Rakan vs Galio Counter Pick

Galio is one of the few supports who punishes a dash on arrival rather than afterwards, and 182 games on patch 16.13.1 leave Rakan at 46.7%. Shield of Durand charges a defensive stance and, on release, taunts and damages everyone nearby, which is a direct answer to Grand Entrance landing beside him. Justice Punch knocks up the first champion it meets after a short step back, and Hero’s Entrance shields allies in the marked area before Galio smashes down on it, so his side can be reinforced faster than Rakan can pull a fight apart.

Durability compounds the problem. Galio starts with 24 armor, below Rakan’s 30, but finishes at 2742 health, the kind of level-18 pool that makes a supportive engage champion very hard to burst. Neither of them deals physical damage, which pushes their opponents toward magic resist rather than armor, and Colossal Smash adds periodic bonus magic damage in an area on top of that. Rakan keeps his own advantages, namely 300 attack range against 150, a periodic shield from Fey Feathers, and The Quickness charming anyone he brushes past, but both champions are rated 5 for difficulty, so there is no execution edge to lean on. Winds of War converges two windblasts into a tornado dealing damage over time, meaning the ground Galio has claimed costs health before the taunt is ever released. Kit details sit on the Galio page.