How to counter Twitch

Twitch has always been one of the most versatile champions in League of Legends. His invisibility and long range make him a mix of both a marksman and an assassin. He’s usually played in the bot lane, although more experienced players have taken him to the jungle. He can be quite difficult to play against, as he’s not your average ADC. The rat is slippery, hurts, and is quite smelly!

Twitch is a sneaky hybrid. His stealth allows him to ambush people and then burst them down with his long range ultimate. He also scales into a monster in the late game as every traditional ADC. However, this is equalized with his weak early game.

If you ever have trouble facing off against the rat, then sit tight and follow this article. I’ll be covering how to play to his weaknesses and avoid his strengths. There are certain champions and strategies to be considered for this purpose.

Champions who counter Twitch:

1. Kha’Six - Twitch Counter Rating: 95/100

As always, assassins are good at dealing with ADCs like Twitch. Kha’Six takes the cake for this one though. He also has invisibility of his own once he reaches level 6, and once he’s on top of the rat it’s likely game over. Also, Kha’Six scales much faster than Twitch into the mid-game, so he can shut Twitch down before he starts ramping up.

• Can assassinate him very easily.
• Stealth to match his.
• Ramps up faster.

2. Draven - Twitch Counter Rating:  91/100

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the most dominant lane champion is also Twitch’s biggest counter in the bot lane. With his weak early game, he can’t deal with Draven until later on in the game, but by that point Draven will probably have snowballed and ended the match. Coupled with  a dominant support and Twitch will be quite helpless.

• Can destroy him in laning phase.
• Scales up faster due to his passive.

3. Rek’Sai - Twitch Counter Rating:  86/100

• This mainly applies to Twitch jungle, as Rek’Sai can track Twitch while he’s invisible due to her true sight. This negates the rat’s early impact around the map. If he goes bot, he won’t be able to freely position himself anywhere, as Rek’Sai will be able to track him. She counteracts one of Twitch’s greatest strengths: the surprise factor of his stealth. She can also fight him quite easily in the early to mid-game as she’s a bruiser with good damage.
• Negates his stealth.
• Out damages him early on.
• Gapcloser and CC to lock him down.

4. Leona - Twitch Counter Rating: 85/100

If you’ve been paying attention, you know why she’s on this list. She has some of the best engage and lockdown CC out of any champion in the game. With how exploitable twitch is, you can repeatedly engage on him and either forced him out of lane or straight-up kill him. If the Leona player is patient and saves her abilities, she can lock him down as soon as he gets out of stealth.

• Has seemingly endless tools to shut him down.
• High burst and CC.
• Oppressive laning phase.

5. Lucian - Twitch Counter Rating: 80/100

As another all-around very dominant ADC, Lucian can shut Twitch down from the very beginning. You might’ve seen the trend by now: Twitch’s laning phase and early game is incredibly weak. Lucian is a slightly weaker version of Draven for the purposes of countering Twitch, but he still gets the work done.

• Laning phase comparable to Draven.
• Lots of mobility.
• Scales up faster and stronger into the mid-game.

6. Kai’sa - Twitch Counter Rating: 74/100

Kaisa made the list because she can more than keep up with Twitch as an assassin and high-damage dealer. Although she has a shorter range, Kai’sa forces the rat to play very defensively when she’s nearby. If the opportunity arises, Kai’sa will always outdamage Twitch if she gets the jump on him.

• Has more assassination potential.
• Can bully during the laning phase.

7. Lee Sin - Twitch Counter Rating: 69/100

As a highly mobile jungler with the potential to lock people down. Lee sin can shut down Twitch very hard. Just like all the other champions on this list, he can abuse Twitch’s weak early game and lack of mobility to snowball the game out of control.

• Can lock him down with his kick and gap closers.
• As an early game jungler, he can shut Twitch down by camping his lane.

8. Braum - Twitch Counter Rating: 64/100

Braum can definitely fulfill Leona’s role in shutting Twitch down, but he also counters him in a unique way. Since Twitch players usually couple their ultimates with the attack speed buff they get after coming out of stealth, they have a small window of time to do as much damage as possible. Braum can knock him up to prevent this, and he can also use his shield to negate his ranged damage.

• Lots of CC to shut him down.
• Shield can negate a lot of his damage.
• Can bully him in laning phase.

9. Caitlyn - Twitch Counter Rating: 61/100

The infamous biggest lane bully champion makes this list. She might not be the strongest champion at the moment, but she can definitely keep tabs on Twitch during the laning phase. Her long range and kit can make it very difficult for the rat to even walk up to farm, let alone trade with her. It’s kind of an all-in situation though. If caitlyn is not able to exert enough pressure on Twitch, he’ll eventually outscale her and become way more powerful.

• Natural lane bully.
• Longer range and damage early on.

10. Tristana - Twitch Counter Rating: 58/100

• Tristana’s kit allows her to have a mini-engage tool of her own. Of course, it can always be risky for her to simply dive in, but in most cases Twitch won’t be able to fight back effectively. Couple this with the fact that she can push him in and pressure him under tower all game, and she can be a pain to deal with. The only problem is that Twitch’s mid-game ramps up much faster, which means the Tristana player must constantly dominate him throughout the game.
• Can be very aggressive with her jump.
• Lane dominant compared to him.
• Higher damage and pressure.

Champions Twitch is strong against:

1. Vayne

Just like Twitch, Vayne’s laning phase is not the strongest in the game. Although she outduels him at level 6, as long as Twitch keeps his distance from her she won’t be too much of an issue.

• Cannot abuse Twitch in laning phase.
• Actually gets outranged level 6.

2. Sivir

The most Sivir can do to shut the rat down is to perma-push his lane and occasionally harass him. However, she’s not suited to shut him down in most situations, and he’ll eventually have similar to if not greater impact on the game than her.

• Gets outscaled fast.
• Has a lot more utility but Twitch has a lot more damage.

3. Ezreal

Ezreal can do very well in the laning phase against him, but he also needs time to scale. In this matchup, both champions will probably be allowed to reach their strongest point. Since Ezreal is much harder to play effectively than Twitch, I’d say that Twitch wins out at the end.

• If you’re not skilled at him, Twitch will probably have more impact.
• Takes time to scale as well, so if he fall behind it’s even worse.
• Can get pushed in.

How to Outsmart a Twitch Player:

As discussed earlier, Twitch’s strengths lie in his sneakiness. You can shut him down early by being aggressive, but if that fails there are other options. He can join a fight by going out of stealth whenever he wants to and dish a ton of damage in a limited window of time. His ultimate also allow him to dish out his damage from afar, allowing him to position himself safely. Therefore, we can play around these

• *Don’t start a fight if you don’t know exactly where he is. Twitch loves it when he’s able to join a fight after it has started. If your team uses all their important cooldowns on other targets, the rat is amazing at cleaning people up. If you’re going to fight, make sure that you can shut him down or that he won’t be able to join the fight in time.
• Bait him into using his whole combo at the wrong time. This is similar to the last point. If you can skirmish with the enemies without commiting to a full-on teamfight, you can make him think that it’s a good time to go in. Once he wastes his damage, his power decreases tremendously.
• Beware of ganks. His stealth makes it very easy for him to ambush people. Always be aware of his presence whenever he’s in your games.
• Be aggressive in laning phase. Of course, the easiest way to counter Twitch is to make him a non factor. Pick champions such as Leona and Draven and watch him suffer.

Hopefully you now have the tools to deal with Twitch more effectively. Remember, the rat is slippery and will look for openings to get ahead of you. As long as you keep that in mind and know how you can shut him down, you’ll find much more success against the rodent!

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