What to do when counterpicked and behind (top)?

Kaguyas·4/17/2016, 11:07:12 PM·1 votes·679 views

Does anyone else think the fact that a lot of match ups where you are counterpicked means you have little chance of winning the lane right off the bat is really unhealthy? Especially MID and TOP.

For example, I picked Tryndamere top because i thought there was a a good matchup against someone (i dont remember) that ended up being jg and I got stuck with illaoi and I never felt more useless. I couldn't cs even with a 15 minute shiv because i would get Q'd and forced to dodge with my E, THEN get pulled by her hook, then become a vessel, and be forced to leave the lane so i can kill three tentacles (which still have broken hitboxes) to then go back to lane and repeat.

Team couldn't help me even our fed udyr couldn't help and when the last tower fell they gave up on my lane and I was forced to roam with no cs.

For the experienced summoners out there : How do you play when behind like that? Including when it is too early to roam and too late to save your lane?

It highly depends on the champions involved, how far behind you are, and the team compositions.

I'll use your Tryndamere vs Illaoi match-up as an example.

In this match-up, Tryndamere generally wants to focus on farming out the lane until he is strong enough to kill her. You generally want to rush lifesteal in the form of a Doran's Blade and a Vampiric Scepter so that you can out-sustain her damage. Warlord's Bloodlust is probably the most common keystone on Tryndamere, so you should have some more from it too. Lifesteal Quints (and attack speed marks) are also very commonly used on Tryndamere.

After you had lifesteal for sustain, I would have recommend you purchase a Cloth Armor (which can later be build into Chain Vest or Ninja Tabi) if you were still behind. This would greatly reduce the damage you take and making your sustain much more valuable in lane.

After that, I would recommend you finally begin building attack speed and crit chance in the form of Phantom Dancer. It is very efficient stat-wise even before you factor in the value of damage reduction and removing unit collision.

At that point, you should have out-scaled Illaoi unless you have fallen behind. You are now generally strong enough to proxy farm, steal enemy jungle camps, or just outright kill Illaoi if she isn't under your tower. When trading, be sure to heal back up by attacking minions between trades.

When you are that far behind, roaming as a champion like Tryndamere can be a bad idea. It is generally more valuable to split-push, farming and occupying an enemy while your team tries to win elsewhere. If anyone tries to kill you (or looks like they will), just leave. The farm will come back to you and you can take jungle camps in the meantime.

What to do when counterpicked and behind (top)?

4 Comments

It highly depends on the champions involved, how far behind you are, and the team compositions.

At that point, you should have out-scaled Illaoi unless you have fallen behind. You are now generally strong enough to proxy farm, steal enemy jungle camps, or just outright kill Illaoi if she isn't under your tower. When trading, be sure to heal back up by attacking minions between trades.