Reign of Gaming

How'd That Taste?

Singed has a high win rate and a high troll factor. He is one of the most frustrating champions to play against and lose against, and one of the best champions in which to “lose lane, win the game.”

While it’s possible for him to jungle or mid, Singed almost always resides at top lane, where he pushes endlessly and easily, even so far as to go past the tower and kill entire minion waves just by freaking running around.

He farms very easily, he baits easily, he pushes easily, and he kills squishies easily, especially when he is bigger or the squishie’s teammates don’t peel and protect.

Worst Case Scenario: hits turrets while ignoring the damage of two or more people. Literally runs people off of an area. Singlehandedly pushes down all the turrets. Gets so big he can just split push, get caught by three people, and then laugh about it. 

Annoyance rating: 10

Solo Queue Rating:  8

High-Level rating: 6

Things that are generally good vs. this champion: sustained ranged attacks, hard cc, burst damage, early game harass and ganks, kiting (when possible), penetration, movespeed buffs and bonuses, AD Carry Items (esp. Bloodthirster and Last Whisper), Liandry's Torment, Twin Shadows, Shurelya's, Iceborn Gauntlet, Sword of the Divine. 

Things this champion couldn’t care less about: tanks, basic-attack-based bruisers, weak slows, sustained damage that isn’t from a ranged champion, minion waves

Items this champion often buys: Rod of Ages, Rylai’s, Archangel’s, Warmog’s, Thornmail, Merc’s, Randuin’s, Frozen Heart.

Watch out for: flings, stealth minion clearing, irrecoverable split pushes (as in, lose so many turrets you can’t get map control even with superior gold and kills), teleports, stealth damage build (as in, tanky build with lots of damage), ult-baiting and summoner-spell baiting.

Lane choices: the easiest way to deal with Singed is to not be forced to deal with flings and his gas, and harass him so hard that you manage to push harder and outcs him. The best champs for this are ranged champion with consistent damage like Kayle, Teemo, Elise, Jayce, Vladimir, Kennen, Nidalee or even Rumble. If you are going melee AD, you have to know the matchup very well and be capable of juking, going all in, or favorably trading. Darius, Riven, Garen, Warwick, Lee Sin, or Renekton can do this but they are generally harder to do with than the ranged selection and you need to be competent with these champions, except Darius because he's Darius. Avoid basic-attack based melees like Irelia, Jax, Xin, Vi, Wukong, Fiora, Tryndamere, Udyr, Nocturne, Trundle, or Master Yi. Singed is a difficult matchup for these champions because they can't really lock him down well without help, nor outpush him. You can blow everything you have with these champs on Singed and he'll just get away, or fling you, gas you, get ahead, and poison you to death as you run. The less CC or burst of those previous champs, the worse.  

Team choices: if a Singed gets fed and the carry is bad and there are no other sustained ranged options, that team will do poorly vs. a Singed. If your AD carry is bad, Singed is fed, and you don’t have a good option for doing ranged damage to him, you are very likely to lose.

When you play against a Singed, the AD Carry matters a lot because if your top and jungle don’t make short work of him quickly, he will become difficult to deal with, even if he loses the lane. A good AD carry will know to hit him hard a few times as he comes towards your team, then get out.

It is important that you have sufficient cc. Basic attack melee champs do not do well vs. Singed because he can gas and fling, making unfavorable trades. Even when ahead, a Xin, Jax, or Nocturne will have trouble staying on him. The way to beat Singed is to hit him with ranged, cc him, or have favorable trades so that even if he flings you, you still did more damage to him to the point that he will actually have to be careful.

I recently played against a Singed that was average, and our team never had to worry about him, because our team was Renekton, Nautilus, Akali, Caitlyn, and Leona. He never got to Cait. Those he did get to kept him there to get wailed on by Akali and Caitlyn some. Fortunately, the Renekton outcs’d him and won the lane, and when it got to late game, the rest of our team was ready.

Try to think of Singed the way you would a Katarina. Have you ever seen the other team pick Katarina, then your whole team thinks “we need to have interrupts for that ult”? Teams should be in the mindset of “we need to have answers for that Singed.” Is your team a team that a champion with Ghost and Merc Tread's can run through without risk of death? Congrats, you'll probably get Singed'd and lose. 

What to do in lane vs. this champion:

If you are a basic attack champ like Jax or Xin or Irelia, you need a gank. Get as much trading pre-6 as you can, because after that you can’t do anything. Play conservatively, take teleport if you have to, focus on farming under tower, and try to make plays on jungle and mid when he recalls.

If you have the chance to counter Singed and go ranged, all you have to do is not be flinged. Skilled kiting and harassing will keep him away. It is important to not die to a gank as if he gets ahead your ranged ability can become moot. The best thing you can accomplish is for him to drop his slowing pool and then still not be flung by him. Before he has some money, he fling and pool use a lot of his mana, and if he misses a pool, or he flings but you still trade favorably, you’re way ahead, because he has to use mana to even farm vs. you. Think of his mana bar as an extension of his health bar. Learn to not just last hit if you know he’s going to just push hard, because unless you’re a skilled Kayle, you will miss cs from turret damage.

If you’re melee burst/caster, the object is similar, only you will probably be flung a bit more. This makes it a riskier proposition for both of you. You cannot let him fling you with at punishing him. Don’t waste your abilities to farm unless they’re at the turret. If he goes in on you, make sure you use your spear, axe, spinny move, or whatever to punish him. If you manage to chip him without him flinging you, and consistently, you will beat him. If you get flung and choke on gas without punishing him back, he will beat you. Try to think of it as a traditional melee fight, except the trades can be much more lopsided.

Whoever you are, pay attention to when he last used his ult. Rarely go all-in on a Singed who has his ult up. Only do it if there’s a gank or you are confident you have the burst (Renekton , Darius) to kill him before the ult really could take effect.

What to do in teamfights vs. this champion (what the champion tends to do and should do, what you should do in response): Singed forces teamwork because few champions can overextend so far and so quickly by themselves. If he is doing this, you must catch him when you get to him. Otherwise, you must concentrate hard on objectives as a team before he can try it again.

In 5v5’s, Singed will either try to fling the nearest opponent, regardless of who it is, and hope to make it a 5v4 quickly, or he will dive a carry or squishy target. If he is going for the former, you all just need to keep him out together until he dies or takes so much damage he has to retreat. If it’s the latter, you need to have the proper peeling for his target, or use kiting abilities such as Ezreal’s E or Lulu’s W or a Shurelya’s. Hopefully your team as a whole can punish or cc him enough to force him to run away, or to die.

Beware of him pretending to go away, ulting, and then coming back. You can use a lot on a Singed then he’ll just ult back in. Don’t just beware of chasing Singed—beware of chasing his teammates. The best time to counterattack is when you know his ult has finished. This gives your team a window to push and engage knowing that if you beat Singed away, you know he will have to stay away for good.

It is important to note Singed’s movespeed. Most Singed’s will take Move Quints. Sometimes, if he doesn’t rush his level 2 boots, or he doesn’t take quints, or both, you can be quicker than he is by default, and this makes him much easier to deal with. It is important to take mental note of it before fights start so you can gauge his fling capabilities.

Singed gets free defensive stats when he ults, so penetration isn’t an option, especially for magic dealers.

He Who Laughs Last

Do not be distracted by laugh spam. When you kill a Singed, always make sure to laugh yourself.

Do not take the bait!

Best,

Old Man Eyebrows 

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