How to play the Darius matchup?

The following tips and strategies have been shared by players to help you win against Darius.

How to lane against Darius?

The following tips and strategies have been shared by players to help you win against Darius.

Darius Matchups Spreadsheet

Matchup	Difficulty	Win Rate	Games Played	Early	Mid	Late	Tips
Aatrox	6	52.01%	5,122	Skill	Win	Win	Skill matchup. You can level one cheese aatrox. You have stay healthy and avoid his q1 and q2 poke and look for an all in. You will win if you can stick onto him and land your own q sweet spot. Do not look for dry q's on Aatrox. Rush Plated Steelcaps.
Akali	4	53.03%	2,472	Win	Win	Skill	Look for kills pre six. Avoid taking free poke damage from her q lvl 1. You can bush cheese her with w start. Look to freeze the wave near your turret and all in.
Akshan	7	50.48%	1,137	Lose	Skill	Win	Take Dshield secondwind into steelcapped boots, Akshan has a ton of early game poke and harass. Never take free poke from Akshan's Q. The critical thing to understand in his matchup is how you catch Akshan when he uses his grappling hook. Darius can either E Akshan out of his grappling hook OR, you can use Ghost to move your model into his(ghost lets you phase into other entities), If akshan runs into a champion or terrain during his grapple, it will cancel. In either method, Akshan will lose a huge amount of his damage that comes from his grapple allowing you to win and run him down
Camille	4	53.3%	1,561	Win	Skill	Lose	You hard win pre first item. You can level one cheese Camille. You can look for dry q's in lane. Take Dshield second wind to mitigate some of her w damage early on. Look for an all in with ghost when the wave is on your side by starting with auto w reset. When she has ult use your e to guarentee your q lands. Rush Plated Steelcaps.
Cassiopeia	9	46.54%	593	Win	Lose	Lose	Extremely difficult lane, its recommend to go all-in on mobility for this matchup so you can better dodge Cassiopiea's Q and have some kill pressure here. Sorcery secondary runes for some mobility AND rush boots of swiftness. This unlocks a ton of outplay potential into Cass but you need the mechanics to support it.
Cho'Gath	3			Win	Win	Win	Freeze and all in pre six. You can zone him from the wave level 1. Taking multiple trades with him can result in him out sustaining you. Build Divine sunderer if you really want to 1v1 him, if there is another tanky target, and if you think the game is going to last very long.
Dr. Mundo	8			Win	Win	Win	You only really have kill pressure on this guy pre six. Your pull doesn't work on him but it does chunk him. If you manage to freeze on him early game you can snowball pretty hard. Stand behind the wave and don't get hit by cleavers.
Fiora	6	51.21%	1,771	Skill	Skill	Lose	Skill matchup favored towards darius. Avoid taking free poke damage from her q and vitals. Do not dry q Fiora she can just dash in or out to avoid it. Look for an all in pre-six when the wave is on your side with ghost. Its preferable to rush plated steelcaps but you can also go a more defensive option like bramble vest.
Gangplank	8	51.98%	1,868	Win	Skill	Lose	Skill matchup. His mobility is centered around his barrels. If he only has one barrel up you can ghost and run him down. You can auto reset the barrels with w. Be careful of him hitting you with a barrel hidden in a bush. If he has ignite then he has a lot of kill pressure on you when you are around half health.
Garen	2	54.85%	3,034	Win	Win	Win	Garen will probbaly bring phase rush and ignite in this matchup. You want to avoid taking short trades where he can proc phase rush and get out quick. You want to look to all-in against him with ghost. Be careful of his ult ignite true damage he can pretty much one shot you from 60% health.
Gnar	4	51.84%	1,929	Win	Win	Skill	He can only kite you in mini form with hyper stacks. You can engage with ghost in either form and will win all ins.
Gragas	6	49.21%	1,518	Win	Skill	Lose	Always auto W whenever Gragas walks into the wave. You want to position yourself in Gragas's escape path before he belly slams to give him awkward belly slams(so that he pushes you in the direction of his escape path), Post 6, his ultimate can't be coutnerplayed so be careful near his tower so you aren't pushed into it. You want to be unpredictable with your movement as Gragas players map out your movement and try to predict you so you want to throw them off.
Graves	3			Win	Win	Win	Easy matchup, Graves will always be in your hook range. You should always win if you hook him. You can also kill him off ghost CD post level 3 by just running up to him with Auto W. You can also abuse Grave's AOE auto attacks by running behind minions to block the damage(can be useful in a close fight) Don't stay in graves W(it will cancel your ultimate and other point click abilities)
Gwen	4	49.73%	2,437	Win	Skill	Lose	You are much stronger than her pre six, but her ultimates makes all-ins somewhat dicey if you are not ahead. You have to create a lead pre six or dodge her r2 or r3 to win all ins.
Heimerdinger	6	48.46%	520	Lose	Win	Skill	Play for mercs spike. Try to position the wave so its coming into you when you get to the lane with mercs. Try to all-in when his E is down or he is not near his turrets.
Illaoi	8	55.78%	900	Skill	Skill	Skill	Very rough matchup. Consider dodging. You win fights if she misses her e. If she hits e on you and only has one tentacle near her then you can still win an all-in fight pre six.
Irelia	3	55.77%	1,517	Win	Skill	Lose	Skill matchup. Zone her from xp with w start. Most irelias should start e to avoid fighting you early. Just try to freeze and drain her of resources. She wins 1v1 at bork.
Jax	6	49.78%	2,475	Skill	Skill	Lose	Skill matchup favored toward Jax. Respect his level one damage with counterstrike. Do not dry q him since he will just jump onto you. Use your pull when his counterstrike is going to go off so you both are stunned. All in when the wave is on your side. Rush Plated Steelcaps.
Jayce	9	49.71%	2,559	Lose	Skill	Win	Unplayable for Darius. Dodge. Good Jayces can space you easily with phase rush and has the damage to poke you down pretty easily before you can all in. Its impossible to get in range to pull this guy to look for an all in unless you have ghost and boots on him. Look to pull when his acceleration gate is down. Stay healthy and look for jungle to gank you. Its pretty common for Jayce to perma push into your turret.
K'Sante	4			Win	Skill	Skill	Avoid taking free q auto damage from him. Look to freeze and all in. Save your ultimate for when he ults unless yours kills. Try not to get crowd controlled into his turret and avoid pushing into him. Rush plated steelcaps first back.
Kalista	8			Lose	Skill	Lose
Karma	1			Win	Win	Win
Kayle	3	48.19%	1,633	Win	Skill	Lose	Zone her from xp level 1 and create a early freeze pre six. If you have ghost and a level lead early she can never recover in this lane. Freeze or slow push and look for a dive.
Kennen	7	47.01%	1,087	Skill	Skill	Win	If Kennen is good at spacing its kind of rough. Stay healthy and farm up until you have merc treads then look for an all in with ghost. Try to engage when his e is down.
Kled	6	52.32%	604	Skill	Win	Win	Kled has a lot of burst damage in between forms. You have to look to all in in one fight instead of taking multiple trades. If you do not have the damage to kill him when he is unmounted then do not try to dismount him.
Lillia	1			Win	Skill	Lose	Lilia's Q range is the same as Darius hook range and once you get on top of her she has no way to get out. She can be midly annoying pre-3 so its recommend to chill till level 3 and run her down off ghost CD.
Lucian	7	51.74%	4,546	Skill	Skill	Lose
Malphite	2	53.63%	1,706	Win	Win	Win	Go dshield second wind to mitigate some of his q poke. Try to play around the bushes so you can avoid getting in range of his q. If malphite ever walks up to auto you can run him down. You have limited kill pressure on him later in the game since he can just walk away from you. Try to freeze on him pre six when he has low mana.
Maokai	1	50%	840	Win	Win	Win	Extremely free matchup but be cautious around bushes as he can cheese with saplings. Maokai will try to use his Q to disengage but his range is just all in Darius range so its free. Play to set up a freeze on him if he plays too safe
Mordekaiser	3	54.23%	2,563	Win	Skill	Lose	Skill matchup favored Darius early. Freeze the wave on your side and look to all in. If he has ignite he has a fair amount of kill pressure on you if you are consistently taking q damage from him. If you are not good at spacing it then take DShield. Post Six he will win a all in if he starts with ult. Rush Mercs.
Nasus	4	51.34%	1,116	Win	Lose	Lose	Zone him from xp level 1. Try to freeze on him early pre six. If he takes Aery, Doran's Ring, and e starts stand in the wave so it pushes toward you. If you see he has aery when the game starts then get Dshield otherwise if its fleet take Dblade. Swiftness boots are viable.
Neeko	6	49.6%	758	Win	Win	Win
Olaf	9	52.2%	726	Skill	Skill	Skill	Fun matchup. In an straight up fight standing still Olaf crushes you. You have to kite Olaf especially during his ultimate just like tryndamere. You have to fight away from his axes so he can't stick onto you. Thus, if he throws an axe far away where he can't easily reach it thats when you can look for a fight. General rule of thumb if you get hit by more than two axes in an all in you are dead. Olaf has a lof of sustain when he is low so you don't want to heavy trade just all in.
Ornn	4	50.85%	1,532	Win	Win	Win	Freeze pre six. Avoid taking damage from his w and w auto. If you pull him out his e pre six he is usually dead. You can pull him after his r1 to make sure he can't r2. Be careful when you are around 60% since he can triple brittle combo you if he is good.
Pantheon	8	51.37%	1,312	Skill	Win	Win	Really rough poke matchup if the Pantheon is good. You can bush cheese pantheon level w with w. He hard outranges you with his q poke. Be careful when you are 50% health as he can look for all-in with little counterplay from your side. Try to all in at level six when you have plated steelcaps. You outscale in the midgame, but later on he does get a fair amount of armor penetration.
Poppy	2	53.4%	1,219	Win	Win	Win	Avoid taking damage from her passive autos and q poke. Play around the bushes and look for freeze and all in. She can q you then dash back to safety with her e to get a good trade on you. You outscale and pretty much always beat her in an all in.
Quinn	7	47.22%	900	Skill	Skill	Lose	Rough matchup if she can space you. Farm safely and look to get plated steelcaps asap. Play around bushes but be aware she can reveal you with her w when you are out of vision.
Renekton	3	53.21%	2,227	Skill	Win	Win	You outscale Renekton. Be careful of his early game damage and q range. You can level 1 cheese renekton with w and Doran'sBlade. If the wave isn't good for an all in then be careful of taking trades with Renekton since short trades hard favor him. Renekton has very good gank setup so be careful of their jungle.
Rengar	3	52.67%	1,198	Win	Win	Win	You can level one cheese Rengar with Dblade. Respect his early game before level 3. From there you can look for an all in. Rengar hard wins short trades with his healing on his w. Get plated steelcaps asap or bramble vest for a even more defensive option.
Riven	9	49.09%	2,194	Skill	Skill	Lose	Rough Matchup. Riven has a ton of burst damage especially with her ultimate and ignite. Respect her level 1 damage and look for an all in after level 3. Rush Plated Steelcaps. After six she can kill you at 60-70% if your bone plating is down.
Rumble	9	50.17%	863	Skill	Skill	Win	Rumble is a broken champion. If he can space well you can never touch him without losing half your health. He has the highest burst damage in the game with his overheat. Look for an all in when his heat is low or when he is about to overheat and can't use all his abilities. Rush mercs.
Ryze	7	48.31%	1,211	Win	Win	Lose	Play for mercs spike. Try to position the wave so its coming into you when you get to the lane with mercs. Try to bait out his W or phase rush before ghosting on him.
Sett	7	51.33%	4,348	Lose	Skill	Win	You win level 1 all in if you flash his w. Don't stand still when you are fighting and dodge side to side preemptively so he misses his w. He can confirm his pull into his w which is unflashable. He can kill you at around 50-60% health with ignite.
Shen	2	52.84%	1,196	Win	Win	Win	Shen doesn't do enough damage to pressure you ever. Avoid taking free q poke damage. He should never get his empowered Q on you. Position so the spirit sword is not between you and Shen.
Shyvana		52.92%	720
Singed	1	54.18%	1,279	Win	Win	Win	Walk with your wave level 1 so he cannot proxy you. Start w and start stacking waves. Shove 3 waves in and cheater recall. Try to freeze and all-in on the bounce. Rush Mercs or Swiftness boots.
Sion	3	57.17%	1,791	Win	Win	Win	Freeze and all in pre six. Sion has no way to escape you. Dont stand in his q. Rush boots. He outscales you so you have to get a lead in laning phase.
Swain	1	52.4%	1,021	Win	Win	Win	Free matchup, you should be able to run him down with ghost off cooldown every time you use hook Swain should die because he doesn't have the range to deal with you and your all-ins. If you really want to make him miserable, you can run boots of swiftness but its not necassary.
Sylas	2	54.54%	3,990	Win	Win	Win	Start W and 3 wave push and cheater. Freeze when it bounces back and look to all-in. Rush Mercs. Don't short trade with sylas.
Tahm Kench	5			Win	Skill	Win	Kench has good short trades but suffers in all ins in the early game pre six. Look for freeze and avoid taking free grasp procs and q damage from him. Respect his passive stacks when you are near his turret so you don't get eaten and thrown back into his turret. Rush boots.
Teemo	4	47.79%	1,289	Win	Skill	Lose	Rush Mercs and play to survive early. Get Dshield and second wind for some sustain. You have to set up the wave so when you come back with mercs its coming into you and you can still thin the wave. Use Ghost to run him down when you have space and try not to run into any shrooms. Get scanner when he is six.
Trundle	6	55.06%	741	Skill	Lose	Lose	Kite him like Olaf. Trundle crushes you level 1 with lethal tempo and his q. Rush plated steel caps. He beats you easily in a 1v1 after first item.
Tryndamere	5	56.16%	1,298	Win	Skill	Lose	Kite him like Olaf. You win all-ins perma if you are full health. Things get dicey when you take multiple trades against a tryndamere with rage stacks. Run away when he ults but stay close enough so you can finish him off when his ult runs off. Rush plated steelcaps or wardens mail for an even more defensive option.
Urgot	4	47.77%	1,547	Win	Skill	Skill	You win level 1 if you flash his e. You win 1v1 all ins pretty much always in laning phase if you dodge his e. He can buffer his e when you pull him so he grabs you as he is getting pulled. You have to freeze and create an advantage early on.
Vayne	7	49.82%	2,529	Skill	Lose	Lose	Really rough matchup if she can space you. Try looking for a pull when she uses her dash. Play around bushes and stay healthy and call for your jungler. Rush plated steelcaps.
Viego	1			Win	Win	Win
Vladimir	7	51.64%	1,925	Win	Skill	Lose	Dshield. Ghost on him when the wave is on your side and all in. Vlad has good sustain in lane so try to not take short trades or get poked by his q. Never get hit by his empowered q3.
Volibear	4	52.91%	1,977	Skill	Skill	Lose	Volibear has a extremely strong short trade pattern with his eq. If you can avoid his e you can look for an all in asap. Respect his w mark heals and his potential dive with his ultimate. You win full health all ins but you cannot get hit by his e.
Warwick	2	53.31%	1,555	Win	Win	Win	You win all ins always. Just dont short trade. Be aware of barrier and passive healing.
Wukong	3	54.76%	1,627	Win	Lose	Lose	If he dashes in level 1, skill your w and run him down. Try to 3 wave push and cheater recall. Freeze on the bounce when you get back to the lane. Avoid getting poked by his sheen Qs.
Yasuo	2	53.88%	3,864	Win	Skill	Lose	Yasuo's only chance is level 1-2 to cheese kill you with lethal tempo. For this reason, its optimal to play safe and relax until level 3 where its impossible to lose from this point due to windwall being useless. You can just ghost on him withotu consequence, the only thing to note is Yasuo's escape path with minions and E, keep this in mind and dont let him stall you. Post 6, if you hook him after he throws out Q3 tornado, your hook stun won't let him cast ultimate. Also in melee range you can sidestep Yasuo Q's.
Yone	4	56.45%	3,040	Win	Skill	Lose	Don't go for Blind Q's, Yone will use his E to dodge it so use your E > Q combo to land your Q.
Yorick	7	49.65%	1,269	Win	Lose	Lose	You must kill Yorick before level 6 or this matchup gets very hard. Its pretty important to dodge Yorick's Ghouls and his cage to win fights. If you have flash up and he uses cage and ghouls at the same time, its worth it to flash towards him to dodge and kill. Ghouls are the main problem in this matchup so its a good idea to stand in the wave and zone yorick from the wave. Level 6 onwards maiden will make ghouls for him which is why you need to kill pre-6 and dodge Ghouls constantly. Focus on getting onto Yorick and catching him out.
Zac	2			Win	Win	Win	Step on Zac's blobs from passive and don't let him sustain. Use your hook to cancel Zac's jump if he holds it. Zac players like to use Q on a minion and you and then will jump out to short trade, be aware of this so you can hook him when he tries to jump out.
Zeri	9			Win	Skill	Lose