An Introduction to Counter-Picking in League of Legends

The LCS Playoffs are well underway and I’m sure for the next week or so we’re all going to be swamped with LCS coverage, news, and events. So I thought I’d use this article to make a quick departure from my last two and discuss something not related to the LCS. Having spoken to my friends, a common problem for players just getting into draft/ranked play in League seems to be counter-picking, something that also happens to be the subject of this article. Being a top and support player, I will primarily focus on discussing counter-picks in those two lanes, but plenty of this should apply to mid and ADC, and possibly the Jungle too.

Image courtesy of elohell.

First, a Quick Definition and Disclaimer

A counter-pick is a champion who has a kit/scaling/build that gives them an inherent advantage over another champion. By no means does this mean selecting this champion will make your lane an automatic win. Even if you know exactly why and how to counter your opponent, jungle pressure, roaming opponents, and even bad luck can change the way the lane goes. On that note, never select a champion simply because they “counter” another. If you have no idea how to play Jax, you should not pick him just because he supposedly counters Irelia. This guide is meant for people who have a few champions and want to know who their best choice is against their opponent. Finally, I’m going to make the assumption you have a decent grasp of your opponent’s abilities. I don’t expect you to know their exact cooldowns and damage, but you should have an idea of what their kit does and whether they’re strongest early, mid, or late game.

 

Top Lane

In lane, champions’s kits can be broken down into three different functions. While this doesn’t perfectly classify all champions into three groups, it gives us a place to start when discussing counter-picking. Let’s take a look at these different kinds of kits and some examples in the top lane:

Harass: This type of kit is the easiest to understand from a beginner perspective. These champions focus on doing damage without allowing their opponent to retaliate. Jayce and Nidalee are excellent examples of this, with their Shock Blast/Spear damage in ranged form and their ability to jump onto an enemy then quickly escape in melee form. Besides this, many champions are capable of harassing with a bit of skill. Jax can run forward and hit an opponent, then use his Leap Strike to escape, while Lee Sin can jump to an enemy with Resonating Strike then Safeguard away.

Trade: These kits focus on a lot of front-loaded damage or the ability to ignore a certain amount of damage. Darius and Shen are both trading champions, Darius thanks to the burst damage from his Decimate and Crippling Strike and Shen due to his shield from his Feint, damage debuff to enemies from his Shadow Dash, and small amount of burst damage from his Ki Strike and Vorpal Blade. New players often find Trading champions very difficult to play against, and they can seem hard to counter. Their burst damage will make many players back off when instead they should be trying to force the engagement once the Trader’s abilities are on cooldown.

Duel: These champions have short cooldowns, auto-attack enhancers, or other abilities that make them stronger in extended fights. Udyr and Irelia are good examples of duelists. Udyr has a move speed and attack speed buff every time he uses an ability, plus a shield in Turtle Stance, bonus damage in Tiger Stance, and a short stun in Bear Stance. Irelia’s Hiten Style causes her auto attacks to do true damage and heal her, and her Equilibrium Strike slows or stuns an opponent. Duelists often have a way to stick to a target, making them difficult to escape once someone has been caught.
 

So now let’s talk about picking against these different types and use some examples.

Harassers often have problems with Duelists because they lack damage in actual trades. Irelia is a strong counter to Jayce because even if she takes some poke from him, she can not only heal it back with her Hiten Style, but having less health than him makes her Equilibrium Strike a stun instead of a slow. As the Duelist against a Harraser, you need to make sure you don’t take too much poke from them though, as even if you catch them out you’ll end up being killed too quickly if you’re low on health and mana. When picking against a Harasser like Jayce, Nidalee, or an ADC top (rare, but these happen), try to select someone like Irelia, Udyr, Jax, or Lee Sin. They all have a gap closer and/or built-in sustain to duel the Harasser up close or mitigate their damage.

Traders have issues with Harassers. A champion who is good at harassing will never allow the Trader to do all their burst damage. Jayce is good against Darius because he outranges Darius and Darius lacks a gap closer to catch Jayce. Even should Darius catch him, Jayce has his Thundering Blow to push Darius away. Harassers are often fragile and even if you’re getting a lot of good poke in, you need to ensure they don’t get caught out. In the above example, should Jayce get caught in Darius’ combo, he could easily lose a third of his health bar from Darius’ initial burst. When picking against a Trader like Darius or Renekton, know that you can take a lot of damage quickly, and select someone who can harass them and quickly escape, or who can CC them when they go in. Nidalee, Jayce, and Elise are typically good choices against Traders.

Jayce is a harasser which gives him an edge over the trader Darius

Unlike Harassers and Traders, Duelists are not easily beaten by one of the other two types. Understanding a Duelist’s abilities and knowing when their damage is highest is the only way to beat them which often makes them the hardest for new players to defeat. Udyr, for example, does not receive a power spike at level 6 because he lacks an ultimate, so a champion like Darius who gains a large spike in damage at level 6 (as long as he doesn’t get too far behind trading with Udyr early) will do well against him.

Irelia has a lot of trading potential and sustain, but has mana issues if you force her to trade repeatedly without taking full advantage of her Hiten Style. Jax, another Duelist with decent mana efficiency, is strong against Irelia because his Counter Strike ignores a lot of her Hiten Style damage and he can escape her to deny her the rest of it. Picking against a Duelist really requires you to think about the opponent’s kit and where and when their damage lies.

As I said at the beginning of this, these examples are not clear-cut, and some champions fall into multiple roles, doing each with varying levels of efficiency. Yorick is an example of both a Duelist and Harasser because of the range his ghouls provide and the difficulty of fighting him when all of his ghouls are attacking you. Lee Sin is both a Duelist and Harasser because he can Resonating Strike you and Safeguard away, but he also has a slow, lifesteal, and spellvamp which make him a strong duelist.

Bottom Lane

Many of these kit types are shared in bottom lane, and rather than reiterate what I said above, I’ll provide a few bot-lane-specific examples. Like top lane, there are always ways to beat a counter or to lose to someone you counter-picked, so keep in mind why you have an advantage in your lane.

Zyra and Sona are excellent examples of Harassers, bringing good range and damage to their lane. They perform well against both Duelists and Traders due to their ability to do damage without being touched. They perform especially well against Traders like Taric and Leona, who they can harass well without being caught. They should be wary of Duelists like Blitzcrank and Thresh, as they are squishy and getting caught out will often be certain death.

Traders look a bit different in bot lane, as their front-loaded damage means they can sometimes kill opponents outright, rather than focusing on periodic trades. Taric and Leona are Traders, possessing defensive buffs, short duration stuns, and good amounts of burst damage. Traders perform well against Duelists as they are typically the tankier supports and can survive being caught out while also doing their burst damage. They have difficulty with Harassers due to their shorter range but should they manage to catch one and hit them with their full combo, they may be able to instantly kill the Harasser.

Like Traders, Duelists take on a different appearance as supports. Here, Duelists are those who can catch an opponent and prevent them from getting away, often bringing a CC to prevent the opponent from retaliating much. The often-banned Thresh and Blitzcrank are Duelists, as both can catch their opponent out, slow or knock them up, and let their carry put a lot of hurt on their opponent without much retaliation. Duelists perform well against Harassers, who will often be killed in a single catch, while Traders can typically survive being caught and then do their burst damage, making them a harder match-up for Duelists.

I’m going to wrap this article up here, as I have less experience in mid lane and as an ADC. Plenty of the top lane advice could apply to mid and the ADC and support obviously should try to synergize, making their counter-picking similar. Good luck making the right choices in Champion Select and enjoy Super Week!