League of Legends Nidalee Top Lane Guide

League of Legends Nidalee Top Lane Guide by E원재, translated by maddekay

This guide is by E원재, a KR Server D2 top Nidalee Main. While it isn’t the highest rated guide, it is listed on Seraph’s (Current CLG Top laner) guide as being one of the most informational guides (Seraph’s guide is incomplete due to being busy)

Nidalee pentakill video after the rework: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZVoWiBVcH8

**Runes**

Reds: AD 9

Yellows: Scaling Health 9

Blues: Flat MR 4, Scaling MR 5.

Quints: Armor 2, AD 1.

Reasoning:

Marks: Takedown has a 1AD ratio and therefore flat AD runes work very well. Also being ranged means it’s good for poking, zoning, and CSing.

Seals: Nidalee doesn’t have extremely good scaling for her base stats but more than that scaling health are just really good runes.

Glyphs: Due to early level poke, take 4 flat MR runes. Take 5 scaling MR runes as Nidalee does not gain MR per level and so they are very effective and efficient.

Quints: Because you don’t take armor seals you lack sufficient armor. For the early game take 2 armor quints. Also for the same reason as the marks, take 1 AD quint (movement speed works also)

**Masteries**

Take 3 levels of Executioner because it synergizes well with Takedown. Also, because of the same reasoning take Double-Edged Sword and Havoc.

Take the Spell Weaving and Blade Weaving line because Nidalee works very well mixing in both autos and skills.

Because of a heavy both auto and skill mixing, taking 3 points of Devastating Strikes is also highly recommended as 6% hybrid pen is a very good stat for Nidalee.

Take Dangerous Game because in a team fight you can easily get an assist just by healing your teammates and thus it’s very easy to trigger this mastery and thus you can use it efficiently.

**Summoner Spells**

Flash/Ignite

There’s no real explanation needed.

**Skills**

Q-W-E-E-Q-R-E-E-E-Q-R-Q-Q-W-W-R-W-W

Take W at level 1 if the opponent laner is Irelia, Jax, Riven, or basically any champion which will charge forward and punish a small positioning mistake.

In this case, AA-R (into cougar form)-W and get away from them.

Passive: TL;DR: If you hit your spear or your trap, your cougar form Q, W, and E are stronger. It is important to constantly use this passive.

Also, when your target is marked, all 3 of your cougar form skills are stronger, it is not restricted to just 1 skill.

Human Form Skills:

Q: Javelin Toss.

After the remake Nidalee’s spears are much more narrow.

That being said, if you hit your enemy with them they still do a lot of damage. Also if you hit your spears, your enemy is marked. You have to hit your spears for a kill opportunity.

After hitting your spear, you can Pounce (Cougar W) toward them following up with a Swipe (Cougar E) into a Takedown (Cougar Q) for a kill

While laning it’s important you hit your spears. Your spears allow you to trade and open up kill opportunities.

Also, hitting your Q, due to the passive mark, grants vision.

That being said when poking, it’s difficult to hit. Level it up only 2 oe 3 levels while laning.

Also, due to the spear becoming much more narrow it’s also possible to now weave them through minions so you can use this for a surprise spear into a kill.

W: Bushwhack

After the remake, stepping on Bushwhack now triggers the Prowl mark thus making it much more important as a skill.

Every time it is off cooldown you should be placing it in places where the minions will not trigger it.

In an all in you should be placing Bushwhacks where you either think they will be moving or right beneath them

This is because due to the Prowl passive your cougar form skills are reliant on the Prowl mark.

You should take this skill by level 2.

E: Primal Surge

This is why I say Nidalee’s sustain in lane is very good. That being said it does have a high mana cost.

The AS steroid is also very important. It plays a big part in taking down towers and also greatly increases damage in all ins.

You should E yourself before going into cougar form.

R: Aspect of The Cougar.

You know have your R from level 1, also every time you level up your R the damage of your cougar form skills increases

What this means is that leveling up your Q, W, or E does not increase the damage of your cougar form skills.

Take your R everytime you can (unlike say Jayce).

Cougar Q: Takedown

When your Prowl mark is upon your opponent your Q damage increases greatly, so when trading it’s important to go in for the takedown when your opponent has the passive mark triggered on them.

Cougar W: Pounce

When the hunted mark is upon your opponent you can know jump up to 700 units toward your opponent. This is a very good skill for chasing.

Also, now when you are in cougar form and you kill an enemy unit pounce’s cooldown is reduced by 1 second. This made it much easier for Nidalee to push the lane and also allows Nidalee to go in for a kill and then after getting it, getting out easily, thus making tower dives easier.

Here’s a video of, after hitting Q and marking Caitlyn with the hunted mark, using the longer range of Pounce to catch her and kill her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqC2lVnXbFM

Cougar E: Swipe

Basically, if your enemy has a hunted mark and you do a Pounce Swipe combo your Pounce cooldown is shortened to 1 second, making chasing extremely easy. It’s important that you use this skill well to enable strong chasing.

Also, if you have Red or Iceborn Gauntlet, after you mark your enemy you can Pounce Swipe Takedown, and due to the effect of Swipe reducing the couldown of Pounce you can then again jump and slow and make your chase even stronger.

**Skill Combos**

All of your combos should be done with the hunted mark on your enemy.

After hitting your Q or W in human form you should go in cougar form and then Pounce, Swipe, and Takedown. Then Pounce either away if they aren’t low enough or if they are, use pounce to chase for the kill.

The combo for the maximum amount of damage is, starting in human form, AA-E-AA-W-Q-R-W-E-Q. After you get your Iceborn Gauntlet or Sheen it’s important to weave autos between speels for maximum damage and slows.

Here’s a video of using the Sheen proc to it’s full potential against a 13/6/6 Caitlyn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbHsy41I5Ag

In the video below, when Jarvan dives, Nidalee E-AA-Q-W marking him as hunted and then, in cougar form, W-E-Qs for the turn around. Then, as due to reducing W’s cooldown by 1 second with E and then killing Jarvan reduces W’s cooldown by another second, Nidalee can W back to her tower and hit Jax with her Q

This is an overall example of the use of all of Nidalee’s skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqp4Bmc2rFg

It’s important to use the IBG’s slow when chasing.

Also, in human form, when you use your skills try to weave autos in between skills instead of spamming them all at once. That being said if you’re going to miss a kill or lose a trade because you’re obsessed with weaving in autos, you don’t have to.

**Items**

Starting Items: Doran’s Blade, Health Pot, Warding totem.

Mixed Damage Enemy Team Build: DBlade-IBG-BotRK-Boots-Spirit Visage-Randuins-GA

If you want a more damage oriented build replace IBG with Tri-force and BotRK with IE.

All AD Enemy Team Build:

Dblade-IBG-BotRK-Ninja Tabi or CDR Boots-Randuins-Thornmail-Warmog’s or GA.

You can again replace IBG and BotRK with Tri-force and IE.

2 AP Enemy Team:

DBlade-IBG-BotRK-Merc Treads-Spirit Visage-Randuins-Banshee’s or Maw of Malmortius.

If the enemy team has two to three AP threats in the top/jungle/mid position but they aren’t fed build the Maw of Malmortius.

If they are fed, build Banshee’s.

The only thing to pay attention to is if there is an Evelynn on the other team as AD Evelynn is very common so you have to pay attention to her build.

4 AP Enemy Team: (basically if the enemy mid, top, jungle are all AP and the support is someone like Zyra, Vel’koz, Morgana, or Annie and they build a lot of MPen or AP)

DBlade-Triforce-Merc Treads-Spirit Visage-BotRK or IE-Randuin’s-Banshee’s or Maw of Malmortius.

**6/29 Item update**

There has been a big change to the build you should be taking.

Normal Item Build:

DBlade+pot-phage-Triforce-Warden’s Mail-Randuin’s-Bilgewater-Hextech Gunblade-Spirit Visage-Void Staff-Merc Treads (Furor)

Starting Items: You usually have the range advantage so start with DBlade and a pot.

First Back Buys: (The number is how much gold you have on your first back)

400~550: get another DBlade

750~1100: Long Sword, Ruby Crystal, Wards and Pots. If your enemy is Riven, Fiora, Zed, or a strong AD trader, get Chain Vest.

1200 and above: While you get more burst and mana with Sheen, getting a Phage helps with becoming a bit less squishy and also has AD for harassing. If you go Phage get 1 or 2 mana pots.

If your lane opponent is Riven, Zed, Fiora or other characters which require you go defensive items get Phage and then a Chain Vest.

Boots:

Get your boots 1 during laning phase and upgrade about the time laning phase ends you should be choosing between 3 boots.

Ninja Tabi: If the enemy team is all AD and has little CC, take Ninjas. It’s also the best boots for a team with a fed Vayne.

CDR boots: If the enemy team doesn’t have much CC basically and you don’t feal threatened, take CDR boots for more spells and higher damage.

Merc Treads: These are the default boots for Nid. You get MR which is one of Nid’s biggest weaknesses and also tenacity.

Hextech Gunblade:

Basically in Nidalee’s skill combination of mixing in autos while in human form and a Q-R-W-E-Q, your autos and your Q in both forms reduce the cool down of the active. Combine that with the AS buff from the heal which gives Nidalee more AS than most marksmen in the early and midgame and basically you can use the active once every 20~30 seconds in a teamfight thus meaning in an extended team fight you can get the active off 2 or 3 times.

Also due to building Triforce, Gunblade, and Voidstaff you have enough CC for the active to actually do a bit damage while the 40% slow is very big for Nidalee who has no CC.

Go Bilgewater Cutlass first.

BotRK: Due to the nerfs you would basically only go BotRK for the active and Hextech Gunblade has a similar enough active that rendered BotRK useless on Top Bruiser Nidalee.

Void Staff: Besides from her autos, all of Nidalee’s damage is magic damage thus meaning you need MPen not APen. That being said, take this item later on or you won’t be able to take any damage due to being squishy.

**Champion Match-Ups**

CTRL+F to find a match up

Garen (EASY): Take W at level 1, take cotrol of the bushes with W. IF he steps on it AA-R-W-AA and trade. You should win every trade. From level 2 you can mix in Q or E and thus outtrade him even further. If you see him Q and start running toward you W back to safety. It’s very important to use your pounce carefully. Becareful if you have been chunked a lot because at level 6 you might be flash-Q-ignite-E-R comboed. Also if you get silenced you might not be able to run away so be careful of wild garens coming out from a bush.

Gangplank (Normal): Gangplank’s clock ticks backwards. At level 1 due to his passive and Q you can’t outtrade him so if you pounce the wrong way you will get chunked. However, from level 3~4 you will win against a marked Gangplank with a cougar form W-E-Q. You have to be careful of him getting kills or assists with his ult and also when he gets his Shiv. His oranges get rid of CC and thus are OP but Nidalee doesn’t have any CC so you should only be careful when you dive and he heals with his oranges. Also, if he goes glass cannon he actually hurts a lot so go armor items.

Nasus (Easy): Deny him using autos and Qs. If you hit him with a Q use your Q in cougar form to chunk him down. After leven 2 with Pounce and Takedown you should be able to deny and zone him strongly. Just be careful because if he suddenly wither’s you that’s a gank also when diving beware of his ult.

Darius (Normal): He’s extremely strong early on. Be extremely careful with your W. Only when his Apprehend is down can you W. Just zone him and poke him with autos till he uses one of his skills, then go in for a trade. After level 6 watch the passive stacks just in case you get a full stack ult. Once you get your defensive items you should be able to trade.

Diana (Normal): You can trade freely before level 6. That being said, if you don’t use the bushes to get rid of minion aggro properly Diana’s shield and minion aggro will mean you end up losing more health than Diana. After level 6 avoid her Q at all costs. Also, ward up because if you jump forward to trade and then she moonfalls you are exposed to an easy gank.

Ryze (Normal): He used to be hard but now that you have cougar form from level 1 and Ryze is weak to champions with gap closers, he became a lot easier. Basically push with cougar form by takeing Q or E at level 1. Then at level 2 take W and basically push him to his tower while also using the W-E-Q cougar combo to outtrade him.

Rumble (Normal): Push hard. Unless you get hit by the over 50 heat Electro-Harpoons you shouldn’t be in danger of getting killed by a gank. Basically from level 4 the only way Runble has a way of killing you is basically from 30 heat going Shielf-Harpoon-Flamespitter and hitting everything, with your pounce you can basically avoid a lot of his damage and you can also get out of his ult quickly with pounce. Just push him to his tower because it’s hard for rumble to CS under tower. Just remember he brings a lot to a teamfight. This video is a level 3 Nidalee getting a kill on both Rumble and a ganking Nasus. Basically if you push hard from the beginning you can deny him a lot of farm and make him miss a lot of exp and gold. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SShL7E5VuCE

Renekton (Normal): In the early game Renekton has a strong combo in Slice-Stun-Q-Dice. That being said if you take control of the bushes, Renekton using Slice and Dice to get into a bush is suicidal. Take Q level one and harass him with Q’s, autos, and cougar form Qs. Then from level 2 start filling the bushes with Bushwhacks. If Renekton comes into a bush with slice and dice and hits a trap (starting at human form) AA-Q-R-W-Q should be your level 2 trade combo. From level 3 mix in E in the cougar form with the W-E-Q combo. Also, be careful when diving due to his ult and stun.

Rengar (Normal): Most Rengars will utilize their passive and pounce from the bush. Take Bushwhack at level 1 and take control of the bushes. If he steps on a trap AA-R-W-AA. From level 2 if he steps on a trap and pounces on a minion or uses his skills on a minion just cougar form W-E-Q him for a winning trade. After he hits level 6 tell your mid to be careful. Also be careful of a level 2 or 3 ignite all in. Stay away from the bushes and if he comes out W-E-Q him in cougar form.

Lee Sin (Normal): In the beginning he’ll usually wait for a Q to hit before flying in when he does place a bushwhack right in front of you or hit him with a Q as he flies toward you. Then cougar form W-E-Q him. Beware of the early Safeguard-E-E-AA-Q-AA-Q combo and the level 6 Q-AA-E-AA-E-R-Q combo. Get a chain vest on your first back, only going Sheen or Phage if you are extremely confident. He also has good synergy with ganks so beware of ganks.

Riven (Normal): Originally Riven could punish positioning mistakes and so this matchup was a 50:50 but now that you get Cougar form at level 1 it leans more towards Nid’s favor. Basically if she EQQQ’s toward you don’t be scared and use a W-AA-E-AA-Q-AA in human form to stack hunted marks. Then go to cougar form and W-E-Q. At early levels Riven’s Qs don’t do that much damage. If you trade confidently you can actually take a lot of advantages. After level 6, if she turns on her ult she can kill you. Be careful of the flash-stun-ult combo so go armor items. Once you get your IBG you should be able to beat her. If her Q and W are on cooldown trade and you’ll always come ahead. You might open up some kill opportunities also.

Malphite (Easy): Just keep on autoing him so his passive is always on cooldown. Malphite is horrible at CSing under tower so push him also. Just beware of ganks at level 6 with his ult and as long as his jungle isn’t camping top you should destroy him. Of course if he keeps on hitting you with his Q you might get die in one combo if he’s whittled down your HP enough so becareful of that.

Doctor Mundo (Easy): Don’t get hit by knives early on and just watch out for ganks. Before level 6 you can easily kill Mundo or pressure him extremely hard. Later if you zone him enough he’ll start trying to farm with his knives. Take a few to deny him farm and exp.

Vlad (Easy): At level 1 harass with autos and Q. Once you hit level 2 go in for a cougar W-Q. Basically just keep on harassing him early on and as Vlad is weak to champions with gap closers once you get a hunted mark on him go in for a cougar W-E-Q combo. If you do your W will be on a 1 second cooldown allowing you for further chase and damage. Once he hits 6 and has his ult and uses it, if it’s a fight you’ll win go in for the kill, otherwise just fall back with bounce because Vlad has no blinks or gap closers he can’t continuously deal damage to you.

Poppy (Easy): While before Poppy was a normal level champion, now that you have Cougar at level 1 Poppy is now an easy champion. Harass with autos while pushing your lane using cougar W and E because Poppy has horrible wave clear. Basically they’ll run out of mana and will have to B or be denied a lot of gold. One thing to remember is Poppy’s passive which is OP as hell because it makes it incredibly difficult to kill her. Just keep her passive in mind when you go in for the kill. Also, don’t play from the bushes only to get slammed into a wall. If Poppy gets fed you’re starting all of your teamfights without your ADC.

Sion (Easy): AD Sion is easy to destroy in lane. That being said his Q is a strong tool for opening you up to ganks so be careful but now that you have an escape from early on he’s been placed on easy. If it’s AP sion, tell your mid to be careful because AP Sion basically pushes the lane and then goes roaming.

Shen (Normal): The only reason he’s in normal and not easy is because of his taunt and how good it is for working with ganks. Go BotRK against Shen. The 8% physical damage makes Shen confused. If he goes armor items he’s still weak against Nidalee who’s skill damage is all magic damage whereas if he goes MR the physical damage basically melts through his health. Just watch out for ganks last time I played a shen their jungler was a Rammus and the double taunts almost put me on tilt.

Xin Zhao (Normal): From level 2 he’s going to rush in with his E so place traps in the bush. If he rushes in, place a trap right where you are. As he will be marked and has no escape AA-Q-R-W-E-Q him to trade. That being said Xin is extremely strong early on in the level 2, 3 time so beware. I recommend a Phage and Ninja Tabis.

Shyvana (Normal): Basically just push her to tower and trade with cougar W-E-Q. That being said if you get hit by her E, take damage from her W, and then get hit by her Q she will out trade you. If you get hit by her E stay back and just harass with autos. Also beware of the level 6 all-in by Shyvana with an ult and Bilgewater. If you just beware of that you can keep her under tower making her lose a lot of CS.

Singed (Easy): Basically because he has no gap closers and you have pounce if, before level 6 you get flipped in a 1v1 you need to work on your mechanics. Even with his slow unless he ghosts and ults he shouldn’t be able to catch Nidalee in cougar form. Just be careful that you aren’t reckless with your pounce and get flipped under tower. If you’re having a hard time build a BotRK and you’ll never get caught. As long as you harass and keep him under tower you’ll win. Also stay a bit behind tower at level 1 because he might try proxying from level 1.

Akali (Hard): Her Q-AA combo hurts. Basically just harass with autos. If she uses her stealth place a trap in the stealth and sometimes she will step into it. Don’t think that you will win with cougar form before level 6 and be too cocky. If she steps on the trap then you can go in and it’s almost a 100% kill or flash. Also, when she uses her stealth, just cougar form W-E inside it as they are AOE effects you’ll be able to put down some damage. After level 6 when she has 2 or more ult charges Akali becomes hell to deal with. It’s worth considering rushing MR items like a Spectre’s Cowl. If you get killed then there goes your back line during every teamfight. Also, your spears are very important in the Akali match up. Hitting your spears is the only way to open up kill opportunities.

Aatrox (Normal): Beware of his jump/airborne. When he comes in to airborne you hit him with a spear, marking him, then hit him with a Takedown and you should be able to trade with him. Also, be careful of the Blood Thirst empowered auto after a Dark Flight. That being said the Dark Flight hitbox is shit so it’s very easy to avoid it. His Blades of Torment is magic damage which is annoying because you build armor against aatrox but because his base stats at level 18 are even worse than Nidalee he can’t do damage, but he can’t tank, and he can’t be a bruiser. That being said his laning phase is strong. Just be careful of his Dark Flight. When it’s on cooldown if you trade with him you will win so as long as it’s on cooldown trade as much as you can.

Yasuo (Normal): Level 1 he’ll charge up his E and come in for a fully stacked E-AA trade. Just harass with autos from level 1. If he rushes in with his E hit him with a spear and the hit him with a takedown as quickly as possible as he may dash backwards on a minion. From level 3 and 4 once you mark him you can kill him over and over again. He’s strong at level 1 and 2 and then he’s strong in the late game so you can kill him 100 times but later on he’ll get a few kills and suddenly destroy your team so try and end the game quickly. The laning phase is easy but he can’t be given kills. Also when trading pop his shield with an auto before trading.

Wukong (Normal): Traps are you biggest friend. Set a trap and when he Nimbus strikes in and steps on it you’ll win as you can even see through his clone stealth. If he steps on it as he is marked just pounce on to him. That being said if he goes full damage at level six the E-Q-R-Ignite combo is very dangerous. Just be careful of him using clone in a bush and coming forward in stealth and using your takedown on his clone. Also if he does a red pot start be careful of the red pot E auto trad at level 1 because at level 2 the EQ auto combination could very much kill you.

Yoric (Normal): Basically if you cougar WEQ and start trading him you will be able to kill him. He doesn’t have strong burst or strong CC. That being said at level 6 his ult is extremely good so don’t go on him when he has his ult. Take a few points in heal and beware of the QWE spam which can very easily chunk you down readying you for a dive or an all in by Yorick with his ult.

Udyr (Easy): He shouldn’t be able to catch you due to your pounce and after the laning phase Nidalee outclasses him in teamfights and in splitpushing. Just beware of his flash bear stance opening you up for a gank and the damage from his Phoenix or Tiger stance. Also, once he gets his Bligewater or BotRK he opens you up for a slow-bear-damage combo so be careful of that also. Try not to all in him as he has a shield, a stun, 2 auto enhancers, and an AS steroid.

Warwick (Easy): Push the lane. Push, go home, and come back and he still won’t have pushed the lane to your tower. Just beware of his ult at level 6 because it makes you an easy target for a gank. Also, when going for an all in due to his innate lifesteal ignite him a bit early.

Irelia (Normal): Take W and spam traps into the bushes. From level 2 Irelia will Q forward ad try and slow or stun you and when she steps on the trap just WEQ her in cougar form also because of the E cooldown reduction on W when the enemy is marked you can jump again to catch her if she Qs away. Don’t fight her when her Hiten Style is on due to the true damage and just be careful of the stun turning a dive bad. You can easily say Nidalee counters Irelia instead of the other way around now.

Jarvan (Normal): Same as Irelia. Once he hits level 2 he will flag and drag in for a trade so trap up the bushes. His up front burst of a flag and drag and passive AA is extremely strong but after that he has little he can do. When his flag is down just trade with him. His Q poke hurts a bit but his ult is easy to get out of. Also he burns through mana quickly so be sure not to get hit with the flag and drag. Once you B get a Phage and you should win. Also go in if you hit your spear and you should burn through his health or kill him easily.

Zac (Normal): Avoid getting poked down by his Stretching Strike. Once his Stretching Strike and Elastic Slingshot is down just trade with him. At level 6 beware of the turn around potential with Let’s Bounce. Also, in team fights his Elastic Slighshot into Let’s Bounce may destroy your team so beware of that too. It’s easy to avoid Elastic Slingshot so try to and if he suddeny starts preparing an Elastic Slighshot it’s probably a roam or a gank so be careful.

Jax (Normal): Your Takedown damage will go through Counter Strike. If he comes in with his Q place a trap beneath him, mark him, and the hit him with a Takedown. As long as you are careful about his Counter Strike and also build MR items as his Empower and his ult bonus damage on every 3rd hit is magic damage. Also, his armor and health is being nerfed so he should be a bit easier to take on. Video of a 1v1 between Nidalee and Jax. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83ND-Xp-vJE

Zed (Normal): While you can’t really do anything about a fast WE combo you should avoid getting hit by his Q at all cost. That being said when Zed uses his WEQ combo his energy should be basically 0 so go in for a couger WEQ combo. If he’s marked you could easily get a kill off Zed. If he’s level 6 and goes in for ult avoid his Q, even if you have to flash it as it is his main damage and if he misses it he can’t get a kill. Don’t get chunked down during the level 4~5 period and watch out for when he hits the BotRK-Brutalizer item threshold.

Jayce (Normal): He used to be able to outtrade Nidalee in early levels by jumping in, trading, and then hitting her away with his hammer form E and come out ahead. Now, however, with the pounce on a target with mark having 700 range it’s easier to get to Jayce and stick to Jayce. Just don’t go full armor runes because his hammer form Q and W are magic damage so you need a bit of MR.

Cho’gath (Easy): Don’t get poked down by his E and avoid his Qs because they might open you up for a jungle gank. He burns through mana much too quickly early on. Also when diving or going for an all in just be careful of the silence to airborne to true damage with his W-Q-R combo which may turn it around. Ward up.

Kha’zix (Normal): After the nerfs Kha’zix will go for the W master and poke with W. It’s annoting, it heals Kha’Zix, and it gives him sight of you so try and avoid getting hit. His Q damage is shit early on after the nerfs now. He used to have a strong EQ combo but now if he Es in, set a trap where he’s going to land and when he is marked go in for a trade and you’ll easily kill Kha’zix.

Kennen (Normal): You need to be careful at level 2 because of the Electrical Surge empowered auto, Electrical Surge, Lightning Rush, into ignite combo which very well may create a kill situation. Never dive Kennen. Also when the Electrical Surge empowered auto is up never trade, wait till he uses it to hit a minion to go in for a trade. When you have no stacks of Kennen’s passive up is the only time you should go in for a cougar WEQ combo and if he get’s marked go in for a W.

Kayle (Hard): Her E is extremely strong and she’ll hit you with it. Then if you go in for a pounce she will Q you and then start autoing you with E taking a lot of your health or killing you. You also have to calculate her heal when going for an all in and she will block a lot of your damage with her intervention. A good tip is if she’s low go in for a WE and watch as she blows her ult and then Q when her ult goes down. That being said her ult is way too powerful during a teamfight. Try just to farm. Take E at level 1.

Quinn (Normal): Beware of her early strength with a Passive auto Vault passive auto trade. Also her blind will make your takedown’s damage be ignored. if you can bait out her ult bait it out as it has a long cooldown. Also. Later on when you splitpush and she comes to stop you, you can chase her easily. That being said her teamfight ability is very bad but if she gets fed your carries will be assassinated befor the teamfights start.

Tryndamere (Normal): If he spins into you he’s basically commiting suicide. If he starts to spin mark him and WEQ him in cougar form for a winning trade. Just beware of the crits from his passive and him using his ult to survive your takedown. Once he’s low enough that it’s likely he’ll ult just auto him or run circles around him till his ult is down then hit him with a Q. It’s hard to stop him when he’s split pushing and when he get’s his BotRK.

Pantheon (Hard): His passive ignores your autos and your Qs so you can’t trade with him because your main damage source is ignored. Go defensive items and master your heal first and just try and endure the laning phase. Make sure to ward the river so mid can be alerted of his ults to mid. Take heal level 1 and master it ASAP and you should win in the late game. If he get’s Mobi boots or homeguards backping your mid or bot lane multiple times if he backs and doesn’t come back quickly.

Fiora (Normal~Hard): She used to be one of the hardest champions to deal with as Nidalee because of her gap closer and the fact that Riposte could be used to block Nidalee’s Q. Now, if she starts to use her Lunge, mark her and trade, it may open up a kill opportunity. That being said Fiora is one of the best champions for diving so if you think you’re low enough to die from a dive, just B. Take armor items and go Ninja tabis.

Fizz (Normal): Deny him by harassing him with autos. You can deny him even exp if you do this write. From level 2 he will trade with his QW combo and because of the heal reduction it’s quite strong. You need your passive mark to win a trade. From level 3 Playful / Trickster will make it so he ignores a large part of your damage by ignoring your Q so just get a Spectre’s Cowl, master E first and you should get a lot of kill opportunities. That being said you present a lot of kill opportunities too so be careful and just keep his E in mind.

Hecarim (Easy): In the first 2 levels his Q, ghost, and passive means that he’s the strongest at this stage. Don’t fight him. That being said his Q takes a lot of Mana so if he trades a lot he’ll run out of mana and end up losing. Make him use his Q a lot of burn through a lot of his mana. After level 6 he’ll go hom and get a Sheen and his ult which makes him extremely strong. The laning phase in general should be extremely easy but once you get into teamfights he can semi-carry the team hard. Make it so he can’t CS and also make sure he can’t roam mid.

**Extra Notes**

Make sure to utilize your all in potential with the passive hunted mark. You have a heal and an execute and should not be scared to go for an all in or a kill even if you have slightly lower health. Example against a ganking Lee Sin in the early game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuhAt3FZi04

In the midgame you should focus on split pushing and creating pressure top. If you take jungle and/or mid aggro, make sure your team takes a free dragon to build up a global gold advantage.
In teamfights because you are building tank items don’t be afraid to go in to their team for kills or to start a teamfight. Example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FDJ6v-FL2Y.