how can i win as darius vs illaoi?
looks impossible to win from an illaoi while playing darius because she can poke me out of lane and just farm safely while im forced out of my lane
8 Comments
Don't get hit by her E and maybe buy early 
so you can dodge her Q poke.
Like they said, buy boots early, sepcially tabi and go either black cleaver or triforce/steraks gage combo. Dodge her E and try to walk in circular path while harassing her to didge her harass. Use your E only as a disengage tool or for repositioning/buying time. Quietly build a couple stacks through q and an auto then back out, then dip back in for the all in. Position so that when she ults, run away in the safest direction (hopefully you have 5 stacks and ult up). She will most likely chase out of her ult zone to where you can easily dunk her face in. Note: never stay in her ult zone even with 5 stacks and ult up unless you can 100% dunk her dead within the next .5 sets otherwise she will burst you even if you're ahead all the while healing with each tentacle hit
if you completely can't win the lane, and that's ok, just lose with dignity. I'd rather lose top turret with a 1/2/0 darius then lose top with a 3/9/2 one. Once teamfights start up she falls off a fair bit.
Wait until she uses E, dodge it, then go all in. With the GW screwing her healing and the lack of the pulled spirit to proc extra damage, you should (all else being equal) easily outdamage AND outsustain her.
you don't
Don't get hit by her E and you can win most trades. If you know she's going to ult, be ready to pull back and then re-engage. You can also use E to cancel her W jump on you if you time it right.
I know a thing or two about this matchup, name relevant.
Illaoi is stupidly weak against Darius prior to level 3, when she normally gets her E. Try to do damage before she hits level 3.
Post-4, If she gets her E on you and wants to do damage to your spirit in early levels, walk up and fight her, but avoid being hit by the tentacles, especially if they will hit you and the spirit at the same time. Because you are fighting her, she is either forced off of the spirit entirely before she can finish it or you at least did damage to her instead of taking free damage from her.
Post-6, you can all-in her when her E is down. Do not walk up to her when her E is up. She will E you and then ult you. You will not win this fight. But if her E is down, even if she ults you to discourage you from chasing her down the lane (assuming she isn't stupidly fed), you should come out on top. The only way she gets away from you is if she has your minions behind her and can use W on them to run or if she has Phase Rush and manages to proc it to run away from you.
She absolutely can not fight you effectively when her E is down unless she is extremely fed.
When you go to fight her, she will probably use her W on her which causes tentacles to immediately target you. Side-step them and then return to fighting her. This is important. People tend to chase her in a straight line and get hit by the tentacles. That heals her and does damage to you.
Recommended Item Purchase Order (Lane Phase) [Obviously build situationally after lane phase]
Doran's Shield + Health Potion > Boots of Speed + Phage > Ninja Tabi > Black Cleaver
Let me know if you have more specific questions about the matchup.
Regards, Illaominati
Head over to Darius Mains subreddit this matchup is pinned at the top.