Top lane is so dead right now. There are basically no top laners in the top 50 Challenger on EUW or KR. If your goal is to climb, just learn jungle or support. Every game is just a ranged top lane simulator, and Riot refuses to address it. The role hasn't been this miserable in a long time.

Did I miss a patch where honeyfruit can spawn earlier?

26.11 Full Patch Preview! The major changes this patch are to the Systems mentioned yesterday to adjust the relative balance of Ranged vs Melee supports in bot lane. There are also some changes to Statikk Shiv to make it slightly more attractive on AD users and a nerf to Hexplate for Ranged which are primarily being picked up on Varus and Vayne Top Lane. We're not looking to remove it from them, but are looking to get it into a spot where its top end balance doesn't need to be maintained around those 2 champions. We're also restoring some of the power we removed from Heartsteel a while ago as it lost some of its fantasy and power in a way that we think we can restore now. It will also incidentally help some of the Tank Supports in niche cases when they start snowballing Deathfire Touch - We're adjusting Deathfire Touch this patch to deal Magic Damage - Part of the impetus for this is how strong the synergy is with Black Cleaver and in addition, it feels like more of a magic coded effect - So we think this strikes a reasonable balance of fantasy fulfilment and practical balance considerations - Otherwise, we think Deathfire Touch is in a pretty reasonable spot Brand, Smolder - Brand Botlane and Smolder have both benefitted from Deathfire Touch - While we are making changes to the Deathfire Touch interaction that will affect Smolder, we still think he will be too strong after these changes - The changes to Smolder are targeted at also making his squishy Crit builds more optimal so he is more assailable later in the game Heimerdinger - After the minion changes in the previous patch, Heimer's turrets are a bit worse for wear - We're giving him a feelsgood QOL change so that his turrets aren't killed by ranged minions without being able to attack back - Despite being 550 range on paper, 550 range champions (which are most of them) will still be able to outrange turrets at max range due to the way this range is calculated - In addition, there is a small increase to the E vision duration so that the Beam actually manages to fire before losing vision in some cases Teemo - For Teemo, he is one of the more powerful Top laners, while also being on the higher end of frustration - He is also receiving a small buff to Statikk Shiv this patch and so we're compensation nerfing him with an intent for this to be lightly power down Quinn - Quinn has landed in a pretty weak spot for Jungle and in this state, it's pretty close to griefing team when picked - So we're giving it a pretty sizeable buff to give it a legitimate shot at being powerful and viable - Players so far have expressed interest in playing it!