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Varus champion portrait

Varus Build

Top Tier 4

Patch 26.21 · Silver+ · 9,205 gamesUpdated

46.4%win rate0.4%pick1.0%ban

Who counters Varus

How to build Varus

Plated Steelcaps→Experimental Hexplate→Dusk and Dawn→Zhonya's Hourglass

Plated Steelcaps → Experimental Hexplate → Dusk and Dawn → Zhonya's Hourglass

56.5% win rate 11% of games 635 games
RunesPrecisionPress the AttackTriumphLegend: AlacrityLast StandResolveBone PlatingOvergrowth41% of games
SpellsExhaustFlashExhaust + Flash58%
Skills
123456789101112131415161718
Piercing Arrow
29101113
Blighted Quiver
14578
Hail of Arrows
314151618
Chain of Corruption
61217
StartDoran's BowHealth PotionHealth PotionDoran's Bow, Health Potion, Health Potion
Full Varus build →
46.4%win rate
Patch 26.20: 46.7% over 26,472 gamesPatch 26.21: 46.4% over 9,205 gameswin rate, 26.20 to 26.21
47.6%at Emerald+
0.4%pick rate
1.0%ban rate
Holdingsame as last patch
43.5%under 22 min
47.2%over 32 min

Want the written version? Our Counter Series breaks down how to actually play against champions like this, not just who wins on paper.

Recent games

Taken from as high up the ladder as this pick gets played. All 10 games from Master and above.

Win 30–35m
MASTER+
Varus champion portraitT VarusvsMalphite champion portraitT Malphite
8 / 8 / 17

Build

Mercury's Treads|Experimental Hexplate→Dusk and Dawn→Statikk Shiv→Riftmaker

Spells & runes

ExhaustFlash|

Skills

WQEWWRWQWQRQQEEREE
Loss 25–30m
MASTER+
Varus champion portraitT VarusvsDr. Mundo champion portraitT Dr. Mundo
2 / 5 / 4

Build

Mercury's Treads|Experimental Hexplate→Guinsoo's Rageblade

Spells & runes

FlashGhost|

Skills

QWEQQRQWQWRWWEER
Loss 25–30m
MASTER+
Varus champion portraitT VarusvsWarwick champion portraitT Warwick
8 / 8 / 7

Build

Mercury's Treads|Experimental Hexplate→Guinsoo's Rageblade→Terminus

Spells & runes

FlashExhaust|

Skills

WQEWWRWQWQRQQEE

Runes

The full page most players run, not just the keystone.

Most popular 48.2% win rate · 41% of games · 3,382 games
PrecisionPress the AttackTriumphLegend: AlacrityLast Stand
ResolveBone PlatingOvergrowth
Shards Attack Speed · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling
Runner up 39.7% win rate · 15% of games · 1,218 games
PrecisionLethal TempoAbsorb LifeLegend: AlacrityCut Down
InspirationBiscuit DeliveryCosmic Insight
Shards Attack Speed · Adaptive Force · Health

Summoner spells and early items

What people bring, and which ability they max first.

Summoner spells
pickwin
  • ExhaustFlashExhaust + Flash58%45.8%5,494 games
  • FlashBarrierFlash + Barrier19%48.1%1,820 games

Boots and the other slot items that do not count as finished items in the full build below.

Boots
Plated Steelcaps42%Mercury's Treads15%Sorcerer's Shoes13%
Plated Steelcaps most often · 46.7% win rate

Varus build

The items players finish, in the order they end up in the inventory.

  1. Experimental Hexplate1st
  2. Dusk and Dawn2nd
  3. Riftmaker3rd
4% of games that reach a third item take this path56.4% win rate211 games
Every slot, boots and full build for Varus →

Every slot, boots and full builds

Patch 26.21 · 9,328 games with a finished item

Slot by slot

Boots

Plated SteelcapsPlated Steelcaps
41% · 47.1% win rate
Mercury's TreadsMercury's Treads
15% · 49.9% win rate
Sorcerer's ShoesSorcerer's Shoes
12% · 46.5% win rate
Boots of SwiftnessBoots of Swiftness
12% · 48.4% win rate
Berserker's GreavesBerserker's Greaves
10% · 48.2% win rate
Gluttonous GreavesGluttonous Greaves
5% · 51.9% win rate

Most common full builds

  1. Experimental Hexplate›Dusk and Dawn+Plated Steelcaps3% of games · 42.1% win rate · 299 games
  2. Experimental Hexplate+Plated Steelcaps2% of games · 37.2% win rate · 231 games
  3. Dusk and Dawn›Experimental Hexplate+Plated Steelcaps2% of games · 45.2% win rate · 230 games
  4. Dusk and Dawn+Plated Steelcaps1% of games · 39.1% win rate · 138 games
  5. Experimental Hexplate›Dusk and Dawn›Riftmaker+Plated Steelcaps1% of games · 47.1% win rate · 104 games
Where these numbers come from

We read finished ranked solo queue games directly from Riot and keep a running tally. Nothing is copied from another site.

Matchups compare Varus against the enemy champion in the same lane, counting only games where both were actually there. The counters list pulls each matchup toward Varus's own win rate by 180 games' worth of it, then keeps the ones still under 50%. A matchup seen thirty times barely moves off the champion's average, and one seen a thousand times keeps close to its own number.

Every number here is followed by the games behind it, because that's what tells you how much to trust it. A win rate over a few hundred games is worth reading. The same number over thirty is mostly luck.

Recent games show what was built and who won. They never show who played. Rank is grouped (Master and up is one band), game length is rounded to five minutes, and there's no region or date on a card.

Every ranked game we read this patch adds its finished items here, boots aside. Items are listed in the order they sit in the inventory, which isn't always the order they were bought: a finished item takes the slot its first part was in.

Compare a win rate only with the other picks in its own slot. A fifth item mostly shows up in long games, and those skew toward the team that was already ahead, so late slots run hot whatever sits in them. A row needs 30 games before it shows up at all.

Built from real ranked games this patch. We keep the running totals, never the games themselves.

Read More About Varus