How to Counter Naafiri
Naafiri’s coming out any day now, with the newest champion being a dominating Jungler who loves to get picks and all-in enemy champions. This champion is relatively easy compared to many other champions Riot has recently released, which means that countering him can be quite simple too.
I quite like how simple Naafiri is because some of the champions Riot has created in the past few years seem quite complicated for no real reason. Her simplicity is good for beginners and lower ELO players who do not want to play a mechanically challenging champion.
We’ve already made some other Naafiri guides, which you can find on the Mobalytics Blog
Naafiri can be played in multiple roles. But this guide will focus on Jungle Naafiri.
How to Counter Naafiri in League of Legends
- Avoid Walking Around Summoners Rift Alone
- Vision Control
- Counter Gank Her
- Buy Armor + Health
- Don’t Overstay Your Welcome
- Ban Her
Avoid Walking Around Summoners Rift Alone
Naafiri is an assassin champion that wants to take down enemies who are squishy and alone. Because of this, you need to avoid playing into her strengths by reducing your time spent moving around Summoners Rift alone.
It is recommended that in the mid and the late game, you stick with your allies and try to play as 5 or in 2 or 3s, so it is unlikely that she just runs into you and kills you. She will press R or dash towards you and incinerate you if you go alone.
Because she will be looking to do this on squishy targets like the Support, it is vital that you avoid going to ward alone in the mid and late game, and instead, you only go to ward when you know she isn’t nearby. You should request assistance from your team so it is safer for you to go and ward. If no one helps, do not ward; otherwise, you may die, and the enemy can take a major objective like the Baron with the numbers advantage.
Vision Control
Warding a Junglers jungle entrance is one of the best ways to counter their ganks and track them. Suppose you can place vision around her jungle entrances or on her camps; you can spot her as she clears or as she leaves her jungle. This will be beneficial in preventing her from snowballing and taking over the map.
Furthermore, for laners, it is also better to place deeper wards around your lane rather than shallow wards because they can gank from afar, so placing wards in bushes may not always be recommended. Instead, you could place wards over the wall or a little further out in the bush.
It really depends on what lane you’re playing, but the main point I am trying to make is that you need to ward! Buy a Control Ward, place it somewhere, and then keep placing vision whenever you can.
Counter Gank Her
Like many Junglers, Naafiri doesn’t have much to offer once she has gone in (pre-6, at least). You can abuse this by countering her ganks and showing up just after she goes in with her dash.
If you’re warding and tracking her correctly, you’ll find it easier to counter-gank her.
However, if you’re not in a position to counter-gank her, you have a few options on what you can do instead. Firstly, you can invade her opposite side jungle and steal away her camps. For instance, if you see her ganking your Top laner and you’re on the bottom side of the map, you could steal away her jungle camps to deny her XP and CS.
Alternatively, you could try to take a major objective like the Rift Herald (if she’s ganking bot) or the Dragon (if she’s ganking top). The third option is to gank a different lane while she is ganking another lane. For instance, you can gank Bot or Top instead if she’s ganking in the Mid lane.
The key is to be proactive and not just farm your jungle, as you’re not applying any pressure while she is.
Buy Armor + Health
I’m going to keep this one extremely short and sweet. But the best thing you can do to hinder her performance and kill pressure is to invest in items that provide armor or health. She is an AD assassin so buying items that help keep you alive will make it harder for her to kill you.
If you’re looking for items that can help you counter her, check out your favourite champions builds on their Mobalytics Champion Page.
Don’t Overstay Your Welcome
Naafiri has multiple dashes that allow her to close the gap and gain quite a distance in no time at all. Because of this, it is important that you just recall as soon as you’re low as you do not want to give her a free kill.
After getting a kill, pushing the wave, or after taking a poor trade, run under your tower and just recall: it’s better to be safe than sorry and you do not wish to give her free kills!
Ban Her
So like any of these new champion guides, I always throw this one in there! Once Naafiri is released on to the main servers, everyone will be trying her out. To avoid getting people playinger her on your team, make sure you ban her so your Jungler doesn’t first-time her and lose.
Naturally, if the enemy picks her, she will 1v9, so it’s better just to ban her! Your allies may not have read this guide or understand how to play against so her, so it’s better not to run the risk of her taking over the game.
Final Thoughts
It’s been a while since Riot created a Jungler in League of Legends. I think this champion is pretty cool overall. I like how simple she is, which is good for players who don’t have time or want to learn a champion and all their mechanics. Overall, I am happy with how this champion is portrayed and how she is played. Let’s hope she isn’t released OP!
If you’re interested in learning how to play Naafiri, make sure you check out Naafiri’s Mobalytics Champion Page.
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