Here are the best champions to counter Sett, the Boss in the top lane in League of Legends.
Sett is a melee fighter, who looks to beat down his enemy by getting on top of them and knocking them out with his empowered auto attacks and consistent crowd control. His high early-game damage and all-in potential can making laning into him a pretty scary prospect – but his lack of dashes and low range also mean that there is an abundance of Sett counters who can make his life miserable.
Since his release in January 2020, Sett’s been a consistent presence in the meta for both solo queue and pro play in League of Legends. He’s seen play in multiple roles, including jungle and support, but where he truly shines is as a tanky fighter in the top lane.
His top lane win rate sits at 49.6 percent as of August 2022 – putting him amongst the highest-win rate top laners in the game.
Whether you’re playing for fun or aiming for Challenger, knowing how to counter a champion can make play League of Legends infinitely more enjoyable. So, with that being said, here are some of the best Sett counters in League right now – go forth into your solo queue games and ruin a Sett player’s day.
Vayne, the Night Hunter
If you want to really ruin a Sett player’s day, and you’re confident that your team doesn’t need a tank, then Vayne is the champion for you.
She’s an AD Carry by trade who’s also found a home in the top lane, and she’s one of the best champions at rendering Sett completely unable to farm in the early game. Countering Sett with Vayne is very simple: farm from maximum range, and shoot him whenever he walks up to last hit a minion.
Vayne also has the advantage that, if she ever mispositions and allows Sett to get on top of her, you can simply use her Tumble (Q) to reposition out of harm’s way. She can also knock Sett back with her Condemn (E) if he tries to get too close.
She has inbuilt true damage from her Silver Bolts (W), which makes Sett’s resistance-heavy build much less useful against her.
If you’re going to pick Vayne into Sett, you need to be vigilant for any signs of a gank from the enemy jungler. The only way a Sett can hope to shut Vayne down in the early game is to overpower her with numbers, and if his jungler comes top lane early there’s very little you can do if you’re caught overextended.
In the early game, auto attack Sett until he regrets ever picking a melee champion in the top lane. In the late game, and I cannot stress this enough, stay out of his way until he’s used his two major forms of crowd control – then you can go in and cut him down with Silver Bolts.
Kennen, the Heart of the Tempest
Don’t let his cute appearance fool you – Kennen is a hellish champion for Sett to deal with.
Unless you’re playing with your feet, there is basically no way for a Kennen to lose to Sett in lane. Much like Vayne, the range advantage is significantly in his favor, and he can quite easily chunk Sett’s health down if he’s able to fully stack his Mark of the Storm (passive).
You can farm from range, poke from range, and make Sett players regret all their life choices from range. Kennen can also stun multiple targets by consuming his Mark of the Storm stacks, meaning that he doesn’t suffer from early ganks in quite the same way Vayne does.
He’s not only better than Sett in lane, either. He’s a significantly better team fighter, with a massive AOE stun and the potential to do a lot of damage if he can get a flank off. Sett’s Show Stopper (R) also doesn’t interrupt Kennen’s Slicing Maelstrom (R), which means Sett’s going to be taking an awful lot of damage if he tries to go anywhere near the Heart of the Tempest.
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Early on, you should be looking to farm from range, auto-attacking Sett when he goes in to kill minions. Stack your passive by poking with Thundering Shuriken (Q), and when it’s fully stacked use your Lightning Rush (E) to stun him and do a hefty chunk of damage.
In the late game, try not to let yourself get engaged on by Sett’s Facebreaker (E) or Showstopper (R). Kennen’s not the tankiest champion in the world, and if you’re caught out there’s a high chance you’ll pay with your life.
Gnar, the Missing Link
A pro play favorite, Gnar just so happens to be a pretty strong Sett counter as well as being completely adorable.
You’ve probably noticed that there’s a constant throughout all of these counterpicks, and that is that they’re ranged. Gnar’s no exception – being able to farm with ranged auto attacks keeps these champions out of harm’s way when playing into Sett, and allows them to poke and harass him for free without risk of getting one shot.
Gnar also has the advantage of Mega Gnar form. This means that as well as being able to poke Sett from range, he can also go toe-to-toe with him in a melee brawl once his Gnar Bar is fully stacked.
Just be careful you don’t overstep in this matchup. While Gnar does have an escape tool in the form of his Hop (E), Sett can CC you out of it with his Facebreaker (E), and if he can get on top of you you’re more than a little powerless to escape if you can’t stack your Gnar Bar and go into mega form fast enough.
Early game, look to stack your Hyper (W) autos on Sett whenever he walks up to farm. If you can get the third auto attack and subsequent bonus damage, you can consider using your Hop (E) as a gap closer to further stack your Gnar Bar and maybe even pick up an early kill – provided you know Sett’s jungler isn’t around to punish your use of a mobility spell.
Dr Mundo, the Madman of Zaun
If ranged champions in the top lane just aren’t your style, then try out Dr. Mundo as a Sett counter. While he’s not quite as hard of a counter as the ranged champions on this list, his crowd-control immune passive makes him very difficult for Sett to deal with.
Mundo’s Goes Where He Pleases (Passive) gives him immunity to the next enemy spell thrown his way. Although it has a one-minute cooldown in the early game, it pretty much entirely dictates when Sett can engage on you or not. It allows Mundo to farm in relative safety despite having to walk up to the minions (and into Sett’s range) to last-hit them.
It also means that Sett can’t ult you out of nowhere in the late game. He’ll need to land one of his own spells or rely on a teammate to burn Mundo’s passive – which cuts down on his ability to engage a teamfight by throwing Mundo back into his own team.
Sett should never, and I mean never, be able to kill you in lane as Mundo. If his jungler shows up, use your Infected Bonesaw (Q) to slow them and run away as fast as your very big legs will carry you. Try and poke him down with Bonesaws, and use your Heart Zapper (W) to give yourself an advantage in extended trades.
If you’re tired of losing to Sett in solo queue, maybe try one of these Sett counter picks out for size.
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