Please verify that you are not a bot to cast your vote.
Not Updated For Current Season
This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page
This matchup is just unplayable in team fights and in lane if they know what they're doing, especially with the absolutely disgusting Divine Sunderer buffs. This is my permaban and I suggest you do the same. Wukong gets free armor penetration, and it's easy for him to dodge literally all of your abilities with his clone, you'll be sitting there unable to do anything in retaliation. The only thing you can do is watch how he utilizes his clone and figure out his patterns, and then use your abilities based on what you learned, but even then, it’s hard to consistently predict when Wukong will use his clone, so you just need to play around his cooldowns and avoid fighting for the most part. One of the only good things about this matchup is you can stun him into his clone, use that to your advantage when possible. If you ever use TP and Wukong matches, it's more than likely that you will lose that fight unless you and your team have a decent advantage in HP and Cooldowns. If Wukong TPs first, unless you need to match (an objective is up or something), it would be better to take farm and turret plates while he TPs, that way you can build a gold advantage in lane and try to pressure him off the wave hard when he comes back. If Wukong splits in the side lane or engages on your team you will need to be the one that responds. You should avoid trying to engage in a team fight as Wukong will either dive your backline, or he will just ult you, making it impossible for you to position for a good W, E, or R. Start with Doran's Shield, rush Plated Steelcaps and Bramble Vest. Stridebreaker is good here to try to catch him out with your team and slow him from engaging. It also is a good escape tool and helps you reposition your ult when Wukong knocks you up with his. Eventually build a Thornmail, go Resolve Secondary, and take Bone Plating.
Illaoi
Another Divine Sunderer abuser, yaaaay! This matchup is pretty easy at the start, this is where you want to make a lead. But after level 6 you will almost always lose unless you're way ahead. If you are under your turret and go to cs, they will pull your spirit and hit it for free. If you shove them, they will pull your spirit (although easier to dodge here) and hit it for free. This isn't too much of a problem pre 6 as you can walk up to them and push them off it with your sheer damage, but if you ever try to fight them off of your spirit past level 6 you will just get ulted and most likely die. If they miss their E you’ll want to engage hard, even past level 6. Your only hope early-game is getting a pre-6 lead and then playing aggressively. This will get the enemy team to have their attention drawn top so your team can make good plays elsewhere. Now in order to win against Illaoi after 6 while being aggressive, you will need to destroy their tentacles and try to dodge their E. If they ever ult you, your best bet is to ult them away from their grouped tentacles, but you will still take a lot of damage from it, which can result in many things, such as dying mid R, losing the trade, having to blow flash, somehow killing them, the list goes on. Mid/Late-Game you want to peel your team from Illaoi, if they ever engage just ult them into their team. They will be forced to ult you, and even though you might die your team can finish the engage without worrying about Illaoi R. Start with Doran's Blade, and rush Bramble if you’re even or behind, but you'll need it at some point. You might want to build a Black Cleaver if they’re armor stacking, and a Sterak’s Gage to be able to survive their ult better.
Malphite
With Tank items being considerably buffed this season, Malphite has an incredibly high win rate, and although this is mitigated by the massive amounts of damage in the game right now, it's not your job as Sett to be doing that, so during lane this matchup is by far one of your worst. He can do more damage than you while building tank, and you'll never be able to fight him 1v1 once he finishes his mythic item because of the stupid damage Immolate gives, not even to mention his AA slow and movement speed which are just completely cancer for you as a melee champion. You'll want to try to abuse his weak early game and get first blood. After level 6 it gets tricky when he has the mana to somewhat sustain Q poking you into depression. Consider maxing W if you are behind, and if you're under your tower on low HP, be prepared to flash in front of where he will probably ult you, and follow up with an R (if not on CD) on him into your tower for a potential kill. Try not to engage in a team fight with his ult up or else after you go in on the enemy team he will just ult your carry and when you look back at the rest of your team you'll be wondering where they went to as you get brutally murdered. Saving your R to peel him away from your team is probably the best thing you can do. Start with Doran's Shield, and build Mercury Treads if you can as your first item so you don't lose your sanity. This champ is very braindead to play, and it counters you hard. Go Resolve Secondary, take Second Wind, Unflinching, and a Magic Resist.
Jax
With his recent AD buffs fighting Jax has become a lot harder. To have any chance of victory in this matchup, you'll want to start with W, as he will most likely learn Counterstrike first. You can bully him a little bit in the early levels by E stunning him into Q AA AA before he can counterstrike. If he still uses it and tries to hit you, you still have your W to hit him with so long as he can’t get away with his Q. Past level 6 you will want to use the full 2 seconds of being unstoppable from your ult for when you think his E stun will proc, this only works though if it reaches its max cooldown, as he can’t cast the stun early during your ult. As such you are at a disadvantage, but if you can do it you’ll have more than enough damage to kill him. Later in the game though, it’s best for you to stop his Q hop with your ult to catch him out. If you want to fight him 1v1 late game, Trinity Force is best here because of his insane scaling, and so long as you can get some Q AA and a good W in, you can win, this is because most of his core old items are nerfed (Blade of the Ruined King, Wit's End, etc). If you want to play for your team fight and catching him out, go Stridebreaker. He will most likely try to dive your backline and stun them, so slowing him and peeling him away from your team would ensure their survival. Start Doran’s Shield, take Bramble early, and get Plated Steelcaps after. Go Resolve Secondary, and take Bone Plating.
Volibear
This champ sucks to fight, you can make him go 1/10 and he will still be tankier than you and do almost as much damage as you. Start W level 1 and if he walks up punch him. You should be able to zone him off the entire first wave or else he loses a lot of HP. Afterward, don't let Volibear stun you into his E, you will always lose trades if he hits his E on you, especially if he gets the shield. Be careful of this, but past level 6 you can R him out of his E so you should win. In any short trades don't let him cast his 2nd W on you (there's a mark over your head to showcase when he can use it), and don't get hit by the center of his R if you can. Be careful and don't take free poke from his passive. His ult disables towers so never be present near yours on low HP, especially if his JG is near. In team fights, it’s best to wait for him to ult before you ult him on his team, as his R gives him more HP. Start Doran’s Shield, and rush Bramble early. Go Resolve Secondary, take Second Wind and Unflinching.
Gwen
Disgustingly broken champion if they know how to abuse them. You can be 2k gold up and they will still be able to kill you. They scale super hard and you need to avoid that power spike at all costs. Their ult will shred your entire team late game so you absolutely must peel your squishies. You, surprisingly, as the AA lv 1 king, get beat down HARD by a doll with scissors. Your only hope in winning early will be to start W level 1 to survive. With it, you can usually bait them into a trade and at around half grit hit them with a W so they won't try to flash it. It should leave them low enough for you to be able to push them off a wave or two. In fights with them, you'll need to try and sidestep their Q's true damage. So long as you stick right next to them you should be able to walk behind them as they cast it. If they dash before it though, all you can do is walk away from the true damage line. Make sure you E stun your W to guarantee it hits them as they can easily dodge it otherwise with their W and or E. Try to catch them mid dash with your ult, or use your ult while they are casting Q or R to offset the area it hits you. Most people suck at this champ, but there's a reason it has well over a 50% ban rate in high elo. I would perma ban this if Wukong didn't exist lol.
Renekton
NOTE: I AM REWRITING THREATS FOR PATCH 11.13+, EVERYTHING FROM THIS POINT ONWARD IS NOT UP TO DATE! Bully him early game by being aggressive. At level 6, you should be able to kill him or get a flash if you play it smart. Let him W Q then try to E away from you, by the time he starts his dash you will be able to catch him with your E, then unleash a massive W. Assuming you did it into a wave and stunned him, you can Q AA. When he tries to recast E to get away again, just ult him to cancel it. He will lose this trade and be forced to flash or else you most likely kill him. Going Stridebreaker here would help confirm a kill on him, but Trinity Force is way better for its sheer damage, he won't be able to all-in you on equal gold unless he has a build meant to burst you or his JG is present. If you're not ahead, don't think you can escape, you're not even safe behind your minion wave, he will just dash through. His potential to dive your backline easily, especially with active items like Prowler's Claw, you will want to be peeling your team from that as much as possible. Be careful of Renekton's rage W in fights or 1v1s that can get rid of your massive W and/or Sterak's shield. If you're in a big fight, you can ult him into his team and give him little to no chance to react. Start Doran's Shield if you don't think you'll win, go Blade if you at least want to try to make an early lead. Take Bramble Vest if you're equal on gold or behind, and either Plated Steelcaps before your first item completion if there's another AD champ on Renekton's team, especially his JG. Go Resolve Secondary, take Bone Plating and Unflinching.
Akali
Try to bush cheese all in Akali level 1, that's your best bet at winning. Whenever they learn W it's very hard to make good trades with them. You'll have to engage them with Q E, and when they W you'll just walk away and try not to get poked down. If you get a lot of grit and they W, you should just W the misty darkness they shat out, and you'll probably hit them. Try to abuse their early game W cooldown by getting some AA in, and save your E if possible for when they recast their E on you so you can catch them. Now post 6 it's almost impossible to gap close and kill Akali, at best you might be able to catch them in their 1st or 2nd R cast with your E or R, or you can ult them out of their shroud if you're lucky. Make sure you don't get behind in lane, because past level 6 they will be able to dive you super easily, especially with their JG. In team fights it's very hard to peel your team from Akali, you'll probably want to look for engages before they get the chance to dive your backline. Start Doran's Shield, and get an early Bramble Vest. Afterward, you'll want to rush Stridebreaker if you're behind, or Trinity Force if you're even or ahead. The Sheen proc should at the very least be enough damage to scare Akali away from fighting you. Build Sterak's Gage right after and pray that you will survive their all in. Switch up your Tenacity with Alacrity, and take Resolve Secondary. Go Second Wind and Revitalize, take 1 Magic Resist.
Riven
Riven used to be an even-skill matchup, but now it's very hard to win other than early all-in trades if you play it perfectly, but even then they can still get away easily. Riven has the highest AD ratios in the game and it's not even close, she can go Goredrinker and still out damage a fed ADC. This champ is disgustingly broken, and you will never win if they play smart and just don't all in you pre-level 6. You'll want to learn W at level 1, you will always win the trade that way (just be wary of your long W CD), but make sure they can't Q away out of your W's damage zone. Up to level 6, you win the all-in as long as you can hit them with a few abilities, but even then they will almost always be able to dash away, it's too hard to kill confirm on a good Riven. Consider going Striderbreaker to slow them, but this won't really be enough burst to kill them, so I'd recommend going Trinity, make sure you get a Sheen as fast as possible so you can try to zone them. Goredrinker in this situation just makes you absolutely useless in a 1v1, and you really don't want to have your ADC go match a mobile Riven in a side lane when they split... It won't be pretty. It will be your job to match the Riven wherever they go, and vice versa, you will also want to match their insane damage with insane damage, so go Trinity Force, and pray that the damage carries you through the 1v1. You won’t catch them with Stridebreaker anyways because they have 100 dashes, so it’s not worth going for it in combination with Blade of the Ruined King, you’ll be way too squishy. You should do your best to predict where Riven will be and be there before them. It's very hard to match their mobility, so having good macro knowledge is key. It's best to build Trinity Force and hope the sheer damage will carry you through the 1v1. Past level 6 their all-in potential is disgusting and you can't realistically win sometimes unless you flash their R or wait to outscale them at level 9. Start Doran’s Shield, Rush Bramble first item, then go into a Sheen. Next, build a Hearthbound Axe, then Plated Steelcaps. Go Sterak’s 2nd item to survive their burst, and Death’s Dance 3rd item if they have 3+ AD. Go Resolve Secondary, take Bone Plating and Unflinching.
Yorick
Yorick is very easy to fight early, but once he gets Level 6 and especially so Divine Sunderer, it becomes very difficult. Bully him early game and push into his tower to make him lose some CS. Dodge his mist and his early damage goes away. Past Level 6 his Maiden does a lot of damage in an all in, look to kill it when Yorick's W is down. When you find yourself fighting him past Level 6, you have 2 advantages. If he traps you in his W, you can ult him to get out of the cage if he's close enough, that, and you can stun him into his own maiden. Use these 2 advantages as best as you can. It's best to go an early Bramble, and then rush Trinity Force as soon as possible, hoping to kill him through sheer damage and being slightly ahead because of your dominant early game.
Cassiopeia
Not too bad early game, go in for a heavy trade level 1. Just make sure to dodge their Q early-game and you should win. Rush Mercury Treads to have the movement speed advantage and additional Tenacity. After level 6 it starts to get tricky, to win you'll need to either face away from their ult or use yours to dodge it, but both require good prediction, it's easier said than done. After they get their first 2 items it's very hard to play this matchup, they will run you down and you can't flash/R them when grounded. They melt you in team fights and run your team down too all while abusing Conqueror as a mage, it's not fun. In team fights focus your CC on them, and try to catch them out in sidelanes with your team if possible. Go Executioners and rush Abyssal Mask, or Spirit Visage if you have an enchanter.
Gnar
This champion is just annoying, but you can run them down if you connect. I'd suggest bush cheesing for a nasty level 1 trade. If they ever try jumping away from you, catch them with your E, but this isn't that consistent and requires some prediction. Dodging their Q is pretty easy, especially on its return, but if you somehow get hit twice by this, I'm sorry to tell you, but we're not playing catch the boomerang. As long as you catch him in his tiny form and use either your ult or E to stop him from jumping away, you can kill him easily. His E cooldown is longer than yours, abuse it. If he ever jumps into you, unless he's super fed he will just die. When he's in mega form though, you need to be more careful of his all-in, especially his ult, so avoid standing near walls. His boulder throw is not hard to dodge unless it's point-blank range, and you can cancel his W stun if you E the animation. His jump isn't much of a threat to you other than if he uses it as a prediction to dodge your W. They will probably build armor so you can go Trinity Force into Black Cleaver here, or start with Divine Sunderer, then go into Black Cleaver if they more tanky champions. Goredrinker isn't really that useful as you can't stick to him in the 1v1, Stridebreaker maybe, but you have the advantage when it comes in CD to stop his E and kill him, so it's not needed. Take Bramble eventually based on the enemy team comp, and get at least 1 armor item 2nd or 3rd, probably Death's Dance.
Jayce
This matchup is dependant on how well you can dodge his ranged abilities, especially his empowered Q. You'll want to start Cloth 4 HP Pots and try to all-in him level 1. You can hide behind the minion wave for a majority of his skill shots so long as you're somewhat healthy HP and he can't all-in you. If he ever gets mad and tries to Q towards you in hammer form just catch him with your E and get a free trade. Wait to back till you can get Plated Steelcaps 1st item. Past level 6 you should ult him during his hammer form E that knocks you away, and you can pretty much get a guaranteed kill. This is only an annoying lane if he goes Phase Rush. Consider building Stridebreaker to slow him if you think he'll get away denying you a kill, but realistically in this matchup, Trinity Force will melt his HP bar when he builds lethality. Go Death's Dance 2nd or 3rd item and it will be hard for him to fight you.
Kennen
Phase rush? Have fun! Just avoid fighting if possible unless he wastes his E to run at you, then you can walk up to him and punchy punch. Going Stridebreaker is very useful here, but you can alternatively go Trinity Force. If you want to fight you can get Mercury Treads early and probably just outplay them. Early Kennen can't really burst you down. He isn't really that useful in side laning, he just wants to electrocute your entire team with his ult, but it takes a second or so once connected with his enemies to actually stun them. This is where you will want to ult him away from your team. Take at least 1 Magic Resistance item 2nd or 3rd based on the enemy team comp.
Gragas
His CC is super long and you can't catch him with your E when he procs it, especially if he's going Phase Rush, but if you go Mercury Treads first item then you'll be fine. Avoid his Q, and don't get baited into him ulting you into the Q blast radius. When he has his W up, it's not really ever going to hit you unless he takes short trades or will all in, which he will lose both of once you can catch him with your E. His ult you will want to save your Show Stopper for so if he knocks you into his tower you can ult him back out, or you can ult him to dodge the R blowback. In team fights, be careful of his flash combo potential. It's probably best to immediately focus him in a team fight by ulting him into his team, he doesn't really have a use in that situation and will be unable to use his Q well, and also be forced to either E or R you, possibly both. His sustain is very annoying so buy Executioner's Calling early, and take an MR item 2nd or 3rd based on the enemy team comp.
Fiora
Fiora out scales you and you will lose most of the time if they can proc their R. But you generally should just do enough damage with your AA to kill them, especially by going Trinity Force. You will want to try to bush cheese them, they lose level 1 unless they parry your E, so hold off on using it unless they parry. From Levels 2-5 you will want to start off a trade with an E stun into your minion wave on them then just AA them, using Q whenever. They will probably parry your W though. Your other option is to start a trade with Q, and hold off your E at all times. You will win the AA trade with Q only and they will have to parry at some point. Even if you are losing, let's say they went ignite, you can always W, which they will be forced to parry, which afterward you can E them. If they don't parry before then they either die or disengaged. Past level 6 you will want to go near walls and or sidestep fiora to avoid them from hitting all their R spots. I'd recommend to ult them mid-Q animation when they are trying to reposition to hit one of their R vitals. In this matchup, just be careful of their E AA slow, you might end up canceling your own basic attacks a lot on accident. Rush Bramble Vest and eventually Plated Steelcaps. Trinity Force is the best Mythic item to be able to outduel them, but late game they will still probably be able to kill you 1v1 just because they will probably end up parrying something you do and are an over buffed piece of **** champion.
Warwick
Don't fight him till level 3, then you can win trades, that is unless he has ignite. He will try to Q behind your W, so always make sure to E stun him into a W. Once you get to level 6 it becomes a bit harder to survive if he ults you on low HP, but you can ult his E fear now which makes winning significantly easier. Build Trinity Force because he will usually end up going Goredrinker, which is pretty useless in a 1v1. If he's smart he will roam a lot and you can't really ever match that because of his passive, so just ping when he's missing, and hard shove into his tower for plates. In team fights his main use is to lock down your carry with his ult, followed by a group fear. You'll want to deny him that chance by either ulting him before or after he has the chance to do that. Your team fight utility is greater than his! Yay! Take Bramble Vest and Plated Steelcaps as your first 2 items. Take Abyssal Mask or Death's Dance based on the enemy team comp, and if he's going AP or AD.
Vayne
Start Cloth and 4 Pots and you should win early game once you back to first item Plated Steelcaps. When fighting them after don't walk near a wall that they can stun you into. It's hard to catch them with your E sometimes because they will dash away. Trinity Force is good to stay on them with its movement speed proc and general high damage, or Stridebreaker to slow them. You only need to worry about their invis and true damage once they have a few items and ult. They should be your main focus on killing in team fights. Consider going Randuin's Omen 2nd or 3rd item, and take Bramble early.
Ryze
You might want to go Phase Rush to match him otherwise it will be somewhat cancer. You can still beat him though as long as you take a short Q E AA AA W trade then walk away and dodge his skill shots, or do an all in and just burst him down with Trinity Force. Stridebreaker is useful early to catch him, but you will lack the burst late game to kill him. Be careful of his marks as it will cause amplified damage. If he ever tries to ult away from you, your best bet is to ult him out of it at the right time or to burst him before he teleports away. Be careful of splitting Mid/Late-Game because his R threat potential to cut you off with multiple members of his team is quite dangerous. Also, be careful of his potential roams, counter fights/ganks, and JG invades with his ultimate. Force of Nature is a good buy here, especially if he is scaling. Mercury Treads is a must here unless the rest of his team is mostly AD/AA based.
Olaf
If you fall for the early cheese level 1 trade, you will probably lose, especially if he has ignite. However, it's possible to win Level 1 if you learn W first, and can dodge an axe or two. If you get hit by an axe, do not under any circumstance just try to walk away, it will be a terrible trade for you, and you could end up dying, or tower dove by him and his JG. At the very least you can fight him and try to blow his flash when he needs to dodge your W. In an AA duel, you will win, at least till level 6. You will want to bully him once you reach level 3, and start building for Trinity Force, going for Sheen first. Nothing else matters here for Mythic items, you just need to abuse the burst and in fight bonus AD from it to be able to kill Olaf. If he ever ults, you need to position smart to hit your W, for example, having your back against the wall. The only use of ulting him during his ult is to get away, dodge the slow from an axe of his, or just delay his ult so it runs out quicker. If you're not ahead, you will probably lose the 1v1, so splitting in this matchup isn't ideal. You will want to match him however in sidelines and hope to catch him out with your team if he pushes too far. In team fights you can't realistically stop him from ulting onto your team and chopping them into sushi, so your best bet is to engage on his team and force him to respond to you. But if he's smart, he could save his ult during that situation, so forcing it out by starting a fight by ulting him into his team into an E if possible, or bursting his carry down are both ways to try and achieve that. He's stronger the lower HP he is, but you stack Conquerer faster than him, so be aware of those things. Rushing Bramble Vest is a must this matchup, and Plated Steelcaps as well unless the rest of his team is a heavy AP/CC based comp. Black Cleaver is also useful in this situation as a 2nd or 3rd item if he is building a lot of armor, but generally I would go Death's Dance just to spread out some of his AD damage in an all-in. Sterak's Gage would be a decent early build for this matchup, as you would be able to survive through his ult probably, and deal more W
true damage.
Aatrox
This matchup is entirely dependant on how well you can dodge his Qs. Sidestepping is key, walk one direction away from Aatrox then quickly go the other way. You can E his Q into you to offset the Crit zone from hitting you. Basically, if you dodge his first 2 Qs, you win. Sometimes you will want to ult his chain (W) to avoid being pulled in by it. Make sure you dodge his abilities or CC him during his ult more so than anything else, or you might end up losing the fight. Going Trinity Force is good here since they will probably end up going Goredrinker, which isn't the best for 1v1s, and Trinity is especially good if the Aatrox is going Lethality, he will melt like butter from your Q Sheen proc. Rush Bramble Vest or Executioner's Calling, and go Death's Dance 2nd item.
Camille
You can beat them levels 1-3 even if they have their passive up. Your best bet for winning this matchup is using your E to catch them right before they hit you, or using it to pull their W closer to you. After level 6 you'll want to stun them with your E to always hit your W so Camille can't R it. If you can, save your ult for when Camille tries to escape with their E. Take Bramble early, as well as Plated Steelcaps. Go Death's Dance 2nd or 3rd item, it will help you fight them easier, but they also have a lot of true damage so be wary of this.
Nasus
Bully him levels 1-3 and try to get First Blood. Afterward, regardless of whether you got First Blood or not, freeze in front of your tower if you can, or deny him as many stacks as possible. Roaming is not a great thing you will want to be doing here, Nasus will scale super well off of stacking minions with his Q, match wherever he goes as best you can, and avoid getting the first tower as he will be able to pull the first long freeze. When you fight him early it doesn't really matter what you do, just E him before he completely gets away and you should win the trade. Past level 6, it becomes harder, but as long as you stall out his Qs on you with your E, R, and just by walking between AA, you should still win, especially if you were already ahead in kills and/or CS. Build Trinity Force to bully him, or Divine Sunderer if he's armor stacking. In team fights he will most likely wither your carry and then try to run them down. Do your best to peel Nasus off of them, and do not let him dive your backline. Ulting him onto his enemy team during his ult is the most ideal thing to do in this situation. Take Unflinching if you are going Resolve Secondary, get an early Bramble Vest or Executioner's Calling, and build Death's Dance 2nd or 3rd item.
Maokai
This tree is very weak early, and you can bully him. Try to freeze as best you can, because punishing him can be a bit of a struggle when he litters saplings in all the lane bushes. Just make sure he can't W your W to dodge it and you should win. Now eventually it will become almost impossible to kill Maokai Mid-Game because of his tankiness and general sustain. Hopefully, your early bullying of him will have a deep psychological impact, allowing you to keep punishing with him not fighting back. You won't be able to kill him most of the time, but in team fights, he is basically a free nuke onto the enemy team with your ult as he prefers HP items over armor stacking. It's best to ult him over his R into his team so you avoid the root, and the enemy team is too focused on you RKOing Maokai on them to be worried about your rooted team. It's in your best interest to build Divine Sunderer if you want to be able to solo kill him a lot, but Goredrinker is better here if you think there won't be much going on till a team fight, and you have a tank killer like Vayne. Go Executioners early and build Abyssal Mask eventually.
Urgot
Learn to kite around Urgot and avoid his legs as best as you can. Don't try to take a level 1 trade, a good Urgot will use their sexy legs to dance around you before killing you, especially so if they have ignite. Past level 1 however, you need to save your E for when he will dash into you, or dash away from you. Catch him mid-animation and it will either cancel it, or leave you both CC, and no matter which happens you'll be close enough to punch him so you win. Be careful of an Urgot trying to dash you during your W animation, and the best thing to do if he hasn't used his dash yet and you have max grit, just E him into a W, you still win the trade afterward. If he dashes into you then without his leg cannons, he dies. If he dashes away then, you can't catch him. Past level 6 it becomes a bit more tricky, but as long as you can predict his ult and sidestep behind him, you can easily dodge it. You can also use your R to dodge it as well if you time it right. Stridebreaker is good overall in this matchup, Goredrinker is the best for a team fight, but Urgot will bully you hard at his level 9 power spike if you are building Goredrinker. Because of this, Trinity is better, but only if you are even or ahead of Urgot. If you split or team fight, Urgot will either match you or do the other thing. If he team fights without you there, your team will just lose. You need vision or good prediciton to figure out where Urgot will go. In team fights, if a teammate of yours is about to be killed by Urgot R, make sure to ult Urgot away from them (if possible) to delay that for as long as you can, hoping to kill him before it's used. You'll want to get Bramble Early and go Death's Dance 2nd or 3rd item.
Kayle
You probably want to start Boots and 4 Health Pots. When you first back you want to get Plated Steelcaps. If Kayle walks up at all before level 6 they lose half their HP. Otherwise, they lose some CS. Either is good for you. After 6 it's annoying to fight them because of their range, but still doable with Trinity to burst them down. Stridebreaker is good here as well to slow them in life or death situations. Past level 11, and especially past level 16 it's almost impossible to lock them down and kill them, you're just so slow compared to them, especially if they hit their Q. If you get caught out VS them you can't escape so you might as well fight to the finish. If their ult is going to hit your team in a group fight, just R whoever they ulted away. If they stay in the backline just ult someone onto them and get an E stun. Once they're locked down by multiple people and don't have ult they are pretty useless. Eventually, get a Bramble Vest, and build an Abyssal Mask as your 3rd or 4th item so when you E them they take more damage.
Garen
If you save your W too long he can silence you and you could lose. Most Garens run ignite so it's super obnoxious to fight them, but if you're equal in gold you win against him, but if either of you gets ahead it's super snowbally. Garen can easily spin behind you during your W so make sure to stun him with your E or position far enough away so he can't do that. No matter how much you poke him he will regenerate pretty fast, similar to you, and if you throw out a W when he's disengaging he will use his W for a free shield, pretty much negating your W true damage. You are at a disadvantage if you can't kill him, he can run away easily. Be wary of his ult if you have low HP, you will just die. His splitting is very scary and he can easily escape, try to match him as best as you can. But generally in team fights he's kind of useless VS you, just ult him into his team during his E animation, or wait for him to try and engage, then just peel him off your team. Consider going Stridebreaker and or Dead Man's Plate if you're even or ahead to catch him. Take Executioners if you have a lead, or Bramble if behind. Go Death's Dance eventually, it will help when fighting him.
Lucian
Start cloth 4 pots, try not to take too much poke. You can win early if you can predict his dash and E him, but otherwise, you just win at level 6, so long as you aren't too far behind in gold. Stridebreaker and or Dead Man's Plate is recommended for this matchup, but Trinity can be better if you're snowballing, you will literally be able to kill him with a few punches. He hard out scales you though, so respect his damage late game. Try to tank his R for your team, is also nice when he's trying to disengage and you can W to mitigate most of it. Death's Dance and Randuin's Omen are useful items for this matchup, but only if there are other AD champs, otherwise just stick with one.
Kled
His Q bleed is annoying for you. You'll want to try and dodge the initial skill shot or else this matchup will be somewhat difficult. It will be hard to kill him as he can jump off of his lizard at key times and use his gun Q to move in a direction, dodging your W or E. It's best to wait past 6 then when he gets off of Skarl to CC him with your E and R as much as you can to kill him before the pesky lizard gets back. If he mounts again, well... You will probably lose. If he ever R engages be ready to ult him (after the unstoppable runs off from him) back into his team. You can catch him mid E if needed. Rush Bramble into t1 boots, then build Stridebreaker preferably, Goredrinker if the enemy team is mostly melee, or Trinity if they are mostly squishy. Death's Dance is very good as a 2nd item here, will help you survive and deal more damage VS Kled.
Tryndamere
Bush cheesing is a good thing to do here, try to force him off the wave after that. If he builds up rage early you won't be able to beat him. Catching him mid dash is KEY in this matchup. If you can't do this 50/50 then you probably won't win the matchup. They will usually dash away somewhere around 1/3 to 1/4 HP, so be prepared. Some Trynd players go ghost and or ignite, so also be wary of that. Past 6 it gets rough unless you have a decent lead and can live through his ult. It's best to save your R for when he ults, then walking towards where you think he will go to try and reduce the time left on his undying rage. It gets pretty hard late if he builds a lot of damage, it's best to go anti-burst like 3rd item Sterak's Gage and maybe 4th+ item Gargoyle's Stoneplate if the enemy team comp has AP. You will want to rush Bramble first, and Plated Steelcaps if you're not having a good time. Trinity Force or Stridebreaker are your best options here. Death's Dance is a good buy to delay a % of his damage as DoT. If he splits it's hard to match him, he's way better at taking towers, but if that's all he ever does, if you don't let him take too many you will hard win team fights and steamroll the game off that.
Ornn
His W unstoppable can be tricky to deal with sometimes, but you have 2 CC abilities. This champ is annoying when he maxes Q and armor stacks then just pokes you forever, you can't trade back because of the slow. If you end up fighting him though, whenever he tries to E in on you or away from you, E to catch him mid animation. Try to save your ult for when he ults, then just R him away so he can't recast his ult, it makes him pretty useless in team fights. Divine Sunderer is your recommended item here, followed by Black Cleaver. The rest of your itemizations depend on the enemy team comp.
Poppy
The number of times I've fought a Poppy can be counted in single digits, and they were all in Season 10, so I don't have the best advice or knowledge here for Pre-Season, but here goes nothing I guess? Just be careful of fighting near a wall. They can build super tanky with Trinity and still do more damage than you for some reason? Be careful of letting them pick up their shield thing as they well, get a free shield. I'm not sure if you can dodge their ult with yours, probably, but I haven't ever found myself in a situation to test it without throwing away a game lol. You might be able to cancel it if you ult them before they cast it though. Divine Sunderer or Goredrinker is probably best here, probably the latter, as in team fights you'll want to stay alive for as long as possible, just like Poppy. I would build boots based on the enemy team comp and I would get Black Cleaver into Steraks as my 2nd and 3rd item in this matchup.
Sylas
Bully him in the early levels, past 6 it's a bit tricky because he can RKO you too. It gets worse once he starts healing for his entire HP bar. Dodging his Q explosion is quite easy unless he uses it in connection with CC, and in melee all-ins, you can dodge his E stun by being in a minion wave, walking behind him, or with your ult. Rush Bramble or Exe, then build
Mercury Treads for the CC resistance and movement speed advantage. Trinity is your best Mythic here to burst him down, Goredrinker is hard to hit when he can use your ult against you in key game-ending team fights.
Tahm Kench
A bit stronger than previous Season because of buffed tank items, so it's very hard to win a 1v1 if he has hail of blades or ignite, just don't take any dumb early trades with him in lane and you'll be fine. Let him shove in on your tower, just make sure you can CS under your tower and dodge his Q poke or you won't have a good time. Goredrinker is your best mythic for this matchup as you'll want to use your ult to set up good engages. Divine Sunderer could be your alternative Mythic Item if he is armor stacking and the enemy team comp can easily dodge your ult engage. Past level 6 you should be able to fight him and win so long as you're not behind, just try to E cancel one of his AA to delay him voring you for as long as possible. If you let him shove then eat you, you can use your ult to throw him into your tower, but good players aren't stupid enough to do that, so it's best to save your R to dodge Tahm's Q stun. Just be careful of his roaming potential from his ult, and don't push too far in lane or when splitting with him absent or he might bring a friend to say hi to you. His utility in team fights is pretty terrible other than being able to become a meat shield and saving someone in his belly for a few seconds. He can also be used as a nuke for the enemy backline. He really doesn't have utility unless he gets three stacks from his passive, so if you engage on his team he has to respond and by then it will probably already be too late, your team will have secured the fight. Take Mercury Treads and eventually go Abyssal Mask.
Gangplank
Feels like you're fighting a ranged champion, but at any time you just win against him if you're in punching range. In the early levels, you can break his barrels faster than he can so be sure to do this as best you can, otherwise, you could lose the fight. Ping your team when he gets level 6, he becomes a bit scary then. When you ult him GP can use his W to cancel it, so use this to either strategically place yourself in front of his minion wave to E stun him, or just bait out his orange first before you ult him. Try to bait his barrels by walking close to him when he has one placed, then quickly sidestep back to where you were. In this matchup, it's bad if you're playing passive because he will just eternally farm grasp procs and barrels on you while shoving in, so you need to play aggressive on him, just be careful if they have ignite. Stridebreaker is super good here, but Trinity Force will melt a GP if they're behind. Getting a Sheen in this matchup and building into Bramble Vest feels pretty good. Plated Steelcaps is good eventually, go Death's Dance 2nd or 3rd item.
Rumble
Watch his heat levels, and make trades when it's high. Sidestep to dodge his missiles and you will be a lot better off. Be careful of standing in his ult, I'd suggest ulting him away from it as it will really mess up your HP. If he ults your team in a team fight that's when you will want to engage with your ult as his team will instead focus you and his R will be wasted basically. Stridebreaker is good against his movement speed, but other Mythics could be built if his team comp requires it. Force of Nature or Gargoyle's Stoneplate are very good items to buy for this matchup, the movement speed and shield can match his late-game AP power spikes.
Darius
You should only ever be careful of Darius level 1, and if he has ignite or ghost. His all-in potential is scary, but you beat him if you punch him, literally. When Darius is about to use his Q, that's your signal to E him so you get put in the center, both avoiding the damage and bleed. If he W slows you before using Q, it's not the end of the world, and if you are level 6 you can just ult him during that anyways to dodge his Q. If he tries to ult you, you can ult him to cancel his ult, but you can't watch for the animation, you just have to predict it or else it will still hit you. If you're not about to kill him and are above 3 stacks of his bleed, you should try to move towards your turret, and if he still sticks on you and you don't think you will be able to reach your turret without getting 5 stacks and taking way too much damage, or just dying, keep fighting. No matter what you beat him at all stages of the game unless his passive is fully up and he outplays you. His only real threat to you is his Q heal from 5 stacks (which you can have 60% mitigated of from itemizing properly) and the nearly 1k true damage from his ult late game. You need to focus him first, ult him into his team so you can also simultaneously gap close on the ADC without Darius being a threat to run down your team. Trinity Force is the best way to keep steamrolling Darius so he never has a chance to fight back, but you'll want to get Bramble on your first back, and build Plated Steelcaps if you are behind or have completed your Mythic item. Take Death's Dance second item if there are more than 2 AD, otherwise build it 3rd, and eventually build a Sterak's Gage to survive his ult burst Mid-Late game.
Irelia
If they get 5 stacks, you will probably lose. If they can dash to minions to escape an all-in and heal, you will probably lose. If they ult you into an E stun, you will probably lose. Wave management is key in this fight, but I can't really teach you that in a matchup guide too well, so the best I can say for that in a short sentence is watch the caster minions, make sure Irelia can't burst them all in a Q chain. You can either freeze or stack a massive wave to slow push, she can't really walk up to fight you without having passive stacks. You quite literally win the AA competition. Trinity is the best here just for the overall damage, kill them before they can do anything. I'd suggest bush cheesing level 1, and prioritize dodging their E pre 6. If you can do this, even with 5 stacks, you have a decent chance at beating them, just don't try to run away, AA while side stepping back. You'll be surprised at your damage. If you ever get cornered in this matchup, just try to fight if you know you can't escape. That is probably the biggest mistake people make in this matchup, underestimating their damage. Anyways, past level 6 you can use your ult to not be affected by their E stun or ult slow, or to interrupt one of their Q dashes. In team-fights whenever they try to dash to your team or ult them, it's best to ult them away in response. Rushing Bramble is a must, Plated Steelcaps after if you're having a rough time, otherwise rush into Trinity Components starting with Sheen. They farm a lot easier than you though, so don't be surprised if they have a lead in gold, this champ is a natural CSer.
Mordekaiser
You can all-in him any time level 1-5 and win. If you fight level 1, just make sure to cancel his AA animation with your E to delay his passive proc. You can either walk away before it activates, or go all in. You'll want to watch for his E because he can use it to displace you during your W animation, causing it to miss. Make sure to stun him with your E before you use your high grit W to avoid that, as well as preventing him from using his W to soak up your W true damage. If you can, when he uses his W, try to walk away, brute-forcing through it isn't that ideal, but it can work. Past level 6, you can make a trade with him, and try to predict his R and time yours just before you think he will use it, then you will cancel his death realm. Most Mordes will take a trade down to around 50% HP then ult you, or save it when you are trying to getaway. Sometimes they may also start a trade with R but that is only if they are super fed and can kill you during it. Going QSS early is kind of useless in 1v1s because he steals your stats anyway, and it just delays your item power spikes. However, it is somewhat viable later in the game if he wants to use his R to separate you from your or his team. Building Goredrinker in this situation isn't ideal, Mordekaiser will be able to isolate you in team fights, making it useless in a lot of situations, and his general burst damage you'll need to match with a powerful burst Mythic item. You will absolutely want to build Trinity in this Matchup unless you get behind, which in that case Stridebreaker is probably your best buy to slow him down from catching you or your team. You'll want to play aggressively in lane early and build a lead in any way possible, whether it be through CS, kills, or taking JG pressure. You want to match him in team fights, and if he ever ults anyone but you, take advantage of that and destroy his team, your team fight utility with him absent you must use to your advantage. Even if you or your heavy damage teammates get ulted and die, it's still not the end of the world, Mordekaiser will probably be on low HP when he gets out unless he is giga fed. Splitting is decent in this matchup because Mordekaiser will be forced to match you and in that case, he won't be able to isolate one of your teammates with his ult for a potential kill. Now vice versa, if he splits, you will want to match him, this scenario is usually good as well for the same reason, which is avoiding the threat of his ult. Executioner's is a good early buy here to reduce his W and Conqueror healing. Abyssal Mask is decent to help burst him down because of its passive, Force of Nature is great also, better in fact if there is more AP damage on his team. If he builds Hourglass and Bramble Vest, you will probably want to build Black Cleaver as a 2nd item if you are ahead, otherwise build your core Magic Resistance item first. Mercury Treads is ideal in this matchup, but not 100% necessary if his team comp doesn't have a ton of CC.
Lillia
Super easy to dodge all their abilities. Sidestep their E, quickly move to the outer edge of their W, and E their Q, you win super hard if you're range. Phase rush is a decent rune this matchup, but you could go without it and just buy Stridebreaker. Once they get 6, you can dodge the sleep with the unstoppable on your R, but if they aren't stupid they won't be in range for you to do that, which is where you'd want to flash to hit it, use Stridebreaker, etc. Take Mercury Treads early and Force of Nature 2nd item or Abyssal Mask instead if the enemy team comp has tanks.
Heimerdinger
You win level 1, I'd try to bush cheese, but if he doesn't die you will have to play safe unless you can dodge everything and destroy his turrets quickly. Better to just let him push and wait for your JG or level 6 and Stridebraker. His missiles are relatively easy to dodge unless he aims the skill shot to be widespread. His turrets are annoying, but in all-ins, you can use that against him by stunning him into them. If he tries to throw a stun bomb at you use your ult to dodge the CC. Rush Mercury Treads into Stridebreaker, and then get Force of Nature second item, you will need the pasive. He won't be able to beat you after that till late game.
Vladimir
Very easy to beat early game, just punch him without using your W, then when he will die at the threat of an AA, he'll be forced to use his pool, after which you can time your W to hit him exactly when he comes out. Make sure to know his pool timing. Do NOT roam in this matchup often, going anywhere other than a good TP play, or to secure Scuttle or fight off a JG invade in top side is terrible for you unless Vlad is not in lane. Vlad only becomes scary when you let him farm. You could be up 50 CS, go make the most perfect dives and invades to help out your mid and JG, but when you get back to lane, Vlad will just run you down because his power spike mid game with his items is absurd. You will be playing super aggressive and trying to hard freeze on him, so be careful of JG ganks. If past level 6, know how much damage your R does, and use it to execute Vlad when he's on low HP so he doesn't have time to pool. In team fights you can't really peel Vlad off your team that well, but you can chain CC him or just go beat up the entirety of his team. Go Trinity to brute force him to little HP with your AA. Watch out if he goes Rocketbelt, as he can easily dodge your E. Take Executioner's early and build Mercury Treads, get Abyssal Mask as your 2nd item, or Force of Nature if the enemy JG is AP.
Shaco
How hard this matchup is depends on the Shaco player's craftiness. You will want oracle if you're ever going to fight him, you easily win if he has no boxes, and will still probably win if he has none. You won't be able to reliably hit active items on Mythics so bursting Shaco down with Trinity Force is probably your best option. Past 6, just watch out if Shaco vanishes on low HP then comes back in to fight, it's probably his clone. Good Shaco players will try to trick you into thinking the closest version of them that's meleeing you is the clone but in reality, it's them. Be careful though, because they often times switch it up if they think you're catching on. If he gets a lead he's annoying and can catch your teammates out but in team fights, he's not really that much of a threat except when his clone dies and he lays more boxes right after, of if he's strong enough to backstab a squishy on your team for most of their HP. Take Death's Dance if he's going AD, and Force of Nature if he's going AP.
Singed
Super annoying, very cringe. I'd recommend taking nullifying orb to make laning easier. Don't follow him if you can't catch him, you will take pointless damage from his poison. If he ever throws you behind him past level 6 it's a free chance for you to ult him back to where you just were, a taste of his own medicine... heh. If Singed ever proxy farms behind your 2nd turret, try to ask your JG for help to invade the enemy top side, it will be pretty much free, or take the CS and go for a dive mid lane while Singed is busy being a massive idiot. If you go to him during this he will just suicide, you probably won't even get the kill, it will only result in you losing CS for no reason. At best your JG (if mobile) can rotate there after taking top camps to try to kill him and if they try to escape through your top side JG you and your mid lane can just cut him off. Rushing Trinity can help you kill Singed faster, but Goredrinker is best because he will throw you into his team allowing you to pop the active off. In team fights focus his teammates first as he will most likely be able to run away without dying. Take Mercury Treads and eventually a Magic Resist item based on the team comp. If there's nothing better, go for Abyssal Mask.
Pantheon
His on hit is pretty scary, and his shield can cancel your damage, so you can do 1 of 2 things to hit your abilities: ult him during his shield and walk behind him when he's slowed, or E stun him before he shields into your high grit W. Try not to hard push or get caught out by others (baited into 1v1, etc.) as Pantheon will most likely ult in. Overall he's very weak now with the nerfs, may even bump him down to a tiny threat depending on how things go. Dodging his long-range Q is easy if you sidestep, but up close not so much. You win pre 6 if he doesn't block your W, you hard win after 6 unless he's ahead. Take Bramble early, building a Sheen here is nice. Late game you smash Pantheon even harder. Trinity or Goredrinker are the best Mythics to go in this matchup, other don't really have an edge over those 2 in this matchup. Death's Dance should be a buy if the enemy team comp has another AD.
Viego
He's OP right now, and he is scary late game, but if you're laning against him it's not too bad. He will always poke you with his absurd range so try to force trades, you win the AA duel. Save your E to stun him either into a W or a flurry of auto attacks to maximize your advantage. Dodging his W is pretty easy if you sidestep or walk behind him if you're in close range. Don't fight him in his E unless he's near death. His ult is good for getting away, but he will use it on you if you're low HP, so don't hold your W for a very long time. Rush Bramble immediately, possibly Plated Steelcaps too if you're having a hard time, and then go into Stridebreaker. Once you have it, he's not a problem till later in the game. Since he's OP atm, keep him away from your team, especially if your comp is very squishy. Be careful of when he gets souls of enemies, sometimes their abilities can counter you.
Cho'Gath
His only real threat to you is his W silence and when he can ult you, but you should realistically never be low enough in lane to have Cho'Gath chomp you. Play aggressive against this million year old boy and freeze on him as much as possible. When you all-in him make sure to interrupt one of his E's AA animations with your E. Dodge his Q and you win, and it's even easier when you get level 6 as you can ult out of his Q. Just be careful when you're on low HP and don't save your W forever as he can ult you for a lot of true damage. Take Mercury Treads pretty early on to make your life easier, build Divine Sunderer as your Mythic and Black Cleaver as your 2nd item if he's armor stacking, or go Trinity Force into Abyssal Mask if he is running an AP build. If Cho'Gath ever walks up as the frontline for his team, just Alt+F4 his entire team by ulting him on them.
Sion
Lethality Sion is much more scary than Tank Sion for you, but the only scary thing there is the insane CC into tons of damage, plus the Prowler's Claw he can use, also on his undead form. Just save your E to interrupt his Q, same with your R and you should win. Just dodge getting hit by a minion with his scream, don't take the pointless slow. Alternatively, if he's running away with his R, you can quickly ult him in the same direction, and if timed right land in front of him, cancelling his R. His splitting with Demolish and suiciding your towers can be scary, so be aware of that ESPECIALLY if you have open inhibs or an open nexus. Never leave your base if you have an open nexus or you just lose VS Sion. Try to match his splitting if you can, but always be aware he can ult away or ult from a split into an objective team, and you can't catch him. In team fights, ult him into his team and follow up with your E, and that makes him pretty useless since he's not in the front line. Take Plated Steelcaps or Mercury Treads depending on the enemy team comp. If he has Grasp, build Exe or Bramble somewhat early. It's preferred to ult his undead body at least once to assert your dominance in this matchup.
Teemo
Best to start out with Doran's Shield, but this is a decent matchup to immediately rush into the bush closest to his tower then take an all in E start trade level 1 when he moves to attack your minion wave. After this you'll want to be careful of his poke, but he ever uses his W to run at you then you can just walk away then sidestep back in with Q and E him into his wave to stun and get a nasty trade. On your first back you will want to buy Oracle Lens, so your vision in bushes will now be dependant on Control Wards. After level 6 you hard win against him. You'll probably want to use R on Teemo where he places a mushroom for you to walk over when you're going to attack him, this will cancel the slow. If he ever blinds you just run behind him and hold of your AA and Q AA till it runs out. You honestly don't even need your W to kill him unless he flashes. Using your W in this situation will often times let him get away, so only use it to secure a kill or make him blow flash. I'd recommend using a Control Ward in the brush closest to his tower and sit there so if he ever comes close you just get a free trade starting with your E. He can't place mushrooms or ward it while you're there because of the ward, so you'll be in a good spot to zone him off of the minion wave. Just be careful of the enemy JG coming to gank you if you do that. Take Mercury Treads if you're having a hard time with mushrooms being everywhere even though you have Oracle Lens. Build Abyssal Mask as your 3rd or 4th item, or 2nd item if the enemy JG is AP.
Shen
This is a super easy matchup. You win at all times by punching him, and when his shield is up to block your AA just Q and wait to hit him until it runs out, you will still out damage him. Past level 6 you win even harder, you can E and R his dash. All high elo Shen mains ban Sett, he counters Shen too hard. It is definitely harder now because of the buffed tank items, but this is only an anomaly for now, and you still beat him. His only threat at all is his R roams which really only matter high elo because of their deep understanding of the game, and Shen's ability to taunt you under his tower. Divine Sunderer is good into Shen if he's armor stacking, plus it has good sustain. Otherwise, Trinity Force is your best choice. Expect to be ganked here, especially in high elo, but you will most likely be able to win the 2v1 unless it's some champ like Olaf. You'll want to go Armor or Magic Resistance based on what champ the enemy JG is playing.
Quinn
Start cloth and 4 pots, try to bush cheese. If they ever jump on you try to catch them with your E and you win. A bit annoying if they have ignite, but if they constantly roam at 6 you will get plates and just beat them down when they come back. Stridebreaker is preferred in this matchup so you can catch them, but you can also build Trinity if you are ahead, or want to punish them harder by taking plates/turrets when they roam. Build Plated Steelcaps on your first reset, and build Bramble into some Mythic components after.
Trundle
The only annoying thing is how if you're not ahead he will run you down and block off your escape paths. He steals your stats at level 6, and if he builds Trinity it's scary how fast he attacks. But you should never run into those problems because you win early level fights, except for level 1, don't get baited into that or you lose lol. To start a trade use your Q into E and just punch him. He needs to walk away after that, because if he attacks you, you will just W him and he will lose the trade harder. When he's low, if he lays down his domain to try and get away save your E for that. Diving him can be tricky because of his pillar and ult, but you can kill him pretty fast, especially if you collapse on him with multiple people. He doesn't have much of a use in team fights other than separating people on your team and chasing them down. But you hard counter that because when he walks up to your team you just ult him back to Troll Town. The main scary thing about this matchup is how fast he takes turrets, especially with the new Trinity Force. Be aware of him splitting, and never leave him be there, because your turrets will be gone in seconds. Collapse on him with one other team member if he tries to keep splitting, but don't chase him too far without vision of where the enemy team is, it could be bait. Take Bramble early for his ult, and Plated Steelcaps preferred unless you really need the Tenacity and MR from Mercury Treads. Trundle will build Trinity Force (unless he's an idiot) so you need to match that. Your 1v1 is stronger than his with the same item, so he'll never be able to beat you unless you like completely miss your W or something stupid.
Rengar
Don't fight this guy Level 1, he just wants to cheese you, so kindly deny him. But I mean, if he doesn't have ignite you can win Level 1 if you sit in a bush waiting for him and learn W. I remember forcing a high elo Rengar one-trick Level 1 to flash by doing this and they all chatted right after "WTF why didn't I beat you lv 1?" Past Level 6 you auto-win because his ult is useless when compared to yours in a 1v1. He still might be able to get away from CC with his built in cleanse or ult invis though. Rengar will become a threat if he roams and gets kills on your team, or you let him get free plates. Pushing into his tower makes it so he can't bush cheese you, that's the best strategy to fight him past level 6, just stack a wave VS him that will slow push towards him then never let him walk up. Be careful of JG ganks, but in all honesty, you can probably win a 2v1. Just rush Bramble Vest and Plated Steelcaps, and first item Trinity Force since he's squishy. Go Death's Dance 2nd item if the enemy has another AD, or 3rd item if he is the only AD.
Dr. Mundo
His Q poke is annoying from long range, but mostly dodgeable, especially if you are in melee range and properly sidestep while auto-attacking. Don't dive him with his ult up, he will heal pretty quickly. He's a living nuke for the enemy backline, he can't really do much to you unless he's monstrously fed. Rush Bramble or Executioners into Black Cleaver 2nd item and Steraks Gage 3rd item.
Yasuo
A simple matchup, easy to dodge his Q recast. If he ever walks up early he will just die. The only annoying thing is he can E away from you on the minion wave. Most Yasuo players when making a stupid trade will ego E across 20 different minions to try to escape from you, don't follow them completely as they will most likely just E back away and towards their tower. Their ult is also not really that useful against you except in team fights, and they can only ever really beat you past level 11, but you should have bullied them out of existence before then. Take Bramble Vest eventually, get a Randuin's Omen 2nd or 3rd item depending on if there's another crit champ.
Yone
It's actually funny how weak this champ is into you. If he ever walks up he dies. Even at level 6, you can cancel his ult with yours, or easily sidestep it if you're near the outer edge. All you need to worry about is his Q recast, it'll let him get free damage on you when you're airborne. At no point in the game except late game should you be afraid of Yone's E. If he tries to walk up to you just E stun him then Q AA and so much of his HP will be gone that he will be wondering if a bug just happened. This matchup is absolutely laughable until he scales late game, but even then you should still be able to fight him 1v1. Going Trinity Force will absolutely destroy him, both when you pick up the Sheen component and finish the item. He should never be able to play the game against you for at least the first 15 minutes. You can also have your jungler repeat dive with you to make him wish he was really dead. Take Bramble and Plated Steelcaps eventually, build Death's Dance if the game will go on to the point where he can scale, or Randuin's Omen if there's another crit champ on his team. If you see Yone picked mid, you could offer to trade lanes with your mid, the matchup is very hard for him, but due to how short the midlane is and how immobile you are, you will probably get ganked and can't entirely deny Yone of CS, they will be able play the game, but he still hard loses into you in skirmishes, you should have full lane prio at all times.
Diana
Diana's ult is super strong when it hits 5 people, and what better way to guarantee that than with a Sett R E W combo?
Brand
Brand is super strong right now with the new items, so if you can group slow everyone on the enemy team with your ult and or E, it guarantees Brand an easy skill combo into ult which will just burn them all into ashes.
Ahri
If Ahri can charm someone after you CC them it's pretty good, but that's really the only synergy you have with Ahri other than having furry ears.
Azir
Very weak in the meta right now because of his absurdly high presence in pro play, but your ability to peel for a fed azir is very helpful to let his soldiers attack the enemy team, and his ult sets you up for an easy ult or E.
Fiddlesticks
If you can group R slow or E stun the enemy into a chain fiddle ult it's super powerful and pretty much can win a team fight on its own.
Galio
When you ult into the enemy team, Galio just presses R on you, you E stun the enemy team together, you pop a nice W, then Galio slams down into them! The enemy team can't attack you during this because of the incoming Galio ult that will turn their lives into a bounce house, so they need to just run away as fast as they can.
Hecarim
Hecarim is fast, probably faster than a Bugatti, and his skills are better used if they can hit multiple people, so go clump the enemy team together for him so he can trample on their hopes and dreams with his absurdly high WR.
Kayn
Grouping the enemy team with CC will allow Blue Kayn to shred multiple people with his Q and W, and will allow Red Kayn to CC them more with his Q and W and get free sustain.
Lulu
Super useful for Sett in a fight, especially if he is going Goredrinker with Spirit Visage. He just won't die, and Lulu's R will help him survive longer, and their polymorph can make key targets become easier punching bags for Sett.
Lux
You group the enemy team together, Lux roots and ults, they vanish.
Malphite
You press R, he presses R. Simple!
Master Yi
If you can lock people down and waste their CC Master Yi can come in and get a free pentakill.
Miss Fortune
Their E slow is nice for you to catch people, and their R is good in any fight if you can E or R the opponent(s).
Morgana
No one will be able to escape you or CC you with this Witch by your side!
Pyke
Good for when you can't finish off the enemy or need to catch them. If you manage to W a lot of people to Pyke's R threshold... You'll want an extra pair of shorts.
Nautilus
Annoyed with that one Teemo always getting away from you? Well don't worry, Nautilus has 100 different ways to keep them rooted for 80 seconds while you can keep punching them into the grave.
Nunu & Willump
Nunu's ult, when fully charged, can do absurd damage, so if Sett is able to buy time by ulting into the enemy team and stunning them with his E, Nunu should be able to get a massive ult cast off.
Olaf
Group the enemy team together, punch them, and let Olaf do his thing.
Soraka
Did someone say unkillable? Perhaps Spirit Visage?
Zac
WELCOME TO THE BOUNCE HOUSE
Yuumi
Yuumi and Sett go BRRRRRRRRR
Yone
His ult is super good for letting you combo people with your R E, and lets you hit the sweet true damage spot on your W vs literally everyone he just ulted.
Veigar
You can ult or E people into his cage, it's pretty useful. You can also help Veigar hit his skillshots easily with your team fight potential, plus peeling for him is easy as pie.
Viego
This champ is so broken it's not even funny. Your ability to peel him and let him shred through everyone is also funny.
Lee Sin
Roundhouse kick someone straight into your ult, it will be the funniest thing you've ever seen.
Twitch
As you aggro the entire enemy team they won't know what hit them.
Alistar
Ask for some cookies with his milk, maybe you'll get them.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Diana
Diana's ult is super strong when it hits 5 people, and what better way to guarantee that than with a Sett R E W combo?
Brand
Brand is super strong right now with the new items, so if you can group slow everyone on the enemy team with your ult and or E, it guarantees Brand an easy skill combo into ult which will just burn them all into ashes.
Ahri
If Ahri can charm someone after you CC them it's pretty good, but that's really the only synergy you have with Ahri other than having furry ears.
Azir
Very weak in the meta right now because of his absurdly high presence in pro play, but your ability to peel for a fed azir is very helpful to let his soldiers attack the enemy team, and his ult sets you up for an easy ult or E.
Fiddlesticks
If you can group R slow or E stun the enemy into a chain fiddle ult it's super powerful and pretty much can win a team fight on its own.
Galio
When you ult into the enemy team, Galio just presses R on you, you E stun the enemy team together, you pop a nice W, then Galio slams down into them! The enemy team can't attack you during this because of the incoming Galio ult that will turn their lives into a bounce house, so they need to just run away as fast as they can.
Hecarim
Hecarim is fast, probably faster than a Bugatti, and his skills are better used if they can hit multiple people, so go clump the enemy team together for him so he can trample on their hopes and dreams with his absurdly high WR.
Kayn
Grouping the enemy team with CC will allow Blue Kayn to shred multiple people with his Q and W, and will allow Red Kayn to CC them more with his Q and W and get free sustain.
Lulu
Super useful for Sett in a fight, especially if he is going Goredrinker with Spirit Visage. He just won't die, and Lulu's R will help him survive longer, and their polymorph can make key targets become easier punching bags for Sett.
Lux
You group the enemy team together, Lux roots and ults, they vanish.
Malphite
You press R, he presses R. Simple!
Master Yi
If you can lock people down and waste their CC Master Yi can come in and get a free pentakill.
Miss Fortune
Their E slow is nice for you to catch people, and their R is good in any fight if you can E or R the opponent(s).
Morgana
No one will be able to escape you or CC you with this Witch by your side!
Pyke
Good for when you can't finish off the enemy or need to catch them. If you manage to W a lot of people to Pyke's R threshold... You'll want an extra pair of shorts.
Nautilus
Annoyed with that one Teemo always getting away from you? Well don't worry, Nautilus has 100 different ways to keep them rooted for 80 seconds while you can keep punching them into the grave.
Nunu & Willump
Nunu's ult, when fully charged, can do absurd damage, so if Sett is able to buy time by ulting into the enemy team and stunning them with his E, Nunu should be able to get a massive ult cast off.
Olaf
Group the enemy team together, punch them, and let Olaf do his thing.
Soraka
Did someone say unkillable? Perhaps Spirit Visage?
Zac
WELCOME TO THE BOUNCE HOUSE
Yuumi
Yuumi and Sett go BRRRRRRRRR
Yone
His ult is super good for letting you combo people with your R E, and lets you hit the sweet true damage spot on your W vs literally everyone he just ulted.
Veigar
You can ult or E people into his cage, it's pretty useful. You can also help Veigar hit his skillshots easily with your team fight potential, plus peeling for him is easy as pie.
Viego
This champ is so broken it's not even funny. Your ability to peel him and let him shred through everyone is also funny.
Lee Sin
Roundhouse kick someone straight into your ult, it will be the funniest thing you've ever seen.
Twitch
As you aggro the entire enemy team they won't know what hit them.
Alistar
Ask for some cookies with his milk, maybe you'll get them.
Sett, the half-breed, is both damage and tank. You want to set up perfect plays for either yourself or more likely, your team. So long as your team has brain cells, any good engage from you can change the entire game in an instant. People say Sett is a really basic champion that's easy to pick up, and while that is true, that is only the surface level, mastering Sett is extremely hard. The most crucial part about Sett is understanding when to use your abilities, and that is the fundamental difference between a great Sett player and an average one. My job is to give you an understanding of Sett's kit and what he excels at doing and using that has come from my 1,000+ games playing him.
Ability Order (In-Depth)
You will almost always start off with learning E, but NEVER learn any ability till the circumstance you are in requires it. You could have a bunch of people come up and try to kill you early, and you might need to learn W for the shield and flash away with it to survive.
When you start off with E, you will want to use it to animation cancel your opponent's AA and either slow or more preferably, stun them. To consistently get a stun, wait till the 3 melee minions on the first wave are low HP, then, run up to your enemy laner, and if you can, E them into the 3 melee minions. This will usually result in 3 CS and a stun on your opponent, one that you can follow up on with multiple hits, causing them to run and be on low HP, or to trade with you, which in most cases will result in you stacking Conquerer quickly and winning the trade, either getting you a kill or force your enemy to use a summoner spell or movement ability. There are some champions you do not want to fight level 1, such as Darius or Rengar. They are too risky and rely too much on your enemy messing up. In matchups where you want to play safe, like VS Jax or Gwen, you should start W. For the most part, I go W level 1, I find value in the shield soaking damage from angry minions or from one of my lane opponent's abilities. There are more specific details for these things listed under the matchups part of this guide.
Know Your Damage
You will need to be aware of how much damage your abilities do because you don't want to end up wasting flash and not getting a kill, or even worse, dying. You need to play Sett for a while though to get a feel for this. Just be careful of a level 1 all in because you could be level 2 ganked, especially if it's a champion like Kayn or Nunu, or you're playing weak side with no wards and think they are coming top, which in those cases you wouldn't want to all in till you are level 2 (with W) or level 3 and can outplay a 2v1. Even if your enemy laner has a dash, you can still kill them so long as you don't start your trade-off with E, instead using it to catch them during their dash, but oftentimes this is down to prediction and can be quite tricky.
If your lane opponent has ignite, you should still be able to win a level 1 all-in so long as they are very squishy and or you animation cancel their AA. But if they are ranged, and especially so if they have ignite, when you reach their tower in an all in level 1 trade without them blowing flash or getting killed, you will have to back off, to which your ranged opponent (if smart enough) will just turn around on you, and with you not being able to push into them any further without saying hello to their tower, you will be out of AA range and lose. Your only chance at winning in this scenario is flashing to trade flashes or to kill them or escape.
Sett's Ultimate (In-Depth)
The best part about Sett's kit is his ult combo synergies. You ult someone onto their team, try to hit as many people as possible with your W (preferably the true damage), E stun them all if you can, then just try to finish them off with auto-attacks. If you're lucky, you might survive long enough to pop another round of your W off. It sounds simple, but when do you ult? There are many different reasons you should ult. The Show Stopper gives you and the enemy you used it on a displacement in the direction you cast it. It also does massive damage when you use it on someone that has a lot of hp, usually a tank.
You can use your ult in multiple ways, but let's talk about the defensive forms of the Show Stopper. If the enemy JG is coming to gank you from behind, or an enemy lane opponent like Singed or Tahm Kench puts you behind them, you can ult them into or towards your tower for a potential kill or safe escape. You can also simulate this by flashing behind an enemy and ulting them into where you flashed from. If you need to dodge a crucial CC ability like Lilia's ultimate, or a skill shot aimed towards you like Zoe's Q, you could use your ultimate. Both of these things require timing, as you are only unstoppable for a short time. Another use of Sett's ultimate is in team fights or skirmishes being able to peel a specific enemy that collapses on your team, such as Kennen and Malphite when they ult, or Darius when he ghosts and runs into the middle of your team.
Other than for dodging or getting out of finicky situations, Sett's ultimate is used to engage. Let's talk about kill confirming first. In a situation where Ekko is on very low HP and still has ult, you would want to use your ultimate to suppress him, getting the kill before he even has a chance to ult. This tactic is used to punish people who save their abilities for too long. There are many more champions this works especially well on, such as Vlad, let your mind wander.
This ties well into the next part, interrupting enemy animations. In a situation where Nunu is about to ult your entire team or Zac is trying to E away, you will be crying if your E and ult are on cooldown. Save them if you can VS champions that have channeling skills and abilities which require moving animations (Samura Ult), your E and ult are very useful to stop such things, but making the decision to do so requires a good judgment of the situation at hand.
You can also cancel something like Mordekaiser's ultimate, but doing such a thing is an insane power play that requires prediction. In the case of dash abilities, this can also be done with your E and not just your ult, but either way, you won't be able to do it very consistently except on champions with long dash animations that you can notice with pure reaction time, such as Renekton's E. Trying to interrupt something like Quinn or Vayne is very hard to near impossible with your ultimate, so you can't rely on it too much there, but against a champion like Tristana, stopping their jump mid animation is relatively easier and can be huge. You can also ult someone into a teammate's ability, this makes for good combos in certain situations, like ulting a Vayne into Veigar's cage so they are stunned after your ult ends, basically guaranteeing their death.
All of this is good, but we still haven't got to the meat of Sett's ultimate ability. Think of it as a skill shot, the direction of where you cast your ultimate is where you will be displaced upon landing, slightly more than the person you ulted. If people are lined up close together, that creates the perfect opportunity to ult the front-most person, lining up a full grit W onto all of them, chaining that into an E stun. There is nothing better for a Sett player to do than this. If you can do this combo against the enemy team, most of their health or more will be deleted and all their cooldowns will be wasted on you, allowing your team to clean up and get an objective, if not outright ending the game. Here's an example clip of me doing a pretty decent ultimate:
When's this Guide going to be completed?
I've been studying Sett a lot with all the recent buffs and items, so I'm confident that I can deliver a full guide some time during patch 11.13.
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.