[26.18] Challenger Qiyana Midlane Guide

Allyooops

#3 Qiyana

85K viewsSeptember 21, 202628 min read

English

Qiyana

mid

Assassin

Lethality

100%

✧ Intro

Hello im Allyooops a Challenger 1klp Qiyana/Diana OTP. I am most likely streaming Qiyana right now !

☆☆☆ Here is a detailed guide for Qiyana Midlane S16 that can help you learn to carry assassin style. I will do my best to keep this updated frequently. (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ

I am live almost every single day playing Qiyana if you have questions about anything come ask me ! ☆☆☆

✧ Assassin Build

Assassin Build
With this Rune Page you are playing ASSASSIN. You are looking to oneshot low hp targets. You are not looking to kill tanks / bruisers with heavy armor and sustain. You are looking for short trades and lane domination/ roaming Sudden Impact: Gives you lethality when you use w and e. This gives you extra trading power in lane and helps your all in. Sixth Sense: With the addition of faelights this can be really useful in sensing vision especially high elo with wards on raptors and midlane! Treasure Hunter: This rune is very snowball try to get all the stacks early as it can give you an earlier item spike! I have been going Ultimate Hunter with axiom arc and it doesn't feel too bad. Sometimes your ult cooldown after 4 takedowns will go to 15 seconds. Presence of Mind: Qiyana relies on this rune to be a champion. Especially if you are not going manamune this rune is essential for having enough mana in teamfights after full comboing a target. Last Stand: This is by far the most important rune on qiyana. This allows you to deal more damage when you are lower hp. This rune you should use in lane to help surprise the enemy with your burst plus electrocute/ignite damage.
I prefer LS 3 pots because it allows you to heavy trade in lane and cheese early kills. This always allows me to snowball matchups and cheese harder matchups for some early game kills. This is also good into harder matchups like syndra and viktor where you will be poked out of lane phase under your turret.
DBlade is also standard. I find myself going this in most high elo games GM/CHALL due to the stats just being better now.
New Boots are good right now probably will get nerfed so ill keep it updated but for now go these! Lucidity Boots are best. You are an assassin you want cdr on your abilities and spells. Mercs and Tabis are situational and I would not recommend them most of the time unless full AD/AP
Dirk is a massive spike for Qiyana. The earlier you get this item the better. You should look to bully the enemy out of lane and look for roams if the matchup is bad. Remember to track jgl and ward in the appropriate places ! Get Sweeper its good for roams.
Brutalizer is good if you have that amount of gold on recall. You can rush hydra in matchups where you want the shove.
You can go dirk into profane build path then full rush profane. You can also just go straight Hubris this patch its good. Ghostblade is fine to rush into squishies or if you have enough gold 2nd back to full item! Hubris is good if high kill game. Umbral is good if squishies. Axiom generally good for teamfighting games but later item. Grudge always 3rd or 4th depending on enemy teams armor. Deathdance good for burst on enemy. Opt for GA if you have trouble surviving late game and the game is determined by one teamfight.
These items are all situational so build them when the game allows you to. Read the item descriptions and learn when they are good. Serpants: 2-3 sources of heavy shielding this item is good (Karma/ Yone with Shieldbow/Sera/Lee/Eclipse Shield ect) Edge of Night: Good into hard cc comps. Youm: Good for roams and movespeed. Umbral: Go into full squishies or fast snowball games. GA: Late game item Mercs/Tabis: Full ad or ap (cc) enemy teams.
Ignite got buffed around half a year ago and it is much better to take this than tp. You want to always be playing for early game anyways and enhanced boots allow you to sidelane without tp better.
You can also go 2nd E max instead of W so 2 points W the rest in E but I tend to like the W stats better. W into most matchups such as YONE, SYNDRA, AKALI, ZED, FIZZ, SYLAS. This ability is essential for trading and dodging early skillshots such as ZED Q, SYNDRA Q, AKALI Q, SYLAS E all level 1. Q Start into passive matchups sometimes is good. Q start into vex means she cant get her passive early or q start into lanes where you want to q the first few minions. E Start can be viable in certain matchups but it is very hard to pull off so I would not recommend unless you are very familiar with qiyana lane phase and damage. I know this guide does not cover Qiyana Jungle but you should W start if you are playing qiyana jgl to clear your first buff. Make sure you are swapping elements so you are getting that extra passive damage.
✧ Conq Build

Build Overview

Conq is good when you are vs more tanky comps or a matchup where the enemy will build more hp than burst. This way you can play longer sustained fights and not be locked onto only oneshot build. POM: This is good because Qiyana is very mana hungry and helps you manage teamfights better after using a lot of abilities, though with Conq setup you can also run Triumph for snowball + hp but I would only recommend this to experienced players if you are new go PoM. Alacrity: Good for attack speed bonus. Wouldnt go the others ever they are subpar. Last Stand: Qiyana's best rune for fighting on low hp and turning fights in your favor. Sudden Impact: Damage after dashes always go this the others are not good on her. Ultimate Hunter: Good for R Cdr though if you run triumph you can swap this out with Treasure Hunter and play for snowball early.

3 pots if you want to heavy trade with enemy

DBlade is preferred for me with conq setup

CDR is really important for conq setup I would almost always opt for these boots over anything else.

Rushing hubris in this meta with conq is really good. It will allow you to snowball very hard. Profane is also good when you can afford it in early backs! Dirk is just so cheap I find myself going dirk more now than ever, especially with them making Hubris cost lest gold.

With Conq setup you want to be rushing Hubris or Profane if Hubris doesnt seem good. CDR is important with conq and playing good teamfights is priority. I usually will end up with Deaths Dance a little earlier with Conq build so you become a bit tankier. You can opt to go lethality items such as Youmous or Edge of Night if the situation is good for them otherwise this build is standard for me. GA is good into certain comps late game when you are fighting over Elder and Baron.

Shojin can be good if youre looking for health and CDR for long fights Sundered Sky is underrated with conq build and im testing it more when I need flat HP Mercs if heavy cc and AP champs but only if you must. Tabis if FULL AD comp for enemy.

Ignite is always good for all ins even with conq scaling

W start is good most matchups Q is situational such as Vex / Yasuo or just Q start to get first 3 minions is also fine.

Watch on YouTube

✧ Electro vs Conq

Qiyana Qiyana is constantly changing what items she goes as the meta is pretty favorable for her right now. The most common questions I get are "When do you go conq over electrocute"

Instead of answering this 100 times I will provide a little insight on how I decide.

ELECTRO : This rune page means that you are looking to WIN MIDLANE with early trades and push your laner out of the game. This rune page also means that enemy is squishy and you feel like you can 1v9 with assassin setup. If you are plat and under I would recommend almost always going electrocute and looking to push enemy mid out of the game and carry every single game solo. People in these elos will not punish you for going this setup and often not even build against it. As of recent meta assassins are much harder to play and easily counterable with exh, bone plating, second wind + dorans shield, early armor, cheap hp stacking midlane mage items, hourglass, roa + seraphs. Higher elos where almost every midlaner will build against your kit conq will be better.

CONQ : When you go this rune you will have less burst damage and want to be playing for longer trades longer fights. In some matchups with mages that go ROA and other hp stacking items Conq will be better because you simply cannot burst them. In simple CONQ = more autoattacking more trading, more calculated all ins. The less mistakes there are to punish the harder Qiyana lane phase becomes so this is why you will see a lot of GM/CHALL Qiyana OTPS opting for conq over electrocute. Conq allows you to stay in the teamfights longer but sometimes electro will always be better because they will have a priority target such as twitch or smolder where you need to oneshot in the fight to win. Think about enemy comp and your goals in the game and this will help you decide which runes are better !

FIRSTSTRIKE : This is good in Jungle for snowballing with cashback + treasure hunter and building cheap early snowball items like umbral !

✧ Lane Phase and Combos

Lane Phase can be a bit complicated when starting out on Qiyana. You might find yourself struggling to get cs / losing hp and feeling useless for the first part of the game.

Lane phase is the hardest part of the champ but also the most rewarding. Most of the time you want to be trying to get kills so you are able to snowball midgame and if you do not then you wont be the champ she's designed to be! Its okay to drop cs early and save your hp for all ins.

Qiyana is all about being patient and waiting for your opportunity to take advantage of enemy laners mistakes. Instead of listing every combo she has due to her being a bit complicated for beginners, I will recommend you to watch this guide I made for her on youtube with all her laning trades and combos !

Don't feel discouraged if you lose a lot when you are first trying her out its normal ! I plan to make a more updated youtube guide soon but her combos haven't changed since!

Watch on YouTube

✧ Teamfighting

In teamfights you want to be playing as an assassin which always means diving priority targets and focusing squishy backline targets. You never want to be focusing targets with high armor or hp. You want to kill enemy adc and enemy midlane 90% of the time and trying to get a good R Supreme Display of Talent off in the teamfight so your team can win. Qiyana is amazing in the river! You dont want to be fighting midlane or in base - Jungle is your friend. Use bushes stay out of vision and make sure you kill priority targets or you are not doing your job. Use your sweeper and stay out of sight because you are extremely squishy and will die from one form of CC. Ping your team if you are in low elo to make sure they are fighting in river to secure wins!

EXAMPLES :

✧ Qiyana Tips

It sounds silly but be patient!! Not only with yourself but with your abilities. Its okay to lose when you first start playing her. She is very high risk high reward and there is a reason so few people choose to OTP her. The more you master her the more rewarding it will feel but it takes time and practice. Learn from those who are better than you and vod review constantly if you want to improve fast.

✧ Ranked Credibility

✧ Ended GM last season Chall this season 1039 Peak

✧ Masters + EUW / Korea (got banned)

Make sure to check out the matchup guide tabs !

Thanks for taking the time to read my guide ! feel free to ask me more questions here :

✧ https://discord.gg/qiyana ✧

✧ https://www.twitch.tv/allyooops ✧

✧ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC01_K4A_AJBrdGIkd4ean3w/featured ✧

S+

Very Hard

Easy Early Lose First Item

Soft Counters

Harder GM/ CHALL+

Skill Matchups

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Showing 62 of 62 matchups

LeBlanc

Her early game poke will have you sitting under turret.

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Q:6

W:15/13.75/12.5/11.25/10

E:14/13.25/12.5/11.75/11

R:45/35/25

Her early game poke will have you sitting under turret. She gets true sight in your stealth with her e. You must dodge w and e to even live lane phase. use ICE Q instead of grass q because it is useless in this matchup. Most OTPs will ban this champ when it is meta.

Lee Sin

Lee Counter is never really mentioned in guides but this is extremely hard ma...

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Lee Sin matchup: Lee Counter is never really mentioned in guides but this is extremely hard matchup. He has lane sustain he has damage / can build lethality / can build bruiser / low cds / will go tabis - He wins early and wins late as well if you get hit by a q in lane you lose. People who play Qiyana in high elo sometimes will use Lee as a good strong Lane Counter with pressure. This matchup can be won if you hit everything and never get hit by lee q but in general he will always have prior.

Renekton

Harder Matchup his items generally counter you and once he pops R he usually ...

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Renekton matchup: Harder Matchup his items generally counter you and once he pops R he usually will win the all in. If fed he will stun and oneshot you. Can go edge of night - try to play for early lead if not then play for teamfights.

Malphite

People will frequently pick malph as a counter to any assasin.

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Malphite matchup: People will frequently pick malph as a counter to any assasin. If he goes tank you wont be able to do anything ( dont even try to build against it you wont do damage either way ) You can kill him early lvls 1-3 if he is really bad but even then he will go tank if you have a lead and outscale. If he goes full ap his armor scaling is still insane. You might be able to kill him more but its hard. Edge of Night insanely good item into this champ.

Poppy

No matter what you build / how well you play this champ will always win again...

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Poppy matchup: No matter what you build / how well you play this champ will always win against you. There is no world where this matchup is playable. Thankfully most people dont enjoy picking this champ so you dont have to deal with it much unless you are into an OTP.

Cassiopeia

Can kill her lvl 1-6 you need to kill her because she will outscale you and b...

Cassiopeia matchup: Can kill her lvl 1-6 you need to kill her because she will outscale you and base for ROA components and then will be too tanky to deal with. Do not get hit by Q or you lose lane.

Vladimir

lvls 1-3 can be won. Dont find this champ fun to play into.

Vladimir matchup: lvls 1-3 can be won. Dont find this champ fun to play into. If you fall behind he will dive you and snowball. Play around his puddle and enhanced abilities. Recently he leans towards hp stacking items ( not much you can do after 2 items ) play teamfights well.

Yone

as of current patch in high elo I find yone hard.

Yone matchup: as of current patch in high elo I find yone hard. This matchup used to be insanely free but now they bring Exhaust as meta + bone plating and killing early got much harder. Once he hits first item depending on what build he goes you will lose sidelane pressure unless you are getting kills early. Play around exhaust and bone plating.

Nasus

Matchup is free early he is a sitting NPC but once he gets lvl 6 it becomes h...

Nasus matchup: Matchup is free early he is a sitting NPC but once he gets lvl 6 it becomes hard. You can spam brush but most likely u need roam and kills he wins sidelane with R.

Ryze

Kill him early because he will base for ROA components and become harder to k...

Ryze matchup: Kill him early because he will base for ROA components and become harder to kill. Dont let him scale.

Swain

Same as Ryze do not let him get tank components.

Swain matchup: Same as Ryze do not let him get tank components. There are times people will rush frozen heart if you have ad jungle and it becomes unplayable. Need kills early.

Zac

You can kill him lvl 2 pretty easily in lane.

Zac matchup: You can kill him lvl 2 pretty easily in lane. Step on his blobs dont let him get hp back. You will win lvl 2-3. If you dont kill its doomed he will get items and be tanky.

Ambessa

Serpants fang is needed no matter if she goes lethality or bruiser you will n...

Ambessa matchup: Serpants fang is needed no matter if she goes lethality or bruiser you will not win without it.

Diana

This is very awful matchup if the player can play diana even at an average le...

Diana matchup: This is very awful matchup if the player can play diana even at an average level. You can win lvl 2-3 if she ints her w and does not hit any q but you will most likely need edge of night/maw. You can dodge her q with your w lvl 1. This is essential to learn. Tips : I am also a Chall Diana OTP so I can give a lot of tips in this matchup! If Diana goes Electrocute / Sorcery she will probably go scorch and absolute focus meaning if you get hit by 2qs early she can all in you lvl 2 with e. If Diana goes Electrocute / Resolve she will go shieldbash/boneplating making it really hard to trade in lane and this will be much more unplayable assuming she will go hourglass 2nd or 3rd. Diana Q is curved so you should W in the outer direction of the curve making it harder for her to hit. You can also W into diana when she Q for an auto attack and win the trade. Diana R can pull you out of your w so be aware of this. Do not try to flash after diana hits her q e because she gets another reset and will kill you anyways. If Diana doesn't reset her E its on a 22 second cooldown early. If she messes this up she has NO MOBILITY for 22 seconds and no all in potential. Diana E can be flashed and it will get put on cooldown. If Diana wastes her W on the wave you can all in her assuming bone plating is off cooldown !

Irelia

This matchup somehow gets worse every patch.

Irelia matchup: This matchup somehow gets worse every patch. Irelia is unkillable after first back even if you coinflip early lead. She will go tabis and win every trade and eventually split with hullbreaker or other bruiser items. Nothing you can do but play with team.

Vex

Hard matchup obviously she counters your dashes (go edge of night later) dodg...

Vex matchup: Hard matchup obviously she counters your dashes (go edge of night later) dodge skills early and waste her mana bar.

Viktor

If you play against a Viktor OTP in chall you understand how unplayable this ...

Viktor matchup: If you play against a Viktor OTP in chall you understand how unplayable this matchup really is. Viktor has strong lane into Qiyana. You will lose trades and he outscales you. Play with jungle or cheese him with ganks/vision

Kennen

Lots of poke early and good all in potential.

Kennen matchup: Lots of poke early and good all in potential. Dont get hit but flash r kinda hard later.

Yasuo

Go Conq - Bait bone plating / exhaust - Care windwall for your R.

Yasuo matchup: Go Conq - Bait bone plating / exhaust - Care windwall for your R. In river fights his windwall is really disgusting. I usually ban this for that reason.

Mel

This champ should be removed from the game.

Mel matchup: This champ should be removed from the game.

Cho'Gath

He can go tank build its pretty unplayable.

Cho'Gath matchup: He can go tank build its pretty unplayable. Try to kill early or doomed.

Garen

His lane sustain is too broken and your mana problems make this matchup hard.

Garen matchup: His lane sustain is too broken and your mana problems make this matchup hard. Dont bother poking him he will heal it all up. Hard matchup try to play for early lvls.

Akali

this matchup became really difficult with the addition to gunblade again.

Akali matchup: this matchup became really difficult with the addition to gunblade again. do not trade lvl one no matter what you will not win. you can kill her in lane when her shadow is down. DO NOT LET HER GET 6 FIRST IN LANE AND RUN YOU DOWN. if she gets kills off your team its pretty doomed.

Akshan

Skilled matchup play around his mobility.

Akshan matchup: Skilled matchup play around his mobility. Do not walk up to farm in lane until you know where he is do not give him free lane. He will roam a lot-pink the river.

Aurora

SO much damage in her 3 hit combo do not get hit by this or you will lose lane.

Aurora matchup: SO much damage in her 3 hit combo do not get hit by this or you will lose lane. Shes squishy so play around that.

Syndra

If against an OTP its really hard matchup.

Syndra matchup: If against an OTP its really hard matchup. Need to learn how to dodge her E or you wont win. Dont get hit by Qs early.

Zed

Play around his flash and shadows.

Zed matchup: Play around his flash and shadows. Be close to a wall to R him but good players will find a way to dodge. Play around his R cooldowns and Flash cooldowns and dont let him snowball.

Zoe

Hug Turret and pray - Cleanse is good

Zoe matchup: Hug Turret and pray - Cleanse is good

Taliyah

Care her e - She can go Roa build so play for early kills and pressure.

Taliyah matchup: Care her e - She can go Roa build so play for early kills and pressure.

Pantheon

Play around his cooldowns and dont let him all in you for free.

Pantheon matchup: Play around his cooldowns and dont let him all in you for free.

Orianna

Dodge q - bait bone plating. Can be annoying if she goes ROA build.

Orianna matchup: Dodge q - bait bone plating. Can be annoying if she goes ROA build.

Katarina

You can kill her in lane if she has CONQ it can be harder.

Katarina matchup: You can kill her in lane if she has CONQ it can be harder. Space her daggers - short trades - if she roams punish mid.

Hwei

Play around his fear. Do not let him snowball.

Hwei matchup: Play around his fear. Do not let him snowball. Waste his mana bar

Ahri

dont get charmed and dont walk up to her w electro poke and you will win earl...

Ahri matchup: dont get charmed and dont walk up to her w electro poke and you will win early game. Use ice q post 6 .

Anivia

Play around egg and stun.

Anivia matchup: Play around egg and stun. Conq is good

Sylas

If they go electro sylas - ALL IN IS GOOD YOU WIN.

Sylas matchup: If they go electro sylas - ALL IN IS GOOD YOU WIN. poke him out a bit and pressure him. IF he has conq - short trades - go conq he will build health . If he misses e you can win care his w and ignite him. In teamfights do not let him get your R its very strong on him.

Ekko

care lvl 1 cheese with his hail of blades.

Ekko matchup: care lvl 1 cheese with his hail of blades. Dont get stunned and lose trade. Do not r him he can buffer your r with his r even if it hits so he needs to be cced close to a wall or with ICE Q

Fizz

Can go maw lvl 6 so he cant all in you easily.

Fizz matchup: Can go maw lvl 6 so he cant all in you easily. Trade with ice q to lock him into cc.

Lux

Dodge q and e and shes useless.

Lux matchup: Dodge q and e and shes useless. Just get good basically.

Talon

Skill matchup dont let him cheese you lvl 2 with high damage.

Talon matchup: Skill matchup dont let him cheese you lvl 2 with high damage.

Naafiri

Bait invulnerability before all in.

Naafiri matchup: Bait invulnerability before all in. Dodge poke or she will stack bleed and win.

Lissandra

Care post 6 when she gets items like zhonyas.

Lissandra matchup: Care post 6 when she gets items like zhonyas. Edge of night is good. Care if you are going to r her you need to bait either her r or her zhonyas or else you will look like an idiot R-ing nothing

Neeko

No one plays this anymore. it was generally a hard matchup but Neeko mid is d...

Neeko matchup: No one plays this anymore. it was generally a hard matchup but Neeko mid is dead so this is the placement.

Xerath

Dodge stun and free.

Xerath matchup: Dodge stun and free.

Vel'Koz

Can be hard but you need to kill early game and dodge his abilities dont let ...

Vel'Koz matchup: Can be hard but you need to kill early game and dodge his abilities dont let him stack passive.

Quinn

Can be hard if Quinn is skilled but usually shes just trying to go electro an...

Quinn matchup: Can be hard if Quinn is skilled but usually shes just trying to go electro and kill you and roam so play lane well and its ok.

Tristana

bait bone plating + exhaust and just use grass q she cant do much.

Tristana matchup: bait bone plating + exhaust and just use grass q she cant do much. Make sure she doesnt buffer your R.

Locke

start w lvl 1 and dodge all his q and care for his lvl 2 all in.

Locke matchup: start w lvl 1 and dodge all his q and care for his lvl 2 all in. You need to play around his cooldowns and wait for dash before you R him -- care his w will let him survive or movespeed out of a lot of your abilities

Annie

no one plays mid but Annie Bot so i dont really think its strong just go edge...

Annie matchup: no one plays mid but Annie Bot so i dont really think its strong just go edge of night and flash her q r combo

Azir

Used to be kinda annoying but this champ is so bad rn so you can abuse him in...

Azir matchup: Used to be kinda annoying but this champ is so bad rn so you can abuse him in lane.

Brand

dont stand in wave when he q /w e and its fine.

Brand matchup: dont stand in wave when he q /w e and its fine. He might go tankier and it can be annoying but kill early.

Twisted Fate

Kill him and make sure you have prior when hes 6 so if he Rs botlane he will ...

Twisted Fate matchup: Kill him and make sure you have prior when hes 6 so if he Rs botlane he will miss waves.

Veigar

Just dont get stunned and you win.

Veigar matchup: Just dont get stunned and you win. If he goes ROA it can be annoying.

Galio

GO CONQ its free. If he goes AP its harder matchup and you need to be more ca...

Galio matchup: GO CONQ its free. If he goes AP its harder matchup and you need to be more careful. Tank is free.

Heimerdinger

Dont try to all in him with turrets up just wait for jgl ganks.

Heimerdinger matchup: Dont try to all in him with turrets up just wait for jgl ganks.

Malzahar

All he does is really shove the lane.

Malzahar matchup: All he does is really shove the lane. Play for lvl 3 and kill him. Go edge of night in teamfights.

Singed

Singed is rlly free matchup. You can poke him out of lane easily and use ice q .

Singed matchup: Singed is rlly free matchup. You can poke him out of lane easily and use ice q . If he goes tankier items it can be hard but dont let him get to those items.

Aurelion Sol

Easy matchup. Your ICE Q cancels his fly ability.

Aurelion Sol matchup: Easy matchup. Your ICE Q cancels his fly ability. He has no sustain. You need to kill him before he gets tanky components though.

Zilean

free matchup just kill him as many times as possible

Zilean matchup: free matchup just kill him as many times as possible

Kassadin

Just poke him out of lane and use your lane pressure to roam and help jungler.

Kassadin matchup: Just poke him out of lane and use your lane pressure to roam and help jungler. If he gets shutdowns it can be really bad so avoid giving him legit any gold.

Kayle

Squishy / bad early / bad roam / no cc / After she gets 6 it can be hard if y...

Kayle matchup: Squishy / bad early / bad roam / no cc / After she gets 6 it can be hard if you dont bait her R but dont let her scale you are early game champ kill her.

Ziggs

Literally all this champ does it sit under his turret and throw bombs on the ...

Ziggs matchup: Literally all this champ does it sit under his turret and throw bombs on the wave so dont stand in the wave and you win