Okay, let’s talk about dealing with Milio. When he first dropped, playing against him felt like a real headache, honestly.
First Encounters
So, I jump into some games, and suddenly there’s this little guy running around with fire and making his ADC super annoying to deal with. His Q, that bouncing ball thing, wasn’t just damage, it kept knocking my engage back or stunning me if I got hit directly after the bounce. Super frustrating when you’re trying to go in.
Then there’s his W, the little campfire buddy. Giving his teammate extra attack range and healing them? Man, trying to trade felt awful. Their carry could hit me from way further back, and any poke I landed just got healed up. And his E shield, while not massive, added up with the speed boost, making them slippery.
But the real kicker? That ultimate. You finally land a good hook, a stun, anything… and poof. Cleansed. Plus a heal. It felt like all your hard work setting up a kill just vanished.
Figuring Stuff Out – Trial and Error
Alright, after getting beaten down a few times, I knew I had to change things up. Just playing standard wasn’t cutting it.
First thought: Overwhelm him. I started picking really aggressive engage supports. Think Leona, Nautilus, Alistar. The idea was to lock him or his carry down so fast they couldn’t react. This kinda worked, sometimes. If we could blow Milio up instantly before he ulted, great. But if not, or if he positioned well, we’d engage, he’d ult, and suddenly we were way out of position and getting kited by the long-range ADC.
Second try: Poke and anti-heal. Since his healing felt so impactful, grabbing anti-heal early seemed obvious. Rushing Oblivion Orb or Executioner’s Calling became standard practice for me against him. It definitely helped cut down his sustain. Then, I tried pairing it with long-range poke supports like Xerath or Lux. The goal was to bully them out of lane from a distance, make it hard for Milio to just sit back and heal. This felt a bit better, less risky than all-inning constantly.
Third approach: Focus on burst. His ultimate cleanses crowd control, right? But it doesn’t stop you from dying if you take enough damage fast enough. So, champions that could deliver a huge burst of damage quickly seemed like a good counter. Stuff like Syndra mid, or even high-damage ADCs like Draven paired with an aggressive support. The plan became less about locking them down for ages and more about deleting someone the moment CC landed, hopefully before the cleanse came out.
What Seemed to Work Best (For Me)
After trying a bunch of things, here’s what felt most consistent:
- Aggressive Engage + Burst: Champions like Blitzcrank or Pyke felt pretty good. You hook Milio (he’s squishy!), and your team instantly blows him up. You gotta be quick, though.
- Anti-Heal is a Must: Seriously, don’t skip it. It reduces the value he gets from W and R significantly. Get it early.
- Focus Milio: In teamfights, if you can get access to him, try to take him out first. Removing his cleanse and heals makes dealing with the rest of their team much easier. He’s usually not too tanky.
- Bait the Ultimate: If you know his ult is up, sometimes you can force it out with less important CC, then follow up with your major cooldowns once it’s down. This takes coordination, which is tough in solo queue, but worth trying.
- Long-Range Mages: Mages that can out-range his ADC (even with the W buff) and poke Milio down worked okay too. Think Vel’Koz, Ziggs, Xerath. Keep chipping away.
So yeah, it wasn’t about finding one magic bullet champion. It was more about adapting the playstyle. You need ways to deal with his cleanse, cut his healing, and punish his squishiness. Took some practice and getting tilted a few times, but eventually, playing against him started to feel manageable once we focused on these strategies. Just gotta respect his kit and play smart around it.
