Best Renekton counters in LoL

Renekton is one of the most frustrating champions to play against in LoL: here are the five best counters to beat him in lane.

Image Credits | Riot Games

5 Best Renekton Counters

Even though he’s not one of the most popular top lane choices, Renekton is known to be a strong lane bully and does a wonderful job in snowballing once he picks up a few kills. He has great sustain and easily punishes enemies with his short trades. Against most melee top lane champions, he just obliterates them with the higher damage.

These are the main reasons why he’s so oppressive and tough to deal with when playing against him. Therefore, we have created a list of the strongest champions to play if you happen to run into him. We will include all tips and tricks on how to make sure you come out victorious in this matchup. These are the five best Renekton counters in LoL.

Garen – I’m too tanky for you

Garen is the type of champion who wants you to fist-fight with him so he naturally prevails over Renekton in both short and extended trades.
Garen negates most of Renekton’s damage and combos if he’s able to quickly react to engage attempts and cast his W for the additional tenacity and damage reduction.
Renekton has built-in sustain inside his kit. Garen has built-in healing with his passive so he will out sustain Renekton at all times.
Pay attention to his fury bar to always know which empowered abilities he can cast.
Renekton is usually stronger early on since he has a higher base and better AoE damage. Don’t trade aggressively and wait to stack some armor before fighting him.
Try to hit level six before him by playing with the minion waves to have a chance to kill him.
Rushing Plated Steelcaps is a good way to neutralize a part of Renekton’s damage.

Illaoi – One of, if not, the toughest matchup for Renekton

For some, Renekton into Illaoi is considered an unplayable matchup. This is because Illaoi counters melee champions that put a lot of emphasis on their ability to quickly kill the targets with burst damage. She has lots of sustain with her tentacles, negating most of the damage taken.
The most important thing with Illaoi is to hit the E to harass Renekton from a distance. He will try to dodge it with his E, so make sure you’re casting it from a position you cannot miss.
Renekton has kill potential early on if he runs Ignite and you misplay the minion waves or the trades. Pay attention to these things and don’t give him a chance to take the lead.
Illaoi will be able to beat Renekton later on in the game once she becomes tankier and hits level 11 so you can easily avoid fighting him and farm safely.

Kled – It’s all about extended trades

Kled starts prevailing over Renekton the longer the trades are. By having Skaarl, you can fight aggressively with him and then remount by farming the minions. That said, the enemy will look to fight you while you’re dismounted so be aware of his cooldowns and potential summoners’ spells while you’re waiting for your passive.
Renekton will always look for short trades against you. Try to predict when he’s jumping on you and re-engage as soon as he tries to run away with his E2.
You will always win trades if you have W ready. Avoid fighting him if the ability is on cooldown.
Renekton has kill threat at level six (he likely will run Ignite as well). Watch your health bar to understand whether he can take you down.
Later in the game, Kled will be tanky enough and win the skirmishes anyway. As long as you don’t feed Renekton, he will not be a threat.

Tahm Kench – Unbench the Kench

Even though Tahm Kench is rarely used in the top lane, he’s one of the best champions to counter Renekton. He can neutralize most of Renekton’s damage with the shield from his E, and heal back the damage taken with his Q.
This is a matchup where Renekton will rarely find ways to punish and kill you. It’s more of a neutralizing matchup, and Tahm Kench will then out scale the enemy the longer the game goes.
During the laning phase, use your auto attacks to apply the passive and cast Tongue Lash to recover health. A good way is to cast it while he’s busy farming minions so he won’t be able to dodge.
You can try to eat him and spit him under your turret if he tries to dash in. That said, only look for that play if he’s overextending a lot.

Mordekaiser – Ready for some intensive 1v1?

Mordeakaiser prevails over Renekton during extended trades thanks to his passive.
Renekton will always look for short trades to build an HP lead. Whenever he tries to dash back with his E2, try to pull him back with your own E. At that point, he won’t be able to run away from you and will lose a big chunk of his health.
Try to ult him only after Renekton uses his own ultimate, so you can also steal a part of the extra maximum health he gains.
Rush Rylai’s Crystal Scepter and use the item’s passive slow to stick close to Renekton during the trades. He won’t be able to run away and you will have the passive to increase your overall damage output.
You might want to rush Ghost in this matchup so it’s easier for you to chase after him. Decide based on the enemy’s team composition.