Bard’s ultimate is a great spell that can allow your team to focus on a target and position themselves around it while he cannot move. This is a great tool to have since it allows you to get free picks and makes the enemy play safe even when you are not around.
However, most players take Cleanse against Bard in the hopes that they can remove the effects of his ultimate when they are hit by it. Now, we know that Cleanse removes effects like stuns, roots, slows, and more. However, does it remove Bard’s ultimate?
If Bard hits you with his ultimate, you cannot use Cleanse to remove it. The summoner spell clearly states that you cannot remove debuffs like suppression, airborne, and statis.
If you are curious to know more about Cleanse and why you should take it, continue reading to find out. Plus, we will also be talking about how you can avoid Bard’s ultimate easily so that you do not die to it randomly. With that said, let’s dive right in and get started.
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What is Cleanse?
Cleanse is a summoner spell like Flash, Ignite, or Heal, just to name a few. While most players do not prefer this spell, it is a great option against champions that have a lot of crowd control (CC).
It allows you to remove debuffs and CC from your champion so that you can walk away without any issues. For example, if you are stunned by Morgana, Lux, or Ashe’s R, you can use Cleanse to remove that effect and run away.
This is a great spell to have in those matchups since the enemy will not be expecting you to quickly remove their debuff and start attacking them. Plus, the cooldown is relatively low so you shouldn’t worry about using it early on.
It has a cooldown of only 210 seconds which can be lowered with the help of certain runes. This summoner spell removes these CC:
- Blind
- Forced action:
- Berserk
- Charm
- Flee
- Taunt
- Cripple
- Disarm
- Drowsy & Sleep
- Ground
- Root
- Silence
- Slow
- Stun
However, it does not remove these debuffs:
- Airborne
- Suppression
- Nearsight
- Statis
- Mark (ARAM)
Also, keep in mind that while you can remove Ignite from yourself by using Cleanse, you cannot remove its Grievous Wounds debuff. Oftentimes, players take Cleanse against Malzahar to counter his ultimate. However, that does not work since this summoner spell does not remove suppression.
Plus, since Bard’s ultimate causes all targets to have the statis effect, you cannot use any summoner spell during it. This is exactly like the effect of Zhonay’s Hourglass. You cannot do anything for that duration.
So, taking Cleanse against Bard isn’t the best decision. However, you can use it to remove his stun or slow if he hits you with his Q or auto attacks respectively.
How Can You Avoid Bard’s Ultimate
Now that we have talked about what Cleanse is and what it does, let’s take a look at how you can avoid getting hit by Bard’s ultimate. His ultimate has a long range and a decent radius. Getting hit by it is quite easy especially if you are playing a champion that does not have any dashes or a spell shield.
However, if you play carefully, Bard will not use his ultimate on you unless he wants to waste it. If you see that he has his level 6 and is hiding somewhere, make sure that you start playing safe. Chances are that he is waiting for you to step out of position to get the farm.
In that case, you should always play near your side so that you can easily run away. Plus, unless you are standing right in the middle of the circle, you can easily walk away from the ultimate before it lands on the ground.
On the other hand, if you have a champion that can dash – that would be most champions since almost every new champion has a dash, you can use that ability to avoid his ultimate. Champions such as Lucian, Zeri, Nilah, and even Tristana can easily dodge Bard’s R.
Alternatively, you can also buy items that allow you to have more mobility as well. If you are playing an ADC, you can buy Galeforce and use it if you think that Bard is going to hit you with his R. The best part is that this item works really well on its own as well.
Finally, if you have a champion that can use a spell shield, make sure that you time it correctly. Champions such as Sivir and Morgana are prime examples of this. If you use your shield, Bard’s ultimate will not affect you. This will allow you to easily run away and ruin all of Bard’s plans.
If you are playing a support like Morgana and your ADC is about to get hit by Bard, make sure that you give them your spell shield. This will ensure that they live and not give the kill and gold to the enemy.
For those of you who are always curious, check out this article: Who is Doran?
