How to beat Rammus

Common role: Jungle

The best counter to Rammus in Jungle is Maokai: 56.8% win rate over 72 ranked games on patch 26.17.

An armor tank who rolls in, taunts your carry, and reflects auto-attack damage.

What makes Rammus dangerous

Rammus rolls in at high speed to knock up and engage, taunts a target to force them to attack him, and his passive and W reflect a portion of auto-attack damage back — punishing AD auto-attackers hard. He's a hard-engage tank that locks down and peels for his team.

How to play against Rammus

• 1Don't auto-attack him while his W/passive reflect is up — especially as an AD carry, you damage yourself. Use abilities instead.
• 2Respect his taunt (E) — it forces you to attack him and walk toward him. Save your dash/QSS or don't be in taunt range of his engage.
• 3He's tanky but does little damage on his own — kite him and focus his carries. Percent-health damage beats his armor stacking.
• 4His roll (Q) is a fast engage/gank — ward and watch for the speed-up. Dodge the roll and his lockdown never lands.

Weaknesses to exploit

• ✓Low personal damage — kite him and focus his carries.
• ✓Armor stacking does nothing vs magic/% health damage.
• ✓Taunt and roll are dodgeable/avoidable.
• ✓Reflect only punishes auto-attacks, not abilities.

Abilities & how to counter them

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

• P
  Spiked Shell

  Rammus gains bonus Attack Damage scaling with his Armor and Magic Resistance.

• Q
  Powerball

  Rammus accelerates in a ball towards his enemies, dealing damage and slowing targets affected by the impact.

  Strong: a fast Powerball roll to engage and gank. Weak: it's a telegraphed speed-up — dodge the roll and his lockdown never lands.

• W
  Defensive Ball Curl

  Rammus goes into a defensive formation, vastly increasing his Armor and Magic Resistance, and returning damage to enemies that attack him.

  Strong: reflects a portion of auto-attack damage back at you. Weak: it only punishes autos, not abilities — stop attacking and deal ability damage.

• E
  Frenzying Taunt

  Rammus taunts an enemy champion or monster into a reckless assault against him.

  Strong: a taunt that forces you to walk up and attack him. Weak: save your dash/QSS for it, or don't be in taunt range of his engage.

• R
  Soaring Slam

  Rammus hops into the air and slams down at a target area, dealing magic damage and slowing enemies. If cast while Rammus is in Powerball, Rammus knocks up enemies near the center as well.

Itemization

Rammus is a pure armor tank. Play magic damage and % health damage into him, don't auto-attack through his reflect, and bring tenacity/QSS for his taunt. Kite him and kill his carries instead.

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