Quicksilver Sash, or QSS, is one of the most unique items in League of Legends. Together with Mikael’s Blessing, they’re the only 2 items in LoL that help you combat crowd control. And if you don’t have Cleanse, but you’re playing against a heavy CC team, you simply have to buy QSS or Mikael’s.
But Quicksilver Sash is not an easy item to understand. Since League of Legends is full of many different types of crowd control, you can’t always know whether you can QSS an effect or not. This is an important thing to know because it will let you counter so many different champions and abilities in the game.
So, in this post, I’ll go over the key things you need to understand about Quicksilver Sash in League of Legends. Consider this the ultimate QSS guide!
Let’s begin.
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How Does QSS Work in League of Legends?
If you’ve never studied this item deeper, then you might be asking questions like “What is QSS in League of Legends?”, “What does Quicksilver Sash do?” and “What QSS works on?”.
Quicksilver Sash, or QSS, is an active item in League of Legends that removes crowd control from your champion. When you use it, you instantly clear all disable effects, except Airborne effects. Every champion can buy QSS, but it only builds into AD items. Quicksilver Sash has 90 seconds cooldown.
QSS costs 1300 gold, and its only building part is Null-Magic Mantle, which costs 450 gold. Alone, the item grants only 30 magic resist and its active – Quicksilver. This active is ready for use immediately after purchasing the item, so you can remove the next CC from your champion.
Once you purchase QSS, you have 2 options when it comes to upgrading it – Mercurial Scimitar and Silvermere Dawn. Both of these items grant +40 AD, and +30 magic resist. However, Mercurial Scimitar adds a 20% bonus crit chance and is overall better for marksmen. And Silvermere Dawn gives +300 bonus health instead of crit, so it’s better for melee champions.
The QSS (active) part of both of these items doesn’t change in any way, regardless of which one you build. It will still remove the crowd control upon using with 90 seconds cooldown between uses.
Keep in mind that Quicksilver Sash doesn’t impact the cooldown of any other items in League, so you can use it in combination with Galeforce, Goredrinker, or Stridebreaker. Even better, QSS can be used together with Cleanse to remove multiple crowd control effects.
Also read: Best Supports for Sivir
Difference Between QSS and Cleanse in LoL
Seeing a difference between QSS and Cleanse in League of Legends can be really difficult. After all, the idea is the same – an active that removes crowd control and disable effects from your champion.
However, Cleanse and Quicksilver Sash work a bit differently. Some disable effects can only be removed by Cleanse, and some only by using QSS.
So, here’s a table comparing what Cleanse and QSS can remove from your champion in LoL:
| Disable Effect | Quicksilver Sash (QSS) | Cleanse |
|---|---|---|
| Stasis | No | No |
| Summoner’s Spell (Ignite, Exhaust) | No | Yes |
| Airborne | No | No |
| Blind | Yes | Yes |
| Cripple | Yes | Yes |
| Disarm | Yes | Yes |
| Silence | Yes | Yes |
| Drowsy | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep | Yes | Yes |
| Charm | Yes | Yes |
| Fear | Yes | Yes |
| Taunt | Yes | Yes |
| Ground | Yes | Yes |
| Nearsight | Yes | No |
| Root | Yes | Yes |
| Stun | Yes | Yes |
| Suppression | Yes | No |
The most important thing to understand about QSS and Cleanse in League of Legends is the intention of their design.
You see, Cleanse is meant to be used against most crowd control effects and other Summoner Spells. And QSS is meant to be used against all crowd control effects (except Airborne) but not Summoner Spells. However, I’d definitely say that QSS is a bit better than Cleanse, simply because there aren’t too many Summoner Spells to combat aside from Exhaust and Ignite.
Another thing to remember about QSS is that it doesn’t remove any lingering that’s not technically a CC.
For example, Exhaust is a Summoner Spell that applies a slow effect and a damage reduction effect. If you use Cleanse while under the effects of Exhaust, you’ll remove both the damage reduction and the slow. However, if you use QSS, you’ll only remove the slow effects (it’s a CC), but your damage will still be reduced for a couple of seconds.
Another example would be – if Karma casts her W on your champion and you use QSS before the root is applied, you won’t clear the tether. The ability will continue to channel regardless of what you do.
Those are the key things to remember about Cleanse and QSS.
Now let’s see how Quicksilver Sash interacts with specific champions and abilities.
Also read: How Does Cleanse Work
Quicksilver Sash vs. Specific Champions
Can You QSS Yasuo’s Ult?
Since Yasuo’s ultimate, Last Breath, extends the duration of airborne effects, it cannot be removed with QSS. Airborne effects in League of Legends are a bit special because they can’t be stopped once applied.
The only way to counter airborne in LoL is to use things like Morgana’s E, Black Shield before the airborne effect reaches you. Once it’s on, you can’t use QSS nor Cleanse to save yourself.
Can You QSS Malzahar’s Ult?
Yes, QSS removes all suppression effects in the game, including Malzahar’s ultimate, Nether Grasp. However, since Quicksilver Sash can only remove crowd control and no lingering effects, it doesn’t remove the damage from Malzahar’s ult.
In other words, if you use QSS during Malzahar’s ult, you’ll be able to move and run away. But Malzahar will still continue to deal damage to you with his tether, regardless of where you move. The damage will only break when the duration expires.
Can You QSS Morde’s Ult?
Quicksilver Sash removes Morderkaiser’s ultimate, instantly removing the Realm of Death. QSS is the best item to use against Mordekaiser on any champion you play. It has only 90 seconds cooldown, and it can turn his ultimate into a useless cooldown.
The same can be said for all suppression abilities in the game. For example, you can use QSS to remove Skarner’s ult and immediately break the link so you won’t get pulled.
Can You QSS Teemo’s Blind?
Using Quicksilver Sash can also remove Teemo’s blind. However, QSS can’t remove DoTs from your champion. So, it will only remove the blind effect but not the poison that Teemo applies.
On the other hand, if you use Cleanse, you’ll remove both the damage over time effect and the blind from Teemo’s Q, Blinding Dart.
Can You QSS Vi’s Ult?
Since Vi’s ultimate has a knockup effect it cannot be removed by either Quicksilver Sash or Cleanse. So, if you see that Vi is going to use her ultimate on you, the only counterplay here is to use Zhonya’s Hourglass
Can You QSS Skarner’s Ult?
Quicksilver Sash completely removes Skarner’s ultimate and prevents him from dragging you wherever he wants
Can You QSS Sett’s Ult?
Sett’s ultimate ability has a suppression effect, therefore it can be removed and countered with Quicksilver Sash (QSS).
Can You QSS Zed’s Ult?
Quicksilver Sash, alongside Zhonya’s Hourglass, used to be Zed’s biggest nightmare. QSS was heavily used against Zed until season 6, and everything changed in season 7 when Riot Games removed its effects on Zed’s ultimate. So, now that Zed’s debuff is no longer removable, that means that neither QSS nor Cleanse can be used to remove it.
Can You QSS Fizz’s Ult?
Riot Games changed Quicksilver Sash a couple of years ago, and now QSS only removes all crowd control rather than all debuffs. You used to be able to QSS Fizz’s ult, Zed’s ult, Fiora’s ult, and even stuff like Zilean’s bombs, but that’s no longer possible. So, to answer your question, you cannot longer QSS Fizz’s ultimate.
Conclusion
It might seem complicated to understand how QSS works with every CC ability in the game. And in a way, it is. After all, there are so many different abilities in League of Legends, and you can’t always be sure whether you can QSS an effect or not.
However, I hope I made it clear in this post how you can utilize Quicksilver Sash to your advantage.
Good luck!
