User blog comment:Contractas1/Lane Bullies/@comment-171815-20131118060944

I feel like it depends on your play style more than "are these champions bullies". Like, I like playing Zac and Maokai top, and I usually bully out the person I'm against unless they A) have far superior range/escape, B) are a Duo lane, or C) are just better than me. With those two champions, I have to be seriously outplayed, be at a mechanical disadvantage against a competent player, or be against two players and forced to play passive early.

For Maokai, I know he gets a lot of play as a Jungler, but if he goes top you have so many options for punishing your lane opponent. A melee opponent coming in to farm minions? Arcane Smash them away (dealing substantial damage and following up with some hits or an ignite to force them to waste pots). Enemy pounding at the tower while you base'd and you're back in lane? Twisted Advance to root them under the tower, Arcane Smash them towards the tower, then Sapling their retreat/flash area. His Ult provides a lot of area denial and smart opponents will avoid fighting in it (sometimes even going out of their way to avoid it or getting out of it quickly), as well as being useful in team fights, so it lets you control an area or force an opponent to decide if they want to fight or flee (and since you should call your jungler for ganks when doing that, either decision means a fight). Maokai is mana hungry early, but he has a high base AD stat and is one of the strongest early game non-ADC champions.

Zac hurts. Zac can hurt a lot early, even with just his Stretching Strike, he can poke you hard. He has insane sustain if you can manage to pick up his blobules nearly all the time, and just packs a punch for being an AP champ. He also has escapes and pursuits that can only really be rivaled by Aatrox, Riven, Ahri, and LeBlanc. His Ult can murder like mad in certain situations. He is really quite strong throughout most of the game (though he is often considered a "late game" champion).