Talk:Renekton/@comment-5046132-20120524194454/@comment-24.246.78.135-20120525230217

Irelia is still played a LOT... I see an irelia every 3 or 4 games, and I don't really play ranked, and the number of people who play ranked with her is much greater. If you've seen any tournaments, Irelia is probably played every other game or more. However, take in mind you should only play her for the late game damage she does, as she can be pretty easily beaten 1v1 early game. Her farming is great, due to her Q and ulti, and all she has to do is play passive until she gets a good advantage. Renekton has a very good early game due to being manaless, having a good burst, and powerful CC. However, late game he is not as disruptive as many other tanky DPSs in teamfights, and his damage falls off (unless you build glass cannon in which case you won't even be able to deal any damage before you die). He can snowball pretty well though, so you can take advantage of his early game to push, maybe get a few kills, and roam around to make their team useless later as well. Riven is one of the biggest snowballers in top lane, because if she gets a noticeable advantage, eventually it can get to the point where she can win 3v1 encounters (mainly due to her shield and stun). She can gank extremely well, with amazing gapclosing abilities, reliable CC, and heavy damage. She is one of the few solo tops that can build primarily for damage rather than survivability, because of her shield that increases with damage, and her insane escaping abilities. However, a few champions can catch her out early game, which will completely destroy her abillity to snowball. With Riven, try to avoid engages before level 4 or 5. Lee Sin is also a great solo top champion who's manaless, and I'm surprise he hasn't been brought up yet. He can be both very tanky and do tons of damage, due to his passive and base stats. However, early to mid game he can be very squishy, so make sure you always have one of your abilities up to help you escape.