This matchup is very tough and gets even harder in higher ranks against good Aatrox players.
His early game is much stronger than yours, he has alot of damage, he's quite tanky and can pressure you very hard.
His level 6 is too strong for you to match him.
It's even worse if he buids damage items like eclipse cleaver and serylda's since he'll just delete you whilst healing through all your damage.
You can try to match him in early levels by taking grasp and ignite but most of the time your best bet is just taking a very passive setup and trying to outscale him.
If you die early its doomed.
Akali
This matchup is a bit easier in the toplane since you have mutch better waveclear and pressure than her which means if you can play properly most likely you'll control the wave.
You should aim to harass her as much as possible (specially at level 1)
Try to bait her Q and abuse her cooldowns.
If she uses her shroud just walk away and try to hit her in the shroud with your barrels.
Akshan
This matchup is pretty much unplayable either Mid or Toplane
His kit is just too overloaded, his laning phase is broken due to his double auto attacks and constant shielding, he can poke you and he does have good waveclear.
Your best bet is taking TP and Fleet and asking your jungler for help so you can breathe against him in lane.
Camille
Camille is a very winnable matchup.
Grasp is very good against camille since it allows you to match her early trades.
Try not to get hit by her W's sweetspot and always use your passive against her since it deals true damage and allows you to damage her through her shield, place a keg next to you and if she goes in with E or walks up to it try to time her as she goes in (don't forget to hit her with passive).
Her level 6 is super strong so don't walk up to her when she hits level 6, she will most likely all in and kill you with ease.
Cho'Gath
He is a tank with a weak early game and his only hard CC ability is very easy to dodge.
Take the Anti-Tank runes since cut down is a must against him (he stacks alot of health which means you're gonna get alot of free damage out of cut down).
You can try to be cocky and take ignite to kill him early since he's quite squishy early and he is immobile but i prefer taking TP and buying an early cull since you just outscale him.
Try to proc as many passives as you can against him so you just melt through his health bar and try not to stay in lane at low health because he has an execute.
Darius
Darius is a tricky matchup, if the darius player is good and takes ghost it might be much harder (specially if you're still learning GP) but once you get the hang of the champion and the matchup you can punish Darius by spacing him and harassing him with Q and barrels.
Bait his E by walking in and then walking out.
Dodge his Q's sweetspace by outspacing him.
Don't go for long exchanges (specially in early levels).
Once he hits 6, play passive and just farm as much as possible since you outscale him once you have about 50% crit chance.
Dr. Mundo
Pretty free matchup
His early game might be annoying because of his cleavers but yk they don't go through minions and he doesn't have any hard CC so he's not really a threat.
Go for the Anti-Tank runes because he'll most likely stack alot of health, buy a cull and scale freely on top of him with TP.
You might kill him early if you use your passive and kegs well.
Get early executioners so you can shut him down.
Once you get crit you can just melt him with passive.
Fiora
Fiora is very similar to Camille.
Grasp is very good in this lane since Fiora players generally go for alot of early trades with Q.
You can beat her badly at level 1 if you use your passive properly and hit her with Kegs.
Pay attention to her vitals and if necessary walk back and wait for the vital to dissapear so she doesn't get a free proc off of it.
Try baiting her in by walking towards her and then walking back.
Punish her early levels since she's quite squishy and has long cooldowns.
Try to always dodge her W and don't waste your passive on it (cancel your auto attack if she presses W so you can passive her right after her W animation ends).
You can try to bait her W by using your CTRL +2 animation.
Garen
He's only really a threat if he takes ignite and nimbus cloak (specially at level 6).
Otherwise this matchup is pretty free.
You can easily proc first strike against him for tons of free gold (Take the Anti-Tank setup).
Fight him in your wave so his E doesn't deal so much damage to you.
Try not to stay low on health becase he can execute you.
You can easily outspace him and kite him with your movespeed and keg slows.
Gnar
This matchup has the potential to be very tough since Gnar has faster powerspikes (which means he's very strong at your weakest points in the game).
The laning phase can be annoying specially because he's ranged, deals quite a bunch of damage and has alot of movement speed (he can chase you or dodge your Kegs).
He has an effective escape tool so ganking him can be pretty difficult.
His level 6 is very strong and once he gets Trinity Force he can just destroy you.
Grasp is good in this lane since Gnar is quite squishy early game and has much less auto attack range than most ranged toplaners in the early game which means you'll most likely be able to damage him if he gets in range to damage you.
Try not getting hit with his Q all the time and pay attention to levels and cooldowns so he doesn't get the opportunity to all in you and punish you hard.
Steelcaps is good against him and if you use your passive well you can win an exchage.
Try dodging his W in Mega form and try baiting his E or Ult.
Beware ganks and dives because he has great setup.
Gragas
This lane is just boring as hell.
Gragas doesn't really pose any kill threat to you early unless you play very poorly and eat all his Q poke.
He can match your poke with his Q (specially if he has comet and/or scorch).
He has infinite sustain and very effective disengage tools which makes if very difficult to kill him in lane.
I would advise taking TP and first strike so you can outscale him (once you get some crit he can't really fight you in close range unless he's very good at Gragas).
You outscale him in the sidelanes and teamfights anyways.
Beware his level 6 turret baits, it's one of the only ways he'll actually kill you (he's very dangerous when near his own turrets).
Gwen
This matchup is pretty trash since you can't really punish her "weak" early game (she can still beat you early with her E's bonus attack speed and stacked Q).
It's difficult to kill her in lane because "gwen is immune lol".
Her level 6 is very strong specially if he has ghost and/or ignite she can just walk you down and kill you.
Once she gets some items it becomes impossible to fight her in a 1v1.
Try to take a scaling setup and just focus on scaling hard and beating her team in teamfights (you're most likely not gonna beat her in the sidelane unless you're the king of barrels).
Illaoi
This matchup is super easy if you're good at dodging skillshots, to beat her all you gotta do is use your minions to block her E, dodge her Q and kill her tentacles, try baiting her E by walking out of the wave and instantly going back in so she can't land her E.
Her E has a long cooldown early game so once she uses try to punish her as much as possible.
Once she's level 6 just walk out of the exchange if she ults (since she has no mobility or hard CC she won't be able to chase you).
Irelia
This matchup has potential to be very hard specially if the Irelia player is good.
She can easily all-in you and she has very strong early game exchanges because of her passive and Q's infinite sustain.
Pay attention to what minions in your wave are low on hp and position yourself accordingly so she can't all in you as easily and effectively.
Try always dodging her E and position Kegs near you so you can try to catch her with a Keg as she goes in.
You might win the exchange if she's fighting inside a big minion wave and you're able to dodge her E and land some Kegs.
Once she gets BORK you'll never beat her in a 1v1 again unless she's very bad.
Jax
Pretty annoying because Jax has quite a strong laning phase (if played correctly) considering how hard he scales.
You can win level 1 against him if you bait his E.
I would take first strike agaisnt him because it deals true damage which might help melting through his resistances.
Keep a Keg nearby you and if he jumps in with Q try to time him and punish him with passive.
You can win an exchange if you're able to hit him with multiple passives.
Once you get about 50% crit you're able to pretty much oneshot him with your passive's true damage and you're much stronger in teamfights.
Jayce
This matchup is very hard because Jayce's early game is too strong for you to match him most of the time.
He can outspace you with his movement speed, range and disengage tools.
He has high damage and he scales much faster than you because of his itemization.
You might outscale him later on.
Take Fleet, Dshield and TP or Exhaust and try to survive lane.
Never take first strike against him (you're not going to proc it unless he's very bad at Jayce).
Try to punish his downtime between cooldowns and call out your jungler to gank him since he'll most likely be near your turret pressuring you and he doesn't have many effective tools to escape ganks.
K'Sante
I hate this champion because somehow riot though it would be a great idea to release a champion that can itemize full tank itemization and still oneshot a carry whilst being pretty much unkillable.
Your best bet is taking the Anti-Tank runes and itemize accordingly, his early levels are his weakest point so try to punish him early and pressure him or maybe even kill him early, beware ganks because he does have some setup and try not to get hit by his Q and don't give him free passive/grasp procs.
Once he's level 6 try to never stay nearby a wall so he can't ult you effectively.
In case he ults you try to oneshot him since he loses alot of health and resistances once he ults (use your passive alot).
If he builds Icebourne and Anathema's chains you're never going to kill him in a 1v1 (he simply doesn't take any damage).
Kalista
Unplayable matchup.
You're never going to win on your own unless the Kalista player is terrible.
Take TP, Fleet, Dshield and go for early steelcaps.
Kayle
You can't really punish her early game because your early game is not good either and she outscales you very hard.
Your best bet is starting E and trying to zone her out of the wave and maybe kill her early with ignite.
Call your jungler because she's super vulnerable to ganks (specially pre level 6).
If you're able to shut her down early and build a lead you might be able to win the game before she gets too strong.
Kennen
Very similar to Gnar.
I would take Grasp and Exhaust.
His early game is quite strong because he's an energy champion with low cooldowns and his Q poke is quite strong.
Dodge his Q and try not to let him proc his passive all the time on you.
His E is quite a long cooldown early game so try to punish him during that downtime (even call your jungler for ganks).
His level 6 is strong but you can match him if you're able to use passive resets and land some Kegs.
Once you get crit items you can most likely oneshot him.
Kled
For a rookie this matchup might look like its super difficult but in reality it's very winnable.
Anti-Tank runes because cut down is a must against him (he has the highest base health in the game which means you're gonna shred him to pieces with cut down).
Dodge his Q and abuse him whenever his W is on cd.
You can melt him with passive resets once you get some crit.
Lucian
This matchup used to be a nightmare but after Lucian's changes it became much easier (specially in the toplane because it's a long lane that allows you to punish him alot if he messes up).
Take Grasp and either Ignite of Exhaust and go for early Steelcaps.
Use your kegs as baits for trades (place your Keg down and if he wastes his abilities or passive to break it just walk up and Q him with grasp or maybe even hit him with passive).
Try to dodge his Q and use bushes so he can't auto attack you all the time, call your jungler because he's super gankable.
Malphite
It might be difficult early if he takes comet.
Otherwise its a pretty free matchup specially if you take the Anti-Tank setup and focus on outscaling him.
You have alot of true damage which means you can melt him down with passive resets once you get crit.
If your team is full AD just dodge (its over).
Mordekaiser
His early game is very strong specially in long exchanges because of his passive and relatively low cooldown on his Q (he also has no mana cost on his abilities).
Take First Strike and just try to stack more gold than him.
Hold your orange to cleanse his ult and always try to dodge his E and if you want to fight him try fighting in the middle of your own wave since his Q deals less damage against multiple targets.
Pay attention to his W's shield.
Executioner's and Serpents Fang counter him.
If he goes Rylai's you can go for Boots of swiftness to counter the slow.
Nasus
He is only a threat after he's level 6 with sheen and a couple Q stacks.
Before that its a free lane where you can proc first strike all day long and just stack cull for free.
You outscale him so try not to die early and not lose any xp or cs.
Boots of swiftness are very good against him since his only CC is his W's slow.
Olaf
Very dangerous early game.
He can essentialy just walk you down at level 1 specially if he takes ignite and ghost.
Try to dodge his Q as much as possible and never trade him when he has W up.
Never go for long exchanges since he will always win them.
Once he's level 6 he just becomes an all-in powerhouse.
Boots of swiftness are very good against him since they reduce his axe's slowing effect.
You outscale him so focus on farming well and not dying early, after you get some crit items you can just oneshot him if he comes in.
Ornn
Ornn is one of the few tanks that can actually kill you early if you mess up.
You should be taking the Anti-Tank runes and go for an early cull since you can confortably scale on top of him if you play properly.
Once you get crit items you'll start killing him quite easy with passive resets.
He has high cooldowns early game so try to abuse any windows of downtime to punish him and get an advantage.
Pay attentio to ganks because he has setup and try not to get hit by his brittle auto attacks since they deal alot of damage.
Pantheon
His strongest point is your weakest point.
His early game is very strong because of his high base damage and relatively low cooldown on his Q.
He's able to damage you whilst simultaneously shoving the wave in which means he can pressure you.
His trading pattern with W and E is very strong and because Pantheon generally takes ignite he has alot of kill threat early.
You can either play passive with First Strike and TP or you can try to match his early game with grasp and ignite.
Try to sidestep his Q's and punish him when his E is on cooldown.
Poppy
GP is probably one of the hardest Poppy counters.
Take the Anti-Tank runes and enjoy a free lane where you can outscale her easily (buy an early cull).
Try not to get hit by her Q alot and use bushes so she can't constantly proc her passive on you.
If she goes in just use your Kegs and passive resets to shred through her hp and try to avoid being near walls.
Quinn
Very hard matchup specially if she takes electrocute.
She can easily kite you and outspace you.
Since she's ranged and generally itemizes early attack speed it means its very difficult for you to explode any Kegs.
She can pressure you and roam around the map to snowball the game and you can't really respond to that.
Not much you can do against her so yeah good luck.
Fleet, TP, Dshield and early steelcaps might save you.
Renekton
Renekton can be quite a threat specially early game.
Both first strike and grasp are good against him (bone plating is a must).
Avoid getting hit by his Q and watch out for his E's engage.
You can cleanse his W's stun and fight back with a passive proc and Q.
Try to abuse his downtime between E and W cooldowns.
Pay attention to how much fury he has since it empowers his abilities.
Once he's level 6 he becomes a much bigger threat because of his strong all in and dive potential, try to just slow him down with Kegs and kite him.
Once you get about 50% crit you can most likely just shred him to pieces with your passive resets.
Ignite might allow you to kill him early or in 1v1s and you outscale him entirely.
Rengar
Very skill-based matchup.
How to Beat?
- If you take grasp and ignite you can try to kill him early;
- Try not staying at a range that he can jump you from;
- Try to time his jump with your barrel so he takes damage as he's going in;
- Freeze the wave next to your turret and call your jungler so you can try to kill him and scale on top of him;
- Once he's level 6 try to ping if he's missing so he doesn't get free kills on roaming and punish his turret by taking plates and making him miss CS if he goes for roaming.
Riven
Very skill-based matchup
Bone Plating is crucial in this lane.
First Strike and Grasp are both viable options.
You can take ignite if you want to kill her early game because she is very killable in early levels.
Otherwise take TP and play safe with first strike and scale.
Try not to waste your Q on her E (you can try to bait her E by using your CTRL +2 animation).
Always keep a Keg near yourself and if she goes in try to time her and punish her with passive.
Her level 6 is very strong so pay attention to that otherwise she'll all in you at level 6 and kill you.
Plated Steelcaps and Serpent's Fang counter her kit alot.
Once she gets haste it starts becoming hard because of her short cooldowns but if you go crit you can most likely just oneshot her.
Rumble
Easily one of the wors matchups ever for GP.
He has no mana costs and low cooldowns which means its pretty much impossible to match him in early trades.
His base damage is very high and he has on demand shielding (which means you're most likely not going to deal any damage with Q poke).
Take Fleet, Dshield and TP and go for early MR such as hexdrinker.
You can maybe win an exchange and kill him if he fucks up.
Ryze
His early game is quite weak and he's very punishable in toplane because he has no escape tools other than hi W and Phase Rush.
If he wastes his W or procs his Phase Rush just call your jungler for easy kills.
He can beat you in waveclear early but he doesn't deal much damage untill he gets some items so you can most likely beat him early if you land your E.
Comet is quite good against him but you can also take First Strike or Grasp.
Sejuani
She might have kill potential if she goes grasp and ignite but all you gotta do is dodge her Q and W and that's pretty much it.
Don't use your W too early otherwise she'll chain CC and you will die anyways.
Take the Anti-Tank setup and buy an early cull because you can scale freely on top of her.
Try taking her passive out with your Q whenever possible and if she goes in use passive resets to kill her.
Sett
GP is actually a pretty good answer to Sett's kit.
Take First Strike with bone plating and buy a cull.
Focus on harassing him to stack first strike gold and farm alot to stack cull.
You can beat him with poke because his W decays if you don't damage him for a while, which means you can just poke him and kill him slowly.
Try to bait/dodge his E and his W's sweetspot.
Whenever he ults you just cleanse it with your W and fight back.
Serpent's Fang destroys him.
Shen
Free Win
He's only a threat if he takes ignite and lands his E on you.
Otherwise its a free lane, take the Anti-Tank setup and buy an early cull (you can even start cull).
Poke him to stack first strike gold and farm as much as possible with Q and cull because you outscale him super fast.
He'll never beat you in a 1v1 once you get crit because you just melt him with true damage.
You can match his roaming with your ult and whenever he ults just shove the wave and take plates.
Shyvana
Just dodge her E and you can beat her in a 1v1.
Her Q deals AOE damage which means she can both hit you and your Keg at the same time so pay attention to that and try to time her.
She becomes quite a threat once she has Ravenous Hydra and Trinity force (specially if she has lethal tempo).
Anti-Tank setup can be quite good against her because she gains alot of health once she ults (which means you'll deal alot more damage to her because of cut down).
And you can confortably stack first strike against her becaus she has pretty much no ranged damage other than E (which is easy to dodge).
Buy an early cull and once you get about 50% crit you can melt her with passive resets.
She is very gankable early because she has no escape tools so try to call your jungler.
Singed
Free Win LOL
Take First Strike and start Cull
Farm alot specially when he tries to proxy because he'll most likely not going to interact with you.
You can start E and take ignite if you wanna try to kill him early.
Minion Dematerializer is very good against him since it allows you to contest his waveclear.
Use your ult for free kills whenever he tries to execute.
Sion
Pretty free matchup.
Take the Anti-Tank runes since he stacks alot of health this will give you alot of free damage.
Just buy an early cull and try to poke him with first strike and stack gold with Q.
Once you get about 50% crit you can just walk him down with Kegs and passive resets.
Tahm Kench
He's pretty much unkillable in lane because of his E's shielding and infinite sustain.
He has very strong early trades because of his Q's slows and his passive's damage.
His W allows him to confortably all-in you and setup ganks.
Take TP and the Anti-Tank runes and focus on farming and stacking first strike gold, once you get your core items you can melt him with true damage.
Your W allows you to cleanse his ult.
Teemo
Very easy matchup.
Teemo is super squishy which means he's very killable early (specially with Grasp and ignite).
His blind doesn't prevent your Q
Once you get sheen he can't really win any exchanges, if you land any Kegs on him just ult and walk him down with ignite.
Once you get Essence Reaver and Collector you just make him vanish.
Trundle
You'll never beat him in a 1v1 which means you can't really match him in lane or in a sidelane.
His Q makes his trades very strong in the early levels since he's able to lower your AD whilst slowing you and dealing quite alot of damage, he'll always win long exchanges because of lethal tempo and his W.
Once he's level 6 he'll just ult you and murder you whenever you try to fight him and if he goes BORK you can never match him.
Your best bet is trying to survive lane and scale so you can win teamfights but he can just splitpush and eat all your turrets so yeah, good luck.
Tryndamere
He literally eats you alive.
Try taking Grasp with sorcery secondary, take nimbus cloak and exhaust.
Go for plated steelcaps, trinity force and items like frozen heart and anathema's chains.
Your goal is to just shut him down and match him in the sidelane, don't build crit because he'll just kill you anyways.
Udyr
Boring and uninteractive.
He's very hard to kill because of his W sustain and he has alot of aoe damage with his R which means he'll most likely shove you in.
But he can't really win an exchange against you if you use your kegs and passive resets properly.
You outscale him entirely so just take TP and First Strike (you can even start cull against him and just farm).
Urgot
I don't like this matchup...
He's very tanky and deals alot of damage, it's difficult to explode any Kegs against him because of his W and he has an execute which makes it very hard to win long exchanges against him.
You can orange out of his ult tho.
Try dodging his Q as much as possible and bait his E.
Place Kegs behind you and use yourself as a shield so he doesn't break your Kegs.
You can win if you use passive resets.
Vayne
Vayne like any ranged auto attacker can be very frustrating for GP since she can take out your Kegs with ease.
She does have damage early and her level 6 is really strong.
You might kill her if she messes up (specially if you have grasp and ignite).
Plated steelcaps is very good against her, try to go for early lethality after Essence Reaver since she's quite squishy.
Try to call out for ganks since she''ll most likely gonna be playing very aggressively.
Volibear
He has a very strong level 1 because of his passive (specially if he has lethal tempo).
It's quite difficult to kill him in lane because of his sustain in long exchanges and his shields.
He has alot of dive potential once he gets level 6 and he can kill you very quickly because of his high base damage.
You outscale him once you get crit, if you have good timing on your barrels you can just melt him.
Warwick
You can pretty much never beat him in a 1v1 and he's basically not killable in lane.
So just take first strike and but a cull, poke him to stack first strike and farm alot so you can outscale him.
Once you get some crit and executioners it becomes very hard for him to trade with you in melee range (If you're able to hit him with kegs and passive resets).
You outscale him in teamfights.
Wukong
Wukong can be a very tough matchup specially early game because of his strong level 1 trades with E.
He has alot of early attack speed and he has an auto attack reset which means it's difficult to explode any kegs against him.
His W allows him to go in and leave the exchange safely, giving you very little window to trade back.
Once he gets sheen it's even worse and his level 6 is one of the strongest in toplane.
Try to punish him while he doesn't have W up.
Yone
The only thing that makes him a threat in lane early is lethal tempo and long exchanges.
If you're able to poke him down with first strike and dodge his Q he instantly becomes quite easy to deal with early and he's even killable.
Once he gets some items he becomes a big threat specially in 1v1's.
Try to dodge his W and punish him while he doesn't have it.
Dodge his q's and try to hit him with passive and Q whenever he goes in with E.
If you dodge his ult you can punish him.
Try not to die early otherwise he'll run you over.
Serpent's fang is very strong against him.
Yorick
Can be very difficult because of his ghouls and his W.
His level 6 is very strong and he can destroy turrets like they are made of butter.
It's very difficult to fight him close range if he has ult and ghouls (he deals too much damage whilst being quite tanky).
Try to dodge his E in lane and not get trapped in his W.
Once you get crit you can try to win an exchange by using passive resets.
Zac
Just buy early executioner's and go for the Anti-Tank runes and you're good.
Amumu
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
He has an alot of stuns which set up your barrels and ultimate
Jarvan IV
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
Jarvan has a strong engage and his ult can leave immobile carries stuck which sets up your barrels.
Gragas
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
Lee Sin
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
Briar
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
Maokai
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
His ult is amazing to setup your ultimate and barrels.
Alistar
If he knocks an enemy into your barrel its great.
Braum
He can peel you which is pretty good and he has quite a good setup for your barrels and ult.
Blitzcrank
If he hooks someone into your barrel its a guaranteed kill
Nami
She can empower your damage and peel you.
If she lands bubble or ult you might get an easy barrel off.
Elise
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
She's great at setting up dives.
Bard
He can do a little bit of everything.
But his best synergy with GP is when he lands his Q on multiple targets (allowing GP to land an easy barrell) or when he lands a good ultimate on multiple enemies.
Janna
She can peel enemies away from you and if she lands her tornado you migh hit a barrel off of it but not much synergy.
Fiddlesticks
Your ult and barrels + his ult = deleting the enemy team
Ivern
He can peel you and he does have some short CCs which might result in you landing a barrel.
Karma
She has pretty good shielding and her slow can help you land a barrel.
Lulu
She has one of the best peel of any support but she doesn't have any setup for your barrels.
Lux
If she lands Q they are dead.
Morgana
If she lands Q they are dead.
Her shield can be quite useful to prevent CC and engages from the enemy team.
Malzahar
He presses R and they die if they dont have QSS.
Nautilus
One of the easiest engages and lockdowns of any support.
If he lands Q its a kill.
If he lands a good ult its a kill.
If he uses his passive properly its a kill.
Nunu & Willump
His ganking is great against immobile champions and he's arguably the best jungler at securing objectives
Karthus
He can ult to kill people you deal damage to and thats about it lol.
Brand
He just deals damage.
Hecarim
His ganking is good against immobile champions and he scales pretty well but he doesn't have much setup for your barrels.
Galio
He's great at preventing the enemy team from diving you.
Bel'Veth
Weak ass early game, her ganks are ok if she lands W.
Ekko
If he lands W its pretty easy to follow up with a barrel and he's quite good ad diving people.
Evelynn
Pretty bad early game and no setup at all for your barrels.
Kha'Zix
He might not have any setup but his follow up damage is god-like, he can easily kill squishy people early game if you land a barrel on them during the gank.
Kayn
He just farms alot and scales well but he has no synergy with GP unless he goes Rhaast and lands his W onto an enemy carry.
Graves
He deals damage.
Jhin
He can root people for you from very far away and his ultimamte follow up is actually very good.
Kindred
She has a lot of damage in ganks and her E slow might result in a kill.
Leona
One of the best lockdowns in the game.
If she lands a good ult on multiple people its GG.
Lillia
If she ults multiple people its GG.
Malphite
He has a strong engage that's good for setting up your Ult and barrels.
Aatrox
Buy raise morale and watch him end the world.
Cho'Gath
If he lands Q they're dead.
Gnar
If he lands a good ultimate on multiple people it's GG.
Illaoi
Her ult + your ult = strong teamfights
Kennen
His ult + your ult = strong teamfights.
Lissandra
She locks someone down and you delete them from existence.
Ahri
If she lands charm.
Anivia
Her Q can stun multiple people and her W can completely close choke points allowing for good ults and barrels.
Aurelion Sol
If he lands ult.
Azir
If he pushes people towards your barrels.
Camille
She's good at pickoffs.
LeBlanc
If she lands the double chain its pretty much a guaranteed kill.
Kled
One of the easiest engages in the game.
Buy raise morale and watch him terrorize the backline.
Ornn
One of the best teamfight ultimates in the game.
He can upgrade your items making you scale even harder.
Poppy
She's arguably one of the best tanks at shutting down enemy engage.
She also has great engage in chokepoints which might setup your ult and barrels.
Zyra
Her E and Ult can CC multiple people which basically means they die if you land a barrel or if you ult on them.
Vi
She excels at locking down that single important carry.
Rek'Sai
Great early game and one of the best ganks.
She knocks someone in the air and you wipe them out of existence.
Rammus
He has great engage and lockdown potential, and he's one of the few tanks that actually deal alot of damage.
Rell
She can stun multiple people which might result in alot of kills from your barrels and ultimate.
Pantheon
He has one of the easiest engages in the game with his W and he has tons of damage which basically means if you land a barrel and he uses W they are pretty much guaranteed to be dead.
Shen
One of the best tanks at peeling carries.
His taunt is great at setting up your barrels.
Swain
His E is basically a death sentence if he hits a priority target.
His ult is very strong together with your ult (specially if you buy raise morale).
Sona
Her ult can stun multiple people.
She has one of the best scaling in the game for a support and she has great peel.
Skarner
He literally pulls people into your barrels lol.
Rakan
He has great engage and his W can setup alot of kills.
Zilean
He is very good at peeling people and he has some strong lockdown and damge with his Q
Yuumi
She's good at turning you into an absolute powerhouse.
Seraphine
Her Ult and E are great at setting up kills.
She also has some of the best peeling and she does respectable damage for a support.
Neeko
She's very good at starting teamfights and her ult and E are great for setting up barrels.
Annie
If she stuns someone.
Nidalee
She deals damage (if she lands the spear).
Nocturne
He's great at starting teamfights, his early ganks are pretty strong if he manages to fear the opponent.
Warwick
If he hits his ult they're pretty much dead.
Zac
Great engage and setup for your barrels + he's a tank that can actually deal alot of damage.
Twisted Fate
His ult and gold card are just so stupid for setting up kills.
Xin Zhao
If he knocks them into the air you might be able to catch them.
He has pretty strong ganks early which is great for killing squishies.
Udyr
If he stuns someone.
Ashe
Her ult is great at setting up kills.
Caitlyn
Well her ult can help execute targets that might run away with low hp from your barrels.
Akshan
His ult can help finishing off kills and he can revive you but that's about it.
Akali
Nothing to offer.
Aphelios
Nothing to offer.
Cassiopeia
If she lands a good ult on multiple people but that's not very reliable.
Corki
His package is good for creating chaos in teamfights but he has nothing else to offer.
Darius
He has a short CC with his E and slow with W.
Diana
She has a strong engage and tons of damage.
Dr. Mundo
Probably the most useless tank in the game for engages or any kind of utility other than being a punching bag that soaks up damage.
Garen
Its Garen... do i really need to say anything else?
Master Yi
Nothing to offer.
Draven
Nothing to offer other than maybe finishing people off with his ult.
Ezreal
Nothing to offer other than maybe finishing people off with his ult.
Fiora
If you buy raise morale you can allow her to chase people down very effectively but that's pretty much it.
Fizz
His shark is very good at setting up kills.
Gwen
She deals damage and takes towers.
Heimerdinger
Maybe if he lands E.
Hwei
If he lands his root or fear it might result in a kill.
Irelia
She has strong engage and teamfighting and her stun can potentailly hit multiple people.
Jax
His stun is pretty easy to land and can hit multiple people (but it's quite short duration so yeah).
Jayce
He is good if you want to siege turrets.
Ziggs
He is good if you want to siege turrets.
Zoe
If she lands bubble its a kill.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Amumu
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
He has an alot of stuns which set up your barrels and ultimate
Jarvan IV
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
Jarvan has a strong engage and his ult can leave immobile carries stuck which sets up your barrels.
Gragas
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
Lee Sin
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
Briar
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
Maokai
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
His ult is amazing to setup your ultimate and barrels.
Alistar
If he knocks an enemy into your barrel its great.
Braum
He can peel you which is pretty good and he has quite a good setup for your barrels and ult.
Blitzcrank
If he hooks someone into your barrel its a guaranteed kill
Nami
She can empower your damage and peel you.
If she lands bubble or ult you might get an easy barrel off.
Elise
GP goes well with any junglers that can help him early with ganks (specially those who have their own gank setup and damage).
She's great at setting up dives.
Bard
He can do a little bit of everything.
But his best synergy with GP is when he lands his Q on multiple targets (allowing GP to land an easy barrell) or when he lands a good ultimate on multiple enemies.
Janna
She can peel enemies away from you and if she lands her tornado you migh hit a barrel off of it but not much synergy.
Fiddlesticks
Your ult and barrels + his ult = deleting the enemy team
Ivern
He can peel you and he does have some short CCs which might result in you landing a barrel.
Karma
She has pretty good shielding and her slow can help you land a barrel.
Lulu
She has one of the best peel of any support but she doesn't have any setup for your barrels.
Lux
If she lands Q they are dead.
Morgana
If she lands Q they are dead.
Her shield can be quite useful to prevent CC and engages from the enemy team.
Malzahar
He presses R and they die if they dont have QSS.
Nautilus
One of the easiest engages and lockdowns of any support.
If he lands Q its a kill.
If he lands a good ult its a kill.
If he uses his passive properly its a kill.
Nunu & Willump
His ganking is great against immobile champions and he's arguably the best jungler at securing objectives
Karthus
He can ult to kill people you deal damage to and thats about it lol.
Brand
He just deals damage.
Hecarim
His ganking is good against immobile champions and he scales pretty well but he doesn't have much setup for your barrels.
Galio
He's great at preventing the enemy team from diving you.
Bel'Veth
Weak ass early game, her ganks are ok if she lands W.
Ekko
If he lands W its pretty easy to follow up with a barrel and he's quite good ad diving people.
Evelynn
Pretty bad early game and no setup at all for your barrels.
Kha'Zix
He might not have any setup but his follow up damage is god-like, he can easily kill squishy people early game if you land a barrel on them during the gank.
Kayn
He just farms alot and scales well but he has no synergy with GP unless he goes Rhaast and lands his W onto an enemy carry.
Graves
He deals damage.
Jhin
He can root people for you from very far away and his ultimamte follow up is actually very good.
Kindred
She has a lot of damage in ganks and her E slow might result in a kill.
Leona
One of the best lockdowns in the game.
If she lands a good ult on multiple people its GG.
Lillia
If she ults multiple people its GG.
Malphite
He has a strong engage that's good for setting up your Ult and barrels.
Aatrox
Buy raise morale and watch him end the world.
Cho'Gath
If he lands Q they're dead.
Gnar
If he lands a good ultimate on multiple people it's GG.
Illaoi
Her ult + your ult = strong teamfights
Kennen
His ult + your ult = strong teamfights.
Lissandra
She locks someone down and you delete them from existence.
Ahri
If she lands charm.
Anivia
Her Q can stun multiple people and her W can completely close choke points allowing for good ults and barrels.
Aurelion Sol
If he lands ult.
Azir
If he pushes people towards your barrels.
Camille
She's good at pickoffs.
LeBlanc
If she lands the double chain its pretty much a guaranteed kill.
Kled
One of the easiest engages in the game.
Buy raise morale and watch him terrorize the backline.
Ornn
One of the best teamfight ultimates in the game.
He can upgrade your items making you scale even harder.
Poppy
She's arguably one of the best tanks at shutting down enemy engage.
She also has great engage in chokepoints which might setup your ult and barrels.
Zyra
Her E and Ult can CC multiple people which basically means they die if you land a barrel or if you ult on them.
Vi
She excels at locking down that single important carry.
Rek'Sai
Great early game and one of the best ganks.
She knocks someone in the air and you wipe them out of existence.
Rammus
He has great engage and lockdown potential, and he's one of the few tanks that actually deal alot of damage.
Rell
She can stun multiple people which might result in alot of kills from your barrels and ultimate.
Pantheon
He has one of the easiest engages in the game with his W and he has tons of damage which basically means if you land a barrel and he uses W they are pretty much guaranteed to be dead.
Shen
One of the best tanks at peeling carries.
His taunt is great at setting up your barrels.
Swain
His E is basically a death sentence if he hits a priority target.
His ult is very strong together with your ult (specially if you buy raise morale).
Sona
Her ult can stun multiple people.
She has one of the best scaling in the game for a support and she has great peel.
Skarner
He literally pulls people into your barrels lol.
Rakan
He has great engage and his W can setup alot of kills.
Zilean
He is very good at peeling people and he has some strong lockdown and damge with his Q
Yuumi
She's good at turning you into an absolute powerhouse.
Seraphine
Her Ult and E are great at setting up kills.
She also has some of the best peeling and she does respectable damage for a support.
Neeko
She's very good at starting teamfights and her ult and E are great for setting up barrels.
Annie
If she stuns someone.
Nidalee
She deals damage (if she lands the spear).
Nocturne
He's great at starting teamfights, his early ganks are pretty strong if he manages to fear the opponent.
Warwick
If he hits his ult they're pretty much dead.
Zac
Great engage and setup for your barrels + he's a tank that can actually deal alot of damage.
Twisted Fate
His ult and gold card are just so stupid for setting up kills.
Xin Zhao
If he knocks them into the air you might be able to catch them.
He has pretty strong ganks early which is great for killing squishies.
Udyr
If he stuns someone.
Ashe
Her ult is great at setting up kills.
Caitlyn
Well her ult can help execute targets that might run away with low hp from your barrels.
Akshan
His ult can help finishing off kills and he can revive you but that's about it.
Akali
Nothing to offer.
Aphelios
Nothing to offer.
Cassiopeia
If she lands a good ult on multiple people but that's not very reliable.
Corki
His package is good for creating chaos in teamfights but he has nothing else to offer.
Darius
He has a short CC with his E and slow with W.
Diana
She has a strong engage and tons of damage.
Dr. Mundo
Probably the most useless tank in the game for engages or any kind of utility other than being a punching bag that soaks up damage.
Garen
Its Garen... do i really need to say anything else?
Master Yi
Nothing to offer.
Draven
Nothing to offer other than maybe finishing people off with his ult.
Ezreal
Nothing to offer other than maybe finishing people off with his ult.
Fiora
If you buy raise morale you can allow her to chase people down very effectively but that's pretty much it.
Fizz
His shark is very good at setting up kills.
Gwen
She deals damage and takes towers.
Heimerdinger
Maybe if he lands E.
Hwei
If he lands his root or fear it might result in a kill.
Irelia
She has strong engage and teamfighting and her stun can potentailly hit multiple people.
Jax
His stun is pretty easy to land and can hit multiple people (but it's quite short duration so yeah).
This matchup is even worse in the midlane since he can roam around the map and you can't really do much about it since he'll always pressure you.
A solid ban for midlane, this matchup is pretty much an insta loss.
You should take a very passive setup with either TP or Exhaust and Fleet Footwork.
Since the lane is shorter you can maybe survive.
Akali
Pre-6 you spank her hard if you play correctly but once she gets some components and reaches level 6 it becomes hard since she deals alot of damage very fast and has many dashes (she can easily dodge your kegs).
Try to punish her as much as possible in the early levels and deny her cs and xp, if you get a lead on her you'll most likely solo kill her 24/7, try timing her second E with your powder keg for easy damage.
Anivia
You can't really kill her early because of her passive (unless your jungler ganks you).
She has more waveclear, range and arguably better trading potential in the laning phase so you'll most likely get pressured in this lane.
You can take either comet or first strike (although first strike is quite difficult to proc against her).
I would recommend taking TP and Demats so you can match her waveclear.
Once you get items you can kill her if you land kegs.
Annie
She's very squishy early game but deals respectable damage.
You can be aggressive in this lane with ignite and a setup like Aery or First Strike since she has low base health you might kill her early if you land kegs.
Her level 6 has a lot of kill threat specially if you get ganked, so try to never waste your W and always pay attention to her passive stacks.
Aurelion Sol
A test of time.
His earlygame is trash and you can easily clap him with a setup like Aery or Comet and gain a big xp and cs lead.
He's very immobile and vulnerable to ganks (his E movement pattern is also very predictable which means it's not hard to land your kegs on him at all).
He needs to stay stationary to use his Q which means free Kegs.
Try to get as much of a lead as possible and snowball the game because once he start getting passive stacks and items the game will become very hard.
Azir
Unplayable lane for GP.
He has non-projectile auto attacks (his auto attacks are instant which means you won't beat him in a timing battle for your kegs).
He has too much range and poke in the early game so you'll just get pressured and harassed under turret 24/7 and he has a pretty solid escaping tool with his E and R so gaking him can be pretty challenging.
His soldiers deal AOE damage which means he can hit you and your kegs at the same time.
I'd dodge this matchup.
Cassiopeia
This matchup is very hard since Cassio has quite a lot of range and her DPS is monstruous (you can't match her in a long exchange).
She's quite immobile and squishy early game but once she gets some items she can afford to remain quite tanky even whilst having monstruous DPS and teamfight potential with her ult.
Try not to get caught in her W since your orange won't cleanse it (because it's a lingering effect).
If you get hit by her Q don't try trading back because she will just win.
Try dodging as many Q's as you can and try to poke her down with Kegs from a range she can't really attack you from.
Once she's level 6 try to bait her R by walking in and then walking out.
If she lands R just cleanse it and try fighting back (unless you get hit by her Q, in that case just run away).
Boots of Swiftness can be very useful against her W's slow and her Rylai's (she will most likely build Rylai's).
Corki
Not really a threat to you unless he's 3-4 items or very ahead.
His early game is just sad, he barely has any damage in early levels (unless he's able to auto attack you alot or in case you stand in his E).
He's super squishy and has only a single escaping tool (his W) which has a long cooldown that allows you to punish him hard.
If you play correctly you can just shut him down within 15 mins and he'll be useless because he has pretty much 0 utility other than package which has a massive cooldown.
Be aware that after a couple components like pen boots and sheen he will start to deal meaningful damage so don't disrespect him entirely.
I would consider taking ignite in this lane and going for an aggressive setup since he's very killable in early levels.
Diana
Her early game can be quite strong due to her high base damage and shielding.
Be aware that her passive deals AOE damage which means she can hit both you and your Kegs at the same time which can make it difficult to time her.
Once she gets level 6 she has a formidable all-in pressure and ganking setup with her ult.
Try to poke her down in early levels and get any kind of lead (cs or xp).
Try using a cheater recall.
Exhaust is very good against her since it allows you to shut her all-in down.
She has good roaming so try to always ping your laners so they don't give her free kills.
Serpent's Fang and Maw can help against her in case she gets fed.
Ekko
Very similar to Diana but Ekko is a bit easier since his early game is weaker than Diana's.
Just don't disrespect his damage in the early game, try to dodge his Q and don't get caught in his W (his W is very dangerous because it sets up ganks for his jungler).
He has a lot of roaming and diving potential (specially at level 6) so try to ping your laners.
You should be trying to poke him in early levels (i would recommend taking Grasp and ignite our exhaust and playing aggressively in early levels).
Try to shove him in to prevent him from roaming.
In case he roams punish his turret by taking plates and shoving the wave in so he loses cs.
Fizz
Just take Grasp, Aery or First Strike and clap him in lane as much as possible in early levels since he's very vulnerable to poke.
Be aware of ganks and all-ins once he hits level 6.
Once he gets a couple components he starts dealing a lot of damage so try getting an item lead or building an early hexdrinker.
Galio
Pretty free matchup, his only real pressure is through ganks that you can easily escape by cleansing his taunt.
He gets countered by AD champions (like GP) since his whole kit is balanced around countering mages.
I would take the scaling setup with TP and just outscale him by constantly shoving the wave in preventing him from roaming around a lot.
In case he ults you can help your team with your own ult and you can punish his turret whenever he leaves lane.
Once you get some crit you can just shred through his health bar with passive resets.
Heimerdinger
Pretty boring lane that nothing happens, he'll just sit back with his turrets shoving the wave in and harassing you under turret.
If you can dodge his W and E he has basically no kill threat unless you walk into his turrets.
Just take a scaling setup and go for an early cull because you'll be sitting back and farming a lot in this lane.
Try to kill his turrets with your Q since they give you silver serpents and bonus gold.
He's very killable if your jungler ganks you.
Once you get some crit and lethality you start to oneshot him like most mages.
Hwei
One of those lanes that your win condition is based around how good you are at dodging skillshots.
If you can dodge his constant poke he's pretty much just a walking sack of gold, try to poke him with Q (specially after sheen) and try not to waste your poke on his shields.
He's super immobile which means it's not that hard to land kegs against him.
I would take comet and either tp or ignite.
If you land kegs try to go in for a Q or even passive auto attack and in case he fears you or roots you just cleanse it with W.
He becomes a bit dangerous once he has his first core item and once he gets ult.
He has more waveclear in early levels so you might get pressured under turret (that's why i would recommend taking demats in this lane).
Irelia
This matchup becomes much harder in the midlane since the shorter lane doesn't allow you to punish her as much as you would in toplane.
She can easily all-in you and she'll always beat you in a long exchange because of lethal tempo and her busted passive.
Just be aware of what minions in your wave are low in health so you don't get caught as easily by her all-in.
Try to time her Q with your kegs so you can trade with her.
Dodge her E and if she uses W try to not waste any Q's or E's (use your passive to damage her through her W since your passive deals true damage).
Bone Plating and Ignite are very good in this lane.
Jayce
Take TP and Fleet Footwork setup so you can survive his strong early game.
He's very vulnerable to ganks so try getting your jungler to gank you (specially if he uses both his E's since they are his only escape tools).
You might be able to trade back or even kill him if he misses his skillshots.
Katarina
LeBlanc
Lissandra
Lucian
Lux
Malzahar
Naafiri
Neeko
Orianna
Ryze
Sylas
Syndra
Taliyah
Talon
Twisted Fate
Veigar
Vel'Koz
Vex
Viktor
He can match your early game since his Q is just as spammable as yours but he gets a shield from his (which means you won't be dealing any damage with your Q poke if both of you press Q on eachother at the same time).
He has a non-projectile auto attack which makes it very difficult to win a timing battle if he plays correctly.
His early game wave clear is much better which means you're most likely gonna get shoved in.
His E is very hard to dodge.
I would recommend taking comet and minion dematerializer so you can match his waveclear.
Once you get crit items you can start matching him but be aware that his scaling is monstruous and he migh oneshot you if you don't itemize MR.
Vladimir
Xerath
You can oneshot him once you get some crit and lethality and all you have to do in this lane is be good at dodging skillshots.
Take comet and just try to poke him with your kegs, and call for ganks because he is very immobile.
Yasuo
Pretty favourable matchup for GP since you can pressure him and kill him early.
Take his passive shield away with your Q before trading with him.
Try baiting his W with your CTRL + 2 animation and once he's got no W all you have to do is land a Keg and go in with your passive.
Try not to fight long exchanges because he has lethal tempo.
Your W cleanses his Ult knockup.
Yone
Harder than Yasuo because his kit is broken and overloaded.
Take First Strike, Grasp or Aery in this matchup and ignite because he's killable early-game.
Sidestep whilst trading him so you can dodge his Q's, try not to fight long exchanges because he'll most likely smoke you with lethal tempo and auto attacks even if you dodge everything.
Try to bait his W and don't waste your Q on his shield unless you'll proc first strike from it.
Always try to hit him with passive resets as he goes in.
Once you get about 50% crit you just destroy him if you use your passive resets.
Ahoy pirates, im ThelpixG and welcome to my GP guide.
I am a brazilian Gangplank OTP and my peak was Masters by playing mostly GP Mid.
I've been playing GP since season 9 and im here to share my knowledge.
OK, but Why Should i play GP?
In case you're still wondering if you should give Gangplank a try or not.
Here are some Pros and Cons
+High AOE Damage Output +Amazing Scaling +Can Cleanse CC +Global Ult +Flexible Itemization +Fun to Play +Amazing waveclear +Can comeback if behind +Makes more gold than any other champion in the game
-One of the hardest champions to learn & master -Many bad matchups -Squishy -Has no escape tools -Totally reliant on his to deal damage -Vulnerable in the early game -No hard CC abilities -Long cooldown on his
Runes
Inspiration Tree:
First Strike is arguably the best keystone for Gangplank nowadays. It's very similar to the removed keystone but the main difference is that First Strike doesn't grant you consumables but amplifies your damage output which is always great for a damage oriented champion like GP.
You should always try to take first strike whenever possible but the best situations to use it are against champions you can reliably proc it.
First Strike is very effective against champions like Sion, Nasus, K'Sante since you're most likely always going to proc it against them but First Strike can be taken into bruiser matchups such as Renekton, Riven, Jax and many more!
Making it probably the most consistent keystone for Gangplank in most situations.
Another somewhat viable keystone in the inspiration tree for Gangplank is which can be taken for extra flexibility on your playstyle since it allows you to change the way you play based on what summoners you have.
Magical Footwear is one of my favourite runes for Gangplank since it allows me to save 300gold which allows me to reach my powerspikes sich as ,or faster. And to make it even better the offer you even more movement speed than traditional .
Triple Tonic Absolutely bonkers rune for Gangplank this should be taken whenever possible since it allows you to scale much faster due to the extra skill point and gold it provides.
Future's Market is a great rune for a champion like Gangplank since it allows the player to obtain his powerspikes such as sooner, and since GP's offers him bonus gold income, this means that GP can get away with the gold lost from future's market.
Biscuit Delivery is amazing for sustaining yourself through a tough matchup. It also grants you bonus mana permanently for each biscuit you consume and/or sell.
Minion Dematerializer is great for Gangplank in the midlane since it allows you to do what i call the Demat's Trick which consists of using all 3 demats on caster minions and purchasing a , and and the combination of these factors allows GP to oneshot the backwave very soon in the game which helps alot with matching the waveclear of midlane mages such as Viktor, Syndra, Orianna and Malzahar preventing them to shove the wave in and pressure you under turret 24/7.
Cosmic Insight nowadays is the only viable option for GP since got heavily nerfed and doesn't help Gangplank much. reduces your items and summonners cooldowns which allows you to have your , , or sooner which might save you from trouble.
Most people let this go unnoticed but also allow for faster procs which means more DPS.
Resolve Tree:
Grasp of the Undying Is the only viable keystone for Gangplank in the tree. Even after the patch 11.17 changes ( now counts as a ranged auto attack) is still a viable choice in some matchups like Fiora and Camille. Allows Gangplank to be much more threatening during laning phase, specially if he goes and items like and . It allows GP to match some strong early game champions like Aatrox better by making Gangplank much more oppressive and having better trade potential during the early levels.
Demolish Is the only viable rune from the first row of tree. It allows Gangplank to punish turrets more effectively, making his split-pushing much better and also allowing him to punish the enemy turret during laning phase and get turret plates which allow you to accelerate your power spikes even more.
Bone Plating Is a must pick against matchups like Renekton and Riven since it lowers the damage of 3 attacks and/or abilities from those champions. This keystone allows Gangplank to have more survivability against champions with strong all-ins.
Second Wind Is a great option against ranged champions like Lucian or champions with damage over time such as Teemo since it offers you additional sustain every time you take damage, which in combination with allows you to sustain yourself even through the toughest of lanes.
Conditioning Is not usually taken but can be very effective against hybrid damage dealers such as Jax and Gnar or in case you're gonna be facing an opponent in the sidelane who deals the opposite damage type of your lane opponent later on in the game.
Overgrowth Should be your main option 90% of the time from the third row of tree. Overgrowth offers Gangplank a lot of bonus health just from farming minions, and since GP is a champion who wants to farm alot this essentially means that later on you'll be pretty beefy from that extra health the rune gave you.
Revitalize Can be taken occasionally if your team has healers and shielders such as Soraka and Ivern (specially if you're against an ap champion because that will allow you to itemize to amplify even more the healing and shielding you receive).
Domination Tree:
Taste of Blood Offers you more lane sustain whilst trading damage with your lane opponent which might help Gangplank win more trades in lane.
Try to time taste of blood's cooldown with your so you get the most out of it.
Cheap Shot Offers Gangplank a little bit more damage on his and . It's not that great but hey, damage is damage so it does have some value.
Eyeball Collection Is amazing for a champion like Gangplank since GP has very high ad rations on his abilities (, and all have 100% ad ratios which basically means any point of ad matters). And since GP has a global ult, this means he can easily get stacks of eyeballs from kill participations from his ultimate.
Treasure Hunter Allows Gangplank to snowball even harder and reach his powerspikes even faster if he's able to get any kind of kill participations in lane from solokills or around the map from his . This rune in combination with and allows for the most gold income possible.
Ultimate Hunter Offers you cooldown reduction on your which is one of the highest cooldowns in the game. The combination of and allows for very short ultimate cooldown which means you'll probably have ultimate up 24/7.
Sorcery Tree:
Arcane Comet I have been taking this keystone for years (since season 9) and in my opinion it is amazing.
It's very similar to the removed mastery since it basically allows you to deal an extra burst of AOE damage on your abilities.
The best situation to use this keystone is as midlane Gangplank against mages such as Lux, Veigar and Aurelion Sol. With this keystone you should aim to begin your trades by hitting the enemy with since the slow from Powder Keg will pretty much guarantee that comet hits.
Since comet has quite a decent base damage and a somewhat decent ad ratio it scales pretty well with crit and lethality builds.
Nullifying Orb Functions similarly to since it grants you a small shield against magic damage once you take damage whilst under a certain amount of health. It's great against mages in the midlane such as Veigar and Syndra since it might give you extra time to fight back or leave the exchange.
Manaflow Band Is quite interesting for Gangplank since GP is a very mana hungry champion in laning phase specially if you're using your Q to harass the opponent.
Which makes this rune effective in setups that include other runes such as , and . It's also a great rune if you want to build since the bonus mana from the rune will convert into extra AD.
Nimbus Cloak A great rune for Gangplank against champions such as Tryndamere and Darius allied with summoners such as and since it allows you to space them and kite them during the exchange.
Transcendence Offers you free ability haste which lowers the cooldowns of all your abilities, which makes it great for a champion like Gangplank who is entirely dependant on his abilities to deal any meaningful damage to his opponents. It also partially refunds cooldowns whenever you participate in a kill which might allow for more kills in teamfights.
Absolute Focus Great for crit builds or just builds with lifesteal items such as since it offers free AD when at 70% health or higher which is good for Gangplank because of his high ad ratios.
Scorch Amazing rune for Gangplank when combined with Keystones such as or since it allows you to bully your opponent in lane even harder due to the extra damage you deal with your 's poke.
Gathering Storm In my opinion one of the best runes for Gangplank since games started to become a little bit longer (and most likely will be longer in the next season) due to recent changes. This means this rune now has much more value than before.
It shines in games where your team comp is more focused around scaling and it basically offers you free AD which is amazing for GP because of his high ad ratios.
Depending on how long the game lasts it might give you more AD than a full item.
Precision Tree:
Fleet Footwork Is actually pretty good for Gangplank. Offers you extra mobility and sustain in lane which helps alot in very difficult matchups such as Rumble or Quinn, or in the midlane against mages such as Syndra and Azir.
Fleet is generally taken alongside and .
Take Fleet whenever you're in a very bad matchup where you need more room to breathe.
Presence of Mind Probably the best option from the first row of runes from the tree for Gangplank since it offers very easy and effective mana sustain that can help a lot during the early game.
But once you get it's no longer needed.
Legend Alacrity It's pretty amazing for Gangplank most people underestimate how strong attack speed is on GP. It allows you to perform much smoother and faster combos with and allows for much easier passive resets and makes it harder for opponents to out-time you on your barrels.
Cut Down Best option from the third row most of the time. It offers you a lot of damage against any opponents who like itemizing health items or just champions who have a lot of health such as Sion, Cho'Gath and Kled.
Cut down should be taken against any tank matchups and is very effective against champions who will most likely itemize more health items than you.
Last Stand Very effective in tough matchups where you'll most likely going to be low on health frequently such as Azir, Akshan and Quinn.
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