How to Play Diana (Grandmaster One-Trick)

How to Play Diana

Diana is one of the strongest champions in the game right now thanks to recent changes she received and overall game state. If you’re looking to add Diana to your champion pool, here’s the guide for you.

This guide is created in pairing with Xalt, a Diana one trick on the EUW server who has been playing Diana for over 3 years and has a combined 4 million mastery points on her. He is the former rank 1 Diana who has peaked GM playing Diana Mid and Jungle.

This article will be focused towards Mid lane Diana however, some of the tips transition well into Jungle Diana too.

How to Play Diana in Season 12

• Runes
• Build
• Good Matchups
• Bad Matchups
• Tips

Check out Xalt on Twitch.tv/XaltOffical, and sign up to Mobalytics for more guides and content to help you improve and climb in Season 12!

Runes

As Diana has a lot of burst damage, she works incredibly well with Electrocute as the two go hand-in-hand to blow up squishy targets. You can take Conqueror when playing Jungle Diana, but Electrocute is the go-to when playing Mid.

For your secondary Runes, you can adjust them accordingly to the matchup you’re in. For instance, you could go with Resolve secondary if you’re scared of dying or getting bullied by the enemy. Xalt prefers to go Footwear + Boots as it saves him gold and gives him extra sustain in lane.

When it comes to the minor Runes, double Adaptive Damage is standard. You can go Armor against AD champs, and Magic Resistance when you’re against AP champions. Make sure you switch it up depending on the enemy laner.

Get up to date builds for your favourite champions including Runes and Items and get them directly imported into your client with the Mobalytics App!

Build

Diana is a very versatile champion, and you’ll rarely build the same thing over and over. You will need to read the current game and adjust your build accordingly.

When playing against champions with lots of burst or assassins such as a Zed, you should get an early Zhonya’s Hourglass to help save your life. When against healing champions like a Vladimir or Sylas, you could get an Oblivion Orb to help cut down on their sustain.

Because she is very versatile, we’ve gone ahead and added the Mobalytics widget to this guide so the build always stays up to date.

Mythic Options

Hextech Rocket Belt

• This is by far the best option on Diana. This item gives every stat Diana needs, and other Mythic items give stats that are not exactly needed. Rocket Belt gives magic pen after every legendary item including Mejai’s for a cheap 5 magic pen.
• The Rocket Belt active is great at catching people off guard with a gap close but is also great for an execute or means to shove the minion wave faster.

Night Harvester

• This item is statistically the worst AP item to build right now as of now. Riot are looking at updating it but as of right now avoid this item and opt for Hextech Rocketbelt as it does more damage at all points of the game.

Crown of the shattered Queen

• Personally, he dislike this item for Mid Lane Diana. It’s too easy to pop and you usually have Zhonya’s to mitigate the damage from the initial burst anyways. It can be useful if you run Conq in the jungle against champions with high burst such as Kha’Zix or Rengar, so look at your threats and decide your build path before your first back.

Good Matchups

Now let’s discuss some good matchups for Diana. If you see the enemy pick one of these champions, don’t be afraid to pick Diana into them. Diana should do well into these champions. It’s important to note that these are in no order and they’re not necessarily the best matchups for her, but they’re favourable.

• Corki
  • You can repeatedly all-in him post level 6. Time your Ultimate so it pulls him towards you when he uses his W. If you can master this animation-cancel, you’ll keep him in melee range and easily kill him over and over.
• Katarina
  • This is one of the most favoured matchups you should happily take this match up any chance you get! You out damage Kata early, all in her over and over forcing her to back! When Kata tries to all in you, Q W E, wait for her to use her Ultimate and then cancel it by using your Ultimate.
• Malzahar
  • Keep harassing Malzahar with your Q to destroy his shield. Do not go in unless the shield is down first. At level 6, you can look for all-ins, just make sure you press R instantly so if he casts his Ultimate on you, you can interrupt the channel.
• Talon
  • Be careful of Talons all in level 2; if you can survive that get a Seekers on your first back and you’ll win all-in’s pretty easily. Ward in your lane, just outside of his turret range to see where he’s roaming. Shove to punish his roams and all-in him while you have the wave advantage.
• Qiyana
  • Stand away from walls and you’ll do perfectly fine in this matchup. You should win extended trades with your W, and if she does all-in you, cast your Ultimate instantly to turn the trade around.

Bad Matchups

Try and avoid playing Diana into these matchups. You’ll find it really hard to play against these champions as their damage output in extended trades is far stronger than yours. If you see the enemy pick one of these in your lane, either dodge or pick another champion as it’s going to be really hard for you to play against them.

• Yasuo
  • Windwall and itemisation make it is very easy for him to beat Diana. Try to kill him early before he hits his boots/Vamp Sceptre and if he’s playing too safe, shove your wave and roam. Avoid extended trades as it’s likely he’ll have Lethal Tempo and his autos will chunk you while your abilities are all on cooldown after your initial burst.
• Kassadin
  • On paper; Kassadin’s Passive giving such high MR means he is a hard matchup. You can all in him in the early game and repeatedly call for ganks so he’s behind. An early lead is really important as he’ll outscale you eventually regardless of what you do.
• Akshan
  • This matchup is very hard but you can win it, try to kill him early before he backs on a Negatrons. He likes to rush Sorc boots because Xalt knows he’ll have MR as soon as he backs. Poke early and avoid fighting near terrain as his E allows him to create space and kite you until you die.
• Rumble
  • Rumble will win extended trades. Try to poke him with Q, or use it to CS the back minions as you don’t want to be stood there taking damage for no reason. Avoid trades when he has empowered abilities, and try to roam it’s very unlikely you’ll kill him 1v1!
• Tryndamere
  • It’s highly unlikely you’ll win a 1v1 against Tryndamere. You can bait him under your tower and look for plays with your Zhonya’s Hourglass and your Ultimate on the last tick of his Ultimate.

Tips

If you’re brand new to Diana, here are some tips and tricks to help you get started. Mobalytics has more tips and tricks to help you master Diana via Diana’s champion page. Check it out for more!

• Try not to use W while dashing towards a target through a minion wave as your W will pop before you hit the enemy champion cutting out a big portion of your damage. Having your W hit the enemy and not a minion wave is a big advantage.
• Diana can jump over to Baron and Dragon in select spots. Try this in the practice tool and get this down consistently. It’ll help with escapes and engages, and even crucial Baron/Dragon steals!
• When splitting with Diana use Q to proc your Passive while taking turrets every 3 or so autos depending on attack speed. Avoid using W if possible as it has a long cooldown and will be needed to duel if you’re contested.
• Flash can be used before you cast your Ultimate to catch people off guard and set you up for an easy kill.
• Diana can E 3 times with practice. To do this you will need to Q 2 targets, E to the first target before your Q lands on the second. This will apply Moonlight to the second target allowing you to E twice while getting resets and E for a third time without a Moonlight stack.

Final Comments

Thank you so much Xalt for giving us an insight into how to play Diana. Make sure you drop by his stream on Twitch and say we said hi! If you guys have any other suggestions or questions, feel free to ask him!

We hope this guide will give you the starting blocks to help you learn Diana. For more articles, head to Mobalytics!