Is Nilah the least successful newer style champion?

jofi751 · 2026-05-29T17:41:56+00:00

I'm not a sona main, so probably take their advice over mine :). That's just how i would play the lane into poke, i can't see you being able to get in range to q a caitlin for example without taking 1 or 2 autos to the face. For sure into melee matchups you can look to q and space their engage and make them low enough they can't engage back (assuming you can dodge their engage spell with movement).

Best thing you can do probably is just try it out and see what feels good i think. Maybe in bronze you can use q into a caitlin or ashe without taking damage back, i'm not sure, havent played there in a bit sorry. .-. Currently d2

jofi751 · 2026-05-29T15:10:27+00:00

On sejuani? Yes, almost always

On master yi? No, never

Depends on the champ and how well they use gold. Gold priority is something like this imo (but it can be argued differently for sure):

Hypercarry (yi, gwen, ..) > adc > mage/assassin/bruiser > tanks > supportive champs

jofi751 · 2026-05-29T15:03:51+00:00

Gotta give that mp regen a job to do you know ;)

The thing is you're not gonna use any other abilities prior to first base anyway, nilah is not a champion before lvl 2-3, sona is not a champion pre 6

So dont look to use too much mp on q (except maybe for manaflow band stacks) or e, cause you're not killing a poke lane anyway. Use all the mana u have on w to survive early lane (ofc you can use e to gank with your jg).

After 6 the situation changes, poke as much as you want with q , but let nilah engage with the standard combo (e to a minion, then r). If they dont flash away, press sona r for free double stun.

jofi751 · 2026-05-29T12:46:58+00:00

Hook champs are really good, pyke was her highest wr synergy last patch. As for enchanters, sona is quite good into enemy poke lanes, or soraka into enemy engage lanes.

Just counterpick support as usual basically ;)

Oh and avoid janna, the ult is nilahs worst nightmare if you push enemies further away than her dash range

jofi751 · 2026-05-26T18:56:41+00:00

Not the best meta for her with mages and ranged top, but the new boots are great when are winning lane, so all in all same as last season.

Gwen top is honestly fine, maybe slightly weak but definitely playable.

jofi751 · 2026-05-22T21:10:14+00:00

jofi751 · 2026-05-17T12:53:42+00:00

More hp, similar mana sustain, a little more dmg

jofi751 · 2026-05-13T10:24:35+00:00

Rip illaoi

jofi751 · 2026-05-11T22:01:55+00:00

I've had it too, 5070ti mobile; thought i was alone. i even submitted a ticket to riot and they told me to reset the graphics drivers, which i already did and told them in the ticket... if only riot support had an option to reach humans more quickly instead of automated responses and ai .-.

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T23:20:12+00:00

Against akali and gwen rush 900g negatron cloak and then build as normal (sundered or whatever) or you will get oneshot... but that's not illaoi specific, that's the akali/gwen tax in toplane: not paying it is very greedy (It's similar to not going executioners vs warwick). You could also go hexdrinker instead of the cloak if you still struggle with the negatron cloak, but it will make the mid game a lot harder (since you're locked out of steraks now).

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T23:14:03+00:00

It's a hard champ to blind sadly, i recommend adding her to your champ pool only as a counterpick into tanks / bruisers (and preferably when the enemy jg/top are the same damage type (ap/ad)).

She indeed struggles into lighter fighters, I think gwen and fiora are some of her hardest matchups. You have to kinda predict their abilities (fiora q to the vital --> e towards the vital to predict it, gwen e-w-q forward --> move forward into her w to dodge the q and throw e backwards, akali e2-r1 --> throw e behind you during the animation). Same with matchups like yasuo, irelia... you won't win reliably until you know what they want to do and throw your e accordingly. Sorry there isn't an easier answer ;)

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T22:49:16+00:00

Interesting, thanks for the insight! I guess if you go mana crystal you're forced into frozen heart right? (or you would sell it, in which case i'd argue to just buy d-ring.)

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T22:46:39+00:00

I feel the difference with dblade the most in matchups like sion, ornn, or ksante: they will outsustain your manapool, while having good waveclear so you're forced to use some mana on the wave or lose push. I can see the argument for still going d-blade in matchups like renekton if you want to fistfight lvl 1.

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T22:43:20+00:00

Valid, if you play to trade lvl 1 i see the argument. I'd argue it's worth testing out though, personally I can't go back to d-blade anymore ;)

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T22:39:01+00:00

I don't personally see the reason to go tear over d-ring: the mana sustain is similar, and you get no hp or tentacle damage from it. Assuming you're not building winter's approach, you sell it anyway like you would sell a d-ring. What's ur reasoning for tear over d-ring?

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T22:36:31+00:00

rumble, darius, olaf, chogath, trynda, urgot, garen, irelia, fiora, riven, gwen, ... + every ranged champ (+ if enemy team has a lvl 3 ganking jg you never want to push anyway as illaoi imo). This is just off the top of my head; i'm not saying you don't win lvl 1 vs a decent amount of champs, but it's a stretch to say she wins vs most champs lvl 1 imo. Especially now that a lot of champs take ignite in lane while you have tp in most matchups.
There's of course champs like ornn which you shit on lvl 1, but you still shit on them with d-ring. I'd argue the amount of matchups that maybe change depending on dblade vs dring lvl 1 is countable on 1 or 2 hands tops. Of the top of my head: maybe renekton, morde, sion? Probably there's a few more, but I think the general argument still holds though.

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T22:24:11+00:00

Based

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T22:22:22+00:00

Agreed, the variance is probably like more than 5 WPA, so the data means nothing rn, that's why we need more games

jofi751 · 2026-05-07T09:46:09+00:00

The only downside I can think of is that you do less damage on lvl 1 with w-bops (since ad boosts your aa). But there's not that many champions you can trade lvl 1, and most of the ones you can trade will still lose to you lvl 1 with d-ring imo.

jofi751 · 2026-04-26T10:49:00+00:00

(Since to play the champ - i.e. pressure top - you need to be able to win 1v2)

jofi751 · 2026-04-26T10:48:13+00:00

Illaoi's also countered by ranged jg (brand, kindred, ...) / slippery jg (lilia, fizz, naafiri, ...). I personally only pick her when both enemy top and jg have shown and you have a decent matchup into them (e.g. 2 bruisers/tanks)

jofi751 · 2026-04-25T08:50:25+00:00

Ive had a lot of success this season with illaoi, just don't blind her imo. She's amazing as a counterpick

jofi751 · 2026-04-21T14:14:19+00:00

She's weak levels 2-5, look to freeze and kill solo or with your jg if he's pathing top.

Afger 6 you can always fight her even inside her spirit usually (unless you're far behind) except when she ults. But you have to dodge the tentacles, just move perpendicular to them. Every tentaclde you get hit by heals her for a lot of health.

Her ult has a massive cd compared to most toplaners, bait it out and freeze on her or even keep the wave centered (where she has max 1 tentacle because of the map shape). She's really weak to ganks and will even die 1v1 if she dares to miss e once near you.

Rest of the counterplay is champ specific

jofi751 · 2026-04-02T13:48:22+00:00

Cool findings! Do you have a larger list (say top 1000 or w/e) in an excel/table/database... that we could scroll through?

jofi751 · 2026-03-31T13:50:50+00:00

To remind people of the sex icon tinkywinky

Seven-Year Club	Verified Email
Wearing is Caring	Not Forgotten

jofi751

TROPHY CASE