5 Champions That Counter Illaoi

Illaoi, or the Tentacle Queen as I call her, is one of the best lane bullies in League of Legends. One hit by her E, and it seems like you lose half your HP. Due to her overall strength in the later parts of the game, any lead she gets can quickly snowball out of control.

In this Mobalytics guide, we will break down 5 champions that are good against Illaoi in the top lane. While she isn’t that popular right now, playing against a good Illaoi or an Illaoi one trick can be devastating and make you hate playing top lane more than you currently do!

If you want to learn how to play Illaoi, check out Illaoi’s champion page. It has tips and tricks, runes, builds and much more to help you learn Illaoi.

The best champions that counter Illaoi are Urgot, Tryndamere, Kayle, Heimerdinger and Lucian. You can find all the matchup tips we use in this guide on the Mobalytics App. For plus members, you can get specific matchup tips for the champion you’re playing versus the enemy laner at your fingertips while you load into the game. We have tens of thousands of different, highly specific matchups curated by our challenger level players to help you lane against the enemy champion.

1. Illaoi vs Urgot

Urgot can beat Illaoi thanks to his Ultimate. He will be able to execute her from high health and also be able to actively trade with her throughout the laning phase. Urgot can also adapt his build to get an early Executioner’s Calling to reduce her sustain in lane.

4 tips to counter Illaoi as Urgot

When trading with Illaoi, make sure you proc as many legs as possible, and get her to the point when you can execute her. Since she can heal a lot of your damage, you need to give Illaoi no time to react.
Due to Illaoi’s aggressive laning, you need to create a freeze in front of your tower and thin out the wave with your Q. Also, try to stay behind your wave at all times, so she cannot use her E on you.
An Executioner’s Calling will help you beat Illaoi. She has a lot of sustain and will be buying items that increase her healing, so opting for an Executioner’s Calling will help you against her.
Illaoi has a lot of pressure on the lane due to her Tentacles that can zone you away from the farm. Try to use your range to kill the tentacles when you can, but do not over commit to doing so as she may be able to land her E while you try to destroy them.

2. Illaoi vs Tryndamere

Tryndamere’s Ultimate works great against an Illaoi. As soon as he gets low enough, he can pop his Ultimate and make it near impossible for her to kill him. Tryndamere also does well against immobile champion such as Illaoi.

4 tips to counter Illaoi and Tryndamere

Before engaging, make sure her E is down and that you have a lot of Fury. This will make the trade more favourable. Doing one or the other and not both may mean the difference between winning and losing the trade.
Trading can be difficult with Illaoi. Bait out her E before dashing in or looking to fight, so she cannot trade as effectively back with you.
Keep the minion wave closer to your side of the map when possible. This will allow you to run her down the lane and fight her when she walks forward. Keeping the wave here will also reduce her kill pressure on you and prevent her from zoning you away from the wave.
Invest in an Executioner’s Calling to reduce Illaoi’s healing and sustain in lane. She gets a lot of sustain thanks to her kit and the items she builds, so getting an early Executioner’s Calling will make killing her easier.

3. Illaoi vs Kayle

Kayle is a safe pick into Illaoi. She should win this matchup as long as she watches her positioning and stands behind minions to block the Illaoi E. At the end of the day, Kayle out scales Illaoi, so as long as you don’t fall behind, you will win the game!

4 tips to counter Illaoi as Kayle

Avoid fighting Illaoi in close range scenarios as she will have a massive advantage; try to maintain range from her so you can easily disengage if necessary.
Illaoi is capable of constantly pushing the lane without much worry as she excels in 1 v 2 scenarios, so try your best to get as much as farm as possible and avoid having your Jungler ganking unless your Jungler is massively ahead.
Try your best to destroy tentacles on the wall as they will make it much harder to stay in the lane if you have to both dodge Illaoi’s tentacles and the ones on the wall.
Illaoi’s main source of damage comes from landing her E on you so do your best to dodge it or stand behind your allied minions.

4. Illaoi vs Heimerdinger

Heimerdinger’s has the range advantage, which allows him to bully her down and set her behind. Heimer can also be incredibly frustrating to deal with as a melee champion. If Heimer rushes Zhonya’s, she will have no chance to beat him.

4 tips to counter Illaoi as Heimerdinger

Always hide behind your turrets in this lane. It will give you a lot of protection from Illaoi’s all-ins and will let you turn fights quickly.
Your E and W are used frequently in this lane to CC and burst down Illaoi. This will allow you to completely shut her down in the lane.
Getting some Grievous Wounds will help you a lot in this lane. It will help you, especially when Illaoi decides to use her Ultimate.
Keep the wave in the middle of the lane and keep an eye out on the enemy Jungler. This is vital towards dominating the lane.

5. Illaoi vs Lucian

Lucian is one of the best solo laners in the game when he is playing vs a melee champion. Lucian can constantly bully her down and set her behind. If he focuses heavily on early trades, he should win this matchup easily.

4 tips to counter Illaoi as Lucian

The best time to trade with the enemy is once they waste one of their abilities. This reduces their damage output in the trade, which should give you the upper hand and the health advantage afterwards.
Try to aim your Q on the enemy and the minion wave at the same time. Try to line both targets up so you can push and deal some damage with one Q.
Keep in mind that the enemy does have a ton of kill pressure if they can get on to you. Think twice before using your E aggressively, and always try to keep your distance so they cannot close the gap and trade autos with you.
Use your range advantage to poke the enemy out of the lane. Constant harassment through basic attacks will make it much harder for them to survive the laning phase and scale. But as the enemy has a lot of all-in/ burst, do not over commit to poking them.