Soraka Build Guide : Ambulance 101 with 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.

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 call upon the stars, instantly restoring HP to allies, ranging from 150 / 250 / 350 (+55% of ability power) from levels 6,11 and 16. Wish can affect untargetable allies like Fizz with his Playful / Trickster and has a 50% increase on allies below 40% HP.

Abilities

PASSIVE ABILITY

Salvation

✦ Soraka gains bonus movement speed towards allies below 40% health. 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

✦ Soraka calls down a star at location that deals 85-225 (+30 per rank and +35% of ability power) magic damage and slows enemies hit by 30% for 2 seconds. If Soraka hits an enemy champion, she gets Rejuvenation for 2.5 seconds, which restores 50-110 (+15 per rank and +30% of ability power) health and grants her 15-25% (+2.5 per rank) movement speed buff over its duration. If Soraka is Rejuvenated, she can share the effect with allies through . 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.

W

Astral Infusion

✦ Soraka blesses a friendly champion, restoring 900 / 125 / 160 / 195 / 230 (+70% of ability power) of its health. The health cost will be reduced by 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100% if the ability is cast while Rejuvenated. Astral Infusion cannot be self-cast, nor can it be cast if Soraka is below 5% of her maximum health. 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.

E

Equinox

✦ Soraka creates a zone at a target location for 1.5 seconds. Enemy champions standing in the zone take 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (+40% of ability power) magic damage and are silenced until they leave. At the end of the zone's duration, all enemy champions inside are rooted for 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 seconds and take 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (+40% of ability power) additional magic damage. This ability should never be used as poke. It's always to cancel enemy engages. If someone like tries to engage on you, you need this ability to protect you. This can interrupt channels like with her or 's , potentially becoming a winning factor in a teamfight.

R

Wish

✦ Soraka calls upon the stars, restoring 150 / 250 / 350 (+55% of ability power) health to all allied champions across the field. Wish can affect untargetable allies and has a 50% increased heal on allied champions below 40% of their maximum health. is definitely one of the most impactful ultimates in the entire game, sharing the title with abilities like 's and 's during a teamfight. You'll be able to heal everyone on your team and share any buffs you get from or .

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
	New items fit her well		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.

Patch Overview (11.1 + 11.2)

I will be changing this as the patches come.

Patch 11.1

Key Points
-There were no changes to Soraka this patch
-Healing Reduction was buffed
-DURATION THAT ALL ITEMS APPLY GRIEVOUS WOUNDS 2 seconds ⇒ 3 seconds

Yeah..... a Grevious Wounds buff is about as good as it sounds for you. This is your sworn enemy but you still have some impact on the game even if they do buy healing reduction. Patch 11.1 Notes

Patch 11.2

Key Points:
-Soraka buffs have been confirmed
-Q Rejuvenation health restore increased from 50-90 ⇒ 50-110
-W healing: 80-220 (+60% ap) ⇒ 90-230 (+70% ap)

Overall, these changes will likely help you more during mid-late game. The impact during early game won't be that noticeable but since you've been given more lane sustain, that's more of an opportunity to bully your opponents out of lane, leading to a more effective mid-late game. 11.2 Patch Notes

Keystones

ARCANE COMET

✦: Hitting or using an ability on the enemy, you'll sent a comet to deal damage on the enemy you've hit. This it the more aggressive version of . It has a lower cooldown and a higher damage output. Only take this in match ups you're comfortable in. If there's a low threat level from the enemy team then I definitely recommend taking this, it'll give you so much more pressure during laning and you'll be able to transition to an easy late game. You can use this rune to easily check bushes instead of face checking.

SUMMON AERY

✦: Hitting or using an ability on the enemy target, the Aery will be sent to deal damage. She gives shields to allies too. She cannot be sent out again until she returns. The best part about this rune is that it can deal damage with an auto attack whereas with , you need to land an ability. This is the most common rune taken with since it offers shielding (something she doesn't have built into her kit), a slight bit more damage, and more poking oppurtunities.

Guardian

✦: Guard allies within 350 units of you, and allies you target with spells for 3 seconds. While Guarding, if your ally or you take damage, both of you will gain a shield for 2.5 seconds. This rune is mostly taken if you're against an assassin or some kind of burst mage. I tend to take this in annoying poke lanes (, , or ). If there's champions with abilities like or , this can end up saving you or your carry in multiple kinds of situations. This will proc by itself, so it doesn't require reaction time like would.

Glacial Augment

✦: Dealing damage to an enemy with a basic attack will slow them by 30-40% from lvls 1-18. Slowing a champion with active items shoots a freeze ray through them, freezing the nearby ground for 5 seconds, slowing all units inside by 60%. Cooldown: 7-4 seconds per unit. This is great for kiting bruisers like or . That's the only use for this rune now, due to the removal of . I wouldn't recommend taking it but if you really want to, I mean I can't stop you.

Sorcery Runes

MANAFLOW BAND

✦: Hitting enemy champions with a spell grants 25 maximum mana, up to 250 mana. Cooldown: 15 seconds. Upon earning 250 mana, Manaflow Band restores 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds. This isn't the greatest mana restoring tool but it works well for .

TRANSCENDENCE

✦: Gain bonuses upon reaching the following levels: Level 5: 5 ability haste. Level 8: 5 ability haste. Level 11: On champion takedowns, reduce the remaining cooldown of your basic abilities by 20%. When it gets hectic in a fight, one ability could mean a loss or a victory. You'll need this rune for spamming heals during teamfights.

SCORCH

✦: Your next damaging ability hit sets champions on fire, dealing 15-35 bonus magic damage based on level after 1 second. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Extra poking during laning. This isn't the most beneficial rune, although it will help you with the lane.

GATHERING STORM

✦: Every 10 minutes, gain adaptive force.
10 min: + 8 AP or 5 AD
20 min: + 24 AP or 14 AD
30 min: + 48 AP or 29 AD
40 min: + 80 AP or 48 AD
50 min: + 120 AP or 72 AD
60 min: + 168 AP or 101 AD. 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

✦: Impairing the movement of an enemy champion marks them for 4 seconds. Allied champions who attack marked enemies heal for 5 (+ 1% of your max health) over 2 seconds. A bit of sustain, a bit more healing and survivability, this is definitely the best choice for in this line of runes.

BONE PLATING

✦: After taking damage from an enemy champion, the next 3 spells or attacks you receive from them deal 30-60 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 health regeneration equal to 6 (+4% of your missing health) over 10 seconds. If attacked while already under the effect of Second Wind, the duration will refresh. This is situational, as you already have a ton of health regen from . Only take as a last resort if you really can't lane against a certain champion.

REVITALIZE

✦: Outgoing and incoming heals and shields are 5% stronger and increased by an additional 10% on targets below 40% health. This synergizes super well with your passive. It will give both movement speed and extra healing if you take this with your passive.

Domination Runes

TASTE OF BLOOD

✦: Heal when you damage an enemy champion. Healing: 18-35 (+ 20% bonus AD) (+ 10% AP) health (based on level). Cooldown: 20 seconds. The laning sustain would be considered useful, but you're . You can easily accomplish the same amount of healing (and more) by landing . If you're in a match up that doesn't allow you to poke ( or ), this could end up helping but it wouldn't make much sense since you need to use an auto or an ability to use it and your outranges your auto. Only take this as a last resort.

GHOST PORO

✦: When your wards expire, they leave behind a Ghost Poro, which grants vision for 60 seconds. Nearby enemy champions scare the Ghost Poro away. Gain an adaptive bonus of 1.2 Attack Damage or 2 Ability Power for every Ghost Poro spawned and when your Ghost Poro spots an enemy champion, up to 10 stacks. After gaining 10 stacks, additionally gain 10 adaptive force. All you have to do to stack this rune is ward. Very easy and doesn't require as much effort as . This is my personal favourite choice since the areas where I ward are typically important spots (places to stop ganks, objectives, etc) and I need vision in that location for a long time.

ZOMBIE WARD

✦: This rune is slightly complicated so I'll give you key points below. It requires a bit more effort than but has more benefits. Only take if you're confident enough to go around clearing wards.
If the zombie ward is in a bush that already has an ally ward, you gain a Zombie Ward trinket that can be used for 30 seconds.
Gain 1.2 AD or 2 AP (adaptive) for every Zombie Ward spawned and once you hit 10 ward spawned, gain an additional 6 AD/10 AP.Scoring a takedown on an enemy ward will turn it into a Zombie Ward (10 second assist timer) You should know: Zombie Wards have 1 hp, are visible to the enemy team, grant vision 1100 units away, last for 120 seconds, and don't count towards the ward limit.

ULTIMATE HUNTER

✦: Your ultimate gains 5% reduced cooldown, plus an additional 4% per Bounty Hunter stack. Bounty Hunter stacks are earned the first time you get a takedown on each enemy champion. Very straightforward rune. More takedowns=more ult cdr. It's the most beneficial rune to take, especially during late game teamfights where someone's death could be a victory or a loss. This rune also sets up everything to an easy win, as more ult CDR means possibly free drakes, giving you the possibility of soul, and even more baron pressure. Definitely my favourite rune and possibly the only reason I would take . This completely negates things like .

Inspiration Runes

MAGICAL FOOTWEAR

✦: You get free boots at 12 minutes but cannot buy boots beforehand. Takedowns reduce the cooldown by 45 seconds/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.

FUTURE'S MARKET

✦: You can enter debt to buy items. The amount you can borrow increases over time. Original lending fee: 50 gold. Debt limit: 150 + 5/min. (Debt doesn't become available until 2 minutes). I might take this in ARAM since you can't shop once you've left base. Other than that, I would pretty much never take it.

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 champions like with her . I only take this against champions that have spells like , , or Keep in mind that this will not remove Grievous Wounds but will remove the true damage burn from

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

✦: We all know this summoner spell. It's the iconic flash, allowing that formerly 3/10 to secure her penta, it's the spell that allows for you to preserve your flawless KDA when you get ganked, and also the most commonly taken summoner in the entire game.

HEAL

✦: We already know what this spell does. Is taken only by ADCs. When used, will instantly heal you. If someone is next to you, will be healed too. If there are more allies in the healing area, the healing will be given to the most wounded ally if no target is near the curor. The heal given is by 90-345 and gives affected champions +30 movement speed for 1 seconds.

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. Sometimes it's worth switching for this due to the extreme amount of healing in the game right now (eg. , , or .)

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 explain pinging enemy summoners.

In settings, there's an option that allows you to show time stamps.

You want to enable this in order to be able to be accurate with the information you provide your team. Once you have done this, it should show something like this:

This will allow you to track cooldowns easily. Below are the cooldowns of all summoner spells (excluding smite/aram spells).

BARRIER

✦: Cooldown: 180 seconds/3 minutes.

CLEANSE

✦: Cooldown: 210 seconds/3.5 minutes/3 minutes +30 seconds.

EXHAUST

✦: Cooldown: 210 seconds/3.5 minutes/3 minutes +30 seconds.

FLASH

✦: Cooldown: 300 seconds/5 minutes.

GHOST

✦: Cooldown: 210 seconds/3.5 minutes/3 minutes +30 seconds

HEAL

✦: Cooldown: 240 seconds/4 minutes

IGNITE

✦: Cooldown: 180 seconds/3 minutes

TELEPORT

✦: Cooldown: 420-240 seconds (based on level)/ 7-4 minutes

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).

Starter Items/Laning Phase

Your starter items should either be a Spellthief's Edge or a Relic Shield. These 2 items offer the most to you and will get you the most out of laning phase.

Your main goal during laning phase is to poke, deny vision, deny cs, and help your jungler take objectives (towers included). You won't always achieve these goals and that's perfectly fine. You're not meant to be an early game champion.

If you have an early game adc like Ashe/Cait/Draven, you can hide in the tribush (if you're on red side) or the river bush if you're on the blue side. You will likely either start the lane with a lead or burn the enemy summoners which are almost always valuable since there's very few mobile adcs.

Once the game starts, place a ward either in the river bush or tri-bush depending on how aggressive you're planning to be. That will protect you from ganks and provide your jungler with vision.

If you start with Spellthiefs, try to avoid hitting the cs lines with your Q (E is fine since it only does damage to champions). If you start with Relics, then only hit either cannon minions or melee minions since you'll stack the gold quest a lot faster.

During laning, you have to consider the cooldowns of the enemy team. Let's say that you're laning against a Lux/Samira. The Lux only just threw out her Q and tried to root you. Her root has a 11 second cooldown at the beginning of the game and both of you are level 1. Your adc Ashe, has her W and is 2 minions away from hitting lvl 2 whereas the enemy has been backing up since they have vision of your jungler doing blue buff or whatever. This would be a good time to engage on them as if they aren't close to the minions, they don't get as much exp as you.

Mythic Choices

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

space

This will be your go-to mythic item for 90% of games. The extra healing power is too much to ignore and the ability haste is nearly always helpful. At the end of the game (if you're full build), you'll get 40 ability haste from this item's base stats and passive alone.

space

If you ever need extra burst damage on your team, this item won't hurt. The passive consists of damage instead of healing so you'll be able to help your ally burst them instead of keeping them safe. You might consider this the more aggressive version of . You can gain 60 AP from this item at full build. Keep in mind that if you choose to build , this can proc off of both and instantly.

space

If you have a top laner that is slow (, , without , etc) the extra movement speed can help you engage or disengage. This doesn't just apply to top laners though. If you have any slow teammates, and you're sure you can give up the healing power from , feel free to buy this item. You'll gain 10% movement speed.

space

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.

Blue Side Warding

Green=
Red=
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE WARDS THAT ARE ON TOWERS ARE ONLY PLACED IF THAT STRUCTURE HAS BEEN DESTROYED!!!

Standard Warding

When the lane is in a somewhat neutral spot, you can place these wards to protect you from ganks or get vision in the enemy jungle. REMEMBER TO ONLY PLACE DEEP WARDS IF IT'S SAFE!! (if the enemy bot lane backed and the jungler can't retaliate against
you and your carry.)

Losing Lane

This is for when you're losing lane and are constantly getting pushed under tower. You want vision of objectives and your jungle camps to prevent an invade.

Late Game (Winning or Losing)

These are most of the possible warding spots during late game, and exist for 2 main purposes: to keep you safe, and get vision of objectives.

Red Side Warding

Standard Warding

This is the standard warding areas for the red side. Only place the deep wards if either the enemy bot lane backed, or you just killed them and the jungler can't retaliate.

Defensive Warding

This is defensive warding for if you're losing lane. You always want vision of objectives.

Late Game Warding (Winning or Losing)

These wards can be either defensive or offensive, with the deep wards offering you vision and zoning potential if you're winning, and the other ones offering you vision on objectives and helping you prevent anyone from flanking.

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

Suggested Runes

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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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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.

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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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Camille

Threat Level

Precision is the difference between a butcher and a surgeon.
Level Threat:
Extreme

Playstyle
: The Steel Shadow. She's a weird mix of an assassin, bruiser, and tank. A good player can make your day miserable, a bad one, however, can make your day amazing and give you an easy win. She has a poor early game, great mid game, and monstrous late game. The best way to take care of her is to play aggressively early on, don't let her take cs, and deny her experience whenever possible. Her lvl 1-3 is terrible, 4-5 gives her a bit more pressure and once she hits 6, she has amazing kill potential. You can start a here, she won't be able to do anything during early game. I like to rush a here since she knocks your allies back with and there's no one to help you. During late game, same as if there was any assassin in the game (ex. ) never go off warding alone. her when she hooks herself to the wall so she can't fly back at you and stun any of you after. (She'll get stuck to a wall if the player panics).
Her early game gives you plenty of oppurtunity to poke her. You can play as aggressively as you want since she can't retaliate until she hits lvl 3. Watch for the animation of her . That's her main engage tool unless she comes and , s you. It's an animation that's not unlike your animation. It's easy to spot since 2 ropes come out of each side and hook her to the wall but once she does that, she has to quickly recast it to fly back at you. A good player can even predict well and catch you as you . Keep in mind, she goes untargetable for a short period of time during the animation of her . Treat as you would any other assassin and don't go off alone late game.

Runes to bring
She begins to become a huge threat at the start of mid game, so I actually prefer over . She has a great all-in, and can deny a ton of that damage. will deny her burst and help you survive. , , , for the tree. Second, I take . I take and since laning phase gets hard as soon as she hits 6, making it harder to make the most out of . isn't the best in teamfights, making there less of a need for .

Spells to annoy
I typically take here since she doesn't get healing until she gets items. will slow her down and reduce her damage, giving you a chance to react and help your carry.

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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Cho'Gath

Threat Level

Summoner, your darkness beckons.
Level Threat:
Major

Playstyle
: The Terror of the Void. His AP ratios are a tiny bit ridiculous, (100% on his and 70% on his ). I just like to think of them as close range s. His allows him to grow in size and health, making him nearly impossible to kill after he's lvl 18. Your best bet is to abuse his early game and try to end the game before he starts stacking and kills everyone. There's a small indicator where his will be and the animation shows him stomping the ground. Use that time to get yourself together and either, 1. prepare for your adc taking it to the head and walking on top of it. In which you need to be prepared for a possible engage, or 2. Being in position to poke them immediately while the animation is still in place.
Since he's a champ that can scale endlessly, you'd think he's as good as a caster minion early game right? WRONG!! He's oddly strong and has such high AP ratios, it's like getting hit by a toned down version of at level 1. You could poke him, due to his rather high cooldowns, but he outpokes you when he decides to. Late game is a nightmare since he's so tanky and hard to kill while doing insane damage, ask your team to have at least 1 form of a tank shredders, (, , or ).

Runes to bring
His weak early game is your only opportunity to get ahead in the game so take aggressive runes, and force him out of lane. If you lose early, there's a 80% chance you'll lose mid-late as well since he only gets stronger as the game goes on. Take , , , , , or , and . You want these runes since won't do much against him, and you want your ult up more often to prevent him growing in size off of your teammate.

Spells to annoy
doesn't do much against him, won't protect you that much and does nothing. I take into this match up just to slow him down and give my team a chance to regroup.

Itemisation
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Supportive Items

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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Darius

Threat Level

Never Retreat!
Level Threat:
Extreme

Playstyle
: The Hand of Noxus. This champion was practically broken for the majority of S10. He has a terrible problem with champions that can kite him or slow him down since he needs to get close to start the combo. You have a choice of taking either or since he heals from his depending on the amount of champions he hits. During early game, he wins all-ins just do to his . You don't want to try to go in from lvls 1-2 where he has a huge advantage where he has the damage from his . You can poke him easily during laning phase since you out range him, but once you get to mid-late game, he starts becoming harder to deal with. The best thing he can do is all-in you whenever possible since he has nearly 0 poking tools. His is an execute which cooldown resets upon earning a kill with it, making one of the easier champions to earn pentakills on.

Runes to bring
If you're confident that you can force him out of lane early, than you should take for the extra power to poke and shield. If you're not confident in this lane, take to protect you when he suddenly decides to go in. I prefer in this lane because I can rarely tell when he wants to go in, due to the fact that I normally miss the animation from his . I go , , , , , , and . If you want to, you can also take , , , , , and .

Spells to annoy
He heals from , but other than that, there's no huge source of healing. You can take to avoid being caught and giving him all his hp back while dying, or you can choose to take in order to prevent him from ing onto you guys and killing everyone.

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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Supportive Items

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

Suggested Runes

Spells

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

Suggested Runes

Spells

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

Suggested Runes

Spells

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

Fiora

Threat Level

Others try. I succeed.
Level Threat:
Extreme

Playstyle
: The Grand Duelist. The (in) famous 1v9 carry who will stomp on your ankles if you don't respect her early game dominance with her and . One thing with going against this champion is, you have to pay tons of attention to your/your carry's positioning during the early game and have to play according to her rules. This may seem easy at first, but a good player can dodge any poke or even parry it with or , making this match up even harder for you. Her ult () gives her a huge rush of movement speed, allowing a good player to dodge everything you throw at her. Once she hits all her vitals or the target dies, her entire team gains a mini .
Early game has always been quite lane dominant, with her offering her lane sustain and having a built-in auto attack reset with which makes it so, so, sooooo hard to take good trades early on when she all-ins you. The biggest thing is to play around her cooldown, which is her only form of cc and self defense tool. She's somewhat similar to playing against a in the lane, it's crucial to push every single advantage you get due to her extremely strong splitpushing. Take as many objectives as you can in the small window where she backed, invade the enemy jungle, start a freeze right in front of your tower, DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO PUT HER BEHIND!!! If it comes to mid game, build a to deny her healing from her ult and give you an extra line of defense against her. You could choose to rush a here, since it wouldn't put you much behind and it could be worth it. Always keep an eye on your side lanes during objective fights to make sure you don't lose an inhib while you're trying to take a drake.

Runes to bring
I find that has somewhat high burst damage (for a bruiser) and it's hard to bully her out of lane due to her sustain from . I prefer over for 1 reason: Defensive cababilities. Her entire kit is easy to force you out of position with, and if you don't have positioning when playing , you can't play her. I opt for , , , and . Due to her strong side laning/split pushing/1v1 dueling potential, I go for instead. She's meh in teamfights and mostly get her strength from the people that are willing to fight her in the side lanes. I would recommend , / and to finish off.

Spells to annoy
On one hand, her healing from both and is hard to overlook. On the other hand, she can't kill you if she can't catch you. Due to her low cooldown which gives her mobility, would probably prove more useful but you could choose to buy .

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

Garen

Threat Level

Our courage must never waver.
Level Threat:
Even

Playstyle
: The Might of Demacia. Yes, we've all been there when some madman yelling Demacia takes 50% of your hp with one ..... This match up isn't even all that bad, it's just straight up annoying. Due to the speed boost from it's hard to catch him but it also allows for him to run you down. He's infamous for his "spin to win" technique and I would even dare say that he requires less skill than a champion like . There's not much to this match up, other than don't let him gap close and keep him at a fair distance while still protecting your carry.
Early game is just early game . He's a fairly simple champion which means he has more counterplay than most. When you see him use , back off and avoid him until the effects wear off. After 6, don't stick around when you're low due to his easy execute from . Mid game is still fairly the same, he still does the same combo, and does the same things since he's not the best at splitpushing. If you can end before he hits 16, it's always better for your team due to his natural tankiness which will make him harder to deal with as the game goes on.

Runes to bring
You kinda counter him since you have and he can't catch up. Bring runes to force him out of lane and take towers before he can retaliate. , , and can never do you wrong in this lane. Due to his simple but effective combo, will be our second choice. Take and .

Spells to annoy
Yes, he does heal but not until he gets items and that heal is hardly counterable (from ) so would be the most beneficial for your team although there's also the option of taking here for the defensive purposes when you think that you can't win your lane and need to stay alive to help someone else.

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

Match Up Advice

Match ups are very complicated and vary from each player. All of the information here is what I've read from other guides and seen in game. Remember: No 2 people play a champ the same way. This will not guarantee you a win, but might make your laning phase a bit more bearable. I'll be adding to the match ups I already have here when I notice a specific trend in the players behavior.

I have not played all the match ups as Soraka to know enough to be able to list all the champions in this guide. I normally add them here once I've played at least 3-4 games against them and have a feel for how they work or if I've played them against Soraka in the past. I will slowly be moving the match ups to their own chapters once I have the time to :)

Personally, I don't like this match up, but it could be considered an easy win. They key in this match up is choosing where you fight as he doesn't have the greatest ability to burst you down randomly. As long as you fight where his turrets aren't, you will almost always win.

Irelia in the bot lane is ridiculously rare but when you transition to mid game... She'll definitely be a problem. She relies heavily on and if she messes up her reset, she'll be forced to back off unless she can catch up with you and auto you to death. Always keep an eye out for ally minions and her passive . When it's fully stacked, she'll gain bonus attack speed and magic damage with her autos. You can tell she has it when her blades glow gold (with default skin). Once she messes up a reset, engage on her. Her locks her in place and gives her extra armour so if you pair it with your , it's potentially a root. Don't be thrown into chaos when Irelia ults you since it'll only do damage on impact and if you choose to step through the walls.

Janna is very similar to Soraka in terms of poke. Her abilities are designed to cancel enemy engages and poke. can be annoying to deal with. It's a point and click ability so the best you can do is stay out of range. Her ult is like yours except: lower cooldown, not instant healing, and heals in a circle while knocking enemies back. Sometimes I start in this lane just due to the fact that she can outpoke you and is super annoying early on.

Beware of his 4th shot from his passive . It'll take him a short time to reload so you can engage on him when he does. does more damage if it's landed and killed an enemy first. Stay out of range when you're first walking back to lane as most players like to take that opportunity to poke you. is easy to dodge as it fires in a thin line and has an over the top animation. When he uses heal your ally to full health, have them stand in front of you, and try to hide out of vision. NOTE: THIS WILL ONLY WORK IF YOU CAN COMMUNICATE WELL WITH YOUR ADC/ALLY

MORE MATCH UPS COMING SOON!!!

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.

Soraka Build Guide by ecl1p3e

Ambulance 101 with Soraka | S11 (WIP)

Thank You!

Runes: Standard

Spells:

Exhaust

Flash

Flash

Heal

Flash

Ignite

Barrier

Flash

Cleanse

Flash

Items

Ability Order Standard

Salvation

Starcall

Astral Infusion

Equinox

Wish

Salvation

Starcall

Astral Infusion

Equinox

Wish

Salvation

Starcall

Astral Infusion

Equinox

Wish

Threats & Synergies

Ahri

Akali

Annie

Ashe

Bard

Blitzcrank

Brand

Braum

Caitlyn

Camille

Cassiopeia

Cho'Gath

Corki

Darius

Diana

Dr. Mundo

Draven

Ekko

Evelynn

Ezreal

Fiddlesticks

Fiora

Fizz

Garen

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