League of Legends Patch 8.9 has been released and there have been notable changes to the top lane. Kennen received AD buffs to his W, Electrical Surge, and scaling attack speed on his E, Lightning Rush. 

Garen also saw his Q base damage being buffed as well as his Courage. Almost all of Poppy's kit was tweaked for its values. A huge change was made to Dr. Mundo's R, Sadism which now at max rank will restore maximum health.

The top lane will see huge changes to the popularity of picks. This will certainly change up the top lane meta.

Here are five of the worst top laners in League of Legends Patch 8.9. 

5. Tryndamere

The popularity of bruisers in the top lane has been part of the meta now. Irelia, Darius, and Camille are top picks that dominate throughout a majority of the game. Tryndamere does have the potential to carry the same with his insane critical damage, but suffers in the lane phase. He gets bullied too much by other top bruisers and when behind, take a while to scale back up.  

4. Gnar

Gnar's win rate has fallen greatly since a few patches ago. Gnar's versatility in team fights continues to be one of the reasons he is picked. But, during the lane phase, champions with gap closing abilities such as, Irelia, Fiora, and Riven can reach him and deal tons of damage. In his ranged form, he is susceptible to high damage bruisers that can put him behind in lane. 

3. Nautilus

Recently, Nautilus received a buff to his Q, Dredge Line. This buff is a nice change for him in the support role, but no so much in the top. Having bruisers being the name of the game for the top lane meta, Nautilus falls short of that role. Although he is a great font line tank, he fails to  deal the damage needed in fights. 

Nautilus can easily fall behind in lane with all of the other bruiser bullies that can win trades with ease.

2. Lissandra

Lissandra finds similar struggles from previous patches. She is fairly squishy, so she has the potential to being quickly taken down by the enemy top laner. Lissandra does have a good amount of crowd control at her disposal, but it's generally not enough for her to justify a pick.

She will find it difficult to get into the back line and finish off squishy targets without being bursted down herself.  

1. Akali

Akali struggles to match up against the other top laners throughout most of the game. She does have the potential to scale up and one shot squishy targets. But, if she in unable to do so, her kit does not provide much else. Her ultimate, Shadow Dance allows her to get resets with kills and assists. Without any resets, she usually will be focused down quickly and out of the fight.

If Akali does not have a good early lead through her already difficult lane phase, the champion will find it difficult to fulfill her role throughout the rest of the game.