Lohpally's Guide to Lux Queen of botlane
Intro
L
January 1st, 1 ⸱ 18 min read
Hi my name is Derek "Lohpally" Abrams. I've been a streamer/content creator for about 7 years and played professionally for multiple games including League of Legends! I was on teams like complexity, curse (now liquid), and winterfox. I mostly make in-depth content about support so if you are looking to get better as support you should check out my other stuff too at twitch and youtube! This guide will help you get up to speed on everything Lux support, which for a while was a hated and autofill oriented champion but has now risen to the top! A lot of why she is so strong is because teleport cannot be used bottom lane and champions that do exceptionally well in lane are now strong, so she comes in as one of the best picks to learn in this season. Obviously some weaknesses of this champion is she is skillshot dependent and very squishy so positioning and skillshot management are keys to success for her to thrive in this game. She is really strong though because she does tons of damage at a safe distance, can kill people almost by herself, and is equipped with crowd control, and utility in her shields.
Runes (Loadout)
Comet will be your premium setup since her E has a slow so it makes comet hit consistently. You can also opt into scorch instead of gathering storm if you see fit for the matchup, but my personal preference has been gathering storm since games can be throwy and go a long time. I also don't feel like scorch makes a huge difference in lane unless you have an adc that can poke with you. Examples of this are like ashe, caitlyn, varus. Page 1 is what most people will prefer to take since it gives you tons of lane power and regen since her mana costs are high. I will tell you though that I personally take page #2 because it gives you tons of scaling since her laning is already so incredibly strong. It also helps cover some of her weaknesses of being squishy by getting a bit tankier in your page. One thing to note about the scaling page is you have less regen early on, so make sure if you take it you are mostly poking around your manaflow band cooldown otherwise you will oom quite quickly before first back.
- Offensive Lane
- Defensive Scaling
Summoner Spells (Loadout)
I mostly suggest Defensive with barrier and the main reason being it's difficult to get in range to use ignite/exhaust most of the time if you are max range casting spells. You can take ignite in some cases where you feel like you have kill pressure but most of the time I'm personally not a fan. If I am gonna take a summoner I usually prefer exhaust, I take this when there are assassins that dive into you or something like a yasuo that will dive into your team. This way you can just respond to them going in, rather than taking something where you have to run up to gain value. Sometimes adcs take exhaust in your stead, instead of taking barrier just move it over to heal, since it's a ranged cast on teammate you will always get value and never have to put yourself in danger just like barrier.
Skill Path
Always want to go E first unless you are invading and scoring kills. E lets you both harass people easily but also push the wave if they are playing defensively, Pushing is premium for all lux matchups so its important. Also putting more than 1 point in Q is worthless since it doesn't decrease the cooldown or increase the root. Always max E into maxing W shielding is really potent for teamfights and lets you impact fights without putting yourself in danger.

Lux
Item Builds
Most flexibility is your first mythic which is either ludens for pure damage, or if there are assassins' or things getting on you, you can opt into crown instead. Voidstaff second is core because you can get the smaller version of spell pen for incredibly cheap. Buy paths and cost are huge parts of why I do this build since shadowflame is strong once you complete, but 3k gold before any power/pen makes it weaker as a second item. This is why voidstaff is better to go and then you can go shadowflame afterwards. These builds are for full damage though, so you can also opt into doing a zhonyas or banshees after void staff if you see fit/having trouble getting jumped on over and over again. Once you complete sorcs+mythic and blight jewel you will kill most squishies easily.
Matchups
Most matchups are actually lux favored these days since you don't have to deal with teleports ruining your aggressive playstyle. Also lux's primary things to work on is getting wave push since if she puts her enemies under the turret it's incredibly easy for you to harass people and generate gold from plates/spellthiefs.
I will be typing matchups in terms of out of 10, so 5/10 is an even matchup, 10/10 is an unlosable matchup from lux's side, and 0/10 means that this is an unwinnable matchup for lux.
7/10 So decent advantage to Lux
Most of lux early is making sure you establish early push or poke depending on what she skills, if lulu goes E level one, don't bother poking get that push and e the wave and auto. If she goes Q, you can poke her a ton. Also take advantage of brushes early since you can hit skillshots way easier. Pay attention to where lulu is, sometimes she will go for harass making her too far to shield the adc and you can poke them. You should basically never get killed in this lane and always have push. Lulu with some certain combos like jinx/twitch can eventually outscale you so its important you build a lead, but you have an easier time to build it than they have to defend it. Also reminder, take advantage of ur E slowing to setup your snares and don't spam too much in early levels that cause you to run out of mana (play around manaflow band cooldown). This is also a lane if you are winning you can consider 2 points in E by level 3 and not get W until lvl 4.
8/10 Very advantage to Lux
A lot of this lane is dodging soraka Q's in the early stages, if you don't get hit by those you can crush this lane as levels add up. Make sure to focus all your harass in this lane onto soraka, since her Q range is lower than your poke you can trade easily without giving her healing back. Anytime you hit a snare make sure to not walk up too close where soraka can silence your combo. Anytime soraka throws Q you have a 5 second window to pressure take advantage of it even if its just taking over a brush. Ignite is a good summoner to take in this matchup and make sure to prioritize damage first on build (sorc shoes over lost chapter) so you have potential 1shot. If there's a ton of healing oblivion orb is not a bad option earlygame after your sorc shoes.
9/10 Incredibly advantaged to Lux
Main thing to pay attention to is not giving sona free poke via her q+auto on powercord. If you don't lose hp early you should be okay, and can shield off the damage in later levels. As you gain levels, don't be afraid to trade with sona (level 3/4) and use your e to slow, any root is basically an insta kill since her hitbox is incredibly big. Make sure to pay attention to your mana after first back when sona gets tear, don't let the war of attrition hit you. You do this by taking more big trades via e+auto and leveraging the slow for snares that get you kills often.
6/10 Slight advantage to Lux
Make sure to avoid auto trading at all stages of this lane unless off a snare itself. Senna can sustain the lane matchup so make sure to do your best pressuring the same person over and over again. You should be able to score kills off snares, but be mindful anytime you miss snare they have the ability to pressure you back very hard. If they hit snare you can also die if you are too close. If you are looking for all in's off your snares past level 3 remember senna can invis, if you run ignite you can bypass the lack of vision, or you walk on top of her to make sure you and your teammate can see her in fog. Post 6 this lane matchup is super easy to instantly kill off snares but it is easy if you are careless with mana or your snare cooldown to get poked down so avoid that early on.
10/10 Auto win this matchup for Lux
Only time this matchup is difficult is if the zyra has something to poke with her and you have a weak laner (like vayne). Plays a lot like sona matchup, but without sustain. Make sure all your harass is on the zyra the entire time and stay out of range of the snare from Zyra.
5/10 Pretty even matchup for Lux with room to win hard
Most important part is how level 1 goes, make sure to harass leona as much as possible to keep her hp down, that way when she gains levels she is too low to go in. This means using ur E+auto combo on the leona and kiting her. Be careful of how hard you push trades since leona could potentially flash+q you and insta kill you if you take too much damage from minions while pressuring. Also be mindful you will be pushing, so warding becomes pretty important and keeping track of the jungle since this lane setups ganks very easily. Once levels add up make sure you manage your range and don't get into range of zenith blade, but also if she has flash make sure you aren't greedy with your and just trade flashes if she tries to flash on you. Post level 6 you don't get to play aggro anymore, if she engages on you or your adc, make sure to throw spells at the adc not the leona this is very important for all in situations. If you learn how to snowball your first 1/2 waves and get leona too low on hp its an easy matchup, but if you can't then you have to play pretty passively and carefully on positioning.
8/10 Very advantage to Lux
Most important parts of this matchup are 2 things, 1 Alistar heal passive heals half on himself so make sure your poke is on him as much as you can, and alistar combo needs him to auto, which makes him easy to snare to prevent him from getting his ramp'd up E. You usually won't die just inside w+q combo so just hold your snare and never use it until he combos in, and he'll be right infront of you to get a free snare and can crush him with damage. Main way for this lane to go sideways is to overplay and get flash+q'd by alistar and pushed into a turret or something, so manage your positioning well and avoid flash combos. Also do your best to track jungle pathing/warding since ganks can get you killed a ton since you should be pushing and pressuring most of this lane.
5/10 Even matchup for Lux
This matchup breaks down to how well you can dodge skillshots early on. Best way to avoid having it turn into that is wave pushing. Make sure early on you use your E on the wave (he can't hook you behind minions) and sit in the range minion wave. The next part gets scary but it's important, when blitzcrank tries to walkup to wrap around you, stand your ground and hit him with your spells to push him back and not lose position behind minions. If he walks up to knock you up with his E then you should also be able to snare him and turn the fight easy.
6/10 Slight advantage for Lux
At level one make sure to check what thresh has skilled up flay vs hook. If he has a stacking damage buff on him, he went flay, if not he went hook. If he has hook make sure to not let him walkup and flay you, use ur E to zone/slow him down. If he goes hook, then make sure to focus on pushing the wave and standing behind minions. This matchup is a bit easier than blitz because thresh roots himself to hook, setups your snares very well and doesn't fully pull you to his teammate when hook lands. If you are snaring his hook even if it hits you should be fine since he can't move in to flay/pull you back.
2/10 Very bad matchup for Lux
Primary issue here is you can't poke down pyke very well and he can dodge your snare with a dash. If you do manage to snare combo him he can die with a little extra damage once you are past level 6. Most of the earlygame is about surviving, try to get the push early since he doesn't have a dash level 1 and you do good aoe damage, just make sure to play in the minions to block the hook. Also when you are playing defensively especially after first back, don't be afraid to use your e to check brushes/force pyke out of positions that are problematic for you.
5/10 Even matchup for Lux
You both have good push but actually karma does a better job pushing since her Q is a shorter cd, and costs way less mana so if she pushes she pushes faster than you. The power lux has in this matchup though is she can score kills via roots, and her poke is a bit easier to hit and reaches further (outside of mantra q from karma). In this matchup its almost always better to chase and match the adc (basically stand facing them whatever side of the lane they are) since they don't have a movement speed steroid and they will usually be shorter range. Try to focus your E for when the enemy adc goes for last hits, this way it hits the ranged minions and them at the same time to get multi value push and pressure. Post 6 you can play pretty aggro since you always get kill potential from your ultimate whereas karma doesn't get anything leveling to 6.
7/10 Decent advantage for Lux
You have more damage, poke, and kill potential so take advantage of that and play aggressively. If you are in range to auto, you can get tornado'd so don't play too far up since you can get chased down and piled on by the enemy adc. Try to bait out shield whenever you can before committing all your damage. If you can't reach them make sure to push the lane and take brush control often. Be mindful of tornado being fully channeled and do your best to move out of obvious spots. If the Janna uses tornado on wave, play up really hard since that's her most important trading tool especially if she has glacial. Any snare you hit should put you in a huge advantage for lane so make sure to save it for only easy to hit scenarios like if the adc goes for last hits, when you are in brushes, or if you slow them with your E.
5/10 Even matchup for Lux
Both of you have similar range so you can poke eachother well. Main thing to note is really anytime he goes for charged up q, this is your opportunity to root him since he's a lot slower! Before Xerath hits level 3 and has stun you can play pretty aggressively, if you ever hit your E you can go in for auto attacks too. Like zyra he lacks sustain so make sure you are focusing on hammering him with your spells. Play around your manaflow early so you don't oom, can even take biscuits to help this matchup. As when dodging poke, try to avoid staying in minion wave so you make him choose between pushing vs poking.
3/10 Bad matchup for Lux
Since you are quite squishy you can die a lot against this matchup even early just like pyke. Main thing is balancing where you stand so you don't get hooked, but also be mindful of him potentially just walking up to auto you. A lot of this lane is playing reactively and defensively. Never use your snare unless you 100% know it will hit and your adc can follow up, you usually want it for when nautilus hooks in since it's a guaranteed snare. Although Nautilus doesn't have sustain his w can block your poke so unless it's down most of the time you want to pressure his adc so they can't follow up if the Nautilus engages. If you manage to bait him too far and snare him without dying, you can score turn around kills but this is very difficult.
6/10 Slight advantage for Lux
Only way to die in this lane matchup is to get stunned off minions or walls, or get ganked. So main things to pay attention to is where is the bard currently? And asking yourself can you get ganked while pushing. The lane 2v2 is incredibly easy even though he has a little sustain you should just focus on pushing and pressuring the bard, but you have to be careful of his gank setups and where the jungle is. Work on getting push and establishing vision before really hammering the matchup down. Also don't try too often to match roams that you can't get to and focus on getting strong from laning/plate gold.
9/10 Incredibly advantaged for Lux
Focus on pushing in this lane then harassing, if you are standing behind minions it's difficult for you to get binded. Main this is playing around black shield, don't throw out snare unless it's down so just focus on harassing with your E as much as possible. Since morgana struggles to push or harass you just abuse her or the adc as much as possible, she provides no sustain. One thing to watch out for though is your spacing post 6, since morgana can flash, blackshield, and ultimate you and chase you down since it might be difficult to snare her with shield on fast enough to clear distance, you are still squishy and immobile. If you avoid that this matchup is just push wave early, don't get binded by abusing your huge minion waves, and poking!
6/10 Slight advantage for Lux
Rakan wants to dive into you but his W is a dash, which is cancelable with your snare and is a straight line. This is the primary thing to focus on in this matchup, is you want to be standing face to face with the rakan as often as possible, I call this man to man defense. Since it's significantly easier for you to hit a snare at a straight line we just chase him around and cancel his dash and focus on harassing his adc partner as much as possible. You do have to exercise more caution as level 6 approaches since it becomes very hard to cancel the dash with your snare with the quickening ultimate from rakan. Outside of that, make sure when you are chasing the rakan around you watch out and dodge his q to not let him sustain back up in lane as often as you can.
9/10 Incredibly advantaged for Lux
Plays a lot like zyra, you have range advantage and nobody has sustain so it's just a lot easier for you to land poke. Main combo to watchout for is if he W's or Q's the minions, because then he can E off them in a huge radius that's easy to land poke for. I recommend if they start doing this just trading your W into it and shield the damage then you are good, but remember you are debuffed so watch out for q stun afterwards. If the brand doesn't do any of this and is just trying to poke you, you should just always win since they have to run a lot closer to hit you. You let them walk in, use your e for poke/harass and slowing then you can Q off this and it should be relatively easy for you to snare. You don't need to snare often to win this if you are continuously hitting your E which is an easy spell to poke with.
Most matchups for Lux are very advantageous for her since you don't have to worry about toplane interference and she has great itemization options that are flexible.