This is thought of as the typical Gragas rune setup. It is a very useful setup and is one that I would recommend for those of you who have not yet adapted your runes to better match your own personal play style. I personally run with magic penetration marks and flat ability power on everything else. This gives me 31 ability power at level one from just runes (more than double the AP from these runes) with 8 magic penetration to boot. I'm very aggressive early game and usually end up getting first blood right after I hit level 3 with these runes if the enemy isn't extremely careful. Just thought I'd tell you that so you understand that the runes described here are not the only good way to go as Gragas depending on how you want to play him throughout different phases of the game. So, getting back to it...

To do the most damage early on you want to be picking up AP and MP. However, if you don't want early game power and are focused on late game damage output, try to take a full page of magic penetration as this will help you after you have higher base damage on your abilities as well as AP from items. The math behind this is found on TrampolineTales' Youtube series "LoL Math." Here is the specific video:



You should be picking up at least some AP runes on Gragas as early game is very important in most match ups. However, if you know you'll be playing against a lane that will force you to be very passive early on, and you want to do the most damage possible later in the game, try a rune page of flat magic penetration across the board is you're not worried about other stats, as this will scale into late game better than having a slight boost to your AP.

Exhaust is a good spell but you just don't need it on Gragas. Leave it to the support. For a movement speed slow, you have your Body Slam at about the same range as Exhaust, plus it is AoE. Not only does Body Slam have a slow if you do hit someone, but it also provides more distance in a single dash than you running at normal speed away from someone who is exhausted. You have an attack speed slow built right into Barrel Roll. And if they are getting away from you and you can't quite get to them, just Body Slam to close the gap and then Explosive Cask them back at you. If you are getting chased, use your Flash and/or Body Slam... and if you REALLY need it you can just give them a nice Explosive Cask to the face to send any and all enemies flying back. There is just no need for this on Gragas and you're shortchanging yourself if you use this instead of Flash or Ignite.

Barrier is an "interesting" summoner spell that was just introduced to Summoner's Rift after popular usage in the map The Proving Grounds. While it is useful against a lot of damage it is very hard to make good use of and easy to counter. The first problem is that it has to be used before you take high amounts of damage, and the second is that it only lasts for 2 seconds. This forces you to use it in a preemptively way to damage, while allowing the enemy to simply stop the use of their high damage abilities or items on you for a short time... only to then continue with their chain afterwards. Not only can it be wasted in this way, but it can be very easily bursted through anyways in ganks or team fights if you are the target the enemy really wants killed. You're tanky enough on Gragas that you should focus on damage with Ignite and allow utility with Flash and all your other abilities to keep you out of harm's way.

Teleport is one that I have a hard time calling "bad" on any champion who might be played in top or want to set up some instant reactionary ganks. However, I still find that Flash keeps you safer in lane, while Ignite helps you get those hard fought 1v1 kills. Body Slam can be used to help you get back to lane MUCH faster than most champions without teleport, and one or two Drunken Rage usages will have you right back at full mana and ready for a fight in lane. I would get this spell if you were playing top as Gragas and your bottom lane was going to want you to help them a lot.

Ghost isn't a "bad" spell in a negative way, but again, you just don't need it. You have plenty of mobility with Body Slam and Flash already, and you are better off using your 2nd summoner spell slot for Ignite for the damage.

Smite

is one of those spells that has its place, but almost ended up in the "Just Plain Stupid" list for Gragas. After the season 3 usage of Gragas in jungle, this spell is now notable. I will note that I have seen some AMAZING Gragas jungle players and plays. However, unless this is something you're really serious about, I don't recommend it. Gragas doesn't have the best clear time with his Barrel Roll on such a long cool down, and being rather costly early on mana (makes getting blue a MUST). More over, his kit isn't the best compared to other top tier junglers, and his ult must be perfect for a proper ult gank. Try it out though if you want. It is a lot of fun once you've mastered Gragas and know how to land ults in a proper way to help out your team from the jungle.

A couple other items I want to quickly cover are Rylai's Crystal Scepter, and the three elixirs; Elixir of Brilliance, Elixir of Fortitude, and Oracle's Elixir.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter is not good for Gragas. Since all of your abilities are AoE, you will only be getting a 15%, 1.5 second slow on all of your abilities. The problem with this is on Gragas is that you only have 2 normal spells that do damage, and both are on moderate cooldowns ( Ahri does AoE on 2 of 3 of her abilities, but she can chain all 3 of her abilities to keep her target CONSTANTLY slowed, unlike Gragas). When you already have a decent ranged, low cooldown, high damage slow for 35% and 2.5 seconds that also doubles as a gap close or escape in the form of Body Slam, this item just isn't really worth what you pay for it with Gragas. Even with a Liandry's Torment, the burn will only do double damage of half it's normal damage. This means you're buying 2 items just to make one item's passive better. It's a lot of gold to pay for 2 items passive just to improve one items damage output, especially when resistances still apply.

Elixir of Brilliance is a great item that you can and should get whenever you need to be a bit more potent in fights. Get it any time in the game when you think your team might engage into a big fight, or keep it on you for those moments when you need more burst. Just remember to use it. If you have a full item build, you might want to start chugging these down whenever you go back to base.

Elixir of Fortitude is alright, but it is more for tanks. Get it if you have nothing else to spend your gold on at the end of a long game.

Oracle's Elixir sadly got a nerf. Try buying Vision Wards and placing them in strategic locations if you are scared of any stealthies or need to clear areas of enemy wards. Buy this only if you need to clear enemy wards for strategic map control but think there might be more than a couple enemy wards, or after you have nothing else to buy and have already purchased an Elixir of Brilliance and Elixir of Fortitude

If they're running Crystalline Flask with Health Potions and Mana Potions (and you might not be running this yourself), you can still get an easy early game kill and often catch an enemy player being a bit to forward while his health pool is still low (because many won't expect the burst that Gragas can put out at low levels). Simply take them to about half health with one combo and then follow up with your Drunken Rage, into a Body Slam, land as many auto attacks as you can, Barrel Roll them to finish them off. Put Ignite on them at ANY time during this combo once you think you'll land the kill so as to do more damage and reduce the healing they take from things like potions. One thing to note here is that you'll be able to land a LOT of spells and auto attacks (2 more at least) due to their lower overall mobility and your slow you applied to them. These attacks will CRUSH enemies health at early levels. If you still can't take them down with this, and you're starting to lose trade due to their higher regen, simply ask your jungler to come gank. They have NO mobility and NO damage. Just make sure you are watching the enemy inventory for if they place a Sight Ward, and tell your jungler to come in from the other side of lane or from a different route (If you're in the top lane you can push your lane out enough to have your jungler sneak into the lane bushes if the enemy places a ward in the river). If this doesn't land you a kill, try backing after clearing a minion wave as fast as you can, and buying some more items. If they don't back during the same wave, you will be MUCH more powerful than them, and might land an easy kill. If you force them to back after this, push out the minions to their tower as fast as you can again, and go back yourself (even just for some more Health Potions or a Sight Ward or two.

To take your own blue buff you want to first walk to the wall between mid lane and the blue buff, toss out your Barrel Roll over the wall so that it will hit all three monsters, quickly channel your Drunken Rage, and then promptly dash over the wall using Body Slam RIGHT after exploding your Barrel Roll. From here you'll want to spam your abilities and auto attack until you kill all three monsters.

If you want to counter jungle the enemy (Thus helping you and your jungler) simply ward their jungle (the bush in sight of the blue buff). Use your Barrel Roll and/or Explosive Cask to snipe away their blue after they take it low. Also, going with a teammate in case of emergency can never hurt. Try to counter jungle the enemy as much as possible. With practice you can take their blue buff every time when they don't protect it. In the shot above I didn't ward the bush next to me to avoid any nasty surprises because I was only going to be there for a couple seconds and had Body Slam ready to escape. However I did ward the bush by the enemy blue buff. The enemy here doesn't pull the Golem away from its normal spawn point so I am able to snipe it, even while staying unseen in the bushes should an enemy pass by. I wait for them to take it low, and with the help from my aggressive early-mid game items I steal the buff before Annie takes it and even have enough damage to kill her in the process.



If you notice that they are somewhat low and coming back to lane after they have grabbed blue buff, you can still steal it by lying in wait for a kill as they come back through jungle. Simply ward the bush near you and wait for them with your abilities ready. If you're level 6 or higher, just Explosive Cask them into you, Body Slam, and then finish them off with Barrel Roll and Ignite if needed.

Here is me waiting for Annie after she has taken blue for me to do just such a combo as described above (note that while I am "Dominating" her, this is a custom game and my friend playing Annie, had just as much gold as me due to me letting her get ahead on CS to make for a more believable versus instead of flat out ownage):



And here is literally less than a second after I used my Explosive Cask (The times vary slightly because he was going back and forth trying to juke me into using my Explosive Cask wrong... but as you can see):

If you are playing Gragas in mid and do gank bottom, and manage to kill them or force them to back, TAKE DRAGON. Ganking bottom is one of the easiest ways an AP carry or jungler can help set up for an uncontested Dragon. This means that not only will ganking bottom help get kills for bottom and you, but will also give gold over to your top and jungler, thus helping your whole team across the map in just one play. Be careful not to overdo this however, as your top and jungle may want or need help too. It's a team game and not helping every teammate out can mean that you could essentially be short a man in late game team fights because they did not receive your help, and as such are far too under-leveled or under-farmed to be of any use.

Here I have a couple screen shots showing me escaping into dragon pit after being followed all the way down river while I was low. To avoid being crushed by her next combo I Body Slam over the wall:

In this section I will be going over my approach to dealing with enemy champions who are considered to be a "counter" to Gragas. It is my belief that there are no hard counters to Gragas to date... if you play smart. These versus will be covered more in-depth than other mids or tops. This section is organized from the ranking on Champion Select from hardest to easiest (so they say).

If you have another champion you are having trouble with that I have not covered in this section, or not in-depth enough in the other sections, feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to quickly add that champion into this section, add more in-depth info into it's current section, or respond via message if its just a simple player issue.

Fizz - This little guy should net you about even harass trade if he is a good player, and should lose if you play perfectly to your strengths. Try to beat him on early game farm buy using a number of things to your advantage.

Placing a Barrel Roll on both of your melee minions as they start to get low can allow you to stroll in a auto attack with relative safety. If he dives in on you, explode the barrel right as (or JUST before he hits you), as this will insure he doesn't have time to Playful / Trickster out of its damage.

Getting your Body Slam sooner than later will also be big in this versus. As he Urchin Strikes at you, do likewise and Body Slam at him. This will do damage to him, slow him, and put him out of melee range of you. If you are closer to your minions than his, do some auto attack trading. If not then simply kite him as you return to your side of lane safely. Your Drunken Rage will do comparable damage to his Seastone Trident, and will make you tankier than he is. Not only this but if you are in fact closer to your minions then your minions will aggro onto him, doing even more damage while he is slowed from Body Slam.

At level 6 your Explosive Cask beats his Chum the Waters hands down. Dodge his ult if at all possible (use Body Slam if needed). Again, as soon as he comes diving in use this ability if you are going to, as this will insure he can't dodge it. If you want to use this while his Playful / Trickster are up, try tricking him with a Barrel Roll or forcing him to use it to dodge a Body Slam Barrel Roll combo. If he chooses to dodge the combo, don't explode the Barrel Roll until after you knock him right back into it.

Having your jungler come to gank can be a great way to kill an aggressive Fizz, as he will only be able to dodge one skill and then you can follow up with either Body Slam or Explosive Cask to allow your jungler to flay this little fish.

Mordekaiser - Ew. This lane is not fun, but winnable. Early, and I mean EARLY, harass is the safest and most effective here.

Try to Barrel Roll his face before he gets to you or your minions. Try to juke out of range of his skills while he is around minions. To get any damage on him instead of his shield try to land your Body Slam and Barrel Roll before each minion wave or while he is away from your minions.

If he is pushing lane hard before you can one shot waves with Barrel Roll ask your jungle for a gank or two. If nothing else just stay ranged and grab wraiths often and even try to snipe his wraiths away from him with a Barrel Roll. If you can shut down a Mordekaiser early you can stomp him all game long. Ask your jungle to focus more on mid than normal because of this, or consider getting at least 2 Doran's Rings to have early game presence and dominance. Make sure Drunken Rage is ALWAYS up before you take or trade any damage from him.

The trade off here is that he is strong versus melee champions but weak versus preemptive burst damage. Just make sure you get the damage off before he does, and then try to bait him into missing his spells before standing in the middle of creeps to last hit.

Swain - This is a winnable trade, but one that takes some thought. Early poke is important along with ranged poke (post level 6) until you're ready for a kill.

Try to get Barrel Rolls to land as much as you can as often as you can before level 6 while staying away from his Torment range when possible.

If he misses Nevermove then punish him with a Body Slam, or if you feel confident then Body Slam Barrel Roll in and then dodge his Nevermove. It is a really easy CC to dodge and if you are quick to react you should never lose this trade.

At level 6 you need to focus on BURST harass or killing him within about a 3 sec window. When you go for a kill on Swain after level 6, try to use your Explosive Cask RIGHT after he comes out of Ravenous Flock as he will be much easier to kill when he can't go back in for a few seconds. Try to knock him away from his minions (so you can Body Slam with ease), but more importantly, away from YOUR minions. Knocking him away from YOUR minions will DRASTICALLY reduce the healing he can do from his Ravenous Flock while you try to burst him down. If you can't do this and are afraid of him healing of minions or want to reduce his healing to almost nothing anyways, Ignite him. This will CRUSH him while you go for a kill.

This is an easy champion to gank as Gragas as he can only root you once every so often, and after that you and your teammates can kill him freely seeing as how he is low mobility.

Evelynn - This girl is annoying but manageable.

Like Fizz feel free to toss out a Barrel Roll on low health minions (without exploding it), to get some safer auto attacks off and deny her CS. Land Barrel Rolls on her as often as you can while making sure to auto attack CS from the far side of your minions so that she can't poke you through your own minions. Mobility is key to throwing off a good Evelynn player. Keep moving to keep them missing.

If they come to the same side of the minions as you then Body Slam her before landing a Barrel Roll and a few auto attacks as her attack speed will be lessened. After you land this combo quickly back off until you can kill her with it. Quick burst and hasty retreat will be key to winning harass trade early on.

At level 6 it is best to use your Explosive Cask before she uses her Agony's Embrace. This will insure that your biggest damage spell is in no way negated by her shield. After this, combo her down with Body Slam and Barrel Roll. This will put most players on the defensive, and allow you to mop up. If she uses her abilities offensively however and you don't think you can win the trade, consider using Body Slam to escape. If you already used it, take advantage of the fact that she is slowed by Body Slam already, and Flash out of there. If she cases for the kill near a tower, Explosive Cask can send her right into her death. Just be sure you have enough health when considering knocking her towards you or away from you.

Ahri - While she is not very fun to deal with due to her auto attack harass that every Ahri likes to use, her abilities are slow and easy to predict and dodge.

This best thing you can do against Ahri early on is to stay moving and dodge skills. Staying behind your minions will automatically negate 2 of her 3 spells. After this you only have to dodge Orb of Deception. This is easy to do, and at the very least you should only be getting hit with the first half of this spell.

After you get Drunken Rage she becomes just that much more manageable, and you become more sustained on mana and health than she is. On top of that your passive is better than hers unless she is spamming skills constantly which will make her go oom in a second flat at low levels.

When you get Body Slam and want to use it, try baiting out her Charm by ducking in and out of minions. You'll normally have this by level 3 and if you've been dodging well, she'll be desperate to land it. Once tosses it out and she misses (which you should be forcing to happen by juking smart by the minions), then go in with Drunken Rage up and Body Slam before following it up with Barrel Roll. After you land these, move in a diagonal away from her or ever directly to the side, as her skills are line shots. This will allow you to dodge Orb of Deception and while only taking a bit of damage from Fox-Fire.

After level 6 you want to use your Explosive Cask first so that she is forced to use Spirit Rush in a defensive way. If you find you managed to knock her to you, Body Slam her, as this will drastically reduce the amount of distance she travels between each Spirit Rush, thus allowing you to land Barrel Roll with ease. If you're in trouble and she uses her Spirit Rush to try and go for a kill on you, try using Explosive Cask right after she uses Spirit Rush to knock her away or into your tower. If you knock he away and she has two more uses then Body Slam away from her to stay safe. The combination of Explosive Cask Body Slam should put you into safety after she uses her first charge of Spirit Rush.

Akali - This chick is rude, but manageable. View her as a more bursty, less safe version of Vladimir as far as how you fight her early on, and more like Fizz or Diana after level 6. Pre-level 6 and right when you hit level 6 is your time to shine here.

Hitting her with abilities early is something she just can't handle. Barrel Roll again is a great harass and zone tool. She has short range and low damage early on so play this like Vladimir in most respects.

One thing to note is her Twilight Shroud. It is often very easy to hit an Akali who is used to standing in this instead of skirting around the edges of it as your Barrel Roll is big enough to cover most of it. If you know how the player moves to try and dodge your Barrel Roll when they are out of Twilight Shroud then use that as a guide to hit them when they are in it. Otherwise, just wait until they come out and toss is at them before they can dodge it.

At level 6, if you're not already winning the lane, you want to kill her before she can get stacks of her Shadow Dance. Try doing the normal Explosive Cask Body Slam Barrel Roll Ignite combo. If you land Explosive Cask and Body Slam before she uses Twilight Shroud then you should be able to easily land a blind Barrel Roll.

If nothing else just wait for her to get too aggressive for a kill on your before using Explosive Cask to knock her into your tower.

Diana - Playing against her is somewhat simple. Dodge to the left of her, as her Crescent Strike comes from her right. Try to use Body Slam when her Pale Cascade isn't on her, and then back away right after you do, as she will likely use her Pale Cascade right after you get in range. Try not to trade more than 1 or 2 auto attacks with her. Land every Barrel Roll you can, and try to bully her in lane early. If she tries to go in on you at level 6, just Explosive Cask her into your tower, and then Body Slam her to slow her under it. I actually find this one of my easiest lanes personally, and many Diana players often tell me that they're surprised at how much Gragas counters Diana (But it might just be me lol).

Kassadin - Like Galio and Talon, a rude versus for any AP caster. Just harass him as much as you can before level 6. Keeping Drunken Rage up and using Body Slam into some auto attacks can really shut him down early. Remember to combo into a Barrel Roll too. Once he is level 6 try to punish aggression by knocking him into your tower after he warps to you. You should be able to win if you stay smart and punish any aggression while also landing any Barrel Rolls you can without taking damage. Ask for your jungler to gank as soon as he warps in on you, as that is when he is most vulnerable. The counter play to Kassadin is rather simple. Just keep your CS high, and try to use spells when he can't dodge them or when you're not silenced. Time his ultimate so you know when you can hit him with your spells. Without CDR, he can Riftwalk every 7/6/5 seconds, so you should be able to get a full combo off in between each warp.

This section will cover versus of all other mids I have not covered in the "counter" section, however in less detail. If you feel one on these needs to be moved to "counters" then please comment with your desired change or message me. I'll do my best to change add that champion and details to the "counters" section within a day. This section is organized alphabetically. If you don't see a mid champion in this list, look at the "Counters" list.

Anivia - Anivia is not too hard to deal with. You should be able to dodge most or all of her Flash Frosts which will allow you to win trades with her. Try burning down her Rebirth early. Ask for a gank to either burn down her Rebirth or to help kill her once you yourself manage to burn her Rebirth. After you get ahead of CS and/or kill this bird once, you should be in the clear and ready to dominate lane.

Annie - While she does a lot of damage, you do about the same but have more sustain, a great health pool, and more sustain. This lane should be winnable just by bashing your heads together, if not by you outplaying the simplest champion to understand.

Brand - This guy sucks for your Happy Hour. However, he has NO health. Try to poke him down with Barrel Roll and only go for the Body Slam kill after he uses one or two abilities. Dodge ALL the abilities you can. You should be able to dodge ALL of his abilities if you're quick on your feet and good at juking.

Cassiopeia - This girl is like Brand 2.0. You have to CONSTANTLY be moving to avoid spells as well as making sure you land your Barrel Rolls. Feel free to use Body Slam much more on her than you would on Brand as you can do so without being as punished by her landing a spell or two.

Elise - This girl is annoying but not that great unless is the right hands. When she is in human form feel free to Barrel Roll and Body Slam while avoiding damage, and when she is in spider form, stay ranged from her and poke with Barrel Roll until she Cocoon / Rappel to engage onto you, Body Slam away or towards her to escape or punish her.

Fiddlesticks - This douche again? Just poke down with Barrel Roll and dodge Reap by moving away from any minions he uses it on. If you go for the Body Slam kill combo, make sure he is low, your Ignite is up, or you jungler is with you.

Galio - You should win trade with this champion at the start even with his MR. Consider building an Abyssal Mask or any item that gives to MP and/or MR as this will help you versus Galio. This is a difficult match up for any AP caster, but your Happy Hour and Drunken Rage will help you a lot. Again, dodge any spells you can while land what you can.

Karthus - HAHAHA, poor Karthus. Just hit him with all you've got while staying quick on your feet. You shouldn't have a hard time dodging his abilities until he lands his Wall of Pain. Once he does you can get away with Body Slam or even catch him off guard by going on the offensive with it. Don't allow yourself to get too low as it can mean your death even if you kill him due to Death Defied and Requiem. Drunken Rage can save you from some of its damage.

Katarina - This lane is about the most equal lane I have ever dealt with. It always seems that the best players of Katarina manage to take me almost as low as I take them. The reasons behind this are easy to see when you match up the champions side by side.

First off let's compare Katarina's and Gragas's skills side by side.

Sinister Steel

Katarina's passive, while a great teamfight passive, is useless in the common 1v1 set up. Gragas has a 2% health sustain per spell cast. Passive advantage: Gragas

Her Q does less damage both from flat and %AP damage than Gragas. First spell advantage: Gragas

Her W is comparable to the E on Gragas. Gragas however does more damage here on base damage, %AP and %AD. His slow is also bigger than her move speed increase until she levels Sinister Steel to level 4. Second damage spell advantage: Gragas

Her E blocks more damage than the W from Gragas at level 1, plus it does damage while providing a blink. Gragas may get mana back from his W, but Katarina doesn't use mana. Third spell advantage: Katarina

Gragas uses mana while Katarina has to worry about only cooldowns. Resource advantage: Katarina

The main cooldowns from both are about the same, however Katarina has a much lower cooldown on her W and on her R. Cooldown advantage: Katarina

The total damage the abilities do, go to Gragas until at least level 6. At rank 1 and 5 rank in all three abilities the damage is as follows:

Katarina: 175-795 base damage 125% AP 60% AD

Gragas: 165-525 base damage 140% AP 66% AD

This means that because of Katarina's 5% more damage reduction at lower levels, they do about the same damage to each other until later on when your AP% Damage reduction surpasses hers. While it is important to note that she must Shunpo to you in order to get the damage reduction, she can easily dodge most or all of your skills UNLESS you wait for he to Shunpo to you. That is when you want to immediately Body Slam her (easy to do when she's on top of you) to allow you to land an easy Barrel Roll (due to the slow from Body Slam. WARNING: If you don't do this and try to toss out a Barrel Roll post level 2 or 3, before she gets to you then she can simply dodge it by using her Shunpo on you or a minion or even a ward close by. This makes passive and reactive play the only viable option against really good Katarina players. Try to judge how good they are quickly in the game so as to not waste spells, or allow you to Barrel Roll without them dodging if they aren't that smart.

Another HUGE thing you can do to reduce a LOT of Katarina's damage is by staying away from any minions she tries to use to Bouncing Blades to hit you with. This will DRASTICALLY reduce her damage to you ESPECIALLY into the late game (235 + 60% AP will NOT be done to you from the mark alone if she doesn't hit you with Bouncing Blades and another spell). Try to not be hit by her Bouncing Blades at all, or at the very least don't let her hit you after you've been marked.

The great thing about trading with Katarina is that you have your passive sustain from Happy Hour and a higher base health. The only problem is that you have to worry about mana, while she is free to cast off of cooldown.

After level 6 it becomes harder to guess the total damage of Katarina's damage due to the channel on her Death Lotus. However, with the correct reaction time you should be able to stop at least half, if not ALL of her Death Lotus with Explosive Cask. Try to only use your Explosive Cask to stop her Death Lotus. The only time you shouldn't do this is if you know you can use it offensively to grab the kill without putting yourself at risk.

It is for all of these reasons that, Katarina, while one of the closest lane opponents for Gragas, is a winnable lane if you understand how to play to your advantages and how to not let her capitalize on your disadvantages.

Kennen - Stay behind minions and when he Lightning Rushes back off and force him to come to you to land it. If he does come in, Body Slam him. After level 6 you can continue to dodge abilities, and when he uses Slicing Maelstrom use Body Slam to stay out of it, or knock him off of you using Explosive Cask.

LeBlanc - HAHAHA. Just focus on CS while winning trade with Barrel Roll, if she gets in range for Body Slam punish her for it. You should be able to crush this chick. Push the lane to her tower and be sure to ward for safety. This will make sure she doesn't get any CS while allowing you to win harass trade. Just be careful of any incoming gank and use Body Slam and clever use of walls to stay safe.

Lissandra - This is not a fun lane, but it's not the worst. Try to stay to the side of minions when CSing so you can avoid long range Q's from her. Poke her with your Barrel Rolls. If she's good, your Body Slam might not be the best thing to use unless you know her snare is down or you can kill her with a combo from it. From there, you might need to wait until you're level six to kill her. Try to push out the last wave before you hit 6, so that you hit 6 before her, thus allowing you to use your Explosive Cask before she has her Frozen Tomb up. Then, Explosive Cask her into you, Body Slam her, and then Barrel Roll her. Ignite her too if it's up. If you can't kill her, just land your Barrel Rolls and try to shove her out of lane and beat her in CS.

Lux - Dodge her AoE and Body Slam when she wastes her snare. She's weak after she misses her Light Binding. Don't let her auto attack you after she lands a spell for a few seconds to reduce the amount of harass she can do to you.

Malzahar - This guys is a hard one but not a counter. Just continue on CSing and poking him. Try to stay ranged when he wants to cast Malefic Visions on you and then stay away from the minion he casts it on if it is getting low, to avoid it reapplying to you. His ability chain can do as much damage as yours so try to stay out of his Null Zone so that if he Nether Grasps you, you take minimal damage. He has low mobility and is very susceptible to 2v1 ganks as his Nether Grasp can only lock one champion down, while also forcing him not to move. Ask for your jungler to come to lane for a quick and easy gank every time your Explosive Cask is up.

Master Yi - This lane is all about staying out of range of his Alpha Strike when it's up, and staying away from minions which he might use to chain to you. After he misses his Alpha Strike poke him down with any and all damage you can put on him. His Alpha Strike and Meditate costs a fair penny on his mana pool. Try to force him to miss any damage, and heal often. This will run him oom fast and allow you to win lane while spamming laugh.

Morgana - This chick is easy to deal with. Your sustain is comparable to hers at low levels and doesn't force you to use minions to get it. Stay behind minions if you can't dodge her Dark Binding well, and don't stand in Tormented Shadow. When you can harass, and use Body Slam when one or both of Dark Binding and Tormented Shadow are on cooldown.

Nidalee - Win this lane before level 6 or she can be a bother if they are a good player. Stay behind minions when she goes out of sight or backs off to toss out Javelin Toss / Takedown. After level 6, use Body Slam to punish or flee from any would be cougar. If you can't catch her with Explosive Cask use your Body Slam Flash to get in range. One thing to note that [[Explosive Cask doesn't have to knock her towards you to catch up. Just knock her to the side into a wall. The time it would take for her to travel the distance of the full knockback will be transferred to a hard CC in which she won't be able to move.

Orianna - Focus on her ball more than her. The only danger she posses is a powerful auto attack. It's her ball you need to be watching. Dodge her ball. Right after she uses her ball is the best time to use your Body Slam to punish her. Your Explosive Cask wins out over her Command: Shockwave. Your Body Slam can be used to get away from her ball before she can Command: Shockwave if you respond fast enough.

Ryze - You win. Barrel Roll and stay out of his poke range until you want to Body Slam while Drunken Rage is up. Your Explosive Cask wins out over his Desperate Power and Arcane Mastery as your burst can counter his low cooldowns and increased spell vamp.

Syndra - Treat her like Karthus, but with a knockback. She is annoying but your burst should do the trick to send her running. Careful, as she does have a lot of burst. Just try to play smart and mobile. Ask for a gank and go at her from different sides of the lane so that she can't knock you both back.

Talon - This guy is annoying, but he can be killed. He does better against squishy AP mids... and while you're fat, you're anything but squishy. Take advantage of your health and tankiness.

Tossing Barrel Rolls out is a bad move if he is in range to Cutthroat to you or your minions. Wait for him to use Cutthroat before landing Barrel Roll as his silence comes off, as he is running away.

If you know he is going to jump to you, position yourself away from minions so that you are ready to Body Slam him as soon as you can. Then follow up with Barrel Roll and even a few auto attacks as his attack speed will be lessened. He is rather easy to kill before level 6 so ask your jungler to gank him and appear from the jungle right as he Cutthroats to you.

After level 6 have fun. Land Body Slam whenever you can, Barrel Roll his face off, and keep Drunken Rage up to win ability and auto attack trades. Explosive Cask can be used any time here, however still be aware of when to best use it. If you Explosive Cask him into your tower without IMMEDIATELY following up with Body Slam, then he can't Cutthroat to you and away from your tower. If you use it before he uses Shadow Assault then he can dodge your Body Slam without you knowing which way he went. It's all about timing, and feeling out how good of a read you have on the enemy player. If you know how they move, feel free to even use it while they're stealthed and running away/towards you.

Twisted Fate - You win again. Stay away from him when he gets his Pick A Card Gold Card, and dodge his Wild Cards. Your abilities will crush him. Try to avoid some auto attack poke from him, especially when his Stacked Deck is up. Your Explosive Cask can cancel his Destiny, which can lead to his death and/or saving the life of your allies in another lane.

Veigar - This dude has no mobility early game and is very easy to harass. He has no health so consider getting Body Slam at level two to really punish his health pool early, before he can stun chain you. After level 6 you might want to ask a non-AP champion to help kill him while you stay ranged away from his ult if you don't have the health pool to survive it's burst.

Viktor - Annoying at level 1, easy to kill after level 3. Avoid as much poke as you can until then, and don't be afraid to be a bit aggressive. Your abilities do more damage and make you tankier than him along with better sustain. Not much I need to tell you other than be patient if you're losing the poke war and try to dodge what you can.

Vladimir - HAHAHAHAHA!!! People think this counters Gragas. It's one of my EASIEST lane opponents. Oh I'll have fun explaining this one.

At level 1 game your Barrel Roll is on a one second longer cooldown than his Transfusion, but does much better damage. take advantage of this and hit him hard and hit him often. Higher damage along with your long range should allow you to trade at least 2 Barrel Rolls for every one Transfusion he can get off. Your passive versus his early heal is comparable so he won't be winning the sustain battle.

After you get Drunken Rage you will be able to continue to range harass him while taking little to no damage even if he hits you, while also allowing your passive to proc even more sustain.

When you get Body Slam the fun really begins. With your Drunken Rage up, Body Slam him and then auto attack him. Put Ignite on him and continue to auto attack. You both have REALLY long early game cooldowns but he is slowed and your auto attacks win out more than doubly over his. This will force most Vladimirs to Sanguine Pool, thus losing even more health. After this toss out your Barrel Roll where they come up for an easy kill (you can even follow up with a second Body Slam). If you feel you can toss out and explode a Barrel Roll after you land Body Slam but before they Sanguine Pool then by all means, do so. Ignite is your best friend here, so don't be afraid to use it early, as it will stop 50% of his healing and grant you 5 AP and 5 AD to help finish him off.

At level 6 you can start toying with him. Harass as much as you can while staying ranged, or go in for a quick combo before getting out of range. When you feel like you can kill him, try forcing Sanguine Pool with a Barrel Roll or Body Slam before you Explosive Cask. RIGHT when he comes out of Sanguine Pool you want to hit him with Explosive Cask as there is a very small window at which you can hit him, but he can't yet Flash. Just try being aggressive to Vladimir. The poor guy won't be able to take it if you are any good at landing skill shots.

Xerath - This guy is not very good against mobile or long range AP carries, which you are both. His health is lower than yours and he does best when standing still. His main harass is a line ability which is easy to dodge and juke. You Body Slam can really screw with him after he stands still. You should win this EASILY.

Ziggs - What a pest. Just dodge any and all of his skills and fire back with Barrel Roll. Body Slam can crush this little runt, and if you have Drunken Rage up, you can land a few good auto attacks to help finish him off with Ignite. Oh and your Explosive Cask can set you up to kill him WAY better than he can to you. Easy lane, and if not, a gank or tower dive on this low health champion can do wonders.

Zilean - Only has one damage spell. Try to learn this range so as to better stay safe and win trade. Your Explosive Cask can move him out of safety when he would've otherwise been fine with his Chronoshift. Use your Explosive Cask to set up a gank with your jungler so that he dies again right out of Chronoshift. If you're losing for some odd reason, stay ranged when you can, and harass until your jungle or a teammate can help you out.

Zyra - This lane is easy to win. Her health can be crushed by your Barrel Roll and Body Slam and you're much tankier than her. Your Body Slam can get you out of her Stranglethorns and away from her plants. I feel this is one of your best lane opponents to spam laugh at. Don't get too cocky though as her Grasping Roots can set her jungler up for a kill on you.

This section will cover versus of all other tops I have not covered in the "counter" or "mid" section, however in less detail than the "counter" section. If you feel one on these needs to be moved to "counters" then please comment with your desired change or message me. I'll do my best to change add that champion and details to the "counters" section within a day. This section is organized alphabetically.

Cho'Gath - Be aggressive and try to force him away from your minions so he can't heal. Barrel Roll can be used to zone him out on CS and healing. Try to avoid his frontal cone damage from both Vorpal Spikes and Feral Scream. Dodge his Rupture with easy by moving in a less predictable manner than "forward" or "back." You should crush him and win lane if you are good at landing skills and dodging his (which is easy DONE than SAID... no really... it's easy as hell) After level 6 just stay mobile still and use Explosive Cask however you'd like. Knocking him towards you and your tower and doing a full ability combo can crush a Cho'Gath who hasn't had the time to get stacks up yet.

Darius - What a rude, rude, rude, rude guy. Harass him down with Barrel Roll as much as you can while keeping Drunken Rage up, and then when he is low enough, combo him down. Be sure he is low enough that when you go in, he doesn't have time to get a bunch of Hemorrhage stacks on you. After level 6, try to gauge his health to know when it's safe to burst him down with a full Drunken Rage - Explosive Cask - Body Slam - Barrel Roll combo. It's important to get it right so that he can't get stacks up on you when you Body Slam in for a bigger Noxian Guillotine.

Dr. Mundo - You might not be able to kill him easy, but he sure as hell can't kill you. Focus on CS while providing whatever harass you can. Try to zone him from CS with Barrel Roll and stay behind or near minions to dodge his Infected Bonesaw. Try to counter his build when you back, or focus on what build you will need later on for team fights. If you can, ask a jungler to help you get a kill on him if you're having trouble. Shutting this guy down early makes for an easy 5v4 later in game. Ignite is your best friend versus this guy. Punish him every time he misses an Infected Bonesaw. If you play smart and punish a forward Dr. Mundo you can keep him from CS or even land a kill.

Fiora - She is not a threat until level 6. Try to win lane early and then after level 6, keep Drunken Rage up if you think she's going to aggress on you. Try to avoid hurting yourself from her Riposte by watching her animations. If you toss out a Barrel Roll and she goes to Riposte it, let it sit there. This will allow for zoning presence, while still give you a chance to hit her if she thinks of walking back into it.

Gangplank - What a joke. Calls himself a pirate but can't handle a bit of beer. Your sustain is better than his, and your damage is also. Barrel Roll's attack speed slow and Drunken Rage's percentage damage reduction and AD increase makes you win auto attack trade too. Body Slam crushes this guy. Every single ability he has, you have better. If you can't win this trade, message me and I'll tell you how in-depth, but most players should manage fine.

Garen - This is one that you have to be somewhat careful with. His passive and yours are a good match up. You should win the damage trade. Your Body Slam is huge against him, as it will slow him or get you away from him (he is somewhat fast). At level 6 is when you need to be careful. Keep a few Health Potions on yourself and avoid as much damage as you can while harassing back. If you get low, GET OUT! His Demacian Justice does more damage the lower you are. If you're having trouble, a gank can set you WAY ahead and end up allowing you to win lane for the rest of the game.

Irelia - Don't let her auto attack. Aggression can be good against her. Drunken Rage can set you up to win trades, and you long range can allow for safe harass and poke. Zoning viable here with Barrel Roll. Your Body Slam is great here for aggression or avoiding damage. If you go for a kill with Explosive Cask make sure to knock her away from your minions if possible.

Jarvan IV - This guy can be annoying but you counter him rather well if played smart. Try not to let him auto attack you a lot. Staying mobile can allow you to dodge a lot of, if not all of, his abilities. Once he uses Demacian Standard try to not get between him and it. If he dives in with Dragon Strike onto his standard, Body Slam to punish him, or to get away if you're afraid of his damage. Try to judge how aggressive you can be to him throughout the game but focusing on his build and stats.

Jax - Just doesn't stand a chance against Gragas. Your Body Slam makes sure that he is slowed or can't even hit you more than once, while your Barrel Roll makes it much harder for his damage to ramp up from his Relentless Assault. You should have no problems with him so long as you weigh your harass versus your safety properly.

Jayce - While he can be scary with that long range poke, you're scarier. Stay behind minions but not near them to avoid his Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate To The Skies! / Shock Blast ranged combo. If he gets in for melee attacks, Barrel Rolls attack speed slow will make him less of a threat and Body Slam can punish him coming to far or allow you a safe escape. Drunken Rage will help you a lot versus a Jayce who likes to poke at you. Keep the harass up while avoiding damage. Focus on CS when he's melee while landing some harass, and try to still harass him out of being able to auto attack harass you while he is ranged, however make sure you are still get CS. When going for a kill on him, try to save one or the other of Explosive Cask or Body Slam for after he knocks you back or tries to run.

Kayle - She has annoying auto attack damage. Try to make engages short with her so the you win the burst trade. This might set you slightly behind in CS for the first little bit, but soon she be either low health or oom and you'll be right back on top again (hehe get it? you're in top lane... but you'll be winning... so you'll be top on top)

Kha'Zix - This guy.... psh... this guy. He can be somewhat rude. Stay away from the bushes and stay near your minions to reduce the damage he can do. Your Drunken Rage and being near minions will reduce the damage he can do while being on the far side of your creeps from the bushes will make it harder for him to engage at all. Your Barrel Roll Body Slam combo will make a would be aggressor Kha'Zix regret his blood and idiotic decision. He does have a short cooldown on his Taste Their Fear however, so once he is slowed, try to kite away from him while staying near your minions if possible. Get more CS then him and don't die, and he'll be useless by mid game.

Lee Sin - Lee Sin is good early game so if you know you'll be in a lane against him, try to get some more powerful early game runes masteries and items to help you out so that he doesn't get a chance to snowball. Stay behind your minions and keep a bit of distance from any minion of yours he marks. When he comes in don't be afraid to Body Slam at him to slow him down. This will let you land your Barrel Roll easier. Drunken Rage will be key early on. Don't forget it. If you can, dodge any skills you can while getting ahead in CS and harass on this guy. At level 6, make sure you're ready to Body Slam to safety as he might try to get behind you to Dragon's Rage you into a gank by the enemy jungler.

Malphite - Poke this guy as often as you can so as to stop his shield from reapplying every 10 seconds. At level 1, this will mean making sure to auto attack him at least once in between Barrel Rolls. Constant harass on him will make his passive less effective and your passive more effective. Be quick with Body Slam at level 6 so as to avoid his Unstoppable Force, and once he uses it, knock him even further towards your side of the lane with Explosive Cask to really punish him for using it.

Nasus - Harass this guy HARD and keep him from using Siphoning Strike on minions as much as you can. Barrel Roll can be a great zoning tool for this and Body Slam can really do a number on him if he tries to CS anyways. Stay out of his AoE and focus on making sure he can't auto attack to restore health. Barrel Roll can help you there again by slowing his attack speed.

Nunu - This guys doesn't have the damage or sustain to win the lane versus Gragas. Gragas has too much burst damage with moderate sustain. Try to keep this guy from auto attack as it will force him to use more mana to use abilities. Be careful of face checking bushes after level 6 as even an under fed Nunu & Willump's Absolute Zero can do massive damage. Warding properly across the map right before or after he hits level 6 can make sure you and your team don't fall prey to Nunu & Willump bush camping.

Olaf - Watch out for his true damage as it negates your Drunken Rage damage reduction. Try to harass him without letting him get in melee range of you. Dodging his Undertow can help you kite this poor guy around as you pick up CS. Barrel Roll can also be a great zoning tool in allowing you to pick up CS safely.

Pantheon - What a jerk. Lots of damage and a long hard CC (that's what she said). Mantheon is one of those that you have to try to stay out of range of, but can't really if you want CS. Just try to harass from afar while waiting for each wave, and then have your Drunken Rage up when you go to CS. If he jumps you and then uses Heartseeker Strike, move to the side or behind him to take the least amount of damage. Try to be just as aggressive to him as he is to you whenever he manages to get in range. Otherwise, keep him far away, and let your passive keep you sustained. Make sure to quickly call MIA on him if he leaves your sight after level 6 as his Grand Skyfall has long range map presence.

Renekton - Learn the distance he can travel with Slice and Dice and try to stay at least that far away from him whenever you can (550 range). Your Body Slam can keep you safe if you need it. Try to deny him CS when you can and harass from afar. If you need to melee CS, stepping to the side or Body Slamming past him as he Slice and Dice]s at you can help you avoid damage while not playing too far back to grab CS. Punish him early and [[Body Slam away from him after level 6 when he pops his Dominus aggressively. If it's used defensively and you were about to kill him, Ignite him and Explosive Cask him back at you while landing a Body Slam to keep him slowed and in lane while Dominus is still up.

Rengar - Ugh. Not the worst to play against, just annoying as all hell. Just try your best to stay far away from all bushes and ward the ones you need to. Barrel Roll can reduce his Savagery attack speed. Keep Drunken Rage up when he is going to be able to get in range for some damage. Zoning CS or keeping him away from you with Barrel Roll is good here, but try to land a few at long range. Body Slam can get you away from his burst or stop him from retreating back to the bushes. If he pops his Thrill of the Hunt to get away, don't be afraid to toss out a blind Explosive Cask behind the last place you saw him, as this will most often toss him right back into your waiting arms and allow for an easy Body Slam slow as soon as Thrill of the Hunt wears off.

Riven - This chick... she can be played sooooo many ways that it's hard to tell you exactly what to do. Try to land your abilities as best to can and save Body Slam to escape her grasp unless you know you can win the aggression. Body Slam can also save you from her Blade of Exile if you're low. Save either Body Slam or Explosive Cask for after she stuns you, if you're going for the kill.

Rumble - This guy has seen some lack of play recently but he is a very good pick top, so don't underestimate him. Focus on your high burst damage while avoiding his low constant damage. Barrel Roll can be used to zone him or make him think twice about harassing you up close. Drunken Rage must be active versus this guy whenever possible. If you use Body Slam offensively on him, don't stick around. Use the slow to your advantage and run. Try to trade harass if he is trying to keep you from CS. If he is winning in CS and effectively keeping you from CSing, it's because he's being aggressive as hell. Have your jungler come gank him even if you don't land the kill, as this will make him play more passively if he's constantly scared of your jungler.

Shen - You might not be able to kill this guy solo if he's running defensive runes and masteries. Try to focus on CS while zoning him with harass. If he puts Vorpal Blade on you, don't try to trade auto attacks. Don't push this lane up at least until you ward as his Shadow Dash can set you up to be killed by a 1v2 gank if you're not quick enough with Body Slam.

Singed - Poke this guy whenever you can and use minions to kite him so he can't Fling you into his Poison Trail. Focus on CS and denying him CS, while staying out of his Poison Trail and away from his Fling. Once you get him low enough Ignite can help secure the kill while Body Slam can ensure he doesn't kite you around.

Sion - Just harass when you can, deny CS with Barrel Roll and burst his shield before he stuns you with any or all of your abilities. If he is AP, you'll need to use both Barrel Roll and Body Slam to burn down his shield, but then he'll have no damage. If he is AD then just one will do and then you can use the other to damage him. Try to get most of your harass done when he doesn't have a shield as this will be less costly on mana, when all you have to do is stay ranged when he has his shield up. Might be somewhat tough at first, but should fall off compared to you quickly and you'll start to win lane even more.

Teemo - Burst. Only burst him. Use Barrel Roll by tossing it in front of him if you want to zone him and force him to run back if you want to get in range for auto attack CS. Body Slam Barrel Roll will crush his health pool and will most likely make him back off, allowing you to get free CS. Keep Drunken Rage up and try to get the most out of Happy Hour. Keep landing combos and don't be afraid to sip down those Health Potions early. After level 6 try to avoid common routes through bushes or jungle. Taking a slightly longer or less direct path can help you in avoiding most of his Noxious Traps. Your full combo of Drunken Rage Explosive Cask Body Slam Barrel Roll] and [[Ignite can take most Teemo players from 100% health to zero in just one combo... So do just that.

Tryndamere - Try to harass him with Barrel Roll often and side step his Spinning Slash before landing a counter Body Slam on him. Drunken Rage helps you a TON against this guy. If you get him low, Ignite can keep him low and not allow him to heal while Explosive Cask and Body Slam can keep him close by so you can land a kill. If he is about to kill you, just Explosive Cask]] him away and Body Slam outta there if you need. Or if he pops his Undying Rage and is take you low, Ignite him before using one of these two skills to get away from him, and then use the other to get right back into him after it's down.

Udyr - Stay out of his melee range and poke him when you can and you're set. Barrel Roll is great for zoning and Body Slam can save you from being caught. Try to not let him auto attack in Iron Mantle as this will allow him to regain health and mana.

Vi - I've not played against a good enough Vi yet to really have precise details on how to play against her. Try treating her like Evelynn when it comes to her hitting you through use of minions, and treat her Vault Breaker and Cease and Desist like a Malphite's Unstoppable Force, with the exception that one can't be dodged. Stay mobile, move in a way that she can't hit you using Relentless Force on minions, and use Body Slam and/or Explosive Cask to punish her for coming in on you.

Volibear - Play this like you would a faster version of Singed. Stay out of his Thundering Smash and don't stick around him as he can use Frenzy after three auto attacks for the next 4 seconds to do massive damage. Body Slam can be your best friend here. Once you get him low and want the kill, Ignite with wreck his passive, allowing for an easier time to take him down. At level 6 stay away from your minions to avoid the chain damage that happens from Stormbringer.

Warwick - Try to be aggressive early and land as many abilities as you can. Keeping Drunken Rage up can allow you to out sustain and out harass him. At level 6 you can use your Explosive Cask in any way you want. If you ask for a gank on him after level 6, Explosive Cask can be a great way to stop his Infinite Duress on a teammate or punish him for using it on you by pushing him to your side of the lane.

Wukong - This guy is a jerk. Try to keep your Drunken Rage up and land your Body Slam and Barrel Rolls on him AS SOON AS he uses Crushing Blow on you. This will insure that you hit him even if he tries to Warrior Trickster away from you. Try to harass him from afar a few times without taking damage to insure that you are ahead in the poke war. Try to pick up on how each Wukong player likes to use his Warrior Trickster and adjust. Your Barrel Roll has a big range so if you toss it out right as he stops moving, you'll probably hit the real him even if he used Warrior Trickster.

Xin Zhao - Ew. He can be mean. However, he can low health and must rely on auto attacks for sustain. Barrel Roll] can deny him the sustain that his low health pool needs. [[Body Slam can counter any engagement he tries to make on you, while Drunken Rage keeps you safer. Try to not take multiple auto attacks from him as they do a lot of damage, can knock you up, and can heal him. Try to harass him heavily and zone him from CS. If he's being aggressive and you can't deal with it (which you should if you play right), just ask for a gank. It is rather easy to kill an over aggressive Xin as he is not too tanky. After level 6 Explosive Cask and Body Slam allow for decent tradeoff versus Crescent Sweep and Audacious Charge. Try to be aware of how he uses these, and use your own to counter his game plan, be it offensive or defensive.

Yorick - Try to land every skill you can on this guy. Stay near the bushes while CSing and wait for him to cast one of his ghouls on you. When he does, duck into a bush to break aggro from it (it won't continue to follow you into a bush after it loses sight on you, thus allowing you to avoid it's auto attack damage). You both have decent sustain in lane, but if you can avoid ghoul damage you should win this lane easily. After level 6 be careful of an aggressive use of his Omen of Death as it can do a surprising amount of damage. If you are the one winning lane and trying to go for a kill don't go too deep (that's what she said) if you're trying to kill him. Even if you get the kill his Omen of Death can allow him to get revenge if you're not careful. Consider the risks carefully when going for a kill on Yorick. Body Slam or Flash can help you get away after you kill him and are a bit too low to safely stick around.

Zed - Not a threat in any lane after Black Cleaver nerfs in my opinion. Dodge his skills and stay away from his Living Shadow when you can. When he uses his Death Mark and you are actually afraid of dying to it, Explosive Cask him away and/or Body Slam to safety after he comes out of its channeling. Be aware of where he tosses out his Living Shadow so you can stay safe or chase for the kill if he switches to its place.