
Violence is Elegance. (Patch 6.14)

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New Runes Back to Top
Masteries Back to Top
Abilities Back to Top
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Items Back to Top
Starting Items
Core Items
Situational Items
Matchups Back to Top
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AatroxMedium
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AkaliEasy
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AlistarEasy
-
BraumMedium
-
Cho'GathEasy
-
DariusHard
-
DianaMedium
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Dr. MundoMedium
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EliseHard
-
FioraMedium
-
GangplankMedium
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GarenMedium
-
GnarMedium
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GragasEasy
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HecarimEasy
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HeimerdingerHard
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IreliaMedium
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Jarvan IVMedium
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JaxHard
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JayceMedium
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KassadinMedium
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KayleHard
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KennenHard
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Kha'ZixEasy
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Lee SinMedium
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LissandraHard
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LuluHard
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MalphiteEasy
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MaokaiEasy
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Master YiEasy
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MordekaiserEasy
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NasusMedium
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NidaleeMedium
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NunuHard
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OlafMedium
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PantheonHard
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PoppyMedium
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QuinnMedium
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RenektonMedium
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RengarMedium
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RivenMedium
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RumbleMedium
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RyzeMedium
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ShenMedium
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ShyvanaMedium
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SingedMedium
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SionEasy
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SorakaEasy
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SwainMedium
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TeemoMedium
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TrundleMedium
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TryndamereMedium
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UdyrEasy
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UrgotHard
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VayneMedium
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ViEasy
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VladimirMedium
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VolibearEasy
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WarwickEasy
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WukongMedium
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Xin ZhaoMedium
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YasuoMedium
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YorickHard
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ZacMedium
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ZedEasy
VS

Aatrox
Medium
VS

Akali
Easy
Pre-6 she will just get shat on. Make sure to stay behind her caster minions to zone her from farm and possibly EXP as well. Be careful however, since Akali is extremely snowbally and a good jungler will try to make her fed. Try to buy wards and call your jungler if you see a possibility for a successful counter gank.
NOTE: PINK WARDS ARE YOUR FRIEND.
VS

Alistar
Easy
This guy's pretty easy, even though he's annoying as hell. Just poke him down with E and once you have lane minions advantage/level advantage, just all in him. Careful for jungler ganks, though, he can set them up easily.
VS

Braum
Medium
Haven't played this matchup yet. However, if you get Tiamat early on, I'm pretty sure you can outfarm him, and since he lacks waveclear, it will be hard to farm under his turret.
VS

Cho'Gath
Easy
He's useless before 6; you can get a kill very easily if you use your Blood Price early on to tear him appart. You might want to get an early , since his ultimate will give him bonus health. I'd say it should be a very smooth laning if you don't do stupid stuff (getting hit by his enormous amounts of CC).
VS

Darius
Hard
Hard matchup. Try to poke him a bunch with E and get your jungler to help you as much as he can. Just try to not get too greedy at 6 or he'll double-kill you.
VS

Diana
Medium
Should be easy pre-6. I look at Diana like I look at Akali; only better and not as easy to kill. If you know what Diana's kit is, you will have no problem:
- Her Crescent Strike (Q) is a curved skill shot, so if you move back when being chased, she will often miss it. You can also move to the left (since it will always go from Diana's right side) to dodge it.
- Her Pale Cascade (W) is a shield that releases 3 orbs around her that, once blown up, will refresh her shield. Early on, they won't hurt too much, but once she gets some AP it will hurt. If she jumps on you, try to stay right where she is, as you won't get hit by the orbs (most likely).
- Her Moonfall (E) is a decent CC (35%) that pulls you to her. This is very hard to land correctly, and in lane it's not very efficient.
- Her Lunar Rush (R) is what makes her a beast post-6. Everytime she lands a Crescent Strike on an enemy unit (whether it be champion or minion, also counts jungle creeps), she gets a free "Akali Ult" to a marked enemy. She can then use the ulti again to another enemy unit, but it will not refresh (since all marks disappear after she consumes one), and will have basically wasted her escape.
VS

Dr. Mundo
Medium
This guy. Ugh, so boring. Early on you can get him out of lane using your Blood Price, but eventually he will get very tanky and you won't be able to kill him. Rush Tiamat so you can push very fast and take his tower down, then roam around the map.
Note: Most Mundo's run
. Your Dark Flight (Q) can interrupt it.
VS

Elise
Hard
Top lane Elise is very hard. Her skills do % damage and she can set up ganks very easily. Luckily for you, she is barely picked at all on the top lane, but if you do face her, may God have mercy on your soul.
VS

Fiora
Medium
New Fiora is pretty tricky to go agaisnt. You have better sustain than her, but you also have less damage. Try to only go aggressive when you have a vital behind you (that way she will have to fight in your minion wave). Her 6 can be way better than yours, so be careful with that.
VS

Gangplank
Medium
Since Gangplank's rework, this matchup has become Medium. Why? His early game is pretty crappy, which is the opposite of yours. However... He outscales you extremely hard. So unless you can snowball in this lane, Gangplank will probably shit on you once he gets his first items.
VS

Garen
Medium
This guy is pretty much the same as before pre-6. Try to avoid his Q-E "combo"; Once you see him waste one of those, feel free to all-in him. You can probably win it.
VS

Gnar
Medium
He's really annoying in lane, and deals a ton of damage even when building tanky. He has counterplay though (unlike Ryze). My advice is to always land your E and, if needed, farm farm from a distance. You can probably make a good all in at level 2 since most gnar's take W second and not E, as long as you poke him down at level 1 with your E.
VS

Gragas
Easy
I've seen a few fat mans on the top lane after rework. He's kind of a laughing stock if you can dodge his barrels. Just rush hydra, push him out, get tower and roam to the mid lane.
VS

Hecarim
Easy
Hecarim top lane is very rare pick, so I'm not very sure about this match-up. You should be fine, since the Pony is weak in the jungle, he should be weak in top as well. Just try not to fight him in the minion wave, because he will heal for a lot with his W.
VS

Heimerdinger
Hard
He's a very big lane bully, and post 6 he'll just drop an OP turret if he gets ganked while swag walking and making a double kill. He's pretty annoying, but you will be more useful later on in the game, so try to keep up in farm and you'll do okay.
VS

Irelia
Medium
better nerf irelia
VS

Jarvan IV
Medium
I haven't faced him yet since his most recent buffs to his top lane, but he's got a lot of damage, a knockback, and he can set up ganks easily. It's mostly a skill matchup, but i'd say you have a little advantage over him.
VS

Jax
Hard
1 kill to him and you're fucked. Forever. You will never kill him again, and you will get tower dived easily. Not only that, but if you DO miraculously get a kill on him, he will just farm back, splitpush all day and get unkillable anyways. Just ban this OP fucker.
Oh shit, I just got counter picked! What do I do?
VS

Jayce
Medium
Skill Matchup in favour of Jayce, since Aatrox gets kited easily without his Q. Be careful, because a good Jayce will almost never lose the lane, since he has a very powerful nuke and a disengage. Luckily for you, he has no sustain at all and he goes oom quickly. If you can get a few kills on him with the jungler help, you'll be fine. And if he buys tear on the first back, you will have a very useful item advantage. Try to use that the best way you can.
VS

Kassadin
Medium
This guy is strong again. Rito plz.
VS

Kayle
Hard
Kayle is really strong. She has a very good waveclear (also ranged), she has a slow, armor/mr shred, a mov speed buff/heal, and an invulnerability at 6. You should ask your jungler to camp her out so she has to waste mana escaping ganks, releaving pressure off of you to farm. If you do get a kill or two off of her, you should be fine for the next 15-20mins, which is while she doesn't get her items; however, most of the time laning phase will have ended by then.
VS

Kennen
Hard
This is another very hard lane for Aatrox. A good Kennen will poke you all day, and if you try to jump on him, he'll use his escape and kite you all day while you cry for the jungler's help. Once he gets zhonyas it gets even worse.
VS

Kha'Zix
Easy
This shouldn't be too hard; however, we all know how snowbally Kha'Zix is. Before 6 he doesn't have much on you, since he has somewhat high mana costs and long cooldowns, you should take advantage of this. Try not to fight him when he has high HP, and NEVER fight him out of your minion wave. Only go in when you can get a kill on him, and make sure there is nothing that can get in your way (junglers, etc).
VS

Lee Sin
Medium
His early game is WAAAY better than yours, and if he maxes his W he will have better sustain than you. Start with and x5
, because he will start to fall off hard after level 7. Get a Tiamat and try to outfarm him, you will eventually get a kill on him if you didn't give him the first kill in the lane.
VS

Lissandra
Hard
This lane's pretty rough. You have better all in early on (think lvl 2-3), but if she's not mentally disabled she'll snare you and walk away, while poking you all the time. I'd recommend an hexdrinker rush and ask for jungler's help.
VS

Lulu
Hard
VS

Malphite
Easy
Even though he has an Attack Speed debuff, you'll be maxing E and you won't have any trouble. Not only that, if he spams E on you, he'll go oom and won't be able to kill you, which pretty much makes him lose the lane right there.
VS

Maokai
Easy
This guy is pretty much like Malphite. His early levels are pretty meh, and yours are very good. You can easily abuse him a lot in laning phase, because the points where he shines most is teamfights. If you manage to starve him in laning phase then you should have no problems agaisnt him later on.
VS

Master Yi
Easy
His kit is made for jungling, and his early game is piss weak. Crush him.
VS

Mordekaiser
Easy
I haven't faced this matchup yet, but mordekaiser is weak agaisnt DPS and mobility, and since the top lane is not very hard to gank due to its wideness, you should have no problem vs. him.
VS

Nasus
Medium
You're going to need the jungler to get a kill on him. He has Wither, which is move speed slow and Attack Speed slow (which cripples you a lot), and we all know how Nasus gets later in the game. Just try to get the tower ASAP and roam mid to finish the game as fast as possible, you don't want a late game Nasus around.
VS

Nidalee
Medium
Meh. This bitch will just poke you all day, and after 6 she will kill you if you're low. However, most Nidalee's go to the mid lane so you don't have to worry much about this matchup. What applies on the mid lane applies here as well. She's weak to all-ins, so just ask your jungler to gank top and take the tower as soon as possible so you can roam mid or take dragon.
VS

Nunu
Hard
I've played Nunu top... I feel sorry for everyone I've faced. I shat on every single laner I've faced. Luckily for you, Nunu scales into worthlessness. So if your team does well, he won't do anything useful.
VS

Olaf
Medium
Skill Matchup. Try not to get hit by his Undertow (Q), since that will let him land a Reckless Swing (E) which is true damage, and it will hurt. I'd say you should start with and x5
to avoid his damage, and when you get Tiamat you should be able to fight him (as long as you have both equal farm and no kills).
VS

Pantheon
Hard
Fuck this guy. A good pantheon will just spam Q everyday and when you're low he'll all in you and kill you. Come back to lane, same thing happens again.
VS

Poppy
Medium
Haven't played this matchup yet, but be careful of her ultimate; It's really good to fight you under your tower. She also outscales you. I think it's a skill matchup, but as always, your jungler has a saying in the matter.
VS

Quinn
Medium
This shouldn't be too much of a hassle if you get some jungle assistance; She was made as an ADC, so her base stats shouldn't be very big, meaning you have to use Blades Of Torment (E) to farm and go in when she's low. You should start with and x5
, because you will most likely get harassed a lot.
Note: I don't have much experience in this match-up, so I'll add when I do.
VS

Renekton
Medium
This is more of a skill matchup, but in favour of Renekton. This crocodile has no terrible lane matchups and he bullies people out really hard. And while people say he falls off late game due to close-to no CC, he still has a really big AoE damage with his ultimate alongside his Sunfire cape.
So, how do I win this match-up?


Note: If you take out his early game, you take him out of the game.
VS

Rengar
Medium
Skill match-up. You both have sustain, attack damage and speed steroid, and both have a really high power at 6. I'd say this would be a little harder for Rengar, however; Rengar is not a very forgiving champion, so if he messes up something, you can take advantage of this.
VS

Riven
Medium
To beat Riven, you need to work around her cooldown's. Here they are:
Riven's W -> 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7
Riven's E -> 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6
Riven's R -> 110 / 80 / 50
VS

Rumble
Medium
This guy is really hard to play. That said, you should expect a few mistakes from your enemy Rumble. Try to farm while his Flamespitter (Q) is down, since it has 6 second cooldown (all ranks). Once he's on Overheat, albeit his AA's will be somewhat powerful, he will not be able to use spells, so just shit on him.
VS

Ryze
Medium
This champion is a giant pain in the rear, to be honest. Start with Long Sword and 3 pots, and Blades of Torment.
VS

Shen
Medium
Skill Match-up. A good Shen will have a hard time losing the lane. He has sustain and he can follow up ganks very well. However, we all know that his biggest strength is in his supreme map presence; And the best way to punish this is:
- Dark Flight (Q) to interrupt his teleport;
- If he, however, manages to teleport somewhere else, take his tower down and keep pushing all day.
VS

Shyvana
Medium
Her damage is very high early on if you tank her W. If she wastes it on the cs, though, you can most likely trade with her.
VS

Singed
Medium
This guy is a pain. It will be a farm fest, since you most likely won't get kill potential if Singed is good. However, if he isn't, you can get a kill early on.
Why not rushing
?
Note: Remember, sustain is Singed's worst enemy. Make sure to start 
and rush
.
VS

Sion
Easy
Sion got reworked into a jungler. Lane sion is utter garbage. You should have no problem agaisnt this champion.
VS

Soraka
Easy
No-one really plays soraka top... But if you do, try to get up close to her before using Q, or she will silence you and kite you.
VS

Swain
Medium
VS

Teemo
Medium
Ah... Teemo. The Satan of the Rift.
VS

Trundle
Medium
This guy is not very hard to lane agaisnt pre-6. He will most likely match your sustain, and after 6, he is really hard to fight with his ultimate. Just try to ask for your jungler's help, because whoever gets the first kill will have a way easier time.
VS

Tryndamere
Medium
Your protegé. Pre-6 you can get a kill on him if he doesn't get lucky crits, but after 6 he's kinda hard to kill (if he's good). Ask your jungler to get the first kill on him and try not to take his tower too fast because you can bully him a lot. If he gets too reckless, ask your jungler to come again, and this time get his tower. Proceed to rotate mid.
VS

Udyr
Easy
This guy has a lot of power early on; Too bad his kit is made for jungling, and close to useless in the top lane. Try not to die in the early levels and you're golden. At lvl 6 it gets even easier. Rush to counter his pushing and probably start with
and x5
if you're not very confident. You can start
if you have no respect for Trick2g.
VS

Urgot
Hard
I've never played this match-up before, and even less seen Urgot in my games. Judging from his kit, he has a spammable targeted rocket, has poison, a shield, and he also lowers your Attack Damage by 15%. With his ultimate, he can force you to dive him and poke you all day, since he has free armor/magic resist from it.
VS

Vayne
Medium
VS

Vi
Easy
VS

Vladimir
Medium
This guy is a pain. He has as much sustain as you do, he's ranged and he has waveclear. Good thing he's pretty weak before his first item and lvl 9, when he gets a very low cooldown on his Q. If you get a kill on him, you should be fine. If he gets a kill on you, you will have a troubled time.
VS

Volibear
Easy
This guy isn't too much of a hassle. Your Blood Price hurts as much as his Bite, so when you see the little orange paw above him, try to stay away until it goes off. If he tries to run to you, he's probably setting up a gank for his jungler, so Q away and poke him with E. As long as you don't get bitten too much, you should be fine.
VS

Warwick
Easy
He's a life draining tank, and pre-6 he's pretty crappy. He has 1 skill to heal him that costs a lot of mana and has a high cooldown. Basically, his Q is your Blood Thirst. You should have no problem vs. him, but be careful, since post-6 he can set up ganks easily.
VS

Wukong
Medium
This is a skill matchup. He has no sustain in his kit, you do. You also have a way to farm from afar. His early levels have high cooldowns, so if he tries his E-AA-Q-W combo, he won't be able to kill you (unless you don't lifesteal from your W/waste too much HP on your W) and he'll get oom so quickly, you will bully him out of the lane in no time. Just be careful of the jungler though, if he gets 6 prior to you and all-ins you, you will most likely die (unless you have your tower's help and your passive up). Rush vs. him, and if you're not confident enough, start with
and x5
. If you're confident on your skills, start with
.
VS

Xin Zhao
Medium
This guy is a fighter like you. His level 2 and 3 are also stronger than yours. My advice is to not take a point as soon as the lane starts, and see what he does. Does he push the lane ASAP? Then take Q, because he's looking to get his level 2 powerspike and all in you. If he's just looking to CS, start with E, push the lane, and get Q level 2. Ask your jungler for ganks since he doesn't have any built-in escape. Start and x5
. Your level 6 is better than his, so if you get him low enough with your E you shouldn't have problems post-6.
Note: Wait for him to waste his knock-up before you jump away. Aatrox's Q LITERALLY gets cancelled by everything (which is pretty annoying if you ask me).
VS

Yasuo
Medium
Skill matchup. He has a really annoying shield and knock-up. I'd start and x5
and try to outsustain him by maxing Blood Thirst/Blood Price (W). You can set up ganks really easily though, because his only escape is towards your minions. Try to get
if you're looking to 1v1 and you're fed. If you're behind, rush
(homeguards isn't mandatory).
VS

Yorick
Hard
His early game is extremely bad, but as soon as he gets a tear he will sustain in lane forever. I remember a game when I played Aatrox vs Yorick, and at some point I had 5 people on my lane. I asked to my team "why are there 5 people top???" and they said "err laning is over man". I looked at the counter and it showed 32.46 minutes!
VS

Zac
Medium
He's pretty tanky with a decent sustain, but don't worry, he won't kill you 1v1. He's pretty good on following ganks, though, so be careful with that.
VS

Zed
Easy
Any bruiser with sustain shits on most midlaners. If you're careful with his lvl 6 burst, you'll have no trouble at all with this lane. Bash his head in for taking Zed top instead of mid.