Counter Guide

How to Beat Nilah

Matchup Guide · Patch 26.22 · 2 Counter Picks

Nilah walks into your whole bot lane, your attacks go straight through her, and the pull at the end drags both of you into her.

As a marksman, you're supposed to win this. She's melee and you have range. In practice, the second she turns on her mist your auto attacks stop landing, and every hit she lands on you heals her. Once her ultimate comes up, standing near your support becomes a liability. What beats her is a marksman who doesn't rely on basic attacks to stop her. Roots and slows from abilities go right through the mist. If you're wondering how she's doing in general, check our solo queue tier list.

Patches 26.20-26.22 Matchup Data

Who Beats Nilah on Patches 26.20-26.22

Best Picks Into Nilah

Xayah1,398 games54.5%
Jinx3,339 games50.7%
Zeri862 games50.7%

Picks Nilah Beats

Yasuo764 games39.8%
Twitch1,727 games41.4%
Kai'Sa4,584 games44.6%
Ezreal2,465 games44.9%

Every Bot matchup for Nilah →

Win rates are for the champion listed, in the bot lane against Nilah. They come from Nerfplz's own ranked solo queue games on Patches 26.20-26.22, Silver and above, 45,630 Nilah games in all. Only matchups that show up in at least 1% of those games are listed.

Matchup Snapshot Nilah, the Joy Unbound

Where You Meet HerBot lane

Damage TypePhysical

Why She Is FrustratingYour attacks miss her

MobilityTwo dash charges

Biggest ThreatApotheosis [R]

Hardest CounterXayah

What a Counter Needs

Crowd control from abilities, which her mist doesn't stop
Range and speed to keep her from connecting at all

Nilah Overview

Strengths: What Makes Her Dangerous

Jubilant Veil [W] makes her dodge every basic attack for 2.25 seconds, cuts the magic damage she takes by 25% and speeds her up. Any ally she touches gets the same mist for 1.5 seconds.
She heals off her own hits. Her attacks and Formless Blade [Q] heal her, and whatever overflows past full health becomes a shield.
Slipstream [E] holds two charges, and each dash resets her attack timer.
Apotheosis [R] pulls everyone in. After a one-second spin she yanks nearby enemies toward her, then heals herself and her allies off the damage.

Weaknesses: Where You Get In

The mist only stops basic attacks. Abilities, even physical ones, hit her as normal.
Her dashes need a target. Slipstream [E] travels a fixed distance toward a unit, so a lane with nothing to dash to is a lane she walks.
Jubilant Veil [W] has a long cooldown (26 seconds at rank one). Trade when it's down.
She has to be close. Even with Formless Blade [Q] extending her range, she's melee, and every trade starts with her walking into yours.

Countering Nilah

Any of these will do:

Stop her with abilities. A root or a slow from a spell ignores the mist.
Wait out Jubilant Veil [W]. Back off for the 2.25 seconds it lasts, then turn around.
Cut her healing. Wounds hit hard against a champion who heals off every attack.

Without one of those, you can still get through the laning phase.

Playing a Bad Nilah Matchup

When the mist comes up, stop attacking her and walk. Your attacks won't land, so every one you throw is time she spends catching you.

Keep space from your support when her ultimate's up. Apotheosis [R] pulls everyone nearby into the same spot, and two of you in the same place is what she wants. Stand away from the minions she'd dash off, too, since Slipstream [E] can't go anywhere without a unit to aim at.

Best Nilah Counters

These two marksmen beat her in different ways.

Jinx Traps the Dash

Flame Chompers! [E] is the tool for this lane. Put it between you and her, and when she walks in with the mist up, she steps on it and gets rooted. That's an ability (her dodge doesn't touch it), and it keeps her rooted where Jinx can wait out the mist.

Zap! [W] slows and reveals from 1450 units, and Fishbones (Switcheroo! [Q]) keeps her farther away than most marksmen can. If Jinx gets a takedown, Get Excited! [Passive] gives her a huge burst of speed and attack speed.

Xayah Doesn't Need to Auto

Jubilant Veil [W] dodges basic attacks, and Xayah does a lot of her damage without one. Bladecaller [E] pulls every Feather back through Nilah and roots her if enough of them connect, and none of that is an attack the mist can dodge.

Featherstorm [R] makes Xayah untargetable for the moment that matters. When Nilah dives in with Apotheosis [R], Xayah can leap clear of the pull and leave a fresh line of Feathers on the ground behind her.

Next step

Itemizing Against Nilah

She heals off everything she hits, so Wounds come first. Executioner's Calling applies 40% Wounds when you deal physical damage, and Mortal Reminder builds it into a full marksman item. Plated Steelcaps take 10% off every attack she lands. If you're the support, Bramble Vest puts Wounds on her whenever she attacks you.