So far, I'm on a journey to attempt to hit a top global Guinevere or at least top in the United States. Over a course of over 260 matches with her you can learn quite a few things.
GuinevereLet's start with laning:
Mid Lane
As a Fighter/Mage in Mid Lane, you want to get to level 4 by 1 minute and 59 seconds into the game. Now, knowing the amount of enemies that go in mid lane is very important as you can take your farming path 2 ways in the 1st 30 seconds and they both depend on the scenario of whether there are a lot or little/ no enemies in Mid-lane.
1) 2+ Enemies are in your lane would mean that you should stay next to the turret and poke the minions from afar. Since there are a lot of enemies in the mid lane and you know where they are on the map, you can encourage your side lane teammates to push side tower. Remember, this first wave is important because you can level up faster than the enemies since the XP bar around their level will go up slower since they share XP from minions (unless there is a tank that bought roaming equipment. In this case, be cautious and carefully clear the wave). After finishing the wave, you may go and buy the jungling item and prepare to take the blue buff with your 2nd skill to deal extra damage. The clock should be around 40-50 seconds at this point. Head to the healing monster and kill it to receive healing while farming for extra XP and insurance. I recommend the spell Retribution because you will need that for early game farming. On top of that, you must only use retri on the bigger blue buff rather than the small one for damage reduction. Once you take the blue buff, rotate further up to take the creep, and finally, secure crab at top lane.
2) There are little to no enemies in Mid-Lane. This is kind of rare and is a lucky break because you can then solo clear the lane. However, if I were you, I would be skeptical because the lane would not normally be left poorly guarded unless you are in Warrior or Elite where some people don’t know how to properly defend a lane. I would constantly check the map to see if there is an ambush, and fire your first skill to see if there are enemies in the bush.
Tip: If you cast your first skill into the bush, you can detect enemies. If the Energy Wave (first skill)’s animation suddenly stops and disappears, that means an enemy is in the bush. If the animation completes itself, then there are no enemies in the bush and you may be free to clear the wave.
Once you continue to move and take the healing monster, I highly recommend checking the map because after clearing the first wave flawlessly, chances are, enemies will rotate to mid lane and they will stop by the healing monster on the way, so you better lam it fast because you do not want more than 1 enemy to catch you farming.
Reminder: One objective in early game is to not die because that slows down your farming and you might not be properly buffed in team fights. Guinevere is both a mage and fighter, and needs buff in early game because she won’t get as much in late game (you still will get buff late game but the blue buffs would be left to your teammates). Unless you are experienced because late game is when your team Marksman hits their prime in the game and will begin to farm heavily.
Back on to the mid lane farming strat. Continue and repeat the steps for taking the Blue buff, creep, and securing the crab in scenario one and move on to secure the turtle.
Bottom Lane
Bottom lane is probably the easiest farming lane. All you have to do is to go with another teammate or you can even solo this lane to be successful. Clear the first wave and possibly take the enemy’s big crab that generates at 45 seconds if you can. Then, move backwards to your side of the farm and take the creep and the smaller creep that generates after the big one is taken. You can do this in reverse order as well. Afterwards, go even further and secure red buff and take the creep next to the red buff as well. You would be level 4-5 at this point and if you are fast you may achieve this in 1 minute 30 seconds, to 2 minutes. You must rotate back and forth
However, make sure to keep your eye on the tower because side lanes are sometimes poorly defended as most teamfights are near the turtle, or mid lane.
Top Lane
Top Lane is actually the hardest to farm for you need a teammate to help you. After clearing the first wave, you are on what I like to call “buff snatching duty” which means you take the enemy buff and you have to be careful and be supported a little bit. After clearing the first wave, move to the enemy red buff and take it by luring the buff into the bush. If an enemy comes, you have to let the buff go by escaping with your 2nd skill and have the buff regenerate health and wait for the enemy to start taking the buff. Once the buff is at only half a bar, go in with your first skill + a retribution to take the buff. Avoid the enemy as they might be ticked off that you took their buff and come at you.
Then take the enemy creep and that should be a relatively easy task as it is squishier than the red buff.
Rotate to mid lane and take the other healing monster on the way down. Possibly clear the wave that is coming for extra XP.
Taking the Turtle
Securing the Turtle is a necessity because that turtle is an extremely beneficial buff and your team’s gold generation will increase greatly and fighting abilities will definitely increase. You may gather your whole team and get them to secure the turtle with you. Have the tank protect you from enemies and use Retribution as it may be the difference between whether you or the enemy will take the turtle.
If you wanna get really advanced. Get your team to bait enemies. Get the team Marksman or even Guinevere herself can do this as well to make it look like the turtle is being poorly secured since they will only see the Guinevere or Marksman solo taking the turtle. That would be because the rest of your team is hiding in the bushes ready to jump enemies that try to contest the turtle. You may wipe out the enemies or you will have an incredibly high chance of securing the turtle.
Mid-Late Game
Continue farming and clearing lanes. Focus on taking one lane and I recommend taking sidelanes as enemies would probably focus midlane and have a poorly protected side lane. Push the lane and focus their attention on you. Use your 2nd skill to jump away and run to the safety of your turret.
You may now solo gank and initiate team fights and roam as you have the CC, Mobility, Sustain, Chase, and Escape that you need.
Countering her “Counters"
Now, I will say foremost that I hate it when people say that Guinevere is useless without her CC when she can do so much more without it. She is very underrated these days because of that. However, here are some heroes that she can counter that not many people know how.
Helcurt
HelcurtHelcurt was deemed an instant Guinevere counter as he can silence her CC and delete her with his 2nd skill fully made. However, this would not be the case when experienced players use Guinevere.
Now, when Helcurt uses his Ultimate, Guinevere is blinded and cannot see. A Guinevere should then use her 2nd skill and jump in any direction as long as she hits absolutely nothing (minions are an exception) at the LAST SECOND right as Helcurt’s ability is about to wear off. She then would probably mess up the Helcurt’s plans a lot because Helcurt would then try to silence her and miss. She can then run at Helcurt and dash behind him and greatly increase the chances of Helcurt missing his fully charged 2nd skill. Guinevere can then chase Helcurt because Helcurt needs 4 hits of his basic attack in order to give an enemy the full effect of his stingers. Guinevere can make him waste all that. On top of that, Guinevere has lifesteal in most builds which means that she can definitely out-sustain Helcurt and destroy him with her ulti and full red bar passive.
Remember: Guinevere’s 2nd skill is not just good for CC but is also good for dodging, avoiding enemies and distraction.
Best Lifesteal item for Guinevere:
Concentrated EnergyBadang
BadangBadang is actually pretty simple to counter. Since you can see him coming, you must use your 2nd skill on where you are standing as Guinevere and distract him. Once he forms the wall, immediately dash behind Badang and deal damage. If he attempts and escape, you can use your passive and chase him down. Use your ulti to deal extra damage and since your ulti will fill your red bar, you can then pounce and finish Badang with 1 swoop. Remember to have your lifesteal item on you to sustain.
Khufra
KhufraKhufra is simple as well. Just do not use your 2nd skill on him while he is a ball, but rather poke him and deal extra damage from afar to deal extra damage. Then once he is finished, you may use your 2nd skill and pounce on him along with your ultimate to knock him up. You might not be able to finish him off as a Guinevere, but you may definitely dash away. Try to scare Khufra and teach him a lesson.
Wan Wan
WanWanWan Wan is one of the more difficult Marksman to counter due to her anti-cc skills. However, a Guinevere can take advantage of one thing: her squishiness. Get a full red bar and pounce on the Wan Wan. Chase her with your 2nd skill and use your ultimate for another red bar refill to kill her.
If you are able to catch the Wan Wan, use your 2nd skill, then Ultimate. She would then use her anti-CC skill, but no worries because that ordeal would probably kick a Wan Wan down to half health. That Ultimate would then fill your red bar. You may then chase the Wan Wan and use your spatial migration if it is still avaliable to chase her and kill her. Make sure you have your lifesteal item and be careful with movements because you do not want Wan Wan to activate her Ultimate on you. Make sure she doesn't hit all of her targets. If Wanwan successfully hits all of your targets, you want to stay behind and poke her or hit enemy units to decrease the cooldown of your 2nd skill and repeat the process. Heal up because you want to keep that health advantage over Wanwan.
Aldous
AldousAlAldous is known for his insane damage that one shots everyone and he is able to stun Guinevere and kill her with a single punch. However, Aldous is surprisingly easy to counter with Guinevere. If an Aldous is coming at you with his speed and passive shield, jump at him. If he gets knocked up, great! One shot him if possible. If you miss, you may use your dash and make him waste his 1st skill which is his damage skill.
If the Aldous is flying at you, you want to look at the map, and when he comes into view on your screen, use your 2nd skill and jump on him. Aldous is instantly knocked up and cannot combo since he is stunned. Use your ultimate and dash away because he is going to try to attack you after his stun is over. You may then kill him with your sustain and 1st skill. However, you might want a plan C at times because his cooldown is very short. Maybe have a flicker with you to at least waste one of Aldous' attacks because he can't kill a Guinevere with one hit while the Guinevere is above 5000 HP. She can out-sustain him and keep herself above the required health to survive Aldous and kill him.
Reminder: All of these countering strategies can only be achieved if Guinevere is buffed properly, and the timing is well done. This is my normal playstyle and info based of of games that I played only in the US. If the strat works for you, great! You can now counter these heroes that is hard for Guinevere to beat. However, don't be disappointed if these don't work for you. I recommend trying these out in Classic or on bots and practice using Guinevere if you want to be able to beat some of these heroes.
If you would like me to guide you through how to beat other heroes that would be typically hard for Guinevere to beat, leave a comment on which hero you want.