Boards›Gameplay

How to play against a Leona as Draven?

Warhawk373·11/11/2016, 7:39:53 PM·2 votes·3,661 views

I had a REALLY bad game as draven against a leona. My supp was a bard and her adc was a lucian. It was blind pick so obviously I can't complain about getting counterpicked but still, if you HAD to play against Leona as Draven, what would you do? She can prevent you from catching axes by threatening her cc and if she gets you early on and you don't have a suitable support to counter it like morgana then your basically screwed. Also we had a vayne jungle so receiving a gank is out of the question.

Just an update, I've been applying those techniques to every game, like baiting support skill shots and although I haven't had to face a Leona yet, I've been stomping bot lane on the rift. Still have some work to do regarding team fight because as it is now I basically just focus on catching axes and rely on my life steal to tank xD but still getting s ranked occasionally and carrying a game here and there, so thanks.

10 Comments

Oglaf11/11/2016, 10:11:10 PM2 votes

The same way you do all unfavourable match-ups: You play it safe and focus on cs, even if it is under your tower.

ValyrianBlade11/11/2016, 10:20:31 PM2 votes

Trust your damage.

Obviously you don't want to fight early since she's got a lot of CC and tankiness. Dodge her e as best you can. She'll take Q at level 1 so catch your axes at level 1. Then at level 2 you should obviously have the CD back so just bait her E by going for a catch and backing off at the last second. Then start throwing them again and happily catch while the e is on CD - rinse and repeat.

If she does happen to get on you - remember that Draven is the highest damage ADC in the game. She just burned one of her two CC abilities to get on you. The other one will likely be partially burned before the enemy ADC can get on top of you. If your support is on the ball at all, he can also apply his CC to sort of neutralize the advantage. So turn hard on the ADC and win the 2v2 - Leona isn't exactly known for her damage! You just need to be able to evaluate when you need to fight and when you can't win the skirmish and need to back off (possibly using summoners). Trading heals is probably a bad thing for Draven unless you get the kill out of the deal. If Leona has exhaust trading exhausts is fine. If she has ignite trading exhaust for ignite is also okay, although if you use exhaust early enough you should probably get a kill out of the deal. Your support shouldn't take ignite in a Draven v Leona matchup. Trading Flash is also undesirable unless it nets you a kill.

You probably also want to take more passive masteries (i.e. warlords and feast for the sustain) and don't stay in lane at low health. In general, abuse Leona when her e is on CD (especially at level 1) - if her HP is already low she'll be a lot more hesitant to engage on you.

ChaosReignsDown11/11/2016, 10:22:42 PM2 votes

As a support main, bard should have stayed in a position to punish her if she pulls to you with a well angled Q, and kept his W (heals) down so you could use them if needed. Besides that make sure you are poking her and keeping her around 50% so its to risky to engage. If you know that you are getting into a risky spot use your speed boost to dodge her Q. Lots of Leonas will also hit W before engaging so watch for that sign.

Also if you are playing against a Blitz/Leo/Thresh the support should have the bushes warded at all times*

A Doorknob11/11/2016, 10:09:16 PM2 votes

Use E to counter her zenith blade. Stay away from bush unless warded. If she goes near you, attack her, and be prepared to use E. Lvl 2 Get E instead of W. When she comes near you, attack her, show dominance over your lane and be prepared to use E. Be warned, this is very difficult to pull off. So if you fail, keep trying. Always be prepared. As well, if you are unable to E her zenith blade and get stunned. Get out or go all in on the ADC and try to land a kill before you die and hope to god your support isn't a doorknob. But you need to choose. Another tip, Zenith blade and Lucians Q are linear abilities, try and move in a perpendicular motion to them, it makes it harder for them to land abilities. As well worth noting: it takes time for your axes to land; you may have enough time to move away from your opponents ability and return to catch the axe. This is easiest seen playing against a Morgana.

Ruin Lance11/11/2016, 7:41:31 PM1 votes

hmm i don't know exactly how but i know that your e can cancel her e dash

Warhawk37311/12/2016, 1:31:23 AM1 votes

Thanks for all the comments. There's some really good advice here. I hate to blame my support because I play a lot of bot lane both as adc and support so I know how it feels but someone mentioned bard needs to be ready with his q and yeah he wasn't so that didn't help, so I guess in that situation I should have just played as safe as possible because with a hesitant support there's really no way to turn around an engage and win the trade, especially if the support is missing their skill shots. But yeah, I was having a hard time dodging her blade, which I guess is just something I have to work on.

oSEXYPLATYPUSo11/11/2016, 7:43:11 PM1 votes

you just do your best to not feed in lane and try to get to a team fight situation and use the double adc comp you have to siege objectives

Ulquiorra99511/11/2016, 7:45:27 PM1 votes

You can knock her out of her dash if you are fast enough with your E. Besides that, try to bait out her E - you might miss one axe but you'll probably be able to reactivate it immediately and have some breathing space while it's on cooldown.

oSEXYPLATYPUSo11/11/2016, 7:47:11 PM1 votes

you also need to wait til bard is 6 and use his ult to counter engage.

with a bard, draven vayne you have great siege potential cuz bard can use his ult to freeze the enemy away from a turret as you rush it with a wave and two adcs