Bard
Matchup Summary
Bard is practically a very easy match up, as you're able to dash and kill him on repeat, as long as you avoid his Q stun and try to force fights when he is away from the walls to use his E. Bard can be pretty negative in avoiding death, so playing for farm leads and proxy attempts is super necessary. Try to use the proxy timers to invade the enemy jungler, or look for tempo resets to gain an advantage. All Bard can really do into Renekton is use his high mobility to gank other lanes, so make sure to ping his locations and abuse your side lane presence to abuse this playstyle.
Detailed Tips
- 01
Level 1 E Start - Try to cheese PTA proc or Conq with E1 > 3 auto's > disengage with E2.
- 02
Play For Level 2/3 Kill Angle - Once you chunk out Bard you're most likely able to kill him with your W, Dash or Flash up. Look to shove the wave around your kill timer, so you're able to make Bardlose a lot more.
- 03
Abuse Renekton's Early Game - In this match up Renekton is essentially able to do whatever he simply wants. With that said, really hone into your strong early to mid game strengths to help you dominate and win the game. Play to deny your enemy of gold and xp, play to proxy and generally lead any top side skirmishes with your insane lane advantage.
- 04
Avoid Bard Q - Bard’s only form of self peel comes from his Q. Typically if you try to dash into Bard he will throw his Q back out trying to stun you if you’re close to a minion, ally or wall. Try to avoid his Q stun from your E engages, try to be on the edge of his minions to get a better placement dash if you’re looking to quick or heavy trade him. Any bit of damage you can deal to him with this play method will be giant in being able to secure a kill or an advantageous play.
- 05
Play Waves Accordingly - Simply assess whether or not you want to play for freeze, to help you deny XP and CS, while presenting yourself more opportunities to create fights. Or, play to shove waves to create proxy angles, tempo resets or create a dive opportunity. Renekton has all the cards to do whatever he wants with wave management. Also respect that if your laner tries to proxy, simply proxy back or coordinate a kill on them with your jungler.
- 06
Ping Bard’s Roams - Most of the time Bard will most likely play to roam the map, trying to secure his chimes to scale into the game or trying to be as big of a tumor as possible. Try to spam ping Bard’s whereabouts as much as you can, that’s the only real thing he can do to gain an advantage for his team. Abuse his roams by crashing waves on his roams, try to get as much gold and xp as you can to ultimately carry the mid to late stages of the game.
- 07
Respect Bard’s Utility - Bard offers a lot of utility when playing around his team, as he is able to use his E to go through walls with his teammates in unpredictable angles, or the ability to stun lock people through his Q and R. Try to ward up around your lane, try to pay attention to each lane and make sure to respect any roams from any strong members into your lane. As the game goes on, try to ward around the areas you’re pushing up on his side of the map, do your best to not get caught out and give the enemies any additional gold.
- 08
Go Eclipse, Stridebreaker or BoTRK - Go Eclipse for consistent power through mid game and damage mitigation with the shield. / Go Stridebreaker to cripple Bard’s mobility and provide teammates with additional utility. / Go BoTRK to one shot and snowball with a damage focused build.
- 09
Mid Game + Teamfighting Tips - As already mentioned, Bard’s whole objective is essentially going to be playing around his team from minute 1. Try to respect any of his plays when you’re pushing solo, try not to get caught by his E engages or R, try to to utilise your lead when it comes to later fights. If you have farmed up enough you’re most likely able to control and dominate most fights. Simply ignore focusing Bard, focus on his carries and try to assassinate them from the game. Bard can’t really do much without team members so make sure to take those resources away from him. Alternatively, ping your team away from being isolated as bard can easily engage with his R and create catch opportunities, try to avoid this situation as much as you can otherwise his team will be able to take objectives and leave you a player down.