# Rakan Counters, Matchups & Tips | Baron Buff
See Rakan counters, hardest matchups, and tips to play against or draft around Rakan in League of Legends.
Canonical HTML: https://baronbuff.com/champions/rakan/
Markdown URL: https://baronbuff.com/champions/rakan.md
Language: en
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## Page Content

Enchanter · Catcher · Support

Prepare for battle with Rakan — master their strengths and exploit their weaknesses before the game starts.

## Playstyle Profile

Rakan is an initiator — excels at engaging grouped enemies with impactful openings

Teamfight Role Vanguard Initiator

Power Spike Mid game

Split Threat None

Backline Access Low

## Rakan's Strengths

- Starts fights on your terms — Rakan's engage forces enemies to react, giving your team the initiative

## How to Play Rakan

Champion-specific pre-match tips

### Lane Phase

Initiate trades with W only when your passive shield is active, immediately casting E on an ally to exit before the enemy recovers from the knockup.

### Lane Phase

Wait for your level 2 spike before committing to an engage, as you rely on E to safely escape after casting W.

### Lane Phase

Cast E onto an ally immediately after landing Q on an enemy champion to instantly transfer the heal without waiting for the delayed area effect.

### Mid Game

Activate R out of vision before casting W to charm targets during your dash, preventing them from using defensive tools to dodge the knockup.

### Mid Game

Clear vision in the river and jungle only when tethered to an ally, as you cannot cast E to escape if you are caught alone.

### Mid Game

Use your first E charge on a frontline ally to bridge the gap, extending the threat range of your R and W onto the enemy backline.

### Late Game

Cast your second E charge to jump back to safety immediately after your R and W crowd control expires, as your base stats are too low to survive frontlining.

### Late Game

Hold R to peel your backline when the enemy team initiates with dive champions, running through them to apply the charm the moment they commit.

### Late Game

Cast R, Flash, and then W in rapid succession to instantly cross a full screen of distance and catch grouped enemies at objective fights.

For matchup-tailored tips, download Baron Buff's AI Coach & Companion App.

## Core Build

Ranked from real ranked-match itemization

We look at ranked games after each item was bought. If the player or team gained ground in gold, we rate that item higher.

- Zeke's Convergence — 2,200

- Ionian Boots of Lucidity (Boots) — 900

- Locket of the Iron Solari — 2,200

- Knight's Vow — 2,300

total: 7,600

## How to Counter Rakan

Counter strategies and draft context

apply grievous wounds, dive past the frontline, or burst through their shields before they stack

- Weak to disengage and spread comps — Rakan's engage loses value when enemies aren't grouped

- All-in engage supports that outpressure in lane

- Champions with anti-heal in their kit or builds

- Assassins that delete carries before shields apply

### Rakan's Weaknesses

- Heavy disengage compositions — Rakan's engages get peeled off before the team can follow up

## Best Synergies with Rakan

Team synergies and draft context

- Follow-up damage dealers who capitalize on Rakan's engage — burst mages and ADCs with range

- Hyper-carry ADCs that scale with your shields and heals

- Bruisers and fighters that become unkillable with your buffs

- Late-game compositions that benefit from your scaling support

### Draft Context

- Pairs another engage champion with no follow-up damage to capitalize on Rakan's initiation

## Learning Curve

[Based on 1.2M+ matches](https://baronbuff.com/blog/mastery_by_tier/) across all ranked elos, showing how Rakan's win rate changes with mastery level

Rakan has a low skill ceiling — there is not much room to grow beyond the basics, and getting started is comfortable. Results come quickly from the first few games.

Skill Cap Low

Cost of Learning Low

Win Rate Delta by Mastery

Mastery Level | Win Rate |

1-2 | 49.8% |

3-4 * | 54.9% |

5-6 | 54.9% |

7-8 | 54.9% |

9-12 | 54.9% |

13-16 | 54.9% |

17+ | 54.9% |

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