Darius is a simple champion to learn, but a complex one to master because he requires, like all duelists, a perfect knowledge of matchups and snowballing. We are here to win our lane and 1v3 until the late game.

The objective will be to get a lead in lane thanks to our Ghost and our power in duel. Then to either pressure the sidelanes to let your team breathe, or group if the opponent's compo is playable for Darius.

Early game

Darius' early game is very strong but contrary to popular belief it is not his strongest timing. The objective is to farm and be oppressive in lane. Look for a mistake from the enemy to kill him with the Ghost. Obviously if the enemy champion is weak in lane, the mistake is not necessary. Proper gameplay around Darius' stacks and his Apprehend makes ALL lanes winnable.

Mid game

This is the timing where Darius can actually hypercarry. If played correctly, Darius will ALWAYS be a problem in mid game and can 1v1 98% of champions. The Stridebreaker + Sterak's Gage spike is particularly OP

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Late Game

In popular belief Darius does not scale well. He doesn't have much late game carry potential however he is still an excellent tank/engage and if he manages to stack his passive and engages a squishy with it he can still put out damage. It is recommended that he doesn't make it to this phase though, finishing the game during mid game is our priority.

This passive is the central element of Darius' kit. All his gameplay revolves around it. The goal will always be to reach 5 stacks and finish the target with the ult, then follow up with other targets (reaching 5 stacks means that the next target on which you apply an attack instantly receives all 5 stacks). With Darius we want to play on long trades and all-ins. In fight it will be important to stack on an isolated target or on the tank and then follow up with carries.

It is generally around this ability that the enemy will play to try to outplay or win trades. It is important to play well with the Apprehend and the Ghost to make sure you hit it. What you should definitely not do is randomly Decimate in lane against a mobile champion, it will dash in and outrade. Several combos and cancel animation exist that I will detail in the combo section.

A rather anecdotal skill. It allows to stack faster the passive and especially to kite many champions thanks to its slow. When we want to cheese in the bush level 1 it is preferable to start with the w.

This is the most difficult skill to use correctly. Apprehend has 3 main roles 1. the most obvious: gap close. When we want to engage 1v1, a ranged champ or engage a fight with a Flash + Apprehend. It is always better to engage without Apprehend if possible to keep it for other usage. 2.[/b]Allowing Decimate to hit. This is extremely important in some tight 1v1s where we want to ensure our spell hits. Be careful to Apprehend then instantly Decimate otherwise the enemy has time to Flash 3.[/b]The most difficult: canceling animations. It's not always easy but managing to cancel Riven's 3rd Broken Wings or Gnar's jump is often decisive in a duel. This is learned through experience.

Darius' r is what allows him to Carry teamfights and win duels after he has managed to put all 5 stacks on a target. We want to use r to finish a target that has 1 HP or when we have applied all 5 stacks on a person. Ideally to finish it but if the fight is going to be close it is recommended to ult only for damage. Sometimes it can be interesting to ult at 4 stacks when the target risks disengaging or against Fiora to be unpredictable.

1.Using your q to trade against a moving champion

It is not forbidden to use your q to poke the target sometimes, but it should not be done in conditions where the enemy can commit an all-in easily. A good Fiora/riven/ jax will easily dash inside the Decimate and engage an all-in which will often be favorable to him.

2. rush to get ahead.

Darius is indeed a champion with a strong lane, but that doesn't mean we have to kill the enemy 5x quickly. We can perfectly wait until the 1st item or until level 6-7 before playing aggressive depending on the matchup.

3.Keeping Ghost to not overkill

Often people don't want to use their ghost on an all-in thinking that it is not necessary. If you think like that I assure you that you will miss a LOT of kills. Of course there are exceptions but I strongly recommend not being hesitant about using the ghost.

4.play Ghost/tp

I see a lot of players playing like Camille or Katarina without Flash. It is strong on these champions where mobility and gap close are no problem for them. With Darius not having a flash is a flaw that is felt very strongly.

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R+Flash

You can flash during the r to cancel the end of the animation. Very situational but enemies often don't expect it, especially in teamfights.
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W+Q Animation Cancel

By pressing q during the aa+w we can cancel the animation of the w. This allows us to optimize the speed at which we obtain the 5 stacks.
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Flash + q

Quite simple but very important. q and during the release of the q Flash. This may sound easy but in reality it is quite complicated to execute perfectly because the range is not always obvious (I recommend practicing with the practice tool). And above all you have to flash as late as possible for the surprise effect.

e Auto-target

. When we Apprehend Darius' next aa is automatically on the champion. So if we use our Apprehend in a wave and we hit a champion and creeps no need to click at the risk of misslick, Darius will automatically attack the champion.

Stacking the passive on clones

Almost everyone know this but rarely think of doing it. Stacking your passive on a clone or last hit a clone with Noxian Guillotine allows you to have the instant passive. I think particularly of the passive of Leblanc which often offers a reset of Noxian Guillotine.

Apprehend through walls

It's simple, it's stupid, but you can grab through walls. Very useful for fights in the dragon pit or for wrestling.

R is a dash

This is not particularly useful, but it should be noted that it does not work on a w of cassio.

The range of the Crippling Strike is better than that of an aa

. It is often possible to hit a person with a crippling strike and not with an aa.