Counter Guide

How to Beat Bard

Matchup Guide · Evergreen · 3 Counter Picks

Bard wanders off to collect chimes, comes back through a wall you thought was solid, and stuns two of you with one bolt.

He's hard to play against because you never know where he is. One minute he's in lane, the next he's two lanes over, and when he does fight, his stun only needs you standing near a wall or near a teammate (which, in bot lane, you usually are). His ultimate freezes everything it lands on, your team and his. The way in is his escape. Bard's only real mobility is a portal through terrain, and he can't take it while he's pinned down. If you're deciding whether he's worth a ban, check where he sits on our solo queue tier list this patch.

Matchup Snapshot Bard, the Wandering Caretaker

Where You Meet HimSupport

Damage TypeMostly magic

Why He Is FrustratingStuns you into walls

MobilityA portal through terrain

Biggest ThreatTempered Fate [R]

Hardest CounterTahm Kench

What a Counter Needs

A way to catch him in the open, where his portal can't save him
Enough staying power to shrug off poke while he's building up to a stun

Patch 26.18 Matchup Data

Who Beats Bard on Patch 26.18

Best Picks Into Bard

Tahm Kench608 games56.6%
Janna803 games55.9%
Braum843 games55.4%
Leona1,752 games55.0%
Sona596 games54.9%

Picks Bard Beats

Camille538 games45.4%
Pantheon1,026 games49.0%
Zilean648 games49.1%

Win rates are for the champion listed, playing support against Bard. They come from Nerfplz's own ranked solo queue games on Patch 26.18, Silver and above, 42,358 Bard games in all. Only matchups that show up in at least 1% of those games are listed.

Bard Overview

Strengths: What Makes Him Dangerous

Cosmic Binding [Q] can stun two people. It slows the first enemy it hits by 60% and keeps going. If it reaches a wall or a second enemy, both of them are stunned.
Tempered Fate [R] stops everything it lands on. Champions, minions, turrets and even epic monsters go into stasis for 2.5 seconds, allies included.
He's everywhere. Every chime he collects adds movement speed out of combat, and it stacks (up to ten times), so he roams faster than anyone on the map.
His portal goes through walls. Magical Journey [E] opens a one-way path through terrain, and his team travels through it faster than yours does.

Weaknesses: Where You Get In

The stun needs something behind you. Without a wall or a teammate lined up, Cosmic Binding [Q] is only a slow (a big one, but you can still walk).
His escape needs terrain. The portal can't open without a wall nearby, and he can't step into it while he's rooted or stunned (grounding stops it too).
Tempered Fate [R] is slow to land. The arc takes between about one and two seconds to come down, depending on how far he threw it.
When he roams, his partner is alone. Every trip for chimes leaves his marksman in a two-on-one.

Countering Bard

Any of these will do. You don't need all of them:

Lock him down in the open. A stun or root in the middle of the lane leaves him nowhere to go (his portal needs a wall to open).
Stop the bolt before it gets going. A projectile blocker in front of your carry means the second stun never happens.
Punish the roam. When he leaves, his marksman has nobody to hide behind.

Stuck in the matchup without one? It's still playable.

Playing Into Bard Without a Counter

Don't stand in a line with your marksman, and don't hug the walls beside the lane. Cosmic Binding [Q] only stuns when there's something behind its first target, so spacing turns his best ability into a slow.

When he goes missing, push. His marksman can't hold a wave against two of you, and your jungler wants to know he's gone (a quick ping costs nothing).

If Tempered Fate [R] lands on you, remember you're in stasis too. Nobody can touch you for those 2.5 seconds, and his team will be lining up for the moment it ends, so have your Flash ready.

Best Bard Counters

These three beat him in different ways. Pick whichever fits your style.

Tahm Kench Eats the Poke

Most of Bard's lane pressure comes as chip damage (meep-empowered attacks and the odd bolt). Thick Skin [E] stores a share of every hit Tahm Kench takes as grey health and heals part of it back once he's gone four seconds without taking damage, so the poke that should've worn him down doesn't stick.

Once he's landed three hits, Tongue Lash [Q] stuns for 1.5 seconds. That's the window that matters here, because a stunned Bard can't walk into his own portal. Catch him away from a wall and he has no way out.

Braum Blocks the Bolt

Unbreakable [E] raises Braum's shield in one direction and destroys every enemy projectile that hits it (and it stays up for several seconds). Cosmic Binding [Q] is a projectile. Put the shield between Bard and your marksman and the bolt ends on it, so there's no second target and no stun.

Braum's passive helps too. His attacks start Concussive Blows [Passive], and once the first stack is on, your marksman's attacks add stacks as well (four stacks is a stun). Stand Behind Me [W] gets him to his carry in a hurry when Bard tries to pick them off.

Leona Pins Him Before the Portal

Leona's the most direct answer. Zenith Blade [E] roots the champion it hits and pulls her to them, Shield of Daybreak [Q] follows with a one-second stun, and Bard can't get into his portal through any of it. Eclipse [W] cuts the damage she takes while she's in close, which is where she wants to be anyway (and where Bard doesn't).

Itemizing Against Bard

Mercury's Treads give 30% Tenacity, which shortens a Cosmic Binding [Q] stun. Mikael's Blessing removes a stun from an ally outright. Locket of the Iron Solari shields everyone near you, and that's what you want the moment a Tempered Fate [R] wears off. His damage is magic, so a tank who's being poked all game can build Force of Nature and pick up extra magic resist once he's hit them often enough.