Counter Guide

How to Beat Ivern

Matchup Guide · Evergreen · 3 Counter Picks

Ivern roots you from across the river, and then his whole team dashes to you along the vine.

He's an odd jungler to play against because he barely fights at all. He doesn't attack his camps (he grows them and frees them later), he spends his ultimate on a giant friend called Daisy, and most of his power ends up on his teammates as shields. That makes him slippery to punish, since killing Ivern isn't usually what wins the fight. His weak point is the jungle itself. Every camp costs him health, mana and a channel you're allowed to interrupt. If you're deciding whether he's worth a ban, check where he sits on our solo queue tier list this patch.

Matchup Snapshot Ivern, the Green Father

Where You Meet HimJungle

Damage TypeMostly magic

Why He Is FrustratingHis whole team rides his root

MobilityOnly a dash to a rooted target

Biggest ThreatRootcaller [Q]

Hardest CounterShyvana

What a Counter Needs

Early pressure on his jungle, before his groves grow in
A way to block or punish a missed vine

Patch 26.18 Matchup Data

Who Beats Ivern on Patch 26.18

Best Picks Into Ivern

Shyvana498 games55.0%
Nocturne437 games53.3%
Viego533 games51.6%

Picks Ivern Beats

Lee Sin633 games47.6%
Kayn507 games48.7%

Win rates are for the champion listed, in the jungle against Ivern. They come from Nerfplz's own ranked solo queue games on Patch 26.18, Silver and above, 11,466 Ivern games in all. Only matchups that show up in at least 1% of those games are listed.

Ivern Overview

Strengths: What Makes Him Dangerous

Rootcaller [Q] is an engage for five. It roots and reveals the first enemy it hits, and every one of his teammates can dash to that target just by attacking it.
Daisy! [R] is an extra fighter. She stays for up to 45 seconds and he can send her wherever he wants, even while he's stunned.
He makes brush wherever he likes. Brushmaker [W] plants cover anywhere, and allies fighting from brush near him hit harder.
His shields punish diving. Triggerseed [E] shields an ally, then explodes two seconds later to slow everyone around them.

Weaknesses: Where You Get In

Every camp costs him. Planting a grove takes health, mana and a 2.5-second channel, and interrupting that channel is how you contest it.
His camps take time to grow. Early on, a grove needs about 40 seconds before he can free it (it gets much quicker as he levels).
Crowd control stops his farming. He can't plant a grove while he's stunned or silenced, and he's got no way to fight the camp himself.
A missed vine leaves him stranded. His only dash rides on Rootcaller [Q] hitting someone.

Countering Ivern

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

Invade him early. His groves grow slowly at low levels, and he pays for each one out of his own health bar.
Block or dodge the vine. Rootcaller [Q] is a single skillshot that his whole team is waiting on.
Go after him when Daisy's down. Without her he's a ranged support with no escape of his own.

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

Playing Into Ivern Without a Counter

Watch the vine. Rootcaller [Q] is a long, straight skillshot, and if it catches you, expect his whole team to arrive a second later. Standing behind a minion blocks it (the vine stops on the first enemy it touches).

Keep track of his groves. A grove that's still growing is a camp he hasn't taken yet, and if you're nearby when he starts the channel, a stun or a silence stops it cold.

Don't fight Daisy. She's there to soak your cooldowns for 45 seconds (she's a big target and she's meant to be), and she's gone after that.

Best Ivern Counters

Only three junglers clear the bar into Ivern, and they each win it their own way.

Shyvana Grows Off the Jungle

Shyvana gets tougher from the jungle itself. Scalemail [Passive] adds armor and magic resist for every large monster she kills (champion takedowns count three times as much), and her attacks tear through camps with bonus damage based on the monster's max health. While Ivern waits on a grove, she's already clearing and getting sturdier.

That gap only widens if she invades. Every camp she takes from him is gold and another Scalemail [Passive] stack for her, and he can't stop her by fighting the monsters (he can't damage them at all). When the fight does come to her, Dragon's Descent [R] flies in with displacement immunity and fears everyone along its path.

Nocturne Blinds His Team

Ivern's value comes from being next to his teammates, and Paranoia [R] cuts every enemy's sight radius and removes the vision they share with each other. For six seconds Ivern can't see which ally needs a shield, and Nocturne can dash straight to whoever's alone.

Shroud of Darkness [W] handles the vine. It's a spell shield that blocks one enemy ability, and Rootcaller [Q] is blockable, so the engage his team is waiting on never lands (and Nocturne's attack speed doubles when it blocks something).

Viego Steals His Kit

Viego stops a grove the direct way. Spectral Maw [W] stuns, and Ivern can't plant anything while he's stunned (the camp's then there for whoever kills it first). If Ivern dies, Viego's passive lets him possess the body and use Ivern's basic abilities, Rootcaller [Q] included. It's the rare jungler who gets to turn the enemy's engage back on them.

Itemizing Against Ivern

Mercury's Treads give 30% Tenacity, so a Rootcaller [Q] root wears off sooner. Banshee's Veil (on a mage) and Edge of Night (on an AD champion) both carry a spell shield that eats the next enemy ability, and you'd like that ability to be the vine. Serpent's Fang cuts the shields your target gains after you've damaged them, which takes a chunk out of Triggerseed [E] on whoever Ivern is protecting.