How to Counter Gwen - Playing Against Guide | Patch 26.4

Gwen

Generating counterplay guide for Gwen...

Studying their key abilities and threats...

What They Do

AP skirmisher and tank-shredder. Gwen uses her scissors to deal %-health magic damage and true damage. She is incredibly slippery thanks to a short-cd dash and a mist cloud that makes her untargetable to anyone outside of it. She scales into a late-game monster that can melt frontlines.

Abilities (What to Watch For)

Ability	What You'll See	What It Means For You
	A blue glow on her scissors and health bar	deals bonus magic damage based on your max health and heals her. The more HP you build, the more she hurts and heals.
	Fast snips in a cone, up to 6 times	The center of deals true damage and applies . She needs to auto-attack 4 times to fully charge the snips for maximum damage.
	A circular zone of blue mist on the ground	While inside , she is untargetable to anyone outside the circle. She also gains Armor and Magic Resist. She can move the mist once by walking toward the edge.
	A quick dash with glowing scissors afterwards	is a dash that buffs her range, attack speed, and damage. If she hits an enemy, the cooldown is reduced by 50%. This is her main tool for kiting and chasing.
	Throws glowing blue needles in a line	can be cast 3 times, slowing you and dealing massive %-health damage. It applies on every needle hit, providing her huge burst healing.

Respect

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Four-stack →At 4 stacks, the center of the snips deals massive true damage. If you trade while her bar is full, you will lose the health lead instantly.
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Level 1 start→Gwen has one of the strongest level 1s in top lane. With , she gets extra range and massive attack speed. Do not try to man-mode her at level 1 unless you are a specialized lane bully.
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Inside the →She gains flat resistances while in the mist. Even if you walk inside to hit her, she is tankier than she looks. Don't waste your ultimate or high-damage spells while she is inside unless you are certain you can kill her.
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Post-6 slow-chain→Each cast of slows you, making it impossible to run away while she pokes you down and prepares a final execute.

Punish

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is on cooldown (22-18s)→Without her mist, she is incredibly squishy. This is your only window to use long-range CC or poke. Call your jungler the moment she wastes this.
+
dash is missed→If she uses and doesn't hit anything, the cooldown is NOT refunded. She is immobile for about 13 seconds. All-in her immediately.
+
Zero stacks on →Check the white bar under her health. If it's empty, her only snips twice and deals pathetic damage. Fight her before she can auto-attack the wave.
+
Early game (Pre-6)→Gwen is a scaling champion. She lacks sticking power before she gets the slows from . Bully her early to delay her Riftmaker/Nashor's power spikes.

Laning Tips

•Walk perpendicular to her . The true damage is only in the center; if you sidestep slightly, you take significantly less damage.
•Bramble Vest or Executioner's Calling is mandatory. Her and heal her for a massive amount during all-ins.
•Do not stand inside your own minion wave. She will use the minions to stack up her for free and then dash onto you with .
•If you are a ranged champion, bait her by walking close to the edge, then back off. Once it's gone, you have a 20-second window to harass her.
•Short trades are better than long ones. The longer the fight goes, the more procs she gets and the more she heals.
•Magic Resistance is more effective than Health. Since her deals %-max health damage, stacking HP actually makes her hit you harder.

Teamfight Warning

⚠Don't clump in tight corridors. Her needles pass through enemies; if she hits 3 people, she heals to full and deals triple damage.
⚠Save your hard CC (Stuns/Knockups) for after she has used her second movement of .
⚠If you are the ADC or Mage, stay away from her mist. You cannot target her, but she can still dash out and one-shot you with + .
⚠Tanks should not try to 1v1 her late game. Her is specifically designed to shred high-HP targets.
⚠Gwen's casts have a small window between them. If she misses the first needle, she has less time to set up the more powerful 2nd and 3rd casts.

AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached