Counter Guide

How to Beat Wukong

Matchup Guide · Evergreen · 3 Counter Picks

Wukong shows up from out of range with a knock-up ready, and half the time the Wukong you're hitting is the clone.

Playing into him feels unfair because his whole kit is built around arriving before you can react. He closes the gap, throws you into the air (twice, if his ultimate is up) and the fight is usually over before you land. His soft spot is defense. What his passive stacks up mid-fight is armor (plus some regeneration), and the champions who beat him most often barely deal physical damage at all. If you're deciding whether he's worth a ban, check where he sits on our solo queue tier list this patch.

Matchup Snapshot Wukong, the Monkey King

Where You Meet HimJungle

Damage TypeMostly physical

Why He Is FrustratingTwo knock-ups and a decoy

MobilityTwo dashes

Biggest ThreatCyclone [R]

Hardest CounterCho'Gath

What a Counter Needs

Magic or true damage, which his passive's armor does nothing against
Crowd control saved for the gap between his two spins

Patch 26.18 Matchup Data

Who Beats Wukong on Patch 26.18

Best Picks Into Wukong

Cho'Gath2,262 games55.4%
Lillia1,709 games52.8%
Ekko1,497 games51.6%
Shyvana2,808 games51.5%
Shaco1,923 games51.3%

Picks Wukong Beats

Diana1,132 games43.5%
Rengar1,174 games44.6%
Kindred982 games44.8%
Qiyana1,558 games44.9%

Win rates are for the champion listed, in the jungle against Wukong. They come from Nerfplz's own ranked solo queue games on Patch 26.18, Silver and above, 79,213 Wukong games in all. Only matchups that show up in at least 1% of those games are listed.

Wukong Overview

Strengths: What Makes Him Dangerous

Cyclone [R] comes twice. After the first spin ends he has eight seconds to cast it again, and each cast can knock you up.
He starts fights from 650 units away. Nimbus Strike [E] is a targeted dash (longer than most champions' attack range) and he lands with bonus attack speed.
The clone fools people. Warrior Trickster [W] turns him invisible for a second and leaves a copy behind that attacks. When he ults, it spins too.
Short trades go his way, because his passive keeps stacking armor and health regeneration for as long as he's hitting champions.

Weaknesses: Where You Get In

His defense is armor. Magic damage goes straight past what Stone Skin [Passive] builds up in a fight.
He has one real gap-closer. With Nimbus Strike [E] down, the best he has is a 300-unit hop.
His ultimate has a long cooldown, 130 seconds at rank one. Without it he's a bruiser with a dash.
The clone starts where he was. It appears on the spot he cast Warrior Trickster [W] from. The real Wukong is the one who moved.

Countering Wukong

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

Hit him with magic damage. He builds toughness in a fight, and none of it is magic resist.
Break the combo in the middle. His second Cyclone [R] is where the kill happens. A silence or a stun between the spins costs him most of it (Cho'Gath's scream is the cleanest version of this).
Fight him after the dash. Once Nimbus Strike [E] is gone he has to walk up to you, and against anyone who kites that's a bad trade for him.

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

Playing Into Wukong Without a Counter

When he vanishes, don't chase the Wukong that stayed put. That's the clone, standing where he cast Warrior Trickster [W]. The real one has dashed a short way off and stays invisible for about a second, so step back toward your tower and let him show himself.

Track his ultimate. Early on it's down for over two minutes (130 seconds at rank one) and without it he struggles to win a fight against two people.

Ward the brush by your lane. He wins by getting close before you see him.

Best Wukong Counters

Three different answers here. Take whichever fits how you already play.

Cho'Gath Silences the Second Spin

Apart from his basic attacks, Cho'Gath deals magic damage, and Feast [R] is true damage. The armor Wukong stacks in a fight doesn't do much here. Cho'Gath also gets bigger and harder to kill as the game goes on (every Feast [R] kill adds health).

The fight turns on Feral Scream [W]. It silences every champion in its cone (time it for right after the first Cyclone [R]) and when it lands there, Wukong can't recast his spin or hop away with Warrior Trickster [W] until it wears off. Land Rupture [Q] after that and he's in the air for a full second, then slowed by 60% while he tries to leave.

Lillia Can't Be Caught

Lillia fights on the move. Every ability she lands gives her more speed (it stacks four times), so once Wukong's dash is spent she's already somewhere else, and a 300-unit hop won't reach her.

Her damage suits the matchup too (it's nearly all magic). Each ability she lands burns a slice of his maximum health as magic damage over three seconds, and the health he buys makes that burn bigger. When he finally commits, Lilting Lullaby [R] puts every champion carrying that burn to sleep. It's global, so a Wukong who dives and backs off still falls asleep.

Ekko Rewinds the Fight

Wukong throws everything in at once, and Chronobreak [R] rewinds Ekko to where he stood four seconds earlier with a heal on top. He can't be knocked up during the rewind (he's in stasis as it starts). By the time he lands, Wukong's spin is on cooldown and Ekko's magic damage is still coming.

Itemizing Against Wukong

Plated Steelcaps take a bit off every attack he lands (10%). Frozen Heart takes a fifth off his attack speed, and it's an aura, so standing near him is enough. Thornmail puts Wounds on him when he hits you (40% less healing and regeneration, passive included). On a mage, Zhonya's Hourglass outlasts a Cyclone [R] spin.