Teemo Counters: Who Beats Teemo

Updated for patch 26.22. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Teemo counters are top laners who close the gap fast and lock him down: champions with point-and-click stuns, chained dashes, or shields that let them walk through his poke. Teemo is a 500 range marksman-mage who wins by poisoning you with Toxic Shot, blinding your attacks with Blinding Dart and kiting with Move Quick. Reach him once and he has no escape beyond his speed.

Five top laners follow, picked from how their abilities meet his. No win rates were involved.

Why is Teemo hard to counter?

• Guerrilla Warfare (passive): standing still turns him Invisible, and in brush he stays Invisible while moving; leaving it grants a burst of Attack Speed.
• Blinding Dart (Q): damages and blinds a target for the duration. Cooldown 7.
• Move Quick (W): passive Move Speed until a champion or turret hits him, plus a sprint that isn’t interrupted. Cooldown 14.
• Toxic Shot (E): every attack poisons, dealing damage on impact and each second for 4 seconds. Cooldown 0.
• Noxious Trap (R): a mushroom trap that releases a slowing, damaging cloud when stepped on; mushrooms thrown onto other mushrooms bounce further. Cooldown 0.25.

Teemo is annoying on purpose. He pokes from range with poisoned attacks, blinds the melee champion who tries to trade back, and runs away faster than they can follow. Later, mushrooms cover the map and slow anyone who steps on them. What he lacks is any hard crowd control or dash. So the plan writes itself: get to him with a dash or a stun, and keep him there.

Which champions are the best Teemo counters?

Pantheon

Shield Vault (W) is a targeted dash that damages and stuns, the cleanest answer to a ranged champion with no dash of his own. Blinding Dart can’t stop it. Aegis Assault (E) makes Pantheon invulnerable to damage from the front while he stabs repeatedly, so Teemo’s poke in front of him simply bounces off. Comet Spear (Q) pokes back from range when thrown. Mortal Will (passive) empowers a spell every few casts or attacks. Grand Starfall (R) lands him anywhere nearby as a comet, which also helps him chase. In practice, Pantheon decides when the trade happens.

Irelia

Her Q is a healing dash that resets on any Marked enemy, so one mark can mean two dashes in a row. The E blades snap together and stun whoever stands in the middle, marking them too. A marked Teemo gets a free Bladesurge, then another. Defiant Dance (W) reduces physical damage while she charges. Vanguard’s Edge (R) marks everyone hit and leaves a slowing wall of blades. Ionian Fervor (passive) stacks Attack Speed when her spells land, and Blinding Dart doesn’t stop her spells from hitting.

Riven

Riven’s damage comes from abilities, and a blind only stops basic attacks. Broken Wings (Q) recasts three times, each a short dash with damage, and the third knocks enemies back. Valor (E) dashes forward and blocks incoming damage. Ki Burst (W) stuns everyone nearby, so one Broken Wings into Ki Burst catches Teemo before Move Quick saves him. Runic Blade (passive) charges extra attack damage off her spells. Blade of the Exile (R) adds Attack Damage, Range and a ranged Wind Slash for the finish (handy if he’s running away low).

Renekton

Slice and Dice (E) dashes through units and can be cast again, which covers a lot of ground. Ruthless Predator (W) stuns for 0.75 seconds, or 1.5 seconds with more than 50 Fury, and destroys damage shields on the empowered version. His Q spin heals him a little, and his passive turns attacks into Fury for empowered spells. Dominus (R) adds bonus Health and a damage aura, which is plenty against a champion this fragile. Honestly, Renekton just walks up, dashes, stuns and wins the trade.

Kled

Bear Trap on a Rope (Q) hooks an enemy champion, and if they stay shackled long enough they’re yanked toward Kled. His E lance charge hits once on the way in and again on the way back. Chaaaaaaaarge! (R) sends Kled and Skaarl charging toward a location with a shield, ramming the first champion they meet. Skaarl, the Cowardly Lizard (passive) means Skaarl takes damage for Kled, so poke has to chew through two health bars. Violent Tendencies (W) gives four fast attacks. Thing is, Kled needs to land the hook; mushrooms in the brush make that awkward.

How do you play the lane against Teemo?

• Trade with abilities when blinded. Blinding Dart stops basic attacks for its duration, not spells.
• Bait Move Quick. Its passive speed stops when a champion hits him, and the sprint is on a 14 second cooldown.
• Don’t stand in brush he controls. Guerrilla Warfare keeps him Invisible while moving there.
• Walk around mushrooms; they slow and damage over time when stepped on.
• Pressure him early, before Noxious Trap is everywhere.

Which items counter Teemo?

His mushrooms slow, and slows are what let him kite you. Boots of Swiftness cut slow effectiveness by 25%, a solid buy against a map full of traps. Dead Man’s Plate reduces slows by another 15% with Unsinkable, builds Move Speed while moving and adds 350 Health. Stridebreaker’s Breaking Shockwave slows nearby enemies by 35% and gives decaying Move Speed per champion hit, exactly what a melee champion needs to catch him. Is it worth it on every champion? No, but bruisers love it. Full stats sit in our LoL items database, and Boots of Swiftness have their own page.

When is Teemo at his weakest?

Early, before Noxious Trap. Level 1 to 5 Teemo has only Blinding Dart, Move Quick and Toxic Shot, and a top laner with a dash and a stun can force trades he can’t escape.

He’s also weak once caught. Teemo has 500 range and no dash, so a single stun or hook usually means death for him (well, unless his jungler is close by). Move Quick’s passive speed also turns off the moment he’s hit by a champion, so landing the first hit matters most.

Not sure what top lane asks of you? Our guide to LoL roles spells it out. Every scout costume (there are plenty) is on the Teemo skins page. Mushrooms on one bridge? That’s the Teemo ARAM guide. Long story short, Teemo counters dash in, stun him, and trade with spells when blinded.

FAQ

Who counters Teemo the most?

Pantheon, whose Shield Vault stuns on a targeted dash; Irelia and Riven, who chain dashes and stuns; Renekton, who dashes and stuns with Ruthless Predator; and Kled, who hooks him in.

Does Blinding Dart stop abilities?

No. It blinds the target, which stops basic attacks for the duration. Abilities still hit.

How does Teemo go Invisible?

Guerrilla Warfare makes him Invisible after standing still without acting for a short time, and in brush he can stay Invisible while moving.

What do Teemo’s mushrooms do?

Noxious Trap releases a poisonous cloud when an enemy steps on it, slowing and damaging over time.

How did we choose these Teemo counters?

His patch 26.22 abilities were read against each top laner’s kit, and no win-rate data came into it.