Quinn Counters: Who Beats Quinn

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

Quinn counters are top laners who block or ignore her basic attacks, stack Armor against her physical damage, or stop Vault before it carries her out of reach. She’s a 525 range marksman playing top, with an eagle that marks targets for bonus damage, a vision-hindering strike, a dash that bounces her back to max range, and an ultimate that lets her fly across the map. The picks that beat her make her attacks useless or catch her when Vault is down.

Below are five matchups, each built from the abilities involved. No win-rate tables went into this.

Quinn counters: Quinn, Demacia's Wings, splash art

Why is Quinn hard to counter?

Harrier (passive): Valor periodically marks enemies, and Quinn’s first attack on a marked target deals bonus physical damage.
Blinding Assault (Q): Valor marks a target and hinders its vision, then damages everything around it. Cooldown 11/10.5/10/9.5/9.
Heightened Senses (W): Attack Speed and Move Speed after hitting a Harrier target; the active reveals a large area nearby. Cooldown 50/45/40/35/30.
Vault (E): a dash to an enemy that deals physical damage and slows, then a leap off them that briefly interrupts the target and lands near her max attack range. Cooldown 12/11/10/9/8.
Behind Enemy Lines (R): she and Valor fly at great speed, and ending it casts Skystrike, damaging nearby enemies and marking champions with Harrier. Cooldown 3.

Melee top laners hate this lane (some of them openly), and the reason is simple. Quinn has 525 range against fighters that usually sit far lower, she marks you for free bonus damage, and when you finally reach her, Vault slows you, interrupts you and lands her back at max range. Behind Enemy Lines then lets her roam the map at great speed. But her damage is basic attacks and physical damage. Block the attacks, or stack Armor, and her lane pressure drops a lot.

Which champions are the best Quinn counters?

Shen

Spirit’s Refuge (W) blocks every attack that would hit Shen or nearby allies around his spirit blade. Quinn’s damage is attacks, Harrier’s bonus included. While the zone is up, she does next to nothing. Shadow Dash (E) dashes Shen through enemies and taunts them, which pulls Quinn toward him rather than letting her kite. Twilight Assault (Q) deals damage based on maximum Health and slows enemies running away from him. Ki Barrier (passive) shields Shen after he casts a spell. Stand United (R) shields an ally and then teleports him to them, so Quinn’s roams with Behind Enemy Lines get answered from across the map.

Malphite

Malphite’s kit runs on Armor, and Quinn’s damage is physical. That’s the whole matchup in one line. His Ground Slam (E) hits harder the more Armor he has and drags down the Attack Speed of anyone near him, eating straight into what Heightened Senses gives her. The rock layer from Granite Shield (passive), worth a tenth of his maximum Health, rebuilds whenever she stops hitting him for a few seconds, so trading from range mostly chips stone. Seismic Shard (Q) is a ranged poke of his own that pinches some of her speed for 3 seconds. Then Unstoppable Force (R) closes the gap in an instant and throws everyone near the landing spot into the air. Can she kite him? Only until he presses R.

Poppy

Vault is Quinn’s only escape and her only way back to max range, and it’s a dash. Poppy’s answer is Steadfast Presence (W): switch it on and any dash near her gets cut short, leaving the dasher slowed and grounded on the spot. Save it for the moment Quinn jumps in, and she ends up stuck right next to a hammer. Passively the same ability hands Poppy Armor and Magic Resist that grow as her Health falls (exactly what a melee champion needs while walking through arrows). From there it’s simple. Heroic Charge (E) shoves Quinn toward the nearest wall for a stun, the buckler from Iron Ambassador (passive) refreshes a small shield every time Poppy picks it up, and Keeper’s Verdict (R) can launch Quinn clean out of a fight.

Teemo

A blinded marksman is a marksman with no damage. Blinding Dart (Q) makes Quinn’s attacks miss for its duration, which switches off Harrier’s bonus, the speed from Heightened Senses and most of what she wanted from the trade. With 500 range against her 525, Teemo isn’t giving away free hits either. His attacks stack a 4 second poison through Toxic Shot (E). Mushrooms from Noxious Trap (R) cover the lane and slow whoever walks into them, Move Quick (W) keeps him fast until a champion lands a hit, and Guerrilla Warfare (passive) hides him after a moment of standing still, so Valor has a harder time finding a target. Honestly, it’s a lane of two annoying ranged tops, and the blind tips it his way.

Jayce

Jayce switches between a hammer and a cannon. In Cannon Stance, Shock Blast (Q) fires an orb that damages everything near where it detonates, and through his Acceleration Gate (E) it gains speed, range and damage. That out-pokes a Quinn who needs to walk up to attack. Swapping to Mercury Hammer adds Armor and Magic Resist, and from there To the Skies! (Q) leaps onto her, Thundering Blow (E) knocks her back, and the lane suddenly belongs to a melee bruiser with a cannon in his back pocket. Hextech Capacitor (passive) gives Move Speed on every swap. In practice, he can choose range or melee depending on whether Vault is up.

How do you play the lane against Quinn?

Watch for Harrier marks. Her first attack on a marked target deals bonus damage, so step back when Valor marks you.
Don’t chase after Vault. It lands her near her max attack range away from you.
Engage when Vault is on cooldown. Without it she can’t get away, and it takes 12 seconds to return at rank 1.
Ward the side lanes. Behind Enemy Lines lets her fly around at great speed, so she roams more than most top laners.
Expect blurred vision after Blinding Assault; it hinders your sight before damaging the area.

Which items counter Quinn?

Armor. That’s the short answer, plus anything that slows her Attack Speed. Boots first: the Plating passive on Plated Steelcaps takes 10% off each of her arrows. Frozen Heart follows, since Winter’s Caress slows the Attack Speed of every champion near you by 20%. Randuin’s Omen has Resilience, 30% less damage from critical strikes, plus Humility, a 70% slow on nearby enemies for 2 seconds that stops her walking away. Thornmail adds 75 Armor and punishes every attack she lands. Tanks wanting extra Health can go Heartsteel, and the full list is in our League item database.

When is Quinn at her weakest?

Right after Vault. For 12 seconds at rank 1 she has no dash and no reset, and a melee champion who closes the gap then wins the trade. Real talk: look for it every time she uses Vault to engage.

The other window is late in the game, when tanks and bruisers have Armor. Her damage is physical and attack-based, so a few Armor items take most of the sting out (and Plated Steelcaps alone shave a chunk off every hit). To be fair, her roaming stays strong. Thing is, you can ward against it, and a top laner who keeps a ward on each flank will see Behind Enemy Lines coming long before Skystrike lands.

Not sure what top lane involves? Our guide to LoL roles covers it. Her skins are collected on the Quinn skins page, every other champion we’ve covered is in the guides hub, and the Quinn ARAM guide covers her single-lane game. Long story short, Quinn counters block her attacks or stack Armor, and they punish her the moment Vault is down.

FAQ

Who counters Quinn the most?

Shen, who blocks her attacks; Malphite, whose Armor beats her physical damage; Poppy, who stops Vault; Teemo, who blinds her; and Jayce, who out-pokes her.