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Warwick Counters: Who Beats Warwick

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

Warwick counters are junglers who shut down his healing, stop his leap or simply refuse to fight at 125 range: tanks who punish his attacks, kiters with slows, and anyone who blocks dashes. Warwick is a fighter-tank who sniffs out low-health enemies and heals off every bite, so cutting the sustain and denying the chase beats him.

We chose these five by comparing kits. No win-rate tables.

Warwick counters: Warwick, the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun, splash art

Why is Warwick hard to counter?

  • Eternal Hunger (passive): basic attacks deal bonus magic damage and heal him the same amount below 50% health, three times that below 25%.
  • Jaws of the Beast (Q): a lunge and bite that deals max-health-based damage and heals. Cooldown 8/7.5/7/6.5/6.
  • Blood Hunt (W): he senses enemies under 50% health and gains Move Speed toward them and attack speed against them, tripled under 25%. Cooldown 80/70/60/50/40.
  • Primal Howl (E): 2.5 seconds of damage reduction, then a howl that makes nearby enemies flee for 1 second. Cooldown 15/14/13/12/11.
  • Infinite Duress (R): a leap that scales with his bonus Move Speed and suppresses the first champion hit for 1.5 seconds. Cooldown 110/90/70.

Warwick gets stronger the closer he is to dying. That’s unusual, and it’s why trading with him feels so bad. Below half health his passive heals, Jaws of the Beast heals on top, and Primal Howl cuts the damage he takes while scaring you off. Meanwhile Blood Hunt turns any wounded enemy into a target he can track across the map. So what’s the weakness? He has one real engage, Infinite Duress, and a melee champion who can’t reach you or can’t heal is just a big dog.

Which champions are the best Warwick counters?

Rammus

Curled up with his W, Defensive Ball Curl, the armadillo turns into a wall of resistances that hits back at every attacker. Warwick’s whole kit runs on basic attacks, so every swing that heals him also hurts him. Frenzying Taunt (E) forces Warwick to attack Rammus, ideally while the curl is up. Rolling in with Powerball (Q) slows. Slam during the roll? Soaring Slam (R) then adds a knock-up in the middle. Spiked Shell (passive) turns his resistances into Attack Damage, so a tanky Rammus still hits back.

Jax

For a brief moment, Jax’s E (Counter Strike) makes every basic attack aimed at him miss, and when it ends, nearby enemies get stunned. Against a champion whose healing comes from attacks, that’s a window where Warwick deals and heals nothing. Leap Strike (Q) jumps to a unit (ward or ally works). Relentless Assault (passive) stacks Attack Speed, and Grandmaster-at-Arms (R) adds Armor and Magic Resist plus a magic damage hit every third attack. The skirmish usually goes Jax’s way.

Lillia

Lillia never stands still long enough to get bitten. Blooming Blows (Q) gives her stacking Move Speed every time a spell hits, so she outpaces even a Blood Hunt chase on most clears. Swirlseed (E) slows, and Watch Out! Eep! (W) hits hard in the centre. Dream-Laden Bough (passive) adds max-health damage over time, which keeps Warwick’s health dropping between her casts. Lilting Lullaby (R) puts everyone carrying Dream Dust to sleep (a very long pause for a champion that only wants to keep attacking).

Poppy

Poppy’s W, Steadfast Presence, halts any dash that comes near her, then slows and grounds the dasher. Infinite Duress is a leap, the kind of movement the W is built for, so a Poppy standing next to her carry can cancel his whole gank. Heroic Charge (E) dashes Warwick into a wall for a stun. Hammer Shock (Q) slows. And if he still gets in, her ultimate, Keeper’s Verdict, sends him flying a huge distance from the fight he just picked. The buckler from her passive, Iron Ambassador, turns into a temporary shield once Poppy grabs it again.

Graves

Graves fights from 425 range with a shotgun, and the four-bullet blast at close range shreds anything that walks into him. Quickdraw (E) is the dodge. Smoke Screen (W) reduces sight range in a cloud and slows enemies caught by the impact, making a Blood Hunt chase awkward. End of the Line (Q) and Collateral Damage (R) burst him before the low-health healing matters. Is that fair? Honestly, probably not, but a jungler who heals only once he’s low has a real problem with burst like this.

How do you play against Warwick in the jungle?

  • Stay above 50% health when he’s nearby. Blood Hunt reveals and speeds him toward anyone below it.
  • Burst him from high health; his passive healing only starts once he’s under 50%.
  • Wait out Primal Howl. Its damage reduction lasts 2.5 seconds, and the fear only hits enemies nearby.
  • Track his ultimate cooldown. Infinite Duress is 110 seconds at rank 1, and it’s his only reliable engage.
  • Ward your jungle entrances, because a Blood Hunt trail will lead him straight to you.

Which items counter Warwick?

Grievous Wounds first, always. Executioner’s Calling, Oblivion Orb or Bramble Vest apply 40% Wounds and cut every heal from his passive and Jaws of the Beast. Thornmail and Mortal Reminder upgrade those later. Quicksilver Sash removes crowd control except Airborne, so it can cleanse the Infinite Duress suppression; Mercurial Scimitar does the same for AD carries. Long story short, Frozen Heart (its Winter’s Caress slows the Attack Speed of champions near you) and Randuin’s Omen help tanks against all those attacks. Every number is in our items database, and Thornmail has a dedicated page.

When is Warwick at his weakest?

At full health. His passive heals only below 50% health, so burst damage that takes him from full to low skips most of his sustain. Funny enough, that’s the trick. Hit hard and fast, not slow and steady.

Without his ultimate, too. Infinite Duress has a 110 second cooldown at rank 1 (70 at rank 3), and a Warwick without it has to walk up to you with only a lunge, which ranged carries and kiters can punish. Ward his side of the map when it’s down. In practice, that’s when his ganks fail.

Starting out in the jungle? Look, the jungle part of our guide to LoL roles is a fine place to begin if the role is still new to you and the whole idea of clearing camps feels strange. The Zaun wolf’s outfits appear on the Warwick skins page, and the random-champion mode version of him has a separate Warwick ARAM guide. Warwick counters bring Grievous Wounds, stay healthy enough to avoid Blood Hunt, and keep something ready for his leap.

FAQ

Who counters Warwick the most?

Rammus, Jax, Lillia, Poppy and Graves. They punish his attacks, dodge them, kite him, stop his leap or burst him before his healing matters.

How does Warwick heal?

Eternal Hunger heals him for the bonus magic damage of his attacks below 50% health, tripled below 25%, and Jaws of the Beast heals for the damage it deals.

Can Quicksilver Sash remove Warwick’s ultimate?

Quicksilver Sash removes all crowd control debuffs except Airborne, and Infinite Duress is a suppression, so it can be cleansed.

What is Blood Hunt?

Warwick’s W. He senses enemies below 50% health and gains Move Speed toward them and attack speed against them, with the bonuses tripled below 25%.

How were these Warwick counters chosen?

Each jungler was checked against his patch 26.21 abilities, and no win-rate numbers were used.