[D] Specific counter picks - Page 4

Brand’s strength in lane depends upon landing his W. After the range nerf to his E, it has become more difficult for Brand players to make efficient long range poke / poke trades with E in the combo. Should you find yourself laning versus Brand, you will want to open boots the vast majority of the time, as if you can reliably dodge his W’s, you can come out of laning unscathed if your goal is to outfarm and outscale him, or out-trade him if your goal is to kill him in lane. While he does have the kit to clear creeps, if he does not have access to blue (killed with blue, blue stolen, enemy jungler has their blue, etc.) he cannot keep up clear speeds mid as compared to other fast and more mana efficient lane clearers.

Thus, smart picks against Brand include Xerath (huge range advantage over Brand, more reliable poke, movespeed steroid on w if siege-ing onto Brand and he approaches you, stronger and more reliable burst at 6), Morgana and Galio (for mana efficient lane clearing and some form of protection from his burst and poke as needed), Karthus (Brand has difficulty approaching a cautious Karthus due to wall. If Karthus takes care to not get hit by Brand’s skillshots, he can easily farm his lane to the point where he has greater map presence and lane clearing ability than Brand), Cassiopeia (she has greater range on her q, a variety of slows / speeds which are useful in skillshot battles, and if she avoids Brand’s stun, can win any head on engagement with ease), Mordekaiser (with proper regen and mres, Morde can essentially ignore any harass from Brand while pushing with extreme efficiency and landing incidental harassment with E from very early on. 12 health pot openings are the best huehuehue).

Cassiopeia as of right now has very little trouble in most 1v1 lanes. Her ability to poke with low cd and mana cost (Q) and her ability to commit to trades with little fear of losing due to the reset mechanic on her e make her a fearsome opponent in lane. The movement speed duration buff, combined with the range increase buff on her E, essentially guarantees that she can hit an E after she lands a Q, excepting very large movement speed differences.

A notable counterpick is Galio. His bulwark essentially mitigates or even heals off of a very large portion of Cassiopeia’s DoT damage (Cass W + Q) and reduces a very large portion of Cassiopeia’s DPS from her E. Even when his bulwark is on cooldown, his Q has enough range (and a slow active) as to prevent consistent harassment. Overall, with smart bulwark and teleport usage, Galio should never be in danger of dying, and can force backs from Cassiopeia before she obtains a revolver or some other form of sustain in lane. He clears with higher mana efficiency and speed, and can thus exert pressure on wraiths and other lanes with greater ease.

Cho’Gath is also a notable champion with very few counters with correct runes and masteries. His sustain and consistent damage make it very difficult to trade with Cho’Gath unless the Cho in question is very bad at lasthitting or is pressured early on so that he cannot come back into lasthitting range (early jungler ganks, etc.). He also has great flexibility in itemization, especially defensive items, and as such can utilize this along with the free HP granted from his ultimate to become immovable in lane. The vast majority of top lane champions thus cannot win straight up against a smart Cho player.

Most typical “AD bruisers” are not an exception to this against a Cho with a 25 + armor setup. However, a few can feel very comfortable trading farm with Cho’Gath. Irelia, Riven, and Tryndamere all can trade farm with Cho’Gath (Riven and Tryndamere have methods of escaping his combo with good reaction time, and Irelia has a situational dash / high sustain as well) and come out ahead in the lategame – although they may feel weak in the first dragon fight if Cho’Gath chooses to take teleport and teleports there, as his AoE cc and true damage burst tends to contribute more to early fights.

Edit: I can't believe I forgot Gangplank. Gangplank can simply zone Cho'Gath from level 1, as Cho needs to stay reasonably close to CS - his sustain is entirely dependent on lasthitting, and GP can deal great damage from level 1 and put Cho in a situation where he cannot autoattack for lasthits.

While Corki is typically played bottom in today’s League of Legends, he was once one of the greatest mid lane dominators. His clearing ability and strong poke make him a viable solo in double AD and various AoE comps.

Corki excels against those whom he can utilize his strong autoattack and q against – thus melee casters such as Kassadin and Gragas can often struggle against Corki in lane. On the other hand, laners with a strong form of counterharass can be played against Corki with success – Cassiopeia does not fear Corki’s harass because if she lands a q she can come ahead drastically. Also, valkyrie-ing onto Cassiopeia post 6 is suicide for Corki, as her ult will destroy any ability to trade. Corki should have cleanse and a very, very large health difference if he wishes to attempt something of the sort.

A less hard counter but notable pick against Corki is Anivia – her autoattack range is sufficiently long that she can lasthit effectively, and if Corki makes it clear that he wishes to harass her, she can aim for a Q + E if his path of travel is readable. Her clear efficiency with blue exceeds that of Corki’s, and she has harder scaling in the right team composition.