Rakan

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

Gameplay tips on Summoner's Rift

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.

Gameplay tips in Arena

• Enter with W only when your partner can follow, E back after the knock-up, and use R to collect both enemies or peel a diver. Keep the second E charge for the exit.
• Build Zeke's Convergence, Locket of the Iron Solari, Knight's Vow, and Empyrean Promise. Haste and partner protection support repeated entries.
• Prioritize Dashing, Courage of the Colossus, Sonic Boom, and Guilty Pleasure. Mobility augments should improve both engage and retreat.

Rakan Build

This might not be your familiar build. We look at ranked games after each item was bought. If the player or team gained ground in gold, we rate that item higher.

Core

• Zeke's Convergence
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity (Boots)
• Knight's Vow

Situational

• Locket of the Iron Solari
• Redemption
• Celestial Opposition

Rakan Runes

The most popular rune page and summoner spells for Rakan in ranked games over the last 30 days.

Resolve + Domination · 50.6% WR · 10,152 games

• Guardian
• Font of Life
• Bone Plating
• Unflinching
• Ultimate Hunter
• Sixth Sense
• Adaptive Force
• Adaptive Force
• Health Scaling

Summoner spells

Flash, Heal

Rakan Skill Order

The recommended skill order for Rakan from ranked games over the last 90 days: the first three skill points, then the order to max abilities.

1. lvl 1: E
2. lvl 2: W
3. lvl 3: Q
4. max: E
5. max: W
6. max: Q

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 push Rakan's engages off before the team can follow up.

Best Synergies with Rakan

Team synergies and draft context

Burst mages and long-range ADCs turn Rakan's engage into kills. Hyper-carry ADCs scale with your shields and heals. Bruisers and fighters become very hard to kill with your buffs. Late-game compositions 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 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