How to counter Urgot, from an Urgot main

Hey, it's your friendly neighborhood Urgot main. You may have seen my other post in Gameplay+ about why Urgot needs some love, but if you haven't, I do recommend you check it out Here.

Seeing how Urgot has been blowing up recently, I figured I'd talk to you guys about how exactly to counter him. Most people jump on the "NERF (your champion here)!" train when they come up as a common pick, but don't take the time to figure out how to counter him. I'm here to learn you all a thing or two about Urgot's counters and weaknesses.

As with all champions, there's counters to Urgot, Knowledge/skill match-ups, and champions that Urgot counters.

Counters to Urgot and some skill match-ups include these champions.

• Hard tanks (, , , for example) Hard tanks counter Urgot hard because of their CC and how they survive fights. The best way to counter Urgot is to not let him get ahead, and these guys are the best at it. Urgot can kill you before first back if you play poorly, but as long as you know what you're doing and pick up armor items after you back, you're golden. If you're having trouble early, a good tip is to start a bramble vest. This won't stop any healing considering he doesn't have any innately, but it will help you survive his all in's better whilst damaging him when he tries to.

• Ranged champions (, , ) Ranged champions excel at not only keeping Urgot from getting ahead, but also shutting him down. is especially difficult, being one of the hardest match-ups for Urgot and earning the place as my perma-ban when I play Urgot. As long as you use your range to your advantage, Urgot goes from executioner to the executed. isn't as good as Jayce, but can be very effective as long as you play safe. Bait out Urgot's E and you can all in him with almost no consequence. is still a counter, but a good Urgot can easily beat a Teemo. You're going to want to avoid engaging him and poke him down as often as you can. Save your q for an all in, because your Q can completely negate his all in. A good Urgot will know this and try to bait your q out of you, but don't let him. A good Urgot will also buy an adaptive helm second item, so you either need to take magic pen or avoid fighting him once he gets it.

• Beefy duelists/split-pushers (, , , , ) Beefy duelists and splitpushers are the same class as Urgot, so for the most part, these are match-ups where you want to wait until you have a first item before you really fight him. Level 1, you could win, but it depends on how good both of you are. Once you've got some levels in, keep up on cs, and get your first item (Usually triforce, except for singed), you can beat him. Build a bramble second (or first if you're behind). With , you want to avoid fighting him without your little gremlins. Play safe and poke him. If he all ins, wait for his w to wear off and wall him. He can w your wall instantly if there are no minions in there with him. Once you get tri, you can duel him. You get beefy enough to fight him without dying. As , farm until tri and bramble and you win. Counter his all in's with your e. As , don't fight him and you win line. Do your normal singed things. As said before with teemo, he will build an adaptive helm. If he all in's you and you don't die, feel free to attack him and make him pay with poison. As , get your stacks. It will be hard because he can poke you and you have to get close to him, but as long as you play smart and avoid his all in's, you win trades. Once you get stacks and items, you will win for sure. Save your ult for if you see his R. The timing is weird, but if you learn the timing, you can deny him his kill. is a harder match-up, but can still be easy. Basically, just like everyone else, play it safe and poke with your q. He will counter engage you if you try to engage, so only do it if you know you will be able to kill him. try your best to poke, and punish him if he misses his E.

Urgot counters heavy engagers Champions like , , , , , and others are countered by Urgot's who know what they're doing. If you play one of these into him, avoid fighting. Rush bramble or Tabi's, then you can start trading as long as you're careful to avoid his all in's. Focus on team fights mid and late game, just do NOT let Urgot get fed!

Now that we know what champions counter Urgot, lets talk about a few things that any player can do to counter Urgot

• Move Sporadically. Just doing something as simple as this make sit hard for him to predict his Q and land his E.

• Build Bramble if you're behind. I touched on this earlier, but bramble is a great band-aid to build if you're getting hurt by Urgot's all in's.

• Be careful fighting him when he's low Urgot gets a shield on his w that protects him based on his health. If you fight Urgot when he's low, he can still win the trade with his W. Punish him when he misses his e, bait out his W shield (or fight through it if you have the damage), and go for the kill.

• Save your flash Now, using your flash to avoid an all in that would kill you is definitely a good time to use it, but if you can use it early to dodge an ultimate skillshot, that can keep him from getting ahead easily.

• Pick up a QSS QSS can save you from his short CD Ultimate, which at 40% CDR rank 3 is about 42 seconds. You need to use it as you're getting pulled into him or it will not work.

• DO NOT FEED THE URGOT As obvious as this sounds, its the best information I can give you. Use everything here I've told you, and it will be hard for him to be a presence in team fights.

CONCLUSION There's no denying that Urgot is definitely an oppressive top-laner right now, but calling him overpowered and saying counters to him don't exist is plain wrong. Could Urgot use nerfs? Maybe to his shield, but that's about it. Now you know Urgot has clear counterplay. Go out and fight the wrath of Zaun and win for me, okay? [slayer-jinx-wink]