How to Counter Zeri
Zeri is the latest champion to hit Summoners Rift. We’ve seen her being played by streamers, pros and we’ve tried her ourselves. Like always, the latest champion will see play in practically every role in the game, and you’ll see her pick or banned for the first few days, if not weeks.
In this Mobalytics guide, we will provide some tips and tricks to help you counter Zeri in League of Legends. We will also tell you about five champions that are good picks into her in the bottom lane.
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Here are the things we will be covering in this guide:
- Ban Her In Ranked
- Take 1 Armor and 1 Magic Resistance Rune
- Freeze Near Your Tower
- Don’t Group Too Closely
- Lookout for Flanks
- Counters
1. Ban Her In Ranked
Let’s face it, an overwhelming number of players are getting back into ranked now as the new season has just started. Players may not want to put in the time and effort to learn Zeri before taking her into ranked. So, it is highly advised that you ban this champion so your team cannot pick it and the enemy team cannot play it.
When you leave this champion open, you’re potentially allowing someone on your team to first time it, which decreases your chances of winning the game. Similarly, leaving it open could allow the enemy to pick it, which they might be able to stomp with. Furthermore, not everyone will know how to play against her, which can favour the enemy1
Riot has a track record of releasing overpowered champions, and while it can’t be said yet if Zeri is broken before her release on the live servers- it is best not to run the risk of her taking over your game.
2. Take 1 Armor and 1 Magic Resistance Rune
As Zeri deals mixed damage, you would benefit from taking 1 armour rune and 1 magic resistance rune together. This gives you the best of both worlds, and they will help protect you versus her auto-attacks and her abilities.
Not every champion can do this, and some ADC’s would benefit more from the standard AS, damage and armour, but some Supports in the lane, especially the squishy utility or tank ones, could go for this rune to make them stronger.
If you see the enemy lock-in Zeri and she’s being played in your lane (regardless of role), try to take 1 armour and 1 magic resistance rune!
3. Freeze Near Your Tower
Freezing the minion wave near your tower in League of Legends is a highly favourable strategy that can prevent all-ins and keep you safe. It is good to freeze versus this champion because it prevents her from using her E aggressively to kill you.
Similarly, freezing the wave near your tower will help you set up your Jungler to gank your lane, and it will also force her to overextend. If you’re playing a strong champion with good all-in, you could even zone her away from the farm or all-in her when she walks up to last hit.
To freeze the wave closer to your side of the map, you need to make sure the enemy has more minions alive than you do. This could be up to 4 additional minions than you have in the lane. Freezing in this location could be a good idea.
If you want to learn how to freeze or wave manage correctly, check out our in-depth wave management guide.
4. Don’t Group Too Closely
Everyone needs to do Grouping, and you should do it if you want to win versus her. However, Zeri’s Ultimate has a large radius that can be a big problem in team fights. My advice is to group closely together, but not on top of one another, so she can’t get hit your whole team with her Ultimate.
You can make this possible by avoiding team fights around objectives like the Baron or Dragon. You could also reduce your chances of being too close together by not fighting inside the jungle, as this is where teams will usually be close to one another.
5. Lookout for Flanks
Similar to our previous point, be on the lookout for flanks from Zeri and her team. As Zeri’s E can allow her to move great distances in a short period of time, be on the lookout for flanks over walls as she may E into your team and then cast her Ultimate.
When fighting around the mid lane, or in any lane, in particular, watch out for flanks and place wards while sieging. The wards will provide you with enough time to reposition or move away and reposition before she can engage.
Of course, remember not to group too closely, so if she does engage, she will not be able to get her Ultimate off on several champions at once.
6. Counters
Right now, it’s hard to say for sure who will counter Zeri. However, champions with lots of CC will do really well against her. Here are some of our favourite champions to pick into her right now.
Amumu
- Because of his Ultimate and overall tankyness.
Leona
- She has strong CC and is pretty tanky. Can lock her down easily.
Malzahar
- His Ultimate is a point and click CC which makes it very difficult for Zeri to go deep and look for plays with her E and R.
Rammus
- Another champion with point and click CC. He can jump in with his Ultimate and then taunt her.
Ashe
- Ashe’s slow and poke will make it hard for her to get stacks and escape skirmishes. Her Ultimate is also good to catch Zeri out of position.
Let us know who you think is good into or bad against Zeri!
Summary
That about sums up our article on how to counter Zeri. We hope these tips will give you a little insight into playing against her during the early, mid and late game. If you’re new here, for more articles, head to Mobalytics!
