Skip to content

Varus Counters: Who Beats Varus

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

Varus counters are bot laners who can block or sidestep a projectile, because his best spells are all projectiles. He’s a 575-range marksman with a charged arrow, a Blight passive that detonates for max Health magic damage, a slowing hail that cuts healing, and a chain that roots and spreads, so a spell shield, a blink or a wall beats him.

These five picks come from his patch 26.21 ability text held against theirs. We didn’t consult win rates.

Varus counters: Varus, the Arrow of Retribution, splash art

Why is Varus hard to counter?

  • Living Vengeance (passive): on a kill or assist he temporarily gains Attack Damage and Ability Power, more if the enemy was a champion.
  • Piercing Arrow (Q): he readies a shot that gains range and damage the longer he spends preparing it. Cooldown 16/15/14/13/12 seconds.
  • Blighted Quiver (W): passively, his attacks deal bonus magic damage and apply Blight, and his other abilities detonate Blight for magic damage based on the target’s maximum Health. The active empowers his next Piercing Arrow. Cooldown 40.
  • Hail of Arrows (E): physical damage plus desecrated ground that slows and reduces self healing and regeneration. Cooldown 18/16/14/12/10.
  • Chain of Corruption (R): a tendril that immobilizes the first enemy champion hit, then spreads to nearby uninfected champions and immobilizes them too. Cooldown 100/80/60.

Varus is two marksmen in one slot. One of them pokes: a charged Piercing Arrow from beyond 575 range, a Hail of Arrows that slows you in place and cuts your healing while you stand in it. The other one hits you a few times, detonates Blight for a chunk of your maximum Health, and does it again. Then there’s the chain. Chain of Corruption roots the first champion and spreads to everyone standing near them, which is how a bot lane two-versus-two turns into two rooted people and a free Piercing Arrow. And the cost of all that? Movement. No dash, no blink, no shield, and the arrow and the chain are both projectiles with travel time, which is where the five picks below come in.

Which champions are the best Varus counters?

Sivir

Spell Shield (E) is a barrier against one enemy ability cast on Sivir, and blocking something gives her Health and a burst of movement speed. Against Varus that one block is the whole lane: a Chain of Corruption that hits a Spell Shield roots nobody and spreads nowhere. Fleet of Foot (passive) gives her Move Speed when she attacks a champion, and On The Hunt (R) grants her allies a surge of Move Speed, which is how a bot lane walks out of a Hail of Arrows and sidesteps a fully charged Piercing Arrow at the same time. Boomerang Blade (Q) damages on the way out and back. Sivir trades at 500 range against his 575, so she doesn’t outrange him; she just refuses to be hit (which, against Varus, is the same thing).

Yasuo

Wind Wall (W) is a moving wall, 4 seconds long, that blocks every enemy projectile. Piercing Arrow is a shot and Chain of Corruption is a tendril flung across the lane, and both of them stop at the wall (Riot’s text doesn’t name which spells count, so test it in practice before you bank a lane on it). Sweeping Blade (E) dashes through a target, Steel Tempest (Q) knocks Airborne at 2 stacks, and Last Breath (R) blinks to an Airborne champion. Way of the Wanderer (passive) builds a shield while he moves. A 175-range champion in the bot lane sounds like a joke until a marksman with no escape meets one who deletes his two best spells.

Ezreal

Arcane Shift (E) teleports Ezreal to a nearby location and fires a homing bolt at the nearest enemy, which is the cleanest possible answer to a Piercing Arrow that spent a long time charging. Mystic Shot (Q) pokes from 550 range and reduces his cooldowns when it hits, so the blink comes back faster the more he lands. Essence Flux (W) sticks an orb to a champion that detonates when he hits it, and Trueshot Barrage (R) deals massive damage to every unit it passes through from across the map. Where is the arrow aimed? Somewhere Ezreal was a moment ago. Thing is, Varus’ poke only works on someone who stays where the arrow was aimed. Ezreal is never there.

Lucian

Relentless Pursuit (E) is a short dash that Lightslinger attacks keep refreshing, and a short dash is exactly as much as it takes to step out of Piercing Arrow’s line. Lightslinger (passive) adds bonus magic damage to his next two attacks whenever a nearby enemy champion is immobilized. Chain Lucian’s support, and you’ve just armed Lucian. Piercing Light (Q) shoots through a target, Ardent Blaze (W) marks and reveals, and The Culling (R) is a torrent of shots at a marksman with no way to leave it. 500 range against 575 means Lucian has to dash in to trade, honestly, but Varus has nothing that punishes the dash.

Samira

Enemy missiles die to Blade Whirl (W), which slashes around Samira and destroys them. The charged arrow is a missile; so is the chain. Wild Rush (E) dashes through an enemy and refreshes on a champion kill, and Daredevil Impulse (passive) dashes her to attack range against anyone affected by an immobilizing effect, so a Chain of Corruption on her support delivers Samira to Varus (gift-wrapped, no less). Then Inferno Trigger (R) empties both guns into everyone around her. The catch is Hail of Arrows: the desecrated ground slows and cuts self healing, and a Samira standing in it is a Samira who can’t Wild Rush her way back out as fast as she’d like.

How do you play the lane against Varus?

  • Move when he starts charging. Piercing Arrow gains range and damage the longer he prepares it, so the time he spends charging is time you spend leaving the line.
  • Don’t stand in the hail. Desecrated ground slows you and reduces self healing and regeneration, which means your support’s heal does less while you’re in it.
  • Stay apart when the chain is up. Chain of Corruption spreads to nearby uninfected champions, so two people standing together are two rooted people.
  • Don’t let Blight build. His attacks apply it and any ability detonates it for magic damage based on your maximum Health, so trade in short bursts and step out before he casts.
  • Deny the kill. Living Vengeance gives him Attack Damage and Ability Power on a kill or assist, more for a champion, so a Varus who gets first blood snowballs the lane.

Which items counter Varus?

His damage is split: physical arrows, magic from Blight, and the Blight part scales with your maximum Health. Start with the chain. Banshee’s Veil carries Annul, a Spell Shield that blocks the next enemy ability, with 40 Magic Resist and 105 Ability Power for casters, and Edge of Night gives the same Spell Shield to AD builds with 250 Health. Quicksilver Sash removes crowd control debuffs for 1,300 gold, which is a root undone on demand, and Mercury’s Treads bring 30% Tenacity for everyone who can’t afford a dedicated slot. For the magic damage, Spirit Visage gives 50 Magic Resist and 400 Health, and its Boundless Vitality raises heals and shields on you by 25%, which pushes back against the healing cut on desecrated ground. Force of Nature builds Steadfast off magic damage from champions, and since every Varus attack carries bonus magic damage, the 8 hits it needs for 70 Magic Resist arrive quickly. Our item database has the build paths, and Heartsteel is there if you want to know what stacking Health into a Blight marksman costs you.

When is Varus at his weakest?

With the chain on cooldown. Chain of Corruption is 100 seconds at rank 1, and without it his crowd control is a slow on the ground and nothing else, on a marksman with no dash, no blink and 575 range. To be fair, that’s the all-in window for anyone with a gap closer, and it’s a long one.

And while he charges. Piercing Arrow gets stronger the longer he holds it, which means a Varus charging a full arrow is a Varus not attacking, so Blight isn’t building either. Is he charging at you? Then he’s already told you which direction the arrow goes. Step sideways, and his 16 second cooldown at rank 1 starts with nothing to show for it.

Our guide to LoL roles is the place to start if you’re not sure what a marksman and a support owe each other. The Varus skins page has the cosmetics, and the Varus ARAM guide covers the Howling Abyss version. Put simply, the best Varus counters all answer the same two projectiles, and a Varus whose arrow and chain don’t land is a slow marksman with a nice passive.

FAQ

Who counters Varus the most?

Bot laners with a spell shield, a blink or a projectile block: Sivir, Yasuo, Ezreal, Lucian and Samira.

Does Sivir’s Spell Shield block Chain of Corruption?

Yes. Spell Shield blocks a single enemy ability cast on Sivir, and a blocked Chain of Corruption roots nobody and has no first target to spread from.

Does Varus have a dash?

No. None of his abilities moves him. His kit is a charged arrow, a Blight passive, a slowing hail and a rooting chain.

Does Quicksilver Sash counter Varus?

Partly. It removes crowd control debuffs, so it ends the root from Chain of Corruption on you. It does nothing about the arrow or the Blight damage.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. The five picks come from setting Varus’ patch 26.21 ability text beside each champion’s kit, nothing more.