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Volibear Counters: Who Beats Volibear

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

Volibear counters are top laners who refuse to brawl him at 150 range: ranged champions who kite his Thundering Smash, duelists who parry the stun, and anyone who cuts the healing on Frenzied Maul. Volibear is a fighter-tank who wants long, close fights, so short trades and distance beat him.

Our five picks come from comparing kits, spell against spell, not from any ranked numbers.

Volibear counters: Volibear, the Relentless Storm, splash art

Why is Volibear hard to counter?

  • The Relentless Storm (passive): attacks and abilities stack Attack Speed, and at full strength his attacks zap nearby enemies with magic damage.
  • Thundering Smash (Q): bonus speed toward enemies, then a stun on the first one he attacks. Cooldown 12/11.5/11/10.5/10.
  • Frenzied Maul (W): damages and marks a target; a second cast on the same target hits harder and heals him. Cooldown 5.
  • Sky Splitter (E): a lightning bolt that damages and slows, shielding Volibear if he stands in the blast. Cooldown 16.
  • Stormbringer (R): a leap that slows and damages, grants bonus Health, and disables nearby enemy towers for a while. Cooldown 160/135/110.

Every part of his kit pulls you into an extended fight. Thundering Smash runs you down and stuns, Frenzied Maul heals him every 5 seconds if he lands it twice on you, and the passive gets stronger the longer he keeps swinging. Even your tower isn’t safe, since Stormbringer switches it off when he lands nearby. The weakness is plain, though. He’s melee with no ranged spell except Sky Splitter, and everything good happens only after he reaches you.

Which champions are the best Volibear counters?

Teemo

Blinding Dart (Q) blinds its target, and Blind is the status that makes basic attacks miss. Thundering Smash stuns on Volibear’s next attack, so a blinded bear running at Teemo wastes the most important button he has. Move Quick (W) keeps Teemo faster than most melee champions until he gets hit, and Toxic Shot (E) poisons on every attack for 4 seconds. Noxious Trap (R) mushrooms slow and poison whoever steps on them. Annoying? Very, and a bear who can’t stick to his target for more than a second or two never gets his passive going.

Quinn

Quinn has 525 range and Vault (E), which dashes to an enemy, slows him, briefly interrupts him, then flips her back near her maximum attack range. That interrupt is an answer to a charging Thundering Smash. Blinding Assault (Q) hinders vision on the marked target, and Harrier (passive) adds bonus damage to her first attack on a marked enemy. Then she roams. Behind Enemy Lines (R) does that.

Kennen

From 550 range, Kennen tags the bear with Thundering Shuriken (Q); a third Mark of the Storm (passive) turns into a stun. Volibear can’t stack his passive if he can’t touch you. Lightning Rush (E) turns Kennen into lightning so he passes through units with bonus Move Speed, escaping a bear who just used his speed boost. His ultimate, Slicing Maelstrom, zaps every champion caught around him. For what it’s worth, the stun on a diving Volibear also stops Frenzied Maul from coming back for its heal.

Fiora

Fiora’s W, Riposte, soaks every hit and disable for a brief moment; block something immobilizing and the counter-stab becomes a stun. Thundering Smash is exactly that kind of effect. Read his speed boost, parry, and the bear is the one who’s stunned. Lunge (Q) gets her in and out of trades quickly, Bladework (E) slows and crits on two quick attacks, and Duelist’s Dance (passive) heals her whenever she strikes the weak point it reveals. Grand Challenge (R) exposes four of those points at once (lots of healing when it lands).

Gnar

Small Gnar plays the ranged game. Boomerang Throw (Q) damages and slows, and catching it cuts the cooldown, so he pokes all lane long without ever stepping into Volibear’s reach. Hop (E) bounces him off a unit for extra distance when the bear charges. At full Rage Gene (passive) he turns into Mega Gnar, and then GNAR! (R) throws everyone in a direction and stuns anyone who hits a wall, which works nicely after Volibear leaps under your tower.

How do you play the lane against Volibear?

  • Back off when he gains speed toward you. Thundering Smash stuns on his first attack.
  • Don’t let him land Frenzied Maul twice in a row; the second cast heals him.
  • Step out of the Sky Splitter circle. He gets a shield if he stands inside the blast, so fight elsewhere.
  • Remember that Stormbringer disables towers near his landing spot. Your tower won’t save you then.
  • Keep trades short, since The Relentless Storm grows with every attack.

Which items counter Volibear?

Cut his healing first. Executioner’s Calling for 800 gold applies Grievous Wounds with physical damage, Oblivion Orb does the same with magic damage, and Bramble Vest returns it to a bear who keeps attacking you. Thornmail upgrades it later. His passive leans on Attack Speed, so Frozen Heart and its Winter’s Caress (a 20% Attack Speed cut on nearby champions) take a lot off him. Put simply, boots matter too: the Plating on Plated Steelcaps trims 10% off every hit he lands. Need to clear the stun? Quicksilver Sash removes crowd control, so the follow-up Frenzied Maul hits someone who is already walking away. Find all of these in our item database, and check Thornmail for the full build path.

When is Volibear at his weakest?

Right after Thundering Smash. Its cooldown is 12 seconds at rank 1, and without it he has no stun and no speed to reach a ranged champion. Trade into him then.

Without Stormbringer, he’s also much less scary near towers. At 160 seconds on rank 1 (that’s a long wait), a wasted ultimate gives you over two minutes of safe tower dives in reverse, honestly a big swing in a top lane.

New to the solo lane? Read our guide to LoL roles first. Every storm-bear costume Riot has released for him, from the earliest to the newest, is listed on the Volibear skins page. Got him in a random-champion game? There’s a Volibear ARAM guide for that. Long story short, Volibear counters keep their distance, dodge the Thundering Smash stun, and buy Grievous Wounds early.

FAQ

Who counters Volibear the most?

Teemo, Quinn and Kennen, who can stay at range, Fiora, whose Riposte can parry Thundering Smash, and Gnar, who kites him with Boomerang Throw.

How does Volibear heal?

Frenzied Maul marks a target, and casting it again on the same target deals bonus damage and heals him. Its cooldown is 5 seconds.

Does Volibear’s ultimate disable towers?

Yes. Stormbringer temporarily disables enemy towers near his landing location. Its cooldown is 160/135/110 seconds.

What stops Thundering Smash?

Distance, a parry such as Fiora’s Riposte, or a blind on Volibear, since the stun only lands with his next attack.

How were these Volibear counters picked?

Every top laner was compared with his patch 26.22 abilities one by one, without win-rate statistics.