Soraka Build Guide : ecl1p3e's way to Soraka | S11 (WIP)

Introduction

Hey there!
I'm ecl1p3e, an average Soraka player like most of you. I'm not a Challenger or anything, but I would like to share my tips and some of my match up knowledge. Most of the guide is based off my experience with her and I know it might not apply for some of you.

The runes section gives you a list of viable runes for her, explaining what each rune does. I will be adding a different chapter of the guide for every champion, since I find that it takes up wayyyy too much room to have it all under match ups and it's hard to navigate.

Disclaimer: Each match up that I put here, I have played Soraka through at least 3 times but it could still be very different from your experience. Like I said before I AM NOT A CHALLENGER PLAYER!!! so I'm not claiming to be the best at Soraka and saying this is the way you must do things but take this as advice :) Also, this is my first guide so please leave a comment saying what I could improve on and if you know how, help me with bbcodes. This guide is far from finished and I'll be updating it as the patches come.

General Info

About Soraka

- Is the place to go for general information about lore-wise and ability desciptions.

Abilities

- My view on 's abilities and how they tie in with the rest of her kit.

Patch Overviews

- Patch information (item buffs/nerfs, buffs/nerfs, or rune buffs/nerfs).

Keystones

- Information about general keystones for .

Sorcery/Resolve/Domination/Inspiration runes

- Information on helpful runes in each respective rune tree.

Summoner Spells

- Information on summoner spells (cooldowns/uses/when to take).

Early/Mid/Late Game

- How to handle yourself early/mid/late game and get the most out of it. (Section is still WIP)

Vision Control

- Where and when to ward.

Match up Information

- For efficiency's sake, I won't be putting top laners in the list because they don't affect you until mid-late game and this is mainly focused around early game. (I'm sorry top laners >.<) Also, when you see the "Runes to take" section and I mention something like "Standard Runes" please refer to the top of this guide, where I have rune options listed.

About Soraka

THE STARCHILD

STATS

HEALTH: 535
(+74 per level)
ATTACK DAMAGE: 50
(+3 per level)
ATTACK SPEED: 0.63
(+2.14% per level)
MAGIC RESIST: 30
(+0.5 per level)
ARMOR: 32
(+3.8 per level)
HEALTH REGEN: 2.5
(+0.5 per level)
HEALTH: 535
(+74 per level)
MOVEMENT SPEED: 325

ABILITIES

: Soraka gains bonus
movement speed towards
allies below 40% health.
Soraka damages and slows
enemies at target location.
She regains HP if she hits
an enemy champion.
: Soraka uses a part of her health
to heal an ally champion.
: Creates a zone at location that
silences all enemies inside.
When it expires, all enemies
inside are rooted.

INFO

ROLE:
Healer, Mage
LANE:
Support
DAMAGE:
AP
DAMAGE OUTPUT:
Low
MOBILITY:

RESOURCE:
Mana
REGION:
Mount Targon
SKINS:
12

SORAKA: A wanderer from the celestial dimensions beyond Mount Targon, Soraka gave up her immortality to protect the mortal races from their own more violent instincts. She endeavors to spread the virtues of compassion and mercy to everyone she meets—even healing those who would wish harm upon her. And, for all Soraka has seen of this world's struggles, she still believes the people of Runeterra have yet to reach their full potential.
ULTIMATE:
Soraka calls upon the stars, removing Grievous Wounds from all allies before healing herself and them for 130 / 215 / 300 (+55% of ability power), increased by 50% on targets below 40% HP. Wish can affect untargetable allies like Fizz with his Playful / Trickster.

Abilities

PASSIVE ABILITY

Salvation

✦ At first glance, this doesn't seem like that powerful of an passive but once you start playing her, you'll see how many saves this can make. I won't lie, I definitely did not like her passive at the beginning since I prefer damage passives like 's or something like 's but considering your role, this is pretty much everything you could ask for that isn't broken. This can help you decide when to ult, help you get back to lane, and allow you to easily heal your teammates.

Q

Starcall

✦ This is where her healing starts and will normally come back to. is your main form of poke and lane sustain. 1 key thing about this ability is that the further you are from the target, the longer it takes to land, making it easier to dodge. The easiest way to hit this would be to wait for the enemy to walk up to cs, and then aim at them since they'll be locked in the auto attack animation while you gain free poke on them.

W

Astral Infusion

✦ 90% of the time, you'll be casting this under the influence of Rejuvenation, but there are certain situations where you have to heal them immediately to prevent a death or to prevent the use of summoner spells. These situations include things such as, when you're 4-man ganked bot, your ally is about to die, or when you've hit and need to share the Rejuvenation buff with an ally.

E

Equinox

✦ has to be used very VERY carefully. In certain lanes, this ability will be life-saving and can easily turn a game around. In other lanes, this can be unavoidable poke and if you combine it with , this can add up to create some gold advantages. This can interrupt channels like or , potentially becoming a winning factor in a teamfight. Remember that is your only form of hard cc and is your only way to protect yourself.

R

Wish

✦ is one of the most impactful ults during a teamfight, sharing the title with and . After the sizeable chunk of HP and the cleanse of Grevious Wounds all allies gain, you also share any bufs you get from or . Remember to keep an eye on the other lanes in case they need a little help to turn the 1v1.

Ult Usage

With Soraka's ult being such a strong ability, you never want to waste it. You have to decide your map priorities with your ult. Do you have a champ that has no carry potential in the top lane? Don't use your ult on them.

When ulting, you have 2 things you want to consider. 1. Will they get out if I give them a bit of hp now? and 2. Does the enemy have a gap closer like Irelia or is highly mobile like a Riven?

You never want to ult someone and put it on cooldown just to have the person you're ulting die. It's one of the top reasons you might lose a game. You have to consider the threat level of the enemy bot lane. If it's a Pyke/Draven, you'll definitely need your ult to prevent giving the enemy team so much gold from .

Pros/Cons and Why you should play her

Why should you play Soraka?
She's an amazing support overall, offers tons of healing, good poke and a silence meaning you can interrupt annoying abilities like Malzahar ult. Her ult is global and can turn an early teamfight leading to a free drake or rift.

Pros		Cons
	Global Ult		Sqiushy
	Powerful heals		Weak early game
	Can carry teamfights (not damage wise)		Can't shine on her own unlike
	Annoying Poke		People could flame you for not ulting
	Passive allows you to easily see who needs help		Ult has an unforgiving cd
	Has an AOE silence		No mobility
	Ult now cleanses Grevious Wounds		Is almost always a priority target during fights

Like most champions, she has her strengths and weaknesses. In order to play her well, you need to master positioning and making quick decisions.

Keystones

ARCANE COMET

✦: Upon damaging an enemy with an ability, follows up with a comet to the enemy you've hit. This is more poke oriented than and doesn't do many favors for you. If you can poke them out of lane, combine this with for the extra damage.

SUMMON AERY

✦: Upon damaging an enemy or casting spells on an ally, sends Aery to target to deal bonus damage or shield the ally for a small amount. Aery cannot be sent out until she returns. The reason why I prefer this over is that it can be sent out with an auto attack.

Guardian

✦: Guards allies that are nearby and ones you cast spells on. Upon a Guarded ally taking damage, will shield them for a set amount. This shield will proc by itself, so you don't have to worry about spamming hotkeys until something happens during a teamfight.

Sorcery Runes

MANAFLOW BAND

✦: Hitting enemy champions with a spell grants bonus max mana. Once you reach 250 mana, this restores 1% of your missing mana/5 seconds. Since this relies on hitting abilities, I prefer taking this where I can successfully land and to stack it.

TRANSCENDENCE

✦: Gain 5 extra ability haste at levels 5 and 8. Upon hitting level 11, takedowns will reduce the cooldowns of your basic abilities by 20%. This can help you keep up during hectic fights and keep you fighting where normally, you would've died because of cooldowns.

SCORCH

✦: Hitting a damaging ability on an enemy champion will burn them for additional damage. This can offer you some extra poking power in lane which can help you win lane. This is best used into a match up such as where you can poke her down.

GATHERING STORM

✦: Every 10 minutes, gain bits of adaptive force. I prefer this rune over since I prefer to play for leads in the other lanes and have a more toned down laning phase. It's personal preference.

Resolve Runes

FONT OF LIFE

✦: Applying cc to an enemy champion marks them for 4 seconds. Allies who attack marked enemies heal for a small amount. This rune offers both you and your lane partner sustain in lane and is great if you're starting to run out of mana.

BONE PLATING

✦: After taking damage from an enemy champion, the next 3 spells or attacks you receive from them deal less damage. Duration: 1.5 seconds. Cooldown: 45 seconds. This can help you survive against assassisn or just survive against poke.

SECOND WIND

✦: After taking damage from an enemy champion, gain a bit of health regen over 10 seconds. You'll rarely need this rune because of . I only take this as a last resort in lanes that have poke (like ), but aren't engage comps.

REVITALIZE

✦: Outgoing and incoming heals will be 5% stronger and is increased by an additional 10% if the target is below 40% health. This rune combined with and can add up to be some really powerful heals.

Domination Runes

GHOST PORO

✦: When your wards expire, leaves behind a Ghost Poro that grants vision in that area for 1 minute. Nearby enemy champions will scare the poro away. For every enemy champion seen, gain small bits of adaptive force scaling up to 30. All this rune requires you to do is place wards where they'll see the enemy.

ZOMBIE WARD

✦: Scoring takedowns on enemy wards spawns a Zombie Ward in their place and will grant you bonus bits of adaptive force. They have 1 health, are visible to enemy units, and last for 2 minutes. This requires a bit more effort than , but is more beneficial during late game.

ULTIMATE HUNTER

✦: Your ultimate gains a 5% shorter cooldown + 4% per first takedown on each enemy champion. In the end, it should give you 24% bonus ult CDR (not including items or other runes). This is by far the most beneficial rune here and is especially helpful so you can influence other lanes.

Inspiration Runes

MAGICAL FOOTWEAR

✦: You get free boots at 12 minutes but cannot buy boots beforehand. Takedowns reduce the cooldown by 45 seconds per takedown. I prefer this rune over since I rarely ever need to finish hourglass.

BISCUIT DELIVERY

✦: You get 3 free bisciuts that restore mana and health. They arrive at 2 min, 4 min and 6 min. (every 2 minutes). This is useful for lane sustain and helps you if you don't have enough gold to buy an item.

COSMIC INSIGHT

✦: You gain an extra 10 item haste and 15 summoner spell haste. Very useful as you'll nearly always need since you're an immobile squishy. Think what you want about this rune, but I consider it better than the other choices

Summoner Spells

BARRIER

✦: Very similar to except it has a lower cooldown and you don't get the bonus movement speed. A ton of high elo players are taking this rune since lacks any self defense tools and you need to stay alive to help your team. Only take this if you can react in time, there's no use trying to pop after you're dead.

CLEANSE

✦: This is very situational but can save your life in certain situations. The interesting part about this spell is that it reduces incoming debuffs by 65% for 3 seconds so it's very effective against a passive like . I only take this against champions that have spells like , , or .

EXHAUST

✦: Is mostly taken by Supports. It slows the targeted enemy by 30% and reduces their damage by 40%. This applies on some ultimates like 's .
✦WARNING: The damage reduce does not apply on 's ! His ultimate is based on lethality when he can execute you. Does not affect lethality!

FLASH

✦: This is by far the most useful summoner spell in the game. It can allow for you to get away, make an outplay, or chase down a kill (but in your case, put you closer to heal your carry). Due to the fact that you're an immobile squishy, you'll need this to prevent yourself from mispositioning and to get out of a bad situation.

HEAL

✦: This is almost exclusively taken by ADCs, and when used, will instantly heal you and the closest ally champion for 90-345 health and give you +30 movement speed for 1 second. Now you may be wondering, if only taken by ADCs, why include it? There's certain times where your ADC might take or , and you'll need a in bot lane.

IGNITE

✦: Burns the enemy dealing true damage by 70-410 depending on level over 5 seconds and applying Grievous Wounds to them for the duration. It can be worth switching for this due to the amount of healing this season. (eg. , , or .) It can also make for some early game kills.

Enemy Summoner Spells

So we all know that as good as the enemy bot lane is, before their abilities, all they have is summoners. This chapter will be very basic and will show the cooldowns of summoner spells.

Below are the cooldowns of all summoner spells (excluding smite/aram spells). By ___ - ___, I mean that with and it can go down to the second amount.

BARRIER

✦: Cooldown: 180 - 144 seconds

CLEANSE

✦: Cooldown: 210 - 168 seconds

EXHAUST

✦: Cooldown: 210 - 168 seconds

FLASH

✦: Cooldown: 300 - 240 seconds

GHOST

✦: Cooldown: 210 - 168 seconds

HEAL

✦: Cooldown: 240 - 192 seconds

IGNITE

✦: Cooldown: 180 - 144 seconds

TELEPORT

✦: Cooldown: 420-240 seconds (based on level) - 323-162 seconds

During a fight, you want to always have an eye out for enemy summoners. Let's say, during a small 2v2 down at bot lane, your adc , decides to engage for whatever reason, and the enemy bot lane consists of with /, and with /. During this fight, heals and exhausts your adc.

Even if you're dead, you should ping the summoners as soon as you see them (within reason, don't do it in the middle of a fight) and once the fight is over with, check the timestamp. Let's say it was 10:38 and healed. You would add 4 minutes to that time and type in chat: Vayne Heal 14:38 (or however you want to phrase it). There are also apps that can help with this, such as LeagueTracker.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT RUNES/ITEMS LIKE Cosmic Insight or Ionian Boots of Lucidity. SUMMONERS MAY BE UP 30 SECONDS BEFORE EXPECTED!!!

Early Game

EARLY GAME

Early game is by far the most impactful stage of the game, with Challenger players being able to snowball even the smallest lead, such as a 15 cs lead. Soraka can be considered somewhat of a lane bully. Her is one of the most annoying forms of poke, sharing this title with other abilities such as , , and with a bonus. In this chapter, I'll explain different aspects of the early game and how to come out on top.

INVADING?

Invading is a rather cheesy strategy that takes you to the enemy jungle, to either pick up early kills or summoner spells.

When invading, consider:

Are they stronger than us at lvl 1?

If your team consists of champions that need to scale/champions with no cc, don't go. It won't work out well unless the enemy jungler chose to solo their first camp.

What do we gain out of this?

Can we secure the buff before the entire enemy team comes back? Do we have extremely snowbally champs? Are both questions you should ask yourself before invading or overcommiting.

GOALS

During this time, your main goals are to:

*Control vision

-By placing wards, buying s, clearing wards, and keeping vision in the river to prevent a gank.

*Bully the enemy out of lane

-Keep poking them until they're forced to back, or risk dying to your team. You need to use your near infinite sustain and your annoying poke to keep both you and your ADC safe while being annoying to the enemy.

*Deny exp/cs

-This relates to the point above, either you force them out of lane or you can use yourself as a zoning tool. If you're going to zone them, walk close to the enemy minion wave but don't walk too far up.

*Set up for leads in your lane (keeping a somewhat gankable/diveable lane for your jungler)

-Once, I heard a rumor saying supports can't contribute to controlling minion waves. This is entirely false and you'll want to freeze the lane right before it hits your tower because this is the optimal place to receive a gank.

*Babysit the ADC and keep them topped off with heals

-Exactly what it sounds like. Use both and to keep you and your carry at around 70-100% HP. It's harder for the enemy jungler to gank you, because if both of you are full health, it can be turned on them.

*Take objectives (towers, drakes, secure enemy ____ buff)

-Remember, objectives win games. Your team can be 40 kills ahead and still lose because the enemy managed to seige ___ lane and take down all the towers while your main source of damage was dead. Only invade when the enemy jungler can't retaliate against you.

REMINDER

You won't always accomplish these goals, but that's perfectly fine. You're not meant to be an early game champion.

ARRIVING AT LANE

When you get to lane, leave a in either the tri-bush or river bush, both depending on which side you're on, and how aggressive you play to be playing. If you have an early game ADC such as , , or , you can choose to camp out in the tri-bush/river bush in order to start lane with a lead, either by health or by burned summoner spells. Burning summoner spells is extremely important, especially due to the amount of squishy, immobile carries in bot lane. Once you start dealing with minions, don't auto attack any of them. Wait and see how your ADC wants to play the lane, and follow their example.

LEASHING?

You should leave the jungle at around 1:38 to be in time for the first minion wave. Once you arrive, the first line of melee minions should be close to dying, and if you have a , give the one that your ADC doesn't kill an auto attack to help with their cs. You'll want to watch out for early game cheeses in the tri-bush/river bush where some champions such as , , or can instantly root both of you and cause for a bad trade.

REMEMBER:

Sometimes a ward may not be enough to stop a jungler, such as with their or with his . In this case, leave a ward further up the river or possibly deeper in the enemy jungle (ONLY IF SAFE) to prevent the worst of it.

TRADING IN LANE

Because taking good trades in lane is incredibly important to either winning or losing a lane, you need to know how to trade well. Some factors that have to do with a good trade are:

minion waves, champion abilities, cooldowns, and summoner spells.

Some questions you should ask yourself before trading are:

Does the minion wave favor our team?

If you have the minion advantage in numbers you can look to trade, especially if the enemy laner is walking up too far. Minion aggro is surprisingly deadly during early game and can be one of the key deciding factors in a trade.

Does the enemy bot lane have abiilties that straight up counter your existence?

Hypothetically, if you're playing someone like with all her cc, and the enemy bot lane has a with her , this would typically end up being a terrible trade for you as she can negate all of your cc. Now, since you're playing , there's no ability that can completely destroy you, but annoying abilities include and a shield such as 's . Bait out these kinds of abilities before choosing to go in.

Are there any crucial abilities you/the enemy team might need to take a good trade?

This relates to the point above. If you're against a and bot, and let's say threw out her but she missed both you and your carry. This could be considered a good time to go in, as now has nothing except for her slow and shield. If you trade according to the enemy team's cooldowns, you'll win almost everytime.

Do they have important summoners up?

If the enemy support has up and your carry is rather low, don't go in. Because can deny so much healing, the end result would likely not favor you. Instead, continue poking and heal them until they can risk a trade. If they have up and you see the enemy jungler hanging around, don't overcommit for a kill.

LEVEL 2 ENGAGE?

Due to the fact that you're not a hard engage support such as , , or , you'll never try for a level 2 trade. Since for the most part, you go level 1 and then take , there's no real reason for you to try something level 2 other than poke them and heal your carry (if they lost a trade level 1). If you have an ADC such as , prepare for her to jump in because of her incredibly strong level 2.

STARTING ITEMS

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: This item grants you AP, Mana Regen, Health, and a gold generating passive. The passive allows for you to gain 20 gold for hitting an enemy champion with an ally nearby, with a max of 3 stacks, regenerating at a rate of 1 charge per every 10 seconds. Once you earn 500 gold with this item, it'll become a . This is widely taken as a main item for due to her annoying poke and how easily she can gain stacks to earn gold. I suggest starting with this item 90% of the time, unless you're into a match up that doesn't allow for you to poke without taking a bad trade in return (eg. ). You'd want to avoid hitting minion waves with while poking for extra stacks, as 1 minion kill can easily mess up a freeze.

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: Similar to , this item is considered the more defensive version, granting similar stats (although specializing in different stats), it will grant you a small amount of AP, Health, and Health Regen. The passive can execute minions under 50% HP, provided that there's an ally within range of it. You'll gain the ability to do this every 35 seconds, with a maximum of 3 charges stored and once you earn 500 gold with it, it will upgrade to a . Technically, this item grants more income to you and your ADC, but the stats aren't worth taking this over . You'll be lacking in mana and will likely finish the gold quest far slower, whereas would finish earlier.

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Mythic Choices

The following items are the mythics I would recommend while playing Soraka. :3

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After 11.8, this item is now widely considered the best mythic for by many players. The extra movement speed is great for repositioning and the ability haste synergizes so well with the new . You can use the active to engage, disengage, run away, give a way for your slightly slower teammates to get on top of a squishy carry, or even just as a cheesy way to get an assist. You can gain about 40 ability haste from the stats and passive with full build.

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This item works well into burst lanes such as or . Despite this item not granting much CDR, the shield is incredibly valuable during teamfights. It can prevent death and even a loss when the game transitions to late game. When playing with this item, you may have to play less aggressive because you won't have as much CDR as usual. While the build path for may be a bit awkward, the item will pay off during teamfights where you'll be able to shield and heal your entire team with .

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Unfortunately, the stats/passive don't seem to be the most beneficial for you anymore. I'd take this as the more defensive version of , with the passive healing being helpful for clutch situations, and the stacking healing being useful for extended teamfighting. However, all these stats don't seem to be enough to conpensate for the sizeable nerfs it received for you. As this no longer grants ability haste, it leaves a larger window of time where you'll be unable to help your teammates, therefore being less effective.

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Mid-Late Game

This is where you start to shine. Your heals become so much more powerful and you start carrying teamfights with your and .

During a teamfight, you have 2 objectives: Keep everyone topped off with heals and stop any enemy engages with your Stay in the back and let your tanks do the engage. Always stick close to the carry so you can help them and don't forget to position well.

When you're not fighting, you should be taking objectives or controlling vision. You should never be hanging around bot lane to clear the wave as you are a support, you don't need cs. Most enemy teams prefer to group at the lane that they took the most towers in so let's say for example, it's mid. If you see 3 of them close to your blue buff, there's no reason for you to go there. It's probably taken and you'll just give them either a free kill or free summoners by doing so.

Teamfighting

The reason I have a separate section on teamfighting is because it's a very complex subject.

First off, let's cover your goals in a teamfight. Your goals are to heal your team and stick close to your carry. By stick close to your carry, I do not mean your 1/9 Samira that spam pings you every time she dies. I mean the most fed person on your team. Do not mindlessly follow your carry every time they charge into a 1v5 position and once they get a kill you're just there and you die. After all, you are not playing a certain cat and you do not have to sit on someone to be useful.

If your 12/4 Yi charges into a team comp that's full of cc, do not follow him no matter what he says. There's a high chance you won't be able to help him and you'll just trade 2 for 0-1 (depends on the champ). The best possible scenario is that you have all 5 members of your team and you have a strong tank that can still deal damage, either an assassin mid/jungle so you can take out the enemy carries right away, a mage of some sort that can poke them and has a form of cc, an adc that has a form of survivability like .

Now that I've covered some of the things not to do in a teamfight, I'll explain what target priority is. Some of you call it a differently but target priority is very simple despite it's fancy name. It's just knowing which one of you opponents has the biggest worth in a teamfight. If we take an enemy team comp like a top, jungle, mid, adc and a support.

Let's say, atm Jinx is doing well and she has her 2nd item finished with an Ornn upgrade (if Ornn can't upgrade any of the items that Jinx uses, forgive me I don't play adc xD). She's 0/0 since mid game is just beginning. Lillia is 2/4 but has a fair share of the teams assists. Akali is 5/0 and has all her summoners up (let's say she brought and . She has her 3rd item complete. The Braum is 0/0/9. He brought Guardian and is hanging around Jinx, clearing wards. Ornn has his ult up soon or now (you saw him use it about a minute ago) and he's out of vision.

Assuming that the Akali has kept up in cs, she currently has a 600g bounty and likes to dash in and out of the fight with her shroud, e and ult. In some situations, you'd go for Lillia, not Akali. Some of you may disagree but you cannot have a Lillia ult into an Akali combo. During a fight, you should normally take out whoever has the dps first since they'll be wearing everyone down until they kill them. In this case, it'd be either Jinx or Lillia due to her short q cooldown. Assassins have 2 purposes in a teamfight, which is to kill the enemy carry and then help their team. The only part of Braum that's a threat is his ult engage. Once he uses that, all he can do is shield.
Your target order in this fight should look something like: , , , and then .

Vision Control/Warding

Vision is very crucial to winning games. One pick on a fed carry can instantly turn the game around and give you a win. I'll be explaining when/where/why to place wards in places.

First: When should you be warding?
As a Soraka support, you have 3 jobs. Babysit the adc during early game, control vision, and peel/heal your team. This means, you should be in bot lane 90% of the time during early game unless you're taking objectives or invading with your jungler. If your adc has just backed, I like to place a couple of defensive wards before backing (at your blue buff or drake) but only do so if it's safe for you to.

It's almost tragic how many supports die while warding. If the enemy team consists of assassins that have an easy time roaming (eg. do not go warding alone. Wait until your adc comes back to lane and then go together.

When would be a good time to place a control ward and where?
I have locations for you down below in the next 2 chapters. If you're pushed in, I like a control ward in the river bush to deny enemy vision and keep you safe. Sometimes I will put one in the tribush if the enemy jungler has a strong level 1-6 and likes to invade a lot. My favourite trick with control wards is to carry 2 at once and then place one by the bush where it will easily be discovered. Once they start clearing it, immediately place your second control ward down as it will make the first one disappear.

When should I be clearing wards?
I prefer to do this when the enemy bot lane has backed so they don't contest you. An important thing to remember is to let your adc take the ward kill instead of you when you're using sweepers. You'll both get the gold. Before starting drake, always sweep around for wards just in case.

Ahri

Threat Level

Don't you trust me?
Level Threat:
Even

Playstyle
: The Nine-Tailed Fox, an AP / that normally belongs in the mid lane. is very, very rare, but not entirely impossible. She relies heavily on hitting to do anything during the game, otherwise her damage and impact on the game is almost laughable.
During laning phase, keep the bushes warded and engage on her whenever she misses . Her only poke is and has a fairly long cooldown during early game. It's quite easy to dodge since it has quite a large throwing animation. Be careful not to get caught with it at the tip of it's cast range (it'll deal both magic damage and true damage instantly). You have a choice to either play aggressively or defensively, as doesn't have an ability like that can insta-delete people. The only part of her you need to watch out for is her into combo. Other than that, it should be considered an easy lane/game. (Depending on both teams adcs and team members).

Runes to bring
While going against I find that I like , , , and as her early game is quite weak. It wouldn't hurt to force her out of lane and deny her exp. The second column is quite flexible, there's no right tree for her, it will depend a lot on her teammates. I would argue that , , and would be the best, as you can deny whatever is left of her damage.

Spells to annoy
relies on the cc from in order to land her other abilities. Taking that cc away would mean you have utterly defeated her, stomped on her, and threw her to the wolves (do foxes and wolves get along?). I wouldn't recommend taking since her charm isn't all that important of an ability to avoid (I'd give it a 2/5 at most, if she has no follow up from her team). In this lane I prefer or if you need it. Her gives her sustain, but the healing isn't that noticeable in combat. Overall, would be the better choice here.

Itemisation
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Akali

Threat Level

You're dead, I'm alive See? Balance
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Rouge Assassin, a hybrid that was considered so broken for the majority of S8 that Riot nerfed her to the ground and it took months for average players to get the right feel for her again. Her early game is quite weak, with her having short range but she has the one of the strongest lvl 6 spikes in the game with her . Watch out when she hits 6, she'll likely try to engage on you if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. You don't have much to fear from her at lvl 1-3 if you can position even 60% correctly, you outrange her and her engage will do nothing but hurt her since you have nearly endless sustain (before 6).
Early game is meh with her, none of you can do anything against each other since you lack damage, and lacks engage potential. If her somehow does manage to connect to you, stay calm and be ready for her to come flying out of no where. You want to save your for when you see the shuriken mark flip (that means she's deciding to follow it) and then place right under whoever has the mark.

Runes to bring
Since she has such strong engage, I prefer , , and . I normally take with for my last 2 runes. Since once she hits 6, she'll have a lot more laning pressure, it wouldn't make much sense to take .

Spells to annoy
Against , it's mandatory to take . Once she uses the first cast of , you need to exhaust her immediately (IN MOST SITUATIONS) to avoid the death of your carry or yourself. players typically build to wait for the second cast of their ult. Before a fight breaks out, check for her items and make sure to where she is frozen. If she has , wait for her to burn it, and then her.

Itemisation
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Supportive Items

Annie

Threat Level

You wanna play too?
Level Threat:
Minor

Playstyle
: The Dark Child, basically with shorter range and point and click abilities but she is considerably easier to deal with. You outrange her, out-poke her, out-heal her, and out perform her as a . The only she has that would be considered a problem is a potential 5-man stun with her passive and or . Her early game is meh, not really strong, but definitely not weak, as she has access to point and click cc as early as level 1. She can choose to stun you and give her adc a chance to follow up. Her late game is amazing, as she can burst down nearly any target with her low CD ult. Always try to keep a distance from your adc in case of a double stun that will either lead to summoners being blown, or even kills for the enemy team.
During early game, she doesn't have that many resources except for her , meaning you can play aggressively into her until she has her stun ready. When she does, signal to your adc to back off (this can easily turn into a gank for them). If you manage to engage on her and catch her off guard, her stun will be quite useless as she needs to shield her/her carry and can help you get an advantage. During mid game, I consider an assassin (kinda?). She has the speed boost and the burst damage to pull it off. Respect her personal space when you go off warding and try not to walk within range of her .

Runes to bring
Her poke is meh, doesn't hurt much since you can just heal up from . Take , , , and . I prefer here since she can engage at nearly any given moment and easily burst you down. So for the last 2, take or , and .

Spells to annoy
You can choose between , , or in the case of an actual emergency. might help if she's one of those players that like to run straight down a lane with a ridiculous smile behind their screen and pop on you (my friend actually does do this, it's an actual strategy). Even if she doesn't do this, there's always the choice to the adc.

Itemisation
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Ashe

Threat Level

All the world, on one arrow
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Frost Archer. I can easily describe this champion in 5 words: Perma cc and endless poke. Start with , there's nothing else you can do against a good player. Despite the nerfs recently, she's still very, very strong in the meta. She outranges you, meaning you can't poke her without her probably getting 1 and 1-3 auto attacks off. Once she hits 6, if she has a smart support, she'll likely try to all in once she hits 6, starting with her . She wins lvl 1-3 (unless you have a support like or that can easily engage on her and deny her poke) with her perma cc and kiting. During late game, focus her down and try to take her out before a fight. Watch out for ult snipes from halfway across the map, allowing someone to deny your healing during a fight. The only thing she suffers to in lane is a hard engage from someone like who can easily gap close, making it impossible for her to get the most benefits out of , but since you're playing , try to build leads in other lanes and avoid taking too much poke during laning. You'll eventually be able to group up with your team and teamfight where there will be teammates that can help you take her down.
During laning phase, let her push you in, there's too much of a risk if you push her in since she has great gank set up. Don't let your adc lose too much cs and ask for ganks whenever you can. Engage on her when she wastes .

Runes to bring
Her poke is normally the cause of you missing exp/losing lane and possibly the game, so I take , , or (this is very situational, since doesn't really have burst damage so you can take for the extra health regen), and . For the second tree, take , , and since you won't get much out of laning phase if the is good.

Spells to annoy
This is one of the rare match ups that you can take without missing out on too much since 's best trait is her ability to engage from a distance and stay safe behind her team, meaning that will be less effective against her (it's still viable tho). It's either , , or if you think you'll need it, .

Itemisation
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Suggested Runes

Spells
or and

Supportive Items

Bard

Threat Level

Utora!
Level Threat:
Minor

Playstyle
: The Wandering Caretaker. He's a bit of a weird champion, since he's a support that roams in order to do damage. The biggest threat you'll face from him will be his , and that will only stun you if you're in front/behind an ally or wall. His can be a double-edged sword, with a good being able to hit the tower in order to dive you, and a bad one can save you from a ult when the is on his team (I've seen it before, it was hilarious). During laning, you can play aggressively, assuming you have a smart adc with you. Be careful to avoid standing behind each other to avoid being stunned. Step on his to deny him healing. If you're against a somewhat good , you can opt to take a for when he ults your tower to dive you, since his statis wears off when your does. OR, another solution is just to hug the tower when he ults but that's unreliable as you'll probaby be running away and wouldn't want to head back into his auto range.
Early game with Bard is like laning against a . His laning phase is all about hitting level 6 so he can go roam and collect meeps/chimes in peace. You'll likely be able to poke him down and force him out of lane. Mid game is way better, since he can engage on you with a well-placed so you'll have to be careful with how you fight. By then, he likely has many chimes/meeps to buff his autos and will hurt a lot more.

Runes to bring
He's a mediocre threat to you, since you outrange him. I take , , , and . The second tree is very flexible, since there's not much of a threat from alone. The second part depends on his team, if they have assassins that can burst you down, take , and . If they don't, you could opt for , or , and .

Spells to annoy
There's no summoner that can deny Bard's entire purpose. This is based off the adc (if you need healing reduction against someone like 's that can allow her to 1v9 with some lifesteal, take . If you need it, there's always the option of so you can take out the adc during a fight and run away easily.

Itemisation
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Blitzcrank

Threat Level

Exterminate, Exterminate
Level Threat:
Extreme

Playstyle
: The Great Steam Golem. I hate, hate, HATE this champion sometimes. (ok maybe 90% of the time). His can hook someone directly to them, allowing for them to burst anyone down when you can't even get in range. During early game, let him shove you in, you're at too much of a risk if you don't. His has a long cooldown early game (20 seconds at rank 1) and costs quite a bit of mana. If both you and your adc can stay away from his hooks, 's adc will be rendered near useless since most adcs don't have self peel. If he misses, punish him for it. Whatever you do, keep bushes warded and don't let him surprise you with a hook. Start with .
Early game is all about hitting a hook to start a potential fight in bot lane. If he doesn't do that, all he can do is wait it out. has a fairly long cooldown during early game and whenever he misses, that's another 20 seconds where he's useless. At level 3, he has his speed boost from can make it easier to position for him and leave you more vulnerable. Late game is a nightmare, if you get hooked once, you're dead. I recommend buying something along the lines of since he really only has one skill that matters and that's .

Runes to bring
The problem is, you can't get in range for to proc when your adc gets hooked, making the defensive rune nearly useless. Take , , , and , since you're playing for late game, not early game. For the second column, I prefer here. You might disagree with me, but it'll be more valuable than , since you can't get in range to heal when he pulls your carry from halfway across the map. won't do much either, since he always starts his engages by pulling people, meaning that the damage from him will be denied, but the adc can still do as they please. Take , , and .

Spells to annoy
is honestly the best choice here. If you get pulled and you manage to get an off on the enemy adc, your adc could try something and possibly take a 1 for 2 trade.

Itemisation
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Brand

Threat Level

You can't contain me summoner
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Burning Vengeance. He has a high damage output, is immobile, and has a mix of cc in there too. Rather broken, if I say so myself. His has a long cooldown early on, so you can punish him for using it. His ult can wipe an entire team if you stand close to each other. He can only stun you if you're ablaze (passive). Overall, he doesn't have many supportive qualities and if you play smart, you win. Beware his and spreading to you, but other than that, he relies on skillshots.
During early game, try to pay attention to his cooldowns and engage on him when he wastes it (if both you and your adc are in shape to). During late game, don't get caught wandering alone and stick close to a teammate (without killing them with Brand's ). His playrate has settled down a little since his buffs, making him easier to deal with, as the only people that play are either 1m mastery points (onetricks), people trying him out for the first time, or people that are looking to become the onetrick. In this lane, either or can be used. will protect you from burning to death, and will be able to protect you from 1 spell. If you ask me, is more worth it. Your entire team could be wiped out from a and I advise you to ask them to buy or for the AD champions.

Runes to bring
should help you in this lane more than will. Take , , , . The second part kind of depends on you, but I find that having your ult up is more useful than ability haste since he can easily burst you down and there's no way you'll be able to heal everyone with due to and . So take , , , , , or and .

Spells to annoy
There's no real way to counter Brand with a summoner but I take to avoid the worst of the damage. He doesn't heal, his cc is minimal, and doesn't do much if your entire team is dead from 1 ult.

Itemisation
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Braum

Threat Level

Why not enjoy some warm milk instead?
Level Threat:
Minor

Playstyle
: The Heart of Freljord. The only threat you have from him is his . Other than that, you don't do damage so you can completely ignore his , his is nothing compared to your poke, and all his does is give his ally extra armour/magic resist. You can play very aggressively (provided that the enemy team doesn't have an early game jungler) and poke him to your hearts content. him when he goes for cs to stack his support item and whenever he's within range. After 6, start backing off a slight bit since most junglers love to gank bot when hits 6 due to his easy gank set up. He only stuns you if he gets 4 stacks from him or an ally champion auto attacking you. Very avoidable.
Early game has nothing over you. He can't outpoke you, can hardly engage on you, and normally can't walk up to stack his support item without taking poke. His jungler is one of the only things that will make him relevant during early game. If you position correctly, you're at nearly no risk and will win lane with ease. Mid game is all about teamfights where he can hit a 5-man ult with and easily win the fight from there. The easiest way to avoid this scenario, is just to either bully him out of lane or not stand in a line when he ults.

Runes to bring
Since he's not much of a threat, take , , , or (depends on you), , or , and .

Spells to annoy
This section depends on the adc. Take for the extra healing reduction, or to deny damage.

Itemisation
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Caitlyn

Threat Level

I'm on the case.
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Sheriff of Piltover. Her biggest redeeming quality as an adc is her strong laning phase, which gives her team an experience deprived enemy bot lane and a chance to win the game. Her acts as a self root for .5 seconds. She doesn't have a reliable escape tool, her takes a second to finish the animation. She has good zoning potential with her . In order to counter her ult, heal your adc as much as you can and stand behind them. She doesn't have good 1v9 potential, unlike a self sufficient adc like or .
Her early game gives her tons of zoning potential since her can easily chunk your hp should you step on them if she's in range. You'll need to play somewhat safe. She suffers against champions that can easily engage on her since her main source of damage is her and her during early game. When she ults, don't panic. You want to after she fires the bullet, not before as her ult will go on a 5 second cooldown if you go into statis during the channel. Once you see the bullet flying towards you/you see her channel stop, immediately. This will deny the damage and put her ult on a full cooldown. Late game hurts. Especially after she picks up a couple of items. Stay behind your team and don't let her set up the area with traps. Focus her during a teamfight and you can easily win since in most cases, the enemy team won't have a good form of sustained damage.

Runes to bring
I prefer over for a couple of reasons. It has a lower cooldown and since you're in fighting a lot, won't proc when you need it most. Unlike or , she doesn't rely that much on her auto attacks so her is pretty much her only source of damage early on. , , , , , , and .

Spells to annoy
is the best option here. She isn't the dive in, heal 1k health back, murder your team, and spam m7 emote type of adc. She doesn't heal that much but her damage is quite high when it starts adding up during a teamfight. could help you early on, but it wouldn't serve much of a purpose since you don't really need to deny her healing due to her high autoattack range and range. She'll just oneshot you from across the map, 10324 million Teemos (yes it is actually a measurement) away.

Itemisation
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Supportive Items

Cassiopeia

Threat Level

If you don't control pawns, you are one.
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Serpents Embrace. Contrary to what most of the player base believes, I don't find her early game terribly weak. The only problem she has is with mana. She can easily chunk your hp with a + . You need to abuse her early, since that's the only part of the game where she's close to weak since she doesn't have the damage to pull anything off. Always keep an eye out for her ult . It'll only stun you if you face towards her. Her only heals her if you're poisoned by one of her or her allies abilities (she can heal off of 's or 's ).
Her early game isn't all that weak, I find that she has decent damage but incredible mana problems if she doesn't keep it in check. Be careful to not step in her as she can easily deal damage and possibly kill you from there since her is hard to see from her puddle. Once she gets items, she really starts to hurt but one thing is, she is still a squishy and a short ranged champion, forcing her to get in the middle of things to do damage. If you can get an assassin to kill her before the fight, that's always helpful.

Runes to bring
Due to her slightly weak early game, I prefer , , , and to match her late game dominance. Depending on your preference, you can take both and as your second tree without missing out on too much althought I do prefer just to offer some protection against her endless spam. , , , , , , and .

Spells to annoy
She doesn't heal that much from , so isn't useful. can deny her damage but since she's already lacking there until she gets her 2-3 item, it wouldn't do that much. I'd take since tons of players like to chase down anyone as long as they get the bonus movement speed from , making it easier to be bait.

Itemisation
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Corki

Threat Level

Bombs Away!
Level Threat:
Minor

Playstyle
: The Daring Bombardier. Unfortunately, he doesn't really have a good place in the meta right now (fortunately for you, I guess). The biggest threat he gives is his roams, other than that, you can rest assured that it'll likely be an easy game. His package does hurt a bit, but he can only access it every 4 minutes, so during early game, it'll give him pressure every 4 minutes. Ping your laners when you see Corki flying around, it'll help if your team can get a couple of kills off of him so he can't do anything during the game. You can play fairly aggressively in this lane, he can't do much damage early on. Make sure to get out of the way when he uses since it's a short ranged ability, making it easy to dodge for you. His renders him unstoppable, and knocks all enemies aside as he goes down a straight line. If you have to get knocked aside at all, try to land on the same side as your carry (within reason, don't go for that if they got knocked to the enemy team).

Runes to bring
This lane is all about poking. Poke, poke and poke even more, deny him exp and gold whenever possible, and position well. You can take aggressive runes like , , , , or and .

Spells to annoy
He's doesn't really heal, which doesn't give you much of a need for . works well against him, as he relies on getting close to do damage from . If you need it, feel free to take , although it wouldn't be my first pick.

Itemisation
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Diana

Threat Level

A man, a woman, and a Yordle walked into the sun. They died.
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Scorn of the Moon. As someone who plays Diana whenever they get mid, let me tell you. This champ is amazing at oneshotting squishies thanks to the new items Riot gave us ( and kiting won't work since she could build ) Unlike some ap assassins, she does somewhat rely on auto attacks due to her passive . Beware of her roams and don't get caught too close to your adc since her does more damage depending on how many people she pulls in. During early game, you can probably force her out of lane since doesn't do that much early on. She has a very strong level 3, since can make it a one sided trade for her. She'll likely go for an all-in if she hits 6 before you, or if you didn't position correctly. She becomes quite a problem after lvl 11 and can start carrying teamfights with and . There is a short indicator for her ult damage, where she will pull everyone in and then the damage comes 1 second after. If you have a quick reaction time, you can counter this by using . If you see her dash () to an enemy without Moonlight on them, punish her for it since she now has no mobility except for .

Runes to bring
will be more useful in this lane to prevent her from instantly deleting you off the map with 1 combo. This can also protect your allies when you can't react in time. can give you sustain and outlast her in lane to prevent her from out leveling you. will remove a bit of her burst damage and make it easier to survive an all-in attempt. is the only good choice here, since you aren't a tank. I prefer for my 2nd rune tree. I take and since her early game doesn't give you much of a chance to poke her.

Spells to annoy
She doesn't really heal, and she can tank damage from . Take but always remember to check for her items, checking for items like so she can wait out the .

Itemisation
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Dr. Mundo

Threat Level

Mundo too strong for you!
Level Threat:
Minor

Playstyle
: The Madman of Zaun. His laning phase is terrible, mid game is good, and he's a monster late game. Let's just hope you end the game before it hits late game, or you're in trouble. His main source of damage comes from his . He has near endless sustain with his , making it hard to bully him out of lane and giving him a chance to keep scaling. Most of his abilities rely on him getting close to do damage, with the exception of , which slows you, making it possible to start doing damage with him. During early game, you can play fairly aggressively against him, mid game gives him a higher threat level, and late game Mundo can easily 1v5 your team just with his health regen.
Early game doesn't give you much opportunity to poke since he just heals back up and you run out of mana. Neither of you can kill each other without a jungler intervening and helping one of you. He has no mobility so he's very gankable if your jungler ever comes. Late game ..... Just, try to end before he hits 16. You need to push your advantage as much as you can without overstaying, taking tower plating when you have the chance, invading, or anything to put his team behind. This will obviously put him at a disadvantage as he has to clean up after a huge minion wave crashes while you take objectives.

Runes to bring
will help you get him out of lane so you can pressure bot lane. After Aery, , , and since his allows him to heal whatever poke you can do. will help you against his late game. I prefer over for 1 main reason: your ult won't help you deal with him in many ways, making there less of a need for . can deny damage and add healing power so you can help your carries deal with him. Take and .

Spells to annoy
His healing is ridiculous, making mandatory. His gives him too much healing to ignore, making that the reason he's able to 1v5 during late game. serves no purpose in this lane and will only make you bring a useless summoner. would be of use, except the biggest threat isn't his damage, it's his healing.

Itemisation
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Supportive Items

Draven

Threat Level

Welcome to the League of Draven.
Level Threat:
Extreme

Playstyle
: The Glorious Executioner. Forget Caitlyn, this guy is the biggest lane bully there is. His grant him extra AD on his next auto, giving him an advantage during early trades and making it nearly impossible to win against him early on. He's most commonly paired with champions like , , or since they can engage on you easily and burn your summoners. Play safe against him and ask for ganks before lvl 6 since he has no escape except for . His serves as his only form of cc and can easily isolate you from your carry in order to focus you. His passive gives him extra gold per kill according to how many spinning axes he catches beforehand. Do not misposition in this lane, as one mistake can easily get you killed. Try to aim at where his axe will be since most players like to keep the throw and catch thing going for a long time. The only problem about him is, he is still an adc, meaning that any assassin that can get on top of him can kill him. During teamfights, focus him (unless there's a bigger threat on the enemy team) and try to take him out as soon as you can so their team is missing sustained damage.

Runes to bring
I prefer , not for the protection against burst, but for the extra shield in the worst scenario. Definitely prepare to get poked a lot during this lane, and possibly for a lvl 2 all in from them. Go , , and for the tree. I prefer next since if he really is that big of a lane bully, you won't have the time to stack /, and since he doesn't really do damage in huge bursts, your ultimate isn't the most valuable thing here. will likely get you further, since the ability haste from will help you keep everyone alive and you get extra late game power from .

Spells to annoy
Draven honestly doesn't really heal, since he's more of a I'm-in-your-face-now-you-die kind of champ. I recommend taking instead of since reducing his damage will do more than deny him healing. This will also slow him down when he decides to run you down with the movement speed from and help you get away.

Itemisation
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Supportive Items

Ekko

Threat Level

Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Boy Who Shattered Time. I have 2 things to say about this champ: Extremely high damage output, and easy outplay potential with ult. You'll definitely need to watch out for him whether he's jungle or mid. I recommend building here since it's a fairly lenghty stun if he can catch you in his and no one is ever watching for him during a teamfight. There's a short indicator where the stun zone will appear and his animation makes it look like he's yanking something off his back. During this, you have 2 choices: Reposition and prepare to be engaged on, or straight up run. His ult will render him untargetable for a short amount of time, and if he lands where his slow zone is, he'll be able to stun you and gain a shield.
His early game is weak until he gets items. He can't do much without follow-up from his team. You just have to watch out for him when you're in lane since a double stun is nothing but trouble. Mid game, he starts getting rather strong and it starts becoming extremely dangerous for you to go off alone or for your entire team to clump up. Either buy a for your carry, or get your team to stop clumping up during fights.

Runes to bring
I prefer since is technically an assassin with incredible all-in potential and he has a get-in-do-damage-get-out kind of playstyle. Just like with any other assassin, the shield against burst helps. I take , , , and . The second tree is fairly situational and mostly depends on the enemy team. For the most part, I prefer and .

Spells to annoy
You could choose to take like you would most assassins, but the healing from his is a bit much to overlook. If you would prefer to deny him damage, take , but if you're not looking to get outplayed, take .

Itemisation
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Supportive Items

Evelynn

Threat Level

What They Don't Know Won't Hurt Them... Yet.
Level Threat:
Extreme

Playstyle
: Agony's Embrace. She's..... an interesting champ, if I were to say one thing about her. On one hand, she excels at oneshotting, but on the other hand, her stealth is counterable on certain occasions. You can easily abuse her weak early game by invading with your jungler. She relies on her passive + lvl 6 to sneak up on you, meaning, she could be considered a mid game champion. When she curses you with , a faint pink heart will appear above your head (default skin) and then once it finishes charging, a spike will point towards her general location and give you a chance to reposition.
Her early game is very, very weak since the best part about her is the way she can sneak up on you with and that part only activates once she hits 6. You need to watch out for her even if you're hiding behind your ally since it goes through ally units on the second/third/fourth cast. The best counter for would be to stay with your team since her ability to quickly assassinate someone is taken away as she has to get in the middle of everything in order to take you out. Mid game is arguably one of the most dangerous assassins as regular wards don't work on her and each of you can only have 1 on the map at once. Have wards in the most likely places where she'll be, (enemy jungle camps, bushes, etc) and always have an eye on the minimap.

Runes to bring
Honestly, the best way to deal with is put her so far behind, she can't gank you since she's powerful if fed, but otherwise, doesn't do much in a game. This part actually depends more on the enemy bot laners than herself since if her bot lane is pushed in, there's no way she can successfully gank due to the fact that she can only burst down one target at a time. If it's just alone, I'd prefer , , , , , , and .

Spells to annoy
She only heals when she's out of combat, making fairly useless, doesn't really matter here, and you can only her when she reveals herself. I take for defensive uses or if you want the extra laning pressure, will always be there for you to take.

Itemisation
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Supportive Items

Ezreal

Threat Level

I'm at my best when the worlds at the brink of annihilation.
Level Threat:
Minor

Playstyle
: The Prodigal Explorer. He's not much of a threat to you. His can prove annoying and you'll probaby tilt when he kills you with his ult from halfway across the map but he really doesn't do much. He takes time to scale up to his full potential and his early game is weak, even for an adc. Once he uses , there's a small animation that shows him twisting (I think, I haven't actually seen the full animation) and glowing gold particles will appear where he disappears from. It's a rather hard to predict spell and is what makes such a slippery target.
During early game, dodge his (animation will show him fiddling with his hands), and avoid his sticking onto you as some players like to and then to reposition to hit his . Dodging this will give you a rather big advantage since his is basically his auto attack. Feel free to play somewhat aggressively in this lane just remember that his cooldown for is much shorter than your or and after every single , he can gain an attack speed steroid from. Mid game starts getting hard to handle and you'll likely have to gang up on him in order to kill him. He's quite a monster late game with his somewhat short cooldown.

Runes to bring
If you're confident you can close out the game before he hits lvl 16, take . If you're not, opt for . For an adc, he does have relatively good burst with his , making more useful than it normally would be. I normally go for . , , and to make sure he stays out of lane for as long as possible. For my second rune tree, I run due to his ability to ult across the map and gain a kill. For that, it's always nice to make sure you have more map influence than him, should the worst occur. Go , or and .

Spells to annoy
I normally prefer over just for the extra laning pressure. If you might need to counter an engage from a support like , feel free to run into this match up. Otherwise, will get you the most out of lane and deny him healing at small skirmishes.

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait until it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Fiddlesticks

Threat Level

I feel your fear
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Ancient Fear. Fiddlesticks is either really broken, or ints out of your mind. The biggest issue is his ult, which has a 90% disaster occurence if he manages to catch your entire team. I prefer rushing a here to prevent the fear from his (we all know the name is a lie), and to make sure at least one of your team is functional during an emergency. You semi-counter him due to his being a channeling ability and your has the ability to stop that. Remember that standing still allows him to become a ward-like unit and he'll show as another one of his scarecrows. Don't be fooled by this and auto it once to either, get the gold or find out what he is.
During early game, His clear is decent with his AOE abilities, making it easier to gank you early on. He really can't 1v2 during early game, making the best choice here to push into the enemy bot lane and force him to another lane (always remember to ping if you've seen him though). His teamfighting is his biggest redeeming quality if he falls behind. If you have plans to fight, try to set up the area with wards ahead of time to avoid his ult. Don't stay clumped up and buy healing reduction. Due to late game being made of mostly teamfights, you want to end before this happens. Should the worst happen and you can't end, always remind your team to never, ever clump up in the jungle where there are bushes to hide in. If you have to, buy a .

Runes to bring
Your main goal here is to force him out of lane. won't help you with that. You could possibly need the shield when you fight during late game, but your overall goal is to end before then. Take , , , and . The second part is really just personal preference but due to his rather annoying , I prefer over the extra defensive abilities. I go with , / and .

Spells to annoy
does nearly nothing against him since his damage isn't the biggest problem. Yes, is actually viable here but it's considered a rather selfish option against him due to his healing from . will get you the best result against him and give you even more early game pressure.

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait until it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Fizz

Threat Level

Swimmingly!
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Tidal Trickster. Likely one of the most annoying assassins out there. He is most hated for his which renders him untargetable for a short period of time and then sends him crashing down to oneshot you. He's pretty much just a more tilting version of , same annoyingness, weak early game, and good oneshot potential. His level 3 can be considered a minor power spike with his good all in from and combo with the added damage from . He has a strong level 6 and has massive kill potential if he hits 6 before you since his seperates you from your carry.
Early game is meh with a , you don't have damage, and he doesn't have enough burst damage to kill you unless you seriously misposition. Keep poking him and deny him experience whenever possible. In this lane, you absolutely cannot waste because of the long cooldown and you need the defensive ability. Mid game is hard to deal with since his ult can carry a chaotic teamfight if you bunch up together around the carry that has the fish. Keep in mind, when attaches to an ally, GET AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE!!! Don't stick around and wait. You need to get away to protect yourself, since you're one of the priority targets. Instead, get in position to help them after the damage comes and a wild fish comes running at you.

Runes to bring
is still an assassin, meaning that any extra defensive qualities in your build are incredibly useful later on. He does have a semi-weak early game, but you can really punish him since he can avoid poke with and you're not an engage champion so wouldn't really help you here. Take , , , and . Assassins rarely roam to top lane, since it's home to the tanks/bruisers, making them naturally harder to kill. They tend to focus their attention on the nice squishy champions in bot instead. Using that knowledge, would serve a bigger purpose here. Opt for , and .

Spells to annoy
He really doesn't heal (apart from ) and that's not even noticeable in combat. If anything, you need to deny him burst damage and to protect your team.

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait until it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Heimerdinger

Threat Level

I theorize.... your defeat!
Level Threat:
Even

Playstyle
: The Annoying Einstein of Runeterra, AHEM. The Revered Inventor. He's annoying but this match up is technically easily winnable. You outpoke him and the key to this match up is choosing where you fight. If you let him push you in, he can't set up his turrets everywhere. Yes, his stun from can prove dangerous, but it's a rather long cooldown (12 seconds at all ranks).
During early game, don't ever underestimate his turrets and the damage they can cause. Let him push you in and then start poking from there. You should be able to heal up most of the damage from his turrets, (provided that you stay out of range most of the time) and eventually poke him out of lane. is a fairly annoying ability but it stops on the first enemy hit. Make sure to stay behind at least 1 minion so you can avoid most of the damage. Mid game is even more annoying, with his powerspikes from items like being availible to him. We want to set up locations with tons of your wards and enough vision to prevent a scenario where he manages to set up 500 turrets there. Yes, he can be somewhat bursty during late game, so try to avoid him.

Runes to bring
He doesn't have much burst during early game and easily runs out of mana in the earlier levels if he keeps setting turrets down. I take runes to poke him out of lane, but the defensive option is nice too. I opt for , , , and . Due to his somewhat decent burst potential in the game, I take for my next tree. Take and .

Spells to annoy
There's not much to say about other than he doesn't heal, and that his damage comes from his turrets while he's halfway across the map. could prove itself useful, but you don't need it for his stun. Take to avoid the worst of his damage.

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait until it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Irelia

Threat Level

Ionia calls!
Level Threat:
Extreme

Playstyle
: The Blade Dancer. Most of you probably know her from the "(champ name) too strong? better nerf " meme. I won't deny that yes, this champion can be extremely scary if she's ahead, and her insane mobility from is hard to deal with since you can't land to remove the health cost from . But, she's semi similar to where a good one can ruin your day but a bad one can give you such an easy win. Since resets are her main form of damage, there's one easy way to deny that. No matter what, you have to try to dodge her since it offers her a way to cc you, get onto you, and even possibly kill you with a follow up combo.
During early game, where one trade in lane can force you to lose lane, it's crucial you stay away from when she has 5 stacks of her passive since the added on-hit magic damage can easily give her an advantage in trades. You need to keep an eye on your minions. If one is low, I like to position myself to hit a hard to dodge to poke her down. Due to her basic trading combo of engaging when she has , , , , it's easily avoidable. Once she hits 6, she gains access to a tool that can either win a teamfight, or lose a teamfight. Her is a great teamfighting tool for multiple resets. Don't be thrown into chaos when she ults you and keep your head. Try to identify who the priority target on your team is, since tons of s will go for them first and then focus the rest of you. During mid-late game, try to avoid her for the most part if you're alone. Never go off warding alone and be careful.

Runes to bring
Like a or a , her burst damage is higher than you'd expect. I take , , , and . The second column is more dependant on personal preference than actually countering her. Overall, I'd prefer . It gives you free ability haste and helps you scale. Take and .

Spells to annoy
She heals a ton from . It's not that noticeable at first but it starts adding up to be a lot during a teamfight. Yes, there's always the option of choosing , but it's not nearly as effective as you think it might be. makes no sense in this lane since you don't really need to cleanse a .

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait until it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Janna

Threat Level

By your command.
Level Threat:
Minor

Playstyle
: The Storm's Fury. She's also known as the queen of peeling. If you want, you can look at her as the easier version of since she doesn't get punished that hard if she mispositions due to her natural disengage from . If you want to match abilities, goes with , with , and as . Her ult () serves as both a defensive tool and an offensive tool if she uses it correctly. Against , try to never, ever use if you're within range of her since her can add up to be a pretty lenghty knock up if it's fully charged.
Early game heavily outpokes you due to her point and click . The best you can do is stay out of range since it can start adding up to be a lot if she brought and . Keep the bush closest to you warded since a trick that a ton of mains like to charge their tornado from fog of war where you can't see the tornado until it comes flying at you. Mid-late game can easily protect her team and peel while never allowing you to poke her at all. When playing against her, watch out for her combo. She'll into your team and send everyone flying back to start an easy engage for her team. Overall, yes, this match up is hard but it is doable.

Runes to bring
Take for this match up because it's too hard not to. You'll be poked out all game and can't do anything. Due to this, would suit you over . After , take , , and . In this lane, you can't poke her, rendering and quite useless but at the same time, her prevents you from gaining stacks of , which would be your main use for . This would be why we'd want . Take and to try to outscale her.

Spells to annoy
Her ] offers a ton of healing/peeling late game and even a bit during the early game. Most of the time you can't even get within range to anyone until they engage on you. Overall, would be the most useful here unless there's an enemy assassin out to get you.

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait until it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Jhin

Threat Level

Four!
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Mind of the Vituoso. Not really your tradtional adc with all the fuss about his and his 4 shot auto attack. Due to his lethality build, he's doing quite well in the meta, even with all the assassins. His are similar to s. Try to avoid stepping in these due to his ability to root you with his immediately after. This is especially important since you're a squishy and the new meta build is full lethality . My recommendation to playing against him is to pay attention to his abilities since you win extended trades with him due to his . He can only hit you a certain amount of times and doesn't excel in these trades due to his long cooldowns.
Early game is hard to deal with but not impossible. You can easily heal up his poke with + . Remember to punish him whenever he runs out of his autos. Pay attention to when he tries to aim since it acts like a and will root him for .5 seconds which gives you an ability to retaliate. This is one of the main reasons why he's not consider a 1v9 adc. He has 0 mobility except for the movement speed from . His has a high damage output if he manages to kill 3 units with it before it hits you. It also has an odd habit of floating at you from the middle of nowhere once the target locks onto you. Mid game is all about staying at the back and ulting from the fog of war. This is hard to counter since he vastly outranges you, even if you can interrupt his ult with , this will likely put you in danger. When he ults, get your team to hide in the fog of war and clear all wards in the area to prevent the damage and slow. Try to avoid letting him set up the fighting area ahead of time due to the slow and damage from , it can easily destroy your entire team if set up right.

Runes to bring
If you're confident you can poke him out then take , otherwise, take . will be easier for you to poke him out and abuse his mispositioning. This is honestly considered mostly opinion and playstyle but I take more often (unless there's an assassin like out there). Take , , , and . Secondly, take , and .

Spells to annoy
He doesn't heal unless it's from . He outranges you, making harder to use. I prefer here since he is actually a squishy champion, despite his high damage output. It makes him an easier to bait into a bad place.

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait until it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Pyke

Threat Level

Take this and run...
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Blood Harbor Ripper, an so dangerous that can 1v1 another (ex. ). You'll have to play so aggressive against him, you'll have to keep poking him, root his Q () when he's charging it. Ward the bushes on the Bot side, so you'll see him when he is ready to engage or drag you into death.
Even that got through a lot of nerfs, he is still doing good on damage and surviving. It's way bad to get on solo lane than . Get's fed so easily and roams a lot to make himself more stronger. If he has and he is fighting you, you'll pretty much dead since you have no skills for fighting. Try your best to avoid his E (). Many players don't know about his E that deals bonus damage with auto attacks and skills when he stuns you. Always be aware in team fights that will focus only you.

Runes to bring
There are no other choices against him but to be aggressive. Always root him to cancel his Q (), remember this!!!! The runes you need are , , , with or , . This is the 1st rune as to go if you want to poke him all the time and annoy him. You can go defensive too. As secondary you can take , . The defensive path, prevents burst damage and making healings and shields more stronger.

Spells to annoy
Spells are countering some champions, we all know that. Well, if I'm thinking, the spells are countering everybody. So, 's biggest weakness is . But depends, he can do a huge burst on you and kill you even while healing. But hey, if you have your ultimate ready too, you' ll be safe. Just hope you have a team. The best option on Bot to take against him is x2 , he cannot do anything in this situation but only roaming. In teamfights he'll not be a problem anymore if you have all the healings ready.
is ok to take, but I'll pass on that. When you , he'll dash away and running with his W and ignoring the damage, this goes the same as 's passive. Everything related to bleeding will be useless against him.
could be ok, but here's a catch... His ultimate is not affected by the . In conclusion, get double on bot. If you get Mid, you are screwed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait untill it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Seraphine

Threat Level

Was that... my first hater?
Level Threat:
Even

Playstyle
: The Starry-Eyed Songstress. Although she out-teamfights you, this lane should be easy enough for you. She doesn't bring much kill pressure in lane because of how easy her is to dodge. Once she hits 6, she may try to from a bush to get a surprise engage on your team. Don't panic if/when you hit this situation, but hold onto it because you might not even need it.
Mid game is when she starts becoming progressively stronger, since there's so much teamfighting. I highly recommend you advise your team to avoid standing in clumps, which will make you much harder targets.
Late game is all about vision in bushes before fights. is terribly deadly if hit off-guard, and you must avoid that scenario where your entire team is incapacitaed at once. Buy a if you must.

Runes to bring
Because you're not dealing with an engage comp like or , I recommend taking Standard Runes. (Switch out for Late Game Scaling if needed foro defensive against jungler/roaming mid)

Spells to annoy
She's not much of a damage dealer, but during later stages of the game, her heals for a lot more than you'd think. I recommend taking for those early kills.

Itemisation
This sections is still a work on progress. Please wait until it's finished. Thank you. :3

Suggested Runes

Spells

Supportive Items

Conclusion

You guys still there? Ok, thank you so much for making to the end of my guide! Please consider leaving a comment on what I can improve on and I'll make the change when I have time. Once I have enough information on each match up, I'll add it to the threats and synergies list. :)

Credits

I had the help of so many people on this guide (indirectly and directly).
First, I'd like to thank TheFwnk. He has helped me so much with this guide. He did so much coding and work for it. Go check him out! He has great guides and I couldn't have made this guide without his help.
His works:
Pyke Guide, Fizz Guide, Sylas Guide

I'd also like to thank Katasandra for the Table Coding Guide. I took my Pros/Cons Template from here. It's so useful and allowed me to code some tables. Definitely go check it out if you're considering writing a guide.

Speaking of writing guides, Astrolia's Column Guide also helped me tons. This guide taught me nearly everything I know about columns.

Tools:

Ability Haste to CDR

ecl1p3e's way to Soraka | S11 (WIP)

ecl1p3e's way to Soraka | S11 (WIP)

Runes: Standard

Spells:

Barrier

Flash

Exhaust

Flash

Flash

Heal

Flash

Ignite

Cleanse

Flash

Items

Ability Order Standard

Salvation (PASSIVE)

Starcall (Q)

Astral Infusion (W)

Equinox (E)

Wish (R)

Salvation (PASSIVE)

Starcall (Q)

Astral Infusion (W)

Equinox (E)

Wish (R)

Salvation (PASSIVE)

Starcall (Q)

Astral Infusion (W)

Equinox (E)

Wish (R)

Threats & Synergies

Ahri

Akali

Annie

Ashe

Bard

Blitzcrank

Brand

Braum

Caitlyn

Cassiopeia

Corki

Diana

Draven

Ekko

Evelynn

Ezreal

Fiddlesticks

Fizz

Heimerdinger

Irelia

Janna

Jhin

Jinx

Kai'Sa

Kalista

Karma

Karthus

Katarina

Kayle

Kayn

Kha'Zix

Kindred

LeBlanc

Leona

Lissandra

Lucian

Lulu

Lux

Malphite

Malzahar

Master Yi

Miss Fortune

Morgana

Nami

Nautilus

Neeko

Nidalee

Orianna