Caitlyn is a pretty solid ADC with her long-range. It might be challenging to reach her and secure a takedown on her. But killing a champion is not the only way to counter her. You counter her by negating her chances of getting stronger as the game progresses.
Countering a champion is making that champion useless and making that champion’s value fall off as the game goes on. There are lots of champions and strategies out there to counter ADCs, but I will show you in this article you’ll see the 5 best support champions you can use to render Caitlyn useless.
Also read: How To Play Against Poppy?
1. Braum
Caitlyn is a great champion that takes her enemies out from a long-range, either from her Q or her ultimate, but what happens if Caitlyn’s projectiles get blocked? SImple, she won’t be able to secure kills on enemies that manage to get away. Her ult can be easily blocked by Braum’s shield along with her Q.
Every time Caitlyn plants a trap, Brand can simply step on them and bring his shield up, This would greatly reduce the damage that Braum receives. He can be a minesweeper of Caitlyn’s traps and he won’t be punished by Cait’s damage.
Early Game Playstyle
Try to play as safe as possible, and have your ADC power farm so she can follow up on your engage in the mid game. Whenever Caitlyn decides to poke using her Q, you can stand in front of it and negate it with your shield. If you are far from your ADC you can use your dash to immediately get close to her and bring your shield up.
Mid Game Playstyle And Item Build
With Caitlyn not being able to kill your ADC, the game would be straightforward, both Cait and your ADC have the same strength. Your advantage comes from Braum’s engage. Once you hit Caitlyn with your Q, have your ADC follow up and stun Caitlyn.
As your ADC walks up to Cait, put your shields up so Cait’s basic attacks won’t reach your ADC along with her Q. You can cast your ultimate on her as well to knock her up and slow her afterward. A bramble vest that leads to a Thornmail is a great item you can build on Braum as you can greatly mitigate Cait’s damage in the mid game.
Late Game Playstyle
You can basically zone Caitlyn out of every team fight with your Q and ultimate. If she manages to position herself well enough to hit your carries. Stand in front of her and put your shields up to negate all of her projectiles.
Also read: LoL season 12
2. Xerath
Xerath easily bullies Caitlyn out of minion range with a barrage of spells. Xerath’s burst damage is incredible all throughout the game. He also has a way to restore his mana so you don’t have to worry about running out.
A quick combo from Xerath is enough to bring Caitlyn down. Xerath can also pick her apart from her team with his ultimate which cannot really be blocked.
Early Game Play Style
Have Xerath poke Caitlyn continuously with his Q, make sure that your passive is up every time you cast your Q so you don’t run out of mana. You can hide in bushes or the fog of war every time you wind up your Q. Cast it behind the shadows so Caitlyn doesn’t have any means of predicting your Q and sidestepping it.
You can also bait her by stepping into her traps, this would guarantee that Caitlyn will walk towards you to hit you and you can retaliate by stunning her and landing your basic combo on her. This is a great trade but a risky one.
Mid Game Playstyle And Item Builds
Luden’s Tempest is a great item on Xerath simply because of the mana boost it gives him. The bonus AOE damage also makes him deal more damage to Caitlyn. The speed boost would also help him position himself better every time he wishes to burst Caitlyn down.
Continue pestering Caitlyn from a long-range. This is an easy match-up because you can easily outrange her and beat her damage. As a support, your ADC can use this to his advantage by power farming and beating Caitlyn in CS.
Late Game Playstyle
Play hyper-aggressive against Caitlyn in the late game and do not give her a breathing room. Keep putting pressure on her by constantly targeting her with your spells. Do this until she gets tilted and blames her teammates for not protecting her. (https://skinnyninjamom.com) If you manage to piss her off, you basically put her out of the game.
Also read: Best Akshan Skins
3. Zac
Zac is an incredible engage support that nobody really knows of. He is commonly played in the jungle without realizing that he can have great value as an engage support. One great tactic to counter Caitlyn is to CC her for the entire duration of the fight.
Zac can do this every time there is a team fight as he can easily jump on Caitlyn even when she is at the backline. Zack support can either build tank or mage items, either way, it will be easy for him to kill Caitlyn.
Early Game Playstyle
Always hide in the bush or in the alcove as Zac to constantly threaten Caitlyn from being jumped at. Be careful however as your engages won’t be strong in the early game as she can easily keep her distance by using her E.
A wrong engage can easily be your undoing and cost you the game. Play safe and wait for your ADC to reach his early game power spike before engaging.
Mid Game Playstyle And Item Build
Tank items basically counter Caitlyn, and a Zac with a Randuin’s Omen is pretty scary for Caitlyn. Not only does it reduce crit damage, but it also reduces attack speed preventing Caitlyn from dealing further damage per second.
You can now engage her with your full combo and you can take her out on your own with your damage and tankiness. Sunfire Cape will help you so much in killing her.
Late Game Playstyle
Late games are usually focused on teamfights or split pushing carries. Whenever you see Caitlyn split pushing, you can kill her by yourself or have your ADC come with you so they can have the kill.
During teamfights however, it will be much riskier for you if you try to engage Caitlyn, so a Stoneplate is a great buy for the late game. You can zone her away by engaging her from the backline, this will prevent her from killing your carries from a long-range
4. Blitzcrank
Blitzcrank can easily hook Caitlyn as she doesn’t have that much mobility, all she does is walk and push herself away from danger with her E. Her E is not instantaneous so it will not really be a problem for you. You can easily pick her off in the late game during team fight setups by focusing your hook on her.
You can also step on her traps as bait, once she walks up she basically gets in range of your hook so you can easily grab her. Your ult also breaks shields, so even if her support gives her a shield, you can easily break it
Early Game Playstyle
Have your hook ready every time you face a Caitlyn in the early game. One perfect hook on her in the early game guarantees that both of her Summoner’s Spells are burnt or better yet, you can guarantee a takedown on her.
Mid Game Playstyle And Item Build
Once you reach mid game, you would have already learned all of your skills. You can easily walk up to her with your W and she will react with an E, once she casts her E she is very vulnerable and gets easily hooked.
You can coordinate with your jungler and set up flanks or you can basically fast push their lane and hook her every time the opportunity presents itself. Blitz’s burst is so strong and it can easily bring Cait’s HP down so your ADC can easily pick her off.
Late Game Playstyle
Play very defensively and try to peel for your ADC, but every time you see Caitlyn within hook range, try to hook her into your team’s range. Once caught she won’t be able to react and get easily burst down
Also read: Best Ashe Skins
5. Leona
Just like what I mentioned above, Caitlyn is always vulnerable to support champions that have great engage abilities. Leona is one of the best engage champions in the game and her CC is second to none. She is the champion with the most CC abilities in the game making her the perfect pick against Caitlyn.
Once Leona engages Caitlyn, all she can do is cast her E but it won’t be enough to get away from a full engage Leona. Once caught by Leona’s ult, Caitlyn will be locked down for a good 5 or more seconds. This will provide enough time for Leona’s team to burst her down.
Early Game Playstyle
The best way to mitigate Caitlyn’s damage in the early game is to learn W on Leona. You can’t engage her yet as your CC abilities are still mediocre. But if your ADC is a great all-in early game ADC, you can go and engage Caitlyn even in the early game.
If you see her walking up to you, use your W immediately to reduce the damage you take and immediately engage her with your E and stun. If you have great engage ADCs like Tristana or Lucian, this will be a great early game tactic to counter Caitlyn’s long-range.
Mid Game Playstyle And Item Build
Once you reach mid game, make sure you build Zeke’s Convergence on Leona as she needs to slow Caitlyn whenever her CC spells are down. This also gives your ADC bonus magic damage to help take Caitlyn down faster.
Late Game Playstyle
Use your ult exclusively for Cait in the late game, even if she is in the middle of her team, focus your solar flare on her. Once caught, you can go in and use your E on her but only do this if your team has a lead and can follow up on your CC engages.
Final Thoughts
Caitlyn has an extremely long range so you’re gonna have to pick champions that have great engages or a gap closer. Keep in mind that once you manage to get close to Caitlyn and CC her, there is not much she can do. So try to pick champions like the ones I have mentioned above.
Thank you so much for reading my content, and I hope you enjoyed it as I invest time and effort in making these articles. I hope this article helps you in your future games summoner, GLHF, and see you on the rift.
