Varus vs Kog’Maw Counter Pick

On paper Varus opens with the longer weapon: 575 attack range against 500. Bio-Arcane Barrage erases that advantage by granting Kog’Maw bonus range and a percentage of the target’s maximum health as magic damage on-hit, and the bottom-position record follows — 38.6% for Varus across 272 games on patch 16.13.1.

Neither marksman can simply leave, since both move at 330 base speed and both spend Mana. Caustic Spittle corrodes Armor and Magic Resist while granting Kog’Maw attack speed, which compounds badly against 24 Armor at level 1 and 92 at level 18. Varus is not without answers: 600 health against 635 and 2,385 against 2,318 by level 18, Piercing Arrow charging for additional reach, and Hail of Arrows slowing and desecrating the ground he needs to stand on to sustain his attack pattern. Chain of Corruption immobilises the first champion hit and spreads toward others nearby, the clearest opening for a support to convert. Kog’Maw even punishes the kill itself, since Icathian Surprise detonates for true damage four seconds after he dies. Void Ooze leaves a slowing trail that makes repositioning during a trade expensive, and Living Artillery gains damage against low-health enemies from well outside either attack range. Difficulty ratings of 2 against 6 mean the simpler champion is the one losing, which points at a kit mismatch rather than an execution problem. See Kog’Maw.