Who counters Cho'Gath in League of Legends?

By rules over Riot's ability text, the picks that fit best against Cho'Gath are Vel'Koz, Kog'Maw and Corki, and each one is listed on this page with its reason. This is Analysis, not a win rate.

How do you play against Cho'Gath in League of Legends?

Riot's own tip: Purchasing a few HP items decreases the chances of Cho'Gath killing you quickly. The counter picks on this page add the champions whose abilities answer Cho'Gath, each with its reason.

Who is Cho'Gath good against in League of Legends?

Read the other way round, the same rules over Riot's ability text find Cho'Gath strong into Fiora, Rengar and Azir. The reason for each is on this page. This is Analysis, not a win rate.

Which lanes does Cho'Gath play?

Data Dragon has no lane data. As a Tank and Mage champion, Cho'Gath typically plays Top, Jungle and Mid. This is a class-based filter, not a play rate.

How hard is Cho'Gath to play?

Riot rates the difficulty of Cho'Gath as Medium (5 out of 10).

Cho'Gath Counter LoL: Best Picks & Why

Tactical identity

Cho'Gath, Tank / Mage

Cho'Gath, the Terror of the Void, is a Tank and Mage champion in League of Legends. Everything below comes from Riot's Data Dragon for patch 16.21.1: ability text, base stats and Riot's tips. Counters and matchups by class are worked out from that text, and each one shows its reason.

Riot's ratings, out of 10

Attack: 3
Defense: 7
Magic: 7
Difficulty: 5

Typical lanes (class-based)Top, Jungle, Mid

ResourceMana

Playing as Cho'Gath

Riot's own tips

Try to line up your attacks with Vorpal Spikes so that they kill minions and harass enemy champions at the same time.
If you're having difficulty feasting upon champions, try eating minions until you're larger.
Using Rupture on creeps in combination with Carnivore is a good way to gain Health and Mana.

Playing against Cho'Gath

Riot's own tips

Purchasing a few HP items decreases the chances of Cho'Gath killing you quickly.
Focus on preventing Cho'Gath from reaching his max size.
Rupture has a smoke cloud indicating the area it will strike. Try to watch out for it to prevent Cho'Gath from being able to combo his abilities.

What the kit does

Analysis read from Riot's ability text. Each line shows the words it rests on.

Soft crowd control (slow, silence, blind)
Rupture: "damage and slowing them"
Silence
Feral Scream: "damage and Silencing enemies for"
Healing or life steal
Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana"
True damage
Feast: "amount of true damage"
Area damage
Feral Scream: "scream at enemies in a cone"

Cho'Gath's abilities

Riot's own text and preview clip for each ability, from Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1. Pick an ability and its clip plays here, muted.

PPassive

Carnivore

Whenever Cho'Gath kills a unit, he recovers Health and Mana. The values restored increase with Cho'Gath's level.

Effects in the text

Healing or life steal

QQ

Rupture

Cooldown: 6 s
Cost (Mana): 50
Range: 950

Ruptures the ground at target location, popping enemy units into the air, dealing damage and slowing them.

Effects in the text

Soft crowd control (slow, silence, blind)

WW

Feral Scream

Cooldown: 11/10.5/10/9.5/9 s
Cost (Mana): 70/75/80/85/90
Range: 300

Cho'Gath unleashes a terrible scream at enemies in a cone, dealing magic damage and Silencing enemies for a few seconds.

Effects in the text

Soft crowd control (slow, silence, blind)
Silence
Magic damage
Area damage

EE

Vorpal Spikes

Cooldown: 8/7/6/5/4 s
Cost (Mana): 30
Range: 40

Cho'Gath's attacks release deadly spikes, dealing damage and slowing all enemy units in front of him.

Effects in the text

Soft crowd control (slow, silence, blind)
Area damage
Clears waves

RR

Feast

Cooldown: 80/70/60 s
Cost (Mana): 100
Range: 175

Devours an enemy unit, dealing a high amount of true damage. If the target is killed, Cho'Gath grows, gaining maximum Health.

Effects in the text

True damage

Build direction, Analysis

Items and runes that fit Cho'Gath

Riot publishes no builds and this page invents none. Below: completed items ranked by how many of the stats Cho'Gath's kit uses they give (durability (armor, magic resist, health) first), the runes whose official text matches the kit, and picks for each enemy type. A fit, not a strength ranking. No win rates.

Closest stat fit

Editorial estimate

Completed items ranked by how many of the stats Cho'Gath's kit uses they give. A fit, not a verdict: Riot publishes no builds and no win rates.

Bandlepipes2,300
- +200 Healthit is a durable champion
- +20 Armorit is a durable champion
- +20 Magic Resistit is a durable champion
Jak'Sho, The Protean3,200
- +350 Healthit is a durable champion
- +45 Armorit is a durable champion
- +45 Magic Resistit is a durable champion
Locket of the Iron Solari2,200
- +200 Healthit is a durable champion
- +30 Armorit is a durable champion
- +30 Magic Resistit is a durable champion
Zeke's Convergence2,200
- +300 Healthit is a durable champion
- +25 Armorit is a durable champion
- +25 Magic Resistit is a durable champion
Abyssal Mask2,650
- +350 Healthit is a durable champion
- +45 Magic Resistit is a durable champion
Dead Man's Plate2,900
- +350 Healthit is a durable champion
- +55 Armorit is a durable champion

More items with the same stat 52

Force of Nature2,800

Hollow Radiance2,800

Iceborn Gauntlet2,900

Unending Despair2,800

Maw of Malmortius3,100

Mercurial Scimitar3,200

Rod of Ages2,600

Winter's Approach2,400

Wit's End2,800

Zhonya's Hourglass3,250

Black Cleaver3,000

Bloodletter's Curse2,900

Chempunk Chainsword3,000

Experimental Hexplate3,000

Heartsteel3,000

Hextech Rocketbelt2,650

Hullbreaker3,000

Liandry's Torment3,000

Mikael's Blessing2,300

Moonstone Renewer2,200

Morellonomicon2,850

Overlord's Bloodmail3,300

Protoplasm Harness2,600

Riftmaker3,100

Rylai's Crystal Scepter2,600

Archangel's Staff2,900

Boots

Armored Advance1,200

Chainlaced Crushers1,250

Crimson Lucidity900

Immortal Path1,100

Spellslinger's Shoes1,100

Swiftmarch1,000

Rune fits

Editorial estimate

Runes whose official text matches the most things Cho'Gath's kit does. Each line shows the words it rests on.

Stormraider's SurgeSorcery, Keystone · Matches: 3
- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Rupture: "damage and slowing them"
- It heals or restores health in the kit: Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana"
- It is a durable (tank) champion: Tank role
AftershockResolve, Keystone · Matches: 1
- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Rupture: "damage and slowing them"
Arcane CometSorcery, Keystone · Matches: 1
- It deals damage with abilities: Feral Scream: "dealing magic damage and Silencing"
Manaflow BandSorcery · Matches: 3
- It deals damage with abilities: Feral Scream: "dealing magic damage and Silencing"
- It heals or restores health in the kit: Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana"
- It uses mana: Mana
Biscuit DeliveryInspiration · Matches: 2
- It heals or restores health in the kit: Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana"
- It is a durable (tank) champion: Tank role
Font of LifeResolve · Matches: 2
- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Rupture: "damage and slowing them"
- It heals or restores health in the kit: Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana"

Against each enemy type

Editorial estimate

Situational picks, counted from what the champions of each class do in Riot's Data Dragon. Swap a slot when the enemy team has several of that class.

Tanks
Anti-heal 24 of 45 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Cleanse or tenacity 20 of 45 have two or more hard CC abilities
Chainlaced Crushers Endless Hunger
Fighters
Anti-heal 40 of 60 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Armor 38 of 60 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Assassins
Anti-heal 24 of 46 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Armor 23 of 46 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Mages
Magic resist 52 of 74 deal magic damage only
Abyssal Mask Banshee's Veil
Anti-heal 29 of 74 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Marksmen
Armor 14 of 33 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Supports
Magic resist 36 of 43 deal magic damage only
Abyssal Mask Banshee's Veil
Anti-heal 19 of 43 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon

Counted from the official ability text, League of Legends patch 16.21.1. These are counts of champions, not win rates.

Rune trees

Lit runes: their official text matches something Cho'Gath's kit does (Analysis). Select a rune to read why.

Precision10 lit

Domination6 lit

Sorcery9 lit

Resolve8 lit

Inspiration5 lit

Matchups by class

Cho'Gath against each class of champion, counted from the official ability text. Choose a class or a lane to narrow it down.

Against all 172 champions: 125 ahead, 35 even, 12 behind. Each class is read against that, so check the best and toughest tags too.

Class

Lane

Patch

16.21.1Older patches: not available yet

Against Tanks

Strong

35 ahead · 9 even · 1 behind of 45

Ahead of

Struggles against

True or percent-health damage cuts through their armor and magic resist.
You clear waves faster and can push the lane.

What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several tanks. Play for the fights where your edge shows.

Against Fighters

Strong

47 ahead · 11 even · 2 behind of 60

Ahead of

Struggles against

True or percent-health damage cuts through their armor and magic resist.
Your silence shuts down their dash-based kit.

What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several fighters. Play for the fights where your edge shows.

Against Assassins

Strong

Best class

41 ahead · 4 even · 1 behind of 46

Ahead of

Struggles against

Your silence shuts down their dash-based kit.
They deal physical damage only, so armor works against them.

What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several assassins. Play for the fights where your edge shows.

Against Mages

Strong

46 ahead · 19 even · 9 behind of 74

Ahead of

Struggles against

They deal magic damage only, so magic resist works against them.
Your healing or shields outlast their poke.

What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several mages. Play for the fights where your edge shows.

Against Marksmen

Even

Toughest class

15 ahead · 10 even · 8 behind of 33

Ahead of

Struggles against

They deal physical damage only, so armor works against them.
They out-range you and poke you from a distance.

What to do: Neither side has a clear edge over marksmen. Execution and the team around you decide it.

Against Supports

Strong

34 ahead · 8 even · 1 behind of 43

Ahead of

Struggles against

They deal magic damage only, so magic resist works against them.
Your healing or shields outlast their poke.

What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several supports. Play for the fights where your edge shows.

Source: Nexus Lab rules over the official ability text, League of Legends patch 16.21.1. Each champion of the class is compared with Cho'Gath one by one; the counts come from those rules, not from match results, so they are not win rates. Strong, even and weak compare the number of champions ahead and behind. Lanes are the lanes each class usually plays (Riot ships no lane data per champion), not play rates.

Building against Cho'Gath

Analysis: answers to what Cho'Gath's own kit does.

Cho'Gath heals or has life steal in the kit, so anti-heal is worth a slot. Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana"

Executioner's CallingIt carries anti-heal (stated in its text).

MorellonomiconIt carries anti-heal (stated in its text).

Mortal ReminderIt carries anti-heal (stated in its text).

Cho'Gath deals magic damage only, so magic resist pays off. Feral Scream: "dealing magic damage and Silencing"

Abyssal MaskIt gives magic resist (listed in its stats).

Banshee's VeilIt gives magic resist (listed in its stats).

Bloodletter's CurseIt gives magic resist (stated in its text).

Picks that can punish Cho'Gath

Analysis: rules over Riot's ability text.

Vel'Koz

Counters you

Vel'Koz deals true damage (Organic Deconstruction: "burst of true damage"), which ignores the resistances that Cho'Gath relies on (Tank role).

1 more reason

Vel'Koz is ranged (Mage role) and can poke Cho'Gath, a melee champion (Tank role).

Watch out: Cho'Gath can outlast poke with healing or shields (Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana") against Vel'Koz's ranged skillshots (Plasma Fission: "Vel'Koz shoots a bolt").

Kog'Maw

Counters you

Kog'Maw is ranged (Marksman role) and can poke Cho'Gath, a melee champion (Tank role).

1 more reason

Kog'Maw deals true damage (Icathian Surprise: "dealing true damage to surrounding"), which ignores the resistances that Cho'Gath relies on (Tank role).

Watch out: Cho'Gath can outlast poke with healing or shields (Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana") against Kog'Maw's ranged skillshots (Caustic Spittle: "Kog'Maw launches a corrosive").

Corki

Counters you

Corki deals true damage (Hextech Munitions: "as bonus true damage"), which ignores the resistances that Cho'Gath relies on (Tank role).

1 more reason

Corki is ranged (Marksman role) and can poke Cho'Gath, a melee champion (Tank role).

Watch out: Cho'Gath can outlast poke with healing or shields (Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana") against Corki's ranged skillshots (Phosphorus Bomb: "Corki fires a flash").

Kayle

Counters you

Kayle is ranged (Marksman role) and can poke Cho'Gath, a melee champion (Tank role).

1 more reason

Kayle deals damage based on the target's health (Starfire Spellblade: "proportionate to their missing health"), which scales against a tough champion like Cho'Gath (Tank role).

Watch out: Cho'Gath can outlast poke with healing or shields (Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana") against Kayle's ranged skillshots (Divine Ascent: "waves of fire on her").

Varus

Counters you

Varus is ranged (Marksman role) and can poke Cho'Gath, a melee champion (Tank role).

1 more reason

Varus deals damage based on the target's health (Blighted Quiver: "on the target's maximum Health"), which scales against a tough champion like Cho'Gath (Tank role).

Watch out: Cho'Gath can outlast poke with healing or shields (Carnivore: "he recovers Health and Mana") against Varus's ranged skillshots (Piercing Arrow: "and then fires a powerful").

Jarvan IV

Counters you

Jarvan IV deals damage based on the target's health (Martial Cadence: "based on their current Health"), which scales against a tough champion like Cho'Gath (Tank role).

Who Cho'Gath is good against

The same rules, read the other way.

Fiora

You pressure

Fiora deals only physical damage (Lunge: "dealing physical damage and applying"), so Cho'Gath can stack armor (Tank role) against it.

Rengar

You pressure

Rengar deals only physical damage (Fighter role), so Cho'Gath can stack armor (Tank role) against it.

Azir

You pressure

Azir deals only magic damage (Conquering Sands: "Soldiers deal magic damage to enemies"), so Cho'Gath can stack magic resist (Tank role) against it.

Braum

You pressure

Cho'Gath deals true damage (Feast: "amount of true damage"), which ignores the resistances that Braum relies on (Tank role).

Ekko

You pressure

Ekko deals only magic damage (Z-Drive Resonance: "deals bonus magic damage"), so Cho'Gath can stack magic resist (Tank role) against it.

Counter picks are Analysis: rules over Riot's ability text, each with the words it rests on. They are not win rates, and no League of Legends matchup list has been reviewed by hand yet.

Official story

Cho'Gath's official story on Riot UniverseA link to the official source (in English). We do not copy its text.

Champion video guide

Video by 3 Minute League of Legends · Watch on YouTube The player loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only after you press play.

Measured numbers

Numbers published or counted by a named source. Each row names the source and the patch.

Attack3

Defense7

Magic7

Difficulty5

Riot data Riot's ratings out of 10, Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1

Base stats
Stat	Level 1	Per level	Level 18
Health	644	+94	2242
Mana	270	+60	1290
Armor	38	+4.5	114.5
Magic resist	32	+2.05	66.85
Attack damage	69	-	69
Attack speed	0.658	+1.44%	0.819
Attack range	125	-	125
Move speed	345	-	345
Health regen per 5 seconds	9	+0.85	23.45
Mana regen per 5 seconds	7.2	+0.45	14.85

Riot data Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1. Level 18 is calculated from Riot's growth formula on the same numbers.

Editorial estimates

Our reading of the data. These are not measured rates and they change when the rules or the data change.

Counter picks: 6 Editorial estimateNexus Lab rules over Riot's ability text, patch 16.21.1
Good against: 5 Editorial estimateNexus Lab rules over Riot's ability text, patch 16.21.1
Typical lanes: Top, Jungle, Mid Editorial estimateLanes of the class; Riot ships no lane data per champion
Best class (relative): Assassins Editorial estimateWins minus losses over the class, compared with the other classes; counts of champions, patch 16.21.1
Toughest class (relative): Marksmen Editorial estimateWins minus losses over the class, compared with the other classes; counts of champions, patch 16.21.1

What no source gives us

Win rate, pick rate and ban rate. Riot publishes none we may print (the Riot API cards are switched off) and no third-party statistics site is read, so none is shown.
Popular builds. Riot publishes no builds: the items and runes in Build & Runes are a fit to the kit, not a popularity ranking.

Sources

Riot Games Data Dragon
Names, ratings, base stats, ability text, cooldowns, costs, range, items, runes and art.
Patch 16.21.1, file generated 2026-10-26
Open
Riot ability preview clips
Played from Riot's own server when you press play; never copied here.
Each clip checked with a request before it is offered
League of Legends Wiki
Release dates and skin prices in RP (CC BY-SA).
Committed data, see the skins page
Open
Nexus Lab rules
Counters, matchups by class, item and rune fit: rules over Riot's ability text, each with the words it rests on.
Patch 16.21.1
Riot Universe
The official story of Cho'Gath (a link, nothing copied).
Open

Cho'Gath League of Legends champion guide

Cho'Gath, Tank / Mage

Playing as Cho'Gath

Playing against Cho'Gath

What the kit does

Carnivore

Rupture

Feral Scream

Vorpal Spikes

Feast

Items and runes that fit Cho'Gath

More items with the same stat 52

Boots

Tanks

Fighters

Assassins

Mages

Marksmen

Supports

Rune trees

Precision10 lit

Domination6 lit

Sorcery9 lit

Resolve8 lit

Inspiration5 lit

Building against Cho'Gath

Picks that can punish Cho'Gath

Who Cho'Gath is good against

Official story

Get new stories and champion updates

Champion video guide

Cho'Gath skins

Quick answers

Who counters Cho'Gath in League of Legends?

How do you play against Cho'Gath in League of Legends?

Who is Cho'Gath good against in League of Legends?

Which lanes does Cho'Gath play?

How hard is Cho'Gath to play?

Related champions

Next steps

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