How to beat Poppy

Common role: Top / Support

The best counter to Poppy in Support is Ivern: 58.7% win rate over 43 ranked games on patch 26.17.

An anti-mobility tank who stops dashes and hammers you into a wall to stun.

What makes Poppy dangerous

Poppy shuts down dashes with her W (a hard counter to mobile divers and assassins), knocks you into walls with her E to stun, and her ultimate can banish a whole group out of a fight. She's a durable peel tank that protects her carries and denies engage comps.

How to play against Poppy

• 1Don't dash into her W — it stops the dash and knocks you down. Engage without a dash, or bait her W first.
• 2Her E only stuns if it knocks you into a wall — fight in open areas to reduce it to a slow.
• 3Respect her ultimate — it can knock your whole engage out of the fight. Don't group tightly when she can zone or peel with it.
• 4She has low damage on her own — kite her and burst her carries. She's there to peel, not to carry.

Weaknesses to exploit

• ✓Low personal damage — she's a peel tank.
• ✓E only stuns near walls — open ground denies it.
• ✓Punishes dashes, so engage without one.
• ✓Kiteable with no gap-closer of her own.

Abilities & how to counter them

What each of Poppy's abilities does — and how to play around it.

• P
  Iron Ambassador

  Poppy throws her buckler that bounces off the target. Poppy can pick it up to gain a temporary shield.

• Q
  Hammer Shock

  Poppy swings her hammer, dealing damage and creating a zone that will slow enemies and explode after a delay.

• W
  Steadfast Presence

  Poppy passively gains Armor and Magic Resist. This bonus increases when she is low on Health. Poppy can activate Steadfast Presence to gain Move Speed and stop enemy dashes around her. If a dash is stopped, the enemy is slowed and grounded.

  Strong: stops dashes and knocks down the dasher — a hard counter to divers. Weak: engage without a dash, or bait her W first.

• E
  Heroic Charge

  Poppy dashes to the target and pushes it back. If the target is pushed into a wall, it is stunned.

  Strong: hammers you into a wall for a stun. Weak: it only stuns near terrain — fight in the open to reduce it to a slow.

• R
  Keeper's Verdict

  Poppy channels a hammer strike that knocks enemies very far away.

  Strong: can knock an entire engage out of the fight. Weak: don't group tightly when it's up — she needs you clustered to zone or peel with it.

Itemization

Poppy is a peel tank. Don't rely on dashes to engage (her W stops them), fight away from walls to avoid her E stun, and % health/magic damage beats her tankiness. Kite her and kill her carries.

This guide covers Poppy's core kit and playstyle — advice that holds up across patches.