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Pretty free. He poses little threat to you early on. Zone him from the wave, use your shield to block his cleavers if he's trying to last hit that way. Make a difference early on or he'll become too tank to deal with.
Jax
The difficulty of this matchup goes up the longer it goes down, but Riven has a big advantage early on which you need to abuse. When engaging on Jax, save your shield to dash out of his stun, or at least shield the counter damage when he lands it. If he starts with his stun at level 1, avoid trading untill level 2.
Rengar
The difficulty of this matchup goes up the longer it goes down, but Riven has a big advantage early on which you need to abuse. When engaging on Jax, save your shield to dash out of his stun, or at least shield the counter damage when he lands it. If he starts with his stun at level 1, avoid trading untill level 2.
Rumble
Rumble isn't too hard to deal with, as long as you play it correctly. Pressure him hard in his weak early game and you should be able to push him out. Riven is stronger in a 1v1 in all stages of the game. Make sure to shield his Q damage as you go in for trades and he'll have very poor response to your pressure.
Irelia
In my opinion, the very definition of a skill matchup. In this matchup, you want to play around her stun. Make sure she never gets to stun you in a creepwave and deal free damage to you. If you can shield the stun, you win the trade. Pressure her when she's trying to farm. At level 6 your all in is stronger (but you should again be very wary of her stun and counterattack)
Nidalee
This can be tough if you let her wither you down. In this matchup you want to try and get yourself in a position where you can gapclose your way to her while still having at least 1 Q stack left and stun her before she can dash out. Do not use your shield as a gapcloser, save it to disengage after a trade or to avoid her spears.
Tryndamere
A skill matchup that's pretty hard in Riven's advantage early on, but tips in his favor as the game goes on. Build lots of CDR and movement speed (CDR boots, youmuu's is recommended) and try to pressure him hard and often. The trick to this matchup is forcing him to use his rage on healing, rather than critting you, because if he starts critting you in trades you will lose.
Azir
In this matchup, Riven does have an edge in the first few levels, but he can play safe enough to avoid getting killed. If you see an opportunity to play aggressively and get free damage, you should always go for it. At level 6 an all in becomes very difficult as he has very powerful disengage tools. Play it safe, farm up and try to suprise him and burst him down if he ever gets out of position.
Kennen
A matchup where you're at a slight disadvantage. Kennen has pretty big range and an escape to boot, it's hard to punish him. You want to make sure to never let him get free passive charges on you (every 5th auto he gets one of those - as well as avoid all of his shurikens with your shield if possible) Try to engage on him when he goes in for auto attack harass on you, and try to get your stun off before he E's out of range. When he's low enough you can attempt an all in, but be careful of getting kited and stunned under the turret.
Darius
This matchup can be really challenging. Both Darius and Riven have different power spikes that give both an advantage at some point in the lane, however, Darius has a bigger edge over Riven, especially later on in the lane. You want to start with Valor at level 1. If you did the wolf camp strat (which is recommended), get Broken Wings and Valor as your 2 abilities and start trading aggressively immediately. Riven has the stronger level 1, as long as you manage to shield the majority of his damage. Try to time shields for when he wants to Q you, and keep pressuring him. Build only combat stats, after a Doran's Blade or two to increase your health pool to a level where you're more comfortable against his level 6 damage. Force a lead early on and you can win.
Gnar
Very difficult lane. Gnar can harass Riven while staying out of her range. He has good base damage and will get only harder to deal with as he gets more tanky. Never try to fight him in his big form unless you have a very clear advantage. Play this lane safe and try to punish him if he tries to be too aggressive. Try to engage quickly and land your stun before he uses his escape.
Garen
Another champion that doesn't have to build any damage to be a threat to Riven, while being extremely tanky. What makes this matchup so hard is his silence. Silences are the bane of Riven's existence and with it, he will outtrade you really hard. The trick to this matchup is to try and predict when he's going for that silence, and save your shield. If you can dash backwards as he silences you, you can then go in for a trade and come out ahead.
Renekton
Still easily the hardest Riven counter. There is very little counterplay to his point and click stun and unavoidable damage, as well as his high sustain. As with the Garen matchup, you want to try to shield his stun if he goes for it. Play aggressively early on, but don't overdo it or you'll end up getting punished hard. You DO eventually outscale him, but that's only at the 3-4 item mark.
Quinn
There really isn't much you can do in this matchup. She is a ranged champion with a ton of damage, a disengage that slows you and leaves you with no chance to catch up AND a blind on top of that... As with most ranged matchups, you want to try and abuse their mistakes and catch them when they're our of position. She's really squishy so if you do manage to catch her, you can kill her quickly too.
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