There are many hook-type champions in League of Legends, but if there’s one champion that is known as THE hook champion, it is Blitzcrank. Blitzcrank’s identity is his long-range hook ability that pulls the enemy he hits to his location, it isn’t stopped by walls either and its huge range is what makes it so powerful – it definitely is what makes playing against Blitzcrank so hard at times where getting hit by a single skillshot can spell a snowball or the start of a disadvantageous fight around an objective.
In this guide, we’ll learn different ways to play around Blitzcrank and learn about champions that can make a Blitzcrank less useful in the game.
Blitzcrank’s Abilities
Even though when you’re playing against Blitzcrank it may feel as if only his hook is a threat, there’s a lot of nuance and different ways to combine Blitzcrank’s abilities. The best way to start learning how to play against a champion is to read their abilities and understand them, let’s do it now.
Passive – Mana Barrier: When Blitzcrank is damaged beyond 30% of his maximum HP, he gains a shield equal to 30% of his maximum mana. This ability is pretty simple to understand, if you get Blitzcrank low enough, he’ll get a shield – Blitzcrank players can use this ability to bait you into an easy hook, since you might think you can just win the fight if you get hooked, without taking into account the shield he’ll get. One way to counter-act this is: if you get Blitzcrank low, but his shield hasn’t popped yet, you can try making his passive pop (if you have a way to disengage), then quickly disengage and wait for the shield to disappear, since it has a long cooldown you can just fight again afterward.
Q – Rocket Grab: This is Blitzcrank’s hook, he fires his right hand in the target direction and pulls the first enemy hit towards himself, this ability’s range is just over 1000 units (think 1.5x Caitlyn’s auto-attack range, pretty long). Blitzcrank’s hook has a pretty long cooldown, so the main way to punish a Blitzcrank that throws too many hooks during the laning phase is to simply fight him the moment he misses a hook, that’s when he’s the most vulnerable. It’s also hard to play against Blitzcrank if your champion has no dashes or blinks to help in dodging this ability, the best way to do it is to stay behind your minions (or just wiggle back-and-forth in front of your minions, so you can bait his hook then walk backwards, making him pull a minion).
W – Overdrive: Blitzcrank gains bonus attack speed and movement speed for a few seconds, when this ability ends, he gets slowed by 30%. Blitzcrank is very slow for a melee champion. This ability helps him close the gap between him and his enemies. He also has a pretty low attack speed, when he has this ability activated he has an easier time connecting his basic attacks without canceling them.
E – Power Fist: His E empowers his next basic attack, making it uncancelable, meaning that even if you get out of range during its windup, you’ll still get knocked up – this ability also makes his next basic attack deal double damage, so don’t get surprised by its damage. One way Blitzcrank players use this ability is by running at you with W activated (or flashing on top of you), making you try to dodge their Q, but then simply knock you up to then use their hook.
R – Static Field: Passively, his ultimate deals magic damage to targets that he applied stacks with his basic attacks every 1 second. Its active deals damage in a large area around Blitzcrank, destroying shields, dealing a huge amount of magic damage, and silencing enemies for a short duration. This ability has a short cooldown for an ultimate ability, and it greatly increases Blitzcrank’s burst damage. Be careful if you see a Blitzcrank walking towards a low-HP minion wave, you might think you’re safe if you’re behind minions, but he can just use his ultimate to instantly kill the minions then hook you.
Also read: How to Play Against Katarina?
Countering Blitzcrank’s Abilities
The main lesson you learn when you first play against Blitzcrank is to not get hit by his hooks. The hard part is knowing how to avoid Blitzcrank’s Q, let’s take a look at a couple of ways we can avoid his hook.
1. Don’t Walk in a Straight Line
Mix your movement and try to make yourself unpredictable. If you get used to doing it naturally, it’ll also benefit you when playing against most champions with skillshots, even when you’re not thinking of dodging their abilities, as they have to “predict” your movements to land them.
2. Get Vision on Blitzcrank
It’s much easier for a Blitzcrank to land his hook if he’s out of vision, as you won’t know a hook might be coming. Ward the lane bushes during the laning phase. Also, make sure to keep in mind “vision pockets” he might be hiding in during later stages of the game.
3. React to his Hook with Movement Abilities
It’s possible (you might even say it’s easy, given enough practice) to dodge Blitzcrank’s hooks on reaction if you have movement abilities. Keep an eye on him, as you can identify his hook animation or even react to its sound. Also, remember to mix up the directions you dodge, a good Blitzcrank player will pay attention to dodging patterns and try to predict your dash or blink.
Most Common Blitzcrank Combos
As we have already said, Blitzcrank may be an iconic champion due to his hook, but his other abilities can also be combined in different ways to mix up his playstyle and make him harder to counter. Let’s see a few ways he can use his abilities other than the usual hook into knock-up.
1. Flash > E > Q, this is Blitzcrank’s way to get a guaranteed engage, as simply throwing his hook can be easily avoided. Blitzcrank may go for this if his jungler is nearby or when his enemies are in lethal range.
2. R (for silence) > Q > E, when Blitzcrank is facing enemies that can easily dodge his hook with abilities (such as Lucian, Ezreal, Tristana), he may opt to silence them first, then immediately throw his hook. One way to avoid this is to use your movement ability preemptively, then immediately dodge towards the side as you know he’ll most likely throw his hook.
3. R (near low-HP enemy wave) > Q > E, this is another way for Blitzcrank to surprise their enemies when they’re feeling safe near an enemy wave. The wave dies to his R damage, and with it also goes the wall (minion wave) that was providing safety to his enemies.
4. Q > W > Auto-attack > E > R, this is Blitzcrank’s max-damage combo, notice that he uses his E as an auto-attack reset to get more damage by sneaking a basic attack. If you notice that the Blitzcrank is going for this combo, you can punish it by using a movement ability to escape right after getting hooked, you’ll have time to use it due to him trying to get an additional auto-attack.
Also read: How to Counter Vi
Blitzcrank’s Weaknesses
1. Movement Abilities
Blitzcrank, as do most champions with strong skillshots, is countered by movement abilities. Be careful though, when playing against a good Blitzcrank, he’ll wait until you use your movement ability to try to hook you, in case you’re a priority target.
2. Tanky Supports
Some supports in the bot lane may even thank Blitzcrank if he hooks them in, as it’ll help them get into Blitzcrank’s partner as they’re tanky enough to withstand the burst. But keep in mind that some champions that are seen as tanky may be too reliant on Aftershock (rune), and a good Blitzcrank may deny the proc long enough so that you don’t even get a chance to activate it.
3. Long-Range Poke
If a Blitzcrank is getting poked all the time from a long range, he’ll simply not have an opportunity to get a favorable fight from a hook, as he’ll be too low for it.
Also read: How to Play Against Alistar
The Best Blitzcrank Lane Counters in Season 12
1. Leona
As Leona is tanky enough to not be threatened by Blitzcrank’s hook, she does great against him in lane. Even more so because she also has a good amount of damage when paired with her AD Carry and more reliable gank set-up. In many cases that a Blitzcrank hooks a Leona in, it can be seen as a mistake, as it’ll just be helping Leona get in range of his carries.
2. Braum
As one of the few supports that has a reliable movement ability, combined with his strong passive for extended trades, Braum can both disengage a hook by dashing back, or even opt to stay in the fight by applying stacks of his passive. In addition to all of that, Braum has a projectile shield that has two uses during the lane phase: blocking hooks on his partner (even more useful in case it’s an immobile partner), if necessary, and blocking incoming damage in case he gets hooked and wants to keep the skirmish going.
3. Zyra
Although Zyra is not as strong against Blitzcrank out of lane, she can be really annoying to deal with during the laning phase. Her plants can block his Q, and she also has access to long-range poke that can keep Blitzcrank low, deterring him from getting an all-in fight.
Conclusion
As you can see, from analyzing Blitzcrank and reading about his weaknesses, there are many other champions that haven’t been talked about in this guide that fits the criteria to counter Blitzcrank in at least one way – put into practice what you learned about Blitzcrank and you’ll have a much easier time dealing with him and his hooks!
