How Does Cleanse Work In League Of Legends? – The Ultimate Guide (2024)

Cleanse is one of the least understood Summoner Spells in League of Legends. You rarely see a player pick up Cleanse unless they want to counter someone like Twisted Fate. But most of the time, players aren’t really sure what Cleanse can remove and what it can’t remove. And that’s why Cleanse is one of the most underused Summoner Spells in the game too.

However, Riot Games have made it pretty clear what Cleanse does. But if you’ve never researched how Cleanse really works in LoL, you might not know how it can benefit you. So let me spare you the time and tell you exactly what you need to know about Cleanse in League of Legends.

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How Does Cleanse Work in League of Legends?

If you take a closer look at the Cleanse tooltip, it’s pretty clear what it does – It helps you clear crowd control and increases your tenacity for a couple of seconds. And how does it do that?

When you use Cleanse in League of Legends, the Spell instantly removes all crowd control effects from your champion. However, there are a few exceptions. Cleanse can’t remove Airborne, Nearsight (blind), and Suppression effects. It also removes other Summoner Spells like Ignite or Exhaust.

After the initial removal of the debuff, Cleanse grants you 65% tenacity for 3 seconds. And all the slows, stuns, or fear that might come after you’ve cleansed yourself are 65% less effective.

However, the problem with Cleanse arises in particular situations, not in its explanation. You see, we don’t always know what each CC ability in League of Legends technically is.

For example, Mordekaiser’s ultimate is a suppression effect that traps your champion in a closed area. However, your champion can freely move and cast abilities within this area. Another suppression effect is Malzahar’s ultimate, which stuns your champion and doesn’t allow you to move or cast abilities. These two suppression effects have nothing in common!

So unless you know what each crowd control ability in League of Legends really is, you won’t know if you can Cleanse it or not. But if you don’t want to waste your Cleanse, I’ll give you a table to help you learn faster.

What Can Cleanse Remove in LoL?

Cleanse Can RemoveExample Ability / Explanation
BlindTeemo’s Q, Blinding Dart
CharmAhri’s E, Charm
FearNocturne’s E, Unspeakable Horror
TauntRammus’ E, Frenzying Taunt
CrippleMalphite’s E, Ground Slam
DisarmQuinn’s Q, Blinding Assault
DrowsyZoe’s E, Sleepy Trouble Bubble
SleepLillia’s R, Lilting Lullaby
RootMorgana’s Q, Dark Binding
SilenceMalzahar’s Q, Call of the Void
SlowAshe’s W, Volley
StunTwisted Fate’s W, Pick a Card
IgniteRemoves the DoT but not the Grevious Wound effects
ExhaustRemoves it completely
Chilling SmiteRemoves it completely
Challenging SmiteDoesn’t remove the true damage burn.

Here’s a table of things Cleanse can remove in LoL:

Even though these are all categories of disables Cleanse can remove, it can be tough to know whether it can help you in an actual game.

For example, the tooltip of Cleanse states that it doesn’t remove Nearsight effects. Quinn’s Q, Blinding Assault is an ability that reduces your champion’s area of view (Nearsight) and also applies a disarm effect. So when you use Cleanse while under these effects, you’ll only cleanse the disarm effect and not the nearsight.

We’re used to thinking that Quinn’s Q and Teemo’s Q have the same effect in League. But this is simply not true. Cleanse can completely remove Teemo’s Q from the target, but it can’t help you much against Quinn’s or Graves’ nearsight.

So, let’s dive into specific champions and see if you can cleanse their abilities.

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Cleanse vs. Specific Champions

How Does Cleanse Work In League Of Legends? – The Ultimate Guide (1)

Can You Cleanse Malzahar’s Ultimate?

Cleanse doesn’t work against Malzahar’s ultimate, Nether Grasp. This ability is a suppression effect and can’t be removed with Cleanse. During its channeling of 2.5 seconds, your Cleanse is disabled and can’t be used.

If you use Cleanse before Malzhar ults you and you have 65% bonus tenacity, you still won’t reduce the duration of his ultimate. Tenacity doesn’t reduce the power of suppression effects either.

Can You Cleanse Morde’s Ultimate?

Mordekaiser’s ultimate is another suppression effect. You can’t Cleanse Morde’s ult once you’re inside the Realm of Death. It’s pointless to play with Cleanse against Mordekaiser, so you should choose something else in champion select.

Can You Cleanse Fizz’s Ultimate?

Fizz’s ultimate, Chum the Waters, is an ability of three parts. First, Fizz throws a fish towards you. Second, the fish attaches to your champion, slowing you down for a couple of seconds. And third, the fish erupts, knocking you up and dealing magic damage.

If you use Cleanse while Fizz’s ult is on you, you’ll only remove the slow effect. The fish will still be attached to your champion, and it will damage regardless of what you do. That’s why Cleanse isn’t a good tool against Fizz either.

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Other Popular Questions About Cleanse

How Does Cleanse Work In League Of Legends? – The Ultimate Guide (2)

Can You Cleanse Silence?

Yes, Cleanse removes all silence effects from your champion. While all of your other abilities are silenced, Cleanse is available for use. Cleansing the silence effect can be pretty helpful in certain situations, so it’s a great way to counter someone like Malzahar.

Can You Cleanse Exhaust?

Cleanse removes all effects from Exhaust. This includes the slow effect as well as the damage reduction effect. You can completely outplay an opponent if you Cleanse his Exhaust immediately after he uses it.

However, if you use Cleanse before his Exhaust while you still have 65% bonus tenacity, you’ll only reduce the slow effect by 65%. Tenacity doesn’t work against damage reduction effects.

Does Cleanse Work Against Mark?

This is an ARAM-specific question, but it’s worth knowing.

Cleanse can’t remove Mark in ARAM. Once the enemy champion hits you with Mark, Cleanse can’t help you. You can try removing some of the effects that might follow with Cleanse, but not Mark itself.

Conclusion

Even though it might look confusing and overly complicated, believe me, it’s not. Once you start to differentiate between the different categories and subcategories of disables and removals in League of Legends, it’s easy to know whether you can Cleanse them or not. And the same goes with QSS. If you know what QSS can remove, you’ll be a much better player when using the item.

Good luck and have fun!

How Does Cleanse Work In League Of Legends? – The Ultimate Guide (2024)

FAQs

How Does Cleanse Work In League Of Legends? – The Ultimate Guide? ›

When you use Cleanse in League of Legends, the Spell instantly removes all crowd control effects from your champion. However, there are a few exceptions. Cleanse can't remove Airborne, Nearsight (blind), and Suppression effects. It also removes other Summoner Spells like Ignite or Exhaust.

How does cleanse work in League of Legends? ›

Cleanse will remove any and all of the following effects: Ignite, Exhaust, Blinds, Charm, Fear (including Flee), Movement Slows, Polymorph, Silences, Snares (including Entangle, Roots and Immobilizes), Stuns and Taunts.

What does cleanse not work on? ›

Known issue: it doesn't break stuns, fears, or silences.

Can cleanse remove zed ult? ›

Zed ult has nothing to do with cc nor summoner spell debuffs, so why could it be cleansed? cleanse never cleared zed ult, qss did. qss used to remove all debuffs. qss cleared all sorts of weird stuff, most notable was trundle ult zed ult vladimir ult fiora ult kalista e stacks (not fully sure on this one) etc.

Can cleanse stop malzahar ult? ›

For example, when Malzahar used his ult you would be able to cleanse it off or if you had merc treads it's duration would be reduced. With suppression, anyone's ult like Malz, Warwick, Amumu, Urgot, etc. their ultimate cannot be reduced by a percentage or cleansed all together.

Can I cleanse fizz ult? ›

Cleanse, QSS and Mikeals do not stop Fizz's Ultimate. So do not bother investing in them as a way of escaping the fish. However, they may be useful against other enemy abilities.

How do you know a cleanse is working? ›

How to know if a detox is working
  1. Increased energy levels.
  2. Better digestion with reduced bloating, gas, and constipation.
  3. Clearer skin and fewer breakouts.
  4. Weight loss from reduced water retention.

What happens in cleansing? ›

Removing Build Up

A common benefit of facial cleansing is the removal of dirt, oil, and other unwanted debris. Throughout the day the skin on your face is continually covered with bacteria, pollutants, viruses, dirt, and old (dead) skin cells. Daily facial washing removes these impurities to give the skin a fresh look.

How does sacred cleansing work? ›

Your Cleanse spell has a 30% chance to increase the target's resistance to Disease, Magic and Poison by 30% for 10 sec. Your Cleanse spell has a 30% chance to increase the target's resistance to Disease, Magic and Poison by 30% for 10 sec.

Does cleanse remove Darius bleed? ›

Cleanse only removes summoner spell debuffs and CC, it does not remove DoT abilities or statuses like Mordekaiser ult or Fiora ult.

What does the master cleanse claim to do? ›

The diet claims that you'll cleanse or “detox” your body of harmful toxins, drop pounds, and feel happier and healthier. The Master Cleanse, also called the Lemonade Diet, started in the 1940s when naturopath Stanley Burroughs wrote The Master Cleanser. It became popular in the 2000s, after celebrities used the plan.

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