Reminder for Ekko Free Week

Edit: Added more Counterpicks and a section about counter builds against Ekko.

Since Ekko will be on the free rotation soon, I would like the remind the community some ways to play against him.

General Tips:

1. Don't stand in the W circle. For the love of God just right click.
2. Keep track of where his ult indicator is, and follow the same advise with the circle. His Indicator is very predictable, and it is 100% on you if you get hit by that ult.
3. You can flash out of his ult if you see Ekko begin his ultimate animation.
4. The ult indicator disappears if you lose vision of him, beware chasing Ekko into the Fog of War.
5. Ekko's W has a visual animation when he casts it; however, the AOE does not appear until 2 seconds before the W lands.
6. If Ekko didn't use his W and goes in for a Q, E, proc combo, fight back. There is no point in running away from him due to the slows.
7. In teamfights, don't idle around one place, you are just asking to be nuked by his ultimate or chained stunned by his W.

Counter Picks: Ekko excels at deleting squishy ADCs and Mages who need to set up their damage. However, bruisers and assassins can easily turn the tables on Ekko by surviving his kit or killing him before he can get his full rotation off.

1. Tryndamere - Ekko's laning phase is not good. He has terrible regeneration, problem CSing because he is melee and AP, and his ranged poke costs him a ton of mana. Tryndamere on the other hand is resource-less and can easily bully Ekko out of lane. After level 6, Tryndamere can down right disrespect Ekko by activating undying rage even when he is CCed and ignore all of Ekko's damage.

2. Zed - Zed's laning phase is great, as mentioned above, Ekko's is not so much. Zed can easily out trade Ekko early on. However, as Zed, you do have to watch out for if he ults as your Death Mark is about to land.

3. Aatrox - Same reasons as Tryndamere.

4. Talon/Katarina - These champions don't necessary beat Ekko early in lane. However, their combo is enough to 100 - 0 Ekko instantly.

5. Yasuo - Even though Yasuo's laning phase isn't that great either, he can be very oppressive to Ekko. Between his passive Flow shield and Wind wall, Ekko can hardly land any poke and will get out-traded if he Es in.

6. LeBlanc - LeBlanc's insane mobility allows her to avoid the majority of Ekko's damage. If Ekko jumps on you, immediately Q and point-blank E him in the face. There is pretty much no way for LB to lose this lane unless she goes OOM. Just avoid extended skirmishes as the likelihood of getting hit by Ekko's W or R increases the long the fight is.

7. Ahri - Same as LB, point blank CC him to the face if he dares jump on you. Your Q is essentially a better version of his Q as long as he can't get his passive procs off. Play at a safe distance when your Charm isn't up. Also, Ahri's full AP combo without ult significantly out damages Ekko's without ult in terms of burst and DPS, don't be afraid to trade with him.

8. Darius - Darius counters every melee champion during laning phase. This should be a logical choice if you are not as skilled with the other counters. Darius's passive MS can help him chase down Ekko. His Bleed Passive significantly lowers kill pressure from Ekko as well since Ekko has poor health regeneration mechanics.

9. Riven - Riven's E has around the same CD than Ekko's Q, therefore, you should not take poke damage from him at all during the laning phase. Riven has the highest % AD combo in the game (around 800% AD with ultimate), if Ekko E's to you, it's his funeral.

10. Fiora/Xin Zhao - These champions simply out-sustain Ekko. It doesn't even matter if Ekko wins trades, he won't be able recover his health back quick enough. It is important to note that Xin Zhao is rather easy to out play by Ekko since Xin only has one gap closer. As well, Ekko can immediately ult back to Xin if Xin ults.

11. Fizz/Diana: They are the original "skirmish" assassins, and frankly they do a better job than Ekko a 1 v 1 scenario. Fizz and Diana have the tools to initiate on Ekko. Fizz's Q combined with W and Lich Bane Proc can easily chunk him for 50%+ of his health. After, Fizz can easily avoid the majority of Ekko's damage by dodge his return Q with E, land on him, and finish the job. Diana has the same advantage due to her ultimate reset. Additionally, her shield is instant, which will also block the majority of Ekko's combo. If Ekko tries to ult away, simply ult him again.

12. Malzahar/Annie: Honestly, playing these two champions against assassins should probably be labelled as cyber bullying. Just point and click stun and win.

13. Mordedekaiser: Laugh at Ekko's puny 2.5 seconds .8 AP shield as your shield is up all the time. Moredekaiser counters almost all assassins just as Malzahar and Annie do. At level 2, Ekko should stand no chance against you. As Mord, you do have to be wary of Ekko roaming to other lanes since you can't follow as quickly

14. Most AP/AD Bruisers: champions such as Cho Gath, Gragas, Maokai, or Gnar should do fine against Ekko simply because Ekko can't burst them.

Counter Build: While playing against Ekko, you should focus on items that can reduce his damage besides just full out damage. Ekko's Luden and Lich Bane procs gives him unparalleled burst. Unless you are playing an assassin such as Fizz, Talon, Viktor, Annie or Yasuo who can also reach that level of damage due to their kits with relative safety, it is a pointless endeavor to try to build full damage because you will be dead before you get to use it.

1. Zhonyas - There is absolutely no reason why AP champions should not get this item. It can be used to both wait out Ekko's W or dodge his ultimate.

2. Abyssal Scepter - Ekko does %missing health damage on his W passive. Building health isn't as effective, so build some MR instead.

3. Banshee's Veil - Nothing stops an AP assassin's combo like good old banshee's veil. The shield will block either his first Q or E. In either case, Ekko can NO LONGER INSTANTLY PROC HIS PASSIVE with his standard Q, E, AA combo. He will have to auto attack once more to get 3 stacks or wait for his Q to return. In that 1 second, most damage champions can kill him.

4. QSS - Ekko has a myriad of CC. QSS provides immunity for ~2 seconds and a huge MS buff for melees, which can be extremely useful to chasing Ekko down.

5. Maw of Malmortius: The spell shield in provides can catch an Ekko of guard. Additionally, it provides a ton of MR, not healh, so he cannot use it against you as % missing health damage.

6. Merc Treads - Just buy these boots. Even if you are not against an Ekko, buy them. CC works arithmetically in League; if two champions casts their CCs at the same time, the result would be a CC time equal to those of all the CC spells used added together.