Hi! I'm El Charmero. At the time of making this guide I'm a 1.2 million mastery Rakan. I'm sitting at plat 2 but I'm going to climb (hopefully) when I start playing more ranked. Right now it's less than 10% of my games. Over the next few years I plan to get into streaming. But for now I have a little YouTube channel I post videos on from time to time. Feel free to stop by or see me in my Discord if you have any other questions or comments.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX-b2x6rkP-g_3Ov_jLWFYg

https://discord.gg/XnbjZQhWYp

For now I will just go over Rakan's abilities and what you can do with them.

If you want a prettier version of the guide feel free to go to this google slideshow.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1b_6Hw9yuG-yb_A2APXeK8dSOSsiCR5h8JIkKotZxryM/edit?usp=sharing

Passive : Fey Feathers ~ Rakan periodically gains a shield.
40-14.5 seconds based on level.
My best tips are pretty simple. You can go in when it has a few seconds until being up to surprise people with the shield. You can also feel safe to block skillshots for your adc knowing you can tank a bit with no worries. Try to keep your passive up in lane, or use it effectively to help your adc.
Lovers Leap ~ allows you to recall with your Xayah. If you’re in game with one. You can just use this when they shove wave to help them recall faster. Again not too important but you can shave a few seconds of tempo by using it effectively. Make sure you stand in front of your adc when you recall together, because you can keep recalling with your shield. In case they try to stop your back.
I like to recall anywhere I want if I know my shield can tank it. Rakan is one of the only champions that can recall in the middle of minion wave.

Q : Gleaming Quill ~ Rakan slings an enchanted feather, if it hits an enemy champion or epic monster (rift herald, baron, and dragons) then he marks an area around him. After 3 seconds he heals everyone on his team in that area, if he touches an ally then it heals instantly.
My tips for Q involve using it as an extra follow up. This is a key part of Rakan’s combo where you W-Auto-Then Q. But you can also use his Q to help you sustain in lane. Using it to heal you and your ally if need be.
I wouldn’t recommend spamming the Q as a poke tool, because this can give you mana issues really fast. Especially if you happen to miss.

W : Grand Entrance ~ Rakan dashes to a target location, knocking up nearby enemies.
This is the bread of Rakan’s kit. Allowing him pressure, the ability to engage, and giving him a window to trade.
I have a few tips. You can queue up your next action halfway through your W animation. This let’s you auto as soon as your W finishes. Or let’s you cancel the animation with your flash. If you really need to dash in and out quickly. Lastly just remain patient. This can be the hardest ability to hit so try to save it for when necessary.

E : Battle dance ~ Rakan dashes to a target allied champion granting them a shield. For the next 5 seconds Rakan can recast this ability to dash again.
The cast range is extended to Xayah
If Rakan’s W is the bread of his kit, this is the butter. It doesn’t carry him entirely but will save him often, and strengthens his kit. Try not to go in without this ability up so you can always dash out. My tip would be to use the ‘far side’ mechanic. When you dash to someone you get put on the opposite side of them. So if your teammate goes in and you dash from behind them then you can get an extra bit of distance coverage to land an easier W.

R : The Quickness ~ Rakan breaks into a sprint. Allowing him to charm anyone he touches.
My tips for this are the simple mechanics of it. Whenever you charm someone the duration of the ability is increased by .25 seconds. The first person you charm also gives you 75% movement speed that decays quickly. Other tricks with this ability include using it when people stack on top of you, to charm multiple people for your W. You can also use it to chase after someone so they can’t dodge your W. As well as using it to dash to an ally, charming anyone between you and your ally. I am also fond of using it when someone is dashing towards my ally or an enemy. Such as Vex ult, or a Yuumi W. By doing this you can cancel the dash or charm them as soon as they land.

Bugs to watch out for :
Rakan has 3 game changing bugs as of now.
His R range isn’t proper to the tool indicator. The real range is 50, not 150.
Once in a while his W just won’t go over a wall.
His E animation is longer than it should be, meaning you can’t use certain items or objects for about a second after. Such as hex-gates, or everfrost.

Matchups : Rakan is always a decent pick. Even in his worst counters a high skilled Rakan should be able to make it work. Although it could get rough. Here is what’s in my opinion the worst and best matchups for Rakan.

In good matchups : This is the ideal situation for Rakan. You get to scale to mid/late game where you spike. But until then feel free to be aggressive by punishing them when they overstep. This will come up a lot, but just try to remember to punish. Don’t force fights though. So just stay patient.

In skill based matchups : This is when in my opinion, your patience matters the most. If you can sit back and wait for them to overstep or engage then you will win the fight. Most of the champions on this list can just cancel your W and ruin your engage. But if you wait for them to use those abilities to try and engage. Then you can punish them by simply going in when the ability is on cooldown. So just be patient until that happens. I.e Leona dashes in, Renata uses Q, or in the case of Milio you have flash up to guarantee the knockup.

In skill based matchups : Remember to follow the ABC’s of Rakan.
A ~ Always
B ~ Be
C ~ Crying
This is the worst of all matchups and a test of true patience. Don’t engage at all unless you’re being ganked. Time to take a nap and just wait. Roam mid and cry about it.