Rengar, considered OP and broken, does have advanced tactics that requires aggression, reaction speed, deception and strategy. When all four are combined, playing Rengar becomes an instrument of death. Rengar’s best lane is top lane, or if you want something different, bot lane with either an aggressive support like cow, Leona, Taric or another champion who has a dash/stun. He snowballs amazingly and can zone nearly every laner. But first, let’s answer some questions.

Entering the lane

When going solo top as Rengar, get Q or W first, it comes to preference, I like Q for lower CD and easier ferocity stacking early. Depending on side, you want to attack some creeps (Golem for purple side and wolves/blue on blue side) with Q and you should be able to go into lane with 2 Stacks, just get 2 more stacks in lane and then you can start your aggression. It’s as simple as that.

What makes Rengar so strong?

Rengar’s biggest strength is his diversity, he can max either Q or W, build AD carry, AD bruiser or AD tank and still do well, it doesn’t matter. He scales amazingly with HP due to the armor , mr and when forocised, HP back by a percentage from his W. He scales amazingly with AD due to his Q’s amazing ratio and AS buff aswell as E having AD scaling aswell. His ult works so well for Rengar as he can chase with it, initiate, counter-initiate and escape. Hands down my favourite thing with Rengar is when being ganked, you press R after using a combo on an enemy, follow the lower hp target while they try and chase you back to your turret, then jumping on them with 5 stacks of ferocity and killing them then using the bush to juke the jungler then running back to safety.

What counters Rengar?

Rengar’s best counter is teamwork, he requires constant pressure top lane and by camping his lane you’ll be able to hinder his rise to power, this is the most effective way to do so and is easier early due to Rengar not having his ult, yet. Even when Rengar gets his ult, you must gank him immediately after he uses it in any way; to avoid gank, to secure kill, etc. This gives you a window of opportunity to kill him, even gank him also if he’s used his summoners.

The real issue about this counter is that it requires good communication between top and jungle which can be hard in solo queue. Time to go through a list of counters provided by Champion Select.net

1. Jax – Jax counters Rengar’s Q with his E which should be the ultimate counter to this Lion, but it’s not. Jax does hybrid magic and physical damage so instead of maxing Q, you just max W and can easily out trade Jax. Leap > W > W > E > tank combo > Q > AA is something Rengar can do in trades and is highly effective due to the MR/ARMOR buff from W. W still has decent base and when WW combo does work against this Anti-AA champion.

2. Lee Sin – I haven’t gone up against any Lee Sin’s that I can remember, its brutal if Lee Sin can land his E onto Rengar when his stealthed, destroys Rengar’s escape pretty much and surprise combo. Lee Sin has a similar MR/ARMOR steroid and it depends if he uses when Rengar jumps onto him with a QQ or WW combo. As for preference between to Q or W, I’d say go with W due to Lee Sin amazing fighting capabilities, W just leaves you better off in trades.

3. Pantheon – Another Anti-AA champion, Max W, proceed to Win
4. Fiora – Another Anti-AA champion, Max W, proceed to Win
5. Olaf – Somewhat difficult match up due to W doing nothing against true damage, W is still good for sustain and burst, if you can’t out trade him with leap AA > W > W > E > Q > AA then Olaf can easily win the lane.

6. Garen – I’ve haven’t gone up against a good garen yet, the one I did go up against got destroyed in lane. Garen needs to be aggressive while Rengar tries to get enough stacks of ferocity for a combo.

7. Renekton – Crocodile vs Lion, who will win? Haven’t gone up against one personal but W is just too strong for the 1,2 combo. Max W and trade when you can do the double W combo.

8. Teemo – Blind does screw over with Q but Teemo can’t handle W, Max W, proceed to destroy.

9. Cho’Gath – high sustain and true damage can be a problem but cho’gath is a passive champion and super aggression can easily counter him. You need to be cautious of ganks when being aggressive though.
10. Riven – Great fighter, Max W against her.

Verdict: W gives better laning stats whereas Q gives you better damage, being able to decide what to get when is going to ultimately decide the lane. Being able to change skill builds every game according to your lane matchup is going to decide how well you do. Max W, proceed to destroy lane.