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Tahm Kench & Jhin vs Smolder & Leona

Bot Lane Matchup

Tahm Kench vs Smolder (with Jhin & Leona) BOT matchup tips: who wins, how to trade, wave control and common mistakes.

You

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Who Wins

Pre-6, Smolder+Leona win most extended trades because Leona's level 2 all-in with E+Q is extremely dangerous and your W disengage is your only real answer — you cannot out-sustain their burst early without taking heavy damage first.
Post-6, your R gives you a meaningful escape or repositioning tool, but Leona's lockdown still threatens to chain CC through your W if she lands E, so the 2v2 remains roughly even at best.

Your best pattern is to absorb a Leona engage with W on Jhin, then immediately Q Leona to stack your passive and force her to back off or die to your sustained damage — do not try to initiate yourself since Smolder's range lets him kite you freely.
Stack your passive on Leona during short trades and look for a kill window only when she has used E and is on cooldown.

Push the wave when Leona is not threatening an engage, because a larger wave gives Jhin better positioning to land W and forces Smolder to farm under pressure.
Avoid freezing near their tower since Leona can freely dive you with tower aggro once she has R.

Do not W Jhin reactively into a bad position — swallowing him mid-Leona lockdown can move him directly into Smolder's follow-up damage with no escape.
Coordinate with Jhin before using W so he is not displaced into a worse spot.

Created on 09/08/2026

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