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Diana Counters: Who Beats Diana

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

Diana counters are junglers who stop her dash, block Moonfall, or punish the moment she commits into a group. She’s a 150-range fighter whose whole engage runs through Lunar Rush, and that dash resets only on targets marked by Crescent Strike.

The five below were matched to her patch 26.21 ability text one by one. No win-rate table shaped it (we never use them for these lists).

Diana counters: Diana, Scorn of the Moon, splash art

How does Diana’s kit threaten you?

  • Moonsilver Blade (passive): every third strike cleaves nearby enemies for extra magic damage, and casting a spell gives her Attack Speed for 5 seconds.
  • Crescent Strike (Q): an arcing bolt of magic damage that marks enemies with Moonlight and reveals them for 3 seconds. Cooldown 8/7.5/7/6.5/6.
  • Pale Cascade (W): three orbiting spheres that explode on enemies, plus a shield that grows if the third sphere detonates. Cooldown 15/13.5/12/10.5/9.
  • Lunar Rush (E): a dash to an enemy for magic damage, with no cooldown if the target has Moonlight. Cooldown 22/20/18/16/14.
  • Moonfall (R): reveals, pulls in and slows all nearby enemies, then crashes down around her for magic damage that grows with each extra champion pulled. Cooldown 100/90/80.

Diana’s combo is simple to describe. Crescent Strike marks you, Lunar Rush dashes in for free, and Moonfall pulls the rest of your team into her for an explosion that gets bigger with every extra champion. In a skirmish where people stand close, that’s a fight over in two seconds. But every step is a commitment. Once she’s dashed in, she has no way back out except another Moonlight-marked target, and she’s standing in the middle of your team. What kills that plan? Stopping the dash, blocking the ult, or simply surviving the burst and turning around.

Which junglers are the best Diana counters?

Poppy

Lunar Rush is a dash, and Poppy’s W eats dashes. Turning on Steadfast Presence stops any enemy dash in the area around her, and the Diana who tried it is left slowed and grounded, unable to dash again. That cancels her engage before Moonfall even comes into it. While inactive, the same ability gives Poppy Armor and Magic Resist, more of both at low Health. Heroic Charge (E) pushes a target and stuns it against walls, and Keeper’s Verdict (R) charges a strike that throws enemies a long way off. Hammer Shock (Q) slows in a zone, and Iron Ambassador (passive) gives a shield when she picks up her bouncing buckler.

Nocturne

Nocturne’s W fades him into a barrier good for exactly one enemy spell. Timed against Moonfall, it means Nocturne isn’t pulled and the big explosion goes off without him. Paranoia (R) cuts the sight radius of every enemy champion and their shared vision, then lets him launch at one of them, and Diana in the dark doesn’t know which way to dash. Unspeakable Horror (E) damages each second and fears the target if they stay in range until the end. Duskbringer (Q) leaves a trail that gives him Move Speed and Attack Damage. Umbra Blades (passive) hits nearby enemies and heals him every few seconds. Honestly, a blocked Moonfall is half the fight won, because her combo has nothing left after it and she’s standing in the middle of your team with a long cooldown ahead.

Jarvan IV

Cataclysm (R) leaps at a target and terraforms an arena around them. Diana’s escape plan is to dash to a second Moonlight-marked target; an arena wall leaves nobody to dash to. Dragon Strike (Q) extends the lance to damage and lower Armor, and pulls Jarvan to his Demacian Standard (E), knocking up enemies on the way, so the flag-and-drag combo stops her mid-commit. His W wraps him in a shield and slows whoever’s close. The passive makes his opening hit on each enemy chunk them for a share of their current Health (it can’t repeat on the same target for a few seconds). Put simply, he can trap her inside the fight she started.

Kindred

Kindred’s ultimate marks out a circle where death is put on hold, and when it closes, everyone still standing in it gets healed. Drop it under Moonfall and Diana’s whole combo kills nobody. Kindred also fights her from range: 500 to her 150. Dance of Arrows (Q) tumbles and shoots up to three arrows, which helps step away from Lunar Rush, while Mounting Dread (E) slows and calls Wolf to pounce on the third hit. Wolf’s Frenzy (W) attacks enemies around Wolf. Mark of the Kindred (passive) empowers abilities with each completed Hunt. To be fair, Diana still wins if she catches Kindred before the ult is up.

Lillia

Lillia doesn’t let Diana stick. She has 325 range, Blooming Blows (Q) gives her stacking Move Speed whenever her spells hit, and Swirlseed (E) slows on impact or rolls on until it finds a target or a wall. Watch Out! Eep! (W) deals heavy damage in the center of an area. Lilting Lullaby (R) makes every enemy carrying Dream Dust drowsy, then puts them to sleep, and a sleeping Diana is waking up to extra damage. Every skill hit also leaves a slow max-Health burn from her passive (the Dream-Laden Bough). Funny enough, Diana pulling Lillia into Moonfall often just puts the whole enemy team in range of the lullaby.

How should Diana counters play the jungle?

  • Dodge Crescent Strike. Without Moonlight on you, Lunar Rush goes on its full cooldown.
  • Don’t group tightly when she has her ult. Moonfall pulls in all nearby enemies and deals more damage per extra champion.
  • Turn on her after the dash. Once she’s in, she needs another Moonlight-marked target to get back out.
  • Save a spell shield for Moonfall. Nocturne’s Shroud of Darkness or Banshee’s Veil blocks one ability.
  • Burst through Pale Cascade. The shield grows when her third sphere detonates, so hit her before all three pop.

Which items help Diana counters?

Magic Resist, mostly. All of her damage is magic, so Force of Nature’s Steadfast adds 70 extra Magic Resist once she’s hit you with magic damage 8 times, and her combo hits a lot. Kaenic Rookern’s Magebane shield covers the first chunk of burst if you haven’t taken magic damage for 15 seconds. Banshee’s Veil blocks one enemy ability (Moonfall, ideally), and Zhonya’s Hourglass lets a mage sit out the explosion in stasis. All of them are listed in our LoL items index.

When is Diana weakest?

Before level 6. Without Moonfall she’s a dash-in fighter with a shield, and Lunar Rush on its full 22 second cooldown at rank 1 means one missed Crescent Strike leaves her with no engage. Can you invade her early? With Jarvan IV or Poppy, often, especially right after she’s used Lunar Rush on a camp and has to walk to the next one.

And when your team is spread out. Moonfall’s extra damage comes from pulling in more than one champion (for what it’s worth, a single pulled target takes the base hit only), so a team that keeps its distance turns her ult into a small explosion.

Still learning the jungle? Our League roles guide explains it. More of our champion breakdowns are in the guides archive, and her skins are on the Diana skins page. In short, Diana counters stop the dash and block the moon.

FAQ

Who counters Diana the most?

Junglers who stop dashes, block abilities or punish her dive: Poppy, Nocturne, Jarvan IV, Kindred and Lillia.

How does Diana reset Lunar Rush?

Lunar Rush has no cooldown when it targets an enemy marked with Moonlight by Crescent Strike.

Can Moonfall be blocked?

A spell shield that blocks one ability, such as Nocturne’s Shroud of Darkness or Banshee’s Veil, can stop it.

What is the cooldown of Moonfall?

Moonfall has a cooldown of 100/90/80 seconds.

How were these Diana counters chosen?

Each pick had to stop her dash, block or survive Moonfall, or trap her after she commits, judged from patch 26.21 ability text. Win rates were not used.