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Playing Against Bard
SupportPatch 16.2.1
What They Do
A high-mobility roaming support who excels at picking off targets and controlling the map. He uses to scale and sustain while roaming, sets up stuns with , and can transport his entire team through walls with . His is a massive game-changer that can save allies, freeze towers, or catch enemies out of position.
Abilities (What to Watch For)
| Ability | What You'll See | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| Small spirits (Meeps) following him and golden chimes spawning on the map. | He gains XP, mana, and move speed from chimes. Meeps make his auto-attacks deal extra damage and slows. The more he picks up, the harder he hits. | |
| A blue energy bolt fired in a line. | Slows the first target. If it hits a second target or a wall, both are STUNNED. This is his only real defense, so track its cooldown (11-7s). | |
| A health shrine on the ground that grows over 10 seconds. | Heals and grants a burst of movement speed. It is much stronger if it sits for the full 10s. You can destroy it by walking over it. | |
| A golden portal appearing through a wall or terrain. | A one-way tunnel for anyone. Enemies can enter it too. He uses this to escape or bring his jungler behind you for a gank. | |
| A large golden circle arcing through the air to a target area. | Puts EVERYTHING (champs, towers, monsters) in stasis (Zhonyas) for 2.5s. It can be used to dive you under tower or stop you from taking objectives. |
Respect
- !Wall and Minion Positioning→If you stand near a wall or directly behind a single minion, will stun you. He is looking for these angles constantly.
- !Magical Journey Ganks→Even if you ward the river, allows his jungler to bypass your wards by traveling through deep terrain walls.
- !Tower Dives with →He can disable your turret for 2.5s using , making it impossible to defend against a coordinated dive.
- !Empowered Meep Autos→Late game, his makes his basic attacks deal massive AoE magic damage and heavy slows. Don't underestimate his trade damage.
Punish
- +is on cooldown→He has zero self-peel without it. If he misses the stun, immediately all-in him or his ADC.
- +He leaves to collect chimes→He frequently roams. When he does, dive his lone ADC or freeze the wave to deny them gold and XP.
- +Fresh Shrines→Walk over his shrines immediately. Don't let them charge for 10s, or he gets a much larger heal and speed boost.
- +Following through →If he uses to escape while low, follow him through, but be ready to dodge his the moment you exit the portal.
Laning Tips
- •Stay in the middle of the lane away from walls to avoid the tether stun.
- •Do not stand directly behind a low-health minion; if he kills it with , the bolt continues and stuns you.
- •Pick champions with hard engage (Leona, Nautilus) to punish him if he steps up to poke with autos.
- •If he roams for , ping your mid-laner immediately; Bard can travel across the map faster than any other support.
- •Level 1, he is very strong due to and . Don't take a bad trade early or you'll be forced out.
- •Keep brushes warded; he loves to fish for stuns from out of vision.
Teamfight Warning
- ⚠Do not clump near walls in the jungle; a single can stun two priority targets easily.
- ⚠Watch for when trying to secure Dragon or Baron; he can freeze your jungler to let his team steal.
- ⚠If he lands a on your backline, the enemy team will move into position to burst them the second stasis ends.
- ⚠He uses to create flanking routes. Ward over walls in the jungle to see his team coming.
- ⚠Late game slows are oppressive; consider buying Swiftness Boots if you are being kited.
AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached