Ivern Counters: Who Beats Ivern

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

Ivern counters are junglers who duel him alone, dodge or cleanse Rootcaller, or turn his own brush against him. He’s a 475-range enchanter jungler who frees camps instead of attacking them, roots with a vine, makes brush, shields allies and summons Daisy, and he has no dash of his own in Riot’s ability text.

These five come from reading his patch 26.21 kit against theirs, line by line. There’s no win-rate data underneath any of it, just the ability descriptions.

Why is Ivern hard to counter?

• Friend of the Forest (passive): he can’t attack or be attacked by non-epic monsters. Instead he grows groves on jungle camps and frees the monsters for gold and experience once a grove is fully grown.
• Rootcaller (Q): a vine that deals damage and roots enemies hit, and his allies can dash to the rooted target. Cooldown 14/13/12/11/10.
• Brushmaker (W): in brush, Ivern and nearby allies deal bonus magic damage with attacks; activating it creates a patch of brush. Cooldown 0.5.
• Triggerseed (E): a shield on an ally that explodes after a short time, slowing and damaging enemies, and refreshes if it hits nobody. Cooldown 11/10/9/8/7.
• Daisy! (R): he summons Daisy, his Sentinel, and can re-cast to command her to attack or move. Cooldown 140/130/120.

Ivern doesn’t win fights himself. He makes his teammates win them. The root sets up dashes for allies, Triggerseed shields whoever’s diving, Brushmaker adds magic damage, and Daisy is a second body on the field. Strip away the allies, though, and what’s left? A champion with 475 range, one skillshot to land, and nothing that moves him out of trouble. Every pick below works on that gap.

Which champions are the best Ivern counters?

Rengar

Unseen Predator (passive) lets Rengar leap at his target with a basic attack while he stands in brush. Ivern creates brush. Really, he hands Rengar launch pads all over his own jungle, since every patch of Brushmaker brush is somewhere Rengar can jump from. Battle Roar (W) with full Ferocity breaks crowd control, which covers the Rootcaller root, and Bola Strike (E) slows the first target hit or roots it when empowered. Thrill of the Hunt (R) camouflages Rengar and reveals the nearest enemy champion, a lonely Ivern included. It’s a nasty matchup for him, plain and simple.

Kha’Zix

Unseen Threat (passive) marks nearby enemies who are Isolated from their allies, and Kha’Zix’s abilities hit harder against them. Where does Ivern spend most of his time? Alone in the jungle, growing groves. Taste Their Fear (Q) deals extra damage to Isolated targets, Void Spike (W) heals Kha’Zix if he’s inside its own explosion, and Leap (E) jumps onto the target from range. Void Assault (R) turns him invisible and readies a bonus-damage attack that slows. To be fair, Ivern with an ally nearby isn’t Isolated, so the matchup swings on catching him solo.

Master Yi

Alpha Strike (Q) teleports Yi through several units while making him untargetable, and Highlander (R) raises his Move Speed and Attack Speed and makes him immune to all slowing effects. Triggerseed’s explosion slows. Highlander ignores that. Meditate (W) restores Health and cuts the damage he takes for a short time, and Wuju Style (E) adds true damage to his attacks, which goes straight through Triggerseed’s shield math in a duel. Ivern’s answer is the root (Rootcaller isn’t a slow), so the fight is about Yi dodging one vine.

Nocturne

Shroud of Darkness (W) puts a magical barrier on Nocturne that blocks one enemy ability, which is a clean answer to Rootcaller, and it doubles his passive Attack Speed when it blocks something. Paranoia (R) shrinks the sight radius of every enemy champion and strips their ally vision, then lets Nocturne launch at a target nearby. Honestly, an enchanter who relies on teammates is in trouble the moment he can’t see them. Unspeakable Horror (E) fears the target if they stay in range, and with no dash, Ivern usually stays in range.

Elise

In Human Form, Cocoon (E) stuns the first enemy unit hit. Ivern has no dash to get out of the follow-up. Neurotoxin (Q) deals damage based on how high the target’s Health is, so it lands hardest on a full-Health Ivern at the start of a gank. Switch to Spider Form (R) and Venomous Bite lunges at the target for damage based on how low their Health is, while Rappel lifts Elise into the air before she descends on an enemy. That’s burst from both ends of his Health bar. Put simply, Elise kills the Ivern who wandered off before Daisy can arrive.

How do you play against Ivern in the jungle?

• Sidestep Rootcaller. It’s his only crowd control, on a 14 second cooldown at rank 1, and allies can dash to whoever it roots.
• Avoid fighting next to his brush. Brushmaker adds bonus magic damage to his team’s attacks while they’re in brush.
• Back off from Triggerseed targets. The shield explodes after a short delay, slowing and damaging enemies around it.
• Catch him while he’s growing a grove. Friend of the Forest means his camps take time, and he’s often alone while they grow.
• Focus Ivern, not Daisy. Daisy! is on a 140 second cooldown at rank 1, and Ivern is the one giving her commands.

Which items counter Ivern?

Crowd control removal and Tenacity, since Rootcaller is the spell his team builds around. Mercury’s Treads bring 20 Magic Resist and 30% Tenacity, which shortens the root and blunts Brushmaker’s magic damage at once. Quicksilver Sash gives 30 Magic Resist for 1,300 gold, and its active removes crowd control debuffs (Airborne excepted), so a rooted carry can walk away before the allies dash in. Mercurial Scimitar does the same with 50 Attack Damage and 10% Life Steal for carries who need both. Supports get Mikael’s Blessing, whose Purify cleanses an ally. Mages who get rooted can still press Zhonya’s Hourglass for 2.5 seconds of Stasis while the dashes land on a statue. You can compare every option in our items database.

When is Ivern at his weakest?

When Rootcaller misses. The vine is his only crowd control, a 14 second cooldown at rank 1 (10 at rank 5), and once it’s spent Ivern is a 475-range enchanter who can shield and slow but can’t stop anyone from walking up to him. Long story short: bait the vine, then go.

He’s also weak alone. Brushmaker’s bonus damage, Triggerseed’s shield and Rootcaller’s dash for allies all need a teammate nearby to do much, and Friend of the Forest has him walking between groves on his own for a good part of the early game (that’s when Kha’Zix and Rengar want to find him). Without Daisy up, he’s light on damage too.

New to the role? Our guide to LoL roles covers what a jungler is supposed to do. Looking for a different champion? Try the full guide list. Ivern’s cosmetics live on the Ivern skins page, while random-pick games on one lane get their own Ivern ARAM guide. In practice, Ivern counters catch him alone or beat the vine, and Rengar does both while using his brush.

FAQ

Who counters Ivern the most?

Junglers who catch him alone or avoid Rootcaller: Rengar, Kha’Zix, Master Yi, Nocturne and Elise.

Why is Rengar good against Ivern?

Rengar leaps at his target from brush with his passive, and Ivern’s Brushmaker creates new brush. Battle Roar with full Ferocity also breaks the Rootcaller root.

Can Ivern attack jungle monsters?

No. Friend of the Forest stops Ivern from attacking non-epic monsters. He grows groves on camps and frees the monsters for gold and experience when the grove is fully grown.

What is Rootcaller’s cooldown?

Rootcaller has a cooldown of 14/13/12/11/10 seconds by rank. It roots enemies hit and lets Ivern’s allies dash to the rooted target.

Are these picks based on statistics?

No. Each one earned its spot by how its abilities line up against Ivern’s patch 26.21 kit; match data stayed out of it.