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He shouldn't pose any threat, because of the excessive attack speed and poke damage from your Q.
Ashe
Close combat with her can be annoying due to her Q spell. Poke her off and then engage.
Vayne
Alone, she shouldn't be posing any threat if you have your ult on. If you don't, track her movement and positioning, or cast your E to reveal her position while invisible. After that, she should be easily killed.
Twitch
Make sure to poke him in early game, then be sure to cast your E in case he becomes invisible, so that you can see his rough position. He shouldn't pose a threat.
Corki
Haven't seen Corki in a while... especially in botlane. If it does happen, do not worry much, you shouldn't have any difficulty. Just bait his W (Valkyrie) before you cast your ultimate.
Tristana
If you manage to root her, she is pretty easily killed. If she jumps on you, poke her with your E while on air so that you get your Lethal Tempo as early as possible. The rest is pretty much up to your support.
Sivir
Her spell shield might be annoying and completely block your snipes, but in-range, she is easily killed.
Kai'Sa
She may be able to dodge your ultimate fairly easily, but you can easily take her down with your support.
Xayah
She can dodge most of your combo with her ult. Let her make the first move, try to dodge as much as you can, then start counterattacking.
Jinx
Jinx can be a bit of a prick when she gets fed, especially due to her rockets. Make sure you poke her enough with your Q early on, then engage with your support.
Lucian
If you get your Lethal Tempo winding up while he engages you, you are pretty much gonna be alright. Remember to quick-cast Q to poke him off, else he is gonna take you down.
Miss Fortune
She literally likes to hit the backline with her Q, and you are the backline sniping. Don't stay behind your minions much of the time and ask your support to pressure the opponents.
Ezreal
Generally problematic. Bait his E before casting your ultimate, because he is going to dodge it easily. Don't pick Varus after Ezreal was picked (in ranked games) because poking will be impossible (his E has lower cooldown than your Q).
Kalista
If you don't poke her before she engages you, you are most definitely dead. So get her low to discourage her and then engage her instead.
Caitlyn
High range and damage early game, she can pose quite the threat for Varus. Be sure to engage only with your support.
Draven
As always, his crits are more annoying than everything. If you can't ban him, avoid engaging him, unless your support is tanky enough.
Yasuo
For some reason, Yasuo adc is a thing. Just get him down before he does... or ban him.
Kog'Maw
Mostly a pain, wouldn't suggest playing against him. If you happen to be playing against Kog'Maw, just make sure to poke first and dodge him poking.
Soraka
Generally, Soraka is a good support, but you won't be diving much, so she is kinda useless.
Blitzcrank
Blitzcrank has enough cc to help you charge your [Lethal Tempo], but it becomes risky if the enemy can counter-attack. No protection or basic attack enhancements can be tricky as well.
Galio
I mean, you can try going with Galio, but no shields, no heals and no basic attack enhancements in exchange for CC can be risky.
Leona
The master of CC obviously can synergise well enough with Varus. Just care that, while she engages the squishy support, the enemy ADC may focus on you, so care for your positioning.
Pyke
Pyke can help you enough when you both reach level 6. Until then, engage when they are low, or when you have an obvious advantage against them (support missing, Pyke or you are fed, ally jungler camping)
Sona
Because her only CC is her ultimate, Sona is a questionable Support for Varus, but she compensates by having a great poke.
Yuumi
This little cat can help you with engaging on the enemies and burst down anyone you want, but you have to be careful, as you will be taking all the damage yourself...
Lux
Normally, Lux has enough poke and CC to help you kite and take down enemies, which would make her an ideal support. Playing solo though makes it impossible to find a good Lux support.
Bard
Bard can stun, slow, allowing you to land your shots and engage easily. He can also heal and help you disengage pretty easily. Pretty good for a support.
Thresh
Thresh is the same as Blitzcrank, only with the lantern.
Alistar
Too much CC and a pretty decent heal from his passive. Due to his inability to poke, you have to do double the work and damage them before you engage, else you are in for a bad time.
Braum
This guy stuns and shields you from any kind of damage. Still, prefer something along the lines of Lulu.
Morgana
Same as Lux, only with a spell shield. And better results than Lux when playing solo.
Janna
The "Disengage Queen" never fails to amaze.
Nami
Enhancing your basic attacks, healing and damage at the same time, a bubble stun and a frikin wave smashing the enemies. What else?
Lulu
Shields, slows, a huge increase in attack speed and a great CC when you get jumped from a Rengar. Lulu is the perfect support for you.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Soraka
Generally, Soraka is a good support, but you won't be diving much, so she is kinda useless.
Blitzcrank
Blitzcrank has enough cc to help you charge your [Lethal Tempo], but it becomes risky if the enemy can counter-attack. No protection or basic attack enhancements can be tricky as well.
Galio
I mean, you can try going with Galio, but no shields, no heals and no basic attack enhancements in exchange for CC can be risky.
Leona
The master of CC obviously can synergise well enough with Varus. Just care that, while she engages the squishy support, the enemy ADC may focus on you, so care for your positioning.
Pyke
Pyke can help you enough when you both reach level 6. Until then, engage when they are low, or when you have an obvious advantage against them (support missing, Pyke or you are fed, ally jungler camping)
Sona
Because her only CC is her ultimate, Sona is a questionable Support for Varus, but she compensates by having a great poke.
Yuumi
This little cat can help you with engaging on the enemies and burst down anyone you want, but you have to be careful, as you will be taking all the damage yourself...
Lux
Normally, Lux has enough poke and CC to help you kite and take down enemies, which would make her an ideal support. Playing solo though makes it impossible to find a good Lux support.
Bard
Bard can stun, slow, allowing you to land your shots and engage easily. He can also heal and help you disengage pretty easily. Pretty good for a support.
Thresh
Thresh is the same as Blitzcrank, only with the lantern.
Alistar
Too much CC and a pretty decent heal from his passive. Due to his inability to poke, you have to do double the work and damage them before you engage, else you are in for a bad time.
Braum
This guy stuns and shields you from any kind of damage. Still, prefer something along the lines of Lulu.
Morgana
Same as Lux, only with a spell shield. And better results than Lux when playing solo.
Janna
The "Disengage Queen" never fails to amaze.
Nami
Enhancing your basic attacks, healing and damage at the same time, a bubble stun and a frikin wave smashing the enemies. What else?
Lulu
Shields, slows, a huge increase in attack speed and a great CC when you get jumped from a Rengar. Lulu is the perfect support for you.
He can counter any champion with lower attack speed than him.
His kit deals both physical and magical damage.
He is both Auto Attack and Skill-based.
He can reach enemies in a very long range because of his Piercing arrow.
But... he has some weaknesses
Cons
His escape actions are limited.
He can be easily bursted.
Playing against a support with very much CC can be pretty tricky.
Skillshots!
Runes
Runes
Varus is an adc that relies heavily on his attack speed, let alone his basic attacks. After all, his passive Living Vengeance, is giving him attack speed after each kill, scaling with level.
Precision runes
That's why Lethal Tempo is the best rune to start with. Precision will give him enough attack speed boost to dominate his lane opponents.
Triumph is a very useful skill, as you won't need Overheal , because of the shield of Bloodthirster, or Presence of Mind, because his ultimate is in a relatively low cooldown and his mana costs are low as well.
As I mention, Varus is all about attack speed. Legend: Alacrity is the stacking rune I use. If you feel unsafe and need some lifesteal, you may pick Legend: Bloodline instead. Legend: Tenacity is a bit useless on Varus, in my opinion, though against an opponent with high CC, like Leona, it could prove useful.
Coup de Grace is very useful because of your Q spell, Piercing Arrow and your W spell, Blighted Quiver. When you activate Blighted Quiver, your next cast of Piercing Arrow will deal a percentage of the enemy's missing health as extra damage. Coup de Grace also helps deal extra damage based on the percentage of missing health of your opponent, so their combination is pretty useful. I don't tend to use Cut Down, or Last Stand, because Varus Varus can have items to deal with tanks and he is too squishy to utilize Last Stand as he may need to.
Domination runes
On Domination you should choose Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter . Early and Mid game, you will be poked as hard as you will poke, so getting your health back up will be very useful, as your support most possibly will not be able to heal you. Also, you can choose to get Ultimate Hunter instead, so that the ultimate Chain of Corruption is in a significantly lower cooldown.
Skill Sequence
Skill Sequence
Ability Sequence
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Varus's main kit is his snipes with his Q Piercing Arrow and the damage he deals if he pops the 3-hit W Blighted Quiver passive on his target. Piercing Arrow should be maxed first, to poke your enemy as much as you can. Then max Blighted Quiver, as the passive basic attack and spell damage, and the percentage of missing healthdamage will increase. Lastly upgrade your E Hail of Arrows, because most of the time you won't be using it to deal damage by itself.
Laning Phase
Laning Phase
Now let's get to the point: How to play Varus in lane.
For Botlane or Traditional ADC:
While in early game, stick to farming as much as you can. Varus is very dependent on his items, so the earlier you get them, the better. Use Piercing Arrow to poke your enemies and deny some farm from their adc. A well-cast Piercing Arrow can also prevent the enemy jungler from ganking, or the enemy support from engaging, ke sure you know when to use it and where to target. By the time you get Blighted Quiver, land some Auto Attacks on the enemy and then poke them with your Piercing Arrow to deal more damage. From level 2 you can also start engaging in battles with your support, though it's not recommended. By the time you get Hail of Arrows, you are ready to engage in battles. Start by Auto Attacking the enemy (doesn't matter Support or Adc) to trigger the Lethal Tempo, then switch focus to the enemy Adc. At 3 stacks of Blighted Quiver you should cast your Hail of Arrows to quickly pop the damage off the passive. Continue hitting the Adc and when you reach 3 stacks of Blighted Quiver, activate it. If the enemy is retreating, then fully charge Piercing Arrow and hit the Adc. If they are in close range, don't charge it at all. Instead, cast the empowered Piercing Arrow instantly. The enemy Adc should now be dead and you can switch focus to the enemy support.
Always watch out for enemy ganks. Poking can deal enough damage to alert the enemy to gank you! When the enemy support desperately tries to engage, consider backing off a bit to avoid the gank, or use your Piercing Arrow to possibly ward the jungler off.
Remember! Don't use your Blighted Quiver enchanted Piercing Arrow just to poke! The damage is greater if the champion is lower on HP.
For Midlane or Conventional ADC (Not recommended):
Now, Midlane ADC is not the best choice right now, because the assasins are raging on midlane and there is no support to help you other than the occasional appearance of your jungler. With that in mind, you should stay behind in lane and farm with your Q and/or, if the enemy midlaner is an assassin, after level 2. Remember not to overstay in your lane, or you may be burst easily.
In a case similar to Lux or Malzahar opposing you, a great spell to pick instead of heal would be Ghost or Cleanse.
It would be great if the jungler is a premade person of yours. If not, communicate with him constantly and let him know whenever you are ready to engage to the opposing midlaner. After 2 ganks like that, you should be set for early game to dominate your opposition. Farming and poking is similar to the ADC section.
Mid-Game Phase
Mid-Game Phase
As Season 8 is not a season where Adc's thrive, Mid-Game can be divided to two categories: Whether you are fed, or whether you fed.
If you are fed...
If the guide worked for you early game, then congratulations! You should be pretty much fed in Mid-Game. If you haven't destroyed the bottom Outer Turret yet, move it to the top of your priorities. Then move on to the Mid lane and call the rest of your team to push. Stay back and whenever you have your Piercing Arrow available, fully charge it and poke the enemy. Stay in the backline and when one of the team engages, cast your ultimate on the enemy that dived in the fight to start the stacking the Blighted Quiver passive and start focusing their squishy targets, most importantly their Adc and their Mid. Whenever they target you, use your flash towards your team to avoid being hit too much. Use your heal when one of your teammates is getting low, or when you are losing too much health. Count 5 or 6 Auto Attacks and then cast your Hail of Arrows to deal the damage from Blighted Quiver. Once you finished the teamfight, if you are victorious, push the Midlane towers, even if the rest of your team is going for objectives like Dragon or Rift Herald.
If you fed...
If you fed, don't give up! Nothing is lost yet. After all, it's only mid-game. While in Mid-Game, you should focus on farming and gaining gold. Push bot for the turrets, or any other lane that their outer turret isn't destroyed. Inform your team that you shouldn't do teamfights 4v5 and that they should help you get kills or assists to get more gold. You should be eligible for teamfights after you have completed Guinsoo's Rageblade, Berserker's Greaves and maybe Runaan's Hurricane. Whatever the case, stay in the backline and follow the instructions for teamfights given in the other spoiler. It's important never to give up because you can always turn the tides of a fight as an Adc.
Note for playing against Mordekaiser:
Mordekaiser's ultimate is classified as CC. If you have a Morgana as a support, remind her to time her spellshield so that you don't get sucked in the demon realm. If not, when you get with him in the realm, make sure that you DON'T have your Lethal Tempo activated, as he will get some of the Attack Speed as well. Root him in place, dodge his Q and E (they are usually casted together), then melt him down because of your excessive Attack Speed. Alternatively, use your Quicksilver Sash or Mercurial Scimitar and escape the demon realm to safety.
In this phase, it doesn't matter whether you are fed or you fed. What matters is the successful teamfights that you should have (and you don't need to be fed for those). You may think that your Piercing Arrow doesnt deal any damage at all, but you should always charge it and aim the most squishy enemies, that is the ones with the least health and resistances. After the teamfight, focus on getting objectives like Baron or Elder Dragon and head for their nexus.
Conclusion
Conclusion
To conclude...
Varus is a powerful Adc with much potential, even in Season 8. If you can cope with him being very squishy and easily killed late game by the ton of Assassins this season has, or the CC that the enemy has, then Varus can be a much promised champion in your hands. Just know how to use him!
Regards, MallisTheGreat
Please leave a comment, it will really help on my future guides! Thanks in advance!
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