Righteous Fury – Kalista is designed as a duo lane champion, and her unique passive requires an Oathsworn ally to unleash her full power. After being nerfed and then buffed recently, Kalista has returned to her traditional ADC role in most League of Legends tournaments, proving she is just as strong as meta champions like Miss Fortune, Aphelios, and Senna.
However, recently there has been an unusual playstyle for this champion, taking Kalista to the top lane, and the pioneer of this is none other than The Shy from Invictus Gaming. This player has recently ranked up with a new account on the Korean server, exclusively using two champions: Lucian and Kalista in the top lane. Lucian is understandable, but Kalista is quite unfamiliar to most players.
Currently, it is a fact that the three most commonly seen champions in the top lane are Sett, Ornn, and Mordekaiser, followed by the duo of Garen and Darius. The commonality among these champions is that they are all Fighters or melee tanks, needing to approach their opponents to deal damage. In typical melee matchups, they are extremely strong due to their superior damage at close range.
However, when faced with ranged matchups, especially against ADCs, these champions suddenly become “punching bags” due to being kited too effectively. But why Kalista, when champions like Lucian or Quinn can kite well too? The answer lies in this champion’s passive; with Martial Poise, Kalista can kite and maintain distance with every basic attack, which is free. Meanwhile, other champions must use abilities, which cost energy and have cooldowns.
Additionally, Kalista excels not only in lane due to her long-range advantage but also becomes a monster in the late game, unlike Lucian, who may fall off. Therefore, playing Kalista in the top lane provides a strong position from early to late game. The more the enemy jungle neglects her, the stronger she becomes, and if they try to gank her, the space in the bot lane opens up, greatly increasing the risk of losing Dragon.
Speaking of jungle positioning, Kalista in the top lane is also a great “fixer” for the jungle position since she often Oathsworns with the jungler. Typically, after the laning phase, jungle players in solo queue often don’t know what to do, leading to some somewhat “lost” movements and dying alone. With Kalista’s ultimate, saving teammates becomes very easy, and saving the jungler means securing opportunities for your team to contest Dragon/Baron.
Regarding Kalista’s build in the top lane, The Shy also has significant changes compared to the typical ADC role. He still uses the Precision rune, but the Sudden Impact in the second row is prioritized when you need early damage for top lane skirmishes.
Another new point that The Shy employs is the Triumph and Legend: Bloodline in the Precision tree. Remember that regardless of the position, Kalista always utilizes two lifesteal items: Blade of the Ruined King + Bloodthirster (or Goredrinker), and since you don’t have a Support with you, adding a bit of shield from Triumph is reasonable. Meanwhile, the Legend: Bloodline is particularly useful for Kalista in the top lane as you will face many tanky champions and Fighters with far more health than you.
A final note for those wanting to use Kalista in the top lane is not to immediately bring her into ranked solo queue. Kalista is an extremely complex and difficult champion to use, and even managing the direction of her passive’s jump is a significant issue, so ensure you’re proficient with her before jumping into ranked play.