Nasus has no gap closer, so he just eats Smolder's Super Scorcher Breath (Q) poke, and even when he gets close, Smolder escapes with Flap, Flap, Flap (E) so that not even Wither (W) can land, leaving Nasus unable to stack Siphoning Strike (Q) and shoved in throughout the lane.

Kayle is melee-ranged with no mobility until level 5, so Smolder harasses her one-sidedly with Super Scorcher Breath (Q) and completely crushes her lane and CS before she can scale.

Malphite has no gap closer besides Unstoppable Force (R), so before level 5 he can only absorb Smolder's Super Scorcher Breath (Q) poke, and as a melee he is constantly harassed by ranged Smolder and cedes lane priority.

Zed safely harasses Smolder with a Razor Shuriken (Q) and Living Shadow (W) combo, then bursts him down with Death Mark (R), and even if Smolder escapes with Flap, Flap, Flap (E), Zed swaps back onto him with his shadow and finishes him before he can stack up.

Talon pokes with Rake (W) and instantly closes the gap with the wall-vaulting Assassin's Path (E), then blows up the squishy Smolder with Shadow Assault (R), and Smolder's short Flap, Flap, Flap (E) hop cannot outrun Talon's mobility.

Fizz goes untargetable with Playful/Trickster (E) to dodge Smolder's Super Scorcher Breath (Q) and autos, then sticks to him and finishes with a Chum the Waters (R) combo, nullifying both Smolder's poke and kill setups.

Akali breaks Smolder's targeting with Twilight Shroud (W) and approaches under stealth, then blows up the squishy Smolder with the double-dash all-in of Perfect Execution (R), nullifying his ranged poke advantage.

Yasuo wholly blocks Smolder's core damage, the Super Scorcher Breath (Q) projectile and Achooo! (W), with Wind Wall (W), then closes in with Sweeping Blade (E) to all-in and shut down Smolder's scaling.