Gwen Counters: Who Beats Gwen

Updated for patch 26.20. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Gwen counters are champions who drag her out of that mist, shut down her dash, or just refuse to lose extended trades against her. She’s a melee fighter with magic and true damage, passive healing, and that Hallowed Mist that makes her untargetable from the outside, so you either walk into the mist and beat her there, or you yank her out of it.

The picks below are our editorial choices based on how each kit interacts with Gwen’s abilities. We don’t use win-rate data, so read this as an explanation of why a matchup works, not a statistic.

Why is Gwen hard to counter?

• A Thousand Cuts (passive): her attacks deal bonus magic damage based on the target’s health, and she heals for part of that damage against champions.
• Snip Snip! (Q): up to six snips in a cone, with true damage in the center.
• Hallowed Mist (W): she can only be targeted by enemies who enter the mist.
• Skip ‘n Slash (E): a short dash followed by extra attack speed, range and on-hit damage.
• Needlework (R): needles that slow and apply her passive, castable three times in total.

Put simply, Gwen wants long fights with her mist up (and her heal running). Short trades hurt her. So does anti-heal, and so does anything that ignores or removes her mist.

Which champions are the best Gwen counters?

Mordekaiser

His ultimate (R) drags his victim into a different dimension and steals part of their stats. Her mist doesn’t come with her, so the fight happens on Mordekaiser’s terms, without the protection she relies on.

Poppy

Steadfast Presence (W) stops enemy dashes around Poppy and grounds the champion it stops. Skip ‘n Slash is a dash, and it is how Gwen gets into range. Losing it mid-trade leaves her slowed in the wrong place.

Fiora

Riposte (W) parries all incoming damage for a short time and stuns if it blocks an immobilizing effect. Needlework slows, so a parried ultimate turns into a stun on Gwen (a big swing in a duel).

Olaf

Ragnarok (R) makes Olaf immune to disables while he keeps attacking. Gwen’s main control is the slow on Needlework, so an Olaf in Ragnarok simply walks into her mist and keeps swinging.

Cassiopeia

Miasma (W) slows and grounds enemies, and grounded enemies cannot use movement abilities. A Gwen standing in Miasma can’t use Skip ‘n Slash to reposition, which takes away her best tool in a short fight.

How do you counter Gwen in lane?

• Walk into the mist, don’t wait outside. From outside, you can’t target her. Inside, you can.
• Buy anti-heal early. Her passive heals her in every extended trade.
• Trade short. Her passive heal and the six snips of her Q add up over a long fight, so quick trades limit both.
• Watch the ultimate charges. Needlework has three casts. Once they are spent, her chase is much weaker.

Which items counter Gwen?

Grievous Wounds is the key effect. In patch 26.20, Bramble Vest and Thornmail apply 40% Wounds when you are hit by an attack, and Executioner’s Calling applies it when you deal physical damage. Because her damage is mostly magic, Magic Resist items help too: Mercury’s Treads add Magic Resist and Tenacity, and Force of Nature grows stronger after you take magic damage several times. You can compare all of them in our LoL items database, and fighters who want damage plus health often look at Trinity Force.

When is Gwen at her weakest?

When is the best moment to fight her? Right after Hallowed Mist ends. Without it, ranged champions can target her again from any distance, and she has only Skip ‘n Slash to reposition (a short dash, not an escape).

Her second weak spot is a fight that ends quickly. A Thousand Cuts heals her off champion damage and Snip Snip! needs stacks to hit hard, so if you burst her down or shove her out before the fight drags, she never gets to use most of her kit.

Does she struggle when behind? Like most fighters, yes. She relies on long trades, and long trades are exactly what a lead lets the enemy deny.

Is Gwen hard to play against for newer players?

Honestly, the mist is what catches people out. The thing is, it only protects her from champions outside it, so the fix is counterintuitive: step in. Once that clicks, the matchup gets much simpler. If you’re still learning top lane, our guide to LoL roles breaks down the position. Her skins are on the Gwen skins page, and ARAM players can check the Gwen ARAM guide.

Whatever you pick, good Gwen counters follow the same plan: get inside the mist, cut her healing, keep trades short.

FAQ

Who counters Gwen the most?

Champions who remove her from her mist or stop her dash. Mordekaiser’s ultimate separates her from the mist, Poppy’s W stops Skip ‘n Slash, and Fiora’s W turns her ultimate slow into a stun.

How do you fight Gwen’s mist?

Walk into it. Hallowed Mist only blocks targeting from enemies outside the mist.

Does anti-heal work against Gwen?

Yes. Her passive heals her when she damages champions, so Grievous Wounds from items like Bramble Vest or Executioner’s Calling cuts that healing.

What damage type does Gwen deal?

Mostly magic damage, plus true damage from the center of her Q.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. It is an editorial list based on ability interactions in patch 26.20. We don’t use win-rate data.