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Syndra Build Guide by

✔️ How to throw Balls

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Syndra Build Guide By Updated on

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Runes: Standard

1 2

Inspiration

First Strike

Magical Footwear

Biscuit Delivery

Cosmic Insight

Sorcery

Manaflow Band

Transcendence

Bonus:

+8 Ability Haste
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+10-180 Bonus Health

Spells:

1 2

Standard

Flash

Teleport

Items

Starting Items

Vision Control

Late Game Elixir

Example Full Build #1

Example Full Build #2

Item Pool

Core DMG

Boots

vs MR

If Confident

Luxury DMG

vs AD

vs AP

Snowballing

vs Heavy MR

vs Healing

Movement

Quick Magic Pen

Ability Order Standard

Syndra Passive Ability

Introduction

About the Author

Pros / Cons

Abilities

Skill Sequence

Summoner Spells

Gameplay Information

Game Phases

Laning Phase

Tempo

Roaming

Wave Management

Combos

Jungle Tracking

Midlane 101

Teamfighting

Warding

Other

Runes

Items

Matchups

Summary

Change Log

Hi, I'm Fruxo and welcome to my guide. I've been playing LoL since September 2014 in Season 4 and have been maining different roles & champions since the day I started. has always been one of my favorite champions and she's currently my one-trick at the moment. The top rank I've achieved is Diamond I in solo queue. If you have any questions or suggestions about the guide then feel free to leave a comment, I try to respond to everything. If you want to support me, an upvote or +rep would be very appreciated.

Before we begin, I'd like to give a big thank-you to Katasandra for her massive help with coding this guide (as well as my other guides). Always helping me make this guide look great but also as mobile-friendly as possible. Be sure to check out her how to write a guide tutorial & coding guide as well as her own guides!

is a very interesting champion and the only champion in the game that actually makes use of spheres as abilities rather than anything else that's more "traditional". As a burst mage, they aim to single out vulnerable targets by locking them down and following up with a devastating barrage of damage from range. They are strongest when using their full suite of spells executed perfectly to maximum effect, and most vulnerable when their spells are on cooldown and they cannot deliver.

✔		Poke from afar
✔		Very High Burst
✔		Has AoE CC
✔		Strong Late Game
✔		Classic Lane Bully
✔		Fun to learn
✔		Easy to pick up

✘		Skillshot reliant
✘		Squishy
✘		Mana intensive
✘		Bad if behind
✘		Bad without items
✘		Immobile
✘		Positioning is key

's weakest point in the game is by far her early stages. her cooldowns are quite high and she doesn't have access to her passive's buffs. is mandatory at level 1 for a stable laning phase if you actually want to poke and wave clear and only enhances your ability to poke once you reach level 2. allows you to set-up decent poke timers without getting too much damage in return. This makes it a lot easier to stack up your passive. Because of her weakness early on, her main focus is to just relax and farm up, not missing minions that are easy to get.

gives her a lot of burst potential. This makes the mid- and late game her strongest point in the game only because she gains access to so much freedom when it comes to bursting down targets. With this said she's still very immobile and squishy, and can definitely be locked down and taken care of, but with good positioning she's allowed to almost do whatever she deems fit.

As you might have already thought, works very well in teamfights. She will always be able to deal with the frontline carries/tanks, stopping them from going anywhere near her other teammates and her will always give her an opportunity to target the backline carries and burst them down to ashes, rendering them dead or unable to fight.

Useful Tips

✔		Even just doing a simple Q+E combo will immediately proc this passive
✔		You already gain 85 splinters from levels, it's adviced to farm and sidelane to level yourself and hit those spikes

Things to note

✘

Don't naively try to stack the passive as soon as possible, it will stack itself in time

allows you to collect 120 "Splinters", hitting major milestones for the amount of these splinters will further enhance her abilities to make them stronger and provide her with mana everytime she claims one from an enemy. This is arguably 's strongest ability out of her entire kit.

collects Splinters from the following:

1-3 Splinter(s) when damaging enemy champions - based on level
5 Splinters everytime you level an ability
1 Splinter on killing large minions

As mentioned prior, at various milestones of Splinters, her regular abilities (Q/W/E/R) will evolve, these are between 40, 60, 80 and 100, making them stronger in various ways. At 120 Splinters, which is the highest buff she can acquire, she'll also gain a free 15% damage boost in raw ability power - which is precisely what makes her passive so incredibly strong.

Useful Tips

✔		Easy to poke down opponents at max range, not getting any damage back as they try to walk up for a minion
✔		There is no limit on how many spheres can be on the ground at a time

Things to note

✘

Can be used on terrain, but cannot be thrown there with

is a very important ability as it provides her with a strong poking and waveclearing tool. Almost everything you do for damage revolves around this ability as a starter to initiate any other abilities. This is also the ability that lets her surprise her targets before bursting them down to mere ashes.

You can't really effectively use any of your other abilities if you haven't used to create spheres on the ground to manipulate. This is quite important to keep in mind for this champion.

: Will allow you to store 1 extra charge of the ability, allowing you to use 2 spheres onto the ground at a time instead of only 1. This makes it way easier to waveclear and really start to burst down targets in a way that's actually meaningful.

Useful Tips

✔

Whatever you pick up will automatically get released if you do not use the ability within a certain time frame

Things to note

✘		You cannot grab a target that is being teleported to with Teleport
✘		This ability will always prioritize Dark Sphere before anything else

allows you the ability to grab the closest , enemy minion or monster (that isn't an epic monster e.g. ) and you can hold the target for a few seconds. Afterwards you're able to throw it away to another place to deal damage or kill the target if it's low (and not a sphere).

This ability is extremely useful for 2 things: Poke and Waveclear. It's a good poking tool as you can quickly throw a sphere or minion towards the enemy when they've been stunned by your other abilities (e.g. Q+E), making sure it's damage that will not miss. It's good for waveclear because it allows you to pick up minions and kill them elsewhere (To secure cannons & get passive stacks, if you're struggling to farm under tower or want to push the wave quickly by picking up minions).

: The passive of this ability allows your damage to start dealing true damage instead of regular magic damage. This is heavily in your favor because it only enhances your damage further than before cause true damage cannot be blocked by magic resist.

Useful Tips

✔

You can push almost anything with this ability, whether that be minions, your spheres, monsters or other champions.

allows you to manipulate your spheres in a much more interesting way. Using the ability will push any balls forward and also knock any targets back. If any spheres that are pushed hit an enemy, they will be stunned, this is what aids you in setting up your main combos.

: The width of the ability will be increased and also slows enemies down when used. This is good because with larger range, it allows you to better position yourself and set-up better stuns due to being so incredibly immobile and squishy.

Useful Tips

✔

Even if you die while casting the ability, the orbs will still fire but any remaining sphere will not

Things to note

✘

If the target is untargetable (e.g. & ) the spheres will fire, but deal no damage

allows you to really start to burst down targets and actually deal some damage. You'll be able to cast the 3 spheres that are orbiting around you along with 4 extra nearby spheres towards any enemy champion.

It's also worth to note that the passive of this ability lets your gain extra ability haste throughout the game for each time you level up your ultimate, letting you use your ability much faster than before.

: Allows this ability to completely execute any enemy champion below 15% maximum health. This is what allows you to really dish out fear as reaching the threshold (with all the extra damage you gain) means instant death.


1	2	3	4	5	6
Q			Q	Q
		W
	E
					R


7	8	9	10	11	12
Q		Q
	W		W		W

				R


13	14	15	16	17	18

W
	E	E		E	E
			R

L
E
V
E
L
1
-
3

Always skill this first. It's your main tool for poking and waveclearing. It's also good for trading with enemies when they try to get minions for themselves.

You'll be unlocking this at level 2. Use it to set-up combos and poke during the laning phase to gain small leads and not take much damage in return.

Your main ability for damage. Generally to be able to do things, and to help with passive stacking. However, you need the other abilities to survive beforehand.

S
E
Q
U
E
N
C
E

This is your main damage & waveclearing tool, always max it first. You'll be using it to do practically anything or to even have any damage, thus it'll always be useful to have.

Max this one second. This ability helps your damage shred way more and optimizes your ability to waveclear efficiently.

Typically always third max. It'll increase your damage a bit more, but unlike your other spells, no other things get upgraded here. The other abilities are more useful to max.

Try to put points in it whenever you can. It'll make you stronger whilst also just making you more of a champion when you have it available. It's your ultimate after all.

So, here's an overview of all the possible summoners you can take on . You should always run & for numerous reasons. Then we also have the situational option that you can go for - , against far easier matchups.

Slot 1	Slot 2
Always	Of Course	Situational

is one of the most crucial and important spells of almost any champion. It's important for as she doesn't have any escapes and is a very immobile and squishy champion. It's also really handy to have in most tricky situations if you manage to mess up abilities or you absolutely have to get out and already wasted your .

I am a massive fan of this spell on as it provides you with lots of flexibility. She's very versatile and there's so many ways to play her, I love having the ability to come in late or TP in creative flank windows to initate fights. naturally has a very weak early laning phase and allows her to keep her CS numbers up and relatively stable throughout the lane - especially into harder matchups where it's even more prevalent such as .

One of her most common spells but shouldn't always be used. It offers extra damage and enhances your burst all-ins by a good amount as it secures kills. This spell should only really be picked against matchups that are either trivially easy to dominate OR champions where grievous wounds are required such as .

requires a lot less skill to manage than most other keystones and is very easy to play around. Together with your huge range, you're able to proc it and stack up on gold relatively well. You'll find yourself with a lot more gold to your name and lots of power the longer the game stalls. The entire purpose of this keystone is to play for economy with the major goal being to hit major item spikes and splinter stacks as fast as possible. You're incredibly weak in the earliest stages, but very strong in the mid to late game. This keystone is really good when you're allowed to scale however you'd like.

other options

INSPIRATION
Inspiration is mostly taken as a primary tree and for First Strike, it's extremely useful to have and use. There are many runes within this tree that work well with Syndra.

Let's you focus your gold on other items rather than to buy boots that you do not immediately need.

Grants 3 different elixirs at level 3, 6 and 9. Two of them are average, the last potion gives a free +1 skill point.

Gives you a lot of extra sustain and survivability if you're in a lane that is very rough to play.

Gives you haste & adaptive for different stats, useful in builds that varies from just AP.

Another underrated rune. This rune can be important because of how well is able to utilize , and even her . Being able to reduce these spells, especially on a champion that's very reliant on ultimate, is very beneficial.

SORCERY
Sorcery is primarily taken as a secondary tree. When taken it offers extra benefits such as extra mana, ability haste along with many more.

Can't stress enough how good this rune is. Amazing for mana sustain especially for early mana struggles.

If you're opting to scale, this can be very strong for that extra needed free ability haste.

DOMINATION
Domination is only taken as a primary tree and for Electrocute, its only purpose ever is to aid the keystone. The secondary tree still remains the same way as before.

Provides healing and any necessary sustain you'd require during the laning phase in order to survive.

If you're against matchups where sustain isn't needed, you can go this for more offense.

Gives you necessary adaptive force. This is essentially just a damage boost and the best choice in this slot.

Good for lowering your ultimate even more. Quite crucial since your ultimate is your most useful ability.

The standard stat shards on . Feel free to swap health scaling for tenacity & slow resist if against a team composition with a lot of CC threads or slows.

This chapter features the items can build and when and why you build them. To help you on your way I created an item set you can import into your league client!

How do I import item sets?

Item set code: Syndra Item Pool

Starting Items

Her most common standard item as it provides a lot of durability and overall laning power since is quite squishy. It's just an overall good purchase to survive the lane and should always be opted for no matter what.

This is the most common potion to go together with . It'll always be able to give you enough health back to sustain yourself during the laning phase and isn't really ever a terrible buy no matter what you decide to do.

The usual starting trinket. It helps with getting early vision and will always be a generally good choice. It'll be able to provide vision for you throughout the early stages of the game in order to help you avoid ganks by the enemy team.

If your team as a whole is behind, it'll be hard to deny or gain vision for an objective etc. if you can't contest it to begin with. In such cases, get instead as it provides long range vision and does help you overall when you're not able to face-check anything.

First Base

The best basing scenario is when you can afford a 1k+ gold item (e.g. ) which can be used to build into on your first base (the current most popular first item on by far). However, sometimes you won't have enough gold for either of them because of a bad laning phase or dying, in such a case you should look to get one of the items below instead.

If you're having a real bad time, you can opt to buy this for 400g to get some damage to work with.

Will provide you with some great early ability haste for 250g that you'll be able to use.

Will provide you with some great stats if you really believe you'll be able to snowball your lane.

Early boots will help with dodging skillshots. It will also make it a lot easier to move around the map.

Don't forget to buy extra potions for more sustain in cases of where you absolutely need them to survive.

If you have 75g left, buy one to use for vision in bushes or to prepare for an important objective.

Boots

I'm a big fan of these boots and I essentially build these in 100% of my games. These are just a very comfort type of a pick to choose from as it gives you that necessary magic penetration to really start dealing some huge amounts of damage throughout the game.

Situational Items

This is the current strongest damage dealing item that you can run on this type of a control mage. provides with anything she'd ever require, whether that be ability haste, raw AP or just lots of mana.

If you're looking for early magic pen and damage and is unable to truly snowball the game, you can opt to buy this item. The significant damage increase if champions are below <40% maximum health is very beneficial here to get damage going without sacrificing too much.

If you believe you can snowball your entire lane, isn't in need of any defenses and can carry the game, you can buy this item. You'll find yourself having huge increases in damage and 1shot potentials, sacrificing said defenses you'd have from other items.

This item will give you a big boost of AP once you build it and is essential to your build no matter what due to how incredibly strong it is for mages. Get it as your third or fourth item to make the most efficient use of the passive.

This item is a must-have 2nd item against AD matchups that can immediately kill you (e.g. / / ). It's also a worthy item to use against ultimates that could otherwise be problematic to dodge (e.g. ).

A very good item to pick up to stack some very early armor against matchups that are extremely annoying to play around + an early zhonya usage.

Is a great item if the enemy team has an AP assassin, burst mage or another (fed) AP champion (e.g. / ). The spellshield can also help you with engaging (safely), as you won't get interrupted by CC immediately after you go in.

Incredible item to buy due to the immense early magic resistance and generaly defensive stats it's able to provide for you.

If you get ahead, you have a stacked dark seal and you believe in yourself, you can take this gamble. If you do manage to keep it stacked you'll be able to do a disgusting amount of damage and you even get extra movement speed on top of that.

Good early buy if you're looking to snowball your lane. It's a gamble so if you believe in yourself and pray, you can definitely try this.

Get this when the enemy team is starting to build a lot of items that give magic resistance. Try to watch out for items like . is a more gold-efficient item than anything else if and only if the enemy has AT LEAST +50 Magic Resistance.

A decent purchase to go for if you're just looking for some very early magic penetration to deal with the enemy and their magic resistances.

An incredibly common item to buy at this point just due to how often healing champions are picked & life steal items are bought (e.g. / / / / ) whilst also providing some offensive damage that you can work with.

Good to buy early if you just really want something to deal with the healing early on. You should sit on this item and only upgrade to Morello last item.

Gives her a lot of necessary stats that all benefit you such as ability power and ability haste. It also provides movement speed which for a champion as immobile as - is quite beneficial to have depending on who you face. The only downside is that you'll be very squishy.

A lesser equivalent to and cheaper. Void is an overkill item if the entire enemy team is stacking plenty of magic resistance, this item however is very useful to buy if they are stacking MR but not nearly as much. It also provides your team with healing overall.

If you're completely new to midlane, this role won't be all too different from the other roles, yet gives more opportunities than most of the others due to the option of roaming around the map and what not. With that said, don't be frightened, once you learn the fundamentals of the role, it's actually much easier to manage.

This section is rather large so here is an overview of all the general topics that will be covered:

Game Phases

Combos

Midlane 101

Roaming

Laning Phase

Teamfighting

Jungle Tracking

Tempo

Wave Management

Warding

Early Game

A decent start for the early stages of the game.

Key points:
- Attempted to shove Anivia in
- Did overextend and got ganked by Kha'Zix
- Kha still managed to missplay my E and I managed to get a kill anyway
- Now I can back for a big gold advantage in base

Know when to trade and when to farm! In the earliest stages of the game it's all about competing and trading with your opposing laner. You'll be looking to both farm and trade with your opponent, either by harassing the enemy as they're walking up for minions or just last-hitting your own minions.

Make the wave push towards you! If possible you almost always want to make the wave push towards you, but not into tower. You want to find the middle ground where the wave is almost at your tower - this is because it lets you farm safely whilst removing yourself from getting ganked by the enemy jungler since you're so vulnerable without passive stacks.

Set-up good ganking options! Further elaborating on the previous point, by allowing the enemy laner to push the wave towards you, whether intentionally or unintentionally, it'll give you the ability to freeze it at your side of the lane and thus opens up a lot of really good ganking opportunities for your own jungler.

Don't let them farm for free! It's important to remember that even though is a lane bully later on, you should never allow your opposing laner to just farm for free. As you gain more items, poking and fighting your laner will become easier but even just simple autos and a towards the enemy laner inbetween farming minions can really add up.

Mid Game

Objectives, objectives, objectives! - Yes, kills and dragons are still important. But not more than towers. Taking down towers not only provides you gold but also cracks the map wide open. It gives your entire team a lot more room to play with. Always aim to assist your teammates when taking dragons, and try to take down the first midlane tower before moving onto a sidelane to take more towers.

Roaming! Never forget! During the mid game is where you really start to shine, try to look for any ways to roam to either sides of the map and help your other teammates. The further ahead you can get other lanes, the easier it'll be to contest objectives and thus the easier it'll be to win the game.

Sidelaning! One very important part about playing is that most people tend to forget that she's incredibly good at sidelaning. With your waveclear, you should ALWAYS be sidelaning if there is not an immediate objective or teamfight/skirmish occuring in order to get stacks for your . This is where you'll be gaining most of your gold/exp and you should always aim to be safe when sidelaning.

Decent portrayal of what to do during the mid stages of the game.

Key points:
- Our bot tower is down
- My botlane went mid instead
- A skirmish breaks out mid but my team does not need me
- I farm the waves arriving on botlane because otherwise they're lost
- Make sure they're pushed to tower before I do anything else

Late Game

Dragon Soul
Obtaining the dragon soul is usually the biggest win condition for most games. This is why dragons should always be prioritized early and often because of the stats they provide. Some individual dragons are less important to get than others but the dragon soul is always a buff your team should fight over by default. Also don't get tunnel vision, the dragon soul is way more important than a baron buff, not the other way around.

Baron Nashor
This is another common win condition that you can go for. If you're in the mid-game or the start of late game, try to look to do this objective! The buff will allow you to push your leads further by sieging towers or even end the game immediately.

Elder Dragon
If the game stalls out long enough, this will be your next important objective. Elder Dragon is way more important to get than the baron buff because of the execute. Try to look for fights after you get this objective.

Combos

This chapter features all the combos that is able to do and how you can do them. There might be even more then what is listed here as these are just the most common combos that are used.

Meaning of Icons

Flash

Level 1 Trade

Some examples

This is a very common early combo you can make use of. Your range is incredibly strong and attempting to weave auto attacks inbetween your Q pokes is very strong for early health leads. Just make sure you're able to poke your opponent without getting too much damage back.

Quick Trade

Some examples

This combo is very useful to have before level 3. You can very easily stun your opponent and deal damage towards them without the fear of any damage coming back to you. It's very safe to use, just remember to track the enemy jungler when you decide to use this combo as it's the only time you'll actually be vulnerable.

Standard Trade

Some examples

This is your bread and butter combo for ANYTHING that you'll ever do. It's also the sole combo that makes up all your other main combos. Practicing this one in particular is very important to succeed on , if you can't do the combo naturally, then practice more.

5-ball Ult

Some examples

An example of a 5-ball execute combo that deals almost the biggest amount of damage you're able to create (hence only 5 spheres being used). This is a very typical full combo you'll be using in almost all games that you play, so make sure to practice it well.

6-ball Ult

An example of a 6-ball execute combo that deals nearly the most amount of damage possible (with the use of 6 spheres). This combo is harder to execute and also takes slightly longer to do as it requires some set-up beforehand compared to the 5-ball combo prior. However, it's always good to remember.

7-ball Ult

An example of a 7-ball execute combo that deals the absolute most amount of damage possible (with the use of 7 spheres). This combo is extremely hard to execute properly as it just requires so much set-up beforehand compared to ones prior. It's also important that you use to pick up the very first ball you created as otherwise it'll disappear and you cannot do the combo.

Laning Phase

Basic Laning vs Mages

When it comes to ranged mages in the lane, they all have a very similar play pattern that you can use to strategize and play around. This is called the "trading stance" which is one of the most important concepts of laning in general. Essentially it is trading with someone when they are trying to get CS. You want to be able to position yourself in such a way that you can hit the enemy with a while ALSO getting your CS! Autoattacking is optional but can be tricky, usually it is better to just use or a Q+E combo.

By using the trading stance you'll alone force the enemy laner to make a very clear decision that WILL cause them one positive and one negative outcome. Either they a) Take the harass from your abilities and last-hit the minion or b) Take the trade and miss the last-hit on the minion. There are many champions and abilities that change the dynamic of this concept, especially within midlane, but the core concept always stays the same.

Another concept that can be used against you in lane is either forcing you away from minions or forcing you into minions. Let's take as an example. If you stand away from your minions, he'll be able to easily hit his onto you followed up by a combo - if you stand near your minions, he'll be able to use or to both poke you down and clear the wave, it's very important to keep things like these in mind.

There are some champions that break this concept of thinking when it comes to lane positioning. Some matchups such as with his or with her will still be able to make it hard for you to farm efficiently as their large effective area allows them to both harass while farming consistently as well. It'll require you to be more careful about where you decide to place yourself.

Basic Laning vs Melee

When you're playing against a melee midlaner, your playstyle will change from taking small winning trades using the "trading stance" to playing around windows of skill and the opponents mistakes. is pretty favored when it comes to most early-level melee matchups, is a lane bully and can keep her lane going like she wants to even after the opposing laner gains levels (with few exceptions).

You want to prioritize using auto attacks and as much as you're able to onto the enemy laner during the early levels. And - If possible, zone the enemy laner away from their own minions that are within the middle of the lane, these small concepts can net you good leads but can only be done against melee matchups. Your level 3 powerspike is huge for this exact reason. Do keep in mind that fully tanking a level 3 trade from almost any melee champion can entirely outtrade you or set you at a disadvantage, so play around it carefully. If done well it can remove future all-in attempts from the enemy laner due to the health disadvantage.

Some examples of level 3 trades to look out for is if he manages to hit his 's using his shadows, if he hits his combo and is able to proc his passive or if he's able to freely trade with the use of his .

Freezing is very commonly done against assassins/melee matchups because of the ability to freely poke them using the "trading stance" - the act of trading with someone when they are trying to get CS, whilst making it almost near impossible for them to trade with you. If they attempt to break your freeze, they risk themselves of getting ganked by your jungler. Make sure to place lane wards to see if and where they roam though.

It is important to understand which melee matchups are easier to abuse than others. For an example, if you're facing a you might start to get slapped around level 3 and onwards due to his ability to counter most of your kit using and - comparative to an that can only really properly trade with you if she's able to use , otherwise she becomes a sitting duck for poke.

Other melee champions that absolutely loves to roam - like can be very obnoxious to play against as well. Even if you properly play the lane and the poking game and you end up freezing her from getting any CS or any leads - she's still able to roam to another lane and somehow get back into the game anyway. It's important to keep in mind about lane wards and tracking where your laner might be and which lane they might want to go to for the best results.

General Laning Tips

a) Do they have mobility spells?

Some champions have key spells that allow them to escape from tough situations. Let's take as an example, the only ways for her to escape an all-in or a gank is by using her or to dash away. This means that we should always be looking for opportunities to either trade or all-in with her whenever this particular ability is down - as she won't be able to escape you.

b) Is their ultimate available?

You should always keep track of ultimates and honestly just abilities in general - ultimates are even more dangerous than normal abilities. Once an enemy has used their ultimate, keep track of when it was last used and use it to your advantage due to its long cooldown. Let's take as an example, we saw him use his and we did not die from it? Net yourself a free kill while the ability is down or ask your jungler to pick up a free kill midlane!

c) What summoner spells do they have?

Always track your opponents summoner spells - this should always be common sense. What spells do they have, and how can those affect you and your all-ins? Can I still kill a with my full ability rotation if she has available? Can I still kill the that's able to use to break free from my stun and avoid my damage?

d) Do they have hard CC?

Self-explanatory, does your opponent have hard CC that can be trivial in their survival within the lane? Let's take again as an example, his major CC ability is - when this ability is down, he does not have anything that can protect himself from trades, all-ins or ganks. Always be mindful and place yourself in your opponent's shoes - how do I want to play in order to survive if I got ganked right now playing ?

Jungle Tracking

In order to proceed with the laning phase, you must know where the enemy is located to plan out what you intend to do. After all, you cannot kill a laner that is safe and you can't push a wave that isn't in your favor. For this concept to work, you'll need either proper vision set-up and/or even foresight of the enemy jungler & their pathing.

Vision set-up is when you ward camps in advance before the game starts in order to know ahead of time when the enemy jungler will pass by that camp. For example you can ward their Red to see where they start or Wolves/Raptors at 1:30 to check if they pass by it later, limiting where they could possibly be.

Foresight is when you already know the enemy jungler's pathing and where they'll start. To know their pathing, you must think like the enemy jungler. If you were them, where would you start & what would you do? For example, will mostly always start Red & proceed to get a gank off in a lane afterwards.

There are rare situations to these concepts, which is any high-AoE jungler such as & , that can start a variety of unpredictable clears. Or there are junglers who likes to steal camps immediately as fast as the first camp such as or . There are also junglers who are fine with starting from either side and doesn't have a specific kind of clear.

Tempo

Tempo is a term that comes from chess and has been ported to many other scenarios. In chess, each move is called one tempo and when you are able to use less moves then your opponent to achieve something, you won a tempo (or more than one).

You can translate this to league in many ways: If you push a large wave into the enemy tower and then roam you're gaining tempo on your opponent, if you push your wave and then help out your jungler who's invading you also gain tempo, if you're pushing out your wave to make sure your opponent cannot roam is also tempo - this all means you have a tempo advantage to freely do whatever you want.

If you're aimlessly roaming without achieving anything meaningful whilst your opponent is farming or roaming elsewhere and getting something, you are losing tempo and your opponent is gaining tempo and so forth.

The essentials of the term is basically time. Learning how much time it takes to do something and how much that actually saves or gets you ahead in the grand scheme of things. Having item advantages/disadvantages is also a form of tempo. You can afford to spend less time pushing your lane if you have an item advantage because you'll not only out damage your opponent but also clear the wave quickly. On the flipside you'll spend larger amounts of time pushing your lane if you are at an item disadvantage and may lose out on the tempo that it brings.

There are a ton of different factors that all play their own parts when it comes to tempo and I would advice to start with focusing on matchups that you encounter and how you can play around them. There will be some matchups that you can play around much easier and get leads.

Midlane 101

This chapter will feature a few more midlane aspects that you can make use of in your own games if you're interested in becoming a lot better at the midlane role or simply want ways to get small leads or advantages.

Lane Priority

It's another term for lane dominance. It's decided by whoever is able to gain control of the lane and aggressively shove it in their favor, basically meaning whoever has the winning lane that can sufficiently waveclear, we can use as the example on the left.

Why does this matter? When your jungler moves into enemy jungle territory or simply contesting scuttle crabs, they're at risk of getting collapsed on by the enemy lanes. However, if you have lane priority, you can effectively back them up first & give them help on their invade. You lose nothing in return for aggressively pushing your lane in your favor whilst the enemy has to choose between losing a minion wave of exp & gold to tower or giving you an advantage such as killing the rival jungler, stealing camps or getting tons of vision for your team.

The things your jungler can do on the map is somewhat of a blockage by the strength of their solo lanes. If the laners can back them up, they can safely proceed with anything they want to do and achieve significant gains & leads with minimal risk of any disadvantages.

Having this said, getting collapsed on when they're in enemy territory does happen way less in lower elos compared to higher elos where both junglers and laners are more knowledgeable.

Playing from Ahead

Let's say you were the one that solo killed the enemy laner or you were getting a gank that worked and you’re now ahead of your enemy laner. Now you're 1-0 and wondering what to do next in order to be able to use your lead to the best way possible.

Firstly, because you’re ahead you can start to snowball your enemy laner. You should be able to kill them easily 1v1 at any moment thanks to you already being ahead of them. With this said, you can win lane and carry the game but you still need to be careful not to die yourself or from a gank as one of those can put your lead back to zero instantly.

Try to look for roams, but keep in mind that your wave needs to be pushed into the enemy laners turret before looking to roam to another lane. This is because your wave will push back towards you when you’re done roaming, which means you won’t lose that much CS and you’re able to catch the wave as you’re getting back. All of this, and you’re able to put your other lanes ahead by giving them a roam. Having this said, don’t force roams, if your wave is pushed and you can’t see any lanes that is roamable, then don’t do it. Just stay in lane and continue farming up.

Keep in mind! The strongest and most important factor to keep in mind, is to not lose your lead. This basically means you shouldn’t casually just go in and risk dying as you’ll give the enemy a bounty when you die which can give them a lot of gold and get them back in the game. You need your lead in order to be able to carry your team, if you lose it, who’s the one that’s going to be able to win the game for you?

Playing from Behind

Let's change the situation now. Let's say you got solo killed early by the enemy laner or got ganked by the enemy jungler. Now you're staring at your 0-2 score and wondering if it's even possible or worth the effort to get back into the game at all. And of course there is many ways to get back.

First of all let’s say you got solo killed, because you’re already behind you need to keep in mind that you shouldn’t try to all-in the enemy laner because they’re way stronger than you and you’re going to lose. You can trade however, only do so when you know that you can easily hit your abilities in order to get your combo off so that you can back off after it to avoid damage that can put you more behind. You’ll need to try and freeze the lane near your turret so that you're able to safely pick up CS.

Like i’ve just mentioned, this goes the exact same when it comes to ganks. Because you’ve just gotten ganked and you died because of it. The first thing to do is to play passive so that you can avoid the risk of getting ganked once more, this means no aggressive trades. This is because if you do get ganked again and you die yet again, it’s going to be even harder to get back into the game. If it gets really difficult to lane then you can also try to call your Jungler to come and gank you in hopes that you'll be able to get back.

Keep in mind! Generally speaking, once you’re put behind which is either from getting solo killed, ganked or generally messing up the laning phase. Your first choice is always to play passive and put all of your focus into farming instead of trying to trade with the enemy. Keep in mind that about 15 CS is the same as getting one kill, so even if you’re 0-3 and the enemy is 3-0, you can get back just by farming the lane and pinging your teammates to back whenever your laner wants to look for roams.

Having a Game Plan

When you think about it, League isn't actually that different from any normal Card game such as Legends of Runeterra. In both games you'll always have certain factors that are fully under your control and factors that have an element of uncertainty that you may have zero influence in changing.

For example, you have full control over the cards that you put into your deck before you look for a match and you'll already have an idea of what cards are out there so that you can optimize your own deck for the popular decks you're expecting to face. However, until you actually play against your opponent, anything is possible.

In League of Legends, your "deck" would be similar to your ability to choose your main role, your champion and your rune pages. At Champion select, apart from getting auto-filled or having your champion banned, you’re generally able to get the champion you want. However, outside of making suggestions or requests, the champions that your allies choose are completely out of your control.

When the game begins, you have to play to the best of your ability in relation to the game state presented to you. Sometimes, everything goes well & you get all the cards you need - You kill your opponent, get a lead and the game is in your hands. Other times, everything goes badly & you don't get good cards whilst your opponent seemingly hits every card they need - Same as starting the game losing your lane horribly at 0-3. So, how can you consistently succeed when there is so much variability between games? The key is having a game plan, to know what you're going to do next before you even arrive to that point in the game.

You should know by now how hectic League can get. Sometimes weird stuff happens and a champ that should be weak early gets insanely strong or a champ that is strong early fails miserably. For these cases you have to adapt to the state of the game. One example of good game plans is from looking at pro-play. Solo queue is, of course, a lot more disorganized so sometimes you'll just have to work with what you got. Just make sure to pay attention to the loading screens & look at tab often, evaluate all the information at your disposal.

Playing to your Win Conditions

A win condition are a set of goals that you’re trying to achieve because they represent the best path to attain victory. It guides your thought process & can change as the game goes on. Try to think of it as your Plan A > can lead to Plan B > C and so forth. Achieving these doesn’t always guarantee victory as your opponents will also fulfill their own win conditions. In general, if you follow your win con, you’ll have a higher chance of winning.

Example, you have a that's getting roasted up top whilst your & is winning their lane at bot. Your win condition is playing safe and getting bot further ahead and continuing to snowball even harder. You should not die or roam top period. She won't get back into the game with ganks alone & you're putting yourself at risk of dying as well. will have to accept that she's weak side, whilst you're making the strong side even stronger and vice versa. Just accept one lane is going to be weak and gank the stronger side instead.

Seeing the win cons in champions is another factor. For example, who is fully centered on dominating the early game into a victory is completely different from a who is weak and would rather play safe & farm early instead of fighting and wasting time. Seeing these win cons will come with time but it's good to keep in mind.

Getting objectives such as a tower/dragon can also be a very important goal. It'll never guarantee victory but it'll be able to give you a higher chance of reaching it.

Roaming

Generally speaking, roaming to other lanes is very situational. If you're in an even lane, you can shove the cannon wave and the next one (thereby guaranteeing it gets under turret) and then roam while out of sight of your opposing laner. This gives you a higher chance of having a finished roam and getting back to lane before the next cannon dies.

If your jungler is currently dead you can also go to a "free kill lane" by yourself, however, make sure you know where the enemy jungler is so you don't accidentally run into them. With this in mind, don't roam after you've just gotten a kill as you likely carry a lot of gold on you and have depleted ressources. Giving away your lead is one of the easiest ways to lose a game.

A lot of the top tier players rarely roam. This is because making a bad roam is so detrimental that it'd be better to stay in lane and maintain whatever advantage you already have. A good example of consistent play is watching replays of Dopa. For example, even in games where he's 10/0, he just doesn't really roam. He doesn't even frequently smash his lane like 10/0. He just plays consistently, keeps up with the "optimal" pacing (e.g. 10 cs/min), and reacts well to enemy mistakes. Even though his entire team is getting smashed, he's slightly ahead, but he never roams even when it seems like they're about to lose. Because he doesn't waste time on failed roams, he's able to make the ridiculous turnaround when the enemy team finally makes a mistake that he's in position to capitalize on.

In the end it depends on who you ask. For some people the answer is never. That's right, never. Even top tier challenger mid laners tend to follow the same logic sometimes. Instead of roaming, they walk through the brush mid lane towards one of the other lanes, and simply back, or wait a few seconds and then come back into the lane. You see, you don't actually have to show up bot or top to have a presence. The moment you go missing and your mid laner starts spamming "enemy missing!" pings or the bot lane checks the minimap and sees you aren't mid, they are gonna play back. Just being a presence is a very very powerful tool.

It's like having half of Evelynn's kit with you at all times. Most of her presence isn't even in her ganks so much as it is the fear of not having an idea of where you are. They have to have a healthy fear of you, otherwise they'll be killed. This helps you as well as you get all the presence of "roaming" without actually having to devote any time to doing it at all, you can just back, buy items and shove out the lane when you get back or sit in the brush and bait recalls/roams and then punish them by shoving into their turret.

What I mean to say is, roaming isn't as black and white as people make it seem. It's not really do I go bot or do I not? It's how can I influence the game in my favor?

Teamfighting

When Ahead

When control mages are ahead, there’s nothing really stopping them apart from their own greediness. Since you can do a lot of burst damage, it's better to focus on backline targets if they're overextended. However, since is quite squishy, you may be unable to even go near the enemy backline. This is where you should prioritize your damage on the enemy frontline even though you could kill the enemy ADC outright. You're essentially damaging frontline targets while waiting for an opportunity to obliterate the backline by seeing how the teamfight is being played out. You'll need to use your own judgement and experience to decide on what to do or how to play the teamfight.

When Even

Just like before, has the option to either focus the frontline, or try to destroy the backline if she gets a cheeky E off. This is the usual gameplay for mages alike when they’re coming face to face with the enemy due to being squishy, they cannot always focus the backline, which is why it's recommended to focus the frontline until a chance appears.

When Behind

When you are behind, you will lack burst damage. This is why you should only really be focusing the enemy frontline rather than the backline at all. If you were to get caught out of position when using your ultimate on the ADC for example, you may throw the entire fight. If you're already behind, it's not about carrying, it's only about enabling your team to win- even if that means taking unorthodox methods to gain a victory such as poking, sitting on top of your carry to protect them or otherwise.

Just remember, if you do manage to get behind, you don’t have to burst someone down. It’s all about dealing damage to whoever you can while you can.

Wave Management

This chapter goes over anything you'd want to know about wave management or otherwise named wave manipulation. During the lane you'll always have some sort of ways to manipulate waves every single game, same as the other lanes. It's mainly a set of guidelines to help you understand what to do in order to help yourself get ahead and remove possibilities of getting behind.

Slow Pushing

Good example of how to utilize "slow pushing", to start up a potential lead.

Key Points:
- Make sure to last-hit minions
- While the minions are slowly killing eachother I'm able to ward
- Barely miss any minions
- Next wave comes exactly in the middle of the lane
- The lane is now slowly pushing, I have 10 minions while they have the standard 6.

The art of slowly pushing waves towards your opponent's tower whilst harassing the enemy in the process. Slow pushing is mostly used to create big waves and apply pressure - especially against midlane matchups that cannot contest it and risk the chance of losing multiple waves of minions in the process.

What does it do? This form of manipulation will allow your minions to take much less damage compared to the enemy minions, and as a result, your minions will be able to slowly push the wave to the enemy tower. This is because your minions will last longer and not die quickly because they will always have the numbers advantage over the enemy.

Why is it important? Slow pushing is a term that is used in this sense of gameplay because your minions will – even with the numbers advantage, still take some time to kill the enemy minions. When you're not able to freeze the wave, you want to deny as much gold/exp as you're able to from the opponent and slow pushing waves is a great concept to accomplish just that.

You should slow push when...

>>		You want to roam and help other lanes
>>		You want to recall to pick up items whilst the enemy is forced to CS under tower
>>		You want to make other plays around the map or contest very important objectives

You should not slow push when...

>>		The enemy jungler can attempt to gank the lane
>>		The wave does not need to be pushed (e.g. there is no objective to contest)
>>		You're able to set-up a freeze which can permanently deny gold/exp

Fast Pushing

A good example of how to utilize "fast pushing". Pushing waves fast to accomplish good recalls for yourself.

Key Points:
- Both me and the enemy laner is extremely low
- My Rakan roamed already to help
- With them here I can push the wave as quick as possible without losing CS
- Now I can get a good recall despite the bad lane phase

Fast pushing is a form of manipulation that is used to create immediate and attention seeking behavior that needs to be addressed quickly by the enemy. Without this, enemies could take liberty and be gone for a long time without missing much. Fast pushing is used to force the enemy to make split decisions that may not be fully thought through.

In order to push a wave fast - you need to kill all the minions as quickly as you possibly can. You should look to use your auto attacks as well as your abilities to make the wave clearing much quicker to perform and make use of.

Pushing waves requires only one thing - more minions. The more minions you have compared to the enemies, the faster and more powerful the push will be. If you're clearing every minion the enemy has and only yours remain, they'll push very quickly to the opponent's tower.

You should fast push when...

>>		The enemy is attempting to roam and help other lanes that are struggling
>>		The enemy has left the lane to recall, buy items and spend their gold
>>		You want to dive the enemy under their tower (usually accompanied by your own jungler)

You should not fast push when...

>>		The enemy is still in lane and could set-up a freeze for themselves
>>		The enemy jungler could attempt to gank the lane and you're both low on health
>>		There is no dive to be made that requires pushing the wave really fast

Freezing

A good example of how you can utilize "freezing". Both setting up a freeze and maintaining it.

Key Points:
- I have more health than the opponent
- They have to recall
- I have more minions shoving to my tower
- I drag the minions towards the side
- I hold them there to setup a freeze on next wave
- Even though it's slightly improperly done (3 minions instead of 4-5) -- it's still a good showcase of how to set one up.

Freezing is one of the more complicated types of manipulation to perfect as it requires a lot more work because you have to constantly manipulate the wave in your favor whilst keeping an eye on your opponents. When freezing, you want to be able to zone the enemy off the farm and make them overextend if they want to get any farm.

If you want to freeze the wave - all you need to do is have at least 4+ enemy minions comparative to yours and last-hit the enemy minions at the last possible second. Sounds simple right? Well…it’s going to get a bit more complicated. Whenever the enemy damages a minion through either auto attacks or ability use outside of last-hitting, you will need to match their damage. This is because your allied minions will die quicker as they have less health and as a result, the enemies wave will be pushing towards you.

Due to having to match the damage - all the minions will die at roughly the same time which prevents the wave from pushing in either direction – thus creating the freeze. If you didn’t match the damage, or you start randomly auto attacking the minions, then the wave will not freeze and instead start pushing in a direction you may not like. Attack too little, and the wave will push against you. Attack too much, and it’ll push towards the enemy.

You should freeze when...

>>		You’re very ahead of the enemy or if you’re even with them
>>		The difference in strength between both parties is not very significant
>>		When your jungler is not at your side of the map and you can track the enemy jungler well

You should not freeze when...

>>		You’re extremely behind and can't properly set-up a freeze.
>>		The enemy laners have a massive lead and is stronger than you
>>		You have a lead and is ahead (you want to just push, push and push if you are ahead)

Warding

Seeing as you're a Midlaner, most of the times you won't have the biggest possibilities to just casually walk around the map and place wards. More often than not, that'll be the role of your Support to accomplish instead.

With that said, there are still some places and situations where you'll either have the need or the time to place down your s before eventually changing it out for a once the midgame starts and the game starts to get much longer.

Here are some good warding spots you can use (click the images to enlarge them):

Level 1 Wards

RAPTORS

These wards will give you information on rival jungler's early pathing. If they start on red side they'll either cross over this ward from Krugs to do Raptors or skip and do wolves. If they don't cross over the ward, it's likely they started blue side and you can ping this to your jungle to make use of this information.

PIXEL BRUSH

Typical ward spots I use a lot in my games. Especially good against early rival junglers like / that likes to invade early to steal a buff. Also good to defend against potential level 2 ganks onto yourself, think of junglers like .

Defensive Wards

RAPTOR ENTRANCE

Primarily has 2 purposes for existing. First off it can detect if the rival jungler is invading your jungler's Raptors/Red and second off it'll also make sure to notify your team if the enemy midlaner is trying to roam towards botlane or toplane (through the jungle instead of the river).

RIVER ENTRANCE

Opposite warding spots that provide the same purpose as the aforementioned ones but for the other side of the map and specifically river. If you're against a jungler that likes to invade very often, you can also opt to put these wards down to prepare for that in advance.

Lane Wards

PIXEL BRUSH

The popular warding spot being used with s. It's really valuable to put down wards in these pixel brushes during games since they can spot early ganks, jungler's whereabouts, if scuttle exists, avoiding potential roams and much more. Keep in mind it's also a spot that gets contested & cleared extremely often.

MIDLANE VISION

Place down s in these locations if you're against junglers that never really makes use of the river to gank lanes all that much. Think of potential junglers such as , or that can easily get over walls and terrain with , & .

LANE WARDS

These are called "lane wards" as they're placed right in the face of the lane. The purpose of these is to be able to see if the opposing midlaner wants to roam or not (especially if you are freezing at your tower and is ahead). Think of laners like or .

CLOSE WARDS

These provide the closest amount of vision to you from the two brushes nearest to midlane. However, it's worth to keep in mind that these aren't the greatest protection and doesn't cover everything (the same way a ward in either of the pixel brushes would be able to do).

Offensive Wards

RAPTOR BUSH

Will spot the rival jungler's pathing towards either Raptors or Red but also if they were to path towards blue side instead. Gives a lot of valuable information you can use to prepare for invades since you'll be able to know which camps are up and where the jungler could theoretically be.

RED BUFF

If you feel confident the enemy jungler is not at this area or your jungler already invaded them once, you could opt to put these wards down. It'll be able to spot the jungler on the red side of the map, whilst also making sure to get info whether Red buff is up or not. Can mainly be used to set-up invade opportunities for your jungler or general information about where the enemy jungler could go next.

WOLVES

Typically only placed after a successful invade from your jungler as it's very deep in enemy territory. However, this ward brings a lot of good information for the future, such as the timer for the wolves camp, if the jungler is gonna be on that side, if they're not on that side (the camp is still up).

BLUE BUFF

It'll give information whether the enemy jungler is trying to clear their Blue buff but it'll also show them on the same ward if they're trying to clear their Gromp as well. Still gives decent information on what camps are available and where the jungler could be. I would typically land one of these wards on my way back from roaming to toplane or botlane. Just quickly ward and instantly recall or walk back to lane if you don't have to.

Objective Wards

AROUND THE OBJECTIVE

Very useful ward locations if you're trying to prepare for an objective and want vision around the objective to spot enemies trying to lurk around. Putting down a isn't always needed, just having 2 s work just as fine.

THE OBJECTIVE PIT

The most common spot in the game. Primary reason is because it covers the entire dragon & baron pit so enemies trying to put wards over the wall to get vision will get denied entirely. It also serves as some good general vision if you're gonna prepare for it or if the enemy team might start it.

MID-RIVER NEAR OBJECTIVE

If you didn't buy any s or simply just don't have any in your inventory you could place down a in this location (s also work but will give gold when destroyed) and it'll still reveal any enemies passing through it, or trying to do the objective (assuming they're not jumping the wall).

Welcome to the matchup section. Below is a table depicting the difficulties of the matchups. Please keep in mind that these difficulties are solely based on my opinion. Matchup difficulty also depends on your skill and the skill of the opponents.

Champion

Difficulty

Aatrox

Ahri

Akali

Akshan

Anivia

Annie

Aurelion Sol

Aurora

Azir

Brand

Cassiopeia

Corki

Diana

Draven

Ekko

Ezreal

Fizz

Galio

Gangplank

Garen

Gragas

Heimerdinger

Hwei

Irelia

Jayce

Kai'Sa

Karma

Karthus

Kassadin

Katarina

Kayle

LeBlanc

Lissandra

Lucian

Lux

Champion

Difficulty

Malphite

Malzahar

Morgana

Naafiri

Neeko

Orianna

Pantheon

Qiyana

Renekton

Riven

Rumble

Ryze

Seraphine

Smolder

Swain

Sylas

Taliyah

Talon

Tristana

Tryndamere

Twisted Fate

Twitch

Veigar

Vel'koz

Vex

Viktor

Vladimir

Xerath

Yasuo

Yone

Zed

Ziggs

Zilean

Zoe

a-l matchups

Click a champion icon to go directly to the matchup!

Aatrox

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Avoid his whenever possible as it hits like a truck. You can accomplish this by letting him use it onto a minion. You'll be able to poke him rather easily with your combos but be cautious when it comes to your distance as he can look to trade back.

has three different casts all in order every time the ability is used. Note that this ability also has what's called a “Sweetspot” (bonus damage). 1st cast strikes a rectangular area towards you & the 2nd cast will strike a trapezoidal area towards you, sweetspot for both casts is the farthest edge. The 3rd cast is a circular area with the sweetspot in the center.

Plays a lot around his as hitting the ability will make his other abilities easier to hit as well. Keep in mind that it's easier to walk out from the chains by walking sideways instead of back/forwards. If he misses his chains, you have a really good opportunity to get off a trade. Be careful post-6 as his damage is not to be taken lightly.

Win Condition

If he's able to gain a significant lead then the later stages of the game is going to be a hell to get through. Most of the time if cannot gain a lead, he'll be useless for most of the game. I'd suggest picking up a for yourself to help deal with his healing. If you're struggling to stay alive, you can always get a too.

Ahri

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

deals magic damage on the way out & true damage on the way back. It's a skillshot that travels in a straight line, so staying out of its path or moving to the side can help mitigate its poke. Keep in mind that she can use this ability to clear waves quickly as well, so it will be your job to match her wave clear as to not give her the freedom to roam.

is her key engage and pick tool. If she lands it, it will make combos significantly easier to cast, especially post-6. Try to position carefully to avoid getting charmed and be mindful of her using fog of war or to land surprise charms. If she misses her charm, she loses a large portion of her threat, giving you a good window to trade at all times.

Her ultimate gives her three dashes over a short period of time, making her extremely mobile in trades and especially roams, she also gains a dash on champion takedowns. Watch out for her using the dashes aggressively to engage onto you or to finish off trades.

Win Condition

Ahri can snowball hard if she picks up early kills due to her roaming potential with . However, if you play carefully around and don’t allow her to burst you down with her full combo, she struggles to deal enough consistent damage in extended fights. Consider building to gain magic resistance and block her charm.

Akali

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Excels at short, bursty trades with and . It's a low cooldown ability that allows her to poke and waveclear from a distance, but the real danger comes from her passive as it grants movement speed & a powerful auto-attack. Try to avoid the passive if possible.

provides a huge window for her to trade or disengage safely. While inside the shroud she becomes untargetable. Let her use her shroud and punish her when it's on cooldown. Otherwise, wait for her to emerge from the shroud before committing to an extended trade.

Her burst potential comes online post-6 due to . Giving her two dashes - the first to close the gap & the second to finish off low health targets with a high damage execution. Be especially careful about your health after level 6 as she can quickly turn small trades into all-ins. Stay out of her dash range and don't let her chunk you out before an all-in.

Win Condition

She thrives in chaotic skirmishes where she can abuse her mobility & shroud to reposition and burst down targets. If you can survive her initial combo and bait out her shroud, you can look to trade back while her cooldowns are down. If she falls behind, she'll struggle to find meaningful impact, so keeping her from snowballing early is key. Consider building to mitigate her burst value.

Akshan

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

His main tool to poke with is that deals damage on both the way out & the way back, extending its range if it hits a target as well as providing him with shields and damage. Point is to harass and poke you down during lane, dodging it by sidestepping or positioning behind minions can reduce the amount of poke you take.

is 's signature mobility tool, allowing him to swing around terrain and kite you while dealing damage. This makes him highly mobile and difficult to pin down in fights, especially in lane where there are plenty of walls to swing from. Try to position in ways that limit his access to walls for an easier engage or disengage.

Very dangerous if he can snowball early with the revive mechanic that can bring fallen allies back to life. If you or your allies kill an enemy, that champion becomes a scoundrel, if kills the scoundrel, his ally is revived. If he starts picking up kills and using his mobility to roam, he can snowball other lanes effectively.

Win Condition

The key to dealing with him is avoiding getting poked down and punishing him when he overextends. Deny him early kills and minions and try to track his roams. Consider for more survivability in all-ins.

Anivia

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is a slow-moving skillshot that stuns and damages enemies in a line. It deals damage both when it passes through and when it explodes so be mindful of its return path. You can dodge the projectile due to its slow speed, but if you get hit by the stun, she can follow up with a burst.

Her wall is a powerful zoning tool that can block off your escape routes or separate you from your team. Keep an eye on the terrain and avoid positioning yourself near walls or narrow corridors where she can trap you easily. If you're caught out by the wall, she can quickly capitalize with a full combo or force you into her for high damage over time.

is her main wave clear and zoning ability post-6. Don’t stand in the storm too long, as the damage ramps up over time. She'll use this ability to zone you, set up kills and control objectives. Avoid fighting within her ultimate's radius unless you can burst her down quickly or disengage effectively.

Win Condition

Very reliant on landing abilities, without them she's useless. If she uses her and misses, you have a good window to trade or engage. If isn't active she's extremely vulnerable, if it's active it's slightly more annoying. She lacks mobility to escape sticky situations (even more without her egg passive) so poke from afar and punish her as much as you can. Consider building to block her stun.

Annie

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The biggest threat lies in which stuns after every fourth spell. Pay attention to the visual indicator above her head that shows when her stun is ready — if it's charged, avoid getting too close or engaging in trades. Once she uses her stun, you have a good window to trade as her kill pressure drops significantly.

is a low-cooldown, targeted ability that allows her to poke and last-hit minions. It refunds mana if it kills the target, giving her great lane sustain. Be cautious of her using it to stack and charge her stun while farming.

Her is her main burst tool and can instantly turn trades in her favor. Tibbers deals significant AoE damage on cast and continues to apply damage and pressure. Keep in mind that she often looks for combos with Flash and Tibbers, which can catch you off guard and get you killed. If she has and her stun is ready, play more defensively and be cautious.

Win Condition

She's dangerous if she has stun & ultimate ready, trivial otherwise. If you can dodge or bait out her stun, it greatly reduces her overall threat. She's also fairly immobile, poke her from afar and avoid extended trades. Consider to block her engage or negate her burst along with some magic resistance.

Aurelion Sol

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Aurelion's core mechanic revolves around where enemies are broken down into Stardust which at significant levels will improve his major abilities.

His is his main source of farming and waveclear, this is especially true when coupled with to group minions together, making it easier to take them out. Do not trade with him outright and let him use his breath procs, they hurt, and will outtrade you by a mile. Aim for short trades at all times, slowly chip away at his health until you can eventually all-in him.

allows him to fly for a distance across the map, making him an excellent roamer all whilst still being able to use other abilities. Be aware of his roams to other lanes, as he can arrive unexpectedly and swing fights with his large AoE . Track him on the map, make use of wards and ping your teammates if he leaves lane to try and roam.

Win Condition

His power comes from poke and roams, especially with . Try to track him and avoid letting him roam freely, ping your teammates and push out waves to punish him for bad roams. If he cannot control fights or roam effectively, he becomes a sacrificial pawn. Consider to help mitigate his initial engage and to build magic resistance.

Aurora

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Her kit mainly revolves around . This is a 3-hit passive, if she hits 3 times it'll proc and deal more damage, it'll also give her a spirit and more movement speed, making her annoyingly slippery.

is her main source of poke as it travels towards targets and can be recalled back, dealing damage on the way back as well. This is often coupled with for fast wave clears and damage outputs, this ability also makes her jump backwards by a slight bit.

Her is what makes her so slippery in trades or skirmishes as she casts a massive circle around her target(s). Unless you dash or flash out of the circle before it forms, you'll be stuck inside of it for a bit. If you touch the edges you'll get slowed and pushed to the middle, all while can go to one side of the circle to teleport to the other side and vice versa.

Win Condition

The main power is poke and potential roams with , don't play too much into your own minions due to . If she cannot get a lead, she won't be a strong threat at all. Consider to help mitigate her burst engages and to build magic resistance.

Azir

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The core strength lies in his which summons sand soldiers to deal damage from a distance, all things considered this lane feels unplayable. He relies on positioning his soldiers correctly, so if you can dodge the soldiers' range or position in ways that limit how many soldiers can hit you, you can avoid taking excessive poke.

allows him to reposition his soldiers and deal damage in a line. This is his primary tool for trading and engaging in lane. Keep your distance when his soldiers are repositioned aggressively, and try to punish him when this ability is on cooldown as his mobility and damage are greatly reduced without it.

His dash makes him highly mobile and allows him to initiate or escape by dashing to one of his soldiers. Be mindful of his iconic "Shurima Shuffle" (A combo of into ), where he dashes forward and pushes you into danger with his wall of soldiers.

Win Condition

Heavily reliant on his soldiers, so if you can force him to dash without a good set-up or to misposition, he becomes vulnerable. Extremely difficult if sand soldiers are placed well. His high DPS can quickly melt your health bar if you linger too long. Consider building to block his engage.

Brand

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The main problem is , a large AoE spell that deals significant damage if it hits, especially if you’re already ablaze from another ability. This ability is telegraphed with a brief delay, so it can be dodged with quick movement or by staying out of range.

is a skillshot that stuns you if you’re already affected by , a typical way to accomplish this would be combos of E+Q into W or W+Q. If he wastes you have a huge window to trade or engage, as his main form of crowd control will be down for a short period.

His is a targeted ability that spreads to nearby enemies if the target is already ablaze. Typically he'll minions and then use this ability to spread it, so don't stand too close.

Win Condition

Thrives in extended skirmishes and teamfights where he can spread to multiple targets and chain his . To counter him, avoid clumping with your minions and try to keep moving to dodge abilities. The key is respecting burn and not being exposed to it for way too long. Consider building to build magic resistance and block his engage.

Cassiopeia

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Her main harass and poke tool is her , a quick-cast poison that deals damage over time and grants her a burst of movement speed if it hits you. Try to avoid getting tagged by it, as it'll allow her to kite aggressively with for major damage.

creates a poison zone that grounds you, preventing the use of movement abilities and making it easier for her to hit her other abilities. Avoid fighting her while inside. If you can dodge this ability or fight outside its range, you'll have a better chance of avoiding a full-on engage from her.

The key damage tool is , which she spams at extremely high speed on poisoned targets. This is where most of her damage comes from, especially in sustained fights. If you get poisoned, be ready to either disengage or commit quickly, as staying too long in her range will melt your health. She excels in extended trades, so short bursts or poke are the best way to deal with her. Be wary of as it stuns if you face her directly.

Win Condition

High-DPS, low-mobility champion who relies on landing poison to follow up with spam. Her weakness lies in her lack of mobility, so if you can dodge abilities or burst her down quickly, she struggles to fight back. Avoid extended fights and punish her with short trades. Consider to block her poke.

Corki

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

He excels immensely at dealing major AD and true damage thanks to . provides area damage and a vision advantage, making it a key tool for poking and revealing enemy champions in bushes. His also gives him the freedom to dash and reposition as necessary.

Additionally, his applies damage in a cone, making it effective for hitting multiple times. Ideally you do not want to die to him and give him leads. His heavy AD focused build will melt both you and your team if given for free.

His ultimate , grants him 4 charges of missiles that he can use whenever he'd like. Each third missile will also be amplified and deal more damage. The missiles by themselves are no real threat but try to avoid the third missile at all times as much as possible, due to this one hurting the most.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging abilities and try not to make extended trades where he can auto-attack you over and over again. Punish him when his important abilities are on cooldown, otherwise stay away from him. Consider to help mitigate his heavy AD damage.

Diana

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The worst part about is her , a skillshot that curves and that applies Moonlight to enemies it hits. This ability sets up her combos, as hitting a target allows her to dash to them with , resetting the cooldown of her dash. Avoiding or dodging this ability is key to preventing her from following up with her burst damage.

provides both damage and a shield, making her deceptively tanky in trades. The shield refreshes if all three spheres hit a target, so try to trade with her after the shield has expired or poke her down from afar.

is her main engage which pulls enemies toward her and deals damage in an AoE. Be wary when she dives into your team with , as she can follow it up with this ability to chain her burst damage and potentially catch multiple targets. The more targets it hits, the worse the damage is.

Win Condition

A strong burst assassin who thrives in melee range and teamfights where she can hit multiple targets with . Try to poke her down from afar. If you can dodge , it reduces her threat significantly as she relies on this ability to engage. Consider to help with surviving her all-ins or build a to deal with her burst.

Draven

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

A very dominant laner who relies heavily on adoration stacks to snowball leads. His primary source of damage comes from his basic attacks, which are enhanced by . If he catches his axes successfully, his damage output increases dramatically, making trades against him particularly risky.

His is a knockback ability that can disrupt your positioning and potentially set him up for an all-in. Avoiding this ability can allow you to trade back effectively when it's on cooldown.

is a global ability that deals damage upon hitting enemies and can return back to him. This ability can finish off low-health champions and contribute to his overall damage in fights, so be mindful of your positioning when you're low. Don't rush for extended trades, only go for short trades where you excel and he does not.

Win Condition

Excels in the early game and snowballs quickly if he can secure kills or catch axes. Try to avoid extended trades and stay safe in lane, avoid giving him free kills, and punish him when he overextends or misses his axes. If he dies, he will lose all of his adoration stacks, setting him back significantly. Consider to stack armor and for its active.

Ekko

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is the main problem with this matchup, an ability that slows and damages enemies in its path. When it returns to him, it deals increased damage if it hits the same target again. Be mindful of positioning when he uses this ability, as getting hit by the return can set him up for follow-up trades to proc . Dodging this ability is crucial to minimizing his poke and preventing him from getting an advantageous trade.

is how he's able to engage, ideally you want to punish him when he tries to engage onto you for a positive trade, albeit it'll be difficult. He also has which gives the ability to stun enemies if they're inside the circle when he enters the circle in time. Be mindful of where he is and avoid being near bushes as he uses them to setup abilities.

His allows him to rewind time, healing for a portion of the damage he took and teleporting back to the location he was at a few seconds prior. This makes him extremely difficult to kill, especially if you overcommit. You may have to force his ultimate first before being in lethal range to get a kill.

Win Condition

Thrives on mobility and burst damage. Try to bait out and trade when it's on cooldown. Focus on avoiding prolonged engagements where he can capitalize on his passive and mobility. Consider to help mitigate his poke.

Ezreal

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Not a midlaner you'll see all that much anymore but is a highly mobile AD carry who excels at poking from a distance with . This ability deals damage and reduces the cooldown of his other abilities if it hits an enemy, allowing him to spam it frequently.

His is a magical orb that can stick to targets, providing him with extra damage if it's procced. If he lands it on you, try to avoid letting him proc it so you won't have to lose so much health. is his main tool for disengaging or avoiding ganks, punish him as much as possible when this ability is on cooldown.

fires a global skillshot that deals significant damage to all enemies in its path. This ability can be used to finish off low-health enemies, so be cautious of your positioning when he has it available. Best advice when you're low is to recall at one place for a couple seconds, then move and recall somewhere else.

Win Condition

Is a strong poke champion who can kite effectively with his mobility. Focus on dodging his and trading when it's on cooldown. If isn't available, punish him or ask for ganks. If you can close the gap and burst him down, he becomes less of a threat as the game progresses. Consider to block his abilities.

Fizz

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The problem is , since it makes him untargetable. Avoid standing too close to him, as he will look for opportunities to trade with you to deal countless of damage and then jump away without you being able to create any counterplay.

His is a dash that allows him to close the gap quickly and reposition himself in fights. If he dashes towards you, be ready to react, as he often follows up with , which is his ultimate. This ability summons a fish that will attach to the first enemy champion hit, dealing damage and slowing them. If you’re caught in this ability, it sets him up for an easy follow-up and a potential instant death.

can be a game-changer in fights, especially when he combines it with his dashes. It deals damage and can knock up and slow enemies. The fish can also be tricky to avoid if you're not paying attention, so make sure to keep your distance or have your crowd control ready to counter him. If he misses his ultimate, he becomes much more vulnerable.

Win Condition

Incredibly powerful when he can catch opponents off guard. Try to keep track of his cooldowns, especially his . Avoid extended trades and focus on burst damage when he's out of cooldowns, bait them out and punish. Consider to help negate his burst damage or avoid the damage from his ultimate.

Galio

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

A tanky champion who excels at both poking and teamfighting. is the main ability, which sends out a wave of damaging wind that deals significant damage to enemies caught in its path. Positioning is key; try to dodge or sidestep this ability.

enhances his next auto-attack, dealing extra damage. Since it has a 5 second cooldown, make quick trades with him while it's down and avoid him when it's up and active. The worst part of his abilities is as he can reduce any magic damage you inflict by quite a lot. Try to engage with him when he's unable to use this ability.

His ultimate allows him to dash to an ally and provide a shield while knocking up enemies in the area upon landing. Keep track of his movements and map presence. If he tries to roam to other lanes, make sure to ping your teammates and ward effectively.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging his and keep track of him on the map due to . Engage with him when his abilities are on cooldown (especially ) and avoid fighting in situations where he can easily capitalize on your positioning. Consider items like to counter his poke and stack magic resistance.

Gangplank

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

A versatile champion who excels at both poking and scaling with his barrels. is a key ability that allows him to set up explosive barrels. If he places a barrel near you and detonates it, it can lead to a significant burst of damage. Avoid being near his barrels and watch his positioning or alternatively, just last-hit the barrels before he does. If he overcommits or mispositions his barrels, that's your chance to engage.

deals damage to a single target and can critically strike if he has barrels set up, avoid trading with him if this ability is up or he has barrels close by. He will use to poke and trade with you a lot, as it's a cheap ability.

can influence fights from a distance by dealing AoE damage and slowing enemies. He can cast this ability from anywhere and to anywhere, try to ping your teammates when the ability is up or if they're low on health.

Win Condition

Focus on denying him farm early and trading when his abilities are on cooldown. Avoid standing near his barrels, or last-hit them before he does. Ping your teammates when his ultimate is available. Apply early pressure and keep him from farming effectively, especially in the laning phase. Consider items like to reduce his healing or to stack armor.

Garen

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Extremely straightforward champion. The primary damage tool is which grants movement speed and silences enemies when hit. This ability allows him to engage quickly and disrupt your spells. Avoid getting close to him and trade with him from afar. If he manages to silence you, he can follow up with a damaging .

is his signature ability, spinning in place to deal damage to enemies around him. Positioning is key, trade when he's not able to use his abilities and don't let him close the gap.

His executes enemies if they're low. If you’re caught in a situation where he can execute you, it may be best to disengage and heal up or just recall entirely as otherwise he can just onto you and practically kill you.

Win Condition

Focus on poking him down from a distance and avoiding extended trades where he can utilize . The key to defeating him is to avoid prolonged engagements and take advantage of his lack of mobility. If you can burst him down before he can get his full combo off or kite him effectively during trades, you'll have a much easier time. Consider to help mitigate his damage.

Gragas

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

allows him to throw a barrel that can be detonated to deal damage and slow enemies. The barrel's placement can be tricky, as he can chain its effects for significant damage. Be wary of standing near his barrels; if he places them strategically, they can catch you off-guard during trades or team fights.

reduces his incoming damage and increases his damage on his next auto-attack, making him very troublesome. Try to trade with him when this ability is down or just wait it out, as he will be less durable and vulnerable to your attacks when he cannot reduce their damage.

His ultimate can be used to initiate or disengage, pushing enemies away or into your team. Be careful of your positioning when he has his ultimate available, as getting caught by it can result in being isolated from your team or forced into a disadvantageous position (or it could just kill you outright).

Win Condition

Try to focus on dodging his barrels and avoid extended trades when he has active. Capitalize on his cooldowns, especially after he uses his barrels or his ultimate. If you can catch him when he's vulnerable, you can burst him down quickly. Consider to help mitigate his poke or to get safety from his ultimate.

Heimerdinger

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is troublesome only due to , which deals damage over time if left unchecked. These turrets provide both poke and a considerable zone of control, so it's essential to avoid standing in their range while trading. Try to focus on removing his turrets first before engaging, as they amplify his overall damage output.

His is another key ability that allows him to deal damage from a distance. These rockets are targeted and can hit multiple enemies if they are within range. Avoid trading against him when these are up, especially if you’re close to his turrets.

enhances his turrets, turning them into more powerful versions with additional features. This ability significantly increases his damage output and makes his turrets more challenging to deal with. Be aware of when he has his ultimate available; a well-placed turret, thrown storm grenade or rockets can deal major damage and kill you.

Win Condition

Clear his turrets quickly and avoid prolonged engagements where he can poke you down. The key to defeating him is to disrupt his turret setups and engage him when his abilities are down, try to find an opportunity to trade without his turrets in play. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Hwei

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

This champion is the absolute pinnacle of worst due to as it holds his 3 most prominent damaging spells. He can throw a fireball at you, or hit you with lightning which deals immense damage, or place a major eruption on the ground which makes his waveclear extremely troublesome dealing with.

offers him 3 supportive abilities, a line of waters for movement speed, a protective healing pool, or 3 swirling lights that increase his auto attack damage. Finally, he has which offers him 3 crowd control abilities, a terrifying face that causes you to flee, an eye that lingers and provides vision while rooting targets it hits as well as a set of jaws that drags enemies to the center.

can be a game-changer in trades as it slows and deals AoE damage, especially when he combines it with other abilities or chains it with his damaging ones, it can practically 1shot you if you aren't careful.

Win Condition

Incredibly powerful when he can trade freely and do whatever he wants. Try to keep track of his cooldowns or bait them, punish him when they're not available. He's extremely immobile without his CC spells, gank setups or good quick trades can do wonders. If he wastes abilities for wave clear, try to punish accordingly. Consider items like to mitigate his poke.

Irelia

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Far too mobile and annoying. The worst ability is which allows her to dash to marked targets, dealing damage and resetting the cooldown if she kills a minion. Be cautious of her mobility; if she has low health targets around, she can quickly close the gap and trade favorably.

grants her stacking damage and lifesteal depending on the number of blades she has. This makes her increasingly threatening in extended trades, especially once she accumulates a few stacks. Look for short trades when her passive isn't stacked, never go for extended trades.

Her ultimate sends out a cage of blades that if it hits you, will almost certainly be death. It'll slow you and give her the ability to close the gap along with to stun you. Be careful when this ability is up, try to trade when her abilities are down.

Win Condition

Irelia becomes a significant threat as she scales and gains items, so it's crucial to deny her early kills and minimize her farm. Focus on trading when her abilities are on cooldown and avoid trades when her passive is stacked. Wait for her to make mistakes and punish her accordingly when she does. Consider items like to mitigate her damage.

Jayce

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

can hit you at a distance. It travels quickly and deals significant damage if it hits when combined with . Be cautious of his positioning and try to avoid standing in a straight line, as he can hit multiple targets with a well-placed .

In melee form he can use to engage or disengage, trade with him from afar, don't let him close the gap. If you see him switch to melee form, be prepared for a potential engage. Understanding when he will switch forms is crucial for avoiding unfavorable trades, if he switches to his Ranged Form and is close to you, you can punish him and create a strong trade, then disengage.

His ultimate , allows him to switch between being a ranged character or a melee character. It's very vital to understand how to punish him in each form. Punish him from afar when he's melee, walk up and quickly make a burst trade if he switches to ranged.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and trading when he's in melee form when he cannot poke back. The key to defeating Jayce is to capitalize on his cooldowns and avoid letting him land his poke consistently. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke damage.

Kai'Sa

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

fires multiple missiles that can hit multiple targets in close proximity. This ability allows her to poke down enemies and is particularly effective in skirmishes. Avoid close trades with her, make short bursty trades and then back off.

Her is a skillshot that marks enemies hit, this ability can be extremely deadly if you're careless about her passive which makes all of her abilities apply plasma stacks. At 4 plasma stacks, it procs and deals major damage, always be cautious of this and if she's close on stacks, do not go near her until they disappear.

not only provides mobility but also grants her a shield, making her difficult to burst down when used. This ability allows her to reposition quickly and escape danger or engage when she sees an opportunity. Try to catch her off guard and burst her before she's able to react. Due to being squishy, you can kill her without this ultimate being present.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and avoid prolonged trades where she can utilize her passive to stack damage. Capitalize on her cooldowns and punish her when they're not available. If you can burst her down or zone her out during teamfights, she will struggle to reach her full potential. Consider items like to help mitigate her poke or depending on her build.

Karma

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

sends out a damaging orb that explodes after a short delay, dealing damage to enemies in the area. Don't stand near your minions way too much as to avoid unnecessary poke damage.

provides a shield to herself or an ally while also granting bonus movement speed. This makes her difficult to trade against, as she can negate a portion of incoming damage and reposition herself. Try to bait out her shield before committing to a trade or alternatively try to get a short trade off before she can shield it. also gives her the ability to root you, so don't walk too close.

Her ultimate enhances abilities, deals increased damage and creates a large AoE, heals her when used and provides a much larger AoE shield. Trade with her when her ultimate is down, that's when she's the weakest.

Win Condition

Avoid trades where she can cast as you'll more than likely lose, if she misses, punish her then. Capitalize on her cooldowns, trade when she's unable to trade back or walking forward to take minions. Consider items like to help mitigate her poke damage.

Karthus

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is his primary poking tool and allows him to deal damage in a targeted area, with a notable increase in damage if you are hit without other targets present. This ability can be challenging to dodge, especially when combined with his passive, which allows him to spam it frequently. The best advice is to just trade with him from afar and not let him close the gap too much.

will slow you if you're caught crossing it, he can use this ability to close the gap and poke, however if you time your abilities well, he won't generally be able to trade without losing those trades.

His ultimate deals damage to all enemies in the game, regardless of distance, after a short channel. This ability can finish off low-health targets, so be mindful of when he is approaching level 6 and ping your teammates accordingly so he can't just pick up free kills. If you are the one that's low, it's wise to just recall.

Win Condition

Dodge his and avoid staying low on health due to his ultimate. You have a major advantage when trading and if you do quick bursty trades, you will be able to burst him down before he's able to damage you much back. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke or for safety against his ultimate.

Kassadin

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Extremely weak early, he'll mostly avoid extended trades, if not trades at all. His main purpose early is to sustain and only use to provide him with a shield that reduces your magic damage. Try to create short bursty trades against him when this ability is down.

is also a highly unfortunate part of the matchup for you as it further reduces all magic damage towards him. is great for him as he can use it to slow you, follow up with other abilities and still get it back without too much effort due to the cooldown getting reduced each time abilities are used.

is where his entire champion essentially becomes dangerous and, well, a champion. Each time the ability is used, he gains a stack which increases the damage of the ability, but costs way more mana. His level 16 is lethal purely because of this reason.

Win Condition

Focus on denying him farm in the early game and try to poke him down before he hits level 6 as he is relatively vulnerable before then. Try to punish and trade with him from afar as much as possible before he gets to scale, if you can take him out of the game early, he won't be as lethal when he hits vital powerspikes. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Katarina

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Very slippery of a champion. is the ability that sets up most of her trading patterns in lane. Always try to avoid standing near her daggers in any way when they drop to the ground, you want to trade with her from afar and not get too close.

is what allows her to jump to her daggers, if she picks up a dagger, this ability will refresh. Couple this with and she can have lethal engages whilst still being able to dash away before you can trade back effectively. This is why you want to trade from afar and not allow her to close the gap easily.

Her ultimate unleashes a flurry of blades around her, dealing massive damage to all enemies in range. This means you should always be wary of her level 6 spike. Yours is stronger, given you're able to burst her down with quick trades and effectively kill her when she's stunned, if not, you'll have a hard time winning those trades.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging her daggers and avoid standing near minions too much. If she wastes her abilities or mispositions, punish her for those mistakes. Track her roams and ping your teammates accordingly. Consider items like or to negate her damage as her builds are very versatile.

Kayle

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Transitions from a melee to a ranged damage dealer as she levels up, that being level 6, 11 and 16. During the laning phase is where she's the weakest. She's melee until lvl 6, can only trade with and can easily be poked and punished everytime she walks up to get minions.

As she levels, gains access to her passive , which enhances her basic attacks and grants her additional range after reaching certain levels. This makes her progressively more threatening, always abuse her when she's weakest and freeze at your tower if possible. You want to deny her as much as possible before she can transition into her ranged form.

is what makes her later stages harder to deal with as she becomes much harder to kill due to the invulnerability, this coupled with higher level spikes and she can become such a threat to the point you cannot kill her.

Win Condition

Scales incredibly well into the late game, making her horrible to face if she's able to hit level 16 with relative ease. Focus on denying her farm in the early game with freezes and poke and try to pressure her before she hits level 6. Poke and burst her if she overextends for farm and abuse her weak early. Consider items like or to mitigate her poke as her builds are versatile.

LeBlanc

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

marks enemies and deals damage upon detonation. Be cautious when engaging her; if you get hit by the sigil, she can follow up with or to proc the sigil for additional damage and crowd control.

allows her to dash to a target location, dealing damage to enemies in the area. After the initial dash, she can reactivate it to return to her original position. If you see her use it, keep an eye on where she returns. Baiting the spell out could also aid you in creating a favorable engage if she's unable to detonate her sigil effectively.

Her ultimate allows her to cast a copied version of one of her basic abilities, significantly increasing her burst potential. She can mimic her sigil, doubling her damage output and still detonating the sigil with the same ability, her dash in order to dash once again or her chains to offer more CC.

Win Condition

Focus on trading back when her abilities are on cooldown, preferably take short trades where you can poke her and back off before she returns the trade. Punish her if she's mispositioned or engages but misses her abilities (e.g. ). Consider items like to negate her burst damage.

Lissandra

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is fearsome due to dealing damage to enemies in a line and slowing them. This ability can be used to poke and set up for further damage. Be cautious of her positioning; avoid standing near your minions.

She has two other main abilities as well, for escaping dire situations and for rooting targets in place. The first one makes her extremely difficult to engage on or gank as she can escape relatively easily and the other stops any movement if she were to be in a situation that isn't ideal.

Her ultimate can be used defensively or offensively. She can either encase herself in ice, becoming untargetable while healing for a portion of her health, or target an enemy champion to freeze them in place and deal damage. This duality makes her a formidable opponent; if she uses her ultimate to survive burst damage, she can counterattack, and if used offensively, she can setup ganks. Be aware of her ultimate cooldown, as it can significantly influence the outcome of trades.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and try to trade when her abilities are on cooldown. Trade with her from a distance and avoid giving her the freedom to close the gap and lock you in place. can setup ganks for her, so be cautious. Consider items like to help mitigate her poke.

Lucian

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

His fires a shot that deals damage to the first enemy hit. Be cautious of his trading potential, as he can easily chunk your health with this ability, especially if you stand too close to minions.

offers him the ability to close distances and trade effectively, if he's able to couple it together with his passive , he'll chunk your health relatively far if you're not careful. This is mainly because the passive allows him to fire two shots at once.

His ultimate unleashes a barrage of shots in a cone, dealing significant damage to all enemies in its path. Be mindful of your positioning and don't waste your spells. If you do waste your spells, he can close the gap and essentially kill you outright as this ultimate deals massive damage to targets that don't have much health to begin with.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and trading back when his abilities are on cooldown. Don't pick trades that you know you cannot win, make short trades where you can poke him as much as possible whilst he's unable to return the favor. Consider items like to negate his overall damage as well as his ultimate.

Lux

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Her primary poke ability is as it travels a far distance, detonates when she wants it to and applies for further damage. Avoid standing near your minions as to give her a choice whether to poke you or to focus on the minions.

provides a shield to herself and allies, allowing her to mitigate incoming damage. This ability can keep her alive during trades, so try to bait it out before committing to an all-in engagement. Best advice here is to just poke her with Q whilst she tries to get farm, possibly baiting out the shield and letting you punish it.

Her ultimate deals significant damage in a straight line and can finish off low-health enemies from a distance. The worst thing you could do against her is to get caught by post-6, as she can easily follow up with and and erase you from existance.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging at all cost and try to trade when her abilities are on cooldown. She's extremely immobile and vulnerable without her spells, if you can bait them out or make her waste them on nothing, you can punish her severely. Consider items like to help mitigate her poke or just buy a to provide full safety from her ultimate in time if you do get caught.

m-z matchups

Click a champion icon to go directly to the matchup!

Malphite

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

An annoying matchup purely because of which hurls a shard that damages and slows. This ability allows him to poke enemies in lane while providing him with additional movement speed, making it crucial to trade from afar.

is especially effective in trades assuming he's able to get close to you, thankfully even though he gains lots of armor from this ability, none of that affects you due to your ability to deal major magic damage instead.

His ultimate is a devastating initiation tool that allows him to slam onto you, knocking you up and stunning you. This ability can immediately kill you if you're not careful, he can close the distance quickly and with a good build, you're dead if you're not aware.

Win Condition

Focus on trading early, as he is weaker before he accumulates items and levels. Punish him if he wastes his abilities on minions, you can get a lot of short trades this way. Be cautious of his post-6. Consider items like can provide safety during his ultimate or depending on the build he uses.

Malzahar

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

His primary poking and wave clearing tool is which deals damage over time to a target and can spread to nearby enemies if the target dies while affected. This ability allows him to apply pressure in lane, so be cautious of walking up while this ability is active on minions, as it can spread to you.

summons voidlings that will apply additional pressure and damage. The voidlings if maintained, can be an annoyance. This coupled with which provides him with a shield, makes him even more annoying to face. Focus on killing his voidlings first and removing his shield with a Q before making proper trades.

His ultimate is a powerful suppression that locks you down for a short duration while dealing damage over time. The worst part about this ability is that it's a great setup for potential ganks or could also outright kill you if you're not prepared or don't deal with his voidlings.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and avoid trading until his shield is removed with your Q. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke and make yourself harder to kill/CC straight away.

Morgana

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The worst ability is which provides her with a free spell shield. This is the most annoying ability purely because it's the only one she has that can make your combos harder to execute due to her not being affected by stuns when the shield is active.

creates a zone that deals damage over time to you within it. If she manages to land , she can easily follow up with this ability maximizing her damage output and just creating a strong trading pattern.

Her ultimate is a powerful crowd control ability that roots at the end of its duration. If you find yourself caught in this ability, it can be devastating, especially if combined with other abilities due to you being extremely immobile.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and look for trades when her is on cooldown. Consider items like to help mitigate her poke or which can provide safety during her ultimate lockdowns.

Naafiri

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Her passive allows her to summon 2-3 shadow hounds that can assist in attacks. allows her to deal damage from afar, if the first cast hits an enemy they're inflicted a bleed and her hounds jumps onto the target, if the second cast hits and they're still bleeding, it stops and they instead take the full bleed damage.

enables her to dash to an enemy champion -- this is her primary engaging tool. It's especially dangerous because it allows her to quickly close the gap and unleash a burst combo.

Additionally, her ultimate enhances her range, damage and spawning more hounds whilst also gaining vision. The worst thing you can do here is to trade when her ultimate is active. It's recommended to bait it out and wait out the ultimate before making trades as to avoid her strong side.

Win Condition

It's essential to avoid standing too close to minions due to . Keep track of her and be prepared to CC her if she does decide to use it and build up a burst. Maintain vision control and deny her any opportunities to roam to other lanes as to limit her impact. Consider items like to absorb her burst damage and provide safety if she dives with her ultimate.

Neeko

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is an interesting champion. Her passive allows her to camouflage into almost anything in the game, whether that be a ward, a blast cone, a minion or another champion. also allows her to become invisible and create a clone of the same camouflage for a short duration. Be aware of this and count minions. If each wave isn't 6 minions exactly (+1 with cannon) -- she has turned into a minion.

Her poke comes from which deals damage in a small area and can explode multiple times if it hits the same target. This ability allows her to poke effectively and provides decent wave clear. Punish her if she uses this ability recklessly. The same goes for which roots anything it hits.

Her ultimate is a powerful AoE ability that knocks up enemies and deals significant damage. This is why it's important to keep track of her passive, as she can sneak up on you as a minion and possibly kill you due to it.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and try to trade when her abilities are on cooldown. Always try to poke her and deny her from farm if you're able to. Count minions and be aware if they're off. Consider items like to help mitigate her immense poke.

Orianna

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

allows her to send her ball to a target location. This ability provides her the ability to poke and be a complete nuisance in lane while always maintaining distance. Always be mindful of your positioning don't make trades unless you're sure her abilities aren't available.

creates a shockwave at the area of where her orb currently is, this is why she is an aggressive opponent as her poking capabilities are huge. This coupled with which provides her with a shield is what makes her annoying to kill since she has multiple ways to engage or disengage at will.

Her ultimate is a powerful AoE ability that pulls anyone towards her ball and deals damage. It's essential to keep track of her ball's location and be aware of her positioning; if she has her ultimate available, you need to respect her engage potential and avoid clustering with your minions.

Win Condition

It's crucial to dodge . Try to look for opportunities to trade when she misses her abilities or ask for ganks. Consider items like to help mitigate her poke or to negate her ultimate.

Pantheon

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The worst early game champion, but if unable to get a lead early, will become useless as the game passes by. allows him to either throw a long spear or short spear. It's a good idea to avoid this ability.

is a gap-closing ability that stuns, try your best to avoid being close to him at all cost as to not let him trade effectively. Make short trades where you can poke him down and immediately disengage. If he couples this with , he's practically unable to have damage dealt to him as he can just avoid it.

His ultimate allows him to leap to a target area. Always keep track of where he is and ping your teammates when he tries to roam so he cannot close the gap with his ultimate and impact any other lane he wants.

Win Condition

Focus on avoiding and try to trade when they are down. Keep track of his roams and ping your team accordingly so he cannot use to close the gap and win fights on other lanes. Consider items like to provide safety against his poke.

Qiyana

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Her allows her to manipulate the terrain to her advantage depending on the environment. She can pick up wild from brushes, ice from river, or rock from walls to enhance her . The worst thing you can do is to let her engage onto you for free with .

As mentioned, changes its shape depending on the element that she picks up. Rock enchantment will deal more damage when hit, ice enchantment will root the target in place and slow them whilst the wild enchantment will cause her to go invisible for a short duration.

Her ultimate is a powerful AoE that knocks you back and stuns if you hit terrain. This is usually coupled with her other abilities to make you completely unable to move and get killed. If timed well, you can out of it before the impact of the stun/damage, but otherwise you're doomed.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and avoid standing near terrain you can be smashed into due to . Always keep track of her if she wants to roam, as she tends to want to do so often. Consider items like to provide safety from her poke and especially her ultimate.

Renekton

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

deals damage to all enemies in a cone in front of him, and if empowered it deals even more, allowing him to farm and poke simultaneously. Coupled with , he can quickly engage, trade with you and then disengage. Avoid getting close to him and make quick trades from afar.

allows him to stun you, and if empowered, it'll also break all shields. is what allows his abilities to become empowered, which enhances them and makes them way more lethal to face.

His ultimate grants him bonus health and AoE damage, significantly increasing his damage output and making him tankier. Your best choice here is to trade with him and get him low enough to use it, or to outright bait it out and disengage until it wears off. You do not want to get caught by him as you will die, he's a lane bully and shouldn't get ahead early.

Win Condition

Can snowball quickly if allowed to gain a lead, it's very essential to respect his trading potential. Focus on trading from afar and to CC him if he tries to engage with . Consider items like to provide safety against his burst, or a to mitigate his healing, if necessary.

Riven

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Her allows her to dash in a target direction while dealing damage to enemies in her path. This ability gives her a lot of mobility, this becomes even worse with and she'll also use the shield she gets here to counter your trades as well. It's important to bait out her first and then make a proper trade.

She also has which provides a stun to anyone near her, but is otherwise useless if she's unable to close the gap and get near you. If you stay trading with her from a distance, she won't be able to effectively trade back with you.

Her ultimate rebuilds her sword, granting a significant damage boost and empowers her abilities for a short duration. If she recasts her ultimate she'll also unleash a wave of energy in a cone. This ability is her main engaging tool and typically with intent to get a kill or an advantage.

Win Condition

Focus on not letting her close the gap to you to trade properly and create short trades with her from afar where she cannot punish you back. She is very vulnerable if she's unable to get a lead in lane as she loses all potential she could have as impact in the game. Consider items like to provide safety during her burst phases or avoid her ultimate.

Rumble

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Has a very annoying type of poke due to allowing him to deal continuous damage in the form of fire in a cone in front of him. It's very crucial that you trade with him from a distance and don't let him close the gap.

provide him with shielding needs and it's a very smart idea to poke him with Q until he's forced to use this ability, then punish him and properly trade with him when it's down and he cannot defend himself.

His ultimate creates a line of fire that deals significant damage and slows you if caught within it. Be aware of your positioning in relation to his ultimate; getting caught in it can lead to a quick death, especially if he uses it as a setup for ganks.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging his abilities and try to engage him when flamesplitter or is on cooldown. He relies on getting ahead, if you can deny him kills and farm, he won't be able to be that impactful throughout the game. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Ryze

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

An easy matchup if you stay away and poke from a distance, harder matchup if you get too close and allow him to chunk you with which deals damage to a target and can be enhanced by making it the ideal tool for trading. Especially when can reset this ability's cooldown.

will root the target in place, allowing him to follow up with other abilities, it's also important to note that he can also use this ability to setup ganks which can be detrimental to your laning phase. It's essential to watch your positioning and avoid getting caught.

His allows him to teleport himself or allies to a chosen location. It's quite a redundant ability unless used for teamfight purposes. With that said, it can still be used to roam to other lanes, always keep vision up and be mindful of where he could roam towards, ping your teammates accordingly.

Win Condition

It's essential to respect his damage and crowd control, focus on dodging and look for opportunities to engage when he mispositions or wastes abilities. Be mindful of his ability to roam and keep vision control up and available. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Seraphine

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

A very versatile champion and quite the nuisance on midlane. She'll be quite difficult to kill due to which shields her constantly, and on the chance she's already shielded, she'll just heal instead.

and is her primary ways to poke or waveclear. The best advice is to trade with her from a distance, do quick trades and avoid her main poking spells. If done well, you can still chunk her health relatively far while avoiding poke yourself.

Her ultimate is a powerful AoE ability that charms any target in the line that it travels in. If she manages to catch you, you could possibly die depending on if she's able to setup a gank or if it's during a teamfight where she's a more prominent champion.

Win Condition

Dodge her or as much as possible, as she's useless if she's unable to hit these spells and punish her if she mispositions or wastes said spells. If she's unable to get ahead or go even, she'll practically be useless throughout the game. Consider items like to help mitigate her poke or to properly avoid her ultimate if that's absolutely needed.

Smolder

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Could be quite annoying if you're unsure about how to play into him. is the main purpose his kit is centered around, this is the ability he wants to use to farm with, to poke with and to get stacks for his passive -- which is the most important ability in his entire kit.

His other spells only exists to compliment the other 2. increases the magic damage for all his abilities when you reach certain stack thresholds. works the same way as well where at 25 stacks, it'll make a small explosion, at 125 stacks it'll make an explosion behind the target and at 225 stacks it'll create an execute at a certain health.

is a powerful ability that can deal damage over a large area. It's vital that you either dodge the spell directly by walking to the sides or to the closest sides if you do end up getting caught in it. This is because the targets at the center of the ultimate will be dealt way more damage.

Win Condition

Make him choose whether to use onto minions and take poke or onto you and lose minions. Try to force him to use and punish him when it's down and he's unable to get away. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke or avoid his ultimate.

Swain

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

His most prominent tool for poking, waveclearing and general trading is which deals damage in a cone and grants him a stack of his passive on hit. Try to avoid walking too close to him and allowing him to use this ability over and over onto you, trade from afar and go for short trades.

sends out a demonic power that if it hits a target, he can choose to recast the ability to pull you in. This ability is often coupled together with to farm more stacks on his passive and to deal damage, but this spell is also useful for vision alone as it's a long range ability.

His ultimate is probably the worst part about this matchup. It transforms him into a powerful AoE damage dealer, gaining health and makes him very tanky whilst able to sustain during the ultimate. He can also recast this ability for a major damage output, it's vital to remember that this part of the ability exists.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and and try to engage him when these spells are down. He's generally just a nuisance all around. Consider items like can help mitigate his poke or to negate his immense healing.

Sylas

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Can be a very dominant laner if you're allowing him to close the gap and trade with you effectively using which allows him to pull himself towards an enemy and root them in place if he hits them, coupled with for more damage.

is a prominent ability due to the fact that it heals him each time he uses the ability and also just deals a hell of a lot of damage. This is the only reason you shouldn't let him close the gap to you too often, you will get outtraded.

His ultimate allows him to steal an enemy champion's ultimate ability for a short duration. Always be aware of which enemy ultimate he can steal and adjust accordingly. There exists many possible ultimates that could be devastating for him to steal depending on what their uses are going to be for.

Win Condition

Can become a dangerous threat if he gains an early lead, it's essential to respect his damage output and mobility. Focus on trading with him when is down. Be wary of what ultimate's he can steal with . Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Taliyah

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

A poke mage that loves to roam equally as much as they stay in lane. allows her to launch stone projectiles to deal damage to you. Be cautious during trades as her hitting these can become a problem.

Her creates stones onto the ground, that if you dash through them, will stun you in place. This ability is also often coupled together with to shove you into the rocks anyway and still stun you. This makes it vital to avoid getting hit by this and to trade with her from afar, if you do decide to trade.

As mentioned, she loves to roam. Her allows her to create a massive wall that can cut off enemy movement and just control the map. She can easily use this ability to travel from midlane to any other lane she wants to find impact within. It's important to track her whereabouts, get vision control and ping your teammates if she's looking to roam.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and especially so that you don't get shoved into her rocks and stunned. Try to trade when these are down or she mispositions. Keep track of her on the map if she wants to roam with . Consider items like to help mitigate her poke.

Talon

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

His primary poke comes from where he throws out daggers in a cone, dealing damage and slowing enemies before returning to him.

His allows him to jump to a target and deal damage, especially if used after . This ability not only provides a gap closer but also resets his auto-attack, making his trades extremely potent. If he's able to proc his passive with this gap closer, the bleed can become very dangerous.

grants him a burst of movement speed and allows him to become briefly invisible while leaving behind a ring of blades, extremely strong for combos he wants to execute quickly. Also keep in mind that is very useful to have to quickly roam to any other lane he'd like or to invade the jungle.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging , avoid letting him proc and keep track of him on the map as to not allow him to roam with and impact other lanes. Consider items like to mitigate his poke but also to gain full safety during his ultimate burst phases.

Tristana

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Could be extremely dominant if you haven't faced the matchup before. During the laning phase, she will always try to look for opportunities to jump onto you with and land a to auto-attack you more and deal huge amounts of damage in a short amount of time. This can change the lane entirely, do not let her close the gap this way -- be careful, trade from afar.

increases her attacks speed and allowing her to damage you or minions faster, this coupled with which allows her to attack from a greater distance will always become a problem as it makes it harder to trade with her if she's able to outrange you.

Her ultimate deals massive damage to a target and knocks them back, providing both burst damage and a way to peel for herself. She can often use this ability to finish you off after stacking her , effectively killing you & knocking you away from her without being able to counter.

Win Condition

Focus on not letting her crash onto you with followed with as she excels in extended trades way more. If you're able to deny her kills and a lead in the early game, she'll get extremely desperate and start making mistakes, once she does you punish those mistakes. Consider items like to mitigate her damage.

Tryndamere

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

has exception trading potential and it's a horrible idea to let him close the gap on you and trade with you. allows him to quickly engage or disengage by spinning to his target and dealing damage. Be cautious during trades, as he can use this ability to close the gap and follow up with basic attacks, making it challenging to escape if you're caught off-guard and miss your own CC on him.

provides him with Fury each time he hits minions or enemies, which increases his critical strike chance. This coupled with which allows him to sustain during fights and trades makes it difficult to win trades. It's relevant to note that you shouldn't be close when trading with him due to this passive, as he can get lucky critical hits off and still win the trades.

His ultimate grants him immunity to death for a short duration, allowing him to freely engage without the fear of being taken down. This is probably the most annoying part about his entire kit as he can absorb and still survive your entire full combo without much effort and if he wants to he can probably dive you as well given the right situation. Try to bait out his ultimate and all-in him when it's down and he's vulnerable.

Win Condition

Focus on avoiding extended fights when his abilities are up and try to engage him when they're on cooldown. Consider items like to mitigate his damage or to negate his healing.

Twisted Fate

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

His primary poke ability throws out three cards in a cone, dealing damage to enemies hit. This ability allows him to poke effectively from a distance while also providing decent waveclear, he can also couple this with to further deal more damage every 4th auto-attack.

allows him to select a card to either stun, slow, or deal extra damage, adding a layer of crowd control to his kit. If he catches you with the gold card, it can lead to a follow-up such as a gank. If he catches you with the blue card, he'll restore mana and if he catches you with the red card he'll deal damage and slow you.

grants him the ability to teleport to a location anywhere on the map while revealing all enemy champions. This is probably the best ability he could have for global presence, as he can use it to roam and gank other lanes or join skirmishes and provide immense pressure.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and the gold card from if he does use it. Track his whereabouts and if you think he'll roam, ping your teammates accordingly and push the wave so he doesn't get an advantage for roaming. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke or to avoid being gold carded if needs be.

Twitch

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is a very prominent ability for him as it grants stealth. He can use it to surprise enemies, initate trades, roam to other lanes or generally just be an overall nuisance.

is mostly a zoning tool to stack his passive poison . The main purpose of this is mostly to have the poison stack 6 times to make his a lot more deadly, since his builds are so versatile, this ability could either be the most broken one ever or quite normal.

His ultimate allows him to fire a barrage of attacks in a cone, dealing damage to all enemies caught in the area. This ability can shred through enemies especially if he catches you by surprise. Position yourself well and try to focus on locking him down first and foremost, if you can CC him, you should be able to kill him with relative ease.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and avoid giving him the chance to stack his poison and use to chunk your health. Be wary of where he is on the map and ping your teammates accordingly if you believe he is roaming to other lanes. Consider items like or to mitigate his poke depending on what build he uses considering it's very versatile.

Veigar

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The core part of his kit that everything revolves around is his passive . This passive allows him to gain stacks everytime he uses his abilities. Each stack provides him with 1 ability power -- with more stacks you can see how this becomes quite problematic.

and is his main source of poking you down whilst his is his best ability to use both against you to lock you down and poke you, but also to escape potential ganks if those were to occur. Bait this spell out and punish him when it's down and he's vulnerable because of the fact taht he is immobile.

His ultimate allows him to unleash massive damage on a single target with increased damage depending on the target's missing health. This is the core reason you should never stay low on health in lane when facing this matchup. It's not hard for him to lock you in place and press one ability to instantly kill you. Always be cautious and respect his kill threat.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and if you get locked inside of it, dodge the spells he throws at you to your best ability. Try to deny him farm and kills and make it hard for him to stack up his passive since that is what he wants the most. Consider items like or to help mitigate his poke or avoid his damage briefly depending on what's needed.

Vel'Koz

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is exceptional at poking from distance and never getting too close to get his trades off. His primary poking tool is which allows him to fire a long-range beam that slows if it hits a target and then splits up into 2 smaller beams in each direction.

Due to his long range, his abilities are very complementary to his playstyle. He can use to knock you into the air for a brief bit whilst using and to proc his 3-stack passive -- every proc of this passive provides a huge chunk of damage to your health, it's wise to try and avoid it.

His ultimate is what makes him a very deadly opponent as he channels a powerful beam that deals massive damage in a straight line. This ability can decimate you if you're not careful and just letting him stack up his passive with relative ease. Don't try to walk up or trade if you're low, just recall and accept the fate, otherwise you probably will end up dying.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and and try to trade with him when his abilities are on cooldown. He's very immobile and so ganks are very useful against him. Post-6, always be careful of his ultimate and passive stacks. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Vex

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

A burst mage that can generally be problematic to face due to her passive . This passive afflicts her with Doom every 25-16 seconds causing her next ability to fear you.

has 3 major abilities, that launches a wave infront of her, that emits a shockwave in an area around her specifically and that commands Shadow to fly to a location and deal damage in a circle. All of these spells can be afflicted with Doom, allowing her to fear you if any of these abilities were to hit you. Only trade with her once her passive is on cooldown, this way you can get a trade off on her and she won't be able to fear you and just damage you back for more in return.

Her ultimate is a powerful ability that can travel a long distance and will attach to the first enemy it hits. If it hits, she can recast the ability to travel to that enemy target, to deal major damage or to stun them if is available. If the target dies, this ability also gets reset for a short duration.

Win Condition

Always focus on avoiding her poke and keeping track of when her passive is up and available and when it isn't. She's a lot more vulnerable and weak when she isn't able to fear you away and trade in her favor. If she wastes her passive or ultimate you can capitalize on her brief vulnerability to get a favorable trade. Consider items like to mitigate her burst.

Viktor

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

The worst part about is his innate ability to just make your laning phase absolute hell. He's able to poke you significantly well using and . It's vital to not be too close to your minions here, make him decide whether to poke you or use the abilities for the wave.

His passive provides him with enhancements that he needs. If he kills minions or get a champion takedown, he will be able to upgrade his abilities with the fragments he collects, making them more potent and more of a nuisance to deal with.

is an AoE ability that deals continuous damage in a designated area. It can follow you and finish you off if you're not careful. It becomes especially more lethal once he's able to upgrade it as it'll move way faster than before.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging as much as you can as it's the most horrible spell he has and also the hardest spell to properly dodge if you're facing a good player. Punish him if he wastes abilities or mispositions. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Vladimir

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

He's a sustain-oriented mage known for just being annoying. His primary poke ability is which allows him to heal while dealing damage to said target. Be cautious when trading as he can use this ability coupled with his empowered version of the ability that deals way more damage and heals more, let him use it on minions and play with caution.

provides AoE damage which he can use coupled with to trade and engage with you without taking too much in return. It's best to save your CC for after he's exhausted these abilities where he's a lot more vulnerable to your spells.

His ultimate creates a virulent plague which causes all the targets hit to take increased damage and once the duration is over, heals a portion of his health back. It's very crucial here to disengage if he does intend to use this ultimate as you're not really that strong in extended trades or trading with him directly.

Win Condition

It's essential to respect his healing and area control, focus on dodging if possible and try to trade with him when is on cooldown. Your purpose is to force him to use defensively. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke or to negate his healing.

Xerath

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

An extremely annoying poke mage that could be a nuisance to deal with. and is his main way of poking you down. He could either use onto you or the minions for waveclear or use to slow you down. Try to make him choose between either poking you and missing minions, or get the minions and not be able to poke.

is his only way to stun and usually he saves it for when you get way too close or if he's about to get ganked, it's vital to make him waste this ability as he becomes extremely vulnerable the moment it goes on cooldown and until it's back up.

His allows him to fire 4-6 powerful shots in a target area, this ability has a very long range and can be used to finish off targets (such as yourself) if you're too low on health whilst he moves back to safety before casting his ultimate. It's also very important to realise that he can use this ability to pick off targets in other lanes as well without necessarily having to physically roam to those lanes.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and and try to engage him when is on cooldown. Track his whereabouts and ping your teammates accordingly if he intends to half roam and use to get free kills. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Yasuo

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

is a highly mobile champion and his primary ability is . This allows him to thrust forward and deal damage in a line, granting him a stacking mechanic that eventually unlocks a whirlwind that can knock you up.

is your worst enemy and can make this entire matchup outright unplayable. It blocks all incoming projectiles for a short duration and can negate your entire kit making it extremely vital to be aware of its cooldown. You want to trade with him when it's down, never when it's available.

His allows him to teleport to an airborne enemy and deal massive damage. Be cautious of getting hit by his whirlwind and be aware that he can use in conjunction with to catch you off-guard and kill you.

Win Condition

Focus on dodging and try to engage him when his is down. If you can chunk him down early with quick trades, you have lethal range the moment isn't available. Consider items like to mitigate his damage and provide general safety.

Yone

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Horrible matchup if he's able to do what he wants and doesn't get punished. allows him to thrust forward and deal damage and if he hits a target twice, he can activate a third strike that knocks them up. This ability makes it crucial to keep track of his stacks to avoid getting caught, you can visibly see when it's up due to the wind around him.

grants him mobility, coupled with and he can engage very effectively, allowing him to chunk you, auto you or use for a shield before returning to his original position. This makes him increasingly tricky to deal with as you want to bait this engage first and then punish him when it's down and he cannot dodge.

His ultimate pulls in all enemies in a line that it passes through and deals significant damage. It's very often used during an engage and if you get hit by it, it'll often lead to you just dying outright. Always be cautious about your positioning.

Win Condition

Focus on avoiding his abilities, especially the knock-up from and the engage potential from . Trading when he has used can provide openings as he’ll be more vulnerable during its cooldown. Consider items like against him as it allows you to avoid his altogether.

Zed

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Be cautious of his abilities, particularly as it can deal significant damage if he can hit you with multiple shurikens in quick succession. His allows him to create a clone that can mimic his abilities, enabling him to engage or disengage effectively. If he uses his shadow strategically, it can become difficult to predict his next move, making trades risky.

Due to the nature of his shadows creating the trade pattern for him, look to bait his abilities out first, and then punish. You also want to wait with your CC until after he's used his shadow or alternatively try to predict where he'll go before he swaps.

His ultimate marks you for a burst of damage after a short delay so be mindful of your health and positioning. It's important to remember that he'll always appear behind you after ulting you, this can become very useful to setup your CC when you know where he'll land. Just remember that if the is good, they can swap to another shadow when ulting.

Win Condition

The key to winning against him is to avoid extended trades and to keep your distance, especially once he reaches level 6. Additionally, using control wards and being aware of his roam potential can help prevent him from snowballing the game. If he falls behind or misses key abilities, he becomes much less effective. Consider items like to counter his all-in potential as the active negates his ultimate damage entirely.

Ziggs

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Very troublesome as he excels from poking you at a distance, never moving too close. deals significant damage if you're caught in its radius multiple times, especially if he lands it directly on you. It's adviced to avoid it as much as possible.

allows him to both disengage and deal damage, and it can be particularly tricky as it can push you away from your position or send you into danger if timed correctly. It can also completely destroy turrets if they're at a certain health.

His serves as a powerful zoning tool, roaming ultimate or to finish off trades and should never be taken lightly. It's a very strong AoE spell that just deals way too much damage for what it is.

Win Condition

Avoid extended trades and look for opportunities when he uses and misses. Try to capitalize on his low mobility by engaging after he uses or get a quick trade off before he's able to use it. Most importantly, keep vision around objectives and not allowing him to zone your team will help in preventing him from controlling the map. Consider items like to help mitigate his poke.

Zilean

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

Not really ever a threat in lane as he cannot really kill you ever if you play well, however he also becomes almost impossible to kill as well. deals damage and stuns if 2 of them are hit at the same place, but this is his only form of poke.

His allows him to quickly reset the cooldown of his other abilities, enabling him to maintain pressure or provide poke. Also be aware that can grant him or allies increased movement speed but if used onto you, will slow you instead.

can resurrect both himself but also his allies, making him extremely annoying the longer the game stalls due to being able to safely peel and resurrect his carries if they manage to get a lead. This is also what makes him unkillable in lane, you won't really find yourself getting a lead from kills, you should instead focus on farming as much as possible.

Win Condition

Focus on avoiding his bombs and poke with quick trades, just be aware that his ability to resurrect himself or others can make you unable to kill. Keeping track of his ultimate cooldown is crucial; if you can force it out without getting a kill, you can create openings to kill him while he stays low. Consider items like to mitigate his poke.

Zoe

Summoners

Start Item

Key Ability

Lane

Matchup Difficulty

A highly mobile poke champion who thrives on catching opponents off-guard with her burst damage and crowd control. can deal massive damage especially if she hits it from afar, since the damage increases the more it travels. The range and trajectory of the ability can be quite tricky to predict, making positioning crucial in trades.

allows her to snatch spells that have been used and can incapacitate you for a short duration, leaving you vulnerable to a trade that will chunk your health immensely.

She excels at applying pressure and can very easily dodge your spells with . It's crucial to make her waste this ability or use it thinking she's safe, and then punish her for those mistakes, as to not let her dodge your spells freely.

Win Condition

It's vital to avoid and maintain distance to minimize her poke potential. Staying aware of her cooldown is also crucial; if she uses it offensively, you can look for trades while it's on cooldown. Taking control of vision and denying her opportunities to roam can help limit her impact on the game. Consider building to mitigate her poke and especially the crowd control effects from .

Congratulations! You’ve finally been able to reach the end of my insanely long guide on . I'd really like to thank you for taking this time and walking this road together with me. Writing this guide has learned me a lot as well, when it comes to both herself, playing the midlane role in general and how to play her better in order to become the kind of player that I want to be. I hope this guide helped you on your way to success of becoming a better player and I hope you got to know everything you wanted to know about her. I also hope you’ve learned something after reading all of this, and I hope I’ve inspired you to play more of this champion.

It might happen that I've missed some things so feel free to let me know. Just leave a comment or send me a PM and I'll fix things up for you! If you have any objections to my build’s content, comment in the discussion section! I’ll be more than happy to hear your side of the argument. If you think I'm wrong, please don’t hesitate to correct me. I want this guide to be as accurate as possible in order to help as many people as I can when it comes to this champion, and I will update it if I do end up agreeing with you! I'd always love criticism as long as it's helpful to me so that I can make this guide even better to help more players looking to play .

If you enjoyed the guide, then please like mentioned before an upvote or a +rep will always be appreciated as it'll always help me and it’ll be an indicator to let me know that my guide has been helpful to you, as it’s what I wanted to do in the first place. I really enjoyed making this guide and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as well. Good luck out there and I hope you reach the desired rank you're looking for! Good luck out there in the rift!

I'd like to thank Jovy for taking the time to make the beautiful looking banners and titles for this guide and in most of my other ones as well! Be sure to check out some of her other work at her guides and her signature shop! ❤

I would like to thank Katasandra yet again for helping me with anything related to BBCoding both to make it fit for users that view the guide on PC but also for ones that view it on mobile. Also for helping me a lot in the past with anything. Make sure to check out her guides! ❤

I would also like to thank Hoppermh for giving me a lot of ideas and inspirations about how to further improve my code for the Matchups section. Make sure to check out her imagination shop! ❤

And lastly, I would like to thank Silverman43 for helping me create a few of the images that you can find throughout the guide, most notably the ones for "tracking the enemy jungler". Make sure to check out his guides! ❤


			I'd also like to thank the following people for helping me improve my guide even more: Jhoijhoi Foxy Riven IceCreamy Maintained Sovereign Kitten PsiGuard TheBlueImperial Mowen Chromuro