Suddenly from halfway across the lane, you see that the policewoman has you locked in her R and you are then perma locked in CC while her team focuses on you and deletes you. This scenario is probably well known to you if you were lucky enough to play against Vi. During the early game, she will gank your lane from positions you didn’t even think was possible to expect with any other enemy jungler.
Well, Vi can surprise you from your side of the jungle near your tower as well as from side bushes. If she is fed, you will have a hard time dealing with her because she will transfer from bruiser to unstoppable assassin. If she falls behind, she still has got utility with her ult. Vi is the definition of backline diver, with damage, good CC, and high mobility. On the other hand, she has weaknesses, and in this guide, we will teach you how to use them against her so you can be victorious in your next summoner’s rift game.
Vi’s Abilities
Vi’s kit is based mainly on gap-closing abilities. To better understand how to avoid mistakes when dealing with her, you have to study her abilities closely.
- Passive – Blast Shield: Vi charges a shield over time. The shield can be activated by hitting an enemy with an ability. Its CD is reduced by 3 seconds for every trigger of her W.
- Q – Vault Breaker: Vi charges her gauntlets and unleashes a vault-shattering punch, carrying her forward. The enemies she hits are knocked back and receive a stack of Denting Blows. Vi is slowed by 15% during the channel. After 1.25 seconds of the channel, the max damage and distance are achieved, and further channeling does not increase it. Vi stops upon colliding with an enemy champion, knocking them back in the direction she is facing, while non-champion enemies hit along her path are instead pulled towards her. Vault Breaker will go on a 3-second cooldown if the charged channel is canceled. Casting Flash during the dash will cause enemies at the destination to be hit by Vault Breaker.
- W – Denting Blows: Vi’s punches break her opponent’s Armor, dealing bonus damage and granting her Attack Speed. Vi’s basic attacks, on-hit, and Vault Breaker apply a stack of Denting Blows to affected enemies for 4 seconds, stacking up to 3 times, with the duration refreshing on subsequent applications. The third stack consumes them all to deal bonus physical damage and reduce the target’s armor by 20%, with the bonus damage capped at 300 against non-champions.
- E – Relentless Force Passive: Vi periodically stores up to 2 Relentless Force charges.
- E – Relentless Force Active: Vi’s next basic attack within 6 seconds gains a 50 bonus range and deals modified physical damage, deals and deals the same damage to all enemies in a cone in the direction of the target. Relentless Force resets Vi’s basic attack timer.
- R – Cease and Desist: Vi runs down an enemy, knocking aside anyone in the way. She dashes with displacement immunity towards them, dealing them physical damage and knocking them up for 1.25 seconds upon arrival, herself landing on the opposite side of them after a delay. Enemies within her path are dealt the same damage, knocked aside by 350 units over 0.25 seconds, and simultaneously stunned for 0.75 seconds. Vi will track the target even if they change locations (ex. Flash).
Also read: How to Play Against Alistar?
Countering Vi’s Spells
Vi’s Q can be interrupted while charging, so try to save a disable (silence, snare, stun, knock-up or displacement) for it. Another great way to deal with her Q is to simply dodge it. Try not to duel against a Vi for a more extended period of time because her W will grant her additional attack speed and shred your armor. Vi can’t be CCed while casting her ultimate.
This is very important, so you do not waste your CCs. Save your disables until after she lands. She is still targetable during her R, so you do not have to worry about your damage abilities to miss. When laning against Vi, don’t stand behind your minions; her ranged damage with her E isn’t to be ignored. She does not need to get someone very low to kill them with a full combo. Another great tip is to not trade with her when she has her passive up or ready. Wait for it to run out.
Most Common Vi Combos
During the ganks, Vi uses her Q ganking combo like this Q->AA->E->R->AA->E-AA. Another usual combo is R ganking combo R->AA->Q->AA->E->AA. She uses her Q very close to R, so you don’t have a way to escape, or she can even wait for your Flash and close the gap with her Q instead. Be aware of this, so you do not waste your Flash. During both of these combos, she utilizes a lot of AAs between the abilities.
Vi’s Weaknesses
1. CC
CC is often the answer to the problem, and it is not different with Vi. Either you want to stop her Q or lock her down after her R, CC will be an excellent choice to consider when locking your champions with your teammates.
2. Vision
Since Vi is mainly played as a jungler, vision is often one of the best ways to keep her unsuccessful. Well placed ward can spot her coming to your lane and you will be aware that you should keep back or even try to cooperate with other teammates to catch her off guard.
3. Clearing
Vi doesn’t have a very fast clear. This is one of her most significant weaknesses. You can start red and kill her at her blue if you’ve started on the blue side. But be aware that she has very high burst damage in the early game, which could lead to your pointless death.
4. Zhonya’s Hourglass
Zhonya’s Hourglass is an excellent way to counter Vi. It provides Armor (although she can shred it with her W) and an active that can deny Vi’s R.
Also read: How to Counter Katarina
The Best Vi Lane Counters in Season 12
1. Hecarim
Hecarim is easy to learn, doesn’t have skill shots, and has simple mechanics. With the gold difference of +470 gold at the 15th-minute mark, Hecarim is the champion that is an ideal pick against Vi. He is a solid early game duelist, and his R allows him to engage similarly to Vi’s R. Hecarim is still tangible in the current meta and overall very easy to learn.
2. Kha’Zix
Kha’Zix is one of the more complex champions to play, but you will be rewarded for your hard work in practice mod while you were training jump resets with your E. With the gold difference of +380 gold at the 15th-minute mark, Kha’Zix is the champion that might even out damage Vi in the early game. Kha’Zix’s E allows him to dodge her Q easily, and he can also use his R to dodge because of increased movement speed and stealth. You can even try to pull her while she uses her R on you with your E under the tower.
3. Honorable mention: Trundle
Trundle has the highest win rate against Vi in season 12, even though he is not as popular as the other two champions, as mentioned above. With the gold difference of +270 gold at the 15th-minute mark, Trundle is a surprising non-meta pick against Vi. He is straightforward to play as well, and his abilities help him to duel Vi very well. His E can displace Vi during her Q and cancel it. His R allows him to withstand longer fights with her and duel her more efficiently. His Q heals him, and he often builds health items that counter Vi’s ability to shred Trundle’s armor.
Also read: How to Play Against Kassadin
The Best Champions to Counter Vi in Season 12
1. Graves
As a top laner, Graves has excellent potential at kiting Vi very well, even though you can’t catch her that easily. It is a good idea to try to counter gank with Graves. His E gives him an easy way to dodge her Q and ranged AAs help as well.
2. Lux
Mid-lane Lux is the definition of a headache for Vi. Well-timed Q from Lux can mean certain death for Vi during ARAM dance in the mid to late-game. If you placed your wards well, you can spot her behind a wall and be prepared to save your Q for her. But you have to hit your skill shot, or you will taste the metal from her gauntlets.
3. Jhin
Jhin is one of the most popular ADCs that is even viable against Vi. Even though his mobility is one of the most significant weaknesses, he is still a solid pick.
Best Items to Counter Vi in Season 12
1. Zhonya’s Hourglass
Zhonya’s Hourglass is an excellent way to counter Vi. It provides Armor (although she can shred it with her W) and an active that can deny Vi’s R.
2. Health and Armor items
All that gives some amount of health or armor is good; as we stated before, health is better against Vi because of her ability to shred armor with her W, but you should have some armor because you do not want her to deal true damage to you.
3. Items with Dash Active
Last but not least are items such as Galeforce, Hextech Rocketbelt, or Prowler’s Claw that allow you to dodge her Q.
Conclusion
Vi is the strong early game champion that is moderately hard to play. That does not mean she is easy to play against, but after reading our guide, we firmly believe that you found a few tips that you can use next time to counter her.
Pick a champion within our recommended counters that you are most familiar with and feel most comfortable playing with. If you did not find any of your favorite champions from our list, try to pick something that has reliable CC. Try to save it for her when she charges her Q or her R just landed.
