Aphelios Counters: Who Beats Aphelios

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Aphelios counters are bot laners who out-range him, dive him, or dodge the one weapon that can root them. He’s a 550-range marksman with five rotating guns, two equipped at a time, a shared activated ability that changes with the main-hand weapon, and no dash anywhere in his kit.

The five picks below were made by comparing his patch 26.21 ability text with theirs. No win-rate charts were involved.

Why is Aphelios hard to counter?

• The Hitman and the Seer (passive): he carries 5 Lunari Weapons, two at a time, each with its own basic attack and ability. Attacks and abilities spend ammo, and an empty weapon is replaced by the next of the 5.
• Weapon Abilities (Q): Calibrum marks a target for a long-range follow-up; Severum lets him run fast while attacking with both guns; Gravitum roots enemies slowed by it; Infernum blasts a cone and follows up with the off-hand; Crescendum deploys a sentry that fires the off-hand weapon. Cooldown 9.
• Phase (W): swaps main-hand and off-hand guns, changing his basic attack and activated ability. Cooldown 0.8.
• Weapon Queue System (E): no ability; it shows the next weapon. Empty weapons go to the end of the order.
• Moonlight Vigil (R): a blast of moonlight that explodes on enemy champions and applies the main-hand gun’s unique effect. Cooldown 120/110/100.

Aphelios looks complicated because it is. But strip the guns away and the shape is simple: a marksman with 550 range, one activated ability at a time on a 9 second cooldown, and no movement ability beyond Severum’s speed while attacking. Only one of his five guns has hard crowd control, and Gravitum only roots enemies its own attacks have slowed. What beats that? Range he can’t match, a dash to get on top of him, or simply staying away from the cannon. Thing is, his damage depends on which pair of weapons he’s holding, so the lane changes every time a gun runs dry.

Which champions are the best Aphelios counters?

Caitlyn

Her 650 attack range is longer than his 550, and in a lane between two marksmen that gap means free hits every time he walks up to farm. Yordle Snap Trap (W) immobilizes a champion for 1.5 seconds and sets up a Headshot with double range, which is nasty for a champion with no dash to avoid the follow-up. 90 Caliber Net (E) slows him and knocks Caitlyn backward, out of reach. Ace in the Hole (R) is a long-range finisher for when a gun swap leaves him low. To be fair, a Calibrum mark gives him a long-range answer, so the trade isn’t one-sided.

Lucian

Relentless Pursuit (E) is a short dash, and Lightslinger (passive) turns the attack after every ability into a double-shot while also cutting the dash’s cooldown. That’s a lot of burst for a champion who can get on top of Aphelios whenever the cannon isn’t out. Piercing Light (Q) fires through a target, Ardent Blaze (W) marks enemies and gives Lucian Move Speed when he hits them, and The Culling (R) is a stream of shots. Also, Lightslinger gets bonus magic damage when a nearby enemy champion is immobilized, so a support with a stun makes the lane even worse for Aphelios.

Tristana

Rocket Jump (W) propels Tristana to a distant spot and slows units where she lands, a gap closer that also works in reverse once things go wrong. Her range isn’t fixed either (Draw a Bead keeps extending it with every level). Explosive Charge (E) plants a bomb that explodes after a short time, and Buster Shot (R) knocks the target back while doubling the bomb’s radius if they carry it. For the all-in itself, Rapid Fire (Q) is a short burst of faster attacks. Aphelios has no dash to escape the jump-bomb combo. Real talk: the cannon is the only gun that punishes her for jumping in, so watch which one he has out.

Kalista

Martial Poise (passive) lets Kalista lunge a short distance whenever she launches a basic attack or Pierce with a movement command queued. In practice she’s always moving, and Gravitum’s root only lands on targets its attacks have already slowed. Rend (E) stacks spears on each attack and rips them out for escalating damage plus a slow, Pierce (Q) passes through enemies it kills, and Sentinel (W) adds bonus damage when she and her Oathsworn hit the same target. Fate’s Call (R) pulls the Oathsworn ally to her and lets them dash in, knocking enemy champions back. It’s a duo-lane that rewards a support who commits.

Samira

Blade Whirl (W) cuts through enemy missiles around her. Riot’s short descriptions don’t say which of Aphelios’s weapon attacks count, so treat it as a soft answer rather than a sure thing (a custom game will settle it). Where she really wins is mobility: Wild Rush (E) dashes through an enemy and resets on champion kills, and Daredevil Impulse (passive) dashes her to her attack range when she attacks an immobilized target. An Aphelios caught by her support’s crowd control has nowhere to go. Inferno Trigger (R) shoots every enemy around her.

How do you play the lane against Aphelios?

• Watch his main-hand weapon. It decides both his activated ability and what Moonlight Vigil does, so the threat changes with each swap.
• Stay unslowed when Gravitum is out. Its ability roots only enemies already slowed by that weapon.
• Fight when his ability is down. He has one activated ability at a time, on a 9 second cooldown.
• Step out of an Infernum cone. The blast is followed by an off-hand attack on everyone hit, which stacks up fast.
• Kill Crescendum’s sentry or move off it. It keeps firing his off-hand weapon while he does something else.

Which items counter Aphelios?

Armor against attacks, plus something for the Gravitum root. Plated Steelcaps give 25 Armor and Plating trims incoming damage from attacks, which is most of what Aphelios deals. Randuin’s Omen adds 350 Health and 75 Armor, and its Resilience passive cuts damage from Critical Strikes, worth it once he’s built crit. Frozen Heart lowers nearby champions’ Attack Speed. For the root, Mercury’s Treads give 30% Tenacity, Quicksilver Sash removes crowd control debuffs other than Airborne, and Dead Man’s Plate’s Unsinkable reduces the strength of slows, the very slows Gravitum needs before it can root. Edge of Night’s Spell Shield can block Moonlight Vigil if it’s up when he fires. Every option is listed with full stats in our items database.

When is Aphelios at his weakest?

Whenever Gravitum isn’t in his hands. The cannon holds his only root, which means four of his five main-hand weapons can’t stop you from walking up to him, and he has no dash of his own. That’s the core of every counter above: get to him while the threat is a rifle, a pistol, a flamethrower or a chakram.

He’s also weaker in the middle of a weapon cycle. Each gun runs on ammo, and when one empties it’s discarded for the next in the queue. Does that leave him with a bad pair sometimes? Yes, and a player who tracks his guns can pick fights around it (it’s a skill, honestly, but a learnable one).

New to bot lane? Our guide to LoL roles covers who farms, who protects, and why a marksman with no dash needs a support who peels. Want another matchup? Browse the matchup library. For his skins, open the Aphelios skins page; for random-champion games on one lane, read the Aphelios ARAM guide. Put simply, Aphelios counters dive him while the cannon is away.

FAQ

Who counters Aphelios the most?

Bot laners who out-range or dive him: Caitlyn, Lucian, Tristana, Kalista and Samira.

Which Aphelios weapon can root?

Gravitum, the cannon. Its activated ability roots all enemies already slowed by Gravitum’s attacks.

Does Aphelios have a dash?

No. His kit has no dash or blink. Severum’s ability makes him run fast while attacking, which is his only movement tool.

What does Moonlight Vigil do?

Moonlight Vigil fires a blast of moonlight that explodes on enemy champions and applies the unique effect of his main-hand gun. Its cooldown is 120/110/100 seconds.

How were these counters picked?

From Aphelios’s patch 26.21 ability descriptions, compared kit by kit with each counter. No match statistics were used.