Nidalee Counters: Who Beats Nidalee

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

Nidalee counters are junglers who can win a fight once they reach her, or who simply outlast her poke. She’s a 525 range shapeshifter who throws javelins and lays traps in human form, then pounces and executes as a cougar, with a heal for herself and allies in between. The picks that beat her lock her down through Pounce, soak up the javelin, or heal back what she chips off.

Five junglers follow, each argued from abilities on both sides, with every reason pointing at a spell you can read in the client yourself. No win rates.

Why is Nidalee hard to counter?

• Prowl (passive): moving through brush gives her 10% Move Speed for 2 seconds, or 30% toward visible enemy champions. Landing Javelin Toss or Bushwhack on a target starts a Hunt: True Sight of it for 4 seconds, extra speed toward it, and stronger Takedown and Pounce against it.
• Javelin Toss / Takedown (Q): a javelin that gains damage the further it flies; as a cougar, an attack that deals more damage the less Health the target has. Cooldown 6 seconds.
• Bushwhack / Pounce (W): a trap that damages and reveals whoever springs it; as a cougar, a jump that damages where she lands. Cooldown 13/12/11/10/9.
• Primal Surge / Swipe (E): a heal plus Attack Speed for an ally; as a cougar, a claw in a cone. Cooldown 12.
• Aspect Of The Cougar (R): switches between the two forms. Cooldown 3.

A Nidalee who lands the first javelin dictates the fight. The Hunt marks you, she gets the speed to close in, and her cougar Pounce and Takedown hit harder on a Hunted target, so the javelin is really the start of an execute combo. Add Primal Surge between skirmishes and she rarely needs to back. The catch: that whole plan starts from one skillshot. Big if. Miss it, and she’s a jungler with a 525 range attack and no crowd control at all. Nothing in her kit stuns, roots or slows (the trap only damages and reveals), so a champion who reaches her keeps fighting.

Which champions are the best Nidalee counters?

Vi

Cease and Desist (R) runs Vi down a chosen enemy, knocking aside anyone in the way, then knocks the target airborne and slams it into the ground. Pounce can’t outrun something that tracks you. Vault Breaker (Q) carries Vi forward and knocks enemies back, Denting Blows (W) breaks Armor and builds Attack Speed with every third punch, and Blast Shield (passive) charges a shield she triggers by landing an ability, which soaks the javelin damage Nidalee was counting on. In practice, that’s a lot of lockdown for a champion with no crowd control to answer it.

Warwick

Blood Hunt (W) senses enemies below 50% Health and grants Warwick Move Speed and Attack Speed against them, tripled below 25%. Nidalee’s Takedown works on low targets too, but Warwick’s version comes with a heal: Eternal Hunger (passive) heals on every attack when he’s below 50% Health, three times as much below 25%, and Jaws of the Beast (Q) heals for the damage dealt. Long poke doesn’t work well against a jungler who refills while fighting. Infinite Duress (R) leaps (further with bonus Move Speed) and suppresses the first champion he collides with for 1.5 seconds, and Primal Howl (E) gives him damage reduction for 2.5 seconds before making nearby enemies flee for 1 second.

Rammus

Curl up with Defensive Ball Curl (W) and Rammus’s Armor and Magic Resist shoot up, while anyone attacking him takes damage back. Whichever form she’s in, Nidalee’s damage runs into the wall. His passive, Spiked Shell, then converts all that defence into Attack Damage (a curled Rammus is a miserable thing to hit). Frenzying Taunt (E) forces an enemy champion to attack him, and a taunted cougar hitting a curled Rammus is hurting herself. Powerball (Q) closes distance fast and slows on impact, and Soaring Slam (R) slows a whole area, knocking up enemies in the centre if he casts it mid-Powerball. Is there a worse target for an execute? Not many.

Rek’Sai

Burrow (W) gives Rek’Sai extra Move Speed underground, and Unburrow knocks up and damages enemies nearby. Prey Seeker (Q, burrowed) damages and reveals enemies it hits, which matters against a jungler who lives in brush. Tunnel (E, burrowed) creates reusable long-lasting shortcuts, and that kind of map control beats Prowl’s brush speed on a contested side of the map. Fury of the Xer’Sai (passive) restores Health while burrowed, so she heals off Nidalee’s poke between camps. Void Rush (R) makes her briefly untargetable and lunges at a marked target for damage based on maximum Health, which is a hard finisher to dodge.

Jarvan IV

Dragon Strike (Q) lowers Armor in a line and pulls Jarvan to his Demacian Standard (E), knocking up enemies on the way. That’s a knock-up from long range, delivered to someone who has no way to stop it. Cataclysm (R) leaps at a target and builds an arena of terrain around them, damaging nearby enemies on impact. Golden Aegis (W) shields him and slows surrounding enemies, and Martial Cadence (passive) adds damage based on current Health to his first attack on each enemy. Honestly, the flag-and-drag combo is the most reliable engage on this list.

How do you play against Nidalee in the jungle?

• Walk out of the javelin’s path behind minions or monsters. Javelin Toss gains damage as it flies, so a long-range hit is the dangerous one.
• Clear Bushwhack traps you spot. Each one damages and reveals whoever triggers it.
• Fight her after a missed javelin. Without a Hunt, her cougar spells are not enhanced against you.
• Avoid low-Health trades. Takedown deals more damage the less life you have.
• Bring Grievous Wounds into long fights; Primal Surge heals her and her allies on a 12 second cooldown.

Which items counter Nidalee?

Her damage depends on landing a javelin, and her staying power depends on Primal Surge, so you answer both. Annul, on Banshee’s Veil for mages and Edge of Night for physical damage builds, is a Spell Shield that blocks the next enemy Ability, and the next ability is usually the javelin. Grievous Wounds cuts her healing. Oblivion Orb and Executioner’s Calling each apply 40% Wounds for 3 seconds at 800 gold, and Thornmail applies it to anyone who attacks you. Tanks who want to stand in front of her cougar combo do well with Sunfire Aegis for the Health and Armor, plus Kaenic Rookern if she’s built magic damage. Prices and stat lines live in our LoL item reference.

When is Nidalee at her weakest?

After a missed Javelin Toss. The cooldown is only 6 seconds, but those 6 seconds are when she has no Hunt, no extra speed toward you and no enhanced cougar spells. That’s the time to walk at her.

Funny enough, the other window is simply a fight that goes long. She has a heal but no crowd control, and a tank or bruiser who survives the first combo usually wins the rest. Put simply, she wants to end things in three seconds, and every counter above is built to make it last ten.

Not sure what a jungler’s job is? Our guide to LoL roles lays it out, and every other champion is in our champion guide library. Cosmetics for her are collected on the Nidalee skins page, and the Nidalee ARAM guide explains how her spears play when there’s no jungle at all. Long story short, Nidalee counters reach her through Pounce and survive her first javelin.

FAQ

Who counters Nidalee the most?

Vi, Warwick, Rammus, Rek’Sai and Jarvan IV: junglers with reliable lockdown, healing or resistances that hold up after her first javelin.

Does Nidalee have crowd control?

No. None of her abilities stun, root or slow. Bushwhack damages and reveals, and her cougar spells deal damage only.

How does Nidalee’s Hunt work?

Hitting a champion or monster with Javelin Toss or Bushwhack starts a Hunt, which grants True Sight of the target and enhances her Takedown and Pounce against it.

Does Grievous Wounds work against Nidalee?

Yes. It reduces the healing from Primal Surge on her and on any ally she heals.

How were these Nidalee counters selected?

Each one comes from setting Nidalee’s patch 26.21 abilities beside that jungler’s kit. Win rates were not used.