I don't care how bad Garen is, his passive makes this matchup awful. Leona wins lane by taking trades the enemy can't retaliate to and steadily widdles down your opponent through attrition. Garen's passive counters this playstyle and his Q silence lets him take some uncomfortable trades. His W also deals with you very well since it comes with inbuilt tenacity. He handles you well at all points in the game and scales.
Aatrox
The range on his Q makes it so he can trade back on short engages, be mindful of his sweet spots and you should be able to win every trade. Respect him at level 6 and try to bait it from him, you have the CC to wait his ult out so if you can minimize the damage you take during it you can easily win every fight after, especially since your ult has a lower cooldown making a ult for ult trade worth it.
Camille
For the most part you win this matchup, just don't get hit by the sweet spot and follow her roams. If you let her roam, you lose. At level 6 she can be a threat. Wait her ult out, ult for ult is totally worth it and if you minimize the damage you take during her ult you can turn the fight around into a kill. Be careful on the trades and don't let them go on for to long or she will get the better trade. It can be worth it to take barrier and bait her jump for ganks.
Darius
Take Glacial. You lose every extended fight thanks to his passive. Play safe, avoid his sweet spot and wait for him to pull you. If you have to walk into him to avoid his sweetspot don't q until he pulls you. When he pulls you auto q auto him, you should be having W running so that when you walk away it explodes. You'll win every trade.
Dr. Mundo
Much like Garen and Sett, Mundos passive makes this matchup awful. You'll take a lot of even trades, just avoid getting poked at all costs and make sure he doesn't have passive when you receive ganks. Roam often in this matchup, he's not able to take plates very fast.
Illaoi
As a champion she is countered by lazily walking to the side. All her spells have long, telegraphed animations, just dodge them. Don't take trades while she has 2+ tentacles up or you will lose them. You can bait her spells by trying to clear tentacles. If she has one or no tentacles that can hit you, each trade is an easy win. When she hits 6, bait her ult with an all in engage. Hit R and walk away. Congrats, she's no longer a champion. Kill her. Ping off ganks if she has ult or she will get fed and be a problem, you don't want your jungler in your lane if she has ult.
Irelia
What is she going to do damage you? She stuns you? Stun her back, she hits you? W negates it all. She Q's you? Kill her. She has full stacks? Stun her till they expire. She hits ult? Delay your q so the disarm doesn't kill you then kill her. You know she's going to roam because she can't do anything to you, so follow. it can be worth taking TP over barrier to make sure she can't roam. Once she gets bork you will lose if you aren't ahead, so remove her from the game.
Jax
As long as you don't Q his dodge, you win every trade. Remove him from the game and enjoy the 5v4. You don't have to respect his 6, he can't use it if he's stunned. He does out scale you eventually so end the game before he can farm.
Cho'Gath
The silence can make bad trades, but if he throws the knock up just E him and win the trade. You should win this lane every game. His passive is annoying, but the rest of the kit is easy to deal with so it doesn't matter too much.
Kennen
This lane is hard but winnable. Watch his W stacks and make sure he burns them on last hitting or you will take bad trades. Save Q for when he tries retreating, you win extended trades pre-6. He beats you at 6, but your ult has lower cd so win the next fight.
Nasus
Slaughter him pre-6 and make sure he gets no farm. Enemy jungler WILL gank you so have reds ready. when he hits 6, respect his ult. Like most matchups ult for ult is worth it and you just kill him the next fight. End game fast because #Susan
Heimerdinger
Welcome to the law of Heimer: If you can't clear turrets, you can't trade. Wait it out and look for other places to be.
Ornn
Take glacial. Don't get hit by knock-up, respect fire breath. If he uses fire breath, Q and walk away. Then E him once the breath is over and auto q auto for a winning trade.
Poppy
This is a very skill based matchup in her favor. If she W's your E, you lose. If she doesn't you win. When she walks up to throw shield, E her so she can't catch it. Stay away from walls. It may be better if you try to trade with her while CS'ing so you don't have to long range E.
Malphite
He has more mana problems than you especially he doesn't take corrupting. Bait Q's and destroy their damage with W. Ultimately you want to hit W right as the projectile is about to hit so that you can E auto q auto him and he can move right has the buff runs out and your W explosion can hit him. His speed from Q can make it so the W doesn't hit him and you lose the trade.
Shen
As far as runes and summs are concerned, treat this like a winning matchup. Though it is even. The biggest threat is his W dodge field. Play around that and you can win trades. If he uses it, don't Q. You want to try and force him to taunt you into it because it has a long window that can be punished. Without it you win extended fights. Once he hits 6 he has a lot more map pressure than you, but your ult lets you always win fights against him. I recommend getting Titanic first into this matchup so you can exert lane prio and put a lot of pressure on him.
Sett
His passive alone makes him a threat much like Garen and Mundo. To top it off, his E makes your trading pattern very dangerous. If he doesn't open E level 1 you win 1, but lose 2, 3, and 6. As long as you don't die to him, the lane is a win since you are more useful in team fights than him. Look to make plays elsewhere.
Tahm Kench
He hits his tongue back off, he misses kill him. Try to force him to use shield or the trade will be in his favor.
Tryndamere
Take Glacial so you can evenly trade and make sure you have Barrier. He wins pre-6. Play it safe and in your minion wave. If he plays aggressive, Q him in the wave and back off; let Glacial and your minion wave turn the trade into a positive. If he keeps going you can kill him. Once you hit 6, your ult lets you win fights, ESPECIALLY if he dives. Trynd's are often easy to bait into diving because the champ is just good at it. Barrier and perma-cc him. He will die.
Teemo
Take glacial w/ timewarp+biscuits. If he maxes Q, just walk all over him. Delay your Q till blind is over and kill him on repeat. If he maxes E then if you straight duke it with him and you have Barrier/Ignite he kills you with 5%-15% HP left. Every fight is a close loss if he maxes E. Try to get him to take minion aggro and ask for the occasional gank. You don't need much to win the matchup, just the smallest lead is enough. Post 6, he's Teemo, aka doesn't have an ult in lane. Destroy him.
Renekton
He's an early game bully that falls off, meaning you should lose lane win game. If he doesn't get any kills on you in lane it's a win because you are far more useful come mid and late game. Respect his double dash and his stun, he wins almost every trade and playing safe can be difficult. Def take TP and make plays elsewhere.
Mordekaiser
Both grasp and glacial have usage here. Glacial will give you an easier lane, but you will have lots of opportunities to gest Grasp procs. If you have another frontline I'd recommend Grasp since it'll make you stronger come mid/late.
If you get hit by has pull, you lose, if not you win. Don't take extended trades with him, you lose those 100% of the time. Post-6 you really don't care about his ult. You are building tank stats so he gains some beef, but nothing that will help him kill. If he hits ult, treat it no different than how you do in lane and just stall the ult out. Afterwards, he probably burned all his resources so it's usually a free kill.
Sion
The second he starts charging his Q, just E > Q him. Do NOT get the first auto otherwise you lose the trade. He has no tools to beat your W and you win extended trades. If he hits you with full charge Q, the lane is a loss. Fighting him is frustrating as you have to babysit his suicidal arse. But you have enough CC he won't be bale to take your towers even with zombo mode.
Urgot
You lose every level but 2. Take w second and you beat him 2. Don't get poked out and if he misses his Q, hit him with E. Save your Q for his W. If he hits you with E, the trade is a loss and you might die. This is a very hard matchup and you aren't trying to kill him, but keep him in a health range where a gank will actually do something and you don't have to perpetually cower.
Trundle
You win extended trades pre-6. At 6 he can turn a fight around. Another situation where ult for ult is worth. Fight him once your ult is back up. Thanks his passive you aren't going to kill him, but you shouldn't lose lane either.
Quinn
Her E is the real problem. You can't really trade with her and her roaming presence is greater than yours. Unlike Shen, you can't really afford to go Titanic first. She'll poke you out and scales about as well as you do. Consider banning.
Fiora
Levels 1-5 this is a skill based matchup. If you can guard your exposed points and not stun yourself on her riposte you should win. She will win every time post 6, and unlike most other ults top, you can't just R and run. It gets worse as the game goes because she shreds you. Near impossible matchup. Consider banning
Vayne
Haven't done this matchup so can't accurately comment. On paper it sounds like a terrible time.
Yorick
You win pre-6. You have no tools to deal with maiden and don't do enough damage to defend tower. Consider titanic first so he can't get free tower.
Yasuo
I hate that I'm rating this extreme. But between his passive shield, wind wall, and ability to punish your CS'ing with Q. He is always just barely out of reach. It won't be a fast death, but he wins the battle of attrition, and that's how you are supposed to win lane. Take glacial and look for plays elsewhere.
Yone
His Q is the only actual threat. But it's a big one. It can make it very hard to safely farm and if he lands the knockup, you have no way to win the trade. Look for all ins when he has no stacks on his Q and force him in a position he can't all in you. Watch his items carefully, you can easily win pre-6 but there will be a point where he's 0/5 and he just kills you.
Warwick
You lose extended trades but win short skirmishes. Both Glacial and grasp work here. Respect his fear and you should win every lane. Post 6 doesn't actually change much, just assume he always has 30% more health than he is currently at.
Xin Zhao
Take glacial. He always wins extended trades. Don't hard engage on him. Force him to E on you. Q and wait out his Q. If he gets all 3 attacks of his Q in you will feed. Once his Q runs out, E on him and get a positive trade.
Kayle
Do NOT fight her level one unless she forces it. With lethal tempo she is actually a huge threat at one thanks to her auto E auto. You can kill her, but it will cost both barrier and ignite and you will be too low to be able to push out the wave. Wait till level 2 or 3 then just kill her on repeat. Most Kayle's play passive and you can't exactly leave her alone. Ask for ganks, this should be an easy win as you have the tools to keep her away from xp. If she scales up, get chains and keep her on lockdown.
Akshan
This matchup literally comes down to who has the better backs. Don't let him poke you and read his grappling hook. Both short and extended trades come down to who has what. It is a very back and forth lane.
Akali
Kill her pre-6 on repeat, play it slow post 6. Smoke is the only real problem. Get an early bami's so she burns in her smoke. Post 6 you will likely get ganked. Wait to use ult till she uses E. If you don't respect her mobility she will kill you.
Jayce
Take Glacial. His disengage is the real issue. Don't let him poke you down and you win short trades. Don't go for auto Q auto. Just E Q. It is just as easy to get a lead on him as it is to feed him. Play it slow and punish his cooldowns.
Nocturne
At all stages of the game, just kill him. Just don't fight him in your wave since he will out heal your trade.
Kled
He has just enough mobility to not die and could bully you quite a bit. You can get him close to death every time. Play it safe and go for even trades. Post-6 he has more map pressure than you so titanic first recommended.
Graves
Don't let him harass you, you win extended trades. You should never lose this lane now that Hullbreaker has been nerfed on range.
Azir
I don't know how, but I've fought 4 Azir's on top so I have an idea how this matchup goes. Stay away from soldiers and jump down his throat when he throws them. This is a pretty brain dead matchup of punishing his cooldowns and killing him. Post-6 he will ult you back into soldiers so walk behind him during your Q.
Maokai
Haven't done this matchup so can't accurately comment.
Wukong
Haven't done this matchup so can't accurately comment..
Singed
Haven't done this matchup so can't accurately comment..
Zeri
Stand behind minions. The moment she Q's engage. Walk behind her during your Q stun to catch her dash. She has no real tools to escape without a wall.
Volibear
Take Glacial. You lose extended trades and win skirmishes. Post-6 you should win. The extra stun time does so much. Just keep in mind his ult makes him win close fights.
This is a guide largely for myself to track runes, items, and matchups. If someone finds use awesome. But I don't really care. This is a work in progress.
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