In League of Legends, the laning phase is all about juggling last hitting the minions and harassing the enemy champion to prevent them from last hitting the minions. What do you do in a scenario in which the enemy's harass has a farther range or is just better in general?
Specifically, I had to mid lane against a Brand with me as Ryze and it was kinda painful. Ryze inherently has a hard time last hitting unless he starts to spam his spells which will often leave him mana-less. When I tried to get in range to use my spells, Brand had already used his combo to stun me and gotten back before I could use more than one spell.
Is there a strategy I should adopt when playing against a champion whose range and harass is obviously superior to mine?
Best Answer
It is very hard to create a solution to this problem 100% of the time, but there are some tips I can give.
For your scenario specifically if you find that you aren't able to farm to well then consider some mana regen seals so you can make better use of your abilities to last hit those minions.
Early laning is all about holding your tower over everything else. If you can't effectivley harass your oponent then don't. Let him come to you and ask for a gank. If the issue is that he is farming to well then he most likely pretty over-extended asking to be ganked. However, holding your tower in good standing and making sure you don't get underleveled are more important than harassing the enemy. You will have all game to outplay him, let him have his early game glory.
Consider who is going to be in what lane when you are chosing your lanes. A lot of champions can sustain better than Ryze against Brand, but in general Brand will always be a pain early game. Cait, Akali and even if you're feeling daring Morde in mid are good counters to Brands mid game.
Also instead of putting your focus in harassing Brand put your focus on avoiding his harassing. Last hit minions as best as you can and keep your movements frequent and sporadic. A lot of Brands moves are skillshots and are very easy to avoid.