controversial, but IMO nasus is a counterpick to Darius in the current meta. 3 point e nasus can safely farm into darius and he outscales you extremely quickly. Normally he wouldnt have the mana to sustain such a playstyle well, but tear into fimblewinter and corrupting/biscuits/manaflow/presence of mind allows him to. If he is normal q max nasus just zone him off farm, especially his cannons. Dont blindly push; if you set up a freeze he cant do anything. If he is e max try to get a good pull when he carelessly walks up a little too far and it should be a kill. If the game gets to late, try to force a 5v5 since you actually do more in a teamfight than him, but if he insists on splitting theres not much you can do, the 1v1 is hopeless later on. Try to get your jungler to dive him lvl 2 while you're lvl 3
Dr. Mundo
IMO this is darius's worst matchup. He can farm safely, if you try to deny any of it he really quickly pokes you out with cleavers, and he outscales you extremely hard both in 1v1s and in teamfights. This is always the champion I go when I counterpick Darius. The one thing you have going for you is he just pretty much gives you your passive for free in teamfights, and if you actually get a freeze off in lane he cant do anything without his jungler. Take advantage of his lack of flash in lane
Wukong
unplayable if he didnt just pick wukong as a counterpick. You win level 1 if he doesnt have ignite and you win level 2 regardless if you hit your q. Levels 3-5 you win an all in but he can trade really easily with you. Beyond that you just lose. If you can get to level 11 and not be behind, you can win duels. Note, wukongs level 6 all in is unrivaled
Sett
you both have no real escapes, so whoever first bloods the other pretty much wins the lane completely. He is innately better at fighting than you both to the death and in trades, but if you can manage to have a short trade and then reingage while he still has bleed stacks you can win early. If you kill him first you win the rest of lane. If you are even and get to level 6 you win duels as long as he doesnt tank your r with w. You do NOT win level 1 if he has ignite. IMO the best way to play it is just play extremely passively until first back, grab a wardens mail and then look for a kill.
Yone
look to zone off of him q stacking, as with q3 he just wins trades. He has so many tools to not get hit by your q. Just a broken champion. Play against it like you would kayle except remember if he has lethal he wins fights to the death from level 1 onward. He outscales you pretty hard but if you dodge the q and hit yours without having to use e, you can win the 1v1. He does a lot more in teamfights unless he majorly fucks up. If you get a freeze off and have ghost up he cant do anything, but its very hard to set up a freeze against him. Rush wardens. Used to a hard and frustrating matchup with the whole kraken hull thing, but now that he can't do that anymore and has to go a traditional build again the matchups pretty easy since you outscale the 1v1 and he gets blown up in teamfights if he misses something.
Yasuo
if he walks into your auto range you can pretty much kill him. Make sure to q in a way that he cannot dash in or out of the sweet spot. If that isnt possible just e q without the auto. He does outscale you but it takes him way too long for it to make it a bad matchup. Set up a freeze. Dont fight in a way that he can dash through your minions as an escape. Rush wardens
Jax
Its a really straight forward matchup, you lose level 1 but can win lvl 2 if you get your pull. The idea is he wins short trades and can disengage with e stun, but if you pull him while his e is going he bounces off you and you dont get stunned. If you juke his e and he doesnt have ignite you almost always win the fight. Whoever first bloods the other wins until late game. Late IMO you outscale him, you do more in teamfights but you lose the 1v1 unless you outplay him. If he's doing the grasp thing you are fucked, traditional lethal jax you usually beat
Sion
if you lose this go back to bots. You can cancel his q with e. Take advantage of the fact most sion mains will die for a cannon. Try to kill him away from wave, and in his passive do some juke shit so he doesnt just stand there farming in death
Rengar
you win level 1, zone him off of bushes and he gets fucked over when pulled if he doesnt have max ferocity. Unless you fuck up your q, you win at all stages of the game. If he cheeses you with ignite and gets first blood you are kinda doomed but you outscale anyway.
Camille
if you pull after she starts moving from her e, it gets cancelled and she is fucked. Walk up and auto w, and she will most likely try to e away. Time your pull correctly and her only escape is gone. Keep in mind the timing is weird though, if you pull too early she still dashes out it has to be while she is actually moving. You win fights to the death but lose trades. Be careful post 6, she can r to dodge your q.
Vayne
im going to use vayne as a representation for any ranged champion: you hard lose, being the most kitable champion in the game. Try to cheese with hail of blades in a bush, if they over extend in lane you might be able to run them down with ghost, look for team fights where you can pull them and watch them insta die. Lane bushes are your best friend, just stand in them, when a minion is almost dead walk up, eat an auto, get the farm and run back to bush. If she gets greedy and you pull her, flash behind her to prevent condemn and kill. You outscale since adc top laners usually ruin team compositions as they lack a front liner. If she uses ward on a lane bush spam ping your jungler. Most ranged champs are really easy to dive but its hard to push the lane. If your jungler refuses to go top its near impossible to win lane.
Gnar
gnar is the only ranged champion that darius is good into, as you can cancel his dash pretty easily with pull and his auto range is really shit early game as ranged. You win trades and fights to the death in his mini gnar form, but mega gnar you lose fights to the death (you win extended trades). Try to juke his w stun in mega.
Aatrox
he outpokes you, outranges you, and if he has ignite he wins an all-in if he hits any sweet spot past the first one. Rush tabis into bramble here, you need the t2 boots asap to be able to juke better and run out of w. Aatrox players are generally pretty predictable and e forward on their second or third q. Walk towards them when they start their second or third q if they havent e'd yet. You can dodge the w if you see it coming. Unflinching changes are gonna make this matchup harder since you cant run out of the w as easily anymore and you resolve is worse so you cant take second wind as easily. Try to freeze and ghost run him down if he walks up, although freezing into aatrox is pretty tough without being poked out. IMO you outscale him in all areas of the game so its fine if you go even, especially if he has ignite.
FYI: this champ is incredibly broken right now! It's my ban
Garen
people rave about how easy this matchup is, but phase rush garen has little to no counterplay for darius once laning phase is over. He just runs at you, silences you so you cant pull him back and runs away at teh speed of light after doing half your health bar, waits 5 seconds and then does the same thing and kills you. If you underestimate him early and die, you will lose 1v1s for a very long time. Be careful of his 6, his ultimate is better in 1v1s. You still obviously win early lane pretty hard so if you build an advantage through freezing by 6, you will be fine. Whoever gets steraks first will win the 1v1 regardless of the state of where each players at.
Volibear
If he steps out of line or over-extends too early you can kill him, but he wins lvl 1-2 and short trades really hard. You're his ideal champion to go against, low mobility, no escape and an easy to dodge "skillshot". At 6 he will tower dive you if you are behind. Just survive and if you are even by 11 you will win 1v1s pretty hard. If you manage to first blood him he loses the rest of the game. You do way more in teamfights, in side lane he'll do more until hyper late game
Warwick
your dunk execute counters his identity, but until 6 he just beats you. Don't fight him extended pre 6, he wins it and if you dont fight to the death he hard outsustains you. You hard outscale him in all facets of the game. Rush a bramble
Cho'Gath
he's probably just going to try to farm with q from a distance so set up a freeze and watch him suffer. IMO its the same as nasus lane except he never really gets to the point where he can 1v1 you. Be mindful of his 6 he can cheese you until you get some real health. Once you have steraks he never wins the 1v1. In teamfights he's a meatsponge for you to get passive off of, but dont be careless he can cc you into his team killing.
Gangplank
in low elo you will always win this matchup, just dont sit there and eat poke and make any attempt to break barrels and you are golden. In high elo against GP mains theres really not a lot you can do. Look for your jg to gank you, he has no escapes and is pretty easy to dive. Beyond that you just get poked out with no counterplay. You dont win an all-in if you walk into a barrel pre 6. Dont let him trade auto for auto when he has passive up
Gragas
on paper you counter him but in practice gragas top is blatantly overpowered if the gragas has any idea what he is doing. Once they nerf infinite mana bullshit you just sit there and outsustain his poke but until then theres not a lot you can do. If you cancel his impregnate with your pull and he doesnt have ult up you can probably kill him. The barrel missile speed is pretty slow so if its at max range you can usually walk out of it. Once the champ is sufficiently nerfed it would be a level 1 threat.
Illaoi
she has no escape and she has a similar identity to you. You win pre 6, lose post 6 pretty hard. If you juke the e you win. Once she gets iceborn its physically impossible to dodge it though. Hullbreaker changes nerfed her pretty hard, if she's forced to teamfight you can do more than her. Save your pull for after she ults. Keep in mind she runs out of mana pretty quickly so you can outsustain mana in lane.
Kayle
she outranges you and hard outscales you. Set up a freeze and try to get a big lead pre 6. She wins lvl 1 with ignite and lethal. If she has fleet footwork theres really nothing you can do besides spam ping your jungler
Akshan
one of darius's better ranged matchups, but a range matchup nonetheless. Akshans attack range isnt very long so you can sneak a good pull if he gets too comfortable. If you walk infront of him he cannot e out, and its a free kill. A good akshan just quickly pokes you out of lane though
Teemo
One of your worst matchups. You'll never catch him, and he'll quickly poke you out of lane. Rush a spectres cowl if your only goal is to survive lane. Second wind dorans shield is a MUST. Grab an early oracles. If you get to teamfights he does way more than you with the shroom spam. The only saving grace is no one plays teemo since the champs usually dogshit
Gwen
whoever fbs the other first wins the rest of the game. She does a lot more in teamfights, but late game you win the 1v1 pretty easily if you have steraks. Only pull her if she's right next to you or has already used her w.
Fiora
She technically outscales you but if your pull doesnt get parried you will always win the 1v1 and do more in teamfights. You win all-ins in lane pretty hard, but she can poke you out. Hypothetically if she plays perfeectly you lose but if she makes a single mistake you kill her, and with any amount of lead she cant play the game. Rush bramble into tabis. If she q's into you, instantly w q and look for an all-in. Preferrably save your e for after she parries, since the cast time for darius is slow enough that a good fiora player can react to it. You have to dodge the parry projectile, as the cripple is way too strong. Hug a wall if she ults.
Singed
He outscales you but unless he proxies his lane is unplayable the entire time, and you never lose a 1v1 he just does more in teamfights. If he starts proxying beg your jungle to kill him. Don't fall into the trap of trying to stop his proxy yourself, darius cant catch up to him and you'll just lose a wave.
Kled
Counters you in every way. Your one saving grace is 11 onwards your dunk pretty much oneshots him if he's off lizard. Just try to survive, if you juke a q you still cant look for an all-in but you can safely farm for a bit. He's hard to gank and has really high 2v1 potential and can stall for his jg to countergank so I'd recommend just turtling under tower and telling your jg to prioritize bot. You outscale him in every way.
Yorick
on paper darius's worst matchup. Pre 6 you can kill him if he walks up into auto range without you having used your pull yet, but otherwise he just farms with e. Doesnt matter how far behind he is, once he gets maiden up you are fucked. Try to kill maiden over time in lane, its regeneration is low and the AI is wonky. Hyper late game if he plays carelessly you can win the 1v1. try to juke the box.
Briar
Its niche but you should always beat briar top. You dont win lvl 1 but you win every level after that. Juke the e. Just freeze and wait for her to inevitably w in where you destroy her.
Zac
pull him out of e and he just dies. Never try to tower dive unless you can kill straight out of pull as he can cc you under tower for like 4 seconds and its all knockups so its not reduced by tenacity. Step on the blobs
Akali
She outpokes you but if she ever steps up too much you can kill her. The smoke is annoying but you can still relatively easily hit your q off just be smart about it. Level 6 you lose if you get hit by e. Never be in a position where she can ult you without taking a tower shot unless you have a sizable lead or stacked mr.
Irelia
she outranges you with autos, thats pretty much her only saving grace. She wins level 1 if she has 4 stacks. Most irelias are very predictable -- if a minions about to die they'll probably q to it. Play accordingly. If she all ins you, e q immediately so she cant dash out of your q. You outscale the 1v1 very hard, she usually does more in teamfights unless she tries to hero 1v9.
Renekton
His burst is scary but you win extended fights very hard. Dont get deterred if he chunks you out, all of his damage is frontloaded so for like 9 seconds afterwards he doesnt do anything. His ult does more than yours at 6, yours does more than his at 11. Rush a bramble and tabis, or if you are behind warden tabis. Try to pull him out of e2, or if he is too far up just ghost on him if he dashes greedily. You need to play the lane reactively but aggressively, if you just eat his poke you lose but if you initiate a fight he'll poke you and get out with no counterplay. Look to outscale but if he plays aggro fight back.
Jayce
Really annoying, he pokes you out and if you pull him you just knocks you away after doing half your health bar. If you freeze and he walks up, you can ghost run at him and w slow. His only option is to go melee and q e you, but if you start the pull as he e's you, he'll get staggered and rebound from the pull while you get pushed back, which gives you enough time to run up and kill him. Beyond that you have no angle you just lose.
Tryndamere
I would just avoid fighting early because if he gets random crits he'll win the fight and if he gets a lead early the champ is complete cancer. If he e's into you, you can all in him though. Post 6 you dont win if you just stand there hitting him but you can force the ult out pretty easily and then run away. Stridebreaker is a must. Rush tabis warden. Keep in mind an even trade is bad for you since his sustain is a lot better. If you are really low and he has ult just back, his tower dives are really strong. Still an extremely easy matchup though just dont hand him a free kill early and you win.
Riven
if you pull her out of q3 you win, otherwise good luck. In low elo you just win since riven players suck but in high elo if they know how to animation cancel you dont win. You outscale, look to survive lane. You are never hitting a q into a good riven but if by some miracle you hit 2 of them in a fight you will win. Rush tabis wardens if they have other AD.
Trundle
he can cheese you early but you quickly outscale him in terms of fighting. He'll probably just perma split, in which case you win the 1v1. If the enemy mid laner is melee, dont match him instead just split push yourself and he'll be forced to match you. If you try to match him he just runs away and you have wasted your time
Vladimir
Kind of easier teemo, if you get a cheeky pull and his phase rush is on cooldown its a pretty free kill but beyond that he just outscales and pokes.
Cassiopeia
cassiopeia top is extremely overpowered and you are the ideal form of a champion she wants to play against
Urgot
if you get hit by e you die and he can potentially poke you out but if you dodge the e he loses pretty hard. If he has ignite PTA I would just look to survive lane as you'll outscale pretty hard. Rush a wardens mail it ruins him. Unless his stuff is on cd I wouldn't randomly pull him, save it for if he engages. Its a stalemate lane where both really only win if the other engages, and you outscale.
Tahm Kench
if you are careless and are anywhere close to his tower he will ult you and your bleed stacks make you auto aggro the turret. Dodge his q's. Beyond that you win pretty hard
Mordekaiser
It used to be unplayable in his jaksho mythic era, but now that he builds a lot of AP you can actually win the 1v1 later on if you just eventually build force of nature and maybe a spirit visage. He outpokes you in lane but he is pretty short range. Bait out his q's, they are really easy to dodge by stepping back. Dodge the e its extremely slow. If he has ignite he wins early fights. His 6 is better than yours, your 11 is better than his. If he wastes an ability and then walks up look for an all-in. Lvls 3-5 you want to get a cheesy kill, if you are even by 6 its unplayable til 11
Olaf
You have two options: forgo any ability to 1v1 him in lane, going phase rush which lets you run away from him very easily even in ult, or you can go the coinflip route and go conqueror where whoever first bloods the other (which will happen very quickly) wins the rest of the lane really hard. I don't like coinflipping it really is just if you juke a q or not which is not really a testament to how good you are but how bad the olaf is, so I opt for phase rush since you outscale him very hard anyway. If he ults do not attempt to fight back unless he is very close to death just run away. Late game he doesnt really do anything unless he's turbo fed, it used to be worse with jaksho mythic era but now that he just goes abunch of ad items he gets blown up. Keep in mind his mana costs are pretty high. Rush a bramble if you are planning on 1v1ing him in lane, otherwise its not necessary
Ashe
This is the champ I ban every game if I have last pick as top. If you are against an ashe adc, any cool plays you were planning on making in teamfights you can kiss goodbye.
K'Sante
Its maybe a level 3-4 difficulty when he's overpowered but when he's balanced/weak (like right now) its a really easy matchup. When he isnt ulting hes another tank for you to beat up through an extended fight, and when he ults his health pool is low enough that he gets heavily chunked out by yours. Once he has gargoyles your ult is a lot less reliable but by that point you have your own items that make 1v1s favored for you anyway, especially considering how hard iceborn was nerfed from the mythic state to now. If you are struggling build a black cleaver first item it lowers his damage
Malphite
he can outpoke you with comet build, in which case just look for cheesy pulls to chunk him out with. If he has grasp, when he walks up to trade walk away and q him. Malphite players actually have 3 braincells to rub together they almost never try to dodge your q they just walk at you in a straight line if they activate w. On the off chance you play against one of the 2 malphite mains in existence you are probably fucked but melee oriented malphite players who just locked it cos they are autofilled you can kill on repeat. If you are under his tower with a wave keep in mind that if its just caster minions, his ult + e kills them so you are in kill range for him. In sidelanes you hard outscale him and can just walk up to towers and hit it while he stands there. In a high level sense he outscales you in teamfights, but whenever im against him I just wait for him to ult someone else and then he's an easy victim for you to get noxian might off of. Just keep in mind in teamfights if you do that you either need to carry it or you will lose the teamfight as he's probably shut down your carries.
Quinn
outranges you, hard outpokes you, has the most broken constant roams from top in the game. Just try to survive lane and you'll eventually outscale her in a 5v5 setting. Refer to Vayne for how to play lane.
Ornn
Can kill you in 5 seconds while it takes you 20 seconds to kill him. Outscales you. Can farm safely and poke you with q. If he gets overconfident and you cancel his ram with pull you can win. Save your pull to cancel out his r2.
Poppy
Poppy does an insane amount of damage while also being relatively tanky, look for all-ins where you'll win, but you lose short trades. She doesn't have a real escape so if you freeze she is forced to have an extended fight. You outscale in 1v1s, in teamfights it depends on how much her w is doing.
Kennen
If he has phase rush just turtle in lane and farm, he is forced to only poke you in 2 hit intervals to not waste phase rush, if he has summon aery or fleet footwork you can kill off of a pull. IMO you outscale his damage late isnt good if you have a single MR item
Rumble
you generally win an all-in early but he pokes you out really quickly and will win the all-in if you let him set up properly (cooldowns and heat). At 6 if you pull him after he uses flamethrower or both of his pew pew thingies he probably dies. Keep in mind he has really good chase potential with ult.
Pantheon
you can actually juke melee pantheon q's if you predict them with a sidestep, if you dodge like 3 of them in a single fight you win an all-in, otherwise you just lose. The main angle you have is cancelling his jump with your e. Play defensively and try to not eat poke, if he has to spam long ranged q's to poke you out he'll run out of mana compared to how much damage he's doing to you assuming you can dodge half of them. You outscale teamfights incredibly hard, if you have a steraks you'll probably win the 1v1 late game. Beyond tabis id avoid buying armor and instead just look for more health, It feels like armor does nothing into panth
Heimerdinger
if you just farm outside of his turret range you outscale him. You can periodically look to break his turrets with q auto or auto w. Dorans shield + second wind is a must. Good heimerdingers have weird play patterns that are hard to predict and will instantly kill you if you get caught off guard but its not really an issue since theres like 5 good heimerdinger mains on NA
Maokai
his q disengages really hard and the champs impossible to tower dive. You can potentially outscale teamfights but he actually will outscale the 1v1. Dont go near his tower without a big wave as he can w q you into turret. If you can get a freeze off you can look for a kill but its very hard to freeze against maokai and he can easily get his jungler to kill you with him. Only look for plays off of a freeze if you know where the enemy jungler is.
Lillia
Really unfun annoying matchup but you pretty much one shot her by pull auto w q auto ulting
Udyr
you lose level 1-2. You get a massive advantage against him at level 6 onward. You'll always beat AD if you build any armor, tank AP can pretty easily just run away from you but if he gets cocky for a grasp proc and walks into auto range without you having used pull its a kill angle. Late game he's unkillable but he's an easy noxian might target and doesn't really do anything beyond being discount singed
Bel'Veth
Ivern
Karthus
Xin Zhao
Ekko
Evelynn
you have no tools to stop her from doing the charm oneshot. Either stack MR or jsut run away when you see the charm indicator
Diana
you need an mr item if she's full ap but if she's doing the tank build its just completely free
Hecarim
if he's turbo fed theres no counterplay but if you two are even its a free kill if he cant run away. Keep in mind he might try to ult in to dodge your q. If he does this just kite away until your q's back up. If he keeps going for you its an easy kill and if he disengages you lose nothing while he wasted ult
Kindred
her ult is great for you but everything else is bad
Elise
dodge the stun or you die
Kha'Zix
fight in a minion wave
Kayn
blue kayn stands no chance against you although you should try to dodge the w, rhaast it depends on if you hit q or not. If you build an executioners your bleed will keep proccing heal cut so he cant do the thing where he waits in ult to get rid of heal cut. One of the few matchups where you build exe over bramble
Qiyana
if she starts doing the grass spam bullshit its not worth your time just walk away
Nocturne
if he spellshields your pull you die. If your pull goes off you can walk away really easily
Taliyah
dodge the cc swing thing, you can pull her off of her ult
Sejuani
Nidalee
dodge spear. If she pounces on you and you arent 20 health its a free kill
Graves
a fed or late game graves will legitimately kill you in 2 autos + q r but if he isnt massively ahead its a pretty easy fight. His range is abyssmal so he cant really run away
Shaco
if he ults he'll keep his stacks while his clown doesnt have any. AP shaco is really bad for you, build an MR item and get oracles. AD shaco will actively be avoiding you
Skarner
try to get crystals but you win regardless so
Shen
his ult is really annoying, one of the few matchups where ghost tp might make sense although I personally still dont think its worth it. He actually wins lvl 1-3 with ignite. Once you have 6 you always win the 1v1. If you are matching him in a sidelane make sure you can always walk up and pull if he ults
Shyvana
AP shyvana is annoying, AD shyvana you kill through standard combo
Nunu & Willump
fights are legitimately easier if an enemy nunu is present use him to get passive off
Rek'Sai
build a wardens and watch her do no damage
Rammus
build a black cleaver if you are struggling but you dont need it. Standard dunk just dont be his taunt target in a teamfight you will get blown up it lasts a long time
Zilean
unless mercs or tabis are incredibly strong that match, build swifties regardless of what role you are. Wait until he slows someone else or speeds up an ally. If you ult someone he ults your ult does not reset
Ivern
darius and ivern dunk combo is godly, not just because of the skins. His q root is disgustingly good for you since you can dash to the target, and he has one of the best shielding abilities in the game. You become immortal with a spirit visage and he cant die without you gaining noxian might 3 times over because of daisy peel. By far darius's best synergy.
Blitzcrank
hook into hook is always good, but its especially good late game with darius if your teammates allow you to r execute the poor sap. This applies to other hook champs as well but blitz is the only one with a hook strong enough that the enemy cant really counter engage
Pyke
same as blitz just a bit worse + there is antisynergy in the r. It isnt really a problem since pyke doesnt really need the reset but in solo que pykes dont care about you and will r regardless if they see an execute mark on an enemy champ. If you have a pyke main friend, its a good combo but dont expect other solo que players to be a good synergy.
Nautilus
shittier blitz for you
Anivia
anivia mid will force enemies to fight you up close in teamfights
Yuumi
counterintuitive, it just makes the enemy team focus you and you get blown up. I'd take an engage support or an enchanter who can cc any day over the cat.
Ahri
basically a support mid that CC chains people with everfrost, charm is really good for darius it allows a free pull
Seraphine
has a charm + gross healing
Taric
his r allows you to freely stack bleed + his stun ability works really well with your pull. Just make sure to not waste the invulnerability from his r chasing someone, auto someone next to you
Karthus
when you have a karthus on your team, play for him until people focus him in teamfights, where you should immediately start playing for yourself. Its more of a good synergy for karthus since people will usually focus you first and your pull works well with him, but nonetheless you will more often than not win when you have a karthus on your team
Nunu & Willump
nunu has really good engage, and can pretty much guarantee you getting fed into any matchup that isnt wukong if he comes top during laning phase
Elise
IMO it's overkill top pressure, in paper its pretty good since you are both early game champions but most elise's use their early game pressure in top, so in most solo que games you end up having your jungler get outscaled for a lane that was probably going to win anyway. Also you want to freeze a lot on darius and elise wants to tower dive
Shyvana
she wants to play for dragon and botside, and most games you are going to be exerting enough top pressure to get the enemy jungler to come
Udyr
while there isnt any direct synergy, udyr can invade really easily and you will be forcing the jungler top, so the enemy jungler will basically be relegated to topside jungle. Think of it like vertical jungling but the enemy jungler also cant invade.
Kindred
you can freely stack passive in her r and you have a strong execute for when her r ends. As her ult ends look for a multi grab into q heal into dunk
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Ivern
darius and ivern dunk combo is godly, not just because of the skins. His q root is disgustingly good for you since you can dash to the target, and he has one of the best shielding abilities in the game. You become immortal with a spirit visage and he cant die without you gaining noxian might 3 times over because of daisy peel. By far darius's best synergy.
Blitzcrank
hook into hook is always good, but its especially good late game with darius if your teammates allow you to r execute the poor sap. This applies to other hook champs as well but blitz is the only one with a hook strong enough that the enemy cant really counter engage
Pyke
same as blitz just a bit worse + there is antisynergy in the r. It isnt really a problem since pyke doesnt really need the reset but in solo que pykes dont care about you and will r regardless if they see an execute mark on an enemy champ. If you have a pyke main friend, its a good combo but dont expect other solo que players to be a good synergy.
Nautilus
shittier blitz for you
Anivia
anivia mid will force enemies to fight you up close in teamfights
Yuumi
counterintuitive, it just makes the enemy team focus you and you get blown up. I'd take an engage support or an enchanter who can cc any day over the cat.
Ahri
basically a support mid that CC chains people with everfrost, charm is really good for darius it allows a free pull
Seraphine
has a charm + gross healing
Taric
his r allows you to freely stack bleed + his stun ability works really well with your pull. Just make sure to not waste the invulnerability from his r chasing someone, auto someone next to you
Karthus
when you have a karthus on your team, play for him until people focus him in teamfights, where you should immediately start playing for yourself. Its more of a good synergy for karthus since people will usually focus you first and your pull works well with him, but nonetheless you will more often than not win when you have a karthus on your team
Nunu & Willump
nunu has really good engage, and can pretty much guarantee you getting fed into any matchup that isnt wukong if he comes top during laning phase
Elise
IMO it's overkill top pressure, in paper its pretty good since you are both early game champions but most elise's use their early game pressure in top, so in most solo que games you end up having your jungler get outscaled for a lane that was probably going to win anyway. Also you want to freeze a lot on darius and elise wants to tower dive
Shyvana
she wants to play for dragon and botside, and most games you are going to be exerting enough top pressure to get the enemy jungler to come
Udyr
while there isnt any direct synergy, udyr can invade really easily and you will be forcing the jungler top, so the enemy jungler will basically be relegated to topside jungle. Think of it like vertical jungling but the enemy jungler also cant invade.
Kindred
you can freely stack passive in her r and you have a strong execute for when her r ends. As her ult ends look for a multi grab into q heal into dunk
im a masters 1.2mil NA darius main, peaking at the bottom of grandmasters in latin america north and around 300LP masters in NA. I also play a lot of Sett, Morde, Nasus and Mundo. https://www.op.gg/summoners/na/BiliBiliBD-Alpha
I've been playing the game since 2016 and started playing Darius around 2017. Btw if you are looking for good darius content creators, I think Dudebay is really underrated. Funny guy and very good at the champ.
I have a twitch that I stream on so if that sounds interesting to you id appreciate you checking it out. https://www.twitch.tv/bilibilibd
EARLY GAME
early game/laning phase you will want to pressure the enemy jungler into coming top. Do this by actively zoning the enemy top laner off cs so that they call for their jungler. Keep a mental note of where you think the enemy jungle is at all times, and when you think they are near, start setting up a slow push. The idea is that you will have multiple waves built up from a slow push which allows you to 2v1 if they fight in your wave by running around and stalling with ghost flash while slowly stacking your passive and letting the wave poke them out. If the enemy jungler ignores your pressure the enemy top laner is ****ed from the lack of cs and possibly experience. If you know the enemy jungler will never come top set up a freeze and run the enemy top down with ghost if they ever walk up. If you are in a lane where you outscale but cant really fight early like renekton, just try to last hit and cs when they have bleed stacks, since pretty much no one can 1v1 you when they start a fight already bleeding. E Q heal walk away is a good disengage. REMEMBER: IF YOUR TRADE INVOLVES USING Q, TRY TO HIT AS LITTLE OF THE WAVE AS POSSIBLE. Your jungler coming top is usually not worth it since you get outscaled regardless, the best thing for them to do is get bot/mid ahead or focus on drakes, since with soul you outscale most champions.
MID GAME
by far Darius's best phase of the game, his level 11 powerspike is disgusting since his r damage just pretty much doubles. Even if you are behind, you will win pretty much any 2v2, and you will win any fight with equal amount of people on both teams as long as your team isnt extremely behind. Look to zone for objectives (hopefully your jungler will have gotten the first two dragons with your pressuring top, so you can help for the third drag, so that you only need one more dragon to pretty much win the game). EXCEPT FOR VERY SPECIFIC CASES OR YOU HAVE TP, DO NOT JUST STAY TOP IN A FREEZE! YOU ARE WASTING YOUR MID GAME POTENTIAL AND LETTING YOURSELF GET OUTSCALED! ACTIVELY ROAM HERE
keep in mind for objective control, as an immobile juggernaut you are a lot better at zoning and keeping the enemy away from an area you already in, rather than trying to push into where the enemy currently is.
LATE GAME
unless you have an ivern or something, you are now probably your adc or mids little *****. Just look to either engage with pull if your team is ahead in teamfights or peel with pull if your team already has an engage/is behind/the enemy has a fed assassin and your adc needs to stay alive for the fight to win. Your 1v1 late game is usually good, although I wouldn't recommend splitting since you don't have tp. Matching a split champ is fine, but make sure you can cancel their tp to a teamfight. If you are fed you should have someone else match them so that you can actively help your team in a fight instead of just making it a 4v4. If you are your teams only hope at winning the game, play as the ultimate janitor and just let your team eat all of the enemies abilities before going in and hopefully 1v9ing, although this works a lot better mid game, by late you should only play like this as a last resort.
THE DUNK MAN IN ANY ROLE 1.3MIL | COWARDICE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
Build Guide By Belle19
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