Counter Guide

How to Beat Milio

Matchup Guide · Evergreen · 3 Counter Picks

You land the perfect engage on Milio's carry, and half a second later they're cleansed, healed and walking away.

Milio's a support who undoes your work. He shields, he heals, he gives his marksman extra attack range, and when you finally commit, Breath of Life [R] wipes the crowd control off everyone near him. It feels hopeless, but his answer has limits written right into it. He can't cast it while he's stunned or silenced himself, it doesn't remove knock-ups, and his only way to push you off is a fireball that can be blocked. Before you ban him, check where he lands on our solo queue tier list this patch.

Matchup Snapshot Milio, the Gentle Flame

Where You Meet HimSupport

Damage TypeMagic

Why He Is FrustratingCleanses your engage

MobilityNo dashes

Biggest ThreatBreath of Life [R]

Hardest CounterZilean

What a Counter Needs

Crowd control on Milio himself, or crowd control his cleanse can't touch
A way through his shields and heals

Patch 26.18 Matchup Data

Who Beats Milio on Patch 26.18

Best Picks Into Milio

Zilean870 games53.6%
Blitzcrank2,527 games52.9%
Braum1,444 games52.5%
Thresh4,185 games52.2%
Senna2,037 games51.9%

Picks Milio Beats

Pantheon1,358 games46.0%
Rell1,035 games46.3%
Bard1,163 games46.7%
Yuumi1,877 games47.7%

Win rates are for the champion listed, playing support against Milio. They come from Nerfplz's own ranked solo queue games on Patch 26.18, Silver and above, 63,777 Milio games in all. Only matchups that show up in at least 1% of those games are listed.

Milio Overview

Strengths: What Makes Him Dangerous

His ultimate erases your engage. Breath of Life [R] heals everyone within 700 units, cleanses their crowd control and gives them 65% tenacity for three seconds.
He makes his marksman longer. Cozy Campfire [W] adds attack range to allies near the fuemigo and heals them for six seconds.
Two shields ready to go. Warm Hugs [E] stores two charges (each shield comes with a burst of movement speed), and both can stack on the same ally.
His kick peels from far away. Ultra Mega Fire Kick [Q] travels 1200 units and knocks back and stuns the first enemy it hits (half its mana comes back if it connects with a champion).

Weaknesses: Where You Get In

The cleanse has conditions. Breath of Life [R] only removes non-airborne crowd control, and he can't cast it while he's stunned or silenced.
His peel is a projectile. Anything that blocks projectiles eats Ultra Mega Fire Kick [Q] whole.
He can't dash. Milio's a 525-range champion with no escape of his own, so catching him is often easier than catching his carry.
Shields can be cut. Items and abilities that reduce or destroy shields take a big bite out of his value.

Countering Milio

Pick any one of these:

Crowd control Milio first. A stun or silence on him means Breath of Life [R] stays on his bar, and your follow-up on the carry sticks.
Bring knock-ups. They're the one kind of crowd control his cleanse doesn't touch.
Block the kick. If Ultra Mega Fire Kick [Q] doesn't land, he hasn't got much else to stop someone jumping on his carry.

Can't do any of that? The lane's still playable.

Playing Into Milio Without a Counter

Bait the ultimate. It's on a 160-second cooldown at rank one, so a half-committed engage that draws Breath of Life [R] out leaves his team with nothing for the real one.

Stand where the kick has to go through your minions. Ultra Mega Fire Kick [Q] stops on the first enemy it hits, and a minion takes the stun as well as you would. Don't stand right behind it, though (against a minion the ball flies farther and the explosion gets bigger).

Best Milio Counters

Each one gets past him in its own way.

Zilean Stuns From 900 Units

Zilean's stun comes from a second Time Bomb [Q] sticking to a target that already carries one. Land both on Milio from 900 units (Rewind [W] takes ten seconds off the cooldown to make the second one quick) and he's stunned for up to 1.5 seconds, with the explosion catching anyone standing beside him.

A stunned Milio can't cast Breath of Life [R]. That's the window for Zilean's team to go in, and the bombs don't need to touch his carry at all to open it.

Blitzcrank Tears Off the Shields

Static Field [R] destroys shields on everyone it hits, Warm Hugs [E] included, and silences them too (it's a 600-unit circle around Blitzcrank, so stand him next to the pair). A silenced Milio can't answer with his ultimate.

The rest of Blitzcrank's kit is built to go under the cleanse. Rocket Grab [Q] stuns for a moment while it drags someone in, and Power Fist [E] knocks the target into the air for a full second. Breath of Life [R] doesn't remove a knock-up.

Braum Eats the Kick

Unbreakable [E] raises a shield that intercepts incoming projectiles, and Ultra Mega Fire Kick [Q] is a projectile. The main tool Milio has for peeling hits the shield and disappears (Braum takes reduced damage through it as well).

Braum's engage lives outside the cleanse too. Glacial Fissure [R] knocks up enemies along a 1200-unit line (the first one hit stays in the air longest), and Milio can't cleanse any of it.

Itemizing Against Milio

Serpent's Fang cuts the shields a champion gets after you've damaged them, which is most of what Milio gives out. Executioner's Calling and Oblivion Orb both put 40% Wounds on the target through the heals (use whichever matches your damage type). Mercury's Treads add 30% tenacity and some magic resist, and everything Milio deals is magic.