TL;DR text will be in ORANGE.

*This guide is not %100 complete, I am simply releasing it early as Blitzcrank will be free this week. I plan on making some videos to accompany a more indepth strategy section at a later time.

This is my first guide for League of Legends. I'll try to be as clear as possible and explain all my decisions, but let me know if there is anything I can improve.

Blitzcrank is probably my favourite character in the League. During my third match or so (I've been playing since shortly after launch) I was completely dominated by a Blitz and I've been fascinated with the character ever since.

After saving up my first 6300 IP I purchased him and fed like crazy. I had no idea what I was doing, I couldn't land a skill shot to save my life, and so I moved on to other characters. Due to this experience, I really don't recommend Blitzcrank to new players. You need to be able to predict enemy movements and land skill shots consitently and confidently. If you want to get good at skill shotting I suggest you go play Dr. Mundo for a while.

On to the guide!

Blitzcrank can be built in just about any way you want. You can buy random items from the store all game and it'll be usable. AD Carry, Mage, Pure Tank, it all works.

I've worn many hats in my time as Blitzcrank, but I find playing a "light" tank to be the most useful to a team. You'll serve as team fight initiator, kill-setter-upper, enemy team disruptor, and bodyguard to your team's carry. While you can serve as the only heavy character on your team in a pinch, having another primary tank or "light" tank to share the task of damage soaking will make your job much easier.

For runes I focus on stats that remain useful all game.

Greater Mark of DesolationArmor Penetration Marks and Greater Quintessence of DesolationArmor Penetration Quintessences allow you to deal near true damage with your Power Fist and auto attacks early game, and keep your damage relevant later on.

Armor Seals allow you to soak up a lot more auto attacks and creep fire than you otherwise would, and Magic Resist Glyphs mitigate a lot of enemy harassment. Blitzcrank is deceptively weak early game, so these in combination with a couple of potions will keep you in your lane much longer than a naked robot.

Another option for Quintessences are Movement Speed Quintessences. Combined with the Quickness Mastery and Overdrive, you'll be rocketing across the map, at the cost of a little damage.

My Mastery choice for Blitzcrank is a pretty standard 9/0/21.

Focus on Cooldown Reduction, Mana Regen, and other Utility skills, as well as the amazing 15% Spell Penetration in offense.

I take Greed (shh haters) over a second point in Utility Mastery, because I feel that Blitzcrank really doesn't need either buff, and they should be handed over to an ally who can make better use of them. The extra 200 gold over the course of a game really can be handy, even though if you don't notice it.

Building Blitzcrank is fairly easy. The main obstacle is going to be your lack of Gold. Blitzcrank is pretty bad farmer unless left completely on his own, so you're likely going to end up with the lowest CS besides a pure support such as Soraka.

Sheen.

It doesn't matter how you build, or how you play, just rush this item on Blitzcrank. Always. It's just too good on him. Cost? Cheap. Mana? Great. AP? Decent. Passive? Destroys Faces.

Once I have my Sheen, I'll buy some Boots (or Ionian Boots of Lucidity if I can buy them immediately).

Next, my build already starts to diverge. If I'm getting denied or laning with a CS ***** like Ashe, I buy a Philosopher's Stone (at some point upgrade it to a Eleisa's Miracle for the Tenacity) and then a Catalyst the Protector. If my lane has a couple kills or I'm getting a good number of minions, I skip the Stone and just grab the Catalyst. Both items are great for letting you hang onto a lane forever. I then get my Boots of Lucidity if I hadn't already.

A Glacial Shroud is usually my next purchase. It bumps up your mana pool and allows you to take some hits from the angry AD carry you just Rocket Grabbed. The extra Cooldown Reduction brings you to 39%CDR, which is near enough the max that it makes no difference.

Then I upgrade Catalyst to Banshee's Veil. It's just plain overpowered.

That's the core build done ( ). The rest of the items depend on what will make you the most useful to your team based on how the game has gone. Is your team being destroyed by a fed Vayne? Upgrade your Shroud into a Frozen Heart and slow her attacks down. Arm being chewed off by Annie's bear Tibbers? Force of Nature. If you're super fed, or the game is just dragging on forever, upgrade your Sheen into a Trinity Force.

Really, Blitzcrank is extremely flexible, and best built with a mindset of being A) cost efficient and B) countering your enemy. Do not simply stack cookie cutter items that sound good.

*cough* Manamune *cough*

Max out your Rocket Grab. It's why you're playing Blitz in the first place. Some people say you only need one rank in it, but PLEASE rank it up first. Ranking it up doesn't cost any more mana. Ranking it up lets you throw more Grabs out. Ranking it up not only drags that Ashe into your team, but soften her up for your team to burst her down before she Flashes away. Max Rocket Grab.

Your second priority is Power Fist. A lot of your damage output is going to be coming from your Power Fist + Sheen combo, so having it back every couple seconds is a huge boon. It's cheap, spammable, and hits like a truck.

For Overdrive, I usually only get one rank until I have everything else. One rank is enough to give you a huge amount of mobility, and you're not going to need the increased attack speed for much other than wailing on turrets. Better to get your Grab n' Fist up first.

Obviously, rank up Static Field whenever you can. It's great for that extra bit of burst, it interrupts channels (like Fiddlesticks' Ultimate), and the passive stings quite a bit in a 1v1 fight. With max CDR, it's also very spammable.

Almost always Exhaust and Flash.

Exhaust brings you to a total of four Crowd Control abilities. Grab/Stun, Knockup, Silence, and slow. Exhaust also partially shuts down the AD carry that's owning your team, allowing your team to safely burst them down.

Flash is of course a lame escape spell, but it's also an amazing offensive combo with Rocket Grab, as it's virtually impossible to anticipate.

Ghost synergises with Overdrive, but as you already have Overdrive in the first place, the need for more speed is lessened. It's still a decent pick.

Ignite is better taken for shutting down regen and lifesteal champions ( Dr. Mundo, Swain, AD Sion, etc. I don't advise getting it just for the sake of damage. You're job is to bring utility, not damage.

Blitzcrank can solo if he really has to, but ideally he should always duo lane.

As Blitz, you'll benefit from laning with a character that has one or more of the following; Crowd Control, high burst damage, or harassment that ignores minions.

Basic strategies for each:

Crowd Control: Rocket Grab someone into a turret, and keep them locked down until they die. It feels really cheap.
High Burst Damage: Rocket Grab someone to your ally, let them wail on your victim, help as best you can.
Harassment: Get your partner to poke them until they come out from their minions, then Rocket Grab them.

TL;DR Rocket Grab.

Here are some examples of good laning partners.

Alistar: Double knockup, lots a burst, lots of position manipulation, lots of fun.
Ashe/other AD carries: Generally they'll just farm. As Blitz, you'll protect them and try to zone out the enemy.
Cho'Gath: More double knockup, double silence, huge burst damage.
Garen: Garen shreds health bars early game, he just lacks in the CC department, so it's your job lock the enemy in place.
Jarvan IV: Another triple CC champion, he'll probably want top or jungle, but he works well with Blitz.
Mordekaiser: He shines when the enemy is cowering behind minions, you shine when they venture out. All bases covered.
Rumble: Massive DoT, he functions much like Garen early game.
Singed: Fling, Rocket Grab. Easy.
Sion: Stun, grabs, turrets, etc. Not fun to face.
Xin Zhao: Great early game combat, you keep people from getting away.

This is of course just a handful of suggestions. Just about anyone can lane well with a Blitz. Support tends to be weakest. but it's still workable.