[3.5a] Darius Guide - Darius - The Hand of Noxus

Sion is a matchup heavily in your favour. Sion is an immobile tank, so he is literally free stacks to you. Just don’t eat too many Decimating Smash or else you can’t kill him. Apprehend can cancel it, so that is a window of opportunity. Late game Sion will have too much stats for you to do enough damage to him, but he is still free stacks that you can then apply to the enemy back line.

Singed is a free lane, just don’t get cheesed.

Nasus is an easy matchup, if you understand wave management. You are stronger lvl 1, so try to harass him if he gets too close. A good Nasus will not try to last hit until the wave goes under his tower, and poke you with Spirit Fire . Freeze the wave, give him as little gold/exp as possible. Be careful of Fury Of The Sands , he will out DPS you.

Kayle is a free lane, but can turn into a bad matchup if you don’t know wave management. Pressure Kayle off the minion wave, and body block Radiant Blast . Freeze the wave just outside of your turret when the wave pushes back to you, forcing her to over extend. You can then activate [ghost] to run her down, or get your jungler to help kill her if they’re nearby.

Camille is a favoured matchup. You pretty much win every trade against her. There is a trick to beating her Hookshot . Use Apprehend right as Hookshot attaches to a wall, and you can pull her out of it. The timing is tricky, but if you land it, Camille will probably quit the game lol. 

Dr. Mundo is an interesting matchup. You cannot use Apprehend against him, as it will just do nothing, thanks to his passive. Don’t eat too many Infected Cleaver and you’ll be fine. If you are having trouble, build [executioner’s calling]. 

Garen is a relatively decent matchup in your favour. Your passive counters his passive, and Garen does not like extended fights. Be careful at lvl 5, his ultimate Demacian Justice is better than yours 1v1. Save your Apprehend until after he uses Decisive Strike . 

Jayce is a decent matchup, but he is favoured. My strategy for beating him is quite simple. Treat him as a ranged top, so play safe early, but when he switches to melee, you can get some good damage in. Take Second Wind just in case, but this matchup is very winnable. 

Olaf can easily beat you early, but once you unlock more abilities, he becomes a lot easier to deal with. Don’t eat too many Undertow and you’ll be fine.

Malphite is a tricky matchup. The thing with Malphite is that he is really tanky in lane, and his Seismic Shard hurts. Depending on his build, you can change your play style slightly. If he builds tank, the matchup is decided by who has better wave management, because you are not killing him. If he builds ap, killing him is a possibility, but don’t count on it because he will hit like a truck. In a nutshell, just farm and try to not get Unstoppable Force cheesed.

Tryndamere is a pretty good matchup, but the lane is volatile. You out trade him, so you can get yourself a pretty high lead early, but be careful of Undying Rage as he can kill you for free if you don’t respect him.

Gwen is a pretty bad matchup. Snip Snip! is annoying to deal with. The center deals true damage and heals her. The best way to get around this is to try and get her off the minion wave at the start, and punish her last hits. 

Akali is a tricky matchup, but winnable. Akali is weakest at lvl 1, so take this opportunity to do some good damage. Your passive kind of counters her Twilight Shroud , as you can spot her after image. Lvl 5 she just kills you if you aren’t prepared. Build Negatron Cloak if you are struggling. Take Bone Plating . 

Kennen is a difficult matchup. Due to the nature of playing against ranged tops, your lane is automatically lost. Your primary objective in this lane is to survive, as dying is game losing. However, there is some wiggle room. Ranged tops are squishy, so they aren’t hard to kill, and will almost always be over extended in the lane. Ping your jungler to help. Take Second Wind and Sweet Tooth .

Teemo is a difficult matchup. Due to the nature of playing against ranged tops, your lane is automatically lost. Your primary objective in this lane is to survive, as dying is game losing. However, there is some wiggle room. Ranged tops are squishy, so they aren’t hard to kill, and will almost always be over extended in the lane. Ping your jungler to help. Take Second Wind and Sweet Tooth .

Lucian is a difficult matchup. Due to the nature of playing against ranged tops, your lane is automatically lost. Your primary objective in this lane is to survive, as dying is game losing. However, there is some wiggle room. Ranged tops are squishy, so they aren’t hard to kill, and will almost always be over extended in the lane. Ping your jungler to help. Take Second Wind and Sweet Tooth .

Vayne is a difficult matchup. Due to the nature of playing against ranged tops, your lane is automatically lost. Your primary objective in this lane is to survive, as dying is game losing. However, there is some wiggle room. Ranged tops are squishy, so they aren’t hard to kill, and will almost always be over extended in the lane. Ping your jungler to help. Take Second Wind and Sweet Tooth .

Renekton is hard early, but is easier when you have more abilities. Underestimate his passive, and you are dead. Be careful of his “hack n’ slash” combo. Try to keep him off the wave early so he can’t stack his passive. Take Bone Plating . 

Riven is a really hard matchup. She beats you at every stage of the game. Avoid Broken Wings and Ki Burst or else you die. Riven is much less of a threat without her Broken Wings , but she’ll just back off until it’s up. When she hits lvl 5, she can kill you for free. NEVER USE  Apprehend UNLESS HER MAJOR ABILITIES ARE ON COOLDOWN. 

Jax is really annoying. You do not win extended fights as he has multiple abilities to escape, and his Counter Strike shuts you down. Try to land Decimate right before he stuns you so you can at least get a stack and heal yourself. 

Irelia is actually not that bad of a matchup as you might think. Her entire fighting pattern is based on if she lands Flawless Duet and her passive stacks. Dodge it, and then you have a chance at killing her. Get hit, and say goodbye to your health. Try to kill her or get a significant gold advantage before she gets Blade of the Ruined King , then you can’t fight her anymore.

Fiora is a hard counter to Darius . She does a ton of damage with her vitals + Grasp of the Undying . Be careful when using Apprehend , her Riposte will destroy you. Start with autos first, and then if she preemptively Riposte , now you can Apprehend and do some damage. 

Shen is pretty tricky. He out trades you early, and his Spirit's Refuge blocks your autos. Save your Apprehend for his Shadow Dash so you can catch him out.

Sett is a skill matchup, with both players being favoured. Sett will destroy you lvls 1-3 if you don’t respect him, but your ultimate is better than his, especially in team fights. Sett will hold his Haymaker until after you get Noxian Might, anticipating Noxian Guillotine . Avoid the true damage, and use Noxian Guillotine after you chunked down his shield a bit.