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Singed Counters: Who Beats Singed

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

Singed counters are top laners who refuse to chase him: ranged picks that poke him off his poison, fighters who ignore his Fling, and anyone who can pull him into a duel he can’t run from. Singed is a 125 range tank who deals most of his damage by running in front of you with Poison Trail. Don’t follow the cloud.

Below are five top laners, each matched against his kit. No win-rate tables were involved.

Singed counters: Singed, the Mad Chemist, splash art

Why is Singed hard to counter?

  • Noxious Slipstream (passive): he drafts off nearby champions and gets a burst of Move Speed when he passes them.
  • Poison Trail (Q): a trail of poison behind him that damages enemies caught in it. Cooldown 0, a toggle.
  • Mega Adhesive (W): a vial of glue on the ground that slows and grounds enemies walking on it. Cooldown 17/16/15/14/13.
  • Fling (E): damages a target and throws it over his shoulder; if it lands in Mega Adhesive, it’s also rooted. Cooldown 10/9.5/9/8.5/8.
  • Insanity Potion (R): boosts his combat stats and makes Poison Trail apply Grievous Wounds. Cooldown 100.

Singed is strange to lane against because he doesn’t trade the normal way. He runs. Poison Trail stays behind him, so anyone chasing walks through it, and Noxious Slipstream speeds him up every time he slips past a champion. Fling into Mega Adhesive is his only real lockdown: a throw, then a root and a grounding effect that blocks dashes. Can he kill you if you just walk away? Rarely, unless you’re already low. That’s the core of every matchup below.

Which champions are the best Singed counters?

Teemo

From 500 range, Teemo pokes Singed while Singed needs to be right next to him. Toxic Shot (E) poisons on every attack for 4 seconds of damage, Blinding Dart (Q) blinds him (so the auto attacks he does try simply miss), and Move Quick (W) keeps Teemo’s Move Speed up until a champion hits him. The real trick is Noxious Trap (R). Singed loves to run circles around a lane, and mushrooms planted on those circles slow and poison him on contact. Teemo never has to chase. Guerrilla Warfare (passive) even turns him Invisible in brush.

Olaf

Honestly, Olaf’s whole ultimate reads like an anti-Singed button: while he keeps swinging, Ragnarok ignores disables, so neither Fling nor the glue root lands. Without Fling, Singed’s lockdown is gone. Undertow (Q) is an axe throw that slows and shreds Armor, and picking the axe up resets its cooldown, so Olaf can keep pace with a running Singed for quite a while. Reckless Swing (E) hits for true damage. Berserker Rage (passive) adds Attack Speed and Life Steal as Olaf’s health drops (careful, though, because Insanity Potion’s Grievous Wounds cut into that healing).

Mordekaiser

His ultimate (R) drags Singed into another dimension, steals part of his stats and leaves the two of them alone. Where does Singed run in there? Not far. Death’s Grasp (E) pulls him back whenever he tries to lead Mordekaiser through the poison, and Obliterate (Q) hits harder against a single enemy, which is exactly the one-on-one Singed wants to avoid. Indestructible (W) turns damage dealt and taken into a shield that can become healing. Three hits switch on his passive aura, and Singed tends to stand right inside it.

Gnar

Small Gnar throws Boomerang Throw (Q) to slow and damage from range, and catching it lowers the cooldown, so he chips Singed without stepping on the trail. Every third hit from small Gnar procs Hyper for extra damage and speed. Once Rage Gene (passive) fills, Mega Gnar gets Wallop, a stun in front of him, and GNAR! (R), which throws enemies and stuns anyone who hits a wall. Pinned against terrain, he stops. Hop (E) even gives Gnar a jump over the poison when he needs one.

Cho’Gath

Cho’Gath answers Singed with silence and size. Feral Scream (W) silences enemies in a cone for a few seconds, which shuts off Fling and Mega Adhesive right when Singed walks in. Rupture (Q) pops him into the air and slows. Vorpal Spikes (E) slow everything in front of each attack, and Feast (R) deals a high amount of true damage to one target, growing Cho’Gath’s maximum Health if it kills. In practice, he’s the tank who out-tanks the tank. Carnivore (passive) restores Health and Mana on every kill, so farming under poison hurts him less.

How do you play the lane against Singed?

  • Never chase him. Poison Trail sits behind him, and every step after him is a step through it.
  • Farm instead. A Singed running around you isn’t hitting minions, and that gold gap adds up.
  • Stay off the glue. Mega Adhesive grounds you, and Fling into it adds a root; its cooldown is 17 seconds at rank 1.
  • Back away from walls and towers when he’s close, since Fling throws you behind him.
  • Expect Grievous Wounds once he drinks Insanity Potion, so time your heals before that.

Which items counter Singed?

Look, it’s magic damage. For the Fling root, look at Mercury’s Treads: 30% Tenacity on top of 20 Magic Resist. Force of Nature’s Steadfast triggers after 8 instances of champion magic damage, and a poison tick counts as plenty of instances, granting 70 Magic Resist plus bonus Move Speed. Kaenic Rookern brings 80 Magic Resist with 400 Health. Bruisers can pick Wit’s End, which mixes Magic Resist and Tenacity with Attack Speed. Want a closer look? Our LoL items database has full numbers, and Kaenic Rookern has its own page.

When is Singed at his weakest?

Early, when he’s out of position. A Singed who proxies (runs behind your minion wave to farm) is far from his tower, and a jungler with a stun or a slow can catch him before Noxious Slipstream gets him out. With Fling on cooldown he has no way to stop you walking away from him. Simple as that.

Insanity Potion matters too. It’s a 100 second cooldown, and without it Poison Trail doesn’t apply Grievous Wounds and his stats drop back to normal, so a team fight forced right after he used it is a fight against a much weaker Singed.

New to top lane? The guide to LoL roles explains what that solo lane expects from you, for what it’s worth. Every chemist costume Riot has shipped sits on the Singed skins page, and the poison-on-a-bridge version of him gets its own Singed ARAM guide. Real talk: Singed counters win by ignoring the chase, farming, and punishing him when Fling is down.

FAQ

Who counters Singed the most?

Teemo, who pokes from range and mushrooms his running paths; Olaf, whose Ragnarok ignores Fling; Mordekaiser, who isolates him with his ultimate; Gnar, who can stun him into walls; and Cho’Gath, whose Feral Scream silences him.

Why shouldn’t you chase Singed?

Poison Trail leaves poison behind him, so chasing means walking through it, and Noxious Slipstream gives him Move Speed when he passes champions.

How does Fling root?

Fling throws a target behind Singed. If it lands in Mega Adhesive, the target is also rooted.

What does Insanity Potion do?

It increases his combat stats and makes Poison Trail apply Grievous Wounds. Its cooldown is 100 seconds.

How was this list of Singed counters made?

We read his patch 26.21 abilities next to each top laner’s kit. Win rates did not factor in.