Viktor vs Smolder Counter Pick

Sample size deserves the first mention: 190 games on patch 16.13.1 is a narrow record, and it shows Viktor winning 58.4%. The mechanism behind it stays credible at that volume, because Smolder’s damage is physical and Viktor’s is magic, sending the two down separate itemisation paths. Viktor’s 23 base armor is a real vulnerability, but a cheaply corrected one.

Dragon Practice supplies the other half. Smolder gains stacks by hitting champions with abilities and by finishing enemies with Super Scorcher Breath, and those stacks raise his damage, so his strong phase arrives late by design. Glorious Evolution works on kills instead of hits, permanently augmenting an ability every 100 Hex Fragments, which rewards pressure at the point where Smolder can least answer it. In direct terms Viktor is the sturdier champion, 600 health and 2,300 at level 18 against 575 and 2,275, with 97.8 armor against 92. Smolder reaches 25 units further at 550, Flap, Flap, Flap ignores terrain while bombarding the lowest health enemy, and MMOOOMMMM! slows through its centre. Achooo! explodes when it strikes a champion, and at 330 move speed against 335 he has no easy exit once committed. Gravity Field punishes him for holding any position long enough to stack. Difficulty sits at 9 against 6. Kits: Viktor, Smolder.