Matchup is very easy, take cleanse into Ashe. You might need to start Long Sword and 3 Pots, depending on the enemy support.
Heimerdinger
If up against Heimer, take Magic Resist. Swap Absolute Focus for Nimbus in this matchup.
Cleanse and Exhaust are perfectly fine here.
You can take PTA VS this lane. Heimer players will almost always shove into you 99.99% of the time. His turrets take a while to get rid of ever since his turret buff, but you can use Calibrum (Green) to chunk them out, or possibly taking them out as well.
I recommend you start Long Sword 3 Potions vs this lane as you don't need the stats from Doran's Blade.
Kai'Sa
Poke in lane and all in if you can. Use Sniper to trade as you have range ADV. Avoid taking isolations fights late game as that's the only time you can lose since she has Q evolution.
Kalista
Similar matchup as Kai'sa. Use Sniper to trade and poke. Avoid taking bad fights, she WILL punish you. Also keep in mind that if even you're winning the lane, the lane is still even. Once you get Grav, the lane should be better for you as slows are somewhat of a counter to Kalista.
Sivir
The Matchup is pretty easy actually. Dodge the Q's and you win. Also after Sivir's E change, I'm not sure if Grav Auto into insta Q roots her anymore.
Swain
Take MR vs Swain, don't underistimate his damage. Once he's 6 he will oneshot your sentry (Cres. Turret) while his R is activated. Red/Blue and Red/White are efficient against him, but you need to dodge/bait his E out before you all-in him.
Zeri
Honestly, I don't think I need to say anything for this one. Just punish her with Green level 1 and look to force anything out of her as she can't do anything to counter it. All gun combos beat her.
Lucian
Avoid taking bad trades with Lucian as the lane will not go towards your favor. Lucian's burst will mess you up real bad. Can take exhaust VS this lane and use Sniper to outrange.
Miss Fortune
Avoid getting hit by her Q's and Avoid her E if you can. If she has an adv over you don't fight her, you will lose.
Seraphine
Matchup isn't hard tbh. In this lane you need to take MR and cleanse because of her CC chain. Conq is good into Seraphine, you can take Conq to out DPS her.
Syndra
The match is somewhat easy, yet skillful at the same time. It's just like Ziggs, dodge the Q's and don't play in the wave. Let her waste her cooldowns and you win every fight. Red/Blue Green/White and Green/Purple are good vs her.
Tristana
Honestly, The Matchup isn't really that hard. Regardless if she has lethal tempo or not, I highly encourage that you take exhaust to negate her all in burst. Trist matchup is similar to Lucian, wait for them to use their burst, then commit to an all in. Be mindful of her all in with W and E, you will lose the all in.
Twitch
The matchup isn't as bad as you think it is. This is another lane that I highly recommend you take exhaust. Once he pops out from stealth, insta exh and all in with Red/White, Red/Blue, Green/White.
Xayah
Lowkey I would say this matchup is easy, try to deny her a lot before 6. Take exhaust in this lane to negate her E damage.
Ezreal
In this lane, You can swap out Absolute Focus for Nimbus Cloak. You can take Exhaust in this lane if you want to get the Nimbus Cloak MS after Instantly Exhausting him after he uses E. Can take Ghost as well, it's preference in this matchup. Dodge his Q's and trade in the wave. You should win most all-ins
Jhin
This is a skill matchup. Don't get hit by unnecessary poke as you WILL get punished. The early levels can be hard, but if you see an oppurtunity for an All-in and you know you win, go for it.
Jinx
This is slightly difficult. Jinx can punish you in any way shape and form. Avoid taking damage from her ROCKETS, and play from range. She will always push you in no matter what. You can win this matchup if you save your burst when she plays too aggressive.
Karthus
This is similar to Varus/Similar poke lanes. Dodge his Q's and don't take any bad trades. Also take MR. Ghost is very optimal here because you will need that Movement Speed to engage/disengage fights.
Kog'Maw
Don't Trade VS Kog'Maw while his W is activated, you will lose. This is somewhat similar to the Jinx matchup. Save your Burst for him when you can All-in him.
Samira
This Matchup can go both ways, depending on who messes up first. Levels 1-2 (Sometimes 3) Punish her with Green. Don't stay too close in range of Samira's gap closer as she will DESTROY you. Green/White and Red/Blue is good VS her. Did you know that she can't windwall your Red Auto Attacks? Also, use ult AFTER she uses windwall, if you use it before, there's a chance you will lose any fight vs her.
Also, if she's paired with hard engage supports like Thresh, Leona, Naut, etc, avoid getting engaged on. You will lose the fight if you get engaged on instead of you're support.
Varus
Avoid Poke Damage at all costs. Long Sword start is situational here, depending on support matchup. Varus will start E level 1 every single game, don't underistimate it's range. Level(s) 2-3, assume he's going to use his range, be prepared for him to use his ult once he's 6 as he will look for an all in.
Vayne
This is one of my favorite matchups. Can play aggresive level 1, but avoid taking additional damage from Vayne Q, you shouldn't even be in range for that to be happening. Assert your dominance and trade With Green. When fighting all-ins, space with Green/White or Red/Blue, whoever flashes first loses. She has a gap closer, you don't.
Ziggs
Don't let Ziggs land his poke on you because you will get punished in lane severely. You win this matchup but avoid unnecessary poke.
Caitlyn
This is one of the matchups I strongly dislike, as Caitlyn can be paired with any support. You DO NOT win Level 1 at all no matter what. If you're somehow in this matchup, you need to dodge her Q poke and bait her E so you can trade with her, which be hard because it's a Caitlyn.
Senna
You usually don't see a lot of Senna ADC now, but if you're up against one, you need to respect her early levels as she out-ranges you. Wait for her to make a mistake and punish her from there. Don't go for anything crazy, you need to be very patient vs this Matchup.
Veigar
Cleanse and Exhaust work really good here, especially Exhaust. If you're in a situation where he's going to ult you, you need to be prepared to exhaust him to negate his damage. Take MR and respect his cage. I cannot stress this enough on how his cage is an Ultra-Counter to you.
Draven
A good Draven player will destroy you. You DO NOT win at all level 1. DO NOT take a bad trade as you will lose the lane right then and there, A good Draven player will SEVERLY punish you. I recommend you take exhaust VS this lane to negate his burst so you can all in with Chakrams. You can also swap out Absolute Focus for Nimbus Cloak, your choice.
Nilah
You lose all-ins VS her when she's 6. Punish her Level 1-3, be careful around 5. The reason you don't win once she's 6 is because she'll use her gap closer and activate her W to block all of your auto attacks. If you're in her ult, Congrats. You've officially lost that fight. Basically, punish her early and deny her any scaling if you can. Can take Exhaust and Nimbus Cloak VS her. You will be needing it to counter her gap closer.
Yasuo
You will lose once he's level's 2-3. Punish him early level 1 and take exhaust. Red can go through his windwall just like Samira's windwall. Respect that he has a gap closer and that he will look for all-ins if he gets the chanc
Braum
Braum is a REALLY amazing support to lane with. Level 2 prio with Severum (Red) Q and Braum applying his passive is guaranteed for the enemy to burn summoner spells and maybe even a free kill. Even if you're behind in this lane you'll get a lot of peel from Braum.
Leona
Leona is just like the other engage supports, it should be a free lane. Her CC setup is pretty much why you will win most 2v2 fights in laning phase. Even in the lategame when teamfighting, she can set you up for victory.
Lulu
Lulu is actually really broken with Aphelios and in general because they don't want to nerf this champion for who knows why. Her entire kit is exactly why you can't lose lane unless you get camped and they pick counter champs against you. Conq/PTA is also really good if you have a lulu on your team.
Nami
Nami is actually one of the many supports I enjoy playing with actually. Her E is really powerful in lane when trading and if she lands her bubble, it's even better.
Nautilus
Honestly, I don't think I need to explain this one. You should get level 2 prio here and assert dominance in lane. If you somehow don't get level 2 prio, it's fine. Don't grief and just be patient. Play it slow if you need to, then look for an oppurtunity to punish the enemy when you can.
Renata Glasc
Personally, this is one of my favorite bot lane synergy. As broken as this champ is, you can pretty much get away with a lot stuff, but don't always ego it.
Soraka
An EXTREMELY good Soraka player will always find ways to make every situation/scenario happen. Together these champs are Exodia if either of them aren't dead in fights. These 2 basically need each other for them to be broken.
Thresh
Thresh is 1 of the best support champions to go really well with Aphelios. (As long as thresh lands his hooks) My favorite thing about having a thresh on my team is that you can either play back and passive with lantern, or you can play really aggressive if ahead. It's literally so perfect for Aphelios. You're basically ready for every scenario.
Janna
Janna is actually really good with Aphelios. She's got the shielding, healing, peel and everything. It's sort of like Soraka and any other enchanter.
Blitzcrank
Blitz is defintely up there as a good support that synergizes well with Aphelios, but it's matchup reliant. Only way blitz gets countered here is if the enemy picks Morgana, other than that it's a good support pick.
Karma
Karma is actually really good if you lack Movement Speed (Stormrazor should help though with the MS) against enemy comps that can just run you down. Easy poke in lane and you can look to play for picks if needed.
Rakan
Early levels, it can either be a weak or strong, depending on how you play it. Me personally, I somewhat like playing with a Rakan support, especially in this season, he's pretty meta and has one of the best engages in the game.
Seraphine
I actually kind of like having seraphine as my support. She's basically just an improved version of Sona and basically does everything Sona does, but better. Her R is game changing, so play around that.
Alistar
Alistar can either be really good or really bad, depends on the lane tbh. If up against double poke/ranged matchups like Varus Senna, or Cait Senna, pretty much any matchups that you need to dodge, it's pretty bad. If up against Supports like Thresh, Leona and Braum, you should be fine.
Morgana
Morgana an alright support in my opinion. As long as she lands her binds the lane should be free, if not, you're just going to have to wait for ganks, since you can't really do anything on your own. I guess if you really want a guaranteed bind from Morg, you're going to somehow find a way to Grav Q the enemy so she can CC lock them.
Pyke
Pyke is situational tbh. A good pyke will always get you fed, but it's also matchup reliant as well. Get level 2 prio first if you can, if not just let the enemy push into your tower and wait for them to misplay. You can then look to punish them.
Rell
You don't really see this champion in the support role anymore, but if you have a rell as your support, I guess it's alr. Just play off her engages if it's good, if not then don't follow.
Senna
If your support picks senna, they're most likely autofilled, which is still fine because of how broken this champ is. Infinite scaling with a lot of range is pretty insane if you ask me. They'll also most likely be playing aggressive, so yea be aware of that.
Sona
Sona is pretty good with Aphelios, but you will rarely see these 2 played together. It's mostly matchup reliant, but you should be fine most of the times anyways.
Taric
You should be fine with having a Taric support. He can set you up for free kills and his R is such a great tool for outplaying the enemy, fighting off 2v3 ganks, etc. You also get free sustain along with a shield.
Yuumi
Yuumi is somewhat good and bad with this Aphelios, it really depends tbh. If they don't have an engage support, you should be good with Yuumi (Maybe)
Zilean
Honestly, for something to happen in this lane, you just have to let Zilean land his bombs for you to even follow up on anything. You guys should be fine once you're both level 6.
Brand
The only downside to this matchup is if the enemy picks HARD CC engage. If you have lane prio and you know you will get level 2 first, ping your support to go in and try and punish them for taking cs. You could potentially either get a kill or summoner spells if everything goes right.
Lux
Ngl, Lux is strong against you as she is a counter to Aphelios, but when paired together, they don't really have that much synergy together. I guess it has a matter of who plays the lane worse, you or the enemy. It can be good at certain times if your lux actually knows what she's doing.
Zyra
Good
The problem with mage supports like Zyra and basically everyone else who's in this section is that you don't really get a lot done in lanes like this because it's somewhat hard to follow up on their CC since they don't really have peel for you, whereas a thresh can lantern me out, or a Braum can negate all of the enemy damage with a press of a button.
Bard
Bard is one of the supports that has the least synergy with Aphelios. You're not going to get much done in lane and he'll prob leave to roam to help other laners and get his meeps. Let's be real, we already know how Aphelios is going to do in a 1v2 situation if he's not ahead.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Braum
Braum is a REALLY amazing support to lane with. Level 2 prio with Severum (Red) Q and Braum applying his passive is guaranteed for the enemy to burn summoner spells and maybe even a free kill. Even if you're behind in this lane you'll get a lot of peel from Braum.
Leona
Leona is just like the other engage supports, it should be a free lane. Her CC setup is pretty much why you will win most 2v2 fights in laning phase. Even in the lategame when teamfighting, she can set you up for victory.
Lulu
Lulu is actually really broken with Aphelios and in general because they don't want to nerf this champion for who knows why. Her entire kit is exactly why you can't lose lane unless you get camped and they pick counter champs against you. Conq/PTA is also really good if you have a lulu on your team.
Nami
Nami is actually one of the many supports I enjoy playing with actually. Her E is really powerful in lane when trading and if she lands her bubble, it's even better.
Nautilus
Honestly, I don't think I need to explain this one. You should get level 2 prio here and assert dominance in lane. If you somehow don't get level 2 prio, it's fine. Don't grief and just be patient. Play it slow if you need to, then look for an oppurtunity to punish the enemy when you can.
Renata Glasc
Personally, this is one of my favorite bot lane synergy. As broken as this champ is, you can pretty much get away with a lot stuff, but don't always ego it.
Soraka
An EXTREMELY good Soraka player will always find ways to make every situation/scenario happen. Together these champs are Exodia if either of them aren't dead in fights. These 2 basically need each other for them to be broken.
Thresh
Thresh is 1 of the best support champions to go really well with Aphelios. (As long as thresh lands his hooks) My favorite thing about having a thresh on my team is that you can either play back and passive with lantern, or you can play really aggressive if ahead. It's literally so perfect for Aphelios. You're basically ready for every scenario.
Janna
Janna is actually really good with Aphelios. She's got the shielding, healing, peel and everything. It's sort of like Soraka and any other enchanter.
Blitzcrank
Blitz is defintely up there as a good support that synergizes well with Aphelios, but it's matchup reliant. Only way blitz gets countered here is if the enemy picks Morgana, other than that it's a good support pick.
Karma
Karma is actually really good if you lack Movement Speed (Stormrazor should help though with the MS) against enemy comps that can just run you down. Easy poke in lane and you can look to play for picks if needed.
Rakan
Early levels, it can either be a weak or strong, depending on how you play it. Me personally, I somewhat like playing with a Rakan support, especially in this season, he's pretty meta and has one of the best engages in the game.
Seraphine
I actually kind of like having seraphine as my support. She's basically just an improved version of Sona and basically does everything Sona does, but better. Her R is game changing, so play around that.
Alistar
Alistar can either be really good or really bad, depends on the lane tbh. If up against double poke/ranged matchups like Varus Senna, or Cait Senna, pretty much any matchups that you need to dodge, it's pretty bad. If up against Supports like Thresh, Leona and Braum, you should be fine.
Morgana
Morgana an alright support in my opinion. As long as she lands her binds the lane should be free, if not, you're just going to have to wait for ganks, since you can't really do anything on your own. I guess if you really want a guaranteed bind from Morg, you're going to somehow find a way to Grav Q the enemy so she can CC lock them.
Pyke
Pyke is situational tbh. A good pyke will always get you fed, but it's also matchup reliant as well. Get level 2 prio first if you can, if not just let the enemy push into your tower and wait for them to misplay. You can then look to punish them.
Rell
You don't really see this champion in the support role anymore, but if you have a rell as your support, I guess it's alr. Just play off her engages if it's good, if not then don't follow.
Senna
If your support picks senna, they're most likely autofilled, which is still fine because of how broken this champ is. Infinite scaling with a lot of range is pretty insane if you ask me. They'll also most likely be playing aggressive, so yea be aware of that.
Sona
Sona is pretty good with Aphelios, but you will rarely see these 2 played together. It's mostly matchup reliant, but you should be fine most of the times anyways.
Taric
You should be fine with having a Taric support. He can set you up for free kills and his R is such a great tool for outplaying the enemy, fighting off 2v3 ganks, etc. You also get free sustain along with a shield.
Yuumi
Yuumi is somewhat good and bad with this Aphelios, it really depends tbh. If they don't have an engage support, you should be good with Yuumi (Maybe)
Zilean
Honestly, for something to happen in this lane, you just have to let Zilean land his bombs for you to even follow up on anything. You guys should be fine once you're both level 6.
Brand
The only downside to this matchup is if the enemy picks HARD CC engage. If you have lane prio and you know you will get level 2 first, ping your support to go in and try and punish them for taking cs. You could potentially either get a kill or summoner spells if everything goes right.
Lux
Ngl, Lux is strong against you as she is a counter to Aphelios, but when paired together, they don't really have that much synergy together. I guess it has a matter of who plays the lane worse, you or the enemy. It can be good at certain times if your lux actually knows what she's doing.
Zyra
Good
The problem with mage supports like Zyra and basically everyone else who's in this section is that you don't really get a lot done in lanes like this because it's somewhat hard to follow up on their CC since they don't really have peel for you, whereas a thresh can lantern me out, or a Braum can negate all of the enemy damage with a press of a button.
Bard
Bard is one of the supports that has the least synergy with Aphelios. You're not going to get much done in lane and he'll prob leave to roam to help other laners and get his meeps. Let's be real, we already know how Aphelios is going to do in a 1v2 situation if he's not ahead.
I am a Masters Aphelios 1 trick I hit Masters in Split 1 of S13 on NA. I stream sometimes on twitch. If you have any questions, you can catch me there if I'm live.
So since lethality is broken af this season, you want to be rushing Serrated Dirk into Kraken every single game. 3 Point Q start into E max every game. 2nd item you usually want to go armor pen item if you can. Everything after that is completely situational.
If Behind (Boots if you can afford)
Need sustain? Go BT
Need Armor pen? Go LDR (Can also pair LDR/Serylda's with Collector for damage maximization)
Need Magic Resist? Kaenic Rookern/Maw (It's tank item but works really well with aphelios)
Core Items (Crit+Lethality)
If you want to be a lane bully, go presence of mind. It's good for ability spamming and helps prepare weapons faster for any scenario.
Go overheal if you're playing to scale or if you know you're 100% not going to get prio in lane or up against poke lane.
Situational Items
Coup De Grace = Snowballing/Enemy team all squishy
Cut Down = 2-3+ tanks/brusiers (can't go wrong going cut down every game tbh)
Recommended
Sorcery = Scaling
Domination = Snowballing
Introduction
PTA = Short Trades/Short Fights
Lethal Tempo = Rarely (people still go this keystone?)
Fleet = Standard (good against poke lane as well)
Conqueror = Extended Fights (good into brusier/tanks)
[14.3] Hidden4Ever's Aphelios Guide
Build Guide By Hidden Ghoster
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