Poppy really hurts? o-o

Abandon·Nov 2, 2016·2 votes·474 views

Soooo, I think we all know why Poppy's been 'popping' up lately. A pretty good 'soft-counter' to ranged champs who scales extremely well into this 'unkillable monster', great. Now, I don't have a problem with Poppy's kit or anything and I think the rework achieved what it set out to do - maintain this 'aggressive', diving tank identity whilst removing the overbearing ultimate she had and also bringing her unique utility. That's all fine. But recently (and this may be because I've been sucking or just have not seen Poppy in awhile) I've noticed that for someone who builds pretty much all tank, her damage friggen hurts o-o. It's pretty much relevant throughout the entire game.

Anyone else have this experience and any tips for someone who plays squishy-ish divers/slayers (xin, tryn, aatrox, etc) to itemise or play against poppy :o?

9 Comments

EvilUnicornLordNov 2, 20163 votes

Well, as a Poppy main, I can tell you how to play against Poppy.

Unless fed, she's not likely to win in a slapfest with a diver early game, so punish her for stepping too close by walking up and auto-attacking (unless your dash is really fast like Xin Zhao's or you know her W is on cooldown). Make sure to step on her shield unless that puts you in a bad position, like, between her and a wall. She also builds tons of armor since she's a resistances-oriented tank. So try to build lots of armor penetration. If you see you're up against Poppy (obvious jungles such as Rengar means she's in top lane) pick Gangplank, Rumble, or Quinn.

RalanrNov 2, 20161 votes

Also champions like Darius can zone Poppy pretty well.

AbandonNov 2, 20161 votes

Thank you for taking your time to write this, I appreciate the advise. On another note however, I don't know if I'm just playing bad but she seems to be out trading me even really early on? Like, I'm actively trying to step on the shield and sidestep her q's but if she comes into melee range it's a lot harder for her to miss the q and it hits quite hard. I can maybe get off the cheese kill at like level 2 if I push the aggression, but after that it's she becomes a brick wall that hurts you more than you hurt it if you get what I'm saying?

I'll see what can be done with armor pen but rather than 'killing her', it kinda feels like I have to outsustain or outlast her to beat her. She's a hyper scaling tank so i'd probably be better focusing one of their carries right? Also, sadly to say I am terrible with ranged top laners. I just don't find them fun and can't get into them :(

EvilUnicornLordNov 2, 20162 votes

Your welcome. It's actually nice to see someone who isn't hating on your main just because they counter theirs.

On the other note, I think Poppy's upcoming nerfs (she's been doing good in Worlds, it's obvious she's going to get Shen/Rek'Sai/Ryze treatment) may actually be justified despite having around a 45% winrate, sadly. So that's at least something divers have to look forward to.

Also, juggernauts do seem to do better against Poppy than divers do, so if you can't play any of her hard counters, pick Darius. Aside from that, the only advice I really have left is "git gud" and that's not very helpful.

RevaliNov 2, 20161 votes

I haven't fought poppy much, but my best success against her is Yorick and the short trade style type of champs like Ekko

AbandonNov 2, 20161 votes

Yorick huh... maybe i'll pick him up (if i don't pick up poppy first) hehehe

Jax CramerNov 2, 20161 votes

Yeah her base damages are way too high for how tanky she is. I much rather play against her than the likes of Kennen, Jayce or Quinn toplane.

AnonagonNov 2, 20161 votes

Poppy has very high base damage early, especially if she lands her conditional damage. Her damage isn't all that important lategame - the %hp damage of her Q is enough to make her still significant, but she won't be a serious damage threat.

Some tips:

she's strong super early. Don't fight her level 1 or 2, where the secondary hits of her spells and her passive make it very hard for you to outtrade her
her W doesn't do anything for her if you don't dash. either use them before she can react (if your dash spell is fast), or after she's blown the cooldown
if you are having trouble killing her after she's gotten a couple of items, roam. With minimal waveclear and a tendency to build tank, she can't really push that hard

MunchCrunchLunchNov 2, 20161 votes

her damage is high early due to the flat % max hp damage on Q. however. her damage is shit late game even if she buys ad. she isn't darius in terms of damage. but she can kite melee tops with Qs pretty well.