unnecessarily tend to slip out. It will be exciting to see how TheShy will perform against a vastly different pool of top-lane players.
6) Kiin - KT Rolster
Kim "Kiin" Gi-in was often seen as one of the most underrated top laners in the world during his 5-year stint with Afreeca Freecs (later renamed to Kwangdong Freecs). Apart from Worlds 2018, the Korean top laner could never reach the international stage despite putting on incredible statistics domestically. This would change following his switch to KT Rolster ahead of the 2023 League of Legends LCK season.
Kiin continued to be an extremely impressive top laner in both splits of the season and was absolutely phenomenal on carry champions such as Jax and Renekton. The top laner was finally starting to get more recognition as KT secured strong finishes in the Spring and Summer Split.
However, he has consistently delivered poor performances in big matches during the playoffs. KT Rolster's chances of making a deep run at League of Legends Worlds 2023 hinge on Kiin's ability to deliver in big games.
5) Doran - Gen.G
Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon has continued to be Gen.G's stalwart in the top lane during important games. While Doran may be mechanically outmatched by a lot of other top laners at this event, he compensates for it with his great team fighting capabilities and excellent neutralizing of carry players.
However, the top laner can be outmatched in lane mechanically due to his rarely being the focal point for Gen.G's game plan. While solid and reliable, Doran rarely takes over games and carries. The lack of an X-factor is why he stands fifth.
4) Zika - LNG Esports
Tang "Zika" Hua-Yu has had an outstanding League of Legends 2023 season with LNG Esports. After constantly playing second fiddle on Invictus Gaming and Bilibli Gaming, the Chinese top laner landed a spot in the 2023 roster of LNG. He took this opportunity to prove himself as one of the best up-and-coming talents in the LPL.
Zika's signature champions include Renekton, Jax, and Camille. The exceptional part of his playstyle is his ability to both carry games as well as be a reliable support for other players. This will be Zika's debut on the international stage, and it remains to be seen if he can keep up this form in the most prestigious event of the year.
If we are to go by his performances, especially in the LPL Summer Split playoffs, viewers can expect a new star in the making.
3) Bin - Bilibili Gaming
Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin is one of the most volatile League of Legends players to ever grace the game. The Chinese top laner broke into the scene with Suning and stamped his authority at Worlds 2020 as a player to watch out for in the future. Since then, Bin has been widely regarded as one of the best top laners in the world, with a penchant for absolutely dominating games using his signature picks such as Jax, Fiora, and Camille.
2023 saw a new leaf blossom in Bin's playstyle as he started to play more tanks, with Sion and K'Sante being particular standouts in his repertoire. The key weakness of Bin is his ability to single-handedly win games or throw games on his own due to his extremely aggressive and skill-check-heavy playstyle.
Despite this, it is undeniable that Bin is a world-class top laner fans will have to look out for at League of Legends Worlds 2023.
2) Zeus - T1
Choi "Zeus" Woo-Je stormed into the League of Legends scene in 2022 and has not looked back ever since. The prodigal top laner has stunned audiences worldwide with his incredible mechanics across a wide variety of champions, and his remarkable carry prowess has made him one of the most terrifying players today.
Despite this, Zeus has never lifted an international title. A large reason is his tendency to underperform during the Grand Finals. This has been a recurring theme for the past couple of events and has been a point of criticism in his career. The recent victory at the Asian Games 2023 as a part of team South Korea could serve as a great morale boost for Zeus to step up at League of Legends Worlds 2023.
1) 369 - JD Gaming
Bai "369" Jia-Hao is regarded as the best top laner in the world by many for his incredible versatility and adept champion pool. His ability to fulfill the role of a tank while also being able to pilot-carry champions makes him a highly valuable asset for JD Gaming. 369 is often put on tank duty, where he plays champions such as Sion, K'Sante, and Gragas.
This allows for the rest of JD Gaming, especially players such as Zhuo "Knight" Ding and Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk, to have pop-off games. Additionally, 369 himself has demonstrated exceptional prowess to carry games on tanks as well, making him a jack of all trades.
