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Worst Poppy match up in the game. Take second wind, Doran shield (cosmic>tonic), and any% speedrun your tabis. This match up is all about buckler usage, pressure his barrels with your ranged autos or just walk into one with your shield forcing him to use it when you are shielded. If you ever have to play this match up I wish you luck my friend.
Mordekaiser
Aids coinflip match up where you do not really get to play the game. Take conq and rush cdr boots and hope he misses everything and you kill him. Not really anything else to it.
Aatrox
Rush bramble/CDR boots first item Thornmail. Match up is all about trying to w his e which is mostly occur after q2/q3 but he knows that you know that so it kinda becomes a big game of chicken. Still you turbo outscale him late game so just chill lane phase dont die and you are chillin big time.
Akali
Don't get poked out too hard early levels from her q and the game will only get easier as it goes on. Late game you can really shut her down with your w so play for that.
Camille
Take w lvl 2. This match up is very easy if you know how to play it right. Kite her autos with your q watch her e and make sure you w it and don't use r until she r cause her r will cancel your r for some god forsaken reason.
Cho'Gath
Don't trade autos unless you have shield and just kite him with q. Look to set up ganks because cho'gath cannot escape them. As long as you don't walk into his q's you are just hard chillin.
Darius
CDR boots any% speedrun. Some people think this match up is "unplayable" for Poppy. But IMO its really easy if you play it well enough. I think if you are a newer to the champ this match up can be a nightmare but the way you win this match up is by kiting him with q. If he q just walk into him melee and then q and walk away. If he e same thing just q and walk away. If he e and then ghost just ult him. Go into practice tool and practice doing a fast ult that knocks them away. If you get good at it you can ult him away before he can really react. Cannot remember the last time I have lost this match up and people pick into me all the time.
Dr. Mundo
Rush bramble. Watch him cry.
Fiora
Bramble any% speedrun TAS. This match up is really fun but probably not so much for the Fiora. The match up at the highest level is just a game of chicken where Fiora can actually q w and if you w you can stunned and lose a lot of hp. She can also obviously parry your e if you try to wall slam so be careful of that because if you get parried like that you are almost for sure dead. So its all about baiting out her w and if you do that you should win the trade. Be careful pre bramble but once you get your bramble its free af.
Garen
CDR boots rush. Kite him for you are a ranged champion. Also make sure to never let him get his passive up for you are a ranged champion. Still kinda hard to kill him so it will most of the time be a farm lane. If he has ignite just play turbo safe and by just not dying you are winning lane.
Gnar
Don't be afraid to trade buckler autos. If gnar walks up to far look to q him as the only time you lose trades is if he is free hitting you and you cannot fight back. Still, vs an experienced gnar player he will not allow you to q him and therefore you have to allow him to shove and hope you jungler comes to gank. If he tries to escape the gank with e try to f w and that should lead to a free kill.
Cassiopeia
D shield(cosmic>tonic) second wind. Its rare that people play this match up but it is one of Poppy's worst. Only reason its a 4 is because the champion is not that strong top and can be ganked easily. Try to dodge her q and then try to trade during the q cd window. Its annoying but play it right and you can make it out alright.
Gragas
If played well Gragas can only q poke you. You can easily kite with q and if he tries to close the gap with e a well timed w can save you. Still, this match up can be quite hard to abuse given just how much natural sustain Gragas has so while you might not be solo killing him its hard to be solo killed as well.
Irelia
Bramble any% speedrun. You hit the jackpot!!! This match up is so free. Id be a little careful in laning phase if Irelia has 5 passive stacks but if you make it out of laning phase with 0 deaths Irelia will be unable to play mid-late game teamfight due to your w.
Gwen
Bramble rush (even tho shes ap). Match up is easy if you know what you are doing. It is honestly hard to react w to her e so your best bet is to predict when she will use her dash. Look to q her if she tried to e auto trade you dont trade autos. If she r just r her immediately. If done correctly she will never have the ability to kill you in lane 1v1.
Heimerdinger
Depression aids cancer bad match up. You just sit under tower and hope you flip the better team. Don't really have any useful tips for this match up other than don't try to trade with him ever.
Illaoi
Bramble rush.
1. She r
2. You r
3. She :(
4. You :D
Teemo
D shield(Cosmic>tonic) second wind.
“Why are we still here? Just to suffer? Every night, I can feel my leg… and my arm… even my fingers. The body I’ve lost… the comrades I’ve lost… won’t stop hurting… It’s like they’re all still there. You feel it, too, don’t you?”
Jax
Bramble rush. Kite with your q and w his q. Unlosable if you can react to his q but even if you don't and you have bramble ur chillin tbh.
Jayce
Putting this at a 2 because Jayce is op right now but in most metas its a 1. You should look to trade buckler autos every time and just walk up to him with your shield and q him. If he ever melee q you just w. It is really easy to react to q if you are not a boomer/ have 100+ping. Don't even bother taking d shield you don't need it.
Karma
Annoying but she does less damage than some of the other range top laners so you will not have a problem with getting solo killed or poked out in a major way. You just both farm up and then hope you can be more useful in team fights. D shield is optional.
Kayle
Kayle is just so bad in the meta right now. Should probably be a 3 but at her current state you can just set up a wave to dive and then dive with your jungler or even just by yourself if you poke properly. I love seeing the enemy pick Kayle because it just feels like a free win right now.
Kennen
Optional d shield take second wind. Annoying lane for sure but if you can make it out fairly even you can w his protobelt in teamfight/ e him away/ r him away and kinda ruin his kit. Still this is rather inconsistent esp if he has flash so overall this match up is rather poor for Poppy.
Kled
Rush cinder and bramble. Early levels just play overly safe dont let him cheese you with early damage and a false sense that you can solo kill him. Once completion of bramble cinder proceed to perma push him. If you can keep him under tower and he is unable to ult or tp you are winning this lane hard. If you are looking to kill him make sure to save w for his dismounted form and just w his q dash and hes doomed.
Lee Sin
Poppy is notoriously good vs lee jungle so you would think that this would be a good match up however solo lane lee sin can win trades without ever dashing. Most his damage comes from his e and his autos with him healing to full from w2. Laning phase is unwinnable vs a decent lee sin but the good news is you are still able to stop a lot of what he wants to do in mid to late game teamfights. Survive lane and scale.
Lulu
Cancer. Feel like lulu is not picked much esp in lower elos but you cant really punish her in lane and she just out scales you most of the time. Don't need d shield.
Lucian
Lucian top is really bad right now and poppy just so happens to be good into it as well. Look to spam auto him with buckler and w his e. Free win match up.
Malphite
Start d shield(Cosmic>tonic) second wind. With d shield you can simply neutralize his q poke then perma trade and shove him in. Use buckler and q poke to stop is passive and you can easily start generating a sizeable cs/hp lead.
Maokai
Just q him every time he autos cs and he will be dead before you know it.
Nasus
Bramble rush. Look to freeze. The key to shutting down nasus is not to perma fight him and hope to kill him it is instead to freeze under you tower and deny him loads of cs/xp. An easy way to set up a freeze early game is simply to slow push wave 1-2 and then on wave 3 spam auto and q on the wave to get it in. If done correctly a massive wave will be under his tower and soon enough with push back to you. After that if he ever dares to walk up and cs just q and spam auto him as much as you can while maintaining your freeze. If he ever r and you cant kill him just r him away.
Neeko
This match up is rather hard in the lane phase. Look to farm up best you can and beware of her e. You turbo outscale so just play to not die. Don't take d shield.
Nocturne
Bramble rush. This match up sounds hard in theory but in practice he just cant get on you. If he ever tries to run at you with his q and then e you can simply q and walk away easy as that. He never has kill prio on you. Look to perma push his wave so he can't roam with r for free.
Olaf
Bramble any% speedrun. Scary match up but if done correctly should lead to you going even and outscaling. Try to always be fairly close to tower if he is 6 as he can run you down very easily. Pre 6 is pretty fine tho as if he tries to run you down you can just kite with q and w. Look to use w to run away faster, getting t2 to run away even faster is very nice too.
Ornn
Take w lvl 2. Pre 6 w his e, post 6 save w for his r2. In case you did not know you can w ornn's second r cast making him unable to knock back his big "lava elemental" which can be a huge deal come mid-late game teamfight as well as lane all-ins.
Pantheon
Respect his q damage and burst a little bit early but if you can get on a bit of armor/ hp he cant kill you making him worthless. Keep him under tower so he cant roam with r and be sure to w his w.
Poppy
You have read the best Poppy guide. Enemy Poppy has not.
Therefore this match up is unlosable.
Be sure to link this to him in the post game lobby tho after you demolish all of his confidence. I'm sure he will appreciate it lots ;D
Quinn
If you are a bit of a gamer you can react to Quinn e with w and Quinn dies instantly or at least has to flash away. The timing window is a little short tho so even I miss it fairly often. If you do not w her e this match up is sad but if you do you win so it is very coinflip and reaction speed dependent. It will either be a 1 or a 5 depending on if you can w her e or not.
Renekton
Most of the time I play this match up I go even a scale. Renekton has a really hard time killing you with because he cant e onto you so you can always just kite. If you are not confident in your ability to kite and want some safety you can rush tabis and then he really cannot kill you.
Rengar
Bramble rush. Rengar does a LOT of damage early levels. Do not try to contest him early at all. Stay far away from lane bushes. Once you complete bramble and some armor items then you can look to w him and trade with q autos. Late game Poppy W really ruins Rengar's day as he cannot r and jump onto your backline as you can simply w him.
Riven
Rush bramble.
1. She uses q1, q2, q3, e
2. You w
3. She :(
4. You :D
Rumble
Pain.
D shield optional take second wind. You never win trades, he turbo outranges you so if hes not a robot you cant q him. Just hope your jungler shows you mercy and ganks this tumor of a champion. D shield optional take second wind.
Ryze
D shield optional, take second wind. Champ is pissbad in top right now and has been for a while but when he's meta this is an unwinnable lane. He's probably a 3 right now but easily can be a 4-5 if he or his items gets buffed.
Sejuani
Champ is low-key broken top but poppy does well into it so we chillin. Just w his q and hes not rlly a champ. Easy to kite and he cant win trades ever. Great conditioning match up or even grab a tear cause why not.
Sett
Bramble any% speedrun. A lot of people similar to Darius think this match up is really bad but just like Darius you can just kite with q and as long as you respect his e stun you should be fine to go even and outscale. I love when the enemy picks sett top feels like I auto win.
Shen
In theory this match up should also be free because you can just w his e but despite I always seem to do worse in this match up than I expect. You do not win auto trades and he is able to shield a lot of you poke damage combined with d shied and it is really hard to damage this champion. Id recommend rushing bami's cinder and CDR boots just perma pushing post shen 6. As long as he cant ult for free you are doing your job. If he ults under tower just ult him.
Singed
Just auto him with buckler and q him. Don't ever be in melee range with singed and he cannot damage you. This match up is unplayable for singed and I very commonly net 30-50 cs leads while getting solo kills. Do not take d shield and go conditioning.
Sion
Most of the time, I end up perma trading with Sion but somehow we both never die. Just q him if he q's you and he will get hit by q1 and q2 and the trade will be even. Good conditioning lane.
Skarner
If its not: https://www.twitch.tv/merthos
then enjoy free win.
If it is, then just beware of his r into ganks/ him pulling you under tower. You win all out brawl trades
where you are kiting him with your q and ranged auto so feel free to perma fight pre 6.
Sylas
The rare Executioner's Calling match up. Due to you ability to w his e1 e2 and w you can make Sylas quite sad. But despite that, unless you are able to get him really behind early he is able to stabilize and outscale. Try to set up ganks with your jungler because if you can get him to fall behind you can easily shut him down and repeat solo kill him the entire game.
Tahm Kench
Play safe early. You will not kill this champion 1v1 ever so just do not try. Bright side is that this champion is not useful mid-late game and you will be 100x more useful. Do not play into his only win con and die to him early.
Soraka
Can be really annoying esp if you are not coordinated with your jungler. Ideally you would stack up a massive wave with your jungler and just dive this champion but if your jungle feels like playing some WOW in the jungle then you are left in a lane where you get poked out and out scaled.
Swain
Have not played vs this champion top is so long. But from what I can remember is you just both farm it out and if swain uses r you just r him away. Kinda chill lane. Pull out the lofi hiphop playlist and vibe out.
Trundle
Bramble rush. Trundle is kinda bad rn but even if he ever does become meta it should never be anything over a 3. You can kite with buckler and q, the only way he can close the gap is e but he does not even win really unless he uses r. But if he uses e then r you should just insta r him away and hes back to being useless. Free ganks for your jungle and you outscale, as long as you dont get too cocky it should just be a free outscale lane.
Tryndamere
Bramble rush optional, CDR boots rush is really nice too. Because you can w Tryndamere e it is rather hard for Tryndamere to get on you. Still, due to the insane amount of sustain Tryndamere has it can be rather hard to poke him out really. Most of the time this lane ends up being perma fights that do not really result in any kills. Late game you shut him down really hard and can disable his ability to function in teamfights with your ample amount of cc from all of your abilities. If you are in a 1v1 with him late game try to burst him and then r him away when he r, late game you do lose 1v1 pretty much no matter what unless you r him away.
Urgot
Free match up. You can bully him out big time and he cannot respond due to the fact that he cant e because of your w. Meaning this lane is also free kills for your jungler if he so desires.
Vayne
Really annoying lane but your jungler has a 300 gold camp in the top lane anytime he wants it. This match up is really just jungle dependent, if your jungler comes its perma free kills, if he does not you just get poked and go down cs.
Viego
Bramble any% speedrun. Really dislike this match up. Poking feels like a lost cause given just how much sustain this champion has. He just gets to free scale off you and then 1v9. Still, while you cant punish him he wont punish you that hard so you both get to scale up with him scaling harder. My personal perma ban.
Vladimir
The rare Executioner's Calling match up. You can actually do a lot of damage early to this champ and maybe even kill him levels 1-5. I know I said ignite is bad for Poppy top but ignite might really help turn the tides early and allow you to kill him and snowball. If you fall behind in this lane it is really, really doomed. If you cant kill him early just play to not die and get as much cs as possible. He will scale up but theres not much you can do about it post 6.
Volibear
Bramble rush. Similar to Darius, this match up is grossly exaggerated with how bad it is. If he q you can just q w and run away. Dont let him get in melee range of you can you should be good to outscale. Beware of his damage though cause he can 1 shot you in the early levels if you get too cocky.
Warwick
The rare Executioner's Calling match up. The reason you go Executioner's Calling and not bramble is because of the fact that most of his healing will be on your minions and not on you. Be careful, even if this champion is on low hp it can easily turn the tides and somehow insta kill you from full hp. Be patient and wait for a good opportunity. You outscale so if you can just go even thats great too.
Wukong
Bramble any% speedrun. You kind of shut down everything this champion tries to accomplish. Focus on w this champion when he tries to e and dont take your eye off him in teamfights. If he cant get to your backline he cant be useful.
Yasuo
Bramble rush. Always look to w his e even if it is just on a minion. If you can w his e and then q you can get a massive trade win. Only reason this is not a 1 is because he can windwall your buckler which is a really big deal.
Yone
Bramble any% speedrun. You have the ability to solo kill this champion if you can ever land an e on a wall. Post bramble will make things much easier but if you ever fall behind or just go even this champ can just start to 1v9 for no good reason at all.
Yorick
Bramble rush. Really annoying match up but not the worst. If he ever cages you can just e to a minion or yorick himself and get out. If he e you and his ghouls jump at you, you can just w them and they get bonked. You just kinda go even and outscale in most cases.
Zac
The rare Executioner's Calling match up. W his e free win. Late game he really cannot do anything because his whole kit revolves around getting onto the backline and w prevents that from happening.
Taliyah
Best jungle pairing in the game. SO many combos...
Poppy e into Taliyah w
Poppy r into Taliyah w
Taliyah r into Poppy e
Free tower dives.
Taliyah is ap Poppy is ad.
Match made in heaven.
Veigar
Veigar e into Poppy e
More terrain the better
Anivia
Anivia w into Poppy e
More terrain the better
Nidalee
Budget Taliyah
Poppy e into Nid q
Easy tower dives.
Elise
Budget Taliyah.
Poppy e into Elise E
Easy tower dives
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Taliyah
Best jungle pairing in the game. SO many combos...
Poppy e into Taliyah w
Poppy r into Taliyah w
Taliyah r into Poppy e
Free tower dives.
Taliyah is ap Poppy is ad.
Match made in heaven.
Veigar
Veigar e into Poppy e
More terrain the better
Anivia
Anivia w into Poppy e
More terrain the better
Nidalee
Budget Taliyah
Poppy e into Nid q
Easy tower dives.
Elise
Budget Taliyah.
Poppy e into Elise E
Easy tower dives
Poppy tips:
1. Poppy has REALLY high range and you should abuse that! Utilize your passive and q to hit the enemy without them hitting you. The only time you should be melee auto trading is with passive shield or massive hp adv.
2. Don't pick up your buckler right after it drops! If you stand right next to the buckler while on the ground and wait right until it runs out you can artificially increase the time it lasts.
3. After picking up your buckler try to force a trade even if it means using e on the enemy without wall stunning.
4. After pushing your wave in, look to roam/ ward enemy jungle. Poppy is very strong in jungle skirmish fights and is very good at ganking mid.
5. The way you carry games as Poppy is gaining a lead in lane through superior laning and then transferring that lead through perma pushing lane and supporting your teams through roams and tps. If you play for yourself you will find that you will not be able to 1v5 late game despite the massive lead. A good Poppy plays for the team.
Outro/ Tips for me?
Hey! Thanks for reading my guide I hope you learned something! I am new to content creation in general so if there is anything I missed that you would like me to discuss let me know in the comments below and I will try and implement it. I am also going to try and stream on twitch so if you have any additional questions you can ask me live at: https://www.twitch.tv/tibs2lol
Best Poppy NA (1010 LP Challenger) Top Guide (all match ups)
Build Guide By tibs2
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