If you play top lane often, you probably know that Illaoi is tough to deal with: here are the best LoL counters you should play against her.
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Illaoi counters in LoL – the top three picks
Illaoi is a pain to deal with: every top laner who played against her knows that. Not only is she incredibly tanky, but she has incredible outplay potential thanks to her ultimate and the sustain from her kit. As someone who loves to play melee champions, she’s one of the worst champions to play against.
Given the large number of champions in the game, we have listed the best Illaoi counters, explaining why these picks are strong and how you should play against her.
If you’re fairly new to the game, check out our guide on how counter picks work in League of Legends. You will understand why counter picks are important, and how you need to take advantage of them to increase your win rate. Make sure to also understand how classes counter one another in LoL so you always know what to pick in each game.
Kayle – play the scaling game
Illaoi is the type of champion that is required to scale up by building resistances and getting levels on her abilities. Kayle is basically identical to Illaoi in that regard. And while most champions would destroy the former during the laning phase, she gets a free lane against Illaoi.
Later in the game, Kayle will have more damage and DPS compared to her counterpart and there would be no kill threat by Illaoi if Kayle has her ultimate ready. It’s a waiting game: farm up and then you’ll win by default.
Gwen – the Kayle alternative
If Kayle is not your pick, then Gwen is a great alternative. She scales more or less just like Kayle, offering, however, more split push potential. A good Gwen player should win the matchup, but be careful to not force plays without having built enough items. Ideally, you need at least three items to face Illaoi.
Mordekaiser – the lane counter
One of the best lane counters for Illaoi is none other than Mordekaiser. Not only does he punish Illaoi’s low mobility as a tanky frontline, but he can also negate most of her damage given that the tentacles are not brought into the Death Realm. By doing so, Mordekaiser nullifies Illaoi’s sustain and damage. The key is in the timing: you need to force Illaoi into casting her ultimate first, then ult her.
Worst Illaoi counters
Riven – can’t kill her
If you want to win the lane against Illaoi, Riven is probably one of the picks you should absolutely avoid. The issue in this matchup is that Illaoi has good enough sustain early on and becomes far too tanky for Riven to kill later. Unless the Riven player somehow manages to get a substantial lead, the Kraken Princess will just outright beat her even if she’s behind in farm or experience.
Ornn – it’s self-countering
This is another terrible matchup. Illaoi deals % HP with her E and given Ornn’s low mobility, the chances of him getting hit are high. Not to mention that Illaoi’s sustain is far too high and Ornn won’t be able to take her down with one rotation of combos. It can be a decent pick if you need Ornn’s passive for the team’s scaling but otherwise, it’s best to not choose him.
How do you counter Illaoi with the items?
When going up against Illaoi, it’s recommended to stack resistances and build anti-sustain items. Below is a list of items to build you should consider, based on the class of champion you’re playing:
- Bruisers: Executioner’s Calling, Sterak
- AD assassins: Guardian’s Angel
- ADC champions: Guardian’s Angel, Mortal Reminder
- AP champions: Zhonya’s Hourglass
- Tanks: Thornmail, Warden’s Mail, Hullbreaker
What Champion counters Illaoi?
The three best counters are Kayle, Gwen, and Mordekaiser. Other strong counters are Sett, Garen, and Aatrox.
Does Darius counter Illaoi?
The matchup is in Darius’ advantage early on given that he has better short trades and higher damage output thanks to the passive. As the game goes on, however, Illaoi can beat Darius if she manages to hit a decent ultimate and heal up enough damage to negate Darius’ execution from the Noxian Guillotine (ultimate). Overall, it’s a skill matchup and it will mostly depend on whether Darius snowballs early on.
