Irelia has unmatched sustain and so is pretty much impossible for you to push out of lane. The best thing you can do is try not to push the wave (unless you can 1 shot it) and hold your E defensively. The good news is even if you fall behind early you should outscale, so just focus on not dying and be willing to give up some CS if necessary.
Orianna
If Orianna runs comet she can be very difficult to lane against, if she takes phase rush though you should be able to bully her. Focus on getting control of the wave with your autos so that she doesn't have time to harass you. Eventually you will have enough waveclear that you can neutralize the matchup.
Syndra
Syndra is a very strong lane bully early, but she will have trouble killing you since you ward her off with QQ. The key to this matchup is to play to setup ganks (normally with EE) and it can be a good idea to rush merc treads in order to survive.
Neeko
Neeko is a pretty strong laner but if you do a good job of dodging her skillshots then you can win. You also definitely outscale this matchup so if you go even you're in a great spot. Rushing merc treads in this matchup can help a lot too.
Fizz
Fizz is very mobile and so can be hard to hit, but you can bully him very hard in the first 2 levels and then try have the wave come back to you after that. Be very careful of being caught too far up in the lane since Fizz can easily run you down, especially if you waste W or E. Post 6 be super careful of his all in and gank setup. It can be worth buying a null magic mantle and sitting on it in this matchup just to not die.
Akali
Akali is quite hard to move out of lane but she can't really kill you unless you stand too far up in the lane. I would run first strike in this matchup and play to scale. The main thing to be aware of in this matchup is your positioning in skirmishes/teamfights as if Akali finds access you to while you're alone you'll probably die.
Kassadin
Kassadin can be bullied hard in lane, but if you don't build a big enough lead he will outscale you pretty hard. Make sure to constantly be harassing him whenever he goes to CS and make sure you base ahead in gold to continue to snowball. Post 6 you can save E defensively in case he tries to jump on you.
Zed
Zed is all about dodging his WEQ combo. If you can consistently dodge it then the matchup shouldn't be too hard. Try and play aggressive when his W is on CD to make up for any health you might have lost. You may also want to take exhaust for post 6 in this matchup as well.
Yasuo
Yasuo is pretty strong in lane but he's very gankable. You need to be very careful being pushed up and for the most part will want to keep the wave on your side of the lane. Try avoid any 1v1 fights and you should outperform him in teamfights.
Viktor
Viktor is a very strong laner but definitely not as useful as you in a 2v2 or skirmish situation. Focus on trying to trade back when his E or Q are on cooldown and worst case if you're too far behind you can focus on clearing the wave instead.
Sylas
Sylas is all about his chain. You can win trades by poking and either dodging the chain or if you time your EQ correctly you can cancel it. If he gets on you though it will really hurt and you need to be super aware of his gank setup. Be careful of him chasing you down the lane with your ult post 6 as well.
LeBlanc
LeBlanc isn't super strong 1v1 and also has very low cooldowns and low waveclear, so you can normally build up a lead by yourself. Post level 3 though you have to be insanely careful of her ganksetup as it's probably the best of any mid laner in the game. If you don't have vision or flash be very careful pushing the lane into her.
Azir
You can outtrade and outpush Azir for most of the lane but he slowly and surely outscales you. Look to build a 1v1 lead and post 6 be careful if you don't know where the enemy jungler is as Azir has excellent gank setup.
Karma
Karma is very strong if she can get past the wave, but you should be able to stop her with your waveclear and the threat of your fear. Once you get stronger you can look to spampush her in so she can't group with her jungle. Be a little careful of getting ganked early as she has great 2v2 and solid gank setup.
Yone
Yone is all about respecting his windows. When he has Q3 and/or E you need to play more respectfully and try move back. It's also a good idea to try hold E defensively in this matchup unless Yone wastes his cooldowns. Post 6 be very careful of being rundown the lane if you're pushed up far or falling victim to his gank setup.
Twisted Fate
Twisted Fate is a weak laner and you can bully his lack of waveclear and trading potential. The main keys to this matchup are to not die to any random ganks and try keep enough pressure on the lane/on him after level 6 so that he can't roam freely.
Zoe
Beating Zoe is a lot about positioning. You need to make sure not to get hit by random Qs while also keeping yourself close to the creeps so that you can block her E. You do outrange her so you should be able to harass easily and her waveclear is pretty weak early as well. If Zoe picks up a summ like exhaust or ignite you will need to hold E defensively as she may look to force an all in with it.
Lux
Against Lux you need to stand apart from the wave. If she uses E on you, try dodge it but worst case you will be able to get push over the wave and then harass her easier. If you want to be safe you can go merc treads in this matchup, otherwise be very careful being caught by a Q post 6 as you'll take a huge amount of damage.
Xerath
Xerath is all about dodging skillshots so you definitely want to rush out tier two boots as soon as you can. Make sure to not stack with the wave so he has to choose between hitting you or hitting the wave. He does have long cooldowns so you may be able to zone him after he tries to combo you.
Anivia
Anivia can be bullied pretty hard pre 6 but after 6 the lane will pretty much just turn into waveclear wars. Try and build up a lead pre 6 by looking for constant QQ and EE harass. If you get a better base you can spam push waves into her and she may run out of mana.
Vladimir
You can normally bully Vlad through the lane as long as you respect when he has his empowered Q. He also has low waveclear so you can always nuke the wave and reset if you need to. Try and be efficient with your mana and don't waste abilities otherwise he will be able to outsustain your poke.
Ahri
Ahri can be bullied a lot before level 6. Make sure to position behind your creeps as the only way she can win a trade is to hit you with a random charm. After 6 she’s much stronger and she may look to all in if you waste key cooldowns. While Ahri is weak 1v1 she has very strong gank setup so make sure to play carefully around your vision, especially if she has no flash.
Jayce
Jayce is relatively easy for Hwei, you can abuse him heavily in the laning phase and as long as you hold fear he can never go and melee form you. Be careful of fighting him when he has his dirk spike and keep looking to poke him from a distance.
Talon
Against Talon you just need to make sure not to get hit by both parts of W. If he hits both he will almost always get an advantageous trade against you, especially if your E is down. Try stand apart from the wave so he has to choose between hitting the creeps or hitting you. A defensive summ like exhaust or barrier can make surviving post 6 easier. Sometimes I like to buy a cloth armor and sit on it to make this matchup more survivable as well.
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia is pretty easy, you outrange and outpoke her so all you need to do is not be caught without your E to disengage from a trade. She'll find it very hard to play teamfights against you especially if you manage to build a lead in lane.
Annie
Annie can vary a lot depending on what runes she takes. If she takes aery + resolve she can be quite difficult to deal with in lane, but she lacks waveclear and should be outscaled. If she takes a scaling dark harvest or first strike page you should be able to bully her with your superior range and eventually spam push her in.
Vex
Vex has long cooldowns and struggles with waveclear early so look to punish those pre 6. Post 6 you need to make sure you avoid getting hit by her R, if you do you can fear her as she comes in and she will be insta feared upon arrival allowing you a free ult.
Galio
Galio isn't very strong 1v1 but he's quite good in early skirmishes, so try avoid any 2v2s for the most part and play for an isolated lane. Look to punish his Q CD by playing aggro when it's down. Post 6 you want to make sure you push in the wave to make it more difficult to roam.
Ekko
Punishing cooldowns is very important against Ekko in the early game. His only trading tool is also his only waveclear tool so you should make him choose between clearing the wave or trading with you by positioning outside of the wave and look to move forward when his Q is on CD. You can hold E defensively as well so he can't E onto you freely.
Akshan
Akshan is very strong in the early game but you have great tools to deal with him. You can stop him from roaming with your waveclear and he can't ever E onto you as long as you hold your E defensively. Look to poke him with Q whenever possible as well.
Katarina
Katarina is a very easy matchup for Hwei. You can bully her at all stages of the game and the only risk comes from being caught too far up in the lane without your E. When she jumps on you she may move immediately to try dodge your E, so times you might have to save it for a half second or so before you use it.
Diana
Diana is deceptively tanky and snowballs well but she has a hard time engaging on you if you hold E. Just bully her with Q and save your other abilities to punish her or chase her down if she tries to get aggro.
Naafiri
Naafiri is very weak in lane and you can harass heavily in lane with Q and autos. Make sure to save your E for when she tries to dash on you and if you time it correctly you can cancel her W completely. The only way she can really get ahead is if you let her roam freely after 6 so try push the wave and get good vision down.
Pantheon
Pantheon is a cheese pick but if you time your EQ correctly you can cancel his W which makes the matchup easy. Other than that just look to poke him down when able, and post 6 try keep the wave pushed so that you can either punish his roams by hitting the mid tower, or prevent him from roaming in the first place.
Lissandra
Lissandra has trouble matching your push early and will also be outtraded. You do have to be extremely careful of her post 6 gank setup though and you may want to immediately drop your EW on your E if she tries to go towards you. Merc treads can be useful for surviving ganks in this matchup as well.
K'Sante
K'Sante is virtually unkillable in lane so you should take first strike and go for as much scaling as you can. Play around his knockup and otherwise you should be able to just constantly push waves and free farm.
Lucian
Lucian is easy for Hwei, you can just poke him with QQ and if he ever tries to dash in you will be able to fear and then ult him. Pre 6 just make sure you don't take too much Q poke through the wave and you should have no troubles.
Qiyana
Qiyana can be bullied very hard levels 1 and 2 but you should be careful of her level 3 spike and want the wave to be in the middle or coming back to you by this point. Post 6 do your best to stay away from walls, and try use your E defensively to stop her from getting onto you.
Rumble
Against Rumble look to poke with Q and autos whenever you are able to and save E in case he tries to get aggressive. As long as you don't get hit by random E poke you should have no trouble.
Brand
Brand is surprisingly strong in lane but you should be able to poke him out and he really struggles with your waveclear as the lane goes on. Post 6 you should easily be able to push the wave and harass him under tower as long as you don't fall behind before then.
Vel'Koz
Vel'Koz is fairly weak in lane as long as you dodge some Qs and don't stack with the wave to get hit by E. As with most ranged matchups you can easily poke him down. Consider rushing sorc shoes in this matchup as the added movespeed is super nice. Post 6 make sure you don't get hit by a Vel'Koz E or you will take a lot of damage from his ultimate.
Smolder
Smolder has very little lane threat and you should have no trouble bullying him all lane long. Just make sure you aren't spam pushing waves into him for free, sometimes it's better to keep the wave out in the middle to allow for more trading opportunities.
Taliyah
Taliyah isn't that great at trading in lane but she does have a lot of waveclear. Try and punish her for using cooldowns on the wave by forcing QQ or EE trades onto her.
Aurelion Sol
Aurelion Sol is another easy matchup for Hwei, look to poke him down whenever you can. If you choose to use E aggressively you will need to play safer as he may use that time to try and W aggressively onto you.
Tristana
Tristana is a relatively easy matchup for Hwei. You can poke as much as you like as long as you hold your E to fear her off when she jumps on you.
Malzahar
Malzahar is one of the weakest early game champions in the game, he has essentially no form of trading power and his waveclear is easily dealt with as long as you kill his voidlings as soon as they spawn. Be careful of stepping up post 6 if you don't know where their jungler is. You can consider QSS, but normally you won't need it in teamfights because of your range so it can be a waste of gold.
Veigar
Veigar is pretty abusable early, he has to use his Q to farm so whenever that's down you can look to force trades on him. The only thing really to be careful of is his gank setup so try keep track of the enemy jungler. He has low waveclear so you can target that as well if you can't find a way to trade with him.
Zilean
Zilean is very abusable in lane. He has long cooldowns and his only way to farm from long range is also his only trading tool AND it’s a dodgeable skillshot. Make sure Zilean has to choose between hitting you with Q or farming with Q and when his Q is on cooldown move very aggressively into him. While you can’t normally kill Zilean, you should be able to build a sizable lead in lane. After 6 it’s much harder to punish him so look to just push the wave and pressure tower or move around the map.
Ziggs
As long as you can dodge Ziggs skillshots you should find this matchup to be pretty easy as you both outpoke and outwaveclear him. Consider rushing T2 boots - normally sorc shoes - to help avoid his poke.
Seraphine
Seraphine is pretty much just going to be waveclear wars, but try and force her to use cooldowns to CS while you use your cooldowns to poke her down and zone her off the wave.
Swain
Swain is pretty weak early game, he has long cooldowns and they are relatively easy to dodge. He also has very low waveclear which Hwei can punish easily. After level 6, make sure you save E defensively in case he tries to engage onto you with his R.
Corki
Corki is very weak early game so look to gain a big lead over him especially pre 6 and use this to make his life difficult. You can also push him in easily and harass him under tower since he won't have the mana to match you early.
Ryze
Ryze has a lot of push but yours is even better, and you easily outrange him the entire game. The only thing to be careful of is his point and click gank setup so stay aware of his jungler.
Jarvan IV
Hwei is excellent with pretty much any AD ganking jungler such as Jarvan, Xin Zhao or Lee Sin.
Xin Zhao
Hwei is excellent with pretty much any AD ganking jungler such as Jarvan, Xin Zhao or Lee Sin.
Lee Sin
Hwei is excellent with pretty much any AD ganking jungler such as Jarvan, Xin Zhao or Lee Sin.
Karthus
Hwei is pretty weak with AP junglers, while you do sometimes benefit from the AOE most AP junglers provide, it becomes too easy for the enemy team to itemize against you and early merc treads counter you very hard.
Lillia
Hwei is pretty weak with AP junglers, while you do sometimes benefit from the AOE most AP junglers provide, it becomes too easy for the enemy team to itemize against you and early merc treads counter you very hard.
Evelynn
Hwei is pretty weak with AP junglers, while you do sometimes benefit from the AOE most AP junglers provide, it becomes too easy for the enemy team to itemize against you and early merc treads counter you very hard.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Jarvan IV
Hwei is excellent with pretty much any AD ganking jungler such as Jarvan, Xin Zhao or Lee Sin.
Xin Zhao
Hwei is excellent with pretty much any AD ganking jungler such as Jarvan, Xin Zhao or Lee Sin.
Lee Sin
Hwei is excellent with pretty much any AD ganking jungler such as Jarvan, Xin Zhao or Lee Sin.
Karthus
Hwei is pretty weak with AP junglers, while you do sometimes benefit from the AOE most AP junglers provide, it becomes too easy for the enemy team to itemize against you and early merc treads counter you very hard.
Lillia
Hwei is pretty weak with AP junglers, while you do sometimes benefit from the AOE most AP junglers provide, it becomes too easy for the enemy team to itemize against you and early merc treads counter you very hard.
Evelynn
Hwei is pretty weak with AP junglers, while you do sometimes benefit from the AOE most AP junglers provide, it becomes too easy for the enemy team to itemize against you and early merc treads counter you very hard.
Hey guys I'm Shok, multi Rank 1 Challenger mid laner and content creator! I played league professionally from 2017-2021 and have been rank 1 in multiple seasons, as well as rank 13 on the NA ladder in season 9.
I upload regularly on YouTube, and stream everyday on Twitch so feel free to follow me on either of those platforms :)
Season 10Season 9
Season 9 NA
Combos + Tips
I talk about all the combos and tips in my full in-depth Hwei guide on my YouTubeso you might find that easier to follow. I'll do my best to explain it in written form too though.
The base of my most Hwei combos is that if you hit a target with more than 1 ability, it will proc your passive and deal additional damage in an AOE beneath them. For example, if you QQ + EE someone that can be a great way to proc comet, your passive, and slow them to guarantee all the damage hits.
Laning Combos:
QQ - Can be used on its
EE - Can be used on its own to guarantee comet hitting + poke
WE - Can be used on its own to get you push or to harass melee champions, will also add additional damage to your other combos. Almost every combo on this list can be enhanced by using WE to begin with, but if it's still on cooldown then it isn't required.
WE + QE + EE - Waveclear combo that can also be used to harass an opponent inside the wave.
EE + QW - Longer ranged harass
WE + QQ + Auto - Using an auto empowered with WE will still proc your passive.
EQ + QQ + WQ - Good way to CC, poke and disengage a trade.
Your all in combos will normally involve CCing first to hit your ult, and then offloading whatever damage is available to you. For example:
WE + EE + R + QQ + Autos
WE + EQ + R + QW + Autos
Normally if you can get them low on health QW will do more damage, and normally EE is a bit easier to guarantee than EQ or EW, but ultimately it's situational.
Utility combos:
EQ + QQ - Great way to fear and then disengage
R + EW - Can also be done the other way around but EW is an excellent way to extend a CC chain.
WW - Useful mainly for doing baron or peeling an engage with the added shields.
Teamfight combos:
Teamfight combos are very situational, but for the most part you will just be wanting to press WE and then whichever damage combo makes the most sense. Some examples:
WE + QE + EE - Great for fighting in chokes, can also followup with R
WE + QW - Good for poking before the fight
EW + QW - Can sometimes catch people out and poke them
Again I'd really recommend checking out the combos section in my video guide, or if you have any specific questions just send me a message. Overall I think the Hwei combos will just naturally start to make sense to you once you get more games on him, it's overwhelming at first and trying to remember the combos as sequences is probably the wrong way to do it, eventually you'll just get a feel for it.
Laning Phase
Hwei is very strong in the laning phase and even has effective ways to neutralize bad matchups. Against most other ranged champs you will be looking to harass your opponent with either QQ poke if they stand apart from the wave, or you can WE + QE + EE to pull your opponent into the wave if they are using the creeps to shield themselves. Against shorter range targets you can deal pretty significant damage with just your WE autos as well.
If you're against a champion with a gap closer or the ability to get on you, it can be best to your hold E defensively to peel them off you and just rely on QQ poke in order to slowly get them lower and lower.
In very difficult matchups, try keep the wave closer to your side and setup ganks. Eventually you will have enough AP and mana that you can simply WE + QE + EE the wave and not interact with your opponent at all. This is what makes Hwei a relatively good blind (although he is still vulnerable to ganking junglers/supports).
Unless your matchup is bad, you should be expecting to force your opponent out of lane and base with more CS (and therefore gold) than your opponent. After you spend this gold, try use your item advantage to either zone them off creeps or force them out of lane again. While it isn't required that Hwei comes out of lane ahead, he definitely has the tools to do so against almost all other mid laners so really try and use that strong laning phase to your advantage.
Mid Game
In the mid game as Hwei you will want to do your best to continue to keep up your gold/xp while also being at all the major objective fights. The best way to do this is try shove the side wave as far as you can without dying. If you don't have TP up, it can be a good idea to group with your team instead and just catch sidewaves when they are going to crash on your tower until your TP comes back up. If your sidelane matchup is really easy + your team is winning and you have vision then sidelaning should be very easy, if the opposite of these things are true then you will need to be a lot safer on side.
For objective fights, it's a good rule to try and base around 1 minute before dragon spawns, that way you can spend all your gold and get all your hp and mana back to full. This will give you the best possible chance of grouping up and winning a dragon fight.
If you get ahead on Hwei it can be a good idea to try take some the AOE jungle camps like Krugs or Raptors, especially if you can take them away from the enemy team or if your jungler is too far away to farm them. This won't be possible every game, but it's still worth looking out for.
Teamfighting and Skirmishing
When you approach teamfights and skirmishes on Hwei, there's a couple things you need to think about. The first is how you're going to guarantee hitting your ult, this is a game changing ability and not something you can afford to miss. The best way to hit it is to either follow up on someone else's CC or to first CC them yourself usually with EE or EQ.
Secondly, it's really good if you can fight in chokes or smaller areas. Hwei has a ton of AOE and the more grouped up the enemy team is the better, it can also be a good idea to try and land some QQ or QW poke before the fight begins as this will help swing the upcoming teamfight in your favor.
Finally, you want to think about target priority and threats. Normally as Hwei you will be stuck hitting whoever is in front of you, but if an enemy squishy mispositions they should take priority and you should aim your abilities on them first. Threats are also important, think about specific abilities (for example Blitzcrank hook) that might threaten you and how you can position around them. Sometimes you may have to wait until some abilities are used before you can fully commit to the fight because it might be too dangerous to do so otherwise.
More Hwei Content
That's all for this guide, but if you want to see more of my Hwei content there is a video guide and several gameplay videos on my YouTube channel, and if you want to ask me questions about Hwei feel free to drop by my Twitch or send me a message on discord (shokoce)
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