Assessing a solo queue draft in League of Legends is a challenging task to take on. With crazy picks like River Shen, Kalista top, and the fabled Lux support, it can be tough to look past the madhouse and break down what champion is best to select. After all, without having the coordination to swap picks after the draft in solo queue, lane often feels as though it's won by whoever gets to counter-pick amidst the random draft order. Why is that the case? Understanding your opponent's champion pick allows you to plan how you intend to play the lane, thus enabling you to select a champion to execute that strategy. There is no one-size-fits-all for counter-picking, and sometimes even picks that don't seem to dominate the lane can still be adequate responses to an opposing selection. Getting a grasp on these lane dynamics allows you to win games from the moment you lock in your champion.

Mechanical Counters

The most common use of a counter-pick is to select a champion who has a mechanic that directly counters the opposing laner. A textbook example of this would be playing a champion with Grievous Wounds built in their kit against a life steal or sustain champion. Kled stomps champions with healing in their kit due to that very interaction. His Bear Trap on a Rope (Q) lowers healing by the enemy hit by it. Another example would be selecting a tank meant to soak damage of the opposing laner's damage type. Some tanks are better at absorbing one kind of damage than another. As a result, when given the right matchup, these tanks seem unkillable. Key examples include Dr. Mundo or Galio against magic damage and Malphite against physical damage.

Handshake Lanes

Another commonly seen lane dynamic is a handshake lane. This particular champion selection is used when the opposing pick is especially lane dominant and typically rather early-game centric. In response to that pick, you can select a very safe champion with quality scaling, essentially recognizing that you have no shot of winning the laning phase. Despite losing lane, your champion selection scales well into the late game and has the safety to do so. This matchup has been seen in pro play consistently in Season 10, with an Ezreal/Yuumi bot lane combo regularly responding to the lane-dominant Kalista and Ashe picks. Ezreal is one of the safest ADCs in the game, with his Arcane Shift (E) being used to get him out of sticky situations. He also scales phenomenally well and can do good damage in the late-game.

Another prime example of a handshake lane is playing Gangplank in the top lane. By abusing his range against melee laners, using barrels to zone properly, and sustaining with Remove Scurvy (W), Gangplank is capable of reaching his late-game potential with relatively no risk. Once he arrives at the late-game, Gangplank is typically a much better teamfighter than most lane-centric top laners. This allows him to make up for his lack of early game presence by helping his team win the crucial late objectives.

Mimic Lanes

One niche style of a counter-pick is a mimic lane. A mimic lane is a lane in which your champion serves the opponent's champion's purpose but is more specialized in that regard. For example, Tristana is known for having a very aggressive early laning phase and using that to snowball out of control. She thrives on going all-in, rather than just poking at enemies. This is typically an excellent gameplan for her, but she can struggle to execute depending on the champion against her. Draven offers all the early aggression that Tristana can and thrives in all-ins. He isn’t easily picked first due to his lack of flexibility, but when already aware that the opponent has a similar style, he can match it and do it better. Thus, Draven isn’t a quality first pick, but thrives as a mimic lane counter-pick.

Team Synergy

Sometimes a counter-pick doesn’t seem possible. You don’t play any champions that serve any of the above purposes and don’t know what champion to play as a result. However, you don’t always need to pick based on the opponent's selection. Sometimes it is best to see what your team has to make sure you can effectively play your lane. Jungle synergy is a powerful thing for a laner to have. Certain champions can set up ganks or follow up ganks when they have a jungler that can adequately meet their needs. A prime example would be playing a Yasuo when your jungler has selected Malphite or Wukong.

One clean "wombo combo" and the enemy mid laner ceases to exist. Another example would be playing a mid or top with plenty of waveclear along with an invade heavy jungler. By clearing waves quickly, you open up timers to follow your jungler on their invade and help shut the enemy out of the game. Orianna is a textbook example of a heavy waveclear mid, and if paired with an invading jungler such as Kindred or Olaf, they can wreak havoc as a duo in the enemy jungle.

Summary

These are just a few examples of commonly seen lane dynamics. After all, every lane is different and dependent on numerous variables in the game. However, understanding some basic lane dynamics can easily assist you in knowing which champion to play for each game. This also allows you to customize your runes and builds to suit the game plan you developed in the draft, rather than making it up on the fly. Being able to break down the lane and get a general idea of how it plays out is critical to starting your victory in champion select, rather than waiting till you hit the Rift.