Hi everyone! My name is Luxeøn, or Drew. I main Lux, and am a high Diamond mid/support player. I was the varsity mid laner for University of North Texas's collegiate team for two years, played on a team as ADC, swapped to support, and then had to quit because of graduate school!
I want to start out by saying that this guide is just a guidance! I recommend what I think is the most meta or best runes and build paths for Lux, but do remember that this game has flexibility. Either the meta will change (some runes/items get buffed or nerfed - which I try to update per patch), you might need a specific rune or build path depending on the enemy champions and their own build paths (Build Void Staff earlier on than I recommend, for example), or you just have preferences (you prefer a different secondary tree that I don't recommend in my guide)! If you want to discuss if any runes/items/anything that isn't on my guide, feel free to DM me on here, comment on this guide, or even add me on League if you're on the NA server! I am always happy to hear from you and love discussing anything related to Lux, especially when I am able to answer any questions that might not exactly be on this guide or I didn't go into enough detail on!
Lux is such a unique and fun champion- I have been playing her ever since season 3, so I wanted to share the knowledge I have collected from my experience from playing as her.
What is your favorite Lux element from her elemental skin?? Mine is storm since I'm an electric pokemon boy, but I honestly change it depending on my mood that game LOL
This guide is purposeful for the mid lane (or bottom, I play APC Lux quite a bit in ranked). If you need a support guide, see below! I also have a Lux montage I made a bit ago as well:
Alright now that all of that is out of the way,
Here we go!
Pros
Cons
Easy to learn
Hard to Sidelane/Team Reliant
Lots of Utility
Abilities are easy to dodge
Great Teamfighter
Easy Counterplay:, , , , , etc
E & R gives vision
Long Cooldowns
Long Range
Squishy w/ no mobility
Good poke/burst damage
Mana Issues
PRIMARY
★ Comet works best for Lux because she has a lot of AOE and poke damage, and this rune adds to it. It's a pretty short cooldown and the cooldown is reduced when you hit your abilities, which is great, especially in teamfights!! Aery is a more supportive choice, or a choice if you're against a melee and want to poke them out a bit more.
★ Manaflow band is great because Lux has higher mana costs in general, making this rune very valuable, especially later on in extended fights!
Nullifying Orb is a situational alternative if they have a high AP/AP burst team (ex: LB mid, Elise jungle, Syndra APC, etc) and you need to survive. ONLY take this rune in those high AP situations, manaflow band is too valuable otherwise!!
★ Absolute Focus and Transcendence are the best options here, with Absolute being just a bit better because the free AP is really nice on Lux (Absolute + Gathering Storm + Eyeball is a great AP combo).
However, if you find yourself wanting to take the CDR since Lux's spells can be kinda long, feel free to take Transcendence to help soak up that Ability Haste you're missing out on.
★ I personally think Gathering Storm is better in a lot of situations because Lux has a lot of bad matchups and requires her E to clear a wave and keep up with the other mid laner (high elo especially where the enemy knows to stand off on the side and not in position for you to E them and the minions), meaning you won't have HUGE opportunities to use scorch, and so you want GS so you have more AP going to mid-late game!
However, scorch is still a very good rune, especially in those matchups where you are able to poke a lot more often and/or want to snowball early to get ahead. Comet + scorch + cheap shot is a pretty deadly poking combo!
★ First slot: Adaptive AP is the most common and will be the best since Lux is hungry for AP with her high AP scalings. However, if you want the extra CDR, I recommend taking this OVER transcendence if you are choosing one or the other because this only gives 9AP, whereas, you get the 9AP from absolute focus at around level 5, as long as you're above the HP threshhold. If you want more CDR in general, you can take this and trancendence as well.
Second slot: Tbh this should always be AP - the scaling health isn't the best unless it's too hard of a matchup, and the MS also isn't good unless you're stacking MS items.
Third slot: I personally like the flat HP because Lux is great in teamfights but struggles in lane sometimes, meaning the flat HP helps her be a bit more beefy earlier on - ESPECIALLY vs assassins that will try to all in you at level 3/6. However, feel free to taking scaling AP if you feel you don't need it early game and would rather the scaling for more HP later on.
SECONDARY
★ Cheap Shot + Ultimate Hunter: This is a pretty standard secondary, as cheap shot really helps with poking (cheap shot + comet + if you take scorch is a deadly combo) and I think Lux's ultimate is SO crucial so I like it as low of a CD as possible so I can frequent it.
The alternative is to take eyeball collection over cheap shot because it gives 30AP, and if you add Absolute Storm (3-30AP) and Gathering Storm (24AP at 20m), it starts off by giving ~70 extra AP, which will increase with Rabadon's passive and as the game goes on with more AP from Gathering Storm. So feel free to take it based on preference!
★ Cheap Shot + Eyeball Collection:
Some argue that Lux's cooldown is already low enough, making ultimate hunter not beneficial, and that is a valid approach! We normally have to choose between more poke from cheap shot and more AP from eyeball collection, but why not both??
ALT SECONDARY
★ Presence of Mind is a great rune because Lux can sometimes have mana issues, even with manaflow band. It's really helpful in teamfights especially when you're trying to poke them down before a full on engage!
★ Coup de Grace This is a really great rune, especially if you are going a super bursty Lux builds! Gives her combo an extra oomph to make sure the enemy is obliterated!!
★ Cut Down The great alternative if you locked in Lux early and are going against a lot of tanks/beefy people you just won't be able to burst :( I suggest swapping your build a bit to adapt as well. If you are going against squishies, make sure to NEVER take this and always take coup de grace.
Primary
Secondary
FIRST STRIKE
When is this a good rune to take? With the comet buffs and First Strike nerfs, comet takes the crown! This rune is really not something to brag about and I'd only suggest it if you feel REALLY confident in snowballing. Feel free to change any of these runes to alternatives in the same column, this is just what I would recommend (for example, I like triple tonic because the extra level means level 11 faster for more damage/snowballing, but biscuits is fine if you want sustain)!
Primary
Secondary
ELECTROCUTE
When is this a good rune to take? I personally never take this rune, but it's definitely preference based and good to mention and only good in lanes where I'm fighting constantly and just want the burst - or its ARAM!! I personally think Precision secondary works best because you're getting more burst potential from Coup De Grace on top of PoM to help you with your mana, but Sorcery with Transcendence/Manaflow band work just as well!
★
Flash
This spell should be taken 100% of the time! It is VITAL to escape, reposition, dodge a skillshot, flash over a wall, or even be used to catch up to a champion! There should be NO exceptions, if you need to replace a summoner spell, replace barrier.
★
Barrier
This is the most important and most used spell that every Lux main takes! Lux NEEDS this shield sometimes versus assassins or bursty comps to save her, plus it pairs well with her Prismatic Barrier! Please remember to activate it when they are bursting you, not after they're done. The most common mistake with this spell is they use their barrier after the burst and try to maybe wait it out, but you're going to die and waste your barrier if you use it after. It's a relatively low cooldown so don't be afraid to use it when needed, but remember to be more defensive when it's not available.
★
Cleanse
Cleanse is situational but is VERY important!! You only want to take it when you need it but when the enemy team has a lot of CC, this is NEEDED! For example, if they have a sejuani jungle and a TF mid, this should be taken because you need cleanse to get rid of the Sejuani ult or TF card! It also reduces all other CC spells by 65% for 3 seconds after, which is really nice just in case they try to stack their CC on you. Also do note that if they have a lot of CC in general, it might be good to invest in mercury's treads as your boot of choice!
★
Teleport
I personally love teleport in certain situations. It's great if you want more lane dominance since you can make the enemy miss a wave or two since you can teleport back instantly. I also like to take it when you're going vs someone who also takes teleport (or vs someone like taliyah who can get places fast with her ultimate), that way you can match their teleport presence, whether that be back to lane or to another lane. I would take it more often but Lux is very immobile and squishy with some really bad matchups, so she leans more towards defensive options like barrier/cleanse. However, lane presence is also extremely important so if you feel safe enough to not need barrier/that defensive spell, PLEASE take teleport!!
★
Exhaust
Exhaust is a good spell versus assassins, like Talon, Zed, Fizz, and so forth. Using this spell right BEFORE their combo is EXTREMELY important, so try to time it correctly! If you don't think you can time it correctly, take barrier instead.
Illumination Your next auto attack against enemies hit by your abilities take extra magic damage.
Lux's offensive abilities mark all affected enemies with light energy for 6 seconds. Her basic attacks and Final Spark consume the mark, dealing 20-190 (based on level).
Light Binding Roots and damages two enemies.
ACTIVE: Lux releases a sphere of light in a line that deals magic damage to the first two enemies hit and roots them for 2 seconds.
Prismatic Barrier Shields yourself and your allies with Lux's wand on the way out and back.
ACTIVE: Lux shields herself and throws out her wand in a line, shielding allied champions in its path for 3 seconds. Lux's wand then returns to her, stacking the shield to all allied champions it passes through and herself.
Lucent Singularity Slows and damages enemies in an AOE bubble.
ACTIVE: Lux sends an anomaly of twisted light to the target area for up to 5 seconds, Slow icon slowing enemies inside and granting a 600 radius Sight icon vision around it. Lucent Singularity can be recast at no delay.
RECAST: Lux detonates Lucent Singularity early. If recast while in flight, the ability will detonate on arrival.
The slow lingers for 1 second after leaving the area. Enemies hit by Lucent Singularity are slowed for 1 second.
Final Spark Lux fires a laser that deals damage to anything in her path.
ACTIVE: After gathering energy for 0.5 seconds, Lux fires a giant laser in a line that deals magic damage to all enemies hit and briefly reveals them and the surrounding area. Final Spark triggers and refreshes Illumination if the enemy was damaged by Lux's other abilities.
Tips and Tricks
Illumination
★ This will be a great way to poke in lane. Using your Lucent Singularity and an auto will set this off.
★ You can also use this to create pressure in lane. If you hit them with your Lucent Singularity and walk up a bit aggressively, they will want to back off since they know your auto beats theirs. Just watch out when you do this, if they have poke or damage back, the auto isn't worth the damage you might take back!
★ ONLY auto when it is safe. Never run at enemy champions trying to proc this.
★Remember that your ultimate procs Illumination AND resets it! Use this to your advantage when using different combos for maximum damage
★ Remember that it does hit two enemies, so hitting a minion and an enemy champion behind them is a good way to surprise the enemy with a binding!
★ Don't just throw this spell out, as you are very vulnerable without it, especially earlier on when you don't have enough AH or levels in for the cooldown to be reduced. If it's on cooldown, remember to be more cautious and defensive unless you know you're safe around allies or the enemy doesn't have any spells to jump on you with.
★ The only time I get this at level 1 is if I know we are going to invade. Even then, I wait until some action happens (your thresh throws a hook and you can follow up with a bind) or if they need my Q to catch someone out before leveling it. If I level it when I first start and the invade fails, I will have to accept that I will have Q at level 1 instead of E, which isn't a HUGE issue, but you want E first for the small waveclear that happens mid/it's your main poking ability for manaflow band stacks!
Prismatic Barrier
★ Get one point in this at level 4 but then don't put another point in it until you've maxed out every other ability! Get it at level 3 if it's a harder matchup or a matchup like Fizz who will try to all in you at level 3 and you want the shield for a better trade.
★ Try to hit all of your allies with this spell in teamfights. If you don't hit them on the way out, try to position yourself to hit them with your wand on the way back!!
★ If you are using your shield to save yourself and are running away, make sure to throw the wand in the direction you're running away from! The wand will return to you faster, meaning you can block more damage with the second proc from your shield.
Lucent Singularity
★ This is your main farming and poking tool. Level it up first & whenever possible.
★ It has a higher mana cost, so try not to spam it early game.
★ It gives vision, so using it in bushes is way better then facechecking! I also love using this spell in the dragon or baron pit to check and see if the enemy is doing it! Sometimes NOT popping it immediately and keeping it there for the full duration in order to keep vision on the enemies/objectives is crucial and much better than immediately popping it to do like... 200 damage
★ Also remember that it is a VERY good zoning tool. If you don't need it for the damage specifically in teamfights or when chasing enemies, throw it down but DON'T pop it! Many enemies will not want to walk on it, or they will be forced to and the constant slow means you or your allies can catch up to them and kill them! This is perfect in choke points where the enemies are forced to either walk over it or take a different route. Do remember to pop it right as they're about to get off of it, that way you get the full effect of the spell (slow & damage!)
★ Also use this spell as a way to escape if you're being chased. Either throw it on yourself or throw it in a nearby choke point where the enemy has to walk through to get to you, and then DON'T pop it! Keep it there so if they do keep chasing you, they're slowed and you can get away. If they do walk over it, feel free to pop it right before they walk off of it to still do damage!
Final Spark
★ Try to position yourself in teamfights to hit as many enemy champions as you can with this ability.
★ I usually try to not use this spell unless I or one of my teammates has CC'd someone, but if they're grouped up, a quick E>R in fight will do MASSIVE amounts of damage to 3-5 people! Look for an opening of when you can ult, either through following up with your binding/your allies CC, or by creating massive AOE in the battlefield!
★ It has a low cooldown, especially once you get AH and levels onto this spell, so don't be afraid to use it!
★ I love using this spell to steal dragons/barons! You can either ult from far away, or if you're able to get close to the pit, feel free to E>R! Later on in the game, your E>R will do more damage than smite!
★ This ability has a huge 1.2 AP scaling, meaning you want to get a lot of AP so her ultimate does more damage!
★ Remember that you are able to Flash during the ult channel casting! Your ultimate will go off still but won't move if you do flash! This is important when someone shoots a CC spell/skillshot at you that you need to dodge, you're able to flash it/over a wall to escape/etc in order to get away or dodge the spell while still being able to shoot your ultimate off.
★ This is a common harass technique used in lane, but is also going to be used out of lane as well. A lot of times when the enemy goes in to last hit, this is a good time to use this combo. You are able to E>auto and then quickly run away without taking any damage in return. Notice how in the video, I threw my E and then IMMEDIATELY auto'd. Your auto takes a second to hit the enemy since the missile speed is decently slow, meaning you can then press E again for it to pop and your auto will hit right after, aka it will still proc your passive since the E did hit first! This is also a good zoning technique. When you throw your E out and it hits them, they will be more cautious because they do not want you to auto them and proc the passive. Use this to your advantage- but know your bounds as well. Do not try to auto them if they are able to throw their spells back or else you lost the trade and this can even get you killed if they have CC as well.
★
The combo also works the same if you do: Light Binding➛ Lucent Singularity➛Auto➛POP Lucent Singularity➛Auto, as I did in the second part of this video. This is going to be another combo that will be used for trades, especially before level 6. Also notice how my Light Binding killed a minion, but was still able to hit Annie as well. As most won't pay attention to the second binding until it is too late, using your Light Binding to kill one minion and hit the enemy champion with the second binding works effectively!! This combo gets your MAXIMUM damage potential without your ult since you are able to proc your passive twice with both of your spells!
PLEASE WATCH OUT WHO YOU USE THIS ON! As Annie didn't have her ultimate and her range is very short, she was only able to get an auto off on me. If you are using this combo on someone like Ahri, be CAREFUL! Your Light Binding is only a root, meaning spells can still be cast. It will not be worth it if Ahri is able to Charm you and use her combo back on you! If you want to do this vs those like Ahri, her charm hits the first person, so just have minions in front of you when you combo them and you should be good to go.
★ This clearly shows the standard way of bursting an enemy down. When using this combo, I press QER and then press your E again as your ultimate is channeling (I usually press my E like 5 times just in case LOL)! I use this combo when I am far away and want to burst someone from far away and not get autos in because either I am too far away or I don't want to get close in case they retaliate!
★ This combo is going to be used frequently- when you are close enough to an enemy to auto them. The idea here is to Q them and then auto them really fast to get the passive proc off, and then E>R instantly after. Pop your E as you're ulting so your ult will trigger the second passive proc, and then auto them after you're done ulting for the third proc! This is an extremely important combo since it maximizes your FULL damage potential (aka getting all 3 passive procs on your spells), but it also requires you to be in auto attack range of the enemy. You don't want to use this combo when you are far away or else you will have to walk up to them to auto them after Q'ing and then by the time you use your E and R, they will not be in the binding anymore and can dodge it. This is especially important if they have Mercury's Treads since they will get out of your binding early, so you need to throw your spells out before they do so!
★ I used this combo on a scuttle since dummy's dont move, it looks a little awkward but hopefully you can still see the combo! This combo can be a bit tricky since it has its ups and downs. Some ups about this combo is that you get all 3 procs off and it maximizes your FULL damage! You can either pop your E immediately after ulting, or you can use your E as a slow to auto them a couple more times or for your allies to catch up to them if they aren’t dead already. If you do that, you still want to pop the E when they’re at the very edge of your E so your damage still goes through! However, you don’t want to use this combo in certain situations. For one, if you know they have flash, don’t do it! They will flash away right when they are out of your binding and won’t take the E damage! You also don’t want to do this if you know/think your combo will kill them because they can retailiate. For example, you use your combo on an Ahri, but then you don’t pop your E and auto her to kill her, so she uses her ultimate to DASH out of your E and then uses her spells back on you and kills you- and you can’t do anything about it since you just used all your spells and they are on cooldown. Only use this when you think you can't kill them without the extra autos from your passive and you know they can't retaliate or escape!
★ As promised from the comment section of my guide, here is the best version of this combo. The idea here is to throw your Q to bind them and then throw the E at the edge of their feet, like in the gif. This makes it to where Leona would have to walk through the whole circle to even get to me, and by then, I have escaped because she is constantly slowed. Notice how I popped my E right when she was about to run off of it. This made the spell 100% effective. Not only did I have the slow to escape, but I popped it right before she ran off of it so the damage went off as well. You can use this when you are getting chased/need to escape. Depending on where you are running from, if it's a choke point where they have to walk through to keep chasing you, you can always throw your E there too instead of at them directly.
★ This combo is great if you want a really quick burst OR as you see in the second part of the gif, you can steal dragons or any objectives with it! Putting your E with your R late game actually out damages smite, meaning more potential to steal the baron/dragons! I also use this combo when something like an Unstoppable Force from Malphite is used in teamfights because E>R is VERY quick and you will be able to follow up his knock up with a ton of AoE damage. The trick is to throw out your E very quickly and then use your ultimate immediately after, and pop your E in the middle of you ulting (I basically E>R and then spam my E key until I see it pop lol but you can just press it twice and it'll pop right when it lands). Not only will you do tons of AOE damage to multiple targets but remember that your ultimate procs your passive! Popping your E before the ultimate fully channels will give you your maximum damage since your ult procs and refreshes your passive!
★ I have forgotten to add this combo to my guide for quite a while, but here it is! As you can see in this video, I did two test runs, one with throwing out my Q and then flashing, and the other flashing and then using Q. Looking at my first run, the goal here is to see that pressing Q first and THEN flashing is more ideal because it is faster and it gives the enemy less time to react. You want to Q first because Lux takes a second before throwing out her Q, so you want to start up the animation and then flash. When you flash IMMEDIATELY after, the game will take the range indicator as where you FLASHED at, not where you were when you first pressed Q, and that is how I was able to get in range by using flash. I added the second run in order to show you that flashing and then pressing Q is still possible in order to get in range, but it gives the enemy much more time to react, so we want to Q first if possible before flashing. Do note that you need to flash IMMEDIATELY after pressing Q- if you wait too long then it will not register your flash in time and the Q range will go from where you were when you pressed Q, not where your flashed position was. I recommend practicing this in the practice tool in order to get familiar with how the combo works before using it in games, but it's an insanely FUN and useful combo!! The Q>flash double bind and then following up with E and R and getting a double kill feels reaaaaallly nice!!
PS: I love Bjergsen to death, he's my favourite pro player, but don't combo like him ;) RIP BJERG
Starting Items
★400G Doran's ring with two Health Potion's is very standard start! It gives you mana regen and rewards you for hitting enemies with spells, which pairs well with manaflow band/presence for mana sustain.
First Back
★ 1200G Buying a lost chapter is definitely the goal here for ap and mana sustain and to build into our first item!
★ 350G I personally buy this item almost every game, if not every game. Not only is it a really good buy when you don't have enough for lost chapter and/or want some free AP from takedowns while you're saving up for that expensive first item, but the stats you can get from it are INSANE for 350G. If you aren't getting stacks, it also is an amazing item to hold onto and then sell later!
★ 300G Boots are always a good buy since you get to lane faster, you have more speed to dodge skillshots or get places, and so forth. I normally try to save my boots for after my first item, but certain matchups or scenarios might have you getting these or full pen boots earlier (pen boots for snowballing, for example)! NEVER prio Sorc boots first if the enemy went MR boots!
★ 150G I personally like this item in a lot of my games because one bad trade means you have to play passive and you lose SO much lane pressure. Plus, pots are pretty common in mid lane so its good to mirror sustain.
★75G Last but not least, NO EXCEPTIONS, buy one every back if possible, ESPECIALLY before objectives! Every person is limited to 1 control ward on the map, meaning it isn't JUST your supports job to put control wards on the map, its YOU and the rest of your team. VISION WINS GAMES!! Plus, theres plenty of times I've gotten a kill just from someone trying to clear my control ward out, or I've been able to snipe someone from far away because they walked near a control ward and I had the vision. They're so so important!! Please buy them when you can!!!!
First Item
LUDEN'S COMPANION
VS
MALIGNANCE
★ Luden's is a pretty good item now and adds to Lux's burst potential! Lux always pairs really well with burst and pen items due to her kit, so this should be your first item in a lot of your games!
★ Malignance was the winner all season until they kept buffing ludens and nerfing malignance. It still is not a bad choice for the ultimate cooldown reduction, especially if you prefer a more spammy build over a more burst build.
Boots
-OR-
-OR-
-OR-
Sorcerer's Shoes > MAGIC PENETRATION
Magic Pen is super important on any mage since it causes your enemy to take more damage from you abilities! I buy this item ~80%+ of the time!
Ionian Boots of Lucidity > AH/SS CDR
With the nerfs, I recommend these a bit less, but still work very well if you need your summoners up more often and are going more CDR/support/you're against tanks and want a niche burn build. Lux never wants to be put in those situations but you do have to adapt to the game. I get these maybe 1% of the time, so they are VERY situational.
Mercury's Treads > TENACITY/MR
The main goal of these boots are just replacing Sorcerer's Shoes if they have a lot of CC and you need the tenacity and/or if you need the early magic resist vs those burst champions (ex: Syndra, LB, Veigar). I get these in about 20% of my games or a lot less, vs those certain champions or when I feel I need the tenacity. ONLY get these if you need them though, as the magic pen from Sorc Boots is too good to pass up!
Plated Steelcaps > ARMOR
You won't be buying these often at all, but there will be games every once in a while where you're vs a full AD comp and you need this, or you're against a lot of champions who use their autos for damage. These boots are very very good in those situations and I take these less than 1% of the time, but remember to only buy it if you feel you need the defensiveness!
Core Items
★ Rabadon's Deathcap: This is Lux's bread and butter item due to the fact that she has high AP ratios! This item has a 30% AP scaling, which will make Lux's spells do sooo much more damage!!! This is always a good power spike item to buy, but remember to prioritize other first dependent on the game since this item is expensive.
★ Void Staff: This is a flexible item that only needs to be bought when enemies start stacking magic resist (I have a general rule of if the enemy has ~90MR+ since anything below that, your other MPEN items can help cut some of that off). It’s also still a core item because you want to buy it basically every game (unless there’s a game that has no magic resist stacking, which is rare). Cryptbloom is amazing alternative (you cannot buy both) if you want to sacrifice a bit of pen for more CDR and a team heal for teamfights!
Situational Items
★ Shadowflame: This item is going to be either a great second item for Lux, or just a great item in general to have in your build! It gives a massive amount of AP, MPEN is always beneficial, and the fact that you can crit under a certain % makes Lux's burst even more insane!
★ Horizon Focus: I love this item and works well for more of a CDR damage based build! Other items currently provide more burst, moving this item a little down in tiers, but is still extremely viable and great as an add-in item in your build.
★ Stormsurge: This item is always up and down for Lux based on how buffed or nerfed it is. As of now, it is buffed!! Meaning its a REALLY good third item after shadowflame, and the MS is soo nice since Lux is so slow! It's an overall good item and is very effective vs squishies/people you can do at least 35% damage to!
★ Mejai's Soulstealer: Lux is one of the few people that can buy this item more often and get away with it due to her natural playstyle of playing from a far range. It is a very high risk high reward item, so don't buy it every game- if they have a lot of gap closers/people that can kill or assassinate you, your team is not doing well, or you aren't playing your best. You don't want to waste 1600G that can be geared toward other items. However, this item does give you an opportunity for a lot of AP (with movement speed as an added bonus over 10 stacks) on a small amount of gold! I'm a personal huge fan of first backing with a dark seal, so sitting on dark seal and then upgrading it to this item if I have 8-10 stacks on it or feel I can upgrade it works out! You can also just sit on dark seal all game if you do not feel comfortable enough with fully committing to this item!
★ Zhonya's Hourglass: This item is great because not only does it give pretty good stats, but the stasis is SO strong. Syndra or Zed ulting you? Zhonyas! Getting jumped on in a teamfight and need some time for your team to save you? Zhonyas! About to die to ignite? Zhonyas! This item is CRUCIAL to buy if you need the survivability (Zed, looking at you!), or if they have a very high AD based team and you want armor for more defensive purposes! Buy it when you need it, but otherwise, don't worry about buying it and buy more damage items!
★ Banshee's Veil: This is the Zhonya's counterpart, if you need magic resist instead of armor (and more AP now, which is really great!). This item can be really nice, especially against teams who use something like an Ashe Arrow/Blitz flash hook to engage! Remember to buy a defensive item ONLY if you need it!
★ Cryptbloom: This item is the counterpart to Void Staff - you cannot buy both. They both give % magic pen but Void Staff gives a bit more pen and AP. However, this item gives CDR and a nice strong heal thats great in teamfights! This item can easily be bought over Void Staff for more CDR and supportive capabilities, but def do NOT buy if you need the extra % pen because they are stacking high amounts of magic resist.
★ Morellonomicon: To be honest, I have this item as a situational item but its such a feelsbad item now. The AP and CDR is nice but it doesn't offer anything to Lux otherwise. I would only recommend buying this item if it is a REALLY heal dependent team, otherwise let your support or tank get the healing reduction and go for better damage items instead. You can also just sit on oblivion orb and not upgrade until last item!
Sample Builds
*Please remember that these example builds do NOT have to be the exact order you build them and rely on how each SPECIFIC game is going. These are just examples, but buy items based on what the SPECIFIC game calls for! (ex: I put Void Staff as the 6th item, but you might need to buy it earlier than that if they start stacking magic resist. I admire the trust within my guides, but no one should be blindy following it, as even I personally change my build up EVERY game based on what is needed! Here's just some examples of what I do and when)*
Items
Burst Build
Pros: Lots of burst & snowball potential Cons: Little CDR
When do I use this build? This build is honestly the best in the current state and what I would recommend in most of my games! It offers SO much burst for Lux with high damage items and Lux's kit is primarily burst. Feel free to move around when you get Void Staff.
Items
Malignance
Pros: Decent burst, lots of CDR and utility Cons: Lower damage
When do I use this build? This was the meta build for a while and is still great if you want more CDR over burst! I personally love malignance because I love having my ult more but burst is best on Lux and the burst items are more meta, making this the alternative optional build.
Items
Defensive Item
Pros: Lots of defensive options to survive Cons: Lower burst, lower CDR, lower waveclear
When do I use this build? This build is ONLY if you are against a really hard matchup/game (fed Kayn, etc) and need your defensive item to survive. Can't do damage when you're dead! You may also get Malignance -> Defensive item if you do not want as much burst and want more utility. Remember to swap Zhonyas for Banshees if you need MR/shield over Armor/stasis.
Items
Supportive Build
Pros: Provides high supportive capabilities with items since you are farming, cheap items Cons: No burst or one shot capabilities, cannot carry, low impact if supportive items are not assisting allies
When do I use this build? This build is if you want to be more of a support mid lane rather than an APC because your team is filled with all damage and no utility. I would probably not recommend this build in a lot of soloque games just because the mid laner having damage and waveclear is usually extremely important, but the nice part about Lux is she is flexible with her builds! Feel free to swap and get items where necessary (for example, getting ardent earlier because your team pairs well with that item)
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute are both great runes here. Electrocute matches Ahri's burst since you want to try to one shot her once you get her in the binding, or comet is a great way to use your range to poke her out until you can burst her! She should only be able to get to you if she ults or if you're walking close for passive auto procs.
★ I recommend Cleanse in this matchup because you are able to cleanse both her charm and her ignite, which can be really important when dueling at level 6+. Barrier is a second good option if you aren't comfortable with cleanse/don't feel you will need it.
★ Use when her Spirit Rush is on cooldown to your advantage. She won't be able to dash to dodge your spells with her abilties or close gap on you, meaning she should be a free kill once you get her in your binding!
★ BE VERY CAREFUL if you want to go in for auto's to get your passive off, as her Orb of Deception or even Charm can easily be used on you.
★ Remember that her passive and ultimate give her a lot of movement, so keep this in mind when fighting her and throwing your spells out!
★ Try to hold onto your binding until she uses the first dash on her ultimate, that way she can't use her dash to dodge your binding because there's a small delay in between each time she can dash. This tactic is especially important in teamfights when she tries to dash in and charm someone. You want to bind her as she uses her first dash, that way your team can jump on her and she can't dash again until she is unrooted (and hopefully your teammates will have more CC/follow up so she can't move and dies!)
Difficulty:
★★
Akali: The Rogue Assassin
★ Arcane Comet is great since Akali requires her E or her point and click R to get to you, meaning keeping your range and poking her down on her prevents her from getting onto you. Summon Aery isn't bad since she is melee and you can abuse her range with lots of autos. However, I feel like comet and poking from afar means you aren't getting close to her, which is what you should practice naturally since she really can all in on you very easily.
★ Barrier is recommended here so you can help block the burst she can deal to you if she gets to you, but feel free to take teleport for more lane pressure if you feel you won't need barrier.
★ Early on, her only form of poke or burst is getting close enough to Q and auto you with her passive. You want to keep your distance and just poke her out. If she does try to walk past your minions to fight you, feel free to fight her since your spells + all the minion damage she will take will definitely beat the trade she could possibly give. She also can look for an E so its a good idea to always strafe to the left or right to dodge it.
★ Remember that her ultimate has two parts- the first part she needs to be in range and click on you for her to dash to you. The second part is an execute, but Akali has to wait 2.5s after her first dash to use her second one. This should give you time to reposition or get ready for it. You can barrier the damage, or if you still think it's going to kill you, flashing her ultimate is also ideal since it does the most damage. You can also sidestep it but that's really hard to do since her ultimate is almost instant.
★ For items, getting Horizon Focus second item is AMAZING since it REVEALS enemies!! If she tries to shroud and hide away, your E will reveal her and then you and your allies can burst her down! Zhonyas is a great defensive item if you are having a really hard time against her.
Difficulty:
★★★★
Akshan: The Rogue Sentinel
★ Arcane Comet will always be the best option here because we want to stay as far away from this man as possible. He has some really insane burst with gap closing from his swing, and can be a rough matchup for Lux due to this.
★ Barrier is recommended here, as in most cases. However, Exhaust actually isn't bad either, since he works kinda like an ADC but has really high burst potential that will help when dueling/trying not to get all-in'd.
★ This might be a matchup or game where an early void staff will be beneficial, depending on what him/his team buys. A lot of Akshan's will buy Wit's End second item, making it incredibly hard for you to burst him unless you have Void in your items.
Difficulty:
★
Anivia: The Cryophoenix
★ Arcane Comet is the best option here since for the most part, you want to keep your distance from Anivia after level 6 and poke her out before fights happen.
★ Barrier or Cleanse are both great options here. I like barrier since Anivia shouldn't normally get to you and you will only need barrier if she is able to Q stun you and then keep you in her ultimate with her wall, but cleanse also works great since you can cleanse her Q and is even more important if they have other enemies like Varus or Ashe who can also lock you down.
★ Pre-6, push PUSH PUSH!! Make her farm under the turret. She will miss quite a bit of minions this way.
★ I personally always put a ward on the far side of the mid lane after 6 because she is going to use her R to push, and then when she backs up, you'll have vision to know where she is while you're stuck clearing minions. This can really help since Anivia can push and make it bot lane or to dragon/objectives much faster than you are.
★ Always click on her character and see if she has her passive. If she doesn't you can easily burst her down and kill her!
★ The biggest way to win this lane/matchup is to watch when she uses her abilities and keep your range. If she just used her abilities, you have room to position up and be more aggressive for a small window period.
★ If possible, ask your jungler or support to roam and help. Anivia requires scaling and Lux alone usually can't kill the egg by herself, so having the jungler gank, get anivia behind, and help kill the egg will ensure mid lane victory!!
Difficulty:
★★
[icon=summon: tibbers size=47
Annie: The Dark Child
★ I personally prefer comet here because Annie has such short range and you want to abuse your range and just poke her out slowly. Electrocute isn't bad either if you want to play the burst vs burst but her E will negate quite a bit of your burst so using your range and poking her out is usually better.
★ Cleanse or barrier both work here. I like barrier since she's looking to just straight up burst, and barrier is a good burst counter, but cleanse is also a lifesaver IFFFFF and only IF you're good at timing it (and/or there are other things to cleanse). If you can immediately time the cleanse when she stun/ults you, it can save your life, but sometimes even with cleanse, her R>Q>W can still kill you, aka why barrier is great. It really depends on your personal playstyle, the other enemies, and what you think will be the better defensive spell.
★ As long as you keep your range, Annie shouldn't be an issue at all. She will have a lot of movement speed (especially when she activates her E) and she will usually try to flash ult you, so make sure to ALWAYS keep a timer on when she ults and when it will be back up again. If your team can avoid her burst, she's super easy. Make sure to always shield allies if they do get hit by her ultimate (or before if you can time it correctly), and never get close to an Annie! She can burst you at any moment!
Difficulty:
★
Azir: The Emperor of the Sands
★ Arcane Comet is prferred here since you really only want to E him from afar until you can burst him. If you walk too close, his soldiers can do some MASSIVE damage, so watch out!
★ Barrier is recommended here to help soak up the damage when he tries to all in you. Feel free to take teleport if you feel you won't need barrier.
★ The biggest way to beat this guy is to play around his Q, Conquering Sands. Don't stand near your back minions because he is wanting to manipulate his soldiers to both poke you out and push the wave. Once he uses his Q, that's a key opportunity to trade.
★ DO remember that unless his spells are on cooldown, he has a both "burst" poke damage from his spells on top of DPS since he can keep autoing you with his soldiers. You want your trades to be short and sweet, or you want to just burst and kill him. Extended fights with him are a big no-no since he can just auto you to death with his soldiers after using his burst as well.
★ One thing that I have seen many people do that is HILARIOUS is once Azir uses his Emperor's Divide, the person will try to flash over it and will just get bounced back hahaha. Seriously, unless you get the perfect flash or know what you are doing, please don't try to flash over his ultimate to chase him. You will only waste your own flash!
Difficulty:
★
Brand: The Burning Vengeance
★ Arcane Comet is normally better since this is another matchup you want to keep your distance on.
★ Barrier is recommended here since Brand does have a lot of AOE damage and the extra shield helps! Although, feel free to take teleport if you feel you won't need barrier. Cleanse is decent if they have a lot more CC, but if it's just Brand, you shouldn't be getting hit by his stun/3 spell combo anyways.
★ Just like Lux, his Pillar of Flame is what he needs to waveclear and poke. Dodging this spell and not standing on the ranged minions is key to winning both the poke game and the lane in general.
★ Be careful when you're standing next to minions that are burning from his passive, as he can use his Conflagration, and it will cause an AOE flame spread to nearby targets!
★ Your shield should absorb a lot of the damage he might inflict on you. Just make sure to spread out in teamfights and shield allies when he tries to combo!
Difficulty:
★★★
Cassiopeia: The Serpent's Embrace
★ Arcane Comet is normally better because this is another matchup you want to keep your distance. One Q on you and she can kite you out with her movement speed and do massive damage from her poison E damage. Not letting her do so and poking her out is key.
★ Barrier or Teleport both work here, based on preference. Barrier is great if you struggle in this matchup or they have other enemies where you'll need barrier, otherwise teleport is great so you can keep on par in lane since Cassio only scales the more levels and gold she gets.
★ The biggest part to winning this lane is keeping your distance and DODGING HER Q! Her E does very minimal damage if you aren't poisoned! You also don't want to be close to her, because her Miasma GROUNDS YOU and slows you, meaning you can't flash away when you're on it and you're slowed until you get off of it, and it makes her easily able to ult you as well. If she does ult you, make sure to turn away from her, since a slow is better than a stun.
★ Harassing her as much as possible early game and asking your jungler to help is something you're looking for, since her early is weak and you want to delay her scaling.
Difficulty:
★★★★
Corki: The Daring Bombardier
★ Honestly, I prefer Arcane Comet here since he is slippery so bursting him with electrocute makes it hard.
★ Barrier is the way to go in this matchup. Teleport is great if you feel you won't need the barrier. Exhaust also isn't personally bad in this matchup since he has short range and requires him to really jump in for damage to occur. Pick the SS dependent on the game and your playstyle!
★ Pre-6, he doesn't have a lot of kill pressure unless he wants to jump onto you and take a ton of minion damage. If he's being really aggressive and you know he is going to jump on you at level 3, feel free to get a point in W then so you can win the trade and he won't keep the pressure on you.
★ After 6, his rockets are going to be the biggest issue since he is going to waveclear decently fast and try to poke you down by doing so. Dodging these is key.
★ He can use his Valkyrie to dodge your bind (or he can buffer it, where if he casts it right before he gets hit, he will be binded but the spell will still go through). Watch out for this, as you don't want to follow up your Q with a full combo and he dashes, so your spells miss.
★ Also remember that his spells do mostly magic damage, so magic resist is more applicable if needed than armor. He scales really well so investing in some magic damage later on might be a good idea if needed!
Difficulty:
★★★
Diana: Scorch of the Moon
★ Arcane Comet is another preferred because this matchup is a harder matchup for Lux and it's insanely important to KEEP YOUR RANGE and poke from afar!! She can soak up quite a bit of your poke with her W, so make sure to
★ Barrier or Exhaust are the best spells here since you want to negate her burst damage in some form of way.
★ The biggest way to play this lane is to freeze the wave toward your side so she is forced to have to walk up far in the lane, and if she does try to jump on you, you're close to/near the turret.
★ Unless she is trying to all in you, she needs to hit her Q in order to then dash to you so her E can reset, so dodging her Q is extremely important. If she does just use her E, it's on a really high cooldown early on so take advantage of that.
★ When she uses her ultimate, please be careful about using your flash. Since it pulls you in and slows you, even if you are able to flash, you'll still be in range for the moonfall to hit (or she can just E to you again if she got her E reset). You don't want to waste your flash. Instead, use your other summoner spell you have available (barrier/exhaust) and then flash only if you need to after. If you are able to predict her all in, feel free to flash away right as she tries to all-in you, but do be careful and remember that she can still stick to you easily.
★ Consider buying a Zhonya's Hourglass at some point if needed since you can stasis her ultimate if you do get pulled in, which is the spell she will do the most damage with. Her ultimate does do more damage the more people she pulls in as well, so spread out and don't let her take over a teamfight!
Difficulty:
★★
Ekko: The Boy Who Shattered Time
★ This matchup electrocute is actually really good since he is melee and you want to be able to burst him before he can ult, but comet works just as well.
★ Barrier is recommended just because you want something to negate his burst, but feel free to take Teleport if you don't think you need barrier/want TP.
★ The key to winning this lane is just to dodge his Q when he throws it out (don't stand near minions) and make him use his spells on minions, as he has some early mana issues. You also want to poke him down and use your full combo if you know you can kill him while he is rooted. If you don't do this, he is just going to ult right after he's out of your binding.
★ This is going to be another lane where you're going to get pushed into your tower because he will use his Q to push quickly. Make sure to have proper vision in order to see where he is when he's not in lane with you so you and your teammates can react accordingly. A lot of Ekkos will try to cheese you by sitting in one of the bushes and then using W and quickly jumping on you. Watch your positioning and keep eyes on him so he can't do this.
★ He will be really annoying and does a bit of damage, but he's super manageable. It will be a little harder if he has Mercury's Treads since you can't full combo him because he will get out of your binding and be able to ult before your combo goes off, but Lux has the utility to keep him from being an issue.
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute are both decent picks here. I prefer electrocute because he is very good about dodging damage that could come from comet, but also comet is great if you know you can poke him out of lane early on.
★ This matchup isn't too bad... until he hits level 6. Once he is 6, you need to be VERY careful because he can one shot you in an instant. Exhaust isn't too bad here but I personally prefer Barrier since I get a defensive item second item and I want the shield to help against his huge burst.
★ I recommend Luden's into Zhonya's into this matchup. You want to have the stopwatch to help if he tries to all in you, and then be able to immediately have Zhonya's on your back after that so he can't kill you. It's a scary lane but Fizz is looking to snowball, and stopping him from doing that means you're winning lane.
★ Using when his Playful / Trickster is on cooldown in order to harass or even all in is KEY. When he is rooted, he can't use this ability, so that's when you want to burst him.
★ You normally want to stay out of range once he is 6 so you can sidestep the ultimate, but if you are out of position and see him throwing it at you, YOU NEED TO FLASH! And you NEED to flash not straight ahead of you either, try to angle it because otherwise his fish can still hit you even with the flash. In some matchups, we try to save the flash for if we need it and use our barrier instead, but in this matchup, you CAN'T let him get on you. Yes, you have to flash, but then you have a big time period where he can't all in you and you're safe, even without flash. Just try to be aware of his cooldowns because he will try to jump on you again once he has his ultimate back up and he knows you don't have flash.
Difficulty:
★★★
Galio: The Colossus
★ Comet is really the best rune here since you're never really going to be able to just straight up burst this guy down. You need to be able to poke poke poke him down. ★ I personally recommend cleanse, especially if the jungler also has CC because that's the only way Galio is going to be able to kill you. If you don't feel you will need it/the jungler is a bursty jungler like Nidalee with no CC, feel free to take barrier instead. Teleport also is very good in this matchup if you want to be able to match him a little bit.
★ Galio's only poke is his tornadoes from his Q, which is also his waveclear, so watch that he isn't using it to waveclear and hit you at the same time! He's usually going to try to E in and then use his W to taunt you, but you should be out of range for him to do this. If he does try it and fails, bind him and get your combo off to punish him for doing that!
★ He isn't a bad matchup at all- you can't kill him unless you constantly poke him down due to the magic shield he constantly gets- but also he doesn't have high kill pressure on you. However, he does have a bit better waveclear and he can push the lane and use his ultimate (usually) bot lane. Make sure to try to get a ward in the river before 6 so you can watch him walk down and warn your bot lane if he is coming. Once he uses his ultimate, it's a crazy long cooldown so you have a lot of room before he can use it again. If he's ulting right in front of you, feel free to Q him because it will stop his ultimate from going off!!
Difficulty:
★★
Heimerdinger: The Revered Inventor
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute both work fine here. I personally like comet since you want to poke him out, but he is also very easy to burst down, making electrocute not bad at all either.
★ Cleanse is great here since the only way he can even get to you if you're keeping your range from him is by using his ultimate to stun you. Cleanse makes it to where he can't ever get to you! If you feel you won't need cleanse, TP is also very good here since he will take TP too and you can match it (or if you don't like TP, standard barrier works in all cases).
★ Watch for if he puts his turrets near each other. Use your E to kill his turrets in quick succession.
★ Watch when he is level 6- when he presses R, his character looks different and he gets to pick which ult he wants to use from his basic abilities. The HUGE turret means just falling back. Meanwhile, the turrets and 3 large grenades just take sidestepping.
★ Remind your ADC and other teammates to kill his turrets in fights because that's where a lot of his damage comes in, especially if he hits an E!
★ This will definitely be a lane where you're going to constantly get pushed in unless you can somehow kill his turrets, but he will just place more so it's normally not really worth it. Just ward accordingly and try to poke him out and kill him to gain that pressure back.
Difficulty:
★★★★
Irelia: The Blade Dancer
★ Comet is going to be best here because this will be yet another matchup you need to keep your range on. She is very very slippery and does a lot of damage!
★ I personally recommend barrier or exhaust in this matchup, depending on what you prefer. Barrier helps negate some of the damage she does, but exhaust is great since she will look to combo you and exhaust stops her from doing so. If you are going to play EXTRA passive, feel free to take TP so you don't get too far behind.
★ This matchup is... yikes. Out of lane it isn't terrible but in lane, you won't have fun. You want to try to freeze the wave towards you so she is forced to constantly push into you. You do NOT want to be anywhere near her turret because this gives her free reign to either freeze the wave on her side so you miss a lot, or she will go on you and try to kill you, and your damage can't match the DPS she has with her passive.
★ The biggest part of this matchup is dodging her Flawless Duet. If she hits you with it, she will instantly dash to you and that dash resets, meaning she can then use her ultimate or use the dash again to keep on you, OR she will do a bunch of damage to you, and then use that dash she just reset right back to a minion to dodge the skillshots you might try to throw back (she has a lot of spiffy stuff she can do haha).
★ Fortunately, her W only reduces the damage from PHYSICAL, meaning our spells will still hurt her. When you see her charging that up, feel free to still use your spells!
★ When she uses her Vanguard's Edge on you, try not to run through it unless you need to... It gives her the ability to then dash on you with her Q, it slows, and does damage. The idea is to stay in it until it disappears, unless you know you're going to die, then try to flash OVER it and away from her.
Difficulty:
★
Karma: The Enlightened One
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute both work here. I personally prefer comet since this matchup is really all about poke.
★ Barrier or Teleport are the best spells here, since you might want barrier to negate if she is able to flash on you and try to burst you, but she's not a huge threat really, so teleport is pretty dang good in this matchup.
★ This matchup is all about staying out of range and just poking her down, forcing her to use her E on herself and run out of mana. Don't give her the opportunity to be in range to cast Focused Resolve on you. You will be rooted by the end of the duration, and she can then use her Soulflare, which is her Q with her Mantra ultimate attached to it do deal lots of damage.
★ Her ultimate works a lot like Heimers, but she gets hers right at level 1. Her Q makes it do a splash damage in a circle, her W HEALS HER for each instance, and her E is a stronger shield that she can use on multiple allies near her. Knowing this before going into game is important.
★ Her Q hits the first thing it makes contact with, meaning don't be near your minions or the splash damage will hit you, but that also means you have the upper edge since your E can overpass minions to hit her.
★ If she is trying to run up to you to W you, watch what she does. If she W's you, you want to bind her and run away so the second proc doesn't root you, but you need to watch when you use your Q. She can use her E to give her movement speed in order to dodge your Q and catch up to you, and then you're toast or will take a ton of damage, so watch out for that!
★ Out of lane, she's just annoying since she can poke with her Q or shield and give movement speed to her WHOLE team, or if people try to jump on her, she can heal a lot from her W, but she shouldn't really be an actual huge issue.
Difficulty:
★★
Karthus: The Deathsinger
★ Arcane Comet is the way to go here. You're just looking to poke him from afar!!
★ Barrier or Teleport are the best spells here, since you might want barrier to negate his ultimate or if he does somehow get to you, but teleport is a more greedy option if you think you won't need the extra shield.
★ This matchup really is about keeping your range. His E will be useless against you as long as you're not close to him. He will be using his Q a lot since it's a very low cooldown/mana cost and he will use this to push the wave or even poke you! Remember that his Q does more damage if it hits a solo target. His wall does have a 1000 range cast, but you should still be okay if you're keeping your range. If he does try to run at you with his W, a quick Q>E on him will stop him from doing anything further.
★ I actually personally don't mind this matchup because Lux helps soak up a bit of damage he can do from his ultimate. Do remember to call when he is level 6 because since he won't have any kill pressure mid, he will be watching bot or top constantly, waiting until your allies are low health in order to get free kills.
★ Feel free to get a Zhonya's Hourglass somewhere in your build if needed, that way you can stasis his ultimate if you're low! Otherwise, feel free to build all damage unless you might need another item for another enemy on the team.
Difficulty:
★★★★★
Kassadin: The Void Walker
★ In this matchup ONLY, I recommend taking these runes primary: Summon Aery, Manaflow Band, Absolute Focus, & Scorch. Secondary can be the same if you want, or I would even say Cheap Shot with another domination rune like Ultimate Hunter/ Relentless Hunter works great. The idea here is you NEED to win lane and make Kass very behind or else he is going to 1v5 mid-late game. You take aery, scorch, and even cheap shot if you want in order to poke him out. Absolute focus helps with more AP on your spells but feel free to take Transcendence still if you feel you won't need it.
★ I personally take TP in this lane because you want the MOST lane aggression you can in this lane. If the jungler comes and you're forced to back off or something else happens, you have TP to back you up so you can still keep that pressure on him.
★ AUTO AUTO AUTO! Freeze wave towards you so he is forced to miss minions and the moment he walks up, AUTOO!! You should be trying to proc your Aery as much as possible. When he uses his Null Sphere, make sure to only auto him until the shield expires. When it does, that's when you can use spells on him.
★ Even when he's 6, he has his ultimate for a dash, but you still win the trades and you still need to keep as much pressure on him as possible. Remember that his jump can be used to dodge your binding, so don't use it aimlessly unless he is running away and you're creating pressure. If he is running towards you, don't bind him until he uses it.
★ Feel free to even ask the jungler to come and shut him down even more. The further behind he gets, the better. He is probably one of the best scalers in the game, but that requires him to get items and stack those items up, meaning you NEED to negate this.
Difficulty:
★★★★
Katarina: The Sinister Blade
★ Arcane Comet is the way to go here because you don't even want to get anywhere near her or her daggers. She doesn't have much lane sustain early on besides her pots, meaning you want to poke her out and keep your distance.
★ Barrier or Exhaust both work great here. This is a hard matchup so I recommend a defensive summoner spell.
★ The most important thing is to watch where her daggers on the ground are. She is able to use her Shunpo to teleport to them and do damage, and this is where most of her damage comes from besides her ultimate. Keep a freeze on her if possible, ward since she can roam easily, and keep your distance. Once she gets her cutlass, she has a huge powerspike and can kill you easily, and you don't have any hard CC to stop her ultimate.
★ When her Shunpo is on cooldown, try to be more aggressive within the next ~14 or less seconds or so, unless she has recently picked up a dagger. If she picks up a dagger, it reduces her E cooldown by a lot so watch out for that!
Difficulty:
★★
LeBlanc: The Deceiver
★ I think this is a matchup where electrocute can be just as good as Comet. Basically all LB's will try to poke you down by quickly Q>W'ing you. Your Q>auto>E>auto with electrocute means you're going to win the trade unless she is ahead. However, I am a personal Comet fan and comet works just as fine here!!
★ Barrier or Teleport both work, just depending on if you want a little more of a shield to help with her burst, or teleport to get even further ahead of her.
★ Do remember that her W is her only source of waveclear and has a higher cooldown early on, meaning you should punish her if she uses it on you instead of on the wave. LB is terrible at farming under the tower early on and will use all of her mana in order to do so, or will miss it altogether. If she does become a problem, Verdant Barrier is a great buy- or even just getting Mercs over Sorcs!
★ LB's only upperhand is she has the mobility. She is able to hide in bushes and burst you or jump over a wall and burst you, and then go right back to her starting location, so always keep that in mind.
★ The biggest issue with her besides her burst is just dodging her Ethereal Chains. Mostly every LB will W and then throw her chains right at you, so quickly sidestepping means she can't jump on you much anymore. If you do get hit with a chain, just BE CAREFUL when you flash! It's a pretty long chain, meaning you can flash away but still be stuck in it!
Difficulty:
★
Lissandra: The Ice Witch
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute both work here. Comet is great since you can honestly poke her out without even needing to full combo really, but electrocute is just as good for that extra oomph/burst.
★ I recommend Cleanse in this matchup! She needs to use her lockdown abilities and you negating that means easy lane.
★ This lane is honestly so free. The only reason she is a 2 star is because she can set up ganks well and her ultimate can be used to negate your combo, but if she has to ult herself for that, you're already winning this matchup.
★ If she uses her Glacial Path and then proceeds to use her Ring of Frost, remember that her Ring of Frost is only a root. You are still able to cast abilities. Since she will be right next to you, it's an easy binding and you can E and auto her too! If she doesn't have her ultimate, you can even fully combo her!
Difficulty:
★
Malzahar: The Prophet of the Void
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute both work here. Comet is great to poke him from afar so he can't ult you, but he is very easy to kill, making elec appealing too.
★ Barrier or TP both work great! I usually take TP personally because I'm good at keeping my distance and he pushes hard, meaning you don't want to lose a lot along the way, but barrier is just as good.
★ Quicksilver Sash should be in your build NO MATTER WHAT! Not having this item makes you too vulnerable. I normally buy it after my mana item but ill delay it if I feel I don't need it until later.
★ When he summons his voidlings to push the wave, try to kill those first. He won't be able to push as hard without his voidlings... IF it's possible, try to hit the voidlings, minions, AND malzahar!!
★ To get his Void Shift off, you want to throw your E at him, but DON'T POP IT IMMEDIATELY! The slow from your E will get the shield off, and then you can pop it after the shield expires/he's about to walk out of your E.
Difficulty:
★
Morgana: The Fallen Angel
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute both work perfect here since you want damage to burst or poke her out.
★ I recommend Cleanse in this matchup. Her binding can mean life or death, and she can follow it up with her ultimate that slows and stuns you. Cleanse negates a lot of this.
★ She can clear a wave pretty fast with her W, but it's a high mana cost, so keep that in mind! Especially if the Morgana tries to W you instead of the minions, take advantage of that.
★ By level 3 or 4, Morgana should level her Black Shield. This is where it gets more tricky. She not only can negate the damage you try to inflict on her, but she will also be immune to CC until the shield is broken or it goes away after a short duration. Try to bait her into using it- it has a long cooldown at lower levels! Once you do that, you are able to harass her more freely for a short while. From then on, always watch when she uses it and then try to make a move while you know it's on cooldown. At level 6, either have the mentality that she will have her shield and you need to burst through that too, or if you know it's on cooldown, go ham and burst her. Sometimes using your E to kill her spellshield on herself or on an ally, and THEN binding is better.
★ Merc Treads are an incredible buy if needed, since her binding maxed is 3 seconds, and her ultimate stuns as well! Only get these if you feel you will need it though, as cleanse normally does its job.
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute both work perfect here since you want damage to burst or poke her out.
★ I recommend Cleanse in this matchup since her damage comes from her root from her E into her Q and/or ultimate. If you feel confident, TP is just as good.
★ Her ultimate is definitely really cool, but in my opinion, it kinda sucks when she doesn't have her flash. It requires her to get close in order to hit enemies and she does have a gap period of leaping into the air before going down, meaning you have plenty of time to flash out of it if needed. Do remember that she does get a shield! She will normally try to W first to get movement speed and be invisible so you can't really see her and her ultimate won't show while she's invisible for that split second, so watch out she doesn't trick you! But as Lux, unless you're caught out by some type of CC, you should NOT be close enough for her to ult you (unless maybe she has say a Lulu speed her up and she flashes onto you or something), so you should not be getting hit by this, especially in teamfights. If you are, watch your positioning.
★ Do remember that she can sometimes trick you by using her passive to look like an ally, and then use her clone to start running at you (her clone will be whoever she is- if she is Neeko, her clone will be Neeko. If she is disguised as Lee Sin, the clone will be Lee Sin). You want to make sure she doesn't trick you into using your combo on the clone! It's usually noticeable though, as the clone runs fast right at you!
Difficulty:
★★★
Pantheon: The Unbreakable Spear
★ I like Arcane Comet here because if you try to burst him, he is just going to negate it anyways, so poke is the way to go!
★ Barrier or Teleport are both great spells here, depending on if you feel you'll need the defensive spell or not.
★ The biggest counter to Pantheon is range! He can't do anything unless he gets close to you and his Q can hit you, but it isn't enough! Apply pressure early so he can't go to farm early and get him really far behind!
★ Do remember that he has good roams with his ultimate, so always keep the lane on par or pushed since he doesn't have the absolute best pushing potential!
★ His Aegis Assault does block your combo and he can use it while he's binded! :(
Difficulty:
★★★★
Qiyana: Empress of the Elements
★ I personally prefer Arcane Comet here since you definitely want to keep your distance after level 3, but Electrocute isnt bad tbh since you can match her burst.
★ Barrier or Teleport are both great spells here. I say probably barrier since she has so much burst but take teleport if you're confident/are going to play very passive.
★ First and foremost to fighting Qiyana is making sure you're not in range for her Q. Her Q changes colour based on what element she chooses from either the grass, river, or terrain. Knowing which colour and what each does is important!! Green makes her invisible as long as she doesnt attack for 3.5 seconds and gives her movement speed. Blue stuns AND slows any enemies hit on contact, and red does more damage when you're below 50% health. Knowing these to know how to stay passive or what her next move is is important. Her usual combo is blue Q into red Q, since the blue one will root you, and then the red one does a ton of damage while you can't move. This is her main source of poke damage so not letting her get this off on you is important.
★ Her ultimate is the most important part of her kit, so try not to be near a wall or else she will stun you and your team. Also do remember that her ultimate works on rivers as well!
★ Her E is a dash and she has another dash when she grabs an element, which she can unfortunately use to dodge our abilties and jump on us. Remember to hold your Q for right after she dashes, as you don't want your most important spell to miss or else you are very vulnerable!
★ I personally prefer Arcane Comet here since this will be a poking lane, but Electrocute does work since this lane is even and very skill matchup based and you will have the burst available.
★ Barrier or Teleport are both great spells here. Teleport if you're confident, otherwise barrier to soak the damage when she tries to ult combo you is key.
★ Use your range to try to poke at Orianna. Watch where her ball is- if it's not near her, she won't have enough time to shield herself before your E hits.
★ Don't underestimate her Command: Shockwave. It has a bigger range than you think! If you get hit by her ultimate, you might be in serious trouble. Unless you are low and she is trying to kill you, she will usually use her ult when the jungler/support/whoever is near. Flashing it is a good idea so you don't get caught out.
★ The good part is that Orianna has a pretty high skill cap, meaning most Orianna's you go against won't be as effective. Watch how the player uses the ball, and predict how well the Orianna is. If you analyze this, you can find weaknesses within that player and use it to your advantage! Later on, watching the ball is the MOST important part, as one orianna ult can turn a teamfight, but also so can one 4-5 man Lux R :p
Difficulty:
★★★
Ryze: The Rune Mage
★ Arcane Comet or Electrocute are great here since he's decently weak early, so choosing to poke him out or burst him is key.
★ Barrier or Teleport are both great spells here. Teleport if you're confident, otherwise barrier to soak up the damage if he is able to combo you.
★ Try to stay away from minions, as his spells bounce and it will hit you. He has great waveclear after around the first back, so keep that in mind.
★ You never really want to be in close proximity because his trade should outdo yours. However, if you are ahead and have more items, feel free to.
★ His ultimate is a long cooldown and it's a pretty short range early on. Just watch out if he backs and you're pushing in, because he can ult himself and the jungler/support behind you and kill you!
Difficulty:
★★
Seraphine: The Starry-Eyed Songstress
★ Arcane Comet is going to be the optimal rune here since this lane is going to be all about who can poke each other down first!
★ Cleanse works really well here since you want to be able to cleanse her ultimate. Most Seraphines will poke you down a bit and then engage with their ultimate. Once you're hit, they can then throw the rest of their spells out. Cleanse negates this. However, the standard barrier always is great to negate damage.
★ Understanding her abilities is really important in this matchup. First and foremost is her double cast. Every 3 abilities, her next spell will cast twice. It's really important to notice when she has this because her W and E work very well with this double cast. If she double casts with her W, the first cast will grant her and her allies nearby a shield, but the second will HEAL everyone that was shielded (you'll see the animation, it kinda looks like a mini redemption). Her E is what you should watch out for. The first cast will just slow you, but the second one will root. If for some reason you are already rooted/immobilized/grounded, her E will actually STUN you instead!
★ On top of her being really pokey and annoying, when she casts spells, she gets 'notes'. She can then auto attack and proc these notes onto you. She does get 25 range for each note she has in the duration, so watch out! She can auto attack you before you do to her! This is why this lane is going to be ALL about poking until you can burst her down!
★ If you're having trouble in this matchup, remember that mercury treads for some early MR and helping with her CC abilities / banshees for the MR and a shield in case she tries to engage with her ultimate can be really important. Also remember that she is also very squishy! She does have a shield/heal from her W, but it is a VERY long cooldown, especially early on (26-22s without any CDR), so making sure to burst her down when she doesn't have this is key!!
Difficulty:
★★
Swain: The Noxian Grand General
★ I personally like electrocute to try to burst him down, but comet is great since you do want to keep your range and poke him out.
★ I personally think taking teleport is perfect in this matchup, unless you feel you need the barrier shield vs the enemy team.
★ This will be a matchup where you probably need Morellonomicon! Feel free to just buy Oblivion Orb early on and then upgrade it when necessary!
★ In lane, the biggest thing is making sure his hand doesn't hit you, or else he is going to pull you into his E and do some serious damage. As long as you dodge it, you'll be fine. Just remember even if you dodge it on the way out, it does come back to him, so make sure you don't get caught in both instances of it.
★ Remember that he is an immobile mage with no escapes as well, so feel free to ask your jungler for help for free kills, especially if his flash is down.
★ In teamfights, try to make him pop his ultimate. If he does, tell your team to back off until it expires, and then go in again. If you try to fight with his ultimate up, he can pack a serious punch and will be healed tremendously.
Difficulty:
★★
Sylas: The Unshackled
★ I personally like electrocute to try to burst him down and because he is melee, but comet is great since you do want to keep your range and poke him out.
★ I personally think taking teleport is perfect in this matchup, unless you feel you need the barrier!
★ This will be a matchup where you need Morellonomicon! His W healing is insane.
★ Do remember that his E is a two part spell- the first part is where he dashes (aka he can dodge your abilities with this!) and the second part is that he throws a chain out and the first enemy hit is stunned and Sylas is pulled to them. This is the most important ability you need to dodge. All of his damage, including his passive, means him landing this and getting close to you to burst you. If he can't do this, he can't kill you. Do remember that it hits the first ENEMY, meaning jungle monsters/minions also count so you can hide behind those so you won't get hit.
★ Also remember that he can take your ultimate! Dodge it appropriately since he can't bind before ulting like you can and you win the 1v1.
★ The biggest thing about Sylas is just zoning him off from your team if possible. If he can't jump in and get to you, don't worry about it. Also ALWAYS pay attention to what ultimate he takes. He can use it wisely and it scales really well (especially Lux's ult, if he gets a 3-4 man ult, ouch, or taking like an Ornn/Malph ult in order to have a huge engage).
Difficulty:
★★★
Syndra: The Dark Sovereign
★ I personally like Comet since you want to keep your range on her! Both runes work fine though depending on preference
★ I like barrier in this matchup a lot, since a lot of her damage comes from her ultimate, and using barrier to negate most of her ult damage is incredible. If you feel you won't need it, TP is the best next option.
★ Always watch where Syndra's balls are. She is able to push her balls in a straight line using her Scatter the Weak. Try to watch Syndra's positioning and make sure you are not in a parallel configuration between Syndra and one of her balls. She can easily use her Scatter the Weak to push it forward- and this will stun you. She also has Force of Will. She is able to pick up her balls (or minions) and throw them at a pretty good range at an enemy. If this hits you, it will SLOW you! Watch out for it.
★ I personally think this matchup is pretty simple because I've played it so much, but I also pick Syndra when Lux is picked mid to counter her so... technically Syndra does destroy Lux. But Lux has the range that Syndra doesn't and Syndra needs to be able to stun and combo you so negating that means you win the lane.
★ She is very squishy AND immobile, so you can definitely burst her and having a jungler means easy ganks.
Difficulty:
★★
Taliyah: The Stoneweaver
★ Electrocute can be great to match her burst, or comet to easily poke her out!
★ I like TP in this matchup to match her as best as I can personally. However, barrier helps against her burst a lot as well.
★ She can really only combo you if she hits her Seismic Shove to launch you back towards her, right into her Unraveled Earth. Dodging the seismic shove is incredibly important.
★ Do watch for when her wall is off cooldown because she can either use it to wall you off and gank with the jungler, or it's so easy for her to gank bot lane. Ward accordingly when you guys are 6 because she will most likely be looking to push and roam.
★ She is very squishy and immobile, so you can definitely burst her and having a jungler means easy ganks.
Difficulty:
★★★★★
Talon: The Blade's Shadow
★ Both runes work very well here! This is a harder matchup in general, so rune choice doesn't make too much of a difference, it's more preference.
★ I personally like barrier or TP, since TP can help match some of his roams and barrier helps his overall burst.
★ The only reason I put him as 5 star difficulty is because Lux can't do ANYTHING to control this guy. He is going to roam EVERYWHERE constantly, and Lux can't even walk into the river without vision or else he can just jump on her and kill her. The best you can do is try to match his roam if you have good warding, or shove the wave and get plates and the vision you need.
★ Remember that he has very good level 3 all in potential. His Q>W>auto proc with ignite and his bleed does a crazy amount of damage so keep your distance.
★ I would personally rush a Seeker's Armguard if you need it early. If he becomes an issue, upgrade it, otherwise just sit on it until later on.
Difficulty:
★★
Twisted Fate: The Card Master
★ He's very easy to burst and kill so electrocute isn't bad, but he is also very easy to poke down!
★ I personally like cleanse or TP, since TP can help match some of his roams and barrier helps his overall burst or cleanse helps vs the gold card and if I need it for other things as well.
★ His only poke is his h Wild Cards, which are very easy to dodge (but also very easy to walk into). Dodging these cards is key.
★ Watch what color card Twisted Fate uses with his Pick A Card. If it is blue, he will just auto a minion (unless you are too close) and get mana back. If it is yellow, keep away, as he is trying to stun you. If it is red, DO NOT BE CLOSE TO YOUR MINIONS! This red card has a splash damage and slows whoever is in this splash damage.
★ No matter what, after 6, when the wave gets there, immediately push it. He is wanting to push and roam, but if you keep the wave as managed as Lux possibly can, he is going to be forced to miss waves of minions if he roams. If he does roam, push and get free plates unless you have teleport or something and can follow him.
★ I like electrocute since you can burst him easy. Comet is always a good alternative.
★ I personally like barrier or TP in this matchup. I'm not a huge fan of cleanse since I usually buy Mercs and unless he uses his E perfectly, you can walk around in his E and dodge his W in it as well, or just flash out of it if needed.
★ You want to freeze the wave and make him farm with his spells. If he has to stay far back and use his spells on minions, it means he can't use them on you.
★ The lane is overall easy as long as you keep your range and then easily burst him when you can. He scales decently well since he gets AP from his passive, but he shouldn't be a huge issue since you can burst him.
Difficulty:
★★
Vel'Koz: The Eye of the Void
★ We want comet here since he has good range and this lane will be a poking lane.
★ I personally like barrier since he has some high burst damage, but TP is fine if you feel confident.
★ Always watch how many stacks you have upon yourself from his passive, Organic Deconstruction. The three stack proc does tons of damage- true damage as well.
★ A good Vel will know how to use various angles from his Plasma Fission. He can press this spell to detonate it early, so just keep that in mind when trying to dodge it.
★ When he is level 6, you might have some trouble. You have no hard CC to stop his Life Form Disintegration Ray. If he has his 3 stacks on you, his ultimate will do true damage! However, you can also burst him right back!
★ Zhonya's might be a good buy mid-late game since you can stasis his ultimate channel. Please shield allies and not just yourself if you guys are in his ultimate.
Difficulty:
★★
doom ‘n gloom
Vex: The Gloomist
★ Arcane Comet is the best here since this matchup is all about who can hit who with more spells / burst the other person down first. Electrocute isn’t necessarily bad but we want to use our range to poke her down until we can QER or ER!
★ Barrier is recommended here so you can help block the burst she can deal to you. Cleanse isn’t terrible and teleport is a greedy but great spell if you don’t want a survivability spell.
★ Always path when she has her fear up – this is when she will try to either Q or E you to hit the fear so she can throw her other spells at you too.
★ Sometimes flashing her ultimate can be very crucial when fighting Vex. If you do get hit by the first part of her ultimate, make sure to throw your shield out instantly because we want the shield to save us from her burst. Once we are unfeared, we can retaliate with our own spells. Pressing barrier as she is coming to us can really be great too because she will be looking to R to you and then spam her 3 basic ability spells, so the barrier blocks that burst (or some of it). If she doesn’t kill you, she’s pretty defensiveless after with no spells and just autos.
★ Zhonyas or Banshees both work against her if you really feel you need a defensive item, but I personally just watch my positioning and her ultimate. She will probably look to ult>combo>Zhonyas in teamfights, and we can burst her easy after that!
Difficulty:
★★★
Viktor: The Machine Herald
★ Electrocute is actually preferred here since we want our trades to be as good as possible. If you want to keep your distance, comet is the best alternative.
★ I personally like barrier to soak up the damage he will dish out, but TP is fine if you feel confident.
★ Unfortunately, his Siphon Power does a ton of damage and the shield negates a lot of our damage. We only want to trade if we can get a Q>auto>E>auto off. Otherwise, we want to poke from afar with our E.
★ Try to avoid his Death Ray at all times. He normally will use it to hit a minion wave, so try not to stand too close to your minions. This spell once upgraded will clear a wave so fast.
★ Always try to keep your distance because this guy is underplayed and can be pretty powerful. If his ultimate is out and he is chasing you/your team, bind him and keep running. The further he is away, he slower the ultimate gets. His ult does keep going after he dies, so keep that in mind!
Difficulty:
★★★
Vladimir: The Crimson Reaper
★ Electrocute is actually preferred here since we want our trades to be as the best they can be, but comet is a great alternative.
★ I personally like barrier to soak up the damage he will dish out, but TP is fine if you feel confident.
★ This lane REQUIRES a Morellonomicon early on, no exceptions!!
★ Earlier on in the game, he isn't able to heal himself as quickly and efficiently- especially if he uses his other spells. Use this to your advantage and poke him down. Watch the bar under him, if it's full and he uses his Q on you, he heals for WAY more than if he uses it on a minion, plus it does a chunk of your health. Let that bar go down or expire before getting aggressive again.
★ Vladimir is able to dodge your spells with his Sanguine Pool- even if he is binded by your Light Binding. Try to bait him into using it before using your other spells.
Difficulty:
★★
Xerath: The Magus Ascendant
★ Comet is the way to go here since he has huge range and you want to be able to poke him down from afar. Also, if you are a GLP player, I recommend Luden's in this matchup as well.
★ I personally like barrier to soak up the damage he will dish out, but TP is fine if you feel confident.
★ You want to dodge his Q because it's his main poking tool, and stay away from your minions so he can't hit the minions and you at the same time.
★ I personally recommend getting a Refillable Potion on your first back if you don't already. This lane is all about him poking you and you dodging/sustaining.
★ He is able to do what Lux does- walk halfway down the map and ult and then walk back to lane. Try to match this by providing your ult too, or even by bursting him if you can get to him while he's ulting!
Difficulty:
★★★★★
Yasuo: The Unforgiven
★ Comet is going to be the preferred rune here just due to the fact that this matchup will be one you just want to keep your range and poke poke poke!
★ I would definitely go a defensive item here- barrier or exhaust. I always go barrier but exhaust is great too if he tries to jump in on you or an ally.
★ His passive is super annoying and you should try to pop it with an auto attack before throwing spells at him.
★ Please remember that his windwall cucks Lux, so you need to watch out for when its up or not at all times.
Difficulty:
★★★★
Yone: The Unforgotten
★ Comet is just standard, but electrocute actually isn't too bad here. It's the same idea as LeBlanc, where when he dashes in, it's basically a free Q>auto>E>auto, hence, proc'ing electrocute. However, comet is and will always be standard and good, so this one is more preference based.
★ As the same as Yasuo, keeping range when his 2nd Q proc is ready is important, because Yone DASHES to you and gets a shield, which he will use to gap close and fight you with. If he isn't in range, this can't happen!
★ His ultimate IS flashable if needed! He has a lot of gap closers and tricks (like his E being able to go out of his body to fight) so just watching for these and bursting him is key! As long as he doesn't buy defensive items, a lot of his abilities lock him down (he has to go back to his E or he gets locked down for a second when he ults) means opportunities for you to cast your spells without him being able to dodge them.
Difficulty:
★★★★
Zed: The Master of Shadows
★ I really Electrocute here since you want to match his burst and he's melee, but comet works just as good for the poke!
★ I would definitely go a defensive item here- barrier or exhaust. I like barrier because it has lower cooldown and can negate a bit of his burst, but exhaust is amazing too since it completely stops his combo on you or an ally.
★ You need to trade with him when his W is down. He has really fast burst with his clone and shurikens, so dodging that is key.
★ Remember to Q behind you when he ults you, not in front of you!
★ Seeker's Armguard rush is a MUST, but feel free to get your Luden's before Zhonya's if the matchup is going well and you don't need the early Zhonya's.
Difficulty:
★
Ziggs: The Hexplosives Expert
★ Comet is best here vs an artillery mage since this will be a poke war.
★ Barrier is great if you feel you need to negate his burst, but TP is just as good because this isn't a hard matchup.
★ He is able to W himself while in your Q in order to dodge your combo, so watch out for that!
★ He is wanting to throw his Q at you and the minions. Make him choose one.
★ Remember to shield all of your allies when he is using his spells in teamfights!
Difficulty:
★
Zoe: The Aspect of Twilight
★ Electrocute is best here since you want to just burst her down and it matches her elec. Comet is a good alternative if you want to stay back and poke more!
★ Cleanse is very much recommended in this matchup. She is wanting to sleep you and then paddlestar you, and that does an INSANE amount of damage! Cleansing her bubble is key.
★ You want to throw your E at her when she is redirecting her paddlestar, as she is very vulnerable at that point.
★ Lux is a huge counter to Zoe because Lux is able to throw the spells needed where Zoe is. Lux can bind Zoe when she portals, and then just combo her where Zoe ports back to since Lux has the range.
★Do remember that her Q hits the first thing but your E goes through minions, meaning you do have more poke!
During the laning phase, there are 4 key steps to successfully working your lane:
1. Farming
I can not emphasize how IMPORTANT farming is. The early farming stage is the most important part for how well you will do later on in the game. Killing minions grants gold and XP. Gold grants items to further your damage, and XP gives you an advantage to your spells having better base stats/lower cooldowns. Please do not try to just attack the enemy champion, focus on last hitting while poking when given the chance.
How to last hit?
The basic idea is to wait until you are able to kill the minion with an auto attack. However, this is harder than it seems. For me, farming is one of my biggest downfalls. I get so caught up in the wave pressure and health of the enemy champion that I don't last hit and miss the necessary gold needed.
Something to note: Lux WILL get pushed under tower in a bit of matchups. For the melee minions (with full health), let the turret hit them twice and then auto. For casters, you will need to auto>tower hit>auto to get these. If other minions are hitting the enemy minions too, you might need to just use your spells to try to kill these minions since your autos normally won't be enough.
Should I farm with my spells? (Pros/Cons)
Pro: You will be able to use your spells to kill minions more easy, rather than waiting for the right moment to auto and possibly missing it.
Con: You will push the lane and it can be dangerous. You are more susceptible to either be ganked by the jungler or harassed by the mid laner.
Pro: Your opponent will lose farm due to the fact that he/she has to now auto and use their spells in order to hit the minions under the tower.
Con: Using your spells chunks out a lot of mana for Lux, especially early game when she doesn't have very many items. With no mana, you can't 'farm' more, nor can you poke the enemy champion and trade.
Pro: You could gain a huge advantage by keeping both the zoning of your lane and the ability to roam, meanwhile, your opponent is stuck at their turret trying to farm.
Con: You could actually end up missing on tons of CS yourself. With relying on spells to kill minions, you will be casting your spells instead of autoing. With spell casting, it will also create an unbalance in the wave, causing less CS for you- which then puts you behind.
Conclusion?
There is nothing wrong with using your spells to farm- especially under your OWN tower or to secure that $$$ cannon minion. However, try to keep the minion wave as balanced as possible by either only autoing when necessary, or using spells when you are getting pushed (or using your spells to push a wave before an objective or so you can roam). Remember that your main farming tool besides autoing is your Lucent Singularity, which is also used for poking. Also remember that this spell has a high mana cost and a long cooldown, hence why spamming it is not a good idea. However, using it every once in a while to farm or poke is ideal. Farm as much as possible in order to have a better mid/late game.
If you are like me and have a hard time farming, make a custom game and practice last hitting! This will really help for when you get into a game that actually matters.
2. Zoning/Harassing/Trading
This is another very important aspect during the laning phase. With zoning and harassing, you are causing your enemy to be both miss CS and be scared to go in for CS. Depending on who you are against will determine how this can be done.
When you are against melee opponents
This can be a favorable matchup due to the fact that the opponent has to get in melee range to auto you/the minion for CS. In the beginning of the game, try to auto them as much as you can in order for CS to be denied. The key concept here is to try to freeze the lane to deny CS and put them behind. However, with autoing comes some challenges.
1. Some melee champions have abilities they can use on you. Watch out for those. Their ability will do much more damage than your one auto.
2. When you auto the champion, it can cause the enemy's minions to target you. The minions do little damage, but it adds up so be careful.
3. Remember to auto when given the chance only. One auto is not worth missing CS
When to use your abilities in lane
The first and easiest answer to this is when you see your minion wave being pushed. The downside to Lux is that when she is pushed to the turret, most of the time she will have to use her spells to kill the creeps. With this then results in mana issues, loss of gold, and not to mention- her cooldowns are pretty long. You should also use your spells if you need to get lane priority for a dragon or a roam/jungle fight. Lastly, use your spells to poke! You mostly want to just use your E, but feel free to use your Q if you see a window of opportunity and know where the jungler is, or you know if you can land the Q, you can burst and kill them!
3. Jungle Camps
Jungle camps are always a good idea because killing them grants gold and XP. However, there are appropriate times to take the camps. Lux is slower than other champions in taking these camps, but it is always a good idea to try to take these when possible
What camps should I take?
Most of the time, I take the crimson raptor, along with the other raptors. These are very close to lane and you wont lose out on anything. The idea is to E all the raptors but don't pop your E until it pops on it's own, auto the big raptor, and then shield yourself. When your E is up again, it will kill all the small raptors, and hopefully the big raptor as well. You may need to auto the big raptor a couple more times or use your Q if you don't have enough damage to kill it with this rotation of spells. I just like to only use E, W, E because it uses a little less mana (unless you have blue, then spam your spells :P). However, you also could get to a point in the game where your first E kills all the little raptors, so in that case, E>auto the big raptor>Q>auto a couple times and the big raptor should die. Taking the wolves is also acceptable. I do the same rotation, but might add a Q in there because the big wolf is pretty tanky. If you have the opportunity, even taking the the enemy's jungle camps works in favor for you.
When should I take these camps?
1. When your lane is pushed far and you are able to take these raptors and return to lane in time.
2. I normally try to take a camp before I go back to base if I have enough mana/health. It gives me a little more gold before buying items.
3. WHEN THE JUNGLER SAYS ITS OKAY TO DO SO. PLEASE NEVER TAKE THE CAMPS IF YOUR JUNGLER DOES NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION/(S)HE IS CLOSE TO THE CAMPS. If he is helping bot lane or doing something somewhere else on the map, you may take them because their respawn time is short, but remember that the camps are the junglers farm. You wouldn't want someone coming into your lane and taking all your farm.
4. Roaming
Because you are in the middle of the map, roaming is always an option. I normally wait until I have my Final Spark to start roaming, but if your teammates need help, roaming early has its benefits. The point in roaming is to help other lanes score kills and help your team get ahead. Remember that because you are a solo lane, you will hit level 6 faster than the bottom lane. You can use this to your teams advantage. Also watch how much you are roaming. I have seen too many people roam consistently and get nothing out of it, so they miss out on a ton of XP and gold from their own lane.
When do I roam?
1. The best time to roam is if you look at these things: There are no jungle camps to take, the enemy bottom lane is pushing, and you have your own lane pushed. If your lane is being pushed, never wander.
2. When the enemy mid laner is missing. Unless they are low on health or out of mana, they are normally taking a jungle camp or roaming. Remember to ALWAYS call MIA when your opponent isn't in lane and make sure to have vision! You don't want to try to roam with a Talon without vision, he will just be able to jump on you and burst you easily!
3. Your bot lane is about to start a fight and you want to be there to help win it. Sometimes it's as simple as walking halfway down the river, ulting to help with damage/pick up a kill, and then walking back to lane!
Note: Sometimes it is better to push your lane when the enemy opponent roams. Lux is a very immobile champion, so by the time Lux gets to the lane, the fight will be over. You will be wasting your time and will lose out on that XP/gold. Instead, push your lane and get those turret plates for some more gold!! The other advantage to this is that you will be getting all of the gold and XP from staying in lane, meanwhile, your opponent will lose a wave or two of minions due to you pushing into their tower while they're away. Plus, if they stay bot, they'll be sharing bot's XP and won't gain any gold unless they take the ADC's minions or they get kills. Win/win situation!
Teamfights are my favorite part when it comes to playing Lux because this is when her power really shines. She not only can peel for both your ADC and the rest of your team pretty well, but she has burst/damage + utility with her shield. This is why I love Lux so much, as she is very versatile in all areas. During teamfights, keep these things in mind:
Before a teamfight actually occurs, Lux is able to poke some of the squishier champions down. This is very important before engaging a teamfight because Lux has the range and AOE from her Lucent Singularity. The less health the enemy champions have when you engage, the better the teamfight.
2. Stay back and throw your spells at your enemies.
This is the most important concept. As Lux, you are squishy and very vulnerable. Your positioning is key to surviving and dealing the most damage you can in a teamfight. You should be able to catch at least one, if not two, champions with your Light Binding. Your team can then engage and kill the enemy champions. You should ALWAYS throw out your Prismatic Barrier when the enemy team is poking/anyone engages, in order to soak up some damage for your teammates. Remember that this spell comes back to you, so if you miss a couple champions on the throw out, try to position yourself so your wand hits your allies on its way back to you.
3. Always remember to use your ultimate whenever you get the best possible chance
For example, say there is a Malphite on your team. Once he uses his Unstoppable Force and knocks them all up, that is your queue to ult. REMEMBER THAT THE ULTIMATE DOES NOT HAVE TO ONLY BE USED TO FINISH OFF AN ENEMY!! Dealing massive amounts of damage to a group of enemy champions will be way more effective in a teamfight than using your ultimate to finish off a single enemy. I know it's tempting to steal a kill for the gold, but doing 1000 damage to 4-5 people is way more effective then doing maybe 500 or less damage to one enemy who is probably going to die anyways. Of course feel free to use your ultimate on enemies who escaped with less HP and you can snipe them, but my point is to try to use your ultimate as effectively as possible!
4. Bursting down the ADC/Mage
This is something you should ALWAYS be looking for in teamfights. You never want to just combo the first person you hit your Q on, especially if it's a tank. When a teamfight breaks out, you're looking to try to use your combo on the carries. Always take into consideration their items (a mage might have zhonyas to dodge your burst, ADC might have QSS, support might have mikaels) and how strong/how much of a threat they are.
5. Helping your ADC survive
This is another concept that I don't think a lot of people realize. The ADC's role is to do the most damage and carry the team! The downfall is that they are usually very squishy and need some type of peeling. Lux is perfect for this. Especially if the support on your team is that tanky Leona who is jumping into the enemy team, Lux stays back and casts her spells next to the ADC anyways. Here's the perfect example of how you can help your ADC survive:
Say there is an enemy Rengar who keeps trying to jump onto your ally, Lucian. Use your Prismatic Barrier to shield the damage Rengar might inflict on your teammate. Right when he uses his ultimate to jump, you should immediately use your Light Binding and root Rengar in place. This will not only save your Lucian and he can continue to DPS in the fight, but will take one more enemy out of the teamfight who was greedy for the ADC kill.
There are 3 things to look out for before choosing Lux:
1. Look who you are up against
In Draft Pick, look at what your enemy team chooses for their different roles. If they chose a really tanky team with a Braum where you won't be able to burst them, or they pick heavy gapcloser champions like Xin Zhao or Camille who can easily jump on you and one shot you, maybe Lux isn't the best pick this time.
This is even better if you already know who the mid laner is. If they pick Fizz, you might reconsider picking Lux and counterpick as someone else instead. However, if the mid laner is Twisted Fate or Ziggs, you should have no problem picking Lux.
2. Look what what your teammates are choosing
If your teammates are choosing champions like Caitlyn, Sona, Malphite, or Amumu, Lux is a perfect pick! With Caitlyn and Sona's poke or Malphite and Amumu's heavy lockdown, you will be able to poke along with them or use that Final Spark right when one of those strong AOE ultimates come into play!
3. Your own capabilities
As you play Lux more and more, you will really get a feel for her. Once you start learning to master her, some of these counters won't be actual 'counters' to you anymore. Or in those hard situations where you're vs that Fizz or heavy engaging team comp, you learn to position well with her and disengage those engagers/turn team fights!
There are 3 things to consider when looking at synergy with Lux:
1. Poke
Poking is one of the best ways to create an advantage before teamfights. If your team pokes the enemy champions health down, someone may be forced to recall. This will either make it a 4v5, or they will have to stay in the fight with half or low health. Here are some champions who work very well with Lux in poke:
Teamfighting is one of the most important parts of the mid/late game. If your team wins teamfights, you are able to freely take objectives like baron, dragon, or turrets/inhibitors. There are some champions who work very well with a teamfight composition (keep in mind that some of these champions are able to go in more than one certain position, I just put them in the position they are normally in; EX: Wukong can go top or jungle but he is normally top so I put him in the top category). Most of these champions have some type of ultimate or other ability that provides utility, such as CC or damage, to the enemy team:
The third thing to look for is champions who engage. Engaging can be more tricky, as each individual champion needs a different set of utility from Lux in order to succeed. For example, you may follow up a Morgana bind with your own bind. From there, your team will be able to jump on that specific enemy champion, kill them, and then make the fight a 4v5. Whereas, with Jhin, you can use your bind from your Light Binding and slow from your Lucent Singularity to help ensure that his four shots hit. Here are champions that are good engagers:
I know that sometimes when people read something, they might want to know both the validification of the information, and the person who wrote it as well. To hopefully soothe those, I screenshotted matches I played as Lux recently in ranked! I try to keep this updated but it's not as important. I also have over 1m mastery points with her and she is the one who got me to diamond! She really does help me climb the ladder in ranked, even though she isn't one of the top picks in the mid lane.
*Edited this to the current season :)
February 2020
February 2020
My conclusion is to just have fun!! Lux is such a fun champion in both the mid lane or as a support (I have a separate support guide for her, go check it out!), and can be used in various ways! She has amazing range and poke, along with a really damaging and fun ultimate! Thank you SO SO much for reading my guide! Feel free to like or comment or message me directly for any questions/concerns/things I can do to improve my guide. I just want this guide to be a way for people to learn and master Lux, so let me know if there is anything else I can do to help! Thank you all for your votes, comments, and likes as well! Being the number 1 guide for Lux and having so many of you view my guide and comment and add me and us becoming friends is just absolutely amazing. Anyways, GL HF summoners and see you on the rift!!
~Happy Lasering
I would first like to thank my trusty friend I Like Doggos for all of the reading and helping out he has done. It has really saved me time and given me opinions for how I can make this guide the best for you guys.
I would also love love to thank the amazing jhoijhoi for her amazing guide on how to actually create a build. Without the help of her coding, I wouldn't have nearly had as great of a guide!
Next, I would like to thank my good friend Cynthia, or Mozume, for the Lux art and the inspiration to make this guide as coded and pretty as I can make it, you rock Cyn and the light 'em up picture is to die for <3
I would also like to thank PsiGuard, as he is always giving me tips on how to make my guide better, on top of helping me immediately with any BBC coding or anything else!! He's so helpful and so kind, always!!
Finally, I would love to thank all of the viewers and people who upvoted this guide. I've spent wayyyy too much of my time constantly editing this guide every patch and trying to make sure everything is up to date.
Now go Light 'Em Up!
-Luxeøn
I didn't have a changelog when I first made my guide, but I figured why not!
Long Changelog UWU
4/19/2017: Changed stuff about Lux's ult and how it gets the reset
5/5/2017: Added a changelog :-)
5/5/2017: Minor fixes on Lux support
5/5/2017: Changed all Abyssal Scepter's to Banshee's Veil and took out Abyssal/GA completely
5/11/2017: Updated runes and build for Lux support, as well as the alternative items/matchups part. :)
5/12/2017: Added a whole section upon who synergies in bot lane w/ Lux for Lux Support!!
5/15/2017: Cleaned up some minor spellings/BBC fixes for the supp section. Should be good to go!
5/31/2017: Added a Luden's vs Liandry's section!! I also added minor things to make how to build seem clearer and added my own personal build to both the rune pages and the top page.
7/13/2017: Added a whole POE section and deleted the full "Appropriate Times to Get Items" section. Also updated the guide a little bit.
8/16/2017: Updated the Lux support section to the current meta, with coin being in favor. Added a full Lux support and an AP Lux support build into it.
11/11/2017: Updated the guide with the new runes, as well as the support section!! Still a WIP since so many things have changed/are changing, but happy with the progress!!
11/21/2017: Updated guide *almost* fully for preaseason! All set to go, minus going through matchups later on down the road :)
11/25/2017: Updated the matchups section, erasing those who don't really mid a lot, and adding in Zoe, plus other tips!!
11/28/2017: Added PoE build into the guide!!
12/29/2017: Read through the guide and added/deleted things that may have been expired or changed. Guide should be up to date now!!
1/1/2018: New guide, who dis? Updating A LOT OF VISUAL UPDATES!!! Also, got rid of, Standard Build for Lux vs AD Mid/Team, Standard Build for Lux vs AP Mid/Team, Other Viable Items, and Items NOT to get- made all of it into 'itemization'. Added tons of viable builds including Luden's echo route, liandry's torment, or defensive items. Will soon be working on the lux support section in terms of visual updates like I did with the rest of this guide!!
1/3/2018: Updated the Lux support section- it looks SO pretty now and like the rest of the guide!! Added support to the table of contents.
1/11/2018: Added a WHOLE section for Lux support on vs AD matchups and support matchups!!!
1/26/2018: Added new support stuff and minor changes <3
2/23/2018: Added the whole new mage itemization to this guide on both mid- sorcery/domination/poe, as well as support,and adjusted/added new runes for Lux!
2/24/2018: Updated the whole detailed matchups section and added more info for some champions and how to counter them!!
3/27/2018: Updated to 8.6 and added Kai'sa into the mix for Lux support.
4/4/2018: Updated to 8.7 with Lux buffs on ultimate and Pom/Manaflow band changes.
4/19/2018: Updated to 8.8, updating the matchups for Ahri and LeBlanc (yay my other mages are coming back!!).
5/2/2018: Updated to 8.9 with Lux buffs, as well as changing some items and item prices like Lost Chapter and Tear. CURRENTLY working on another guide for strictly Lux support, so hopefully in the next week or two, I will delete all the stuff on here about Lux support and refer everyone to that guide!
5/4/2018: DELETED ALLLLLL OF LUX SUPPORT STUFF SINCE I MADE A WHOLE NEW GUIDE FOR HER IN THE SUPPORT ROLE!!! SO STOKED!!
5/8/2018: Added GIFS of Lux's abilities FINALLYYYYY and also centered the combo videos :)
7/6/2018: Edited runes and fixed other small properties, as well as adding Pyke and Zoe into the mix and updating it to the current patch.
9/4/2018: Added the time warp tonic/corrupting potion meta into the mix!
9/10/2018: Added twitch link!!
11/16/2018: Rip twitch link :( but i updated A LOTTT especially the details on all of the runes (rip corrupting/time warp meta). I also love MobaFire's new thing where you can add more than one set of runes/summoner spells/etc so I added all of the options mentioned in my guide into the cheat code with small descriptions for each one to help those who don't want to read my full on lengthy guide :)
11/25/2018: Added Irelia matchup finally :)
01/09/2019: Updated to 9.1 patch and added Neeko in the matchup section, as well as reread the matchup section to make sure the info was updated and added more counterplay!
02/25/2019: Updated to 9.4 patch :)
03/07/2019: Updated to 9.5 patch w/ Morgana, inspiration tree, etc
6/10/2019: Updated to current patch :)
12/23/2019: Wow... I read through the guide again and edited everything, hopefully getting any outdated information out of the way and adding helpful new information. New year soon, new guide??
08/09/2020: Updated guide to newest patch with runes!
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