Yone Counters: Who Beats Yone

Updated for patch 26.20. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Yone counters are champions who can stop his dashes, block his damage from the front or punish him for committing with his E. Yone is a melee fighter-assassin who deals mixed damage, dashes twice with his Q, and returns to his body after Soul Unbound, so the best answers take away one of those three tools.

The picks below are our editorial choices based on how each kit interacts with Yone’s abilities. We don’t use win-rate data, so treat this as a guide to why a matchup works, not a statistic.

Why is Yone hard to counter?

• Way of the Hunter (passive): every second attack deals magic damage, and his critical strike chance is increased. Pure armor stacking doesn’t stop all of his damage.
• Mortal Steel (Q): at two stacks, the third cast dashes forward and knocks enemies up. That is his main engage in lane.
• Spirit Cleave (W): a cone hit that also shields him, more if he hits champions.
• Soul Unbound (E): his spirit leaves the body, gains Move Speed, and snaps back when it ends, repeating part of the damage he dealt. While the spirit is out, the way back is fixed.
• Fate Sealed (R): he blinks behind the last champion in a line and pulls everyone hit toward him.

Put simply, Yone’s whole game plan is three steps. Dash in, trade, snap back. Anyone who cuts that sequence short (block the Q3 dash or just win the trade before he returns) makes his lane miserable.

Which champions are the best Yone counters?

Poppy

Steadfast Presence (W) stops enemy dashes around Poppy and grounds the champion it stops. Why does that hurt Yone so much? Because his third Q is a dash, and Poppy can stop it at exactly the moment he commits. Her W also grants Armor and Magic Resist passively (useful against his mixed damage).

Renekton

Ruthless Predator (W) stuns for 0.75 seconds, and when empowered it slashes three times and destroys damage shields on the target. That shield break matters, because Spirit Cleave shields Yone. Slice and Dice (E) gives Renekton a dash back in or out of the trade (and, when empowered, it also reduces the Armor of units hit).

Pantheon

Aegis Assault (E) makes Pantheon invulnerable to damage from the front while he strikes. Simple. Yone’s Q and R come straight at him, so a well-timed E blanks a large part of an all-in, and the trade turns before Yone can get back to his body.

Malphite

Thunderclap (W) adds aftershocks to his attacks. Unstoppable Force (R)? It knocks enemies into the air from range, so Malphite can wait at a safe distance until Yone spends his Q3 or E (his two ways out) and then engage on his own terms.

Rammus

Defensive Ball Curl (W) vastly increases his Armor and Magic Resistance and returns damage to enemies that attack him. Yone relies on attacks between his spells, so trading into a curled Rammus costs him health every time.

How do you counter Yone in lane?

• Track his Q stacks. The third Q is a dash and a knock-up. Stay out of its line when he has two stacks, and trade when he has just used it.
• Punish Soul Unbound. When his spirit is out, his body stays behind and he returns to it. Abilities that land on the body’s position, or simply standing between him and the body, make that return dangerous.
• Respect the shield. Spirit Cleave shields him more for each champion hit (minions don’t count), so short trades right after his W are worse for you than they look.
• Spread out against Fate Sealed. The ultimate hits everyone in a line and pulls them together, so standing in a row with your team gives him the best possible ult.

Which items counter Yone?

Don’t just stack armor and call it a day: Yone hits you with physical and magic damage in the same combo, so you need a bit of both. Plated Steelcaps reduce incoming damage from attacks by 10%, which covers a big part of his damage in lane. Randuin’s Omen makes you take 30% less damage from critical strikes, and Frozen Heart reduces the Attack Speed of nearby champions by 20%. All three effects come from the current item data, and you can compare them in our LoL items database, for example Sunfire Aegis for tanks who want armor plus damage.

Is Yone hard to play against for newer players?

Honestly, yes, mostly because so much happens at once: dashes, a knock-up, a shield and a return to the body. The thing is, every one of those tools has a visible tell. Learn to watch his Q stacks and his body during E, and most of the surprise goes away. If you are still learning lanes in general, our guide to LoL roles explains what top and mid usually face, and the full skin list for him lives on the Yone skins page.

Whoever you lock in, good Yone counters follow the same plan: stop his dash or beat him in the trade before he snaps back to his body.

FAQ

Who counters Yone the most?

Champions who stop dashes or block his engage. Poppy’s W stops his dashing Q3, Pantheon’s E blocks damage from the front, and Renekton’s empowered W breaks his shield and stuns.

Does armor work against Yone?

Only partly. His passive makes every second attack deal magic damage, so mixed defense or damage reduction against attacks works better than armor alone.

How do you dodge Yone’s ultimate?

Fate Sealed hits everyone in a line and pulls them toward him, so avoid lining up with your team when he has it ready.

What does Yone’s E do?

Soul Unbound sends his spirit forward with extra Move Speed. When it ends, he returns to his body and repeats part of the damage he dealt.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. It is an editorial list based on ability interactions in patch 26.20. We don’t use win-rate data.