Power Level:
Riven has the early edge, but as the game goes on Aatrox becomes harder to kill and eventually gets chances to fight back.
Game plan :
Aatrox’s Q cooldowns are very long early, so you naturally win short trades.
Before he gets his dash (E), he cannot reposition his Qs, making level 1 very easy. You can run him down, just avoid:
The outer edges of Q1/Q2
The inner hitbox of Q3
Once he has E, he can reposition one of his Qs, and this is how most of the lane happens. You have to out-dance his Qs and make him regret queuing up.
A lot depends on ELO and the player, but most Aatrox players are very linear.When they use Q , during animation they would plan their Movement to trick you, with first 2 Q's its easy you go AWAY from him during animation forcing him to E TOWARDS you and as animation shifts you either E or Q TOWARDS him.As result he looks like donkey and gets hurt.He might change tactic but thats about it, you need to trick him into wrongly use his Q's and out dance him.Early game is good to dance around Q1 and Q2 while avoiding Q3 as tricky and usually by that time you are on cd's for most spells.
Tips:
When his sword is horizontal, his passive is ready. Wait for him to use it on a minion before engaging.
His R gives huge stats and extra healing, so always try to have Ignite up when he ults.
After you get enough Ability Haste you want to Q delay and many Aatrox players do not respect/know this fact, but this can give you fighting edge.
Akali
Power level:
This is a spacing-focused matchup where both sides can win lane depending on execution.
Game plan:
Play footsies around her Q – bait it out and avoid getting hit. Missing Q costs her a lot of energy, especially early on.
You’re stronger from level 1, so look to pressure and run her down. Just be careful—if you misstep, she can outplay you and turn the fight.
Tips:
Don’t fight inside her Shroud unless you’re confident. You’ll be forced to throw abilities without reliably proccing your passive, while she can poke you down in the guesswork. It’s usually better to step back and not give her free damage.
Her W (Shroud) gives her energy and some safety. Once it’s down, she’s vulnerable since it has a long cooldown and is usually maxed last.
Respect her E – it has high base damage, so try to dodge it during the early levels.
Itemization:
If you’re not confident, rushing Hexdrinker (1,300 gold) is a solid safety net. It prevents her from executing you early while still letting you scale.
Ahri
Power level:
She is super annoying early game to deal with, and as game goes on you would have enough haste and cooldown to stand against her but she gona be still annoying do handle.
Game plan:
Ahri is a ranged champ with tools to not die unless she made a massive blunder
Lvl 1 she could take W(orbs around her) and poke you down as it gives her ms allowing her to kite you or she can go Q for more pushing power in this case dodge Q and fight for lane prio.Lvl 3 most likely she gonna take E Charm and hold it till you engage her...so your plan is just to scale, do not lose hp for meaningles trades.
Unless you get a gank and you can bait her W or R depending on lvl.But in generall sense she would be really cringy to play against.
Tips:
Her passive gives hear small heal but no bult in mana regen so you can play tricks on her draining her mana out.
Her charm hits first enemy so you have 2 way tricking it, either play in very close distance passing trough her from side to side making impossibly hard to land it, or play in wave.
If she couldnt AA before her W then they would all fly towards creeps, so you can use them
If you feel like behind and shes trying to freeze you can try forcing her to use Q W near wave so it would start pushing towards you.
Looking for early proxy sounds good if shes not giving an early oportunity to be punished.
Alistar
Power level:
If he have used at least 2% of brain capacity you never killing this guy so you should try looking at other victims,
Game plan:
He can either go offensvie and W Q on you with electrocute and back off or be deffensive to Q W you away every time he want.
Your plan is to try make something off level 1 as he got either Q or W with long cd which gives you a slight edge to try 2 wave crash into proxy
Farm and scale, try proxying. and looking to kill enemy jg in isolation or gank mid.
Tips:
His R removes all cc and makes him nearly unkillable, so just kite it out
Itemization:
If ge goes offensive route you can take early hexdringer.
Ambessa
Power level:
This would be a skill matchip where Riven having a slight edge on early and it shift towards Ambessa as game goes on.
Game plan:
Her idea is to land abilities + AA so she can keep chaining them.But they can get dizzy jumping all the time and missposition themselves.So your plan is to look for early misspositioning and punishing it, you can fight her since lvl 1 but keep in mind she can jump in and out with poke, so dance around her damage and try to catch her.On lvl 6 you at all costs avoid being hit by her R which should be relativelly easy, then keep beating her.
Tips:
Her R passive gives her % Pen on each step so keep that in mind
If she does not land and ability on anything she dont get refund and her chain is interrupted so in isolation making her miss her abilities is a big win, especially her R.
Anivia
Power level:
This creature might make you want to quit league fo the day.Her kit is built to counter melee comps so you would need to find oportunities into her.
Game plan:
lvl1 she cant do much, most likely gonna take Q to keep you at distance or grab some farm.Pre lvl6 you can force her Q's and dance around them to farm and find openings into her.But as she hits lvl 6 this will become increasingly harder.Freezing against her is not super effective so finding proxy angle and roaming would be better option to snowball.
Tips:
While her Q flies any cc would interupt her ability to recast and stun.So you can either Q3 (slow) or W her to not let her cast Q2
Her R can be stoped 2 ways:
1.She walks away from her R
2.Any form of hard cc (Q3/W)
Use her (W)all against her by jumping in or out trough it depending on situation.
Annie
Power level:
Shes ranged but also a caster so you can just farm and scale and kill from early , eventually it be harder but she cant reliably lane vs you in mid/late game.
Game plan:
Since level 1 she not super strong, she can poke you with autos mostly, and hold stun to use when you engage on her.Plus she is ranged and your best bet to 2 wave crash into proxy.If you want to kill her try to look when she used her stun on wave, but most likely she would farm with AA and not gonna waste her protection.However on 6 she will have crazy burst with tibbers so be warry to not die.
Early game you can try killing her but better to look for proxy with roams.
Tips:
She will hold 3-4 stacks, on 3 stacks she can E and will have stun ready so keep in mind as it could be a bait.
Her Q refunds mana if she kills with it, so she can farm with Q's then find a window between stun's to kill her.
Her mana pool would be drained quick if shes using W often.
Itemization:
You can get early Mercs or Hexdrinker as Annie have a cc with decent burst.
Aurora
Power level:
You have chances early and with items gets easier but as any other ranged lane would be cringy at start.
Game plan:
Initially she will get Q most likely and would try to land it on you.So you would have to juke a lot.And safest would be to wait for lvl 3, before trying anything. After lvl3 Aurora would try Q E combo and you must side step it and success then chase her down for some beat down.Try sidesteping with mouse so you have all your spells up to fight.
Hes generally linear, Q + E combos and AA , if you engage she W away but with Q's you can still chase her and beat down.
Tips:
Her invisibility is quite short but have reset ability in figfhts.
Azir
Power level:
He is really weak early but gets really strong with items
Game plan:
Lvl 1 he really cant do anything.He can place one soldier down, and you just walk away from its range and hes done.On lvl2 he can poke you more but he also will run out of mana, so depending on his playstyle you can farm or try force him out of lane or kill. Untill level 6 you have chance to kill him, on 6 he will be harder to kill and he can start farming more safe with his R up. So you really should try killing him on first levels and proxy after as he cant hold the wave and eventually this would chip down the tower.Also while proxying you can check to kill enemy JG or Mid depending on your position as with Azir weak early he can't really follow much around, as his kit does not have ways to clear fast.
Tips:
Play around soldiers, in one iteration he can place and rellocate them once, so after that he have nothing most likely.
He have no wave clear tools early on, so your wave management should help you here :)
Itemization:
This creature really should not be allowing you to get to him so getting tiamat item (Rav/Profane) and farm everything that moves.
Briar
Power level:
Weak early game but with items can get scary
Game plan:
She can start E and just scale or start W and try figting early on, but you can kill her in 2 iterations. When both have lvl 3 you can kite away her engage and after her frenzy is down you can run her down as you made distance for your self as iniital part.On 6 try to not get hit by her R as she might kill you. But if you did early levels properly and having a lead she should not be an issue even if she lands her R.
Tips:
She lacks need for mana, so She can stay longer on lane.
She can max E for in lane sustain but then her fighting abilites arent that strong.
Her Q cuts your armor, keep this in mind.
She have 0 base hp regen, her only way to get hp is Items / Passive and E, which means she have limited sustain early on, so chuking here before all in is effective.
Itemization:
Going eclipse with sundered is good bursty start into her.
Armor boots are ok here especially if they have Ad oriented team.
Camille
Power level:
She is weaker early on, but on her kit alone she still can be usefull for team, and eventually shed be stronger.
Game plan:
She would start Q or W lvl 1 based on her preference but mostly Q. And her idea is Q1 the minnion and then AA + Q2 on you utilizing her passive shield to neutralize your damage.Ideally you want to make sure she uses Q on minions, then get close to bait her passive shield with her AA, and fight her after its done and between her Q's.When she gets her W try to not being hit by it(At least the outer part of it as it gives her sustain).And this is your entire laning, plus dodge her E by yours. One of default trade patterns of Camille is Q1 something like minion, then E into opponent Q2 and dissengage with W. All said, when she used Q1 start looking for angle she is looking to E into you, so you would be prepared to fight back.
Tips:
After her Q1 is landed she have a short MS boost, keep this mind.
Sheen gives her good power spike if she gets it as 1st recall item
You can cancel her E2 by body blocking it OR using W or Q3 at moment when her ziplines are connected
Her R cast makes her untargetable, she can avoid your R2 or any other ability with it, keep this in mind.
Her W outer cast heals her and slows you, try to go inside or outside of it
Her E gives her small burst of AS
Itemization:
Her Q gives her TRUE damage, which only countered by HP but for majority of times regular build is fine.But if somehow youre failed keep in mind that building armor into her makes almost no sense.
None the less, getting Deaths Dance a solid item as there are 4 more champions for item to be worthy
Cassiopeia
Power level:
This champion meant to be good into short ranged/melee champions, but she skillshot based, so you can beat her early but with items she will become tankier and more damaging.
Game plan:
She have a low mana pool on early stages.Lvl 1 she cant really contest as her base E dmg is not effecient.Lvl 2 She will get Q(or E if she started Q) And might trade with you, so avoid her Q's early and she wont be able to do much. On lvl 3...she might get W to neutralize you or go for Q/E points to just scale.Trick part would be to stay out of her W as she can land Q on it and look for R angle to all in.Other than taht generall gameplay vs her gonna stay same.
Tips:
Her mana is major Weakness at early stages
She can't get boots as item, meaning her MS is based on Landing Q and Levels, but that also means she can use all slots for Damaging items.
If she lands her Q(Green dot on the ground) She will get MS and her damage against target is increased, so if you can dodge it, she deals no damage.
Her W(Purple area) not allowing you to use your skills so best to walk out of it
If she gets Rylais she can E for slow and that would alow her to land her Q easier
Keep in mind her runes as she can go phaserush for kiting and that might change how lane is played and she would be harder to catch but deal less dmg a bit.
Cho'Gath
Power level:
Early on he have no consistent damage and no tankiness to stand his ground, but with level he gets plenty free HP and some items making him harder to kill and his R still scales with HP and can be dangerous.
Game plan:
Based on runes and his plan he would go E start/max(when Grasp/Hail of Blades) or Q start/max (With comet).If E start you should not let him use it all on you as it deals plenty % dmg and if he runs Hail of Blades then it would deal chunk of your HP bar.In this case wait when E runs off then run him down. If he starts Q even easier, avoid being hit and still run him down :) This would most likely conclude his kit, E is timed after activation and you can wait it out, avoid being hit by Q and run him down
Tips:
His W silence deals no damage if hes not building AP items but still silences you. This is still a skill shot, if you jump trough him in close range it would be harder for him to land it.In lane it most likely wont change the outcome much so do not flee from it but try avoiding being hit by it.
Last hiting minions heals him and gives mana, so if he kills them he gets free sustain and mana.If he goes AP with Q max that might mean his sustain would be good but no deffense
His R deals a lot of damage to Objectives(Based on Level and items deals as smite or more damage than smite). Also providing a stack for Cho, so for him is good to R Objective
Itemization:
His R is execution based on hp, so getting HP items is good into him
Darius
Power level:
You can Beat him early, its gonna depend on him.You can snowball for 15 minutes of the game and its gonna get a bit harder and his passive with R might kick in but if all done right you lead should stay till end of game.
Game plan:
You have to check what he got lvl1 to see how would go, if he starts W then poke him and dont get hit by his W or he will run you down lvl 1, if he Started Q(Spinning skill) Then you can run him down or fight out of the wave just stay in inner circle of his spinning Q skill.You would have to chip him slowly down with short trades and then all in when hes low enough.Make you Q delay as much as you can and not end up Q3 near him thats his que to go in on you.This is mostly a skill matchup till one side gets a lead and snowballs it out controll.One more thing is phising for E wheres you have to trick him to use his E and then punish him if he misses or try to Q/E into inner range of his follownig Q to minimize his effort.
Tips:
His outer range Q heals him by a lot so try staying close into him while he uses his Q
His W slows you by a lot so this good for him. If he last hits CS with it then its off cooldown instantly, but if CS didn't die then his W on CD and you have an opportunity to go in.So you can fish for it but this wont be a reliable source.On lvl 1-2 if you endup near wihtout cooldowns and he uses W on you...you kinda dead.
E is pull which skill you must fish for.There are few tricks to it, you go on max range and stay, then step forward and as his animation starts changing you can E away.In close proximity you can try using E/Q trough him or Up/Down from your location to avoid being hit by this ability.
Keep a sharp eye on your cooldowns and location, as if he spots you nearby without cd's he can just run you down and thats how many Rivens die.
Itemization:
You can go regular build, you can do Black cleaver rush as extra mobility and hp would help you out, but having an early Cleaver makes Eclipse as bad 2nd-3rd option and you better of going into DD 2nd or Sundered. Also sundered rush into Profane Hydra.
Diana
Power level:
Who ever gets the lead wins :) BUT Riven can win early.
Game plan:
Level 1 she have only 1 cast of Q while you have 3, do the math :).If she gets W first even simpler, wait it out then bash her.Before she get nashors tooth, shes not really fond of extended fights and if you block and avoid her damage you can beat her.Her idea is to cast spell Q / E / W and in between do few autos as this would maximize her dmg and out put.But Riven's kit allows to kite and avoid being hit by Q's.On 6 you both have burst sso it would be defined on how early levels went.
Tips:
For her to jump twice on you, she need to land her Q on you, if you dodge it, she deals less dmg
Her Q flies in moon shaped, knowing this and and moving accordingly might help to avoid being hit by it.
Each ability cast gives her short AS burst, keep timing of her spells gives her prolonged AS steroid.But if she pressed her buttons at once gives her no chance to fight back.
Itemization:
You can get early hexdrinker to help fighting her.
Dr. Mundo
Power level:
Early game you should dominate but at late game he might boink you and gets super hard to kill
Game plan:
On level 1 mundo most likely gonna take Q to at least farm and gonna stay at distance and try farming with Q's.So you should form waves to push into you, however if he decides to fight you can deal a lot of damage to him.And farm him till he gets first few items.
Tips:
Proc his passive with Q3 or W and don't let him pick it up, it steal deals dmg to him and helps to lock him later.
Post 6 you need to make sure you have ingite for all in, or he would live trough
HIs R cdr always 2 mins, however you building cdr from start and from 11 + your's shorter but lvl 6 nearly same cd
After finishing Warmogs, poking around is no longer makes sense as he would get full health in moments of time wheres you not.So you either all in with kill or just proxy and farm
Itemization:
If game goes into late game you might consider taking heal cut item as fioght into him get so long that ignite just wont be enough anymore.
Keeping eclipse is good as its provides % damage.
Fiddlesticks
Power level:
You are stronger from level 1 in raw damage output BUT he have ways to make your game quite nervous
Game plan:
Most likely Fid would start E to silence you and farm till level 2.Then he can either get W or Q depending on lane state.
Offensive path, trick his E and then beat him down, and keep W to stop his W sustain. Build slowpush towards yourself and do not let him sustain from wave.His Q is impossible to trick so theres not much could be done, if you plan to beat him try to stand on side closer to his tower so even if he fears you, your model would walk towards his towar(Fear forces feared model to ward away from enemy, if he walks top, your model would move towards bot) as possible retrating path.
Deffensive path is to do classing 2 waves into proxy and avoid laning as most likely this would be boring and if he plays safe he will outsustain you eventually, but you can look for early kill as well.
Tips:
You can interupt his heal by Q3 and W this drops his DPS and sustain.
You can cancel his R casting with Q3 or W.
Fiora
Power level:
Skill matchp early on, on late game she will be way stronger.
Game plan:
This match is dance and mental triggers, she will start to Q and would try pocking you out.So Footsies is mandatory here.On lvl 1 if she does blunder you can look to kill but thats unlikely, mostly lvl 2 have more chances.However on level 3 it gets easier for you to move but also trickier.
You would need to find ways to trigger W as this is something fiora can't react, she can only predict.So you either use it on engage to deal damage and go back, or at end of the trade before you fall back.This would be most of the game.On 6 your movements should cover one vital and fight her, also must keep in mind how to approach her W as during your stun she cant use it, so this is skill fights, who plays who.
Tips:
Look out for tricks, such as PTA/Exchaust fiora might out duel you level 1
VItals spawn in pattern and simply put you can remember that they spawn more or less in dirrections -> you can mentaly split spots into 2 positions TOP/RIGHT and BOT/LEFT so simply put if Vital was on BOT/LEFT next one gonna be TOP/RIGHT followed by BOT/LEFT. This is really simple but might help you out to understand her intentions.
When Fiora uses parry you still have time to react and E or Flash to the side avoiding her stun.
Fiora can use parry on red plants and stun
Fiora W greatly reduces AS, being hit by it even without stun will reduce your DPS
If Fiora does not connect her Q with any target then its cooldown is higher, this is helpful when chasing or running.
After procing Vital she gets small MS burst, thats might be tricky.
When Fiora uses R try fighting near wall to block one of the Vitals from easy access, other way is harder but move in a way to keep One of the vitals out of reach, its easier than to try cover all of them.
Gangplank
Power level:
Early game you can try snowballing if hes allowing it, with items he starts to do heavy crit dmg but not something you can't outlay :)
Game plan:
They usually can do Barrel start, go in middle bush and trigger it on wave plus you.Or he can go Q start and poke from far away.Here you would need to play footsies game and find ways to punish him for steping close to you.General idea is to play around his barrels and dont get free Q dmg.IF he is playing super safe early on then you need to boost yourself by proxy and roams.His idea is to scale as he will be strong whe he farms a lot.
Tips:
Barrel proc is something you would develop with time but one of tricks to try is to use AA then press S to stop animation and force him to strike sooner and then finish with your auto.But this also might backfire.
When GP's blade is on fire , signals that passive is up and it can be proced only by auto, so look for him autoing the minion before trade.You also hear a audio que when he proc.
GP passive deals TRUE dmg and can be reset when he explodes barrels.
Garen
Power level:
Counts as Riven counter,but you can beat him early stages of the game but as game progresses he can one tap you :D or be super annoyng in fights (if goes full dmg)
Game plan:
Most garens have no plans on how to deal with Riven which means you can try abusing this fact.If he starts Q step back to lure him in and try Q backwards one to avoid being hit by it and is runs out fight back.If he starts E let him spin and avoid being hit by it and as it about to run out you go in as he have nothing left. IF by lvl2 hes low you can get W and try bursting him down, otherwise take E, when he gets close you E back his Q and as his spin about to run out, you turn from retrating to atacking,Generally when you trade him few times, try procing his passive with Q3 to keep him from sustain.With this ability to fight early try to get some upper hand with wave management or killing him few times.Then you would need to switch to proxy and looking to kill JG/Other Lanes.
Tips:
Most Garens would try to use their W shield for your Q3, if you can trick him using W then hes would be without deffensive ability and easier to kill
Itemization:
Regular eclipse rush is good if you doing well into the lane, if going bad do Black Cleaver rush into Sundered and followed by Deaths Dance.There is world to rush Rav but that would be a bit suicidal.
IF you really feel like needing it you can get Steraks Gage...no shame in that ;)
Gnar
Power level:
You can handle him early on but trough the game he will be annoying to play into.
Game plan:
He will most likely Start Q and start to be annoying since level 1, and try poking you.Another footsies matchup, if he comes close for punishment go int and beat him up, just make sure you wont waste all Q's to get to him or he will run you down.When he gets his jump your gameplan would slightly shift, you use Q's to get to him and force him to jump away, and as your Q's get back you go in again and beat him as he won't get his jump back yet.This would be major interaction for early game.However when he transforms he will become melee which means easier to get to him, but also gives him free HP and tanky stats.So its easier to kill him while hes small :)
Tips:
If you make him lose Q then it would have a longer cooldown.(In melee, if he didn't pick it up also longer)
Each transformation gives him HP making him regen on each iteration.Keep this in mind as long laning would hill him up.
Gragas
Power level:
Super crin... annoying whole game but early game you can kill him few times and try snowball from there.
Game plan:
On level 1 he gets E or Q and would try to harass you when you go for minions.You would beed to play around his Barrel and belly bump (E).HIs idea might be from patterns:
He will try to E you and Q with W passive and then he have nothing left you can run him down.
He would react to your Q3 and E to cancel you with Q and W proc then fall back.
Look on where he puts his Q try to be in position so even if he bumps you , it would pull you away , or block his E behind minions . On early level he will quickly drain from mana, so you have this as second possibility to kill him.After lane you should try looking else where to boost yourself : proxy/roams as with items and levels he would be super hard to kill/get away so better to boost yourself elsewhere.
Tips:
His belly can be blocked by minion, covering yourself behind them might help :)
Abilities gives him hp regen, so each time he procs passive he being healed.Not much but over period of time is enough
Gwen
Power level:
You can play around her abilities early game and neglect some of her damage to get early lead but with items this might be hard especially if you are not ahead.And eventually shell be scary.
Game plan:
Depending on play style she would start E or Q.If She starts Q you will see her passive stacking on her HP bar. As she gets 3-4 stack's she woul try Q on you, your goal is to go trough her or to the side and trade with her as she have nothing left.If she starts E you can do short trade and step back as she can out dps you, however if you can kite her towards your side you can bait her and go back in as Gwens E wears down.Thats be your plan for game, when Gwen plans to Q you, try to be on top of her and go trough(she still might prepare and reposition with E, so you must decide where to move). When Gwen gets her R it will be even more tricky but you still can dodge them from distance, easies way is to distance for easier dodge and after R and go back in.
Tips:
Her W gives her some tanky stats, try baiting it first
Her Q can be redirected by her E or flash, this might lead to unexpected damages.
Her Q main gamage gets in the middle, so you should position to the side to get less damage if you can't get trough her.
Heimerdinger
Power level:
Early game will be pressuring alot but as you get more Ability Haste you can deal with him easier
Game plan:
This would be super non-fun lane, as you will get constantly pushed in but his damage out can be beaten early on.He most likely gona setup his towers in lane they would take some of your damage to be taken down if you decide to go this path they recharge 20secs, to get full 3 towers he needs 1 minute, if you can quickly dismantle them before lane start you can do it.Otherwise you would need to play wave and try to not be pushed in and dont lose hp for free.Depending on how he places turrets you can kill him on early states.Then if he plays well gonna be harder as he might just baricade and play safe.Try avoiding being hit by grenade as you will be hit by turrets and also alows him to freecast W into you. I would look to proxy as much as possible this lane.And when you get some items and haste without falling behind you can punish him.
Tips:
Running near towers he gets more Movement speed
His base hp regen is quite good.
Illaoi
Power level:
You have chance to kill her early game but as game progresses it becomes harder and scarier.
Game plan:
General idea in lane is to reduce amount of her passive tentacles without taking free damage and dodge her E, then it would be harder for her to kill you.On early game She would try to place her tentacles and spam W to get max dps and sustain, trying to preemtively kill them would help to lower her damage.On lvl 2 she most likely gonna get Q or E, they are skillshots so you should dodge them (E the most).When you both hit level 3 you have is point when you must trade and not being hit by her E. If you fail you will be pushed out of lane quickly as after her E ends, she will have it up again.On 6 when planning all in, make sure you have ignite up and AVOID being hit by her E as if she E + R your chance of killing her would be much smaller.
Tips:
Every slam of tentacle heals her, so if you do not dodge them you get hit and sustain her
When she ults all her tentacles are untargetable so she would try to E you before R or utilize all tentacles around , meaning less of them around better for you. But as she ults she still spawns tentacles for each champion being hit by initial R
There is a TRICK she can use, when you are in her E passive and new tentacle spawn and tries to hit you, if she R's and W properly that same tentacle can try aiming you again almost instantly even if she acts out of your sight.
When you got caugh by her E, before panic runing away check amount of tentacles around you that could reach.Meaning that on early states of game you should sometimes fight your ground even in her E.
Illaoi game play is based on landing her E so she would try to fish for it and hide cast with other spells like Casting W into E or Q into E.Another way is to hide behind cs and bait her E before going all in.
Irelia
Power level:
Early game you have advantage but if you fail she will beat you down.So this is one way snowballing with Riven having slight edge early levels.
Game plan:
From game start before she is fully stacked you have upper hand and lvl if she starts Q might be tricky when shes stacked. So you can try zoning her from 3 minions or chunk her if shes to fight without stacks but for that you must be in position to do so.On level 2 agressive Irelia might take E and look for fishy stun, so on level 2 check what shes got but expect her to have stun for extra dps. Level on wards would be same, try fight her before she is stacked and dont get hit by her E, for that you can keep E to dodge it as its faster than Q( with Q you can get bugged and you need extra click which is added overhead for reacting) With your early damage you have more damage in fights unless you get hit by everything.And keep ignite ready for fight as she will rush BOTRK adding extra sustain.
Tips:
If for some reason she runs Lethal Tempo AND/OR Exchaust , she might be beating you early keep eye for these things(unlikely but who knows)
Her kit gives her plenty sustain so try avoiding meaningless trades.Especially when he gets Vampiric scepter -> Botrk
Her mobility is around minions around, meaning without wave she is not mobile :)
One of ways to mess up with Irelia is to have NASHOR buff as then for her super hard to reliably jump on wave as minions wont be as killable.
She have some trics to hide her E animations like:
-> She goes into bush places E1 then walks out and Q in with E2
-> When she Q's the minion she can cast E1 so you see her go in but animation of E1 being placed is not as visible then she E2 you.
-> When She R->Q she will use E inisde as theres plenty blades and extra pair for stun is hardly noticeable.
These are most common trick of her hiding her E animation.
Jax
Power level:
You have chances to kill him early but if he gets ahead this would be extremelly hard as his E cooldown goes down and he can get frozen heart making you slightly useless against him.Then you would need assistance from your team to handle him :|
Game plan:
Lvl 1 almost unchanged and there are few ways to handle it.
Jax would start E 99% of times and you can either start W to stun his E and back of or start Q to farm and Q away his E and potentilly Q back in depending on how he uses it.
This game prioritize short trades before you get items, as Jax excells in long fights wheres you not.
This is another footsies game where clicks matter, and you also want to Q delay this matchup as much as possible.And idea is that when you Q delay, and kite his E, your Q goes back online allowing to punish him for that.
Tips:
Jax deals mixed damage which makes it a bit hard to efficiently itemize against him but generally Armor works unless he builds AP items.
On lvl6 with R even 1v1 he gets extremely tanky so try to chunk him before all in.
More Enemies gets hit by his initial R cast more tankier he gets.
He can still can jump on Wards he place giving him an escape chances.
Some time ago you could cancel his W with yours and now there no point even trying it.
If he just Q jumps on you, you can E + W away and then depending on his actions you can do quick Q trade before falling back.
Jayce
Power level:
His kit is good against Riven at all stages of game, depending on how good he is you still can find opportunities to kill him and get lead.
Game plan:
This is super tricky matchup and based on knoweledge from both ends.
Path 1: Proxy 3-4 waves from level1 on far end, depending on movement from Jayce and Jungler pathing.Be prepare to suicide to tower if they would move on you.This good since you would get lvl 3 wihtout losing much, get a recall.
Path 2: Outspace him and outsmart him but if hes good this gonna be hard.Usually they start Q to try poking you down plus Q Hammer is engage tool.Avoid being hit by ranged Q and free autos, if he goes in you can fight him back.If he starts E he will push you on on engage.In both cases trying to reach lvl 3 with not losing much hp is goal.
On level 3 you must play around his cooldowns and look for misstep and misuse of abilities.When he is in Hammer form and uses Q not on you, you have small window to strike.If he looks to use it on you then go back and wait for switch to Ranged form and this is you way to fight him as he have no tools to get rid of you.
In generall sense he want to spam E / Q with Ranged form, then go Hammer form and Q engage on you, do AA and E you away. This way he chunks, slows and pushes you away, and you must use most of abilites to get to him which is not effecient and you need to look for his mistakes and play from it.
Tips:
When he get W, in Hammer form his basic attacks restores his mana, this is something to keep in mind.
After switching forms he have a delay when he can't switch back, meaning this is best window you can get to fight him, if he happend to not controll this aspec you can easily punish him.
K'Sante
Power level:
You have a window till level 6 to kill him, after that he becomes kind of unkillable.
Game plan:
This is dodge ball game, where you should dodge his Q3 and W and punch him in between these abilities to lower his HP.Lvl 1 he will get Q and will spam it, so try dodging his Q casts and punch him back, sadly its on quite long cooldown, and Q3 pulls you in, try find short windows after his Q3.On lvl 3 keep eye on his W (When he charges) as its unstopable and allows him to gap close to keep spamming his Q.So you must jump around his spells and land yours, but as he builds tanky and gets damage, with items it gets super hard and takes super long, plus he can kill you.After lvl 6 your best bet is to proxy/roam.
Tips:
Early levels are your biggest chance to kill him, and thats when his mana pool is smallest and you can try utilizing it.
He builds deffensive getting damage from it.
His R loosesn bonus defenses by a lot and reducing his hp to certain threshold meaning he would be less tanky during his R but also Deals more damage as he gets 50% armor pen, AS and Omnivamp.So if you not behinds its good to kill him then.
Itemization:
This is one of these games where you can consider getting black cleaver with sundered to get more tanky for longer fights but that means eclipse wont be as effecient.
Kayle
Power level:
Early game her damage is super low and she's melee before 6 makin its hard for her.But post lvl 13 with items her damage gets high and her R makes it harder to kill her.
Game plan:
Lvl1 you should zone her from 3 minions , proxy wave 3-4 and recall.Then set lane so keep minions on your side so for every minion she would need to walk up exposing her self for punishment.Things to look out when trading is that her Q slows and reduces defensive stats, being hit by it with with Kayle using her W heal gives her good tool to keep distance.Big drawback for this approach is it drains her mana super quick, but this cancels your All in so play around it and you can easily beat her down pre level 13.
Tips:
Her R coooldown on 6 is 2.5 mins, where's Riven is 2 mins plus Riven builds plenty ability Haste lowering it even more.
With PTA/Exchaust or Ignite she can deal heavy damage early.
IF you pushing into her constantly you deserve to lose this game.AS you allowing her to scale.You must keep minions on your side and punish her.Another thing, you can stack 2-3 waves, crash and proxy incoming wave into recall gives you plenty time to get back with items wheres she would be forced to stay and die from you or lose all of it.
If you have an early Jungler pathing your way, set up big crashes and dive her with Jungler to get plates and deny her.
Kayn
Power level:
Before form kayn is not as strong, but when he gets form things might change
Game plan:
Most likely he will look to just proxy all laning phase as his kit allows it and he is not strong 1v1 into Riven early on.If he decides to fight you level 1, then you can kill him in few rotations.
Both of his damaging abilities are more or less skill shots and have only 1 cast, so your Q in generall is way better :)
Tips:
Going into walls slightly heals him
Controlling him when he enters the wall will prevent him, so if he tries to flee trough wall W or Q3 might stop him.
Kennen
Power level:
Early game is hard and with items/level you can handle him but he would still have tools to get away, but his main focus would be R in fights and not 1v1 a Riven.
Game plan:
As any other ranged lane you can go 2 ways:
1.Proxy level 1-3 by farmin first 3-4 waves depending on movements of Jungler and Laner, and be ready to execute yourself as at this rate its faster and more secure.
2.Try to get to level 3 not losing much health
Kennen have few points he playing from:
1.He stacks passive then his Shuriken is covered with lightning, he would want to then AA you and pres W then walk away
2.Hit you with Q
3.If you engage him he would E away while stunning you and then will kite you
On level 1-2 you can look for his missteps and try poking him down but in generall sense they wont allow you to do so, and you would need to just get levels.
Try to look for proxy/roam angle as laning against him is not often fruitful
Tips:
To get stun, Kennen needs to proc 3 passives, breifly keeping track of passives might be helpfull.To add proc he needs to His abilities.
E cooldown is decent so you can bait him to use it , then strike before it comes back online.
Itemization:
Early Merc might help as he will trigger stun quite often.
Kled
Power level:
He is strong early from early level but you can chunk him and eventually kill, with items he gets even stronger but that also means your ability to fight him grows.If he goes full lethality/AD this might be tricky as then his DPS would be massive.
Game plan:
He starting Q, and try to dodge this so you can fight. he will use Q to fight you and also wave clear.In your trades try to stay high hp as droping form pet.When hes unmounted track his yellow bar as it inidcated when he get a mount back.When he is unmounted try to bait and avoid being Q as it would give him escape and fill the mount meter.On level 2 he gets E or W , if E then he would get double gap close if he hits first, if W he will get burst dps which you need to avoid.
From here game plan is all the same, you Dodge his Q and avoid fighting when his W is up.
Manging his mount is another topic which is annoying as you have to spend resources to get him unmounted then try killing him over and over untill he dies.
-> One of the tricks is to get him low with mount on, then on another go all in and unmount and nuke him.
-> Unmount , fall back to wait cooldowns and all in to nuke him, but if you fail, you might die for it.
-> In lane try to not be hasty and do short trades and try to boost yourself over looking a way to kill, as killing him is not mandatory to win.
Tips:
He can't controll his W, so you need to keep track and go in when he used it on wave.
Malphite
UGH, this guy...
Power Level: This is one OF neutralizing matches, hes idea is to deny you the snowballing potential, you have small window early on to kill him few times, then its super hard and makes 0 sense to put so much effort.
Game plan : Early game is your biggest window to kill him.Hes not really mechanical champion so you can just kill him early on.Block his Q with your E if he is maxing Q(With Comet rune), and chip away his shield with bone plating, and while they down just run him down.
After he gets some armor he gets harder to kill and then you need to look out of his E(He slams his hands to the ground and you attack speed drops down to 0 and your Q combo just wont work) so try to E or Q out to avoid being hit by it and try to chip his passive out before trading.They would plan to hit you with R when your'e low or to setup ganks. When he gets some armor items makes no sense to lane into him, look for other ways to snowball your lead like proxy or crash and rotate.Keep in mind a 0-20 Malphite still usefull as he still can R your adc with E(reduce Attack speed) or You and win fights. That is why you should look for ways to boost yourself elsewhere.
Tips:
E - (Malphite spanks the ground) lowers your attack speed drastically , means your combos would be slow, so try to avoid being hit or kite away if you were.Otherwise you wont be able to do much fighting.
Comet rune means he most likely gonna max Q and be less tanky early on. Block Q with your E and punish him
Grasp run means he will be tanky and most likely would be maxing W(best way into Riven) because it gives good chunk of armor for free and his passive shield gonna be even stronger.He will stack grasp and will try to AA + W reset on you for chunk.Keep and eye on this.
If they have bulky topside you can rush Black Cleaver in this lane helping you dealing damage.Other path is so get a Tiamat item(RAV/Profane) And farm like crazy to boost yourself with gold but this way you might risking to be killed.Another viable option is to rush Sundered Sky (usually followed by Death Dance) and just farm but this way you can proc sundered to slowly chip him down and stay healthy.And you can follow regular build path Eclipse into Sundered Sky.
KEEP in mind that eventually your goal as Riven is to kill key Character in enemy team and Malphite is never one of them, this might be something like enemy ADC if its win con or MId laner, but never a Malphite.So you realistically should not build around him. Imagine enemy team have a 20-0 twitch that can 1v9...but if you nuke him and they lose that ability then Malphite is just a piece of meat to be taken down, however if you trade your life for Malphite that same fed Twitch will wipe your team for free
Maokai
Power level:
Ugh, you can darin him from mana and kill on early levels but eventually that would make no sense and you would need to proxy/roam to keep boosting your lead.
Game plan:
He will most likely start Q and would knock you away as you try to fight him by you still can try.Level 2 he can get W and avoid your damage, something like Q3 then Q you away and walk back.During fights would heal from your casts and eventually can hold the wave near tower so you better off planning your waves ahead.
He is not really able to kill you, his strenght is mostly setting up ganks, so if you keep eye on Jungler and fall back in time you be in no danger.
Tips:
Your abilites heal him, kinda.His passivge heal getting charges from abilites used nearby, meaning while you use spells you charge his passive that heals him.
He gonna place his E sapplings into bush more than directly in lane as it makes them stronger and deal more damage, keep that in mind.
His W makes him untargetable so he can dodge something from you like R2.
Itemization:
This is one of the games where you can rush Tiamat item, something like RAV to vacuum all gold on map you can reach.
Mordekaiser
Power level:
Should be easy early on unless you made some blunders and fell behind.With items he just gets tanky and annoying where you should focus more critical target in fights.
Game plan:
Lvl 1 you are stronger IF you can bait his passive out, then you can just fight him to death.When you start trade, you will see big circle around him, walk out, and after its gone you can all in again and kill him.Level 2 he most likely gonna get E which increase his damage output and allows to pull you in or out.This is technically ability you need to look out when chunking him.On level 3 he get shield/heal, and you have to play around it.
Bait his passive before planning to all in, and time his W to not use any DPS into his shield.
For short trades you can use only Q's while holding your E. You go in with Q's do some trading and fall back, when Morde try to pull you back with his E you can use yours to cancel it.
Tips:
Q in isolation deals a lot of damage, so fighting in waves is better.
W Shield is roughly 10 sec cd so you can count it when planning to strike.
E gives him free magic pen, keep it in mind.
R steals your stats, making you slightly weaker and him slightly stronger.
Itemization:
If there are one more champion with shields it would be good to get Antishield as this is big part of his kit.
Nasus
Power level:
Super weak early on, and with time he will boink you 1v1
Game plan:
Your best bet is to kill him on early level before he scales.Level 1 zone him from early exp.Try killing him on level 2 spike, or 2 waves + proxy -> recall.Then freeze on wave on your side and punish him for atempting to farm.Keep him low.
Keeping him in this state is good till certain point,eventually it would be better to go proxy/roam and try to take tower if possible or fight for Grubs/Shelly as holding yourself against him works for him better as with time passed he becomes strong so you can't stall the lane for long.Try going for early kills, if it doesnt work change tactics and start moving and proxying.
Tips:
Hardest part would be his W that slows you and your AS by for 5 seconds which means your Q + AA be supper hard to pull off, walking away also wont be possible, on early level your stats override it but with levels when you can't 1 tap him tables would turn.If you want to experiment you can get Cleanse and get Antiheal item(Start with 800g piece and keep it there).Or use ignite and get QSS item,but these are not ordinary decisions and fully optional
Nasus R deals a lot of AOE damage, try to not fight in his R
Nasus R makes his Q to be super short cooldown.
Nasus E eats your deffensive stats so try fughting outside
Nasus E biggest damage comes from cast, then damage goes down.
Olaf
Power level:
Kinda hard one, you still have chance to kill him few times in early levels but with levels and items he will run trough you.
Game plan:
On lvl 1 he will start 1 and can run down many lanes as it slow and removes armor.You can trick and dodge it to drain his mana.You try to play with him on early level but its safer to get to level 2-3.You would have to be carefull fighting him and try baiting his W shield and block his E but this would be mostly wild guess.
Main thing to keep in mind that any extended fight is better for him, especially with hispassive that gives him more AS/Omnivamp lower he is meaning he will win.So short trades, avoid his Q and keep ignite ready.
Tips:
Q reduced your armor on hit and cooldown is refreshed when picked up meaning while he have mana he can throw Q all the time.
E deals true damage
R can be on forever as long as he keep hitting.Going away for few seconds only way to break it.
Ornn
Power level:
Another anti Riven, you can get 1-2 early kills then you better off proxy/roaming
Game plan:
He will start Q and will spam pillar till lvl 2 or go W and Push.Either case you can trade with him but if he starts W then avoid being marked and proc of that mark.Wiggle him slowly and kill.If its already impossible go proxy :)
Biggest points would be to not get mark proced for free as this deals plenty damage.You can play around pillar and walls to bait his engage but this takes some practice as range is a bit bigger than you would expect it to be.
Tips:
He dont need to recall to get items, keep that in mind as he can get tanky without recalling :<
His W is unstopable so do not try canceling it with your Q3 or W.
Stun when hes about to R2 would deny him it.
Itemization:
This game you also can look towards Tiamat item like RAV for farming map
Pantheon
Power level:
Rough lane, you can try and win early but if you fail, then its misery till end, but if you just scale or able to snowball then youre good.
Game plan:
He is supper offensive since level 1 and you can do few ways:
1.Safely play till level 3
2.Try to fist fight him from level 1
Going way 2 can snowball your lane to one who get early lead, meaning if you made blunder or die forget about laning phase.BUT he have 5 stacks to have enchances spell and this would be Q, so as soon as he uses his enhanced spear, dodge and look to fight him.On level 2 he might take either Stun to go into you E would be his deffense.If he gets W then move forward to minimize distance he would try to cover, if E try to wait and also kite towards him if plan to strike and back if not.
General plan would be avoid fights when hes on 5 stacks, avoid his Q poke with your movement, when he tries to stun you try to counter it by W/Q3, if you want to step away you can try E->W away or offensively.When he uses shield strike from behind and try to not waste any dps into it.
Tips:
On level 6 you have edge because you get offensive ability and he not.
He can blcok your R2 damage with his SHIELD keep it in mind.
When you below 20% hp he will deal way more damage, so you have to be cautious fighting on low hp.
If planning to fight early, take flat hp in runes to have edge to fight on low hp.
On 6 keep eyes if he would move with R to mid or back to lane, people tend to not think of it.
With enough training you can time your Q3 when he stuns you or W his W making window to fight or get away propelry.But this is rough and easier to bigger the distance.
Poppy
Power level:
Another Riven counter...entire game would be rough but if you play better than he, you can kill him early 1-2 times and try snowball via proxy/roams.
Game plan:
On level one she will have Q, and its dodgeable so play around it while wiggling her, also keep eye on passive, make her use it on minion then fight her while dodging its damage.On level 2 she most likely gonna pick W and now its a mind game, you can't use E or Q withing it so your mouse clicks would be most important.You can W to stop her from chasing or running but thats it.If she is holding her W then she will try to use it on your engage but one to keep an eye on is Q3 as this is one that have cc.
When she gets first armor item it would be really hard to kill her on top of her kit, so look for proxy/roam angles and scale to kill their mid/adc.
Tips:
If she didn't finish her R cast, then cooldown on her R would be short.
Her W passive gives her free defenses, and its doubled when below 40% meaning on low hp she gets extremelly tanky for free.
Quinn
Power level:
Game plan:
As any other ranged lane you can go 2 ways:
1.Proxy level 1-3 by farmin first 3-4 waves depending on movements of Jungler and Laner, and be ready to execute yourself as at this rate its faster and more secure.
Tips:
2.Try to get to level 3 not losing much health
Renekton
Power level:
You have opportunity to beat him early and stay slightly ahead, but eventually he can boink you :) and if you made a mistake just 15.
Game plan:
Lvl 1 he usually gets Q or E which is not enough to fight back lvl 1.So you have to fight him off the wave, chunk and kill if possible.Another option is to stack 2 waves, proxy 3rd and recall.Main thing is that you have to fight him while he have no Fury(red bar).Meaning his skills do less damage and less heal.If all went well and you were able to get small lead, then try to not die and farm and scale as even being 1 item ahead of Renekton he still can kill you 1v1.Get lead early levels and snowball it.
Tips:
Fight when he have no Fury as this makes him slighly weaker
His fury will start to fade if hes not atacking or using spells
He can R cancel stun animation,which can be deadly.Idea is that he gets 50 fury then W + R + AA + Q and that might be one shot and all of it during his stun animation.Be aware of it.
Itemization:
Armor boots are adviced but not mandatory, you can play with any boots you like but as beginner they might help out.
Depending on what runes/items Renekton is doing you can adjust but as generall i would try to get eclipse with sundered if i am not falling behind and Deaths Dance next.If however you somehow behind...You should check for cheap items with hp, so Black Cleaver, Sundered/Soujin and Deaths Dance
Rengar
Power level:
From level 1 game could go both directions depending on how game started.
Game plan:
No point chasing him around bushes, play on the river side of the lane and prepare to Q him once he jumps out to farm.So stay away enough so he wont jump you but jump farm.He would start q and will push you in, in this lane its ok as long as you dont give him an edge.On level 2 he will pick E so he can jump from bush E and Q and go back.If you space properly and play on outer edge of bushes you will be fine.On level 6 you will have more direct damage unlike him but he might try using his ulty to run away or gank mid.So you must keep an eye when you both reach level 6.
Tips:
When he have full stacks, he can either do extra damage on Q or cleanse your stun , you must keep eye on what he is using during fight.
Rumble
Power level:
In lane he have an edge over you and you can be easily beated donw but after than he have no chance unless you fail.
Game plan:
His kit is very strong early on especially against melle champions.His Q level one allows him push and fight you at once so you can't even hide behind the wave, but you can trick him to use it on wave and make him push towards you just make sure you not losing to much hp.Here you rather scale the laning phase.When he gets 2 and he can trhrow his slow this makes lane a bit more tricky as if he slows you he can run you down, and these you should try to avoid at all costs.So just scale and farm what you can,if you can find a proxy angle then good.
Tips:
Keep an eye on his heat level, if hes overheats early on and beat you down.
Itemization:
You can get early hex drinker to stay safe while you scale.
Sejuani
Power level:
You can kill her early level but as any other tank it wont make much sense after an item.
Game plan:
This almost not gonna be played but if this gonna happen just fight her level 1 and avoid her Q or W both affect the wave but after that she have nothing left so you can beat her down.With W Q her clear becomes super good but if she spends all her spell on wave then nothing left on you, and you can capitalize on it.Just keep in mind her W pushes minions away meaning they wont be striking her for extra damage early on.
But in general her spells are skillshots, dodge them and beat her early.After she get some armor switch to proxy/roam.
Tips:
Early mana pool is low so you can use it against her as well.
Sett
Power level:
You can find ways to kill him on early level but with items he will become tanky and can one tap you.
Game plan:
This is footsies game where you must trick him oh his E stun and beat him.
Every sett playe have its own way to start lane
-> E to stun an try fight you in wave lvl 1
-> Q and just play on nerve hoping you will bail and fall down.
-> W to stack it from all your Q's and then throw back, in this ase his regen would keep him healthy
Generally hes strong from level 1 so you would need to Q in Q + A and W E away. These short trades might work if you have engaged first but he also would be looking to E you. Here you can E sideways as the skill is linear.You can come close, stop and E to the side, but it might be under sharp angle.Another way to Dodge from max distance, then look for trade but this always keep in mind that trades fills his W bar and you would need to avoid it while retreating.
Tips:
He have insane base regeneration based on missing health so leaving him low would actually heal him up, keep that in mind.After few mins on 100 hp he will be healthy and you not.
If he E single target it would be only slow and not stun.Meaning if you figth in wave and can clear it before his E, then no stun :)
Watch out his position in fights if he grabs tank/health stacking champion this would deal extra damage(including you if going hp build)
Itemization:
Thius match can be played many ways, one is to stack hp and beat him, second is do regular offensive build and ignore him and wipe his team first.
Shen
Power level:
You beat him early but with items he will be tankier and harder to handle.
Game plan:
On first level he gets Q and SHOULD put his blade in position to pass it trough you on level 1 fight.Try to avoid blade going trough you as this increase Shen's damage.On level 2 he will get W or E and if W then just walk outside while its up then re engage, if E then avoid it.This would be a game plan, if he uses zone walk out or kite ahead and avoid being taunted especially under tower. Otherwise beat him down early and then switch to proxy/roam.
Tips:
Shen can't push waves wihtout items so you can utilize this aspect against him which makes him easier.
Singed
Power level:
Weak early, but with levels gets hard to lock into one shot.
Game plan:
Most of the games he will be proxying as usually his lvl 1 was super weak but recently i notice they try fighting lvl 1.And in raw dmg you will lose sadly, your play is to use Q + Autos without following him by posion trail, you would need to move outside or you will lose lvl 1 to him which is embarasing.If he happens to proxy you can farm and proxy as well , do not stress much about it.If he allows you to kill himself then do it, other wise farm and proxy.
Tips:
Inside his grounding W you can't use any moving ability including flash so try to move in preventive way.
When he want to E you theres not much you can do, but if your R happens to be active you can use W with enough range to prevent him to cast his E.
Sion
Power level:
Free lane but he will get super tanky in mid late game.
Game plan:
On level 1 he might hide in middle bush and charge Q from there be prepared or go in early.You can try figting him lvl 1 for early exp lead.If this fails then you still strong on early levels so you can fight him before he gets super tanky then switch to proxy/roam
Play around his Q charge and Q3/W to cancel it, you can also swing sideways.
If you fighting him make sure you proc or run from shield as it deals plenty damage.
Itemization:
Having eclipse here might really help as he will have plenty hp and your kit have no % dmg.
Skarner
Power level:
You can try killing him pre 6 but then it gets hard and he will outlive you.
Game plan:
This is rare case but this champ is tricky to play.Wait his Q rock to be throwed and then you can do trades.
His E is tricky and try to not be pulled under his tower early.
His W range is bigger than it seems but its damage is not high.
If you see that you can't kill him or feel like not winning just start looking for proxy angles and roams, but be aware of his ability to go trough walls meanin he might try catching you.
Tips:
Make sure you position well as his pull does not need to be fully behind.
Tahm Kench
Power level:
He can be killed early but at 6 he might start pulling you under tower.
Game plan:
This matchup you should also play to chunk him and farm.On 3 marks he can stun you, have massive shield and built in damage based on his hp ,meaning long trades are not in favor.
During fight make sure his Q wont trigger mark.And whenever he dives you have chance to cancel it with W/Q3
Tips:
He does not have a wave clear before items, utilize this fact.
Teemo
Power level:
This creature would annoy and can be really bad for Riven.You can handle him early and from there he would mostly be annoying and can fight back but not a threat unless you failed laning.
Game plan:
This is ranged champion and 40% of lane based on footsies game ( how well you can move and how well Teemo can kite)
Level 1 he can start E or Q wheres Q good for poke but after effect is done you can deal damage.E good for consistend dps and then you can fight if you catch him in misstep.
Theres 2 ways to play this matchup, depending on your skill and elo
1.Offensive path is to try fighting him from lvl 1, trying to catch on miss steps with Q3 or just right clicks with use of bushes.
2.Deffensive path is to avoid fight and just farm and scale at least till lvl 3 and then with all abilites you can look for trades.
Generally you have to bait his W which is MS steroid so he wont easily kite you, and wait his blind before using AA's.Keep eye on shroom as it also slows you down.
Tips:
His W gives free MS that can allow him to kite you, but cooldown is not short so you can play around it to keep distance.
While you are blinded you still can deal damage with abilities Q/R2/W so you can use stuns and shield to wait out his blind before nuking him down.
His R would slow you down so you must keep in mind that he will play around shrooms.
Itemization:
You can rush Hexdrinker item to make fights easier
Early boots even t1 might help to play into ranged matchup like Teemo.
Trundle
Power level:
This is unfair champ, however you have chance to snowball early but its not easy and eventually he still will stat check you
Game plan:
He will start Q(Bite) which have a short cooldown, steals AD from target so before fight try to force him to use it on minion or miss and then you can do short trade.Level 2 he most likely would get W which is on long cooldown but might be super problematic.Try avoiding being hit by Q and his E(Pillar) as it would be hard to kite him around.If killing him on first 2 levels seems impossible do 2 waves crash into proxy.If you can get lead early on keep pressing it, otherwise you be beaten down for free.
Tips:
His W gives him inceased healing, try to fight outside of it and keep ignite for fights
His passive gives him good sustain in lane, so just staying in dying minion wave would heal him up
His Q steals your AD and gives it to him, he will eventually have it on short cooldown making this a constant disadvantage for you.
Hir R steals your defenses and heals him.If you are not ahead do not fight him in his R without ignite.
Itemization:
He wont build tanky at start so you should build fully offensive
Tryndamere
Power levels:Cringe lord is stronger than you since early game, but eventually you will get enough cdr to kite him around. In early stage you still have chance to outplay and snowball the lane but thats not easy unless trynda is clueless.
Game plan:
Tryndamere's kit have plenty ways to be played out but his main strength is sustain in early stages, so you cant mindlessly trade or he will just outlive you in lane.He have 2 main trade patterns
1.If he playing grasp with D shield he most likely gonna stack grasp and walk up to AA E away thats gonna slowly chip you down keeping himself healthy
2.If he plays Hail of Blades / Lethal tempo he most likely gona try E spin into you and try lucky crit you.
So you have few wayt to play this lane as well
1.Play regular offensive setup and space him and punish any misstep.He will spin into you, E back, while shield up you can do quick Q + AA on him , then stun and walk back. Keep in mind that after stun you can't AA or he gets in range for extra auto, this bad because he have plenty sustain, and your sustain one pot you have at the start of the game.
2.Deffensive( especially if you havent played this match a lot or not feeling comfortable) you get resilience in secondary tree taking Second Wind with Doran shield start and in lane just scale, avoiding fights, tease him by walking up and as he spins into you , just kite back. This way he weill eventually hit creeps and they start to push into you, and if he doesnt then you can farm.
Try to scale, and on 40 haste you should feel more comfortable kiting him up.
Tips:
This lane is super tricky and easy to lose, especialy with his R, so you can replace ignite with Ghost to counter his Ghost and survive his dives, or use Exhaust but its duration slightly lower than Tryndas R so you have to be more accurate on timings.
Itemization:
You can get early Armor boots, but this would delay your ability haste build
Udyr
Urgot
Power levels: There is room for outplay early on, with game progression would be more tricky
Game plan:
On first level he most likely gonna start E and you can trick him for using it, walk into his face then preemptively Q sideways and if he jumps and wastes his E lvl 1 you can run him down. On early stages look for his passive from legs, they would be triggered automatically, so when he walks into wave you can position yourself to force him using legs passive, then you can fight him in area of legs that do not have passive which removes damage form his kit early on.Main thing is to keep in mind that you must at all costs not get hit by his E or he will chunk you for fun and you kinda lose lane pressure.So your lane dance gonna be something like Q in and try to do AA but be ready to E/Q sideways to trick his E and keep trade up.But even if hes low you must keep in mind his E...or he can turn fight around if you get lazy with your dances :<
Tips:
His W cd is infinite since lvl9 so till then you can work around it and have ability to play
When fighting close range(good to be as close as possible) for him is quite hard to land Q or R, and you must use Q with mouse not hovering him allowing your Qs go trough him changing position, this way he will have hard time landing skillshots.But again trick his E first.
Even in mid/late game you have a kit that allows you yo go in for quick chunk and go out, you just have to be percise with your inputs.
Itemization:
Good route is to use Eclipse rush and chunk him with eclipse procs. As fallback you can go Black Cleaver with Sundered if lane didn't go well, posiible to get armor boots as well
Varus
Power level:
Game plan:
As any other ranged lane you can go 2 ways:
1.Proxy level 1-3 by farmin first 3-4 waves depending on movements of Jungler and Laner, and be ready to execute yourself as at this rate its faster and more secure.
Tips:
2.Try to get to level 3 not losing much health
Vayne
Power level:
Game plan:
As any other ranged lane you can go 2 ways:
1.Proxy level 1-3 by farmin first 3-4 waves depending on movements of Jungler and Laner, and be ready to execute yourself as at this rate its faster and more secure.
Tips:
2.Try to get to level 3 not losing much health
Vladimir
Volibear
Power level:
You can beat him down early and snowball from it, however he will be annoying later on and can eventually fight you.
Game plan:
You can fight him level one but you must take into consideration his setup and starting spell.
If he starts E then don't put your damage into his shield,if he starts Q then just fight him.Try to keep trades short.When he gets both Q and E he will charge onto you and E preemptivelly most of the time, your goal is to position so that his E wont hit you and idealy block his Q damage, then you have short trade window.On lvl 3 you must stop trade before he could 2nd W on you which is roughly 4 seconds.So your gameplay during entire game gonna be same, avoid E , block his Q preferably with your E and try ending trade before second W whichs 5 secs with no cdr but i would range it as 4 secs.
Explanation: W marks you ( you see on your bar few scars from Volibear.While these scars are up on the target , any consecutive W on that target heals Volibear, so you should wait till its expired or stop trading before he can cast W again.
Tips:
If he cant controll his passive he would push always to you as fully stacked he will AOE entire wave.And thats good if you not leading, you can annoy him to the point that he would push to you, just make sure you are above 50% of he will dive you
Try chunking him and keep ignite up for all in otherwise his W would just outsustain you.
If you good enough you can E/W out while hes charing towards you with his Q
Itemization:
Vs voli you might consider antiheal item especially if there are more healing champs. But if you snowballing out of controll then game should be over by point you want these items.
If they have doublle ap topside (jg also ap) and mid is ap you can get early Mercury treads if you are not snowballing, otherwise get offensive item first then merc or you gonna slow yourself down.
Warwick
Wukong
Yasuo
Yone
Yorick
Zac
Zed
Elise
Elise has an insane burst early on with her extra stun, high chance to nuke and dive enemy as she can reset a tower agro.
Zac
Zac have an long range engage , can follow up or engage for Riven, possibly towerdive with passive on.
Lee Sin
Both riven and Lee have a high burst and mobility making his ganks effecient.
Amumu
Mumy provides decent engage, and some % dmg while sticking on target which is good.
Bel'Veth
Bel can stay on target with riven and soak some dmg with her W ability, but its conditional
Brand
Riven can setup field for Brands good dmg.
Briar
Birar is has not reliant kit and shes more of scaling champ.
Diana
Provides decent burst and follow up, if played well on 6 helps to stick with the target.
Ekko
Mobile and bursty, good for nuking a sinlge target.
Evelynn
Evelyn is strong champion but not on very early stages, hard to pull her off in most cases at the start of the game.
Fiddlesticks
Fiddle have nothing to do topside, better to R botlane and get 2 kills instead of 1 on top :) His early dueling isnt great if enemy can walk of as he is immobile
Gragas
Rare to see Graggy but his kitt is good for annoy enemy toplaner especially melee champs.
Graves
Graves provides a decent burst but hard to make it consistently work.
Gwen
Nothing to provide but just to push enemy out. Yes Gwen havem some damage but shes really conditional.
Ivern
Personal support that can shield and cc, with Daisy its even more damage and cc in fights.
Jarvan IV
J4 E gives small AS boost which is nice, his Q shreds armor that helps to nuke, in generall his kit is good to lock and destroy an enemy.
Hecarim
They can work but they have different approach to fights wheres Hec have short Q cd allowing him to go in and out and kite fight.RIvens early cooldowns are quite high.
Karthus
Karthus have an ok ganks but provide no specific value for Riven.
Kayn
Before form not as good and this is based on game 12-15 mins where its an laning phase :)
Kha'Zix
He is scavenger, his play style is obviously it come and lasthit, but toplane is filled with bruisers and tank, and Kha' not gonna do well.
Kindred
Her early damage is a bit low and she might die easy on 2v2 fights if enemy having a better champ.Kindred is scaling one.
Lillia
Her kit is built to kite and R, her idea is to run around and hit her combos off cooldowns. After 6 it be better but in generall not super good.
Maokai
Tanky early, have a decent sticky power and some mix of damage helping to lock down the enemy.
Master Yi
Shortly he provides only some raw dmg/dps and 0 utility and in early stage that not enough.
Morgana
She is a hit or miss, lands Q, great and we can all in, if she miss, just goes back to jungle.
Naafiri
Her kit helps to stick and nuke the enemy but sadly her early game is not greatest. Hence she can't be reliable early.
Nautilus
Bulky, with good cc and decent chunk of dmg.Can follow or setup ganks and lock target down.
Neeko
Rare to see her, but creative neeko can be very stressful to face, decent dmg , super sneaky (if not bad)
Nidalee
Like morg, hit or miss mostly, but riven can help nida to land her trap/spear to boost her cougar burst.
Nocturne
After 6 can be helping to destroy opponent, but thats gonna be rare case for toplane.
Nunu & Willump
It can be good or bad depending on enemy lanes, for much softer ones hes super good, a lot of champs have no spells to properly avoid his snowballs hence making it easier for gnks.
Pantheon
Like riven he provides tons of early burst damage and some cc.Good to nuke or even dive with hes E.
Poppy
Quite tanky early on, counters dashes, of enemy laner having dashes poppy is solid :) If not then she can still make ganks but they are more conditional on enemy positioning.
Qiyana
Mobile and sneaky, afer 6 helps also destroying tanks with her R % dmg, in generall decent assist and follow up.
Rammus
He can start a gank but for most cases he does not provide damage unless its some one who willingly kills himself
Rek'Sai
Good setup but medium/low dmg early on.So if enemy is soft she can be good, for more tanky shes not good
Rengar
Pre 6 not gonna provide much, post 6...depends on enemy champion.
Sejuani
Tanky and controlling, decent early dmg assistance.Not gonna camp top most likely.
Shaco
Can do sneaky ganks to setup early kill or two but cant fight or provide anythig but box(not working vs smart players)
Shyvana
Most likelly gonna go ap and not gank till 6. Then with her dragon form E she makes some initial burst and goes back to farming. For some lanes its gonna work.
Skarner
Hes quite tanky and have some damage but some tanky champs can just walk away. With items we can dive but till then it kinda depends.
Sylas
Mobile, bursty, mixed damage.Generally good qualities for early assisting champ for riven.
Taliyah
Rare to see her but vs melee her kit is super good. Sadly shes all skillshoots and can be outplayed.
Talon
He has strong burst, but it requires setup — his Q should be used in melee range for maximum damage, and he needs to stack passive and proc it. However, he’s also very easy to kill, so in many early 2v2s he won’t be the best ally.
Twitch
With good positioning and proper stealth use can be a suprise kill.Riven does engage and distracts enemy and he pops from stealth to secure the kill.
Udyr
His kit have all it needs(besides dashes) Mixed damage, self shields and ms steroid with CC, which allows to run down most enemy champions.
Vi
Decent early damage, shields, CC.
Good follow up/init ganks.Post 6 very easy to lock and nuke most champs.Sadly VI players love stick to other side of the map.
Viego
He have an ok kit, but he needs some items and not very tanky, pre 6 might lack some dmg. Better into squishy champs.
Volibear
Not the most ideal partner, but close. Post-6, with Riven, they can dive and kill most lanes even under tower. He also provides solid DPS and tankiness from the very start of the game.
Warwick
Similar to Yi, he provides extra raw DPS, but sometimes that isn’t enough to pin down opponents. Can also be tricky to rely on in 2v2s.
Wukong
His ganks can be decent if the enemy isn’t paying attention to the map. Pre-6 he’s mostly about poke rather than kill pressure. He really comes online post-6, and even then his AoE is usually more valuable bot lane where he can hit multiple enemies.
Xin Zhao
With his current state i think he can be solid partner with his kit.
Zed
Ugh...he is scavenger like Kha...want to secure a kill? Call zed :D otherwise he wont be looking your way.
Zyra
Similar to Morgana, she can be hit or miss. However, her plants provide consistent DPS, letting her stay safe at range. With a good engage from Riven, Zyra’s follow-up post-6 can be very impactful.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Elise
Elise has an insane burst early on with her extra stun, high chance to nuke and dive enemy as she can reset a tower agro.
Zac
Zac have an long range engage , can follow up or engage for Riven, possibly towerdive with passive on.
Lee Sin
Both riven and Lee have a high burst and mobility making his ganks effecient.
Amumu
Mumy provides decent engage, and some % dmg while sticking on target which is good.
Bel'Veth
Bel can stay on target with riven and soak some dmg with her W ability, but its conditional
Brand
Riven can setup field for Brands good dmg.
Briar
Birar is has not reliant kit and shes more of scaling champ.
Diana
Provides decent burst and follow up, if played well on 6 helps to stick with the target.
Ekko
Mobile and bursty, good for nuking a sinlge target.
Evelynn
Evelyn is strong champion but not on very early stages, hard to pull her off in most cases at the start of the game.
Fiddlesticks
Fiddle have nothing to do topside, better to R botlane and get 2 kills instead of 1 on top :) His early dueling isnt great if enemy can walk of as he is immobile
Gragas
Rare to see Graggy but his kitt is good for annoy enemy toplaner especially melee champs.
Graves
Graves provides a decent burst but hard to make it consistently work.
Gwen
Nothing to provide but just to push enemy out. Yes Gwen havem some damage but shes really conditional.
Ivern
Personal support that can shield and cc, with Daisy its even more damage and cc in fights.
Jarvan IV
J4 E gives small AS boost which is nice, his Q shreds armor that helps to nuke, in generall his kit is good to lock and destroy an enemy.
Hecarim
They can work but they have different approach to fights wheres Hec have short Q cd allowing him to go in and out and kite fight.RIvens early cooldowns are quite high.
Karthus
Karthus have an ok ganks but provide no specific value for Riven.
Kayn
Before form not as good and this is based on game 12-15 mins where its an laning phase :)
Kha'Zix
He is scavenger, his play style is obviously it come and lasthit, but toplane is filled with bruisers and tank, and Kha' not gonna do well.
Kindred
Her early damage is a bit low and she might die easy on 2v2 fights if enemy having a better champ.Kindred is scaling one.
Lillia
Her kit is built to kite and R, her idea is to run around and hit her combos off cooldowns. After 6 it be better but in generall not super good.
Maokai
Tanky early, have a decent sticky power and some mix of damage helping to lock down the enemy.
Master Yi
Shortly he provides only some raw dmg/dps and 0 utility and in early stage that not enough.
Morgana
She is a hit or miss, lands Q, great and we can all in, if she miss, just goes back to jungle.
Naafiri
Her kit helps to stick and nuke the enemy but sadly her early game is not greatest. Hence she can't be reliable early.
Nautilus
Bulky, with good cc and decent chunk of dmg.Can follow or setup ganks and lock target down.
Neeko
Rare to see her, but creative neeko can be very stressful to face, decent dmg , super sneaky (if not bad)
Nidalee
Like morg, hit or miss mostly, but riven can help nida to land her trap/spear to boost her cougar burst.
Nocturne
After 6 can be helping to destroy opponent, but thats gonna be rare case for toplane.
Nunu & Willump
It can be good or bad depending on enemy lanes, for much softer ones hes super good, a lot of champs have no spells to properly avoid his snowballs hence making it easier for gnks.
Pantheon
Like riven he provides tons of early burst damage and some cc.Good to nuke or even dive with hes E.
Poppy
Quite tanky early on, counters dashes, of enemy laner having dashes poppy is solid :) If not then she can still make ganks but they are more conditional on enemy positioning.
Qiyana
Mobile and sneaky, afer 6 helps also destroying tanks with her R % dmg, in generall decent assist and follow up.
Rammus
He can start a gank but for most cases he does not provide damage unless its some one who willingly kills himself
Rek'Sai
Good setup but medium/low dmg early on.So if enemy is soft she can be good, for more tanky shes not good
Rengar
Pre 6 not gonna provide much, post 6...depends on enemy champion.
Sejuani
Tanky and controlling, decent early dmg assistance.Not gonna camp top most likely.
Shaco
Can do sneaky ganks to setup early kill or two but cant fight or provide anythig but box(not working vs smart players)
Shyvana
Most likelly gonna go ap and not gank till 6. Then with her dragon form E she makes some initial burst and goes back to farming. For some lanes its gonna work.
Skarner
Hes quite tanky and have some damage but some tanky champs can just walk away. With items we can dive but till then it kinda depends.
Sylas
Mobile, bursty, mixed damage.Generally good qualities for early assisting champ for riven.
Taliyah
Rare to see her but vs melee her kit is super good. Sadly shes all skillshoots and can be outplayed.
Talon
He has strong burst, but it requires setup — his Q should be used in melee range for maximum damage, and he needs to stack passive and proc it. However, he’s also very easy to kill, so in many early 2v2s he won’t be the best ally.
Twitch
With good positioning and proper stealth use can be a suprise kill.Riven does engage and distracts enemy and he pops from stealth to secure the kill.
Udyr
His kit have all it needs(besides dashes) Mixed damage, self shields and ms steroid with CC, which allows to run down most enemy champions.
Vi
Decent early damage, shields, CC.
Good follow up/init ganks.Post 6 very easy to lock and nuke most champs.Sadly VI players love stick to other side of the map.
Viego
He have an ok kit, but he needs some items and not very tanky, pre 6 might lack some dmg. Better into squishy champs.
Volibear
Not the most ideal partner, but close. Post-6, with Riven, they can dive and kill most lanes even under tower. He also provides solid DPS and tankiness from the very start of the game.
Warwick
Similar to Yi, he provides extra raw DPS, but sometimes that isn’t enough to pin down opponents. Can also be tricky to rely on in 2v2s.
Wukong
His ganks can be decent if the enemy isn’t paying attention to the map. Pre-6 he’s mostly about poke rather than kill pressure. He really comes online post-6, and even then his AoE is usually more valuable bot lane where he can hit multiple enemies.
Xin Zhao
With his current state i think he can be solid partner with his kit.
Zed
Ugh...he is scavenger like Kha...want to secure a kill? Call zed :D otherwise he wont be looking your way.
Zyra
Similar to Morgana, she can be hit or miss. However, her plants provide consistent DPS, letting her stay safe at range. With a good engage from Riven, Zyra’s follow-up post-6 can be very impactful.
WIP -> still much to add and i am working on it...
Eventually would add some visual styling and videos to some blocasasks
This will be the simplest block you’ll ever read.
For a general overview of Riven, check out the other sections to get a solid grasp on her key aspects.
For specific matchups, head to the Threats section — it has a search function and includes game plans for each lane opponent.
Why play Riven?
If you’re reading this section, you probably already have your own reasons for wanting to play Riven.
In general, Riven has high agency, mobility, and burst, making her one of the scariest champions to face. But all of that power comes with a cost: there’s no margin for error.
The simplest analogy is that Riven is like a balloon you’re filling with air. Each lead you build throughout the game is more air in the balloon. But every mistake is like letting go of the balloon—watching it fly around uncontrollably as all your progress deflates.
Over time, Riven has been toned down:
Her base health regeneration was cut.
Her shield duration was reduced.
Her R2 animation speed was slowed.
Meanwhile, almost every other champion still have some form of sustain, % damage, true damage, execute, or another way to stat-check her.
And yet… no champion can do what Riven does when played well. We’ve all seen the montages — Riven diving in and wiping an entire team in ways no other champion could even dream of. That feeling is what makes her special.
Blade trickster [WIP]
How to mess with their head
This is hardest part, that requires a lot of hours of trying good reaction and some big number of lost games.Idea is simple, you play with your enemy and make them shake, and eventually their mental override will lose them game.
We start simple, there are 2 types of player on top lane : Vegans and Carnivores.
-> Vegans: type of players that do not look to interact with you, their idea of game is just to play something simple, safe and hope team would come along to carry. They would pick a Malphite and give all farm just to stay alive and wait for team. Or they pick range/poke and try to poke from base just to not interact. Against these kind of player you will get free lane, farm/proxy/roam...not much you can do against non existent enemy.
-> Carnivores: These players will fight you relentlessly until someone loses. Here, you can play with them. The idea is simple: imagine you’re in a boxing ring. You leave your chin open, teasing them to punch, and then dodge their attack. Depending on their resilience, they might start making mistakes and throw the game like a donkey, or they might ignore you, trying to bait you into losing control. Handling this requires strong mental resilience.
Theory is fun but how to do this in game?
Items Q and A
This section covers some questions i hear a lot in regards of some item choices, and here are some general tips on these questions.
Riven loves:
RAW ad as her entire kit build around it and improves all her skills.
Ability haste since her only limit is skills cooldown, Ability haste lowers that limit, increasing her damage output and mobility
Any form of penetration as her kit lack any built in penetration.
Riven ok with:
HP/MR/ARMOR giving her some tankiness but her kit have no relation
Riven not best:
Crit since her kit built around attack speed making this stat not reliable source of damage
Attack speed , this will make her Q combos faster but thats the only benefit besides fitting few extra autos in iteration.Her kit not fiting this playstyle.
Boots
Boots of Lucidity
When to buy ? Almost always — Ability Haste is one of Riven’s best stats. With your first item, it helps smooth out Q delay timings.
With Jack of all Trades good to rush them as First item, then you end up having a decend haste, ms from boots helps with rotations.Yes it not as damaging as Pickeaxe for nearly same gold but still good rush item.
When to upgrade? Ugh, provided stats, they arent worth 500 g...so not unless you have full 4 items...or you are griefing your tempo away.
At full build you can replace these with deffensive option if needed.
Mercury Treads
When to buy? If they are douple AP top/jg and you facing something like Kennen or Rumble you can rush it.Possible to get them early if you playing midlane.Also a good option if they are cc heavy, most of cc you can cancel/outplay, even Malz R/WW R can be canceled by 3rd q if timed right :)
When to upgrade? If you really gonna benefit from extra mr shield you can do it early on but as with other options better after having 3 full items.
Plated Steel caps
When to buy Steel caps? I would not rush these and buy if they are really heavy tanky/ad or you are falling behind against hard double ad top.If you having isses with lane like Tryndamere/WW/Olaf/Trundle/Pantheon/Renekton/Garen as boots you can get these but if you do so early usually a sign of being outclassed and need to revisit aproach to lane.
When to upgrade? They provide decent value for gold, but still i wont upgrade them before i have 3 full times unless you really would benefit from extra protection.
Boots of Swiftness
When to buy ? Well...this is last viable option and i would not really recommend trying these on. Generally if they have very mobile champ or need to keep distance or they slows.MIght help kiting Trynd/Olaf(they both have slow and run quite a lot).Thing is, you can play with them but if you think, CDR boots have better aproach at almost any angle besides RAW ms and Slow reduction(not very good)
When to upgrade? Ugh...latest possible
Armor penetration itmes
Black Cleaver
When to buy ? Well this would be one of least pen items to get.Usually Riven likes to deal damage from the start and not to stack up...In current state Seryldas and gives 5% more pen but Black Cleaver gets more HP. But i give an example: You have Eclipse and Sundered SKY and want to burst a target down, usually relatively soft, and if you give him a burst of your spells with cleaver , you will get full item pen by end of combo, however if you have Seryldas all your burst would be applied from first hit and you deal way more damage.But Black cleaver still have its use, you can rush it into tank matches to get more damage and health for these fights(Malphite/Ksan'te/Maokai...etc).Also some champions with execute abilites having harder time killing you if you have that extra hp, so this item could be purchased into Urgot,Sett,Garen,Darius.Mixing with Sundered Sky hp this makes you more tankier, so you get Sundered into BlackCleaver and Death Dance, you will end up having sustain, penetration, hp and tankiness helping you to fight these matchups.Is it mandatory? No, you can play all your games without ever buying it, but it can certainly help in certain cases especially at the start of your journey or if you rather play it safer.Last note to when you can get it...if your team is AD heavy, and no one yet had build it yet, then you shred armor for your team, helping to deal damage, especially if your things didnt go well, you can fall back to this route.
Serylda's Grudge
When to buy? This is DEFAULT to go item on Riven, it provides good damage stats and pen.For most games you would want it as 4th item, in rare cases you could buy it as 3rd but thats almost never the case.It is purelly snowball item but gives you no extra tools for survival, hence you usually get 2 Offensive items + Death Dance as good deffensive item and then you can extend your damage with Serylda's.If they all squishy or most(4 from 5) then you can get it early,especially if youre ahead.
Antiheal
Mortal Reminder
When to buy? There are super rare cases to get this item, since it holds a stat Riven doesn't utilize well enough (CRIT) so we get an item with sub optimal stats. BUT it combines penetration and antiheal.On almost all of your games you already having an ignite that acts as healcut, but there could be some games where this is not enough.Then you can take it...but you must really need it.If they have few high sustain champs (SORAKA does not count as you can murder her 1st) Fiora/Vlad/Mundo/Red Kayn/Volibear/Sylas/Aatrox/Warwick. If they have 2+ champs from this list you can get this item, if only 1 champ then just burn him with ignite :)
Chempunk Chainsword
When to buy? Basically, never :)
However, you can buy Executioner’s Calling early for the anti-heal and just hold onto it until later. Only upgrade it to the full item at the last possible moment.This item can fit into your build if you’re already stacking HP items and you either already have armor pen or plan to build another pen item.It’s good when you’re facing Mundo + another bruiser/tank like Volibear / Garen / Darius, and you need both HP and anti-heal.A sample build could be: Sundered Sky + Black Cleaver + Chimpunk Chainsword
→ total of 1250 bonus HP.Last note as extra reminder you should not look into getting this item as values provided are weak to say the least and Rivens identity was never a Tank killer, if you planning to do so youre picked wrong champion to master.
My TEAM is holding me down
My team is at fault of my losses...no...really
I bet every League player has had this thought at least once — even pros. I’m sure even Faker himself thought it at the start, and at some point, he was probably right.
But my point is simple: if you’re so good that you could play with your eyes closed and still get a penta, then why are you stuck where you are?
Doesn’t it sound weird to claim you’re super good but still be hardstuck?
Well, the simple answer is: apparently, you aren’t that great. :)
But the long answer is a bit more complex.
You can actually find god-tier mechanics in low elo—the kind of stuff that would even surprise Faker. :)
What that means is: you might have a specific skill set that you’re insanely good at, and you’d be right about that… but you might also be missing one or two key things that keep you stuck where you are.
And that’s where your team is not to blame for you not grasping those things.
Yes, your teammates might not play their champions efficiently.
Yes, they might have a bad game.
Yes, they might make the most absurd plays ever…
But you are playing among these players.
And from their perspective, they see you as just as bad as you see them.
League has multiple ways to be good at the game:
- Laning (wave management, recalls, farming)
- Macro / Tempo (knowing where to be at the right time)
- Assisting in fights
- Champion Mastery (knowing your champion WELL — not just 10 million mastery points with no clue how it’s actually meant to be played)
- Teamfighting (positioning and knowing what to look for)
If you’ve only mastered one of these, you’re not actually good at the game — you’re just good at one single aspect.
And your teammates might be good at a different aspect than you.
That’s what creates the illusion that you’re better than they are.
I have a few things to say about how to fix this mentality…
#1: Take the current Rank 1 from your server and put him in your chair.
Do you really think he wouldn’t be able to carry?
Do you think he’d cry because his support inted or his jungler didn’t camp his lane?
Or would he look for a way to win the game… and actually do it?
#2: Statistically… around 10–15% of your games are literally unwinnable.
Even in the best-case scenario, some games are meant to be lost.
But here’s the important part:
You should NOT think “I played 3 games today, so by stats I should win 2.”
No.
For statistics to matter, we need a large sample size (months of games).
And even then, that assumes you're giving 100% every single game…
Spoiler: you're probably only giving 40% of what you actually SHOULD be doing to win.
Some days, you just don’t have the energy or motivation to try.
And on those days, your games become purely luck-based.
You’re basically just in the game — not trying to carry.
So if no one else carries you, you lose.
And then, while tired and tilted, your brain goes:
“OMG, why is my team so darn bad? I’m sooo good… just not today… hah.”
Next time you start pointing fingers and saying how bad they are, just look at replay...you will see how many blunders you made, and sometimes its not as obvious...as game full of consequences, your missed timer on the recall might cost you lane...but your brain registers only (JG GAP 15). You must realise, you have no tools to alter no ones gameplay, even if you play with duo, you can't do nothing about his clicks and decisions...so why bother being mad on some random on the screen? There is 0 efficency in it, you just need to calm down and think what you could done differently in this game/scenario to make better outcome. Thats the only way, admit that youre not god, and fix your mistakes, there is no other way.
How to train your Dragon
Riven must be trained...or you must train her >_<
To become truly fluent on most champions, you need to put in a significant amount of time. Depending on the champion’s complexity and skill ceiling, there might be almost no limit to how much you can improve.
For better or worse, Riven is one of those champions with infinite potential.
Because of that, daily training is essential—unless you think you’re above it
I created a short daily routine for myself. It’s honestly boring, but the improvement becomes noticeable in just 3–4 days.
1. Open Practice Tool
Use any runes or settings you like.
2. Buy NO items
Walk straight to mid lane.
3. Only use your mouse (no left hand!)
Right-click to last hit every minion.And stay in range without striking on accident, keep clicks happening.
While doing this, focus on:
- Map awareness: constantly check the minimap. Build the habit.
Game time tracking:
When can the jungler gank?
When does dragon spawn?
When do grubs spawn?
Knowing these timings helps you think ahead, reset properly, and prepare wave states.And daily training helps to keep them in head as muscle memory
- Riven movement:
Click constantly around minions to feel how Riven moves.
Learn how she gets blocked.
The closer you click to her model, the easier it is to avoid minion block.
- Mindset for farming:
Watch your gold increase just from last hitting—not from kills. Train discipline.
Phase 1: 10 Minutes of Right-Clicks
No spells, no combos—just movement and last hitting. Build map sense and muscle memory.
Phase 2: Combo Practice
Place a training dummy and practice combos for at least 2 minutes (longer if you feel needed).
This plan is perfect for players who don’t have 8+ hours to grind every day.
It builds core fundamentals and muscle memory fast with minimal time investment.
I would upload video shortly.
General Laning tips
Any match is tricky and things i am about to put down are obvious to ones, and not so much to others hence ill just leave it here :)
Runes
Most champions can be played in multiple ways, so you must plan your game plan from the start, taking into consideration how you’re going to win this matchup.
Example 1: Resolve (Resilience) Tree – Bone Plating
Most Bruisers/Tanks will take the Resolve tree with Bone Plating.
If you blindly blow all your cooldowns into Bone Plating, you will lose the trade, because the rune is designed to reduce early burst damage.
So what should you do?
Check if the enemy has Resolve as primary or secondary.
If yes, poke first and see if Bone Plating gets proc’d.
After proccing it, hover the enemy champion — in the top-left status bar, you will see a cooldown timer.
When Bone Plating is down, that’s your window to trade.
BUT be careful: if you go for an all-in and Bone Plating comes back up mid-fight, you’ll mess up and look like a donkey.
Best combo:
Proc Bone Plating with Q3 or an auto, wait it out, then go in.
Example 2: Sorcery Tree – Ability Haste
If the enemy is using Sorcery, they likely have higher base ability haste, meaning their Flash will come back faster than yours.
In the early game, a few seconds difference on Flash can decide the entire matchup.
Quick Rune Read Guide:
Grasp / Fleet Footwork → They want sustain and short trades.
Hail of Blades / Conqueror / Lethal Tempo → They want to all-in.
Comet / Dark Harvest / Electrocute → They prefer short burst trades or poke.
Phase Rush (Utility Rune) → They will have high mobility, hard to stick to.
Summoners
Summoner Spells Matter More Than You Think
Yes, most champions take the same summoners every game… but the rare exceptions are the ones that make you lose like an idiot if you don’t notice them.
In volatile matchups, you ALWAYS need to check for tricky spells like Exhaust.
Example:
You’re fighting Fiora early, you outplay her, you’re about to finish her off…
She Exhausts you. You lose.
Now your lane is doomed and it’s a 15-minute FF angle.
All because you didn’t press Tab at level 1.
Teleport vs. Ignite – Huge Difference in Lane
If the enemy takes Ignite instead of Teleport, it usually means two things:
They want to fight harder early. (More kill pressure)
If they make a bad decision or you outplay them, their lane becomes hell.Why?
Because Teleport in early game is basically a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
If they don’t have TP, and they die or get chunked,
they lose waves, plates, XP… everything.
Riven vs Ranged(TOP)
For most part this would be a survive lane (if enemy is good) so you can look for lvl 1 proxy, till wave 3 if possible and for this you can go offensive setup. If you want more save option go deffensive second wind/dorans, farm what you can, get trough early levels and just scale
Riven vs Control Mages(TOP)
Any controll mage is reliant on casting an ability so for most part you would need to identify a crucial spell and play around it, also mana poll is major element in early game, you can also play around it.For most part Riven able to punish these matchups
Riven vs Tank/Bruiser
For most of them you have upper hand in the early stages that allows you to kill them few times and after that usually you farm/proxy/roam as killing 0-3 tank makes no sense or takes 2 much resources.
General tips
- As you might notice in champion vs section, Riven stands like this -> She have ability to kill enemy multiple times early on and then its not as effecient (UNLESS they are free and you dont have to put much time into it) and can cause your ego take over and lead to your death and thats greatly slows you down.So after initial kills are done you better of going proxy and roaming to mid or jg.Another option is to go proxy, then come back around to damage laner and back to proxy this way you have upper hand to move/roam/recall.
- Freezing as Riven is not best way to play, you can do that for short time, and when you are not ahead, but holding wave long on your end is not best way to boost up.
- Playing Riven from behind. This topic was asked 2 many times and simple answer gonna stay the same...you dont play her from behind.BUT there are still ways to play.Thats gonna really depend on what you facing and how bad it is, generally a lot of champions have an AOE ability in their kit for farm and you can TRY and trick enemy to use it on you while standing in wave causing it to start push into you.For example Morde Q, you can walk up, he will anticipate to hit you and you jump away, but since you behind this trickery must be done well, otherwise you might die. Shortly you annoy opponent to fight you but you just back off, eventually he will lose it and do someting stupid, thats human nature. Another way is to abandon lane, you look around, and go wonder, try moving mid to gank, move bot, get drake, do any other way of activity.You should get something with numbers advantage, your opponent might feel pressured and start pushing in, breaking freeze.Most of the times you will get pinged and flamed, just mute them, they wont understand that it.Losing early top tower isnt bad if this will give you opportunity to farm more safely.When falling behind do not go full deffensive items as you will be less useful, go Black cleaver and Sojin, try to get cheap offensive items. Look for stae in team, if your MID / ADC / JG look promising to carry you can stack HP items and play around them setting up the environment for success.Either stay on them to CC lock whoever tries to jump them or Engage with all buttons and sacrifice yourself for team. Even if all fails in the end, its way better than crying under tower and flaming team as it might turn out well, wheres sitting and crying never would.
- Mental override. Thats one of the most important things about laning, especially as Riven.Idea is simple, while you firmly believe you doing right thing and not making any major blunders, your actions are more or less correct, but as soon as you let your ego/anger affect you, your decisions become instantly x10 times worse.Your focus fades into conflicting emotions. Why its important on Riven? -> She is an early game queen with no fallback pattern.As soon as you waste you lead and do few bad plays you are no longer leading the game...wheres many other champs recover better. That being said, you want to make enemy laner to shake and be afraid of you. Proper movements and lane domination can do that to enemy, they will cry and be flamed by their team.This devilish feeling when you destroy enemy, and he gets flamed on top of it by his team...theres no mental left for rest of day.That can happen to you as well at the begining of Riven journey, keep it in mind, as learning curve this is ok, we dont LOSE , we either WIN or Learn.But enemy do not know it.
Blade trickster Riven, mess with their heads
Build Guide By ExiledRain
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