Varus
Hardest matchups for Varus in Bot (Emerald, patch 16.20): 
Xerath, 
Lux, 
Jinx. Easiest: 
Ezreal, 
Yunara, 
Mel.
Try it in a draftCountersPower curvesIn the tier listWho wins into VarusOn the pro tier list
Varus on patch 16.22
- Bot48.9%#47 of 51C8,516 games
- Top48.3%#84 of 103C1,663 games
- steady since 16.21
Varus’s main role on patch 16.22 is Bot: a 48.9% win rate across 8,516 Emerald games, #47 of 51 Bot champions on the tier list (grade C), picked in 3.3% of games. Varus is also played Top: a 48.3% win rate across 1,663 games, #84 of 103. Since patch 16.21, Varus Bot has not moved by more than chance explains: 0.2 points across 60,571 games in 8 ranks.
Emerald games from every region, as of Nov 9, 2026. The tables below load current numbers. Patch 16.22 tier list
Solo queue
Open in the tier listPatch 16.20, the current one
| Lane | Grade | Win rate | Games | Picked | Mains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bot66% of its games | C | 47.8%47.7% raw ±0.7 | 18,886 | 2.7%1.1% banned | 49.3%46.3% first time |
| Top27% of its games | C | 46.9%46.6% raw ±1.1 | 7,728 | 1.1%1.1% banned | 50.7%46.1% first time |
| Mid6% of its games | C | 47.1%45.6% raw ±2.3 | 1,865 | 0.3%1.1% banned | 50.7%47.0% first time |
| Support1% of its games | too few games | 47.6%38.8% raw ±6.1 | 260 | 0.0%1.1% banned | 51.1%46.4% first time |
| Jungle0% of its games | too few games | 49.7%25.0% raw ±28.3 | 12 | 0.0%1.1% banned | 51.4% |
Matchups
Every matchupHow to read this
Varus’s win rate against each champion picked into it in the lane opposite: its hardest matchups, then its easiest. The small number is the matchup’s own effect on Varus, the part not explained by either champion’s strength.
Hardest for Varus
Lane leads and team bans
What Varus’s team bans
Champions a team bans more often when it has Varus than the other team does in the same games (159,981 games). The other team banned before Varus was picked, so the gap is the ban spent because Varus was coming — a sign players see these as counters. Riot does not say which player cast a ban, so this is the team’s choice.
Builds
Every buildHow to read this
How Varus is built in this lane, most common first, with the items those builds finish and how they win.
- On-hit
49.5%14,181 games - Mana stack
45.5%2,064 games - Lethality46.8%936 games
- AD bruiser
50.6%738 games - AP sustained
48.0%737 games
Runes and summoner spells
How to read this
How Varus does with each summoner-spell pair, keystone and minor rune in this lane, at the rank and region above. These are the win rates of the players who made each choice, not the choice’s own effect: a page is recommended only when a real share of players runs it.
20,355 games · patches 16.20, 16.21 · Sep 10 – Oct 21
Flash + Barrier47.4% · 14,774 games
Lethal TempoPrecision + Inspiration · 48.5%
Triumph · Legend: Alacrity · Cut Down · Cash Back · Triple TonicShards: Attack Speed · Adaptive Force · Health
Start: Doran's Bow + Health Potion · 49.4%
Key items: Statikk Shiv → Guinsoo's Rageblade · 50.3%
Boots: Gluttonous Greaves · 52.9%Every option, with its numbers
Summoner spells
- Flash + Barrier47.4%14,774 games · 73% pick rate · the usual choiceRecommended
Exhaust + Flash49.5%2,300 games · 11% pick rate · same players: −0.6 pts vs the usual
Cleanse + Flash46.5%1,447 games · 7.1% pick rate · same players: −0.8 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended
Flash + Ghost51.0%1,267 games · 6.2% pick rate · same players: −0.9 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended
Keystones
Lethal Tempo + Sorcery48.2%505 games · 2.5% pick rate · same players: +1.7 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended
Press the Attack + Domination47.0%816 games · 4.0% pick rate · same players: +1.3 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended- Press the Attack + Inspiration50.9%846 games · 4.2% pick rate · same players: +0.9 pts vs the usualRare: not recommended
- Lethal Tempo + Inspiration48.5%13,374 games · 66% pick rate · the usual choiceRecommended
Minor runes with Lethal Tempo
- Triumph50.3%34% take it
Absorb Life46.9%55% take it
Presence of Mind49.9%12% take it
- Legend: Alacrity48.6%89% take it
Legend: Bloodline46.8%10% take it
- Cut Down48.4%91% take it
Coup de Grace47.8%5.6% take it
Last Stand48.8%3.7% take it
- Cash Back51.0%40% take it
- Triple Tonic50.7%23% take it
Cosmic Insight47.7%78% take it
Biscuit Delivery46.6%53% take it
Magical Footwear47.3%4.2% take it
- Attack Speed47.8%97% take it
- Adaptive Force45.5%3.3% take it
- Adaptive Force47.7%99% take it
- Health47.7%85% take it
- Health Scaling47.6%14% take it
These numbers describe, they do not prove. Each rate is Varus’s record when its player chose that option, pulled toward Varus’s own rate by 100 games of prior so a small sample cannot look like a discovery. An uncommon page often wins more because experts run it, and they would win on any page, so only a choice taken in at least 10% of games can be recommended, and spells and keystones are ranked by how the SAME players do with them against the usual choice, not by the raw rate; rarer ones are listed with their numbers and labeled. The build line (opening buy, the two key items in the order they are finished, boots or the support upgrade) is advice in the same sense: how Varus does when built that way.
The learning curve
Champion pool
On a first game Varus wins 45.5%; in the hands of players with the most mastery on it, 49.6%. That gap ranks it 112 of 173 for how much practice pays. Even its most practiced players stay under 50%.
Pro play
On the pro tier list
Varus in the major leagues and international events this season, across 3,434 games: its record, how often it is picked or banned, whether it is taken blind or saved as a counter, its lane at 15 minutes, and the best pro on it.
| Lane | Win rate | Priority | Blind / counter | Lane @15 | Best pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bot | 50.8%233W 221L | 49%58% in any lane | 22% counter | −23 gold | — |
| Top | 50.3%41W 39L | 9%58% in any lane | 35% counter | +546 gold | — |
| Mid | 50.2%1W 0L | 0%58% in any lane | 0% counter | +1,405 gold | — |
How much knowing Varus pays
Players on their Mastery band win 4.2 points more on Varus than first-timers do: #112 of 173 champions for how much mastery pays.
At 300k+ mastery points, Varus players win 49.6%: #170 of 173 champions for where mastery ends up. The curve is still rising there: its fitted ceiling of about 50.3% lies beyond the data and is an estimate, not a measurement.
VarusDots are the six mastery bands, placed at their mastery points. The line is the best-fitting curve that rises and levels off.
This is not a promise about your next game. Players do not reach a mastery band in a random order, and a champion someone loses on tends to get dropped before it reaches the high bands — so the right-hand side of every curve is partly survivors, not only practice.