When I am picked first to choose a champion in ranked, how do I avoid getting countered by someone else who will pick later? I notice that there is a certain type of counter for each champ? For example, Caitlyn counters almost all the short range adc.
Play generalist champions that go anywhere like Lulu, Morgana, etc.
countering matters to pros not low elo players that for one probably has never played said counter they are picking or two cant even play said counter correctly so it nullifies a counter even existing. There are no counters in low elo.
you don't avoid getting countered, you embrace it and learn to deal with the bad matchups as best as you can, and that makes you become that much better at your champion ;)
The is no such thing as counter If you main a champion you can dumpster enemy no problem
First, when you are first pick, you should try to pick champs with few lane counters. Any safe ADC is good (Sivir, Caitlyn, Tristana). Ranges top laners like Kennen, Gnar or Vladimir also make counter picks difficult due to most top laners being mele.
Second, if you want to pick something that can be hard countered in champ select, (Fiora, Kog'Maw, Kassadin), then see if anyone will pick them while you pick their champ. That way, hopefully you can see what you would play it into before picking it.
My last tip deals with flex picks. One way to get a counter is to make the enemy unsure of where your champs are going. Champions like Kennen, Ryze, Lissandra, Gangplank, Hecarim, Vladimir, Quinn, Yasuo and more can all be played well in multiple roles. Having even just one may make the enemy think they know a matchup and pick something strong for that in time for you to reveal the actual matchups.
Short answer is - you cannot.
Anyways, there are ways to play around that. Example: I pick 
, enemy top lane picks 
.
So: he has more AEO dmg, resursless, and has sustain. I have sustain, but not as much as he has. So i start armor runes, run cloth armor and TP. I CS whatever i can, but stand in the middle of my creep wave. If he tries to trade with me - i will stun him AA him and leave, letting him to eat some minion dmg. As long as i do not die and not be 50 CS behind at around lvl 5 or 7 i start winning trades. I wouldn't want jungle ganks, because he is pretty hard to gank, as long as he has slice and dice. The only option is if he uses them offensive and then my jungler engages. The chances are "meh", so it would be better if he can snowball any other lane. After that i know, that i outscale him in both team fights and splitpushing.
So, one may say "but you play Irelia, she wins every matchup". Well, that's true, but not only for Irelia. Every champion in the game can both win and lose every matchup. As long as you know how both champions work, which are their strong and weak points. If you do not know the matchup - Lolking knows it. There are very many guides where matchups are well described, along with tips how to deal with them counters.
In botlane it is even easier, as long there are 2 of you. So both the supp and the AD have ways to play around potentially bad matchups.
Hope this is helpful. Have a wonderful day!
There are a few possibilities:
If possible (playing with friends, or good at diplomacy in soloQ), you can also:
Also, I agree with Captain Aishi: playing against your counter is not fun, but it's very useful in the long term, to better understand your champ and learn to play him better, and the game in general too. Learn to play defensively, to just not lose your lane, and wait for teamfights. Remember that if you can be countered, your team also has the opportunity to counter your enemies on other lanes, so they should have an easier time than you, so sometimes just not losing is enough.
And remember, if you lose because you got countered, it's not your jungler's fault, and he has no obligation to baby-sit you. Sometimes it's the good decision, but sometimes not, and you should be able to be self-sufficient in lane.
P.S. : if you queue with someone else, it's the person that owns the lobby and click on "start game" that will be first pick (or can be first pick if you play at only 2 or 3). You can't be first pick if you have been invited / have given the lead to someone else.
If you happen to pick a champion who has big counter them and are also very popular it's best to ask 4-5th what champion they want and to get that for them and have them pick your champion and trade after everybody has picked. This way you are uncounterable. Doing this in low elo is pretty much a waste of time because you can almost always assume that if someone counter picks against you they don't know how to play the champion to the same degree as your main leading to them having no advantage or very little advantage. Also, if your counter pick does know how to play his champion then it's best to play extremely safe and just go 0/0/0 with a bit less farm then him.Use your spells to cs and let him push constantly to the edge of tower so you are ungankable but leaving him up to be ganked. You can tell if they play that champion enough on websites such as lolnexus.
