Top warwick has very few counters.
Warwick has one of the strongest natural sustainability out of all champions which makes top warwick incredibly powerful.

There are a few counters; however, even the toughest matchups are beatable if played to full potential.


Like many champions on the rift, Warwick is often misunderstood as a “boring, no mechanics” champion. He is also known to be an ad champ while his Q is based on AP damage. His R also has some Ap damage as well.

While I would agree he isn’t the toughest mechanical champion out there, he is viable in to challenger if played to full I’m potential.


He is an early game champion, and has a weaker scale than most top laners out there.


There are quite a few combos and skill sequences you can use on Warwick to make him more useful late game. There are also variation of items I juggle through to make him dominant post planning phase as well.

(I will list all the counters in a few days to come)

Warwick has a few skill sequence you must learn before using him well. Definitely different when he is pulling a gank off.

While ganking mid with warwick, get close enough but slightly out of vision: Press W for speed towards enemy champ. You want to hold Q down and follow the enemy through his/her flash/movement.

Most trades in top, you do not want to hold the Q because it can lunge you into a direction you might not want to go. (Depends on champion will explain more later)

If possible, hit the first E just before you Q follow. Press the 2nd E for Fear into enemy after possible flash or movement. Sometimes, you want to hold the second E because by not releasing it right away, you can reduce the damage coming into you.

You can use the combo E+R
on multiple enemy backline for that Mass Fear. Make sure to ULT as soon as your health starts to go low.

Remember, your ult will have more jump if you run into enemy with more speed (W or other movement speed from teammates). You can use ult to pick an enemy for your team , or use it to peel the enemy off your dmg carry.

I like to first pick Warwick since it doesn’t have a lot of counters. I can also outplay against a lot of counters, so I don’t have too much fear picking Warwick into anyone below challenger.

I almost always bring barrier/flash as my spells because it counters ignites and gives Warwick additional time against bursts to life steal the health back.

HEllo, my name is ScottTheTeemo. Come say hi @ https://www.twitch.tv/scotttheteemo

As some of you might know this used to be a Warwick Jungle Guide.

Unfortunately warwick jungle has been pretty bad in the last season and a half.

I’ve peaked masters on warwick jungle while I climbed to 200 LP+ Grandmasters on Top warwick in season 10.

At this point, I can safely I am one of top 3 best warwick top players in the world, and can beat 90% of all top laners below challenger with him.

I’ve contemplated about making this guide.. because since my last 2 warwick guides, I’ve seen so many Warwick players on the rift. And so many bans for warwick. A lot of people used my build and I never got the credit for it so I didn’t want to make a new guide.

However, since my viewers on twitch have been asking NON-STOP for an updated Warwick guide. Here’s my advanced guide to Warwick in high Elo.

I decided To scrap the jungle warwick guides and rewrite a top warwick guide for season 11.

Grasp is far better for early game domination for Warwick. In few match ups conquerer has better value; however, i prefer grasp in every match up for the powerful short trades.

Demolish for tower plates is preferred for secondary to snowball gold from early game to ensure less fall off mid game.

Conditioning and second wind are both fine. Second is much better against counters to have a better laning phase, and conditioning is better for late game tankiness. This is preference (I personally encourage second wind).

Revitalize is my go to for the last primary runes set up due to healing increase.

Secondary

Two different sets:

Triumph, last stance for stronger 1 vs 1

Or

Magical boots , 5 cdr for better scaling.

I prefer the first one.

Before we get into the intermediate stuff, make sure to get the fundamentals of laning mastered.

This includes wave management, freezes, reading jungle pathing, bluffing, trades between cs and reading 2vs1 potentials during ganks. There are many videos about top lane for beginners, and fundamentals of wave management out on Youtube.

If you are new to top lane, it wouldn’t matter what champion you use, it will be tough to make anything work.

I suggest you learn the fundamentals of top lane before getting into this guide.


From here, I will go through step by step process of why I choose certain
items.

It might be a bit disorientating, since I am noting down anything that comes through my mind. (I’ll try to organize it as time passes)

This is the big section, since we have full new sets of items for s11. (I still need to experiment with a few of them)

You can usually build one of two:

1. Tank warwick

Bruiser warwick.

There is a hybrid build between the two, but I won’t write it. The hybrid build requires a lot more adapting to the fedness of the ally/enemy champions.


Stating item

Warwick drains mana very quickly in lane. You need to get dorans ring or corrupting potions for mana regen early.

I prefer the corrupting potions since it charged every time you go back to the fountain.

I also like dorans blade and just return to base for tear.

Mythic

You can only have one mythic item. Every mythic item gives you a different passive stat.

From my experience there are only two viable mythic items that work to maximize value in Warwick.

First is: Divine Sunderer (for damage warwick, bruiser)

This item gives you 20% haste (cdr)

It helps you shred tanks as an ad based champion.

Not to mention..every legendary item you build after gains you additional magic/armor pen.

(Since warwick does mostly ap damage on Q, this stat is amazing on him)


Second mythic item: Gore Drinker

This item is used on most tank champions in the entire game and warwick is no exception.
Since Warwick has a weak wave clear, so the active is really useful for clear. (If you do not build this mythic, you have to build a separate tiamat early for wave clear)


Legendaries


(Wits end) bruiser
Against Ap top and or Ap heavy team I like to go wits end. It gives you attack speed, attack damage and magic resist. It also grants you movement speed and additional magic damage making it an efficient item for most match ups.


(Zhonyas hourglass) tank, bruiser

Against Ad heavy champions, this is probably my favourite goto item. Most people it’s crazy to go zhonyas on warwick. I generally build this as my third core on him.

The stasis provides warwick extra aggro during teamfights. As many agree stopwatch is quite an amazing tool on the rift. Especially on a champion like Warwick who engages with a body lunge Ultimate, he needs durability to regain his cooldown back.

As I mentioned, most of warwick’s damage is based on Ap. And he can use armor Items as he is a semi tank/bruiser. Making zhonyas hourglass one of the best situational Item on Warwick. (Im probably the only Warwick player in masters+ who use zhonyas though....)



(Guardian angel) bruiser

Though similar to zhonyas, you can technically get a second life through it. I prefer zhonyas, but it wouldn’t look as “troll” to the eyes of your teammates.


(Spirit visage) tank/bruiser

Usually my third or fourth core against ap heavy teams.

Helps you heal a lot more in fights and gives you more mr/health.

(Bramble vest vs executioner’s) #halfcores
A lot of games in league will require you to build grievous wounds based item. These two items reduce healing on heal based champs.

I prefer executioners on warwick unless I’m going against a fed Draven, yi, vayne.


(Randuins omens) tank

This is usually my second or third core against ad heavy teams. If you prefer a tank warwick, this will help chase, slow, peel and cc.

(Sterak s gage) bruiser, tank

You gain additional healing during fights and a massive shield when you lose to 30% below health.

This item is my 4th or last core.


(Death s dance, bork) bruiser, tank

Both serve a similar purpose. More damage, more life steal and Warwick’s chase potential increases.

I build this situationally when I feel like i don’t have enough damage as my 3rd, 4th or last core.

(Knights vow) tank

Some games you are not the carry. Some games.... maybe you lost lane, you lose split to enemy top laner... you just need to build some tanky support item to help your adc/mid carry harder.

Knights Vow is handy in those games.

(Thornmail) tank

I usually don’t complete my thorn from bramble, but when it’s a ad heavy team... why not slam that thornmail.

(Frozen heart) tank
Goes hand in hand with thornmail. Not bad for 4th / last core.


Qss/hexdrinker #halfcores (tank, bruiser)

I usually leave these as half cores.

Qss for target cc heavy comps

hexdrinker for fed AP burst heavy enemy champs. (Good against outplaying mordekaiser, ryze and kayle top)


Tiamat (bruiser)

If you don’t build sunfire aegis, you need this.

You can choose to finish the titanic hydra or you can leave it as a half core til last item.


*note

Warwick can use ap, ad , tank , attack speed so there are other options out there you could theoretically mix and match.

These are my go to items based on most games. It’s worked out for me so far.




Currently, I'm mostly using Sunderer + HYdra as the first 2 cores.

Learn the mechanics, and get comfortable with them. There's nothing more embarrassing than missing your ult in-front of your whole team. Practice a lot on moving targets.

Don't make ults too obvious, feint and try to line yourself well into the enemy if you need to .

You can use your ult to : Pick enemy champ for your team, lifesteal to survive when you're low, hold/peel for your carries , GET OUT USING ULT instead of flashing out, and stall time for your team to come help if you get caught....


ULT+E simultaneously to hit a mass fear on everyone near the champion you ulted.

Pressing the Q and Dragging follows flash or any movement. You follow enemies by practicing the drags. (BE CAREFUL OF DRAGGING when enemy flashes into the turret. DO NOT FOLLOW THAT... Turrets kill XD)

Bring ignite + barrier; no flash he is beatable 1v1.

Ban Olaf top. Olaf top is disgusting and he out damages, out heals and you can't cc him.

Vayne top is a bully. This is a skill match up past 6.

Until 6 I suggest you play slow, lose some minions. Get xp and just farm from turret on pushed waves.

Same as vayne. Exactly the same. (Stronger earlier than vayne so be more careful pre 6) Weak mid game though.

Uh.. Some kids play this top. Just unlucky I guess... :D

Try not to die and farm til 6.. Ask jungle help.

You can beat him post 6. Before that, try to play safe. Eat wave at turret. Save your E for his all in.

Um, I suggest you dodge. Not many quinn players nowadays. If you had to play, play like you are one with the turret. (farm from turret)

1 vs 1 it is a skill based match up slightly favored to Akali until 6.

Be careful of losing too much health to her early.

Renekton basically does the same thing warwick does. Play off your Qs. All in at 6 should be win.

This is a very tough lane for warwick.

The longer the fight goes, better it is for aatrox. You want to hit a few Q trades, and dip. Almost like an outboxer jabbing, but don't all in.

When you have 6, you can kill him at all in.

Dodge his Qs in laning phase as best you can.

He will keep distance and Q you alot. Just straight trade him with Q and bully until 6. mentally track jungle as much as possible after 6. Malphite all in + jungle gank will ruin you.

After 14 minutes, you need to decide either to split and keep going side lanes (top/bot) solo, or help team. If your team is losing, help team. If it's even, keep putting pressure top. If your team is winning, just split to a point where you don't die.

You can engage first if the team has a big lead with Ult + E combo. If your team does not have a lead, use your ult to peel enemies off your carries. (adc/mage/etc)

Once you have used Q/R/E (all your skills), it's great to have a stopwatch handy. Use it to stay alive and recycle your skills again.

If you can, on your way, take scuttles/gromps if it's available. (from enemy camps)

If you lose lane, you really don't get a lot of choices. If your team is winning, just get carried as much as you can by cc ing the opponents/peel.

Freeze wave, tell your teammates that your top laner can roam. (say sorry) and play slow.

Orianna is awesome to play with. She can put the ball on warwick, you Ult + E into enemy clumped, she ults on top with the ball on you, and it's a penta CC.

Teemo, vlad, kassadin, and Kayle are great to play with as well.

(Most AP scale based champs are great to play with)

Since Warwick does fall off late game, he is much better to snowball the game and help teammates out. They can carry after mid game.

I'll update more in time.

Trade with her level 1-3. At 6 she's a bit tricky. Make sure you get 1st engage to taker her ult out first.

Secondary engage should be your ult.

She gets upgraded boots quickly usually; make sure to do the same.

If you were to find a duo for ww top. Find an Ap (scale) duo.

Mid/Jg

Basically since you are so strong early game, you can get the game going to mid game for your duo, and the duo will carry.

Once I hit grandmasters again, I'll update the guide on new things :)

Stay tuned!

You can upgrade a broken stopwatch earlier because Zhonyas is cheaper.

2. You expect to be targeted or die early in consecutive team fights.

Your Q and Passive actually scale almost equally with the Zhonyas or the GA.
GA comes out ahead with 40 damage on your autos.

lvl 1 you can all in every match up (except olaf) and pretty much win with barrier.

Use your Q while low hp to cheese hard and get that easy first blood.

After first blood, most top laners with tp will return to lane. YOU WILL MOST LIKELY BE WEAKER. Call your jungle for a 2 vs 2 or to help push your lane!

If you trade hard enough in lvl 3 enemy jungle will come to gank you. Make sure to get your jungle's help if you can for the 2 vs 2.

You can also cheese dives well with ww tank first with Q auto E -> don't let go of the second E and tank turret.

Dragon timing
You have to decide if you want to join for dragon or not. First 2 dragons will be tough since you don't have tp. Either set up a timing to walk down after pushing the wave or tell the teammates to give and pressure top hard.

from 3rd dragon + 2nd rift; since there are no plates left, you can lose a wave, roam down earlier.

Make sure you position early for dragon souls no matter what.

Be careful of top laners roaming for the herald at the first 14 minutes. If you are playing in higher elo, supports will usually roam up after 1st dragon.

Call your support to come up for 4 vs 4 fight at top side before this happens.

When baron is up you have two choices.

1. You split bot side to bring the enemy champions over, when they come for you the teammates can baron. (This only works if you are stronger than all the enemy champs in 1 vs 1)

2. You group up with teammates and shroom everywhere. Try to disengage with your ult rather than initiate the fight.

If your team is way stronger than the enemy, you can engage with it.

Okay, so I've been experimenting with playing without mythic for first 2 cores.

It's been pretty great.

1. You build tiamat for clear early.

2. You get Sterak first core (super beefy)

3. You finish tiamat, or something mana heavy. (sometimes bramble/executioner if you need to get anti healing)

4. Get mythic

This build up is good for winning lane and transitioning mid game without getting that fall off.

This match up is so simple, but people keep asking me how to beat her. Just fight her when your jungle is near topside.

This is annoying as hell at the moment in the top lane. Trade Q + E and back away. Do not fight him too long. Work with your jungle to kill lee sin. Bait him in.

At level 6, he is killable, but you must outplay to beat him.

Always think to roll out with your Q on the minion behind you when going in deep for trades.

This champion is beyond annoying. You have to play safe til 6. Unless your jungle is ganking. Bait his jump out before the jungle comes and call jungle before the cool down hits.

There is a trick to laning him, I'll show on stream. Hard to say everything in detail in words.

You can beat him at all in level 1 and 6. Try not to trade pre 6. Farm at tower. Utilize your healing and use E if the enemy jungler dives with jayce.

This is a tough match up. You need to either kill him level 1, or kill him at 6.

You NEED to land E to take his passive out and then ult.

Take Grasp and Short trades. At 6, it's a skill match up. YOU HAVE TO ULT FIRST so he can't execute you.

He usually bring conqueror; you can match him or take grasp. Both are fine.

This can be seen as a skill based match up since the garen buffs.

Yi Top is super easy to beat. Get bramble vest and Tabi and just fight him all game :D

Just trade her over and over. Make sure to ult her early at 6 so she can't delete you with her ult.

There should be a secondary Conqueror Runes available.

These runes are really good for scaling.

(Good against sett, morde, darius, garen, most duelists)

Hold on to your E after first cast. Wait for her W and then use to CC.

You should win this match up with some experience.

With Yorick you want to roll away from his cage with holding the Q. If you are sure no one is ganking you, you can fight him all in every time and win.

Currently one of the most annoying champions. Make sure to not release the second E as late as possible. Once his "spellshield" is out, R and all in him.

Short trades with Q and run out. BUY TEAR and you can sustain all game against him.

This one is slightly annoying. Don't all in early before ult. You can win 1 vs 1, but if enemy jungle is watching you will die 100%.

Jungle makes a big difference in this match up for both laners.

Kennen is very very difficult. Use passive and tower farm until jungle gank. Full combo when jungle gets there.

Lose a few cs to win the big battle. :/

Cass top is hell. Just dodge tbh

Very annoying. Wait til 6 to all in. But becareful of ulting clones..

Very tough lane... I usually just ban or dodge at the current patch.

Slightly annoying. Get Grasp and trade Q / Auto then back off. If he goes ap, make sure you get health + mr items first. And after you are settled, sheen.

All in at lvl 1. If not, short trades with Q and E out. Kill him at 6 with ult.

Q when he doesn't have W and E his Qs. All in once you get ult.

Kinda 50/50. A way to beat it hard is to take ignite and ghost. Just go full aggression from lvl 1. You get ahead and destroy both top/jg

This is like biting into a rock. Gotta know where the jungle is before you fight. You should win 1 vs 1.

Just Run at him. Kill him. If we Rs, you R. Freelo

His E will eat your Q, play safe early just small trades only. Build tanky first instead of sheen, or he will pop you with ignite all in.

This guy is annoying. Basically you never want to do a long trade. Q Auto back off. If he tries to all in, E and fear and run over and over. You can technically out sustain him eventually. Watch out for jungle the whole game.

Gotta dodge his Q. Or run so it doesn't yank you. It has grievous wound on it

He is you're counter. Don't engage first tower farm until 6 or jungle gank comes.

Rare but does happen since qiyana is really good s11. If she bring ignite, play for cs and short Q auto trades.

Absorb his full combo with E and R when he comes out of his R. Barrier the ignite for increased healing with revitalize.

He outranges you. Play safe until lvl 3. All in trade when jungle is near. All in for kill at 6.

If they bring darkharvest he will just Q clear and try to farm dh stacks.

keep pressure on. Unless he fights you, you will have no way to kill him; play around tracking enemy jungle and killing with your jungle.

This one's ***; play passive at turret until jungle gank.

All in at 6 only if you know enemy jg's not coming.

If he brings press the attack, you could lose level 1. If he brings ignite, you can lose level 1. If he brings conquerer with tp all in at lvl 1. Otherwise wait until level 6 to all in.

Play safe until 6; ask for ganks and easy kill.

Not many udyr tops though so don't worry too much

This is a really rare one, but I see it from some one tricks.

Basically if you want to kill him, you have to be hyper aggressive.

It's not a good idea because jungle gank can kill you; I would buy tiamat and roam.

absolute hell. Just tower farm, and focus on not dying. Ask for ganks and go for all in when the gank happens. Once you have 6, you have some chance to kill her as long as you can trade a bit early.

Beat him in CS. Don't all in unless you know jungle is nearby. Bramble first item very recommended.

This thing is so strong, I strongly suggest you dodge. If not, wait for jungle gank and kill with jungle.

Play for 6 all in (farm at turret)

You can trade hard until he's level 6. If he ults you, ult him right away.

Gotta not let him execute you and heal off him.

If you can wait out his R timer, you can win.

This is actually stronger than warwick pre 6. Stay away from the bushes and let go of cs until 6.

If the rengar overextends, trade with Q auto; E to disengage.

This sucks to deal with. Depends on jungle pathing. R his R . Try to cancel his ult with your Q

Not a bad ban. So broken atm. Play safe until 6 and all in when jungle comes.

All in = you win. However really watch out for the cheese bait from jungle.

Juke her and take some pokes early. Heal off of minions and go all in once she gives you range on Q.

Cancer incarnate. Adc tops generally counter warwick. This is next level though. Only counter play is ganks + ult.

Updated, do not buy hullbreaker. Buy BORK second item