Best 5 Champions to Counter Irelia in LoL

Irelia is a strong top laner in League of Legends who is known for her ability to lock on to targets and unleash damaging all-in combos. She can dash to enemies and deal heavy burst damage with Bladesurge, while Defiant Dance grants her damage reduction.

Knowing Irelia’s counters and how to counter them is crucial for hindering her impact, especially if she is chosen early in champion selection. In this article, we’ll look at top champions who can take on Irelia in the top lane.

These champions can counter Irelia in League of Legends (Patch 13.16):

1. Malphite
2. Renekton
3. Cassiopeia
4. Annie
5. Neeko

Malphite

One of the best counters to Irelia in Patch 13.16 is Malphite, boasting an impressive 55.71% win rate against her. Here’s why Malphite is a top pick against Irelia in LoL:

• Tankiness - Malphite is an innately very tanky champion due to his high health, armor, and passive which gives him a shield. This allows him to survive Irelia’s burst damage from her Bladesurge and ultimate.
• Poke - Malphite can harass Irelia in the lane with his Q (Seismic Shard). He can chip away at her health and zone her off farming.
• Attack Speed Slow - Malphite’s E (Ground Slam) slows attack speed, which really hurts Irelia’s DPS.
• Engage/Disengage - Malphite’s ultimate is great for engaging on Irelia or disengaging if she tries to all-in. Irelia wants extended trades to stack up her hiten style, but Malphite can avoid this.
• Armor stacker - Malphite can build armor items to further reduce Irelia’s physical damage. This makes it even more difficult for her to kill him.
• AP burst - Malphite can chunk Irelia with his AP ratios on Q and R. Irelia doesn’t build magic resist.

Also Read: Top 10 Easiest LoL Champions For Beginners

Renekton

Renekton is a prime counter-pick with over 55.17% win rate against Irelia. There are a few reasons why Renekton is good against Irelia:

• Strong Early Game - Renekton bullies Irelia hard during the early laning phase with his high base damages. He can zone her off CS and deny her a chance to scale up.
• Sustain - Renekton’s Q heal allows him to recover from Irelia’s poke and sustain in lane longer than her.
• Stun - Renekton’s W stun interrupts Irelia’s mobility with her E dash. This prevents her from generating fury and bursting him down.
• Tankiness - Renekton naturally builds tanky items like Black Cleaver, Sterak’s, and tank mythics. This makes it harder for Irelia to burst through.
• Damage type - Renekton deals primarily AD damage, which Irelia doesn’t itemize armor against as much magic resist.
• Ultimate Shreds Resistances - Renekton’s ultimate shreds Irelia’s resistances, causing his damage to hurt even more.
• Wave Clear - Renekton can easily wave clear with his abilities, denying Irelia CS under tower.

Cassiopeia

Coming third in this list, Cassiopeia with over 54.98% win rate against Irelia. Here’s why Cassiopeia is a top pick against Irelia:

• Potent Poke - Cassiopeia can continuously annoy Irelia in the lane with her E and Q poisons, whittling down her health and preventing all-ins.
• Grounding - Cassiopeia’s W grounding effect stops Irelia’s mobility with her Q dashes. This really limits her trading and kill potential.
• Sustain - Cassiopeia’s E grants her healing, allowing her to recover from Irelia’s poke and stay healthy in lane.
• Strong Kiting - With Cassiopeia’s movement speed from Q and long-range damage, she can easily kite away from Irelia’s all-in threat range.
• Armor Shred - Cassiopeia’s Q shreds Irelia’s armor, causing her physical damage to become even more ineffective.
• Damage Type - Cassiopeia deals primarily magic damage that Irelia doesn’t build much resistance against.

Annie

The fourth champion we got is Annie. She is a very good pick against Irelia - holding a 54.85% win rate against her. Here’s why:

• High Burst Damage - Annie has immense burst potential with her Q-W combo that can quickly 100-0 Irelia if she mispositions.
• Long Attack Range - Annie’s high auto attack range allows her to harass and zone Irelia in lane while staying safely out of Irelia’s threat range.
• CC Lockdown - Between Annie’s Q stun and ultimate AoE stun, she can lockdown and burst Irelia before she gets damage off.
• Mana Refund on Kills - Getting kills on Irelia refunds Annie’s mana, allowing her to continue bullying Irelia in lane with spells.
• High Base Stats - Annie has naturally high base health, armor, and magic resist allowing her to take Irelia’s damage.
• Built-in shield - Molten Shield gives Annie a strong shield to block incoming damage from Irelia’s all-ins.

Also Read: Best Jungle Champions in League of Legends (2023)

Neeko

The last champion we have is Neeko, despite being the last in this list - she holds a 53.93% win rate against Irelia in League of Legends patch 13.16:

• Strong Ranged Harass - Neeko can safely poke and harass Irelia from range with her Q and empowered auto attacks, preventing all-ins.
• Root CC - Landing Neeko’s E root neuters Irelia’s mobility and damage potential in trades.
• Burst Damage - With her Q, empowered auto, and ultimate, Neeko has the burst to take Irelia out before she can sustain in a fight.
• Movement Speed - Neeko’s W gives her extra move speed to kite away from Irelia’s threat range.
• Clone Confusion - Neeko’s W clone can bait out Irelia’s ult or juke her skillshots for outplay potential.
• Sustain - Neeko’s passive on-hit heal gives her added sustain to recover from Irelia’s poke.

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4 Tips to Counter Irelia in League of Legends

Pick Tanky Champions

If you’re up against Irelia in a game of League of Legends, it’s important to know that she deals mostly physical damage with her auto attacks and Bladesurge ability. So, if you want to defend against her, you’ll want to focus on building up your armor and health.

Champions like Malphite, Poppy, and Renekton have an advantage here because they can equip items like Frozen Heart, Randuin’s Omen, Dead Man’s Plate, and Sterak’s Gage to help mitigate Irelia’s damage output. By stacking up on armor and health, these tanks can take Irelia’s burst combo and still have time to trade damage back onto her.

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Disable Her Mobility

To take down Irelia, you’ll want to focus on using hard crowd-control effects like stuns, roots, and knock-ups. These are super effective at limiting her mobility and damage output. Irelia’s Q dash is a key part of her kit, allowing her to quickly close gaps and reposition in team fights. But if you hit her with hard CC, she loses access to this crucial mobility spell.

That means she can’t dodge skill shots, chase down enemies, or dive into the backline. And if she’s rooted or stunned, she’s super vulnerable since she doesn’t have the defenses or sustained damage of other fighters and juggernauts.

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Build Armor Early

When facing Irelia, focus on getting some armor early on. This will help to lower the amount of damage she can dish out, especially with her auto attacks. Irelia relies heavily on her basic attacks to deal sustained damage in fights, so reducing their impact can really make a difference.

There are a few great options for armor items that won’t break the bank. Chain Vest is a good choice, as it can be built into other important armor items like Guardian Angel and Thornmail. Bramble Vest is another good option, as it not only reduces Irelia’s basic attack damage, but also provides some magic resist and cuts down on her healing from abilities like Q. Finally, Ninja Tabi can be really effective at slowing down Irelia’s attack speed and reducing her overall damage output.

Play Around Her Powerspikes

It’s important to keep in mind Irelia’s major power spikes. Levels 6 is crucial for her, as she unlocks her ultimate and gains a huge boost in damage and dueling potential. Additionally, when she finishes her Blade of the Ruined King item, she becomes even more deadly.

So, it’s best to avoid risky fights with her during these spikes and play it safe until they pass. When she hits level 6, her ultimate Vanguard’s Edge adds significant burst damage and outplay potential to her kit. When she completes BotRK, she becomes even more of a threat with added attack speed, damage, sustain, and the active slow to stick to targets.

To counter her, it’s best to let her shove into your tower and give up some CS if needed. Avoid aggressive trades or all-ins and ping for jungle assistance if she plays overly aggressive. Freezing the minion wave can also force her to overextend if she wants to fight you while spiked. With good wave management and safe play around her spike timings, you can deny Irelia kills and minimize her power windows. Once her spikes fall off, you can play more aggressively once you have some armor and levels of your own.

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Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed reading our article on the top 5 champions that can counter Irelia in LoL. After doing some research and testing, we’ve come up with some great options for those of you who struggle against this tough opponent. Remember, it’s all about finding the right strategy and champion to fit your playstyle. So don’t give up, keep practicing, and soon enough you’ll be able to take down Irelia with ease. Happy gaming!

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