If you’re getting stomped by Hecarim in LoL, here are the five best counters to defeat the horse and his annoying mobility.
5 Best Hecarim Counters
Have you ever had the feeling of being powerless against a horse one-shotting while running you at Mach 3? Well, you probably had it if you play League of Legends and have faced Hecarim.
The Shadow of War is known to be one of the most mobile champions in the game thanks to his entire kit based on going fast and running around at an unrivaled speed. Whether it’s early-game ganking or late-game engages, Hecarim will find a way to catch you.
That said, there are some champions which whom Hecarim struggles particularly in the jungle, and they all excel at punishing him when he’s not busy performing ganks. These are the five best Hecarim counters in LoL.
Nidalee – Invading all the way
Hecarim has a relatively weak early game since he needs a few levels on his Q, as well as items to get more offensive stats. Nidalee can use that window of opportunity and pressure him by invading his jungle, ruining Hecarim’s tempo while also looking to kill him if she’s able to land the spears.
Nidalee has a faster early game clear with her cougar form and she can quickly move around the map by jumping walls. A great way is to ambush the enemy Hecarim when he’s busy farming the jungle camps: set up a few traps and take him down after he used his abilities on his clear.
Hecarim has to fully commit when going for ganks. If you have strong jungle tracking, you can always look to counter gank him or invade his jungle so he doesn’t get any gold from his camps. He can’t really invade your jungle since he’s the one who will lose the trades anyway.
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Trundle – Neutralizing Hecarim’s strengths
Trundle is usually a great counter to melee AD bruiser and tanks, given his ability to steal away attack damage and stats with his ultimate. Hecarim is no exception. On top of that, Trundle applies a slow with his Q and his pillar (E) which further reduces Hecarim’s AD, causing him to deal less damage during all skirmishes.
Trundle is also strong for counter ganks and early invades. As long as you are healthy, you should be able to win most 1v1s on the map: He will be forced to burn Ghost or his E to run away.
The only way for Hecarim to win this matchup is by getting fed through spam ganks. Try to provide good jungle tracking and vision control for your teammates so they don’t overextend and risk giving out free kills. As long as Hecarim doesn’t snowball, Trundle will have the upper hand in this matchup.
Rengar – It’s time to hunt the prey
Throughout the years, Rengar has been considered a bad matchup into Hecarim given the latter’s ability to sustain and deal more damage on extended trades. Now that Hecarim goes for a squishy, assassin-ish build, Rengar comes as one of the best counters to hunt him down.
Not only can Rengar set up surprising ambushes, similar to Nidalee, when invading Hecarim, but the Pridestalker can explode and blow up the Shadow of War with just one rotation of abilities. Additionally, Rengar can heal up a part of Hecarim’s burst damage with his W.
Playing Rengar into Hecarim requires a strong jungle knowledge and macro sense. Rengar must anticipate Hecarim’s movements on the map and punish him whenever he tries to make an aggressive play: if the enemy uses his abilities, he has no way to survive Rengar’s burst damage.
As long as you’re able to pick up more kills and snowball harder, Rengar will have better burst damage and blow up Hecarim. Remove him from the fight as soon as possible with your ultimate and assassination combos.
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Bel’Veth – Countering all-in combos
Even though Bel’Veth doesn’t shine at invading or punishing the enemy jungler, she can neutralize most of Hecarim’s burst damage with her E and combos.
Hecarim is a champion that wants to engage and get close to his enemies while Bel’Veth is the type of champion that shines the most when engaged, so it’s natural to see her be a good matchup into Hecarim.
That said, Bel’Veth is weaker early on than Hecarim. Look to play safely and cover for possible ganks if you’re able to track Hecarim’s movements. As long as he doesn’t snowball out of control, Bel’Veth will out scale and prevail over Hecarim in all the mid and late-game skirmishes.
Kindred – Kill me if you can
Just like other junglers from this list, Kindred wants to take advantage of Hecarim’s weak jungle clear and invade him to disrupt his rhythm.
Kindred can always kite Hecarim during skirmishes and quickly draw a distance. Moreover, she can use her E to slow down Heca, reducing his AD and overall mobility.
Hecarim will likely be ganking lanes in this matchup. Either go for counter ganks or invade his jungle on the other side of the map (depending on where he is). Since you know when the camps will respawn, make sure to always be there to steal repeatedly.
Kindred can save Hecarim’s kill attempts with her ultimate, but be careful on how to use it since the horse can knock you off the unkillable zone with a full-charged E and an ultimate by fearing you away from the center.
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