Your Win Condition
Your primary win condition is establishing an immediate, devastating early lead and never letting up, as the matchup is heavily favored for Renekton. First, you want to win the Level 1 trade using the W start. If you secure this early kill, the game is already swinging in your favor, especially since Riven often runs without Resolve. Riven is extremely vulnerable because she is very squishy and typically does not build many defensive stats that can cope with Renekton's damage output. She, like Renekton, is a champion that requires flat Attack Damage (AD) and is volatile if she falls behind. Because Renekton "stat checks" her into oblivion, securing your items fast means the game is practically over. For instance, hitting a 7-minute Eclipse is huge. Once you have secured this initial lead, your win condition shifts to taking over the map. You cannot afford to be complacent; you must keep snowballing, influencing mid lane, bot lane, and securing every objective you can.
General Strategy
The core strategy here is to play aggressively, utilize Renekton's superior early-game power, and consistently punish Riven's characteristic movement and lack of defenses. You must always take the W start in this lane. This is the pivotal moment that decides the lane. The goal is to maximize the level one kill window. If Riven chooses to engage with her E, that is often a free kill. If she tries to use her stun (W), you can return the stun (with Empowered W), and Renekton comes out on top because the exchange prevents Riven from weaving in the extra auto-attacks she needs for her passive and Conqueror stacks. You then win the trade and can dash away, wait for W cooldown, and look for the next kill angle. Once you are ahead, keep the fundamentals simple: maintain the freeze, watch the map, and keep your Fury high. You will want to continue building high AD/one-shot potential items like Eclipse to maintain dominance.
Trading Patterns
Trading against Riven is all about precise timing, using your W to neutralize her damage or passive stacking, and leveraging minion damage. 1. Level 1 (W Start): As soon as Riven shows and attempts to all-in with her Qs, you must instantly Auto-W, then kite backwards toward your tower. Your minions will instantly aggro onto her. You need to be aware of the Conqueror stacks, Doran's Blade (Dblade), and passive damage Riven can squeeze out if the fight extends too long. You can even hold your W for her second or third Q before stunning her and spacing back. 2. Punishing the Engagement: If Riven uses her common trade pattern (Q-W-Auto and then E out), you must be ready to intercept this. If she engages with E, it's often a mistake on her part. 3. The All-In Combo (with Fury): If you are going for a full trade or a dive, you can go for an E dash in, Auto-W (Empowered), Auto-Q, and then use your second E to dash out. This is a quick burst that avoids extended fighting. 4. Tower Diving: When diving, wait for her to use her stun first. If she wastes her E as well, that is a bonus, as it means she has less way of disengaging from the dive. A simple W-Auto-Q often works, especially when you are already far ahead.
Wave Management
Wave management is crucial for denying Riven gold and XP, which is vital since she needs her items to scale. When you are ahead, your entire win condition is to freeze the wave on your side. Keeping the wave near your tower creates opportunities to deny her farm and create guaranteed kill windows because she has to approach you. Freezing the lane is so powerful against Riven that it can make some players "AFK". If Riven attempts to roam—which she should do if she can't fight you—you have to quickly push out to punish her loss of time and resources. Renekton is excellent at punishing roams because he has high wave clear with his E, Q, and W to build Fury faster. Shove the cannon wave in when she leaves to ensure she misses that large sum of gold and experience. You should also be mindful of when Tower Plates are about to expire. That is the ideal time to stop freezing and start pushing to collect the gold.
Their Win Condition
Riven's path to victory is narrow, depending heavily on Renekton's mistakes and her ability to influence the map outside of the lane. If a good Riven is able to capitalize on an inexperienced Renekton player, or if she secures the first kill, she can turn the lane against him. Similarly, if Renekton gets complacent or too squishy and gets caught by a flash all-in, Riven can execute him. However, Riven's real win condition is roaming the map. Since she likely cannot gain gold or XP from the top lane against a strong Renekton, she must constantly look for Teleport (TP) plays, flanks, and skirmishes to get her team ahead. If Riven doesn't influence the map, she has no way of getting gold or experience. Riven needs to maximize her defensive options to have a "glimmer of hope" against Renekton, meaning she should be prioritizing the Resolve rune tree. If she doesn't take Resolve, the matchup becomes even easier for Renekton.
!["](https://lolmatchups.net/Renekton".png)
!["](https://lolmatchups.net/Riven".png)
