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Fizz Guide

Updated for patch 26.22. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Fizz splash art

Ability numbers checked on patch 26.21 · Strategy reviewed: October 2026

Playful/Trickster drops Fizz under the water for 0.75 seconds (fully untargetable) and the enemy mid-laner can do nothing about the Zed R they just cast or the Twisted Fate Gold Card they lined up.

What this page covers for the Fizz guide reader: the Playful/Trickster timing on patch 26.22, Lich Bane first-item ramp, Chum the Waters bait-and-hook routes for a 300-year-old shark, matchups that cancel his E untargetable window and the Fizz skins ranked by whether the trident VFX actually reskin on cast.

Abilities and role

Thing is, Riot classifies Fizz as a mid-lane assassin on 175 attack range (melee), with mana as his resource and an 9/10 Riot difficulty tag. They primarily play mid lane on patch 26.22. The off-meta top-lane experiment is uncommon and does not change the Fizz build.

Nimble Fighter (Passive)

Fizz ignores unit collision (walks through minions and champions) and takes a flat 4 to 10 physical damage reduction scaling with level. The collision pass-through turns every short dash into a 400-unit effective reach, which matters most in brush trade angles.

Urchin Strike (Q)

Short dash to the target with an on-hit auto, applying an attack that pierces armor. 10/9/8/7/6 second cooldown, 50/55/60/65/70 mana. The dash is the whole gap-close engine; chaining Q into Lich Bane proc crits the squishy mid-laner for roughly 400 damage at level 11.

Seastone Trident (W)

Toggle on: next 5 autos deal bonus magic damage and apply a flat damage-over-time stack. 10-second buff duration, 40 mana. In practice, the DoT ticks for the full 5-second window regardless of whether Fizz leaves auto range, which is why Fizz mains blow up a Zhonya into the DoT and chase after the stasis ends.

Playful/Trickster (E)

Fizz pole-vaults into the air (fully untargetable for 0.75 seconds), then either splashes down with AoE damage (Playful) or dashes a second time to a new location (Trickster). 16/15/14/13/12 second cooldown.

Chum the Waters (R)

Throws a lure that attaches to the first enemy champion hit. The lure attracts a giant shark that erupts under the target after a short delay, dealing damage and knocking up every enemy in a cone. 100 second cooldown, 100 mana. The shark hits even if the lure target Flashes away.

Build and item spikes

Start Doran’s Ring plus two Health Potions so the mana regen covers one Urchin Strike at level 1. Rush Lich Bane for the auto-attack proc; the item is tuned around Fizz’s Q-into-auto cadence and crits for 150 percent of base AD plus 75 percent AP on every ability cast. Follow Shadowflame at minute 13 for the shield-break percentage damage. Zhonya’s Hourglass locks in slot three for the stasis after the Chum the Waters cast.

Which second item swaps in against a tank-heavy comp? Short pop: Shadowflame stays slot two regardless, but Rabadon’s Deathcap enters slot three for the AP amp (because the Lich Bane proc scales linearly with total AP). The full item path with pick order and situational swaps lives on our LoL items database. Fizz hits the Lich Bane power spike at minute 11.

How to play by game stage

Early lane, levels 1 through 6: last-hit with Q on cannon minions only to save mana. Seastone Trident on-hit lets Fizz trade twice per minute without burning mana. First kill opens at level 6 with a Chum the Waters lure stuck on the enemy mid-laner right as they walk up for a creep.

Mid game, levels 7 through 13: Lich Bane online at minute 11 opens the first full combo. For what it’s worth, the Fizz combo rotation is R lure plus Playful/Trickster E hop plus Urchin Strike plus Seastone auto; the chain deletes a 650-HP mid-laner at level 11. Roam to bot at minute 10 for a 2v3 setup; the Chum the Waters knockup gives the ADC a free kill.

Late game, levels 14 and up: Zhonya’s Hourglass online at minute 25 lets Fizz jump the back-line, drop the shark lure, hit stasis during the delay, re-emerge for the Lich Bane finisher. Position: always behind the first tank until the Playful/Trickster window opens.

Who counters Fizz

Who beats Fizz mid? The loss patterns map to three archetypes: point-and-click lockdown that cancels Playful/Trickster during the untargetable frames, long-range mages that outrange his 175-unit auto, and tanks that eat the Lich Bane proc with raw magic resist.

  • Point-and-click lockdown: Lissandra (R self-stasis plus chain), Malzahar (R suppression on cast), Twisted Fate (Gold Card during E delay). These three delete the untargetable window on cast.
  • Long-range mages: Xerath (Q sniper range), Vel’Koz (Q split-shot), Lux (Q root). To be fair, these out-poke his 175-range autos through the lane phase without ever walking up.
  • Tank mids: Galio (W taunt into R knockup), Malphite (Q slow into R knockup). These eat the Lich Bane proc with their raw magic resist and punish any dive.

A full breakdown of Fizz counter picks with ability-level notes lives on our Fizz counters page.

ARAM notes

How does the ARAM build change for Fizz? On the Howling Abyss, Fizz rushes Lich Bane first, then Shadowflame, then Zhonya’s Hourglass because the single-lane choke rewards the stasis more than it rewards raw AP scaling. The Patch 26.22 ships ARAM-only tuning for this map (Riot’s patch notes carry the current up/down numbers).

Can Fizz carry the Howling Abyss lane alone? Yes against a comp without hard CC. Playful/Trickster shines on the single lane because there is nowhere for the enemy to retreat behind a wall. Full numbers and the ARAM build sit on our Fizz ARAM build page.

Fizz skins

Riot has shipped 12 Fizz skins. Three carry fully reworked trident VFX and shark-lure animations. Dark-fantasy and future-sci-fi themes split the lineup, which fits his amphibian-trickster identity rather well. Most sit at 1350 RP.

  • Atlantean Fizz (975 RP): classic underwater-knight pick with reworked Chum the Waters shark model and a blue-coral trident VFX.
  • Fisherman Fizz (1820 RP legendary): full voiceover rework with a cartoon fishing-rod R animation and reworked recall.
  • Yacht Rock Fizz (1350 RP): tropical-cruise theme with a yacht-horn recall and sunglasses-plus-cocktail prop set.

The full catalog of 12 Fizz splash arts and RP prices sits on our All Fizz skins and prices page. That is the companion to this Fizz guide for anyone shopping by splash art.

FAQ

Is Fizz easy to learn?

Riot rates Fizz at 9/10 difficulty. Long story short, the mechanical cap sits in the Playful/Trickster timing against telegraphed CC spells and the Lich Bane proc rotation between abilities. The learning curve resolves after a short run of games (comfortable within a short session block).