How to Counter Crowd Control (CC) in League of Legends?

Crowd control is a term used in the game League of Legends to refer to any spells which stun, slow, immobilize or freeze their targets. These are very important tools for teams when playing against each other. There are two types of crowd control in this game: hard and soft CC.  

Hard CC refers to effects that prevent an enemy from doing certain actions or movement altogether – stuns, knock-ups, silences and blinds are all examples of hard crowd control. Soft Crowd Control refers to effects that greatly hinder the ability of an opponent – slows, roots, taunts and fears are all examples of soft crowd control.

Since there are so many champions who have some form of crowd control, it is important to understand how to counter them. It is also important to understand how each form of crowd control works and their optimal uses. While this article does not cover all the uses of each type of crowd control, it should provide a good knowledge base to make judgments about which form of crowd control can counter or nullify others.

Stuns or Silences

Just like hard CC prevents certain actions from being done by an enemy, there are also spells that prevent them from doing certain things entirely – you cannot auto-attack when stunned or silenced – making these spells invaluable in battles with enemies who rely on auto-attacks for damage output. 

These sorts of abilities are very strong because they prevent other abilities from being cast and they can be channeled for a few seconds. Champions like Morgana and Ashe are able to generate long (if not indefinite) CC by chaining these sorts of abilities in order to completely disable an opponent.

Slows or Roots    

While slows and roots produce different effects, they both essentially immobilize their targets so that they cannot move around easily in fights. Slows are usually temporary but can last for several seconds at a time (lasting even longer when items like Frozen Mallet or Rylai’s Crystal Scepter are used) whereas roots usually only last for a few seconds and can be broken by auto-attacks. 

However, if the victim of a root is not able to attack, they will still be unable to move when the duration is over so it can potentially catch opponents off-guard when they thought that it was time for them to go in on their target.

Also read: Most Broken Champions

Fears or Flee   

When an enemy champion fears their opponent, it is basically stunting the movements of that victim by forcing them to run away from whoever cast the fear spell. They are usually temporary but some champions like Warwick are able to maintain fears for long periods of time. While the victim is running in fear, they are not able to attack or use any other abilities so it can potentially be used to catch an opponent off-guard when they think that they are still in range to attack.

Taunts

Taunts are another form of CC which forces their targets to focus on whoever cast them instead of their teammates. While this may sound like a bad thing, imagine your team is attacking an enemy who has strong defenses but very low health. Now try imagining what would happen if you did not have someone on your team capable of taunting enemies – your DPS champions will probably take way too long to kill the target while the rest of your team gets obliterated by the enemy.

Taunts are usually temporary but some champions like Skarner have the ability to maintain taunts for several seconds at a time. It is important to note that if an enemy tries to use any form of crowd control on someone who has been taunted, it will automatically fail because their target will not be able to receive any crowd control effects during that time – this makes taunts very powerful spells when used properly.

Knockbacks or Pulls

These two forms of crowd control essentially do the same thing – they pull or push their victim towards or away from a certain point. These sorts of abilities are usually used to separate opponents from one another in order for teams to take them down 1v1 instead of having several enemy champions bearing down on one target. (https://primer.com.au/) Champions like Blitzcrank and Thresh are known for their ability to set up kills with these types of abilities because good positioning while using them can force enemies out of position and make it easier to kill them while they’re vulnerable.

How do These Crowd Control Effects Work?

– When the duration runs out, the original caster WILL immediately be able to control that champion again.

– The effect is usually broken when damage is done to the victim or if they have been immobilized for a few seconds.

– Most of these spells can be easily reflected by Morgana’s Black Shield and Nocturne’s Paranoia – rendering them useless.

Redirects: If you have an ability that increases your movement speed or allows you to ignore unit collision (Janna’s Zephyr) then you should keep that in mind before charging forward into battle as it will be wasted if you need to constantly dodge small projectiles or minions.

Crowd Control-Blocking Items   

In addition to being able to relieve yourself of crowd control effects through abilities, some items can be purchased in order to help you out as well. Banshee’s Veil is an example of an item that can block one instance of CC every sixty seconds so it is important to note that this means that taunts or fears will still go through if their targets are affected by any other forms of CC (or even regular damage) before their duration ends.

Also read: When is the Best Time to Buy Boots in League of Legends

Combating Crowd Control

When it comes down to dealing with crowd control effects, there are several different approaches that you can take depending on your team composition and the situation at hand. After all, sometimes taking the risk and trying to remove yourself from combat may not be worth it if your death could lead you to lose the game. 

For example, if your support is slowed and the enemy jungler comes charging in with his gap closer, it might be better to just sit there and wait for your CC duration to end rather than try to fight even though you are being focused. However, if an ally on your team is caught by a fear or just needs some breathing room, then doing all that you can to save them becomes priority #1 because otherwise, they will die before their CC duration ends.

The last point that I want to make here is that due to the nature of crowd control effects, sometimes you may not actually know whether or not something has happened until you see/hear it happen first-hand. 

This means that instead of focusing only on guessing what you can do in order to survive, it is necessary that you keep your eyes and ears open while trying to understand how much damage your opponents can deal and prevent because reacting too late may lead to a time where you simply cannot escape anymore.

While no amount of information is set in stone for certain, this article can serve as a starting point for anyone who wants to learn how crowd control effects work and what the best ways are to prevent yourself from being controlled.

The Best Tips to Counter Crowd Control

– Remember that all crowd controls have durations so keep your eyes on your screen and listen carefully for any indicators that you need to act fast – or just stay put if it’s not necessary yet.

– If you want to use spells like Cleanse then be aware of its cooldown before trying to commit to popping it because otherwise, you will be wasting an extremely valuable spell with very little payoff.

-“CC” does not always mean “Crowd Control” so be sure to check ALL debuffs if you want to know exactly how something will impact your champion.

– Remember that effects like taunts, fears, silences, and knocks away are NOT considered crowd control but are still very disruptive which can force you to play differently than usual until they wear off.

         If I’ve missed any tips or you have anything else that you’d like to add then please leave a comment! Thank you for reading this article! I hope it has helped! Good luck on the Rift summoners!