Why tanks top feel (even) worse this season
There are a lot of rant posts about top lane right now because the meta is annoying, with more ranged tops and mages.
But for tanks, I think the bigger issue is how the new systems amplify problems top lane already had for them (i.e the plates, and more frequent minion waves).
Plates staying after 14 minutes means bad matchups stay punishing for longer. If you get counterpicked, you can be isolated for 15-20 minutes, and roaming once can mean losing waves, plates, and coming back to an even worse lane.
The minion waves changes also make side lane harder to leave later. Once waves start spawning every 25 seconds, then eventually every 20 seconds, there is less room to catch a wave, move to your team, and come back without losing too much. That makes splitpushers even more oppressive. Even if you win lane, they can force side forever.
In low Diamond elo, I’ve had games with almost no kill participation (<10%) because the correct play was just matching side while the rest of the map played 4v4.
I reached the same low Diamond elo as my toplane main account (Chogath OTP) on a Cho’Gath jungle OTP account despite never really playing jungle before last month. Jungle just gives me more agency: the quest gives real mobility, I can impact bot before the enemy ADC shows up at 20 minutes with three items (including LDR), I can show up to fights, and I can actually play for objectives.
So yeah, I offer my body to the anonymous downvote council and leave this cruel lane behind.