Twisted Fate vs Smolder Counter Pick

Stacking champions lose to tempo. Dragon Practice grows only when Smolder hits champions with abilities or finishes kills with Super Scorcher Breath, so the first ten minutes are the cheapest window in which to attack him. Twisted Fate sits at 58.3% here, although the 168 games behind that figure on patch 16.13.1 are a modest sample and the margin should be read loosely.

Range belongs to Smolder, 550 units to 525, and his damage is physical against a champion carrying 24 armor at level one and 98 at level 18. Flap, Flap, Flap ignores terrain and bombards the lowest-health enemy, so escaping on foot at 330 movement speed, identical to his own, is rarely an option once he commits. Achooo! explodes only when it strikes a champion, so keeping minions between the two of them costs him damage.

The matchup tilts because Twisted Fate never has to duel him. Wild Cards shoves the wave from outside Smolder’s preferred spacing, Pick a Card turns that shove into gold and mana, and Destiny with Gate converts the tempo into pressure elsewhere while Smolder is still counting stacks. Level 18 durability is closer than expected, 2,440 health to 2,275, but fights rarely last long enough for it to register, and MMOOOMMMM! functions as a teamfight tool rather than a solo answer to a champion rated 9 for difficulty against his 6.