Noxus Darius is one of the top powerhouses when it comes to Top Lane champions in League of Legends.
Being in possession of an amazing abilities that deal mixed damage, high regeneration and able to engage in fights very early, starting from Level 1, Darius is a real challenge to any beginner of League of Legends.
But Darius is no way uncounterable. Let’s read on to know more about this champion and know how to counter him in top lane.
Darius’ overview
1. Pros
Darius’ passive Hemorrhage (cause bleeding effect on target, bonus damage) allows him to take on enemy champions early on. No top lane champions would want to stay in a solo fight versus Darius at low levels.
Q of Darius – Decimate, an AOE, can clear minions quickly, dealing damage to enemy heroes/minions and healing himself at the same time (maximum 36% of Darius’ missing health).
Apprehend (E) is partly a passive that grants Darius up to 30% Armor Penetration effect on his basic attacks and partly an active ability can be used to pull in enemy champs in front of Darius.
Darius’ ultimate – Noxian Guillotine (R) makes a perfect combination with his passive. Such a great power Darius has once he reaches Level 6, from then on he can engage in fights aggressively, and you may just easily bag kills here and there if everything goes well.
2. Cons
- Has low mobility, easy to be kited till death without
Flash - Afraid of crowd control abilities
- Having no ability to quickly come close to enemy champs
- Not so strong in late game
- Have to have a strong start in laning phase
How to counter Top Lane Darius in S8
1. Darius’ counter champions
Kayle is one of the best champion to counter Darius. Kayle’s attack range and also damage (magic) is increased when E – Righteous Fury is activated.
And for that she can clear minions quickly from afar and prevent Darius from getting close to her to deal damage.
Darius would also want to stay away from his minions while Kayle attacking with E to avoid taking splashing magic damage.
Righteous Fury has low mana cost and reasonable cool down for her to use frequently to push back Darius.
Darius has low mobility and that’s where Kayle can exploit easily.
While Righteous Fury is in effect, you can make use of Kayle’s Q – Reckoning and W – Divine Blessing’s efects: slow enemy and grant Kayle movement speed respectively, to easily have the advantage over Darius.
Finally, Darius’s R can deal literally no damage against Kayle’s R – Intervention while it’s in effect.
Using Intervention right and Kayle is absolutely capable of lay waste Darius’ effort to take down a hero quickly with his combos.
The next up effective counter to Top Lane Darius is Gnar.
Gnar is a ranged champ with a long enough attack range to put himself slightly ahead of Darius in laning phase. At low levels, that should be enough to deal with Darius. Even if Darius wants to approach Gnar, it’s not an easy task with Gnar’s abilities.
Gnar’s Q – Boomerang Throw/Boulder Toss (of Mini/Mega Gnar) can be used to reduce Darius’ mobility even more and make him easier to handle. At low levels, this ability of Gnar can be really annoying with its high damage output.
Besides, Gnar’s moblity is up there W – Hyper/Wallop and E – Hop/Crunch, allowing him to get away or approach Darius easily. With … available, there’s almost no hope for Darius to catch Gnar.
If Gnar can only deal with Darius by evading, attacking from afar in Mini form, once Mega Gnar comes online, he can fight Darius head on at ease with increased stats, survivability.
Last but not least, it’s Kennen, a champ that MaRin uses efficiently in top lane.
In general, Kennen is a ranged champ equipped with crowd control and speed boosting abilities. Kennen even has longer attack range in comparison to Gnar and Kayle’s.
Not just ranged basic attacks, Kennen has Q – Thundering Shuriken and W –Electrical Surge under command to perform attacks from a distance on either minions or enemy champions.
Mark of the Storm, passive of Kennen is capable of disabling Darius when needed if it’s carefully calculated, to harass, gank on him with your Jungler.
E – Lightning Rush is always an effective tool for Kennen to escape from Darius in just a blink of an eye. Usually players choose to build Kennen into an AD with attack speed and damage increasing items.
Especially with 
Frozen Mallet and 
Blade of the Ruined King equipped, Kennen has the ability to steal a lot of Darius’ movement speed, preventing him from approaching you completely.
2. Darius’s counter items
Ninja Tabi: it’s cheap but is great to minimize Darius’ damage output.
Randuin’s Omen: the bonus HP you get from this item helps you become more durable to fight Darius. And it can slows Darius down considerably as well.
Guardian Angel: “extra life” you get from this item should make Darius think twice before aiming you
3. Counter Darius in gameplay
Try not to go 1v1 against Darius constantly as 5 stacks of his passive can deal a lot of damage on you in a short period of time.
Especially when Darius hits Level 6, avoid that at all costs, he’s now much scarier with Noxian Guillotine (deals True Damage) available.
If Noxian Guillotine successfully finishes off an target, stay away from Darius first as Noxian Guillotine’s cool down is now reset.
At low levels, Darius has nothing to quickly escape from fights so try ganking him early for an easier late game against him.
In team fights, save 2-3 crowd control abilities especially for Darius. When Darius’ HP is low, don’t stick together to avoid his Q hitting too many targets and granting him huge amount of health.
