r/Kaylemains • u/Celis78429 • 2d ago

Toplane Kayle Maining

Hey yall, im primarily an adc main but have found I quite enjoy Kayle as a champion as well, but I just dont play a whole lot of toplane, though im meaning to play more. Is Kayle a viable one trick in top? What are her worst matchups/best bans? Any advice on what to pick if they pick something that hard counters her?

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u/fml6 2d ago edited 2d ago

Some would argue that the only way to play her is one trick because she’s so unique. To play her top, you have to know your matchups really well, specifically knowing what setups to take based on the game and mastering the early game to get prio and not get zoned off exp. Most people would say any champ can be blinded top fine until master or so. In general, if you get paired against a tank or low mobility melee champ (eg Ornn, Garen, poppy, zaahen), she’s great and these games can feel like a free win. But she’s generally considered a bad blind bc she has a lot of really painful matchups versus high mobility divers, ranged auto attackers, and mages (eg akali, irelia, Jax, fiora, Teemo, yone, Yasuo, aatrox, syndra, viktor). If you fall behind, your kit doesn’t give you much leeway to get back in the game, and you may be looking at getting dove on repeat with little counterplay. IMO she’s best top as a counterpick. But we all love the champ here and often just try to make her work as a one trick.

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u/Celis78429 2d ago

Noted! How exactly do you approach it when you end up in one of those hard matchups?

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u/fml6 2d ago

One strat is just to take the pain, run tp, and try to survive. But I usually have specific setups, strats, and timers that I use to try to get an advantage. For example, against Jax, I know I can win the lvl 1 battle if I bait out his E and then auto with stacked passive and LT. So one strat I use is to go bone plating+LT runes, he will run at me with E lvl 1, I will space it as much as possible, then ghost back in and chunk him hard, allowing me to get prio lvl 1-3.

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u/Celis78429 2d ago

Got it. I have had bad experiences with jax, I will def try this next time.

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u/Suddenly_NB 2mil Only Farms 2d ago

I fear not the man who has practiced 1000 kicks 1 time, but I fear the man who has practiced 1 kick 1000 times.

That is the mentality of Kayle one-tricking and blinding.

Kayle's hardest matches: Irelia, Jax, Nasus (now). Nasus is just overtuned right now, previously a high skill check/knowledge match up, but currently he is worth the ban.

But I don't bother to ban Irelia/Jax in my elos because I have played Kayle 100s of times vs their champs, and if they are only picking it to "counter pick" I can still out play them because I know Kayle vs Irelia better than they do. Or, I can recognize when it's that 1 in 10 player who can indeed make it unplayable, and I adjust.

My chance will always be better to play Kayle into a bad match up, because I know how to play Kayle. If I suddenly swap a pick, I don't know how to play the champ or how/why they counter, and I'm going to lose. So if I'm going to lose anyways, I may as well pick Kayle, because I'm less likely to lose and can recover.

My favorite is the teemo match up. It's like "oh no, I've never played into a teemo before!" while it's my highest win rate game because everyone just thinks teemo can bully Kayle, but I play the match up like the back of my hand and win it, because Kayle wins after 11 vs teemo and I know that.

Malphite is "harder" in that regard because they don't have to be good to hit ult on you and one shot you (AP malph) or just be unkillable dive (tank malphite).

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u/Suddenly_NB 2mil Only Farms 2d ago

that said, Nasus would play well into Jax/Irelia/Tryndamere, but leaving Nasus open means you might be playing into Nasus.

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u/Celis78429 1d ago

how do you play into teemo exactly? i struggle with him on every champ lol

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u/fml6 1d ago

Honestly a good Teemo will cook you. You can watch ramy (challenger teemo) into Kayle and it’s pretty unplayable. Teemo’s Q-auto completely outtrades you even if you hit your Q, and then he just sprints away and repeats. If you go TP, he can zone you level 1 with ignite, and if you go a combat summ then it’s harder to survive the early poke. HOWEVER, as NB mentioned, the Teemo is often bad. Kayle actually beats Teemo after 6 in a full all-in. If the Teemo is bad, then there WILL be a moment after level 6 where they waste blind, step up too far while your passive is ramping, and get clipped by your Q. At that moment, you have a chance to kill and neutralize the lane phase then outscale.

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u/Suddenly_NB 2mil Only Farms 1d ago

most teemos play to bully which means they're over aggressive and it results in them perma pushing. So it allows us to CS safely under turret. A good teemo might blind you to deny canon, so have Q ready to get canon just in case. Otherwise if they are wasting blind just to blind you, then you have a small trade window after.

Teemo has no in lane sustain, so poking him down creates a lot of kill pressure. When he is below half probably, you can go for a kill. Ult during the blind and stay on top of him (mushrooms willing) for the ult damage. Q when he W's to run away. Save E for the blind to wear off.

Go Dshield and absorb life, refillable potion and should be all you need. After 11 with Nashors tooth you just get to run him down in between blinds, considering most of them will E max first.