I've asked everyone I know, but not a single proper answer to show for it.

Gunslinger744·12/1/2015, 6:41:21 PM·3 votes·1,694 views

Masters, Bronzies, Silvers, Golds, Platinums, even one Challenger on his stream. "What do you do against Riven." If I even got an answer, it could be summed up in this simple sentence: "Riven snowballs early, so..." followed by piercing silence, silence that speaks louder than any strategy. I am DESPERATE. Riven is an INSTANT LOSS for me, every single time. I can't beat her, I've never beaten her, and quite frankly I doubt I will ever beat her. I can't fight the engage from half a lane away into stun/knockup + massive AD scaling shield, I can't kite her for this same reason, but we can now add an AoE ranged execute.

You are my very last hope, boards. Help me.

41 Comments

Ralanr12/1/2015, 6:48:22 PM3 votes

If you get the chance to counter pick her, I'd recommend Garen .

Both are ability based and resourceless. But Garen can silence her. Since Riven is reliant on her abilities, silences are deadly to her.

Ionian12/1/2015, 6:53:08 PM3 votes

Step 1 - Pick Garen/Nasus/Malphite/Darius Step 2 - Stack armor Step 3 - zzzzzzzzzz Step 4 - Riven is useless.

Helmight12/1/2015, 6:45:26 PM3 votes

Tbh, I play passively in lane to counter her. And by passively, I mean INCREDIBLY passively. Let her shove to tower - she will, since her abilities are AoE - and pick up whatever CS you can. If you stay far enough away, you force Riven to burn all of her movement just to get in range, which then means that you can trade favorably.

Now, I am by no means a toplane expert, but that's my preferred strategy. EndlessSorceror probably has some better ideas than I do.

EndlessSorcerer12/1/2015, 6:43:29 PM3 votes

I'm going to ask before writing a lengthy post:

What is your opinion on counter-picks, altering item builds, and altering your play-style against her?
Are there any specific champions you want advice for?

Droogzy12/1/2015, 9:00:27 PM2 votes

I usually pick either Sion or Maokai into her.

They both got sustain to deal with when she attempts to go aggressive and enough CC to set up easy ganks for jungler.

Also, freeze the lane just outside your tower.

Additionally, if you have a good eye on when tower draws aggro if she tries to get some harass underneath the tower, you can lock her up pretty easily for enough two tower shots with Sion and Maokai

PotatoMine12/1/2015, 6:55:06 PM1 votes

You can play someone who can kite her. I play Ezreal and Karma top from time to time and it's a rather even lane. She will full to dead you but you have the range to not get got. It's not a counter, but it's not insta lose.

Phoenix Kotori 12/1/2015, 6:56:48 PM1 votes

Play a counter

Quinn learn to E cancel her third Q animation and stay out of range of her Q1 & Q2 while poking her down & farming then it becomes really easy match up unless the riven is vastly more experienced with the match-up than you, biggest danger is E>Flash>W to watch out for.

Renekton he's just able to bully her so hard as long you properly use your abilities, start cloth if you need to as post 6 & haven't died you basically won the lane, because your ult > hers in a 1 vs 1 every time.

Garen Silence > Spin > regen > repeat til in range for R kill > kill with R

Tokogawaruf12/1/2015, 6:56:27 PM1 votes

Garen and Teemo are hard Counters for her

Garen has a Silence, after which he can deal his dmg with e and back off when the silence is over. This way he can chunk her down till he can destroy her with his Ult. Teemo on the other side, should poke all time with autos and q, use w to run as soon as you see the first Riven q hop and place Ult mushrooms behind him, so she has to eat poison everytime she wants to go ham.

Generally, try to let her waste her q or w on minions, then act. Best case scenario is when she q´d once to cs, you stand back like 2-3 secs and then charge on her, since q should be on cooldown. Also try to turn her typical "Full ham, Red Eyed" Strategy against her.

I, for example, play Singed often, which i can use to w+e her into my tower when she wants to go full ham, lets her get at least hit twice and breath poison on top of that.

Hope this helps

Merxamers12/1/2015, 7:00:26 PM1 votes

I've had success as Nasus against Riven. It's tricky, bc Nassus is super-weak early game, but if you learn how to farm safely (usually under your turret), and rush a Frozen Heart, you'll eventually out-scale her pretty hard.

DrCyanide12/1/2015, 7:29:11 PM1 votes

I tend to eat her TahmKench

Not saying every match goes my way, but I'm happy enough with the Tahm vs Riven matchup.

TTUPhoenix12/1/2015, 7:27:58 PM1 votes

There's a lot of good advice in this thread, but I'll add a bit of my own.

Riven, to me, can be faced in a similar manner to Yasuo and Zed: DON'T DIE PRE-6. If you have to back multiple times, it'll hurt, but do it. A Riven with a kill pre-6 is very difficult to face 1v1 in lane, since it'll get her her first real item and get her her ult before you do. Most champions have a better chance against Riven once they hit 6 - yes, Riven's level 6 power spike is very big, but getting your ult can often do a lot to prevent her from killing you, especially if it's a defensive steroid, cc, or movement ability that will allow you to survive/escape her.

That said, Riven tends to have very predictable all-ins, mainly at 3 and 6. Once she hits 6 (or if you think she's about to) be vary wary, since she is probably willing to blow her flash for an all-in.

THEJJSLAY12/1/2015, 7:50:45 PM1 votes

1: She out damages you early, either wait for your powerspike and kill her when she thinks she is hot shit or turtle until jungler gets to you 2(she has killed you): don't go "hurr durr I need more dmg" go armor and turtle until jungler will help. 3: Bottom line is just get ahead or don't let her kill you 4: Learn to bait her shield and poke when it is down 5: if she engages on you and actually reaches you you were way out of position

I think a really big thing in my elo is not being able to control the wave, i.e. make HER push the lane into your turret. And always remember to ward your lane.

NahDogSolRahn12/1/2015, 8:06:06 PM1 votes

Prince Jarvin Lightshield, the fourth of his name, Exemplar of Demacia. AD bruser, damage reds and quints, armor yellows and MR blues, all flat. 6/6/18 with grasp as Keystone. Flash and Ghost for summs, starting with corrupting flask, build into Ravenous Hydra, after is up to you. In lane, farm with passive, last hit only if you can and poke with Q, try not to fight till lvl 3. once three, get her to half and if you have around half mana, all in. Use W when disengageing or shielding and try not to die pre 6, you will still be able to trade and take tower, but killing her will be harder.

DREADN0UGHT12/1/2015, 10:08:59 PM1 votes

Ban her

Himbeekee12/2/2015, 2:04:31 AM1 votes

2 words. Play Shen

KyroRayne12/1/2015, 6:47:38 PM1 votes

The best thing to do against a Riven is not to 1 v 1 her unless you can play a peel champ or a tanky champ. I hate seeing a Riven, but usually I just farm in lane without pushing too much as she can destroy most top lane champs (Illaoi might be an exception). I would say that Renekton, Jayce, Darius, and Fiora should be able to hold her off, but Riven is the better team fighter out of those. You'd want a champ who can provide heavy harass to her without taking much damage in the trade.

I haven't played much top lately as I've been a jungle main though. Perhaps there is someone here with better advice than me :)

Fadedpf12/1/2015, 6:50:14 PM1 votes

Pick something to survive lane, respect her and let her push, even if she freezes, cry for ganks and help your team by being a tank. That is all I have for you.. Riven is a bitch tbh

luckmallory12/1/2015, 6:50:10 PM1 votes

Garen Olaf Renekton Irelia Jax Volibear

You are welcome

Cinderhulk Riven12/1/2015, 6:54:06 PM1 votes

item 1029

The pre-season broke Riven's knees, build armour first, and it almost doesn't matter who you're playing. If you get a chance to counterpick her, that helps too, but unless you picked Vlad top, there's not many champions who simply 'auto lose' if she plays well, and even he has a nearly 50/50 WR against her nowadays.

If you're someone who can buy it, sunfire cape just destroys her, if you're someone who can rush a Frozen Heart, do so.

You don't even need to play all that passively, just manage your minion wave and keep track of who is taking more aggro in fights, and unless you screw up you won't die to her.