"Counterplay"

A lot of people toss this word around.

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Counterplay is a very diverse and deep topic. I cannot cover every instance, every champion, every matchup, team comp, rune, mastery or item in the game, I don't have the time, skill or knowledge to. Nor would it even be helpful. Why? Because one thing counterplay isn't (and shouldn't be) is an off switch that just prevents that player from playing because you have knowledge of where their off switch is and how to press it.

This is why binary champions like Trynd, Udyr or Garen are both frustrating to fight but also next to useless when people know how to play against them. They have an off switch, if you cannot push it they are overwhelming but if you can they are laughably bad.

#So what is counterplay? Simply put, it is the methods and strategies in which you beat an enemy champion. Let's use some real life examples.

The counterbuild for archers are shields. You can defend from their damage, therefore mitigating their usefulness.

The counterplay for armor with a sword is half swording and hitting key weak points.

But not all counterplay is so blatant, some is subtle overarching strategies.

Nor does knowing said counterplay shut down the opponent instantly. Despite shields being thousands of years old, bows still saw use up until the repeating rifle was made. And if you half sword and aim for weak points the master warrior known as a knight will cover those weaknesses and punish you for trying to hit them.

Counterplay that is healthy is just that. Something that matches the skill of the players, letting them have methods of beating one another based on who plays the game better. But not completely shutting them down just because you know it.

#Types of counterplay

Dodge this Q, ult, Charm, Q, ult. This type of counterplay is one of the most blatant, well known and fair types. It matches player skill, predictions and planning to see who better plays around the enemy's kit. But part of what makes it so 'fair' is that it is easy to understand. There are many types of subtle but advanced forms of counterplay people ignore because it wasn't in the 'here and now' last 5 seconds leading up to their death. For example...

Lack of lane Sustain mana, HP regen, mana, mana. Lacking sustain is another type of counterplay. Champions with this issue either have to play conservatively and aim for only using spells/taking damage when absolutely necessary. Or go hyper aggressive and hope to bring the enemy to their level of sustain by pushing them our of lane or killing them. It isn't the most blatant counterplay but if you know which champions have bad lane sustain you can plan your picks and strategies around wearing them down. Sadly this form of counterplay has had issues recently. Because normally if a champion builds runes, masteries or items to cover sustain issues it is meant to come with drawbacks, which modern itemization and masteries have minimized the drawbacks far too much.

Powerspikes / , lvl6, , , lvl6 and , lvl3. Powerspikes are moments in the game when that champion has had a sudden surge in power. For example when a Juggernaut gets their BC completed or when a Shyvana finished her Titanic Hydra. Knowing powerspikes is one of the most talked about forms of knowledge based counterplay and stat checking in LCS and Diamond+. And one of the least talked about in Bronze sadly. Understanding powerspikes is extremely important to defeating a champion in experienced hands. No you shouldn't go in 1v1 vs that Darius that just completed his BC, even if you were 'ahead'. No you cannot counterjungle that Vi now that her Tri-Force is built. Yes Riven is going to try to lvl3 all in you. And knowing these things allows you to deny them all of that power.

Powercurves falls of if he didn't snowball, scales insanely hard, spikes mid game. Similar to powerspikes but more of a progressive trend. Some champions are only strong late game after they scale, some are strong early but garbage late game, some are fairly average throughout the game, some spike mid game then drop off, and some are strong at two periods but bad in another. Knowing a champion's scaling, kit, base damages, builds and strategies will let you determine when they are strong or weak and why. Powercurves can be complex, in some instances Tryndamere has an amazing early game, other times he is trash until he buys items. If you can force a team fight based matchup he falls off late game despite his insane damage, because his tools suck at team fighting. But if you put him in a scenario where split pushing and picks are viable he scales insanely hard. Pantheon falls off late game, unless you have low CC and he gets fed enough. Sivir has a weak early game, but some 2v2 matchups make that irrelevant. Understanding how and why powercurves function can be a massive asset just like powerspikes.

Macroplay Macroplay is a form of counterplay all champions have. This is the overall strategies, decisions and team cordination. Because it applies to ALL champions it isn't enough on it's own. And champions who, for the most part, are only countered by macroplay, usually end up quite unhealthy.

I am weak right now reloading, if she misses her stun, when his Q is on CD. Whether cooldowns or literally a red blinking light that says "hit me now" this is a form of counterplay a lot of people respect. It isn't for every champion nor should it be, not everyone needs a weakpoint you attack for massive damage. But this form of counterplay essentially says the champion is either vulnerable or incapable of doing their job right this moment. So they can be killed, pressured, harassed, ignored or so forth.

Counterbuilding // = , // = /, = //. And many many other examples. Most champions have several runes, masteries or items that hurt them badly. Whether it be AS slows vs Ashe or GA vs a reset on kill champion. Most champions can be counterbuilt. Which you could say counterbuilding is the counter to them covering their weaknesses with builds. Riven builds Lifesteal? Build Tabi and take away her damage. Is an Annie dropping flash Tibbers every time it is off CD? Build a Banshee's, Scimitar or Zonya's. Counterbuilding, like building, is an essential part of LoL many low tier players or Riven mains ignore. It should be the first thing you consider in champion select after lockins are completed. And something you reconsider and adapt all game. I don't often build BotRK on Shy but man o man is it great vs a 7k HP Cho or when you need that extra burst and chasing power vs a slippery ADC. Riven should usually build offensive but if our team has a fed ADC and I got my ass kicked I am certainly ablidged to build specifically to keep their Yi away from our Jinx and Soraka.

Counterpicking See? Pick . See ? Pick . See ? pick (that one was a joke) Counterpicking is huge. In my opinion it is bigger than it should be. Ideally I'd like if players won on performance not picks. But there is no way to remove counterpicking as long as more than 1 champion exists.

Now understand. You are better off picking a champion you have 2000 games on into a bad matchup than a champion you have 2 games on because they are a counterpick. But realistically due to how picking and banning works, you should have at least a few picks you have experience in. And being able to pick a champion who can more easily, reliably and safely win a matchup is an important skill to have.

Summoner Spells and Keystones / = . = . Sometimes you counterpick, sometimes you are counterpicked. But keep in mind either way that a lot of champions are especially weak to certain summoner spells. Evaluate your champion and team, and their champion and team. Decide carefully what summoner spells will give you the best chance of overwhelming their kit. Just keep in mind the other players on their team and yours, who may invalidate your selection. Keystones fall into the same group as summoner spells. Whether you pick TLD or SRS based on their pick, may be the difference between 0/12/0 and 12/0/0.

Blocking W, Ult, Q, Q. Some abilities can simply be blocked or absorbed. Whether this be by minions, champions or camps, abilities that can only hit a limited number of targets include the counterplay of just standing behind a willing or not so willing shield.

Ranges and AoE ult, AoEs and abilities, condemn distance, flash taunt. Sometimes a more binary form of counterplay(like Garen or Annie) but it does apply to essentially everything in the game. Knowing a champions ability and AA ranges and AoE sizes can greatly reduce the risks to you whether farming, tower diving, trading, contesting objects, taunting just out of reach. It doesn't matter what you are doing. Knowing how far they can hit you and how large of an area they can zone is a huge asset. But I don't want to just talk about ranges. I want to talk about respecting effective ranges. The distances at which an enemy is a danger to you and whether they can do sufficient damage before you reach safety.

The thing is, you cannot just know that Shen's Shadow Dash has a 600 range and call it good. You need to instinctively understand that he can taunt you from 1000 units away by combining it with flash(even more if he is flashing a wall and uses the halfway rule.)

You cannot just say "Oh Riven's dash has a 275 range I am safe." As a squishy Ashe farming a lane away from tower. You have to be acutely aware of how fast she can cover ground and how far she can Flash+E+Q3.

Understanding effective threat range is possibly one of the most important things you can do in LoL ESPECIALLY if you are a squishy champion. It is not enough to know their ability ranges. You MUST know how far away they can be a threat to your safety and escape routes.

Interact with my thingy Barrels, Tentacles, Turrets, Shrooms, blobs, Shieldy. Some champions have thingies to interact with. This is a form of counterplay both loved and hated. It can serve as bait, it can end up a waste of time, it can completely shut them down. But it works in general. Again it isn't for every champion but it is good when used correctly.

Don't let me touch you passive, passive, heat levels, enrage, Crimson Rush. Some champions have less subtle counterplay. These champions have things visible and broadcasted that say "Don't let me touch you right now". This design is iffy, it works most of the time but sometimes the RNG feels unfair(Fiora) or the counterplay is binary(Annie). It is a good system on paper but not meant for everyone.

Wind up times, stacks and delays knockup, hook, Q. ult, passive, passive, W. Huge flashing warning signs that they are about to take action, wind up times, stacks and forced delays are designed to let you know what is about to happen. It enhances the 'counterplay' feeling by giving you a longer period of reaction time so you need not be faker to live. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it isn't enough counterplay or is too much. It usually fairs pretty well however which is why Riot had been using and abusing it so much.

Generic counterplay These are most of the big forms of counterplay, but no doubt some are asking "Why didn't you name CC?". While some champions are particularly weak to hard crowd control(Riven, Yi, most ADCs) really you could argue that CC counters nearly every champion in the game except an ulting Olaf. It is a form of general counterplay but listing it specifically I might as well also list 'kill them!' as a major form of counterplay.

But to summarize briefly; CC prevents a champion from functioning to full effect, CC is a particularly noted counterplay to champions who rely on their mobility, dealing DPS, are easily kited, or need to kite.

Burst works well vs healing champions and squishies, dps overwhelms defenses in general, warding counters ganks and safe play counters aggressive champions. That would be the generic counterplay list.

If I missed anything please let me know.

#Every champion has counterplay Some it is just more subtle, they don't have blinking lights and warnings or huge gaping holes in their armor. They are more matchup specific and deep in their counterplay. They are no less fair to fight they just don't provide a blatant tutorials on what to do.

While others it is too binary, making their counterplay an on and off switch rather than a measure of comparative skill and strategy. Either you/your team knows the counterplay and executes it well turning them off entirely. Or you/your team don't know/execute their counterplay and there is zero you can do to stop them. These are the low tier stompers who scale badly with skill and tend to be worthless beyond Diamond.

Some champions temporarily end up so numerically powerful their counterplay vanishes or is mostly covered up. Or an item or mastery might cover it for them too well in a particular meta. This champions end up FotM and nerfed after being frustrating freelo for a while.

Not every champion needs every type of counterplay. Not every champion needs extremely obvious and telegraphed counterplay. But every champion does need counterplay, and if League is to be a measure of skill, strategies and teamwork it shouldn't be binary counterplay.

Having obvious counterplay doesn't automatically mean a champion is fun or fair to fight. Nor does it mean they shouldn't be nerfed when blatantly strong. On the same note a champion being strong doesn't mean they lack counterplay, saying 'x has no counterplay' doesn't make your argument that a champion is too strong or frustrating any more valid. In fact it often makes it less valid.

And just because a champion lacks blatant and well broadcasted counterplay doesn't mean they are binary or overpowered. It just means it requires you to learn more depth of the matchup and flex your critical skills both mechanical and mental.

#I hope this helped Well if you made it through the Great Wall. I dearly hope this served to educate or assist in understanding counterplay. If you already knew all this I hope you at least found it a good read and will share it with those who perhaps do not fully understand what counterplay is and how it works.

I don't claim to know everything, some pieces may be missing and some terminology may be wrong. But I sincerely tried on this one. Despite typing from a low battery phone...

#Thank you for reading With the best of intentions - Mira Astria Traveler.