How to Play the Poke Team Composition
The poke team composition is a favoured team comp you have probably seen a lot in pro play in recent years. Back in the day, poke comps were incredibly strong as they used to bully everyone down and catch people out. Nowadays, it’s less popular due to tanky teams and healing, but nonetheless, it is still a viable team comp.
Poke team comps usually consist of champions who have a lot of range and lots of damage. They throw their abilities out from afar and then execute an enemy. Poke comps are some of the most frustrating team compositions to play against, so if you love tilting the enemy, then poke comps might be for you!
If you like any of the champions on our list, make sure you check out their champion pages on the Mobalytics site, where you can find builds, tips and much more to help you play each of the champions on today’s list.
How to Play the Poke Team Composition
- The Objective of the Comp
- Example Champions
- Tips and Tricks
- How to Counter
The Objective of the Comp
Poke compositions are pretty straightforward. Your goal is to poke the enemy down as much as possible with your abilities. Once they’re low, you commit to the all-in to kill them. Alternatively, you just keep harassing and then layer your abilities on the enemy and kill them instantly.
It doesn’t matter where you group when playing as a poke comp. However, you will find great success throwing your abilities at the enemy when they’re around objectives. In particular, harassing the enemy while under their tower will force them to back away and give the tower to you for free.
Example Champions
Top
Rumble
- Rumble’s Ultimate is on a short cooldown and can be used somewhat freely.
- It deals a lot of damage in a large area. This can be used to burn down enemies prior or in the mix of a fight.
- His E and Q can be used to bully enemies prior to a fight to either catch them out or poke.
Jayce
- His E into Q combo is very strong and can deal a ton of damage to squishy enemies.
- Jayce’s abilities are on short cooldowns which allow him to poke the enemy frequently.
- His basic combo has such a long range that he can use it from fog of war to suprise the enemy.
Jungle
Karthus
- Karthus has good poke with his Q.
- He can slow the enemies down who are too far forward.
- Karthus can also finish off targets who have been poked down by his team with his Ultimate.
Taliyah
- Taliyah has a surprising amount of poke damage with her Q.
- She can CC targets with her W and bully them down with the rest of her abilities.
- Her Ultimate can be used to put the enemy in unfortunate circumstances which she and her team can capitalise on.
Mid
Syndra
- Syndra has a lot of poke with her W and Q.
- Placing lots of balls down allows her to get multi-person stuns with the E.
- She can Flash forward to finish off targets who are low with her Ultimate.
Xerath
- Can delay team fights while poking the enemy with his Q and W.
- Will be able to use his Ultimate from afar to deal additional damage to enemies, but he has to land the skill shots!
- When sieging, Xerath can use his E aggressively to get a pick, and then blow them up with his W and Q.
ADC
Kog’Maw
- Kog’Maw’s empowered autos deal a considerable amount of damage to overextended targets.
- He can poke the enemy down with his Ultimate.
- Versatile build: with AP he deals more damage via poke, with AD, his auto-attacks deal more damage.
Ezreal
- Has good poke with his Q.
- Ezreal’s Ultimate deals a considerable amount of damage to squishy targets.
- Can use his E aggressively to close the gap or take down a low enemy who overstayed their welcome.
Support
Vel’Koz
- Has impossible-to-dodge skill shots (especially his Q).
- As long as he is somewhat safe, he can get a full channel off from his Ultimate.
- A Vel’Koz can be extremely scary if he has lots of mana as he can spam his low-cooldown abilities.
Zyra
- Tons of poke with her Q and E.
- Can place and spawn plants to deal additional damage.
- People do not respect Zyra’s Ultimate damage, especially when she is fed.
Tips and Tricks
We’ve gone through some champions, and now it’s time to give you some tips and tricks on how to play as the comp.
- Avoid running out of mana. While it’s easier said than done, try and have a reserve amount of mana, so you’re not an easy target if the enemy decides to fight you.
- Don’t let the enemy engage on you. Your goal is to keep poking the enemy down and not letting them engage on you. Don’t walk too far forward when trying to poke them.
- Delay team fights. Remember your ultimate goal when playing as a poke team comp: poke the enemy down. Poke them down and delay a fight for as long as possible.
How to Counter The Poke Team Comp
The best way to counter a poke comp is by not letting them poke you down. You need to fight as quickly as possible and avoid delaying a fight so the enemy cannot poke you down. If you delay a fight, then they will probably kill you. Something else you can do is look for flanks to take them down. The final thing I would recommend is that if you’re taking an objective like the Dragon or Baron and the enemy try to contest, just disengage or fight them. Stop taking the objective.
Summary
Poke comps can be some of the most frustrating compositions to play against and we hope that you take our advice in this guide to annoy your fellow Summoners on Summoners Rift! If you would like to read more about this comp or any other comp in LoL, check out our in-depth team comp guide!
For more information and guides, head over to Mobalytics!
