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When "counterpicking"...

PlsTouchMeGently·5/3/2015, 6:33:14 PM·24 votes·2,314 views

Okay, so every champion (theoretically) has a few counters that are listed on various websites, etc. Kayle, for example, is generally seen as a hard counter to Zed. However, whenever I pick Zed and my lane opponent picks Kayle, 9/10 times I have a super easy lane. Why? Because that person never plays except when they see picked, and are not extremely adapt at playing her. I would much, much prefer it if people would just pick champions they are comfortable with playing instead of "counterpicking" champions they have very little experience with. I picked Lux into an Ahri recently, even though I was completely aware that Ahri post-6 would be a challenge. But I faced that challenge with a champion I know well, and went something like 12/3/16 to Ahri with a negative KDA at the end.

TL; DR - When someone picks a champion that you think you know the "counter" for, don't you dare play said counter unless you know how to do so.

31 Comments

MrBuffington5/3/2015, 9:12:08 PM14 votes

The best solution, imo, is to have a champion pool of like 2-3 champions that you know how to play well and can help cover the others weaknesses, in the even that you get hard countered/don't think you can handle the match up with a particular champion. For example, let's say I main Vayne and Ezreal, and my opponent picks Caitlyn. Unless I'm very confident in my Vayne, I'd prefer to pick Ezreal, not because Ezreal counters Caitlyn, but because he'll probably have an easier time in lane than Vayne.

Solari Fortune5/4/2015, 2:08:02 AM5 votes

Skill with Champ > Counter Champ

Spacesuit Spiff5/3/2015, 10:39:00 PM5 votes

LCS has convinced half the soloqers that a dead gopher lying on a keyboard could win certain matchups, or win against a non-meta team. Consequently, when they see either they play even worse than that gopher would.

Rikari5/4/2015, 1:04:50 AM3 votes

Season 4 and 5 I used to main Irelia and Lux. For my Irelia,i could get fed off of even a Nasus. My Lux play can beat a LeBlanc. Cancer like Yasuo and Zed will always be cancer.

ZergReap5/3/2015, 6:46:07 PM2 votes

Zed should beat a Kayle in lane overall, despite the ultimate. Your point is valid though. You might as well pick a mediocre match up with something you main instead of second timing a champ in ranked.

I can always picture players doing this, lol. Their turn to pick, they are against Jax top alt tabs -> googles counters to Jax -> locks in Pantheon. What do I max on Pantheon? hehe

T RexHasLongLegs5/3/2015, 10:50:01 PM2 votes

I think this is generally true but I haven't seen this yet in the comments so I'll throw it out there.

Lane counters have a way easier time, so sometimes they are worth picking over your main champs if you know how to use them to a minimum standard. I lose lane generally as malphite against anything that he doesn't counter, but against stuff like fiora he has such an easy time that even though I'm weaker w/ malph than the champs I main, he is still a better pick. I think the only time counters are worth it is when you understand WHY they are a counter. As long as they can play Kayle okay then you can lose lane as long as you don't feed and stay at least close in terms of CS and kills Kayle can be a game changer in team fights. However, if the Kayle uses her ult wrong then the pick doesn't matter. If I was gonna go even and not crush you in lane w/ my main though, I might be better off as Kayle and slightly behind since I can ult our carries when you ult them and negate the assassin potential of Zed which is a huge shift in team fights to keep our ADC up. Similarly Malphite brings so much damage reduction against a team w/ two or three champs that are reliant on auto attack speed for damage that if he is even close to even when it gets to team fights then he probably has a bigger impact than other picks.

TLDR; If the counter is strong enough and you can play it well enough to keep close at least then it might be worth it.

PS If you're the type of player who goes all ADD and plays a ton of champs counter picks are pretty important probably because you need an advantage to keep up if you don't know the champ inside and out.

Junkο5/5/2015, 6:03:23 PM2 votes

I honestly feel like Kayle doesn't even counter Zed, at least not early. You can easily poke her and even kill her before level 6, and you can force her into using her ult past level 6 because your damage is just way better early game.

FastAsHeck5/4/2015, 5:36:52 PM1 votes

wrecking a Leblanc with Karthus is the best feeling haha (yes i have got more first bloods than i have given :D)

Jungle Lux God5/4/2015, 12:31:42 AM1 votes

This is a really good point. You won't win if you don't know how to play the champion you are playing, regardless of how good of a matchup you have.

Also, if you frequently play in an unfavorable matchup enough you will learn how to play that matchup enough that you may have an advantage by virtue of having more experience in the matchup. Heimer might have a bad matchup against Syndra, but if you play the matchup 100 times you will know how to deal with Syndra. She will still counter you, but you at least know how to deal with her.

insaiyanbacca5/4/2015, 1:00:47 AM1 votes

hence the reason i try to keep my comfortable champion pool as large as i can

Byakuya Kuchiki5/3/2015, 7:43:33 PM1 votes

http://www.championselect.net/ + www.probuilds.net

WalkingInACircle5/4/2015, 1:05:07 AM1 votes

Something I think is that knowing my laning opponent gives me an opportunity to know if I can pick a bullyable champ that has a stronger teamfight presence. You don't have to counterpick for lane victory, but safepicking a champ that excels after the lane.

Dedrius5/3/2015, 7:04:17 PM1 votes

I agree to this 90% of the time, but there are some picks that trash others so much that as long as you are ok on the champ, you will be fine. I am a katarina main and people pick Liss to counter me and I can usually trash them if they are just picking because its a counter. However when someone picks Diana, there isn't much I can do since her whole kit is a counter to my whole kit. As long as you understand how a champion counters another, you can sometimes be ok picking the counter.

AndroidYumi5/4/2015, 7:25:45 AM1 votes

This. I often blind pick Katarina and end up fighting things Lissandra/Diana/Kassadin a lot then get told they picked them cause they "countered" Kat. I often win those match ups more then fighting simpler champs ._.

Diananmen Square5/4/2015, 12:08:45 PM1 votes

I learned that the hard way when I had to coutner a Graves with Sivir. Hope other people learn too.

Curling Veigar5/4/2015, 3:00:33 PM1 votes

haha none of this applies to me

Sirin Gioro5/3/2015, 9:54:23 PM1 votes

I pick Ezreal into anything. Vayne? Draven? ezpz, because I know how to play against those champions. well except for Graves

Undertows5/3/2015, 7:47:35 PM1 votes

I will pick Viktor into any mid-lane matchup because that's who I'm most skilled with, its not a game of so and so beats that champ so I'll pick them. It is a complex and skill based game and I'll take experience over something seen as OP or Countered.