Everyone’s favorite Yordle Teemo is an immensely powerful top lane champion that excels in many of the potential matchups he may encounter.
Teemo’s strength comes from his ability to deal critical damage over time while nullifying his enemy’s attacks. Taking a melee-based champion into the lane against the Swift Scout will result in an uphill battle due to his ability to slowly wear down his enemy through the effects of Toxic Shot. Teemo can also counter any damage from basic attacks by activating Blinding Dart.
While he is powerful, like all champions Teemo has counters that have the tools to defeat the Yordle in the lane. Here are some of the best counters that will make the lane increasingly difficult for Teemo.
Kennen
The best way to beat the Yordle is to be the Yordle—at least in the case of a Kennen vs. Teemo lane.
Kennen offers all the tools necessary to bully Teemo and dominate him in lane. Being an energy-based champion, Kennen can utilize his abilities as frequently as he likes without having to conserve mana. This is going to allow Kennen to get in and out of danger, taking the fight to Teemo.
Teemo’s strongest tool in most of his top lane matchups is his Blinding Dart. But this is not going to be the most effective against Kennen who deals most of his damage through a combination of Thundering Shuriken and Electrical Surge. These two abilities allow the champion to tag his opponent before dealing extra damage with Electrical Surge. Should Kennen damage Teemo with three abilities in succession, he will stun the champion and deal more damage with his basic attacks without fear of being blinded.
Should Kennen find himself on the wrong end of a dueling situation, or with the enemy team’s jungle champion engaging upon him, Kennen has a perfect way to disengage from combat in his Lightning Rush ability. Lightning Rush turns Kennen turn into an orb of electricity, granting him a massive speed increase and marking all enemies he may pass. This ability can be used to either engage or disengage and pairs perfectly with the champion’s ultimate Slicing Maelstrom.
Slicing Maelstron emitd pulsing waves of electricity, marking his enemies and dealing damage. In this matchup against Teemo, it is extremely effective for Kennen to use his Lightning Rush to engage upon Teemo, activating Slicing Maelstrom and finishing the Yordle off with a combination of his other abilities while he is stunned.
Heimerdinger
Piltover’s famous inventor Heimerdinger is the perfect matchup to take on Teemo. The mage offers a skill set that allows him to maintain a safe distance between himself and his enemy, since he’ll be protected by his H-28 G Evolution Turrets. These weapons might be susceptible to Teemo’s Blinding Dart, but Heimerdinger is able to manufacture these at a fast pace. He can deploy three at any time, meaning that should one be destroyed he can often immediately replace it.
The champion’s turrets are not the only tool he has to defeat Teemo, however. Heimerdinger boasts a way to deal great damage to enemies from a distance with his Hextech Micro Rockets. These rockets can be launched in formation to hit a single target or many.
In this matchup, Teemo may feel safe navigating through the turrets until he is close to Heimerdinger or bullies him back into the tower away from his turrets. This can be countered with the use of Heimerdinger’s HC-2 Electron Storm Grenade. As soon as Teemo begins to walk into range of his towers Heimerdinger can throw his Storm Grenade, stunning Teemo which will immediately cause the towers to target him. This ability can be used as an engage or a way for Heimerdinger to retreat from a losing battle and regroup under the tower.
Heimerdinger’s ultimate ability upgrades his three other abilities. This means that the tools will have similar effects but with a heavily increased damage output and should be used to secure a takedown or a last-resort defense in a dangerous battle.
Swain
An obvious counter to Teemo, Swain is an ability-based mage who excels in one-on-one dueling situations. Swain has a distinct advantage over Teemo due to his range advantage, allowing him to maintain distance while dealing damage through his abilities.
The best way for Swain to engage Teemo is through a combination of abilities starting with his Nevermove. This ability will launch a wave of demonic power forward, dealing damage before returning and rooting targets in place. Once Teemo is stuck, Swain should then use his Death’s Hand ability to deal a massive amount of damage to Teemo by connecting all the bolts. Should Swain require more damage to take Teemo down, this is the perfect time to utilize Vision Of Empire to slow Teemo and allow Swain to secure the takedown before the Yordle is able to retreat.
The champion also holds an ace up his sleeve with the use of Demonic Ascension. This is by far Swain’s most powerful ability and can help him in taking on multiple enemies at a time depending on the stage of the game. Demonic Ascension transforms the champion into a demon that drains the health of nearby enemies, minions, and monsters. This effect is what makes Swain one of the most powerful dueling champions in the game. In combination with his other abilities, Demonic Ascension will likely spell the end of Teemo as he will struggle to out damage the healing effects with the use of his Toxic Shot.
When picking a counter for Teemo, taking a mage is likely your best option. But if you are looking for the best choice to shut down the Yordle, Swain is the perfect champion to do so.
