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AP/AS Teemo - Poisonator (In Progress)

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Spells:

Ghost

Flash

Ability Order

Teemo Passive Ability

Introduction

So a lot of people ask me, "Why would you play Teemo?"
First of all, that's a pretty good question, as Teemo has changed a lot since beta and isn't the same champion he used to be. I think a good reason to play Teemo can be discovered simply by reading his lore...

As far as yordles are concerned, there is something slightly wrong with Teemo. While he enjoys - and in fact needs - the level of community and companionship inherent to all yordles, Teemo feels it so strongly that he ventures out on his own to destroy the enemies of Bandle City. There is something that switches off in Teemo, so that the lives he ends do not burden him. It seemed only logical to send him to fight in the League of Legends as the champion of Bandle City. He has taken to the League like a duck to water, seeking out the foes of the yordles and extinguishing them with the rare ajunta poison he personally gathers from the jungles of ***ungu. However, the limited company of his own kind wears on Teemo, and cracks are beginning to show in his innocent and chipper fade.

''Though he is known as the Swift Scout, it is clear that Teemo is actually something else - the unrepentant assassin of Bandle City.''

So basically what this means is that Teemo's been around his mushies a bit too long and is now insane. This makes hearing his cheerful banter all the more entertaining. After all, what is any champion good for if not amusing one-liners and deceptive cuteness? Have you PLAYED Rammus, Mundo, Annie, Kog'Maw, Amumu, Corki, Kennan, Trist or Urgot? Yeah, I thought so.

Even more often I'm asked the question, "Why would you play Teemo AP/AS? Why not just AP? Why not AD? Why not Tank? Why not six Sunfire Aegiss?" Etc.

Glad you asked. Why? Well, I always put fun ahead of anything else. AP/AS Teemo is fun if he is anything. You get to see big numbers all over the place and kill people from across the map, what's better than that? Kidding, but I have always had a soft spot for champions that can be built in different ways, specifically ones that have strange hybrid builds. I've also played hybrid builds on Jax, Kayle, Kennan, Blitzcrank, Kog'Maw, Corki, Ezreal, Nidalee, and a few others I'm not as proud of. Most of the time I played those builds when they were bad, and of course some of those champions are still not good when built hybrid, but it's never stopped me from giving it a shot.

That being said, I just happen to enjoy Teemo right now and decided to give him a go and write a guide. I'm not the best Teemo player in the world, or probably even in the town I live in, but I enjoy making a plan come together and feeling like I've accomplished something, so here it is.

I'm very open to criticism (especially the constructive kind) and will appreciate it if you have something to correct me on or give some further insight into the character that will help my guide out and get people more wins.

So let's get started with some simple Pros and Cons.

Pros / Cons

Pros

Cons

Skills

Q - Blinding Dart
Deals 80/125/170/215/260 (+0.8) magic damage and causes the target to miss all of their attacks for 1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds.
70/80/90/100/110 Mana
This is your single-target nuke and get-outta-jail-free card against any Yi or Yi-clones that feel like beating on you. Shoot them with this and they ain't hittin' s***. Combined with your E, this provides for some pretty intense damage, as the AP ratio is rather high (0.8).

W - Move Quick

Passive: Teemo's Movement Speed is increased by 10/14/18/22/26% unless he has been damaged by an enemy champion or turret in the last 5 seconds.
Active: Teemo sprints, gaining twice his normal bonus for 3 seconds. This bonus is not lost when struck.
40/40/40/40/40 Mana
Oh, move quick, how we love you. Since the change, this is actually now a passive/active kinda deal like Jax's ult, Trist's E, etc. Having it simply means that you'll run faster. Activating it is like a slower ghost with unit collision. Use this to quickly run in and get some shots off and then run out, to get away from the action in teamfights, and to just get away from ganks in general. Being so squishy, more movement speed definitely helps, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't watch for Xin's dash, Panth's stun, Maokai's stun, and abilities that would cause similiar problems.

E - Toxic Shot

Teemo's basic attacks poison their target, dealing 9/18/27/36/45 (+0.14) magical damage upon impact and 6/12/18/24/30 (+0.14) magical damage each second for 4 seconds.
Toxic shot is why you're such a good harasser early game and why you're able to do crazy damage later. This adds some magic damage to your autos and slaps on a DoT for four seconds afterwards. The scaling isn't that great, but it hits five times, so it's not really THAT bad, especially if you're able to continually hit people with this (It comes out to a total ap ratio of 0.7). We level this with priority, as it gives Teemo high sustained damage at a very early level. If you're not getting first blood with this, you may be doing something wrong.

R - Noxious Trap

Uses a stored mushroom to place a trap which detonates if an enemy steps on it, spreading poison to nearby enemies which slows movement speed by 30/40/50% and deals 250/475/700 (+0.8) magic damage over 4 seconds. Traps last 10 minutes.
Teemo forages for a mushroom every [variable] seconds, but he is only big enough to carry 3 at once.
75/100/125 Mana
SHROOOOOMS! Once you get these, you wanna start setting up your empire immediately. Place a shroom in that bush that you're worried about, on the side of the lane, where someone might run through (while you're chasing them down), or just lay one down before a blitzcrank tries to grab you and laugh when he gets a bomb in the face. CDR makes these babies stack up faster, so it is definitely useful on Teemo. Put these all over the place. In the jungle, near dragon and baron, in the river, and in crucial gank/escape routes. The damage is high and the slow can win your team some kills. Better yet is when those low champs flee from the fight only to run straight into one. You have slain an enemy!

Camouflage

Passive - Camouflage

If Teemo stands still and takes no actions for 3 seconds, he becomes stealthed indefinitely. After leaving stealth, Teemo gains the Element of Surprise, increasing his attack speed by 40% for 3 seconds.
This is a pretty decent passive because it allows you to be in fights that nobody expected you to be in, but only if you're able to accurately predict the location of said fights. The attack speed boost is also nice and goes along with our focus, so we appreciate it. Mostly when I use this it's before minions have reached the lane and enemy champs are likely to be in the vicinity soon. Remember the rules of stealth (You can still be hit by AoEs!) and you should be fine, just don't plant yourself somewhere out of formation or too far in.

A Note on Playstyle

Now that you've seen Teemo's skills, it's very important that you understand how to play this character. You are not a fighter. You are not a tank. You don't belong in the frontlines, EVER. NEVER EVER EVER EVER fight close to the Olafs, the Garens, the Yis, and the Jaxes OR the Rammuses, the Shens, the Amumus and the Galios. This is the most important thing you have to keep in mind when playing Teemo. You're small, you're fast, and you should be able to stay out of sight long enough to get the job done. Your tanks have taunts, slows and stuns for a reason. If they know what they're doing, they should be using them to allow you to rip everyone a new one, whether it be by disabling that fiddle's ult or stopping that pesky sivir from getting away. For those ranged annoyances, you have your blinding dart, and I will hold you responsible for your own death if an Ashe kills you because you didn't blind her.

Runes, Masteries, Summoner Spells

Runes

Marks

Greater Mark of Insight x9

We use because a majority of Teemo's damage is magical. , and all do magic damage, so we want that damage to be higher first and foremost.

Seals

Greater Seal of Alacrity x9

This one is debatable. A lot of people like their hp/lvl and dodge seals, and I can respect that. However, given our intended playstyle, we're going for all or nothing on the offensive side here, and I prefer a bit of extra attack speed instead of some minor AP boosts.

Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Potency x9

Blues are better for mages, so of course we're going to grab the AP ones here. Another good option is for maximum mushroom capacity, but I'll leave that one up to you. I just prefer the high AP early game.

Quintessences

Greater Quintessence of Potency x3

Like I said before, more AP is more damage, and an additional 15 is nothing to scoff at. Other decent options are or, if you're really hardcore about them and can't seem to give them up, . has also been suggested to me, but it seems to detract a bit from your early game damage, which is when you're going to really dominate and when you need to get fed. It is not THAT much different, however, and is a viable alternative.

Masteries

9/21/0

Okay, so I know I said that we were going for all or nothing with Teemo, but stay with me for a few here. Obviously we want to go at least 9 points into offensive to get the magic penetration from , along with the sweet CDR from . I wish we could pick up , but we have bigger fish to fry in the Defense tree. paired with are decent, assuming a dodge ever procs. gives you a bit more security early game, as do and , but it's really worth nothing later. What we really want is ; the attack speed and AP bonuses fit perfectly with our build, and we're even able to pick up to make it a bit sweeter. This is the mastery tree I usually use, but there is a bit of debate over the subject.

9/0/21

Here's a more conservative set-up: your run of the mill mage/utility build. Again, we take the magic pen and CDR from offense, but now we go to Utility. Teemo gains some mana regeneration from Preservance and , which does help a bit during mid and late game, when you'd otherwise have to blue pill after a long day of mushroom planting. Additionally, we take movement speed from , extra experience from , longer buffs from , and improved versions of my favorite summoner spells, ghost and flash, with and , respectively. and are also beneficial, but not that amazing. This build gives you better mana management and a better safety net to help you out of ganks. I use these masteries whenever I'm not using the first set.

21/0/9 (A.K.A. "F*** THA POLICE")

If you're upset about my discontinuity and want to be purely offensive, feel free to give this a shot. I'm not saying it's going to be pretty, but you asked for it. You don't have the security from the defensive or utility trees, but at least you've got a bit more damage, right? I dunno, I don't suggest this one.

Summoner Spells

Flash is such a good spell to have on Teemo. There's a hundred different ways to use this spell, be offensive or defensive. Escape a gank at the last second, Flash out of a teamfight to de-taunt those zealous fighters, flash to a better strategical position or to get in range of a squishy you previously couldn't reach. I'm telling you, take this, you WILL use it and it WILL help you.

Ghost is similar to flash in that it helps you get away or get to where you need to be faster. On top of that, it allows you to run through creeps, which could potentially save your life or cause an enemy to lose theirs. Again, great escape tactic, good stuff.

Acceptable

Ignite is good because it synergizes with our DoTs and can be situationally effective against champions that can heal. Oftentimes Ignite will net you a kill on someone who would otherwise escape with a sliver of health, so it can be useful.

I see a lot of Teemos take Teleport and use it to port to their mushrooms for various reasons. That's fine, I'm cool with that. If that works for you, keep doing it, but I don't find it as useful as some simple escape mechanisms.

Exhaust is a spell that I swear by, even after the change, so I can't say it's not good. Being able to disable an enemy champion is always a valuable skill to have.

Cleanse is okay, but I usually find that I die way too fast for it to be useful, and that I'd be better off just avoiding a sticky situation entirely.

Not Recommended

Don't get Smite as Teemo, just don't do it, man.

Heal, in my opinion, is generally for lower-level situations. I have seen it used skillfully before, but generally players don't take this.

Only get Revive if you're getting Smite as well...
And you're playing Evelynn.

Clarity isn't all that useful on Teemo, as a lot of his damage doesn't require a whole lot of mana to inflict. Sometimes planting shrooms can cause a drought, but just head back to the fountain every now and again and you should be fine.

Save for Rally, these are all pretty good and widely used spells, but leave it to the support players; you need to survive!

Item Build/Strategy

Starting the Game/Early Game

1. Doran's Ring *CORE* - 475g I prefer the mp5 and AP early game to make Toxic Shot that much more deadly. Along with the health, Doran's items are solid picks for first items, even after the changes.
2. Berserker's Greaves *CORE* - 920g As I explain below, Boots of Swiftness is another good option, but these give you a pretty solid attack speed at early levels and Move Quick usually makes up for the slightly lower movement speed.
3. Malady *CORE* - 1825g This should be a staple in any AP/AS Teemo build, as it gives exceptional attack speed and the passive is pretty good. 24 MR off of a champion is great, especially on top of your Magic pen masteries and runes.

Pick up a (Or a if you insist that the AP isn't worth it) and head into the lane. Your initial goal is to accumulate 920 gold and go pick up your , but if you have gotten some kills you might be able to grab a few s or an Amplifying Tomb towards your . Every time you go back, I suggest grabbing 2-3 s to keep you in your lane through thick and thin.

You may want to pick up is certain games to allow you to more easily run away from champs who can chase.

You shouldn't ever need any Sight Wards as Teemo, since you've got your s. However, if you're feeling especially nervous about a jungler or have been ganked a few times before hitting level six, go ahead and pick one up.

Also, now is the time to be grabbing a if you're laning against a Twitch, Evelynn, Shaco, or maybe even another Teemo. I strongly suggest you grab one in these cases to make them cry to themselves every time you slap a onto them while they sneak around.

Try to lane with someone who has a stun and can take some damage for you. Good lane partners are Rammus or Sion. If you've been placed in mid for a reason unbeknownst to you, don't panic, you can do this. Play to your strengths, but be careful. You don't have anyone to save you if you screw up, so you can either be really careful or really aggressive.

At level 6, start filling up your lane's bushes and the nearby section of river with s. Don't look at an attempted gank as a problem, but as a gift from the enemy team. After all, it's another possible kill for you, and with the help of hallucinogenic drugs, anything is possible.

Mid Game

4. Nashor's Tooth *CORE* - 2885g This item completes your core build. I usually build Stinger first, but that's just me; I doubt it makes much of a difference in the long run. This item is perfect for us because it's got everything we want, and a lot of it!
5. Guinsoo's Rageblade - 2235g Although not technically in the core build, this is what I build next about 80% of the time. The attack damage isn't great, but it doesn't hurt. This item really shines because of the stacking buff it provides. With it, you should be close to a 2.500 attack speed.

By the time you have , you'll be a force to be reckoned with. Don't let that get to your head, though. It's still important to stay cautious and let the tanks do their work.

At level 9, will do a lot of damage, so target those squishies and drop anyone who steps too far. Remember to the physical guys and to use your tools (, , ) to escape when you need to.

Now that your core build is complete, you need to start thinking about what you need to buy in order to best counter your enemies...

Situational Items

Offensive

Wit's End - 2150g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: Pick one of these babies up if the enemy team is full of casters and magic damage. You can some decent MR and the unique effect drains mana of those pesky mages. That on top of a good chunk of attack speed makes this a good pick for magic teams.

Madred's Bloodrazor - 3800g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: Yes, bloodrazor is expensive. However, against high-health teams and champions, this thing is almost a must. Sure, you do good damage now, but imagine how much damage you would do if every one of your attacks (5 every two seconds) drained an additional 2-3% (Factoring in MR) of champion's health? That's 10-15% of a champ's health (every 2 seconds) on top of what you're already doing with your autos and poison. Seems like a no brainer against champions like Shen and Cho'Goth.

Hextech Gunblade - 3625g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: So it looks like you've been in this game for 30-40 minutes and the enemy team has started building MR and finally takes you seriously. This item gives you some vamp stats and some attack damage to heal you a bit and switch up the damage type. The active's not so bad, as it can help with your getting away tactics. Just an all-around good item.

Rabadon's Deathcap - 3600g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: So it looks like you've been in this game for 30-40 minutes and the enemy team is completely oblivious to your presence and has no idea why you have 18 kills and no deaths. Just get this and keep doing what you're doing.

Defensive

Zhonya's Hourglass - 3300g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: You wanna pick this up if the enemy team starts picking you out and killing you first, ESPECIALLY if the team has a lot of physical deeps. That active can be used every team fight and get the focus off of you if stuff starts looking really bad. Armor helps too, but did I mention the ability power?

Frozen Mallet - 3250g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: From what I understand, a teemo with this item can be quite annoying. Obviously, the health and attack damage are okay, but this item really kicks peoples' s***s because of the unique slow it provides. With and a slow, it's no wonder this works well. Give it a shot if you need some help surviving and want to kite better.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter - 3105g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: This item is not THAT great on teemo, but it gives a good amount of HP and AP, so it's not terrible either. Remember that, for some reason, this item does not consider 's damage to be magical, so you're not going to get some ultra-slow when you combine this with . Obviously, and WILL trigger this slow, but it's not that strong and you can't reliably keep it on.

Banshee's Veil - 2715g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: B-Veil is good because it allows you to absorb a stun or some other initiation that might be attempted on you, but don't expect it save your life DURING a teamfight. Of course, the HP and MR helps, but this one has no offensive benefits, so keep that in mind.

Oracle's Elixir - 400g

WHEN AND WHY YOU BUY: This one is really specific. ONLY get this early game if you're having trouble with ANOTHER TEEMO in your lane. Stealth champs can be dealt with with a simple , but I can say for sure than having an enemy teemo kill all of your shrooms really hurts your game and your feelings. If an enemy teemo does this to you, you WILL be upset and you WILL cry about it.