Jungle Gangplank VS Top Solo Gankplank

Shiver me timbers!

Gangplank's one of those versatile heroes where you might see him as a top solo, jungler, sometimes a mid solo carry, and in some super rare instances even as a support hero in bot lane.

However, you'll mostly see him as a top solo or a jungler. You'll see top level players like TheOddOne constantly play him in jungle, while you'll also see players like Dyrus play him at a high level as a top solo.

Which one is better?

Clearly Gangplank can play both these roles equally well, and either way his game-changing ultimate and team buffs will be available. In order to better understand where to place him, it's necessary to understand your goals.

Jungle Gangplank:

• Help lanes win - Ganking, Counter-ganking
• Control map objectives - Dragon, Buffs (Baron late game)
• Counterjungling

Top Solo Gangplank:

• Farm as much as possible and get tanky
• Out-sustain your laning opponent
• Participate in 4v4s near dragon to make them 4v5s or 5v5s
• Don't die.

As you can see, jungling is a much more important role, while top solo is a much easier, and in my opinion, consistent role. Gangplank also has no hard CC, and while his speed boost and slow make his ganks very powerful, there are other junglers better suited to the task. 

His sustain is also very strong in lane, and his scurvy makes it very easy for GP to escape ganks. This combined with his gold passive allows him to farm heavily and get very powerful late game.

Despite TheOddOne being so good at jungle gangplank, top solo gangplank is definitely better for solo queue competitive play. As one of the few heroes left with a global ultimate, GP has the strongest mid~late game presence in terms of top laners, with or without using teleport.

Agree/Disagree? Post comments below!