How to lane against sniper mid?

Sniper mid is actually a pretty legit thing if you plan on playing a farming mid like Shadow Fiend or Morphling. Headshot + Take Aim makes him a bitch to lane against, and if he goes Soul Ring build he can push you out of your lane and get your tower pretty quickly as well.


Many people say to harass him out of the lane, but I tend to disagree. Whilst I do think he's squishy, Snipers usually bring enough regen to sustain themselves pretty well in lane, and his Take Aim means you have to get into a really weird position to harass him, which in certain situations can get you killed. If you want to win the lane against a Sniper, you're going to have to kill him or at the very least force him to go back to base.

This can be done by:

Pulling supports to gank him

Not recommended unless you a) Have a jungler or b) Are running trilanes. Trying to pull a support from a dual lane could get the carry he/she was protecting killed.

If you're a nuker, harass him down a little then jump on his arse

Whenever I play Puck against a Sniper, I tend to harass him down to 3/4 hp, Dream Coil is arse then kill him with my plethora of nukes and mobility. Other nukers include Queen of Pain, Pudge when you hook him, Lina.

For more carry mids like Shadow Fiend, if you've got nukes repeat the same as above

If you're someone like Naga Siren, just threaten to bully him by walking forward a little (Not too much) It buys you time, and maybe that'll be enough time to get a few last hits (You're probably not going to win against a Sniper mid). If the Sniper is a dumbass and is out of position, utilise that and kill him. He is a lot squishier than people credit him for.

If you're a lane dominator like Viper or Outworld Devourer, dominate as usual

Outworld Devourer is a bit weak against Sniper lane unless he's going Soul Ring build, but Viper and Razor  are really good against him. Make sure to either poison his face so he feels he doesn't want to get caught out (We all know how painful Viper slows are) or steal all his damage so he can't harass you out of lane (Potentially getting a kill in the process if you can)

Some additional notes

Make sure you call when a Sniper is missing

He's rather good at right clicking the sidelanes down as well as shooting people from bullshit long distances with Assasinate. Wards are rather crucial here, so if your support isn't buying them buy them yourself. What you lose in gold you gain in map awareness and potentially your life.

Unless you have an ability like Blink or Phase Shift, fighting a sniper is often a do or die thing

Running from Sniper is quite pointless, since his range is incredibly long, so if you fight a Sniper make sure you have enough damage to finish him off quickly.

If you know you're going to lose your lane against a Sniper

Swallow your pride and request a lane swap with someone that could be more equipped to deal with Sniper. If you have no one that can do that, move to another lane, gank it if possible, and start hard pushing it. Sniper will probably get free farm mid, but if you truly think you weren't going to be able to fight him he was going to get free farm anyways.