Hello people, I am Pingku and this is my first build on Mobafire. First I'd like to remind you all that stuff I write here about are my opinions. If you disagree with something I say or you have improvements to this guide, feel free to comment. I hope you enjoy my guide and find it effective in-game too. Please comment and rate, but only if you have tested this build first.

So, why Blitzcrank?
I just feel it's the right champ for me. First of all, I love to trifle with my opponents and Blitzcrank suits that purpose well. Just when opponents think they are safe, moving together in group on midlane, I grab one of them over some terrain, pop him in the air with some lightning bolts following and then look how he/she tries to run away if not dead yet.

The second reason is, that Blitzcrank can be played many different ways. Though this guide includes only AP/CDR/Mana build, I love champions that are versatile and not stuck on one possible build option. Also I like the synergy of stuff on Blitzcrank but more about that later.

The last and maybe the most important reason why I like to play Blitzcrank is because he looks so cool and is so fun to play. I'm not the player who just picks the most effective champion in the game (not saying that Blitzcrank isn't one though). I like to play champions that I find fun to play and maybe not the most popular. After choosing one and maybe reading some guides here on Mobafire, I can start tuning my own, unique build on that champion.

Why AP?
Sometimes I don't like sticking to the mainstream. Since most people play Blitzcrank as AD/Mana, then hell yeah I wanna go for AP, if it's a viable option. Also it would be stupid to write another AD/Mana based guide to Mobafire, since there are so many already.

And if someone wants one more reason, I really find AP build more effective than AD. Some of you might disagree with this and it's okay. Maybe AP just fits my playstyle better. I have played Blitzcrank as AD too but AP just felt better. It felt like it was "my way" to play Blitzcrank. Your way might be AD and it's just good. Even though I wanted to share my knowledge in Mobafire, I don't want every Blitzcrank to be AP. It would kinda take some shine away from playing AP Blitzcrank. I think you all get my point. :)

2011-03-15:
Published the guide

2011-04-11:
Few fixes to the guide:
- Added this Updates-chapter
- Shurelya's Battlesong swapped to Banshee's Veil. Found this more useful, better survivability, more mana and health, more AP due to Archangel's Staff, and very strong passive.
- Re-wrote some parts a bit. Also wroted some new parts like "Why AP?" in Introduction-chapter.
- Almost added a chapter for items, but found it useless: I don't want to write about situational items for this build since I find this item build very solid and very rarely buy my items differently. In fact, only thing I consider changing is when opposing team has strong crowd control. In that case I will swap Boots of Swiftness for Mercury's Treads. If some people don't like my item build or find better items, then they can swap items of course. I just personally find this build tuned near to perfection, at least for my playstyle.

2011-09-27:
Updating the guide:
- Updated some facts like final AP and mana cap with full build, since some items have changed in latest patches.

Things to add in the future:
- I'm thinking about adding tank and AD build to this guide too.
- I might also add Items-chapter later, even though I thought this guide doesn't need it.

Blitzcrank can be built very different ways, so here I tell how I meant this build to be played:

- This is not a tank build. It has some tanking capabilities (maybe off-tank), but your team should have a real tank too.

- Initiator. You will be the one to start the fight by grabbing enemies with Rocket Grab and bringing them to you and your teammates. You might not have the highest kill count but loads of assists at least if played right.

- Burst Damage. During late game this build's damage will be good and you can kill lower HP champions with fast burst by spamming Rocket Grab -> Power Fist -> Static Field. And if the enemy doesn't die yet you probably are able to pursuit and finish him/her.

- CC Support. If enemy team is running away, you can catch and slow down one of them so your team can get a kill (if your damage isn't enough to get kill by yourself).

Even though you can get single kills alone with burst, you also need a team that knows what you are able to do, so that they are ready to strike when you pull one lonely wanderer to that brush your team is hiding in.

Pros
+ Versatile champion
+ Great initiator
+ Good crowd control
+ Grab + Fist combo is great near turrets
+ Nice passive
+ Abilities in good harmony, you will find them all very useful
+ Great synergy of items, abilities and masteries
+ Fun as hell to play

Cons
- Hard to master
- Needs good team communication
- Mana hungry
- Not too good farmer during early game
- Basically a hybrid champ (can do lots of stuff, but isn't the best one in any area)

Here I added short summary of Blitzcrank's abilities:

Rocket Grab
Definitely Blitzcrank's main ability. This is what makes your enemy afraid of you and your team love you, given that you can use it well. I could write a whole guide about this ability, but I want you to learn the finesse of it by yourself. So I just say few things:
- It can be used effectively to grab enemies through walls. Having someone to scout the other side of wall makes this easier, if there are no minions. Also this is the reason why you should consider picking Clairvoyance.
- Using Power Fist right after a grab makes you a nice combo
- During early game, use it to pull enemies to your turret. In experienced player games it wont be easy, since opponents know the trick and hide behind minions.

Overdrive
I'm mostly boosting movement speed with this since this build doesn't raise attack damage at all. During late game this will be active almost all the time and you will probably be the fastest character in your team. I put one point on it before level 6, but after that I don't raise it until I have to.

Power Fist
An ability that works well with your grab. Raising the level only decreases cooldown, but that really doesn't matter. Good crowd control and with low cooldown, it will be hard for your opponents to run away.

Static Field
Good ability to finish your damage burst after Grab + Fist combo. If you are pursuiting an enemy and there is no minions around, you might want to let passive effect hit a few times before activating to ensure you get a kill. Also good way to farm minions during late game. Just activate it in the middle of the group and they all perish. With low cooldown it doesn't feel like wasting the ulti.

Mana Barrier
Some champions have bad passive abilities but Blitzcrank's is awesome. It gives you the lacking survivability so you don't need to buy defensive items. Gets boosted by mana items, which makes it even better on this build.

Okay let's start the build with stuff that is handled before joining the field. With runes I tried to overcome some weaknesses that Blitzcrank might have.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
- Marks help with your damage output, since you get some magic penetration.

Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration
- Blitzcrank can be mana hungry, especially with cooldown reduction. He also needs mana for his passive so mana regen is important.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction
- I picked CDR runes here because I don't want to focus too much on buying CDR items. I rather buy AP items to boost damage.

Greater Quintessence of Health
- I use these quints on most of champs because they give some boost to survivability for early game.

For masteries I wanted to go 9/0/21:

Offense: I used points to boost magic damage and CDR, with one point on Cripple, since I use Exhaust spell:
- Cripple
- Archmage's Savvy (3)
- Sorcery (4)
- Archaic Knowledge

Utility: I focused mostly on boosting mana, regens and CDR. 3 points on Quickness helps, because Blitzcrank has base movement speed of 300 (base movement speeds vary from 300 to 330):
- Good Hands (1)
- Perseverence (3)
- Awareness (1)
- Expanded Mind (4)
- Greed
- Meditation (3)
- Quickness (3)
- Blink of an Eye
- Intelligence (3)
- Presence of the Master

These are the spells that I recommend on this build. If you choose your spells differently than me, remember to change masteries too to fit your new spells.

My Primary Picks

Flash
My first pick is Flash, because it's just great all-around spell. You can use it when you need to escape or pursuit someone. You can also use it to get closer to enemy right before grabbing them.

Exhaust
My second pick is Exhaust. It is good when you wanna slow down enemies and enemies will have hard time trying to run from you when you have Rocket Grab, Power Fist and Exhaust. Works well also after grabbing enemies to your turret.

Secondary Picks

Clarity
Some people say this is a must spell on Blitzcrank. I find it nice but not necessary. Mana problems occur during early game so this spell isn't useful later on. On level 18 it gives 700 mana, which is less than 1/5 of maximum mana of this build (3785). I'm not spamming abilities during early game, so I don't have too bad mana problems.

Personally I pick this one only if I know that I'm going to lane with someone who also needs a lot of mana. Early game it helps but I just don't need it too much because I got runes. And if you are grabbing mana buff a lot, then it's useless. But if you like it, then go and pick it. :)

Clairvoyance
I like this spell on some champions who can use abilities over terrain and stuff. It's also good for scouting spots like Golem, Dragon or Nashor. Could work with Rocket Grab though enemies can see when you use the spell. Not a bad choice at all.


Other Spells
The rest of the spells I find pretty much useless when comparing to the four above. Teleport could be used, but since you have Overdrive and Boots of Swiftness you can move between lanes pretty fast.

I don't like going middle lane with Blitzcrank because his grab hits on first unit it touches so enemy could just hide behind creeps and maybe do some harrassing. There probably will be some better character to mid in your team so I wrote here about laning on top or bottom.

So, preferably you want to be on same lane with a carry who can get fed with your help. Buy Regrowth Pendant from shop to get some early health regen, so you dont have to come back right when you take damage. I don't usually buy mana potion though Blitzcrank might have mana problems, you can buy if you feel like it.

Wait until level 2 so you get your Grab + Fist combo ready. Try not to push too far from your turret so when there's opportunity you can grab enemy to your turret and start hitting. If enemies are not careful you might get a kill or two this way. Also use your Power Fist to last hit minions. When you can afford go and buy Boots and upgrade your Pendant to Philosopher's Stone to get money faster. Try to do this on lvl 5 so you have one point on Overdrive and can get back to lane faster.

Next up you wanna upgrade boots to Boots of Swiftness and buy Tear of the Goddess. Now you will start getting mana. In this point I spam abilities just to boost Tear. Blitzcrank's abilities don't need target so they can be spammed while going back to lane etc.

If you got some kills with your lane partner during early game, you can push towards enemy turret. Your ulti's passive helps with this since it hits enemy minions. Don't use it's active on minions yet, because it won't deal too much damage. Try to put some pressure on enemies and take their turret down. If you go hit their turret be careful because if your ulti hits enemy champion, turret will start hitting you.

If you get the first turret down you can start building ganks on other lanes. Push minions a bit so they wont reach your turret too fast and you are ready to go. Blitzcrank makes a great ganker with Grab + Fist so use this combo well. After some roaming around other lanes go to shop. Buy Sheen and start upgrading your Tear of the Goddess to Archangel's Staff. If opponents have lots of physical damage you might want to buy Glacial Shroud before Staff. Go kill Mana Golem also to get mana regen and great CDR bonus. Golem buff also helps your mana farming since you can spam abilities faster and still have full mana all the time.

Keep setting up ganks or just helping teammates. Your Boots of Swiftness and Overdrive give you awesome movement speed, so you can move between lanes really fast. If your AP is high enough, you can kill entire group of minions with Static Field's active.

When you can afford upgrade your Sheen to Lich Bane. Your damage will get nice boost now since you have good AP and get bonus effect from Bane. Teams start to move together and you will be your team's key champion to initiate fights. Try to grab squishy enemy champions from their group. If you succeed it will be easy kill for your team. Usually if you get to kill enemy team's DPS champions the enemy has to retreat because your team has now an advantage. Use this advantage well and push, you might get their turret down or if they stay to defend it you might get an opportunity to grab more of them.

Next item will be Rabadon's Deathcap, you might want to buy Needlessly Large Rod first to boost your AP, since the whole thing is expensive. Keep killing Golem if other players in your team don't need it. If there are other mana hungry champions, you might not need it so desperately, especially if you upgrade your Glacial Shroud to Frozen Heart, which gives you even more cooldown reduction.

If it's a long game you might get to finish the item build by selling Philosopher's Stone and buying Banshee's Veil. This item can be also bought earlier if opposing team has heavy magic damage.

So, in the end of the game, if opponent didn't get fed and beat your team up all day long, you should be pretty much a monster. AP should be over 500 (506 with a full build), so Static Field's active should deal over 1000 damage. Lich Bane effect adds that 500 to your next auto-attack after using an ability and since your CDR is almost 40% you can be spamming abilities all the time to trigger that effect. Rocket Grab will deal about 700 damage and pull the enemies to you. You will be able to spam Power Fist every 3 seconds so enemies will have hard time running from you if you get to fight 1v1. Overdrive raises your movement speed to 507 so you should have no problems catching enemies. With mana capped to maximum (3654) you get huge shield with Blitzcrank's passive Mana Barrier if your health goes down to 20%. When passive triggers you better start running, at least if they are hitting you all the time. This passive will save your life many times.

If the game keeps going past finishing the item build, just start buying elixirs to use your extra money. Elixir of Brilliance caps CDR to 40% and gives AP (raises it to 546), so it's the first elixir to buy.

Before ending this guide I still wanted to talk about one thing that makes Blitzcrank strong. That thing is called synergy. I'm not the best one to describe stuff but I define it like this: When different things work well together they have good synergy. In League of Legends those things can be champions, items, abilities, masteries and runes. I feel that Blitzcrank has very good synergy in all of these areas, at least in this build.

I start explaining from items, abilities, masteries and runes because they have synergy together. After that I move to champions. I try to keep it short so people don't get too bored. Some people might not care about this chapter, though I find it the most exciting part of this guide and very important to tell you about it.


Mana, Regen and CDR

Items related to this part:
Tear of the Goddess, later upgraded to Archangel's Staff
Glacial Shroud, later upgraded to Frozen Heart
Lich Bane
Philosopher's Stone
Banshee's Veil
Elixir of Brilliance (not writing about this item really, it's just to cap your CDR to 40% if you don't have mana buff)

Runes and Masteries related to this part:
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration
Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction
All mana related masteries

Mana is an important part of this build. It helps Blitzcrank's Mana Barrier, which works just amazingly, because this build will get 3785 mana. It means that if you go down to 20% health you will get shield of over 1800 HP, given that you have maximum mana. Usually you don't have maximum mana, but it still gives great shield. This passive also means that you don't have to buy too much health items, mana will benefit your survivability too. So, this ability has awesome synergy with mana items, runes and masteries of this build.

Other abilities also benefit from good mana pool. Since this build gets to 40% cooldown reduction and Blitzcrank's abilities have low cooldowns already, you will be spamming them all the time. So you have to have mana to use your abilities + some extra to gain shield from Barrier.

As I just said, Blitzcrank's abilities have low cooldowns so getting them even lower is one of the points on this build. When CDR hits 40%, your Overdrive's cooldown will be 9 seconds. Since it's active for 8 seconds that leaves you 1 second before you can activate it again. Power Fist's cooldown goes down to 3 seconds so you will have happy time popping enemies up. With Rocket Grab and Static Field there is nothing special to tell, though you get your ulti ready faster (18 seconds with 40% CDR) after unloading the storm on your enemies. And it's always nice to have your abilities ready. :)


Damage

Items related to this part:
Archangel's Staff (Maybe the item that has most synergy with this build, it ties mana, AP and survivability through Mana Barrier together. I love it!)
Lich Bane
Rabadon's Deathcap

Runes and Masteries related to this part:
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
Offense masteries

So, damage of this build is raised by three items. I find them all very useful here. Staff boosts mana and AP + converts mana to AP, so I think it's pretty much a must item here. If my calculations are right (don't trust my calculations, I don't know if there is some real formula on this), staff gives about 100 AP with that convert power, added to the base 45 AP of the item. Bane adds adds 80 AP and some mana to boost staff, while also giving awesome passive that makes AP useful while meleeing. The last item is Deathcap just to maximize AP on this build.

The final AP should be 506. Since Rocket Grab has AP ratio of 0.8 and Static Field 1.0, you will get good profit from this AP. It also boosts Bane's passive and this ends you up to huge damage burst if you use Rocket Grab -> Power Fist -> Static Field combo.


Survivability

Items related to this part:
All mana items should be here because of Mana Barrier, but I don't talk about it again.
Boots of Swiftness
Glacial Shroud, later upgraded to Frozen Heart
Lich Bane
Banshee's Veil

Runes and Masteries related to this part:
Greater Quintessence of Health
Mana related masteries ( Mana Barrier) and Quickness

Let's start with movement speed. You will not be the most tanky character, though you will have better survivability than squishy carries. This is why movement speed gets bigger role and I think it's one part where this build shines. Boots of Swiftness give you high running speed and it is boosted by Quickness-mastery and Lich Bane. Overdrive boosts your speed even more and you will have it active almost all the time. All this added together, your movement speed should be 507 with your Overdrive.

I don't have much more to say about survivability, since it wasn't my priority when making this build. Frozen Heart gives nice armor boost though, while Lich Bane and Banshee's Veil add some magic resist. Banshee's Veil also grants strong passive, which blocks 1 spell completely every 45 seconds.


Summary
Okay, this the first part of the chapter about synergy. I don't know if it was or wasn't helpful to some you, I just felt I want to write about it. This chapter doesn't really have everything I could say about synergy on this build. I probably forgot some things, things that I don't even think about while playing. If you try this build you might find more synergy between stuff. I just tried to write some of the most important points here.

Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab is a very unique ability and it works well together with some other champions. I try to list here some of the best synergy champions to have in same team, maybe on same lane as you, too. Basically stun champions are good, because they can stun enemy for you to grab them to turret. But there is so many stun champions that I wont list them all here.

Nunu & Willump
Blitzcrank's crowd control abilities are good way to keep enemies at Nunu's Absolute Zero range. Also since Nunu has good slowing ability ( Ice Blast), it's impossible for opponents to run from you. And if that's not enough, Nunu also has shareable movement and attack speed boost ( Blood Boil). Nunucrank, an awesome combination!

Teemo
Great way to harm enemies is to pull them to Teemo's mushrooms with your Rocket Grab. Teemo also has movement speed boost ( Move Quick), so you two can make deadly fast combination ganking enemies around the map.

Alistar
Alistar's Pulverize and Headbutt added to Blitzcrank's crowd control abilities make this combination pretty tough. You can grab enemy champion towards your turret and Alistar can knock them even further. Nice combination.

Karthus
Blitzcrank can pull enemies closer to Karthus to help dealing damage with Defile or to make them go through Wall of Pain.

Fiddlesticks
Blitzcrank can effectively help to keep enemies on Fiddlestick's range when he's using Bountiful Harvest or Crowstorm.

There are lots of other champions with good synergy potential, but I just wanted to list my favorites here.

So this was it! My first guide on Mobafire.

Please try this build, write comments and suggestions. This guide might need some fixing, so I will appreciate your help very much. I hope you enjoy your time playing Blitzcrank as much as I do.

Peace :)