Hiya, I'm Matt;
I started playing LoL in July, and now I have to clean gunk off of my right click button on my mouse every week.
I also play left-handed, so if anybody uses left hand mouse, feel free to send me a message and I'll send you my custom bindings for left handed configuration (Only works if you have a numpad). Honestly, I think the left hand configuration is better because you have 0 chance to miss your keys because they are straight, I also find it to be more ergonomic and much more relaxed. Of course that really only applies if you're left-handed :3
I started a LoL Club at my college, Michigan State University, where we meet and play every Thursday.
I enjoy helping other people out, and maybe I can help you destroy the competition with this little fella.
I bought Ziggs when he came out and have played him non-stop ever since, trying out different guides and builds.
I am writing this guide well, cause I would like to share my unique way of playing Ziggs that I have found quite viable.

Before you vote me down for anything I have, I ask that you write a comment, in which I will reply to, and we can have a nice healthy debate. I will also put common questions in a Q+A section in this guide, to bring attention to any concerns that you guys have; and to improve the educational factor of this guide. If you still don't like, then by all means, thumbs down :)

I will try to make this guide as simple and as straight forward as possible for ya~

You will find that Ziggs is played almost the same way for everybody, there isn't much wiggle room with him. I have seen many different guides, trying them out for myself, but I still found some flaws in many. Ziggs is a Nuker. He needs to go straight AP and try to blow the enemies into pieces as quickly as possible. That's when personal skill level comes in, where you can use little tricks to defeat the enemy without even getting touched. I will cover those later.

I never liked it when guides put runes and masteries into different chapters, because it was just a lot of wasted space. So I will do it all here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

With Ziggs, like I said, I prefer going straight burst. That means AP runes everywhere. Classic AP carry runes:

• Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Magic Penetration Marks
• Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration Mana Regen/Level Seals
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power Ability Power/Level Glyphs
• Greater Quintessence of Ability Power Flat Ability Power Quints

I do not believe there is any wiggle room with those runes. Some people like to put a little survivability, but that just isn't necessary with Ziggs long range. If you play him right, you'll barely get touched in lane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Masteries are also self-explanatory. Classic AP Carry, you'll see these masteries being taken by any AP Mid champ

~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for Summoner Spells, I have only seen 3 of them being called viable on Ziggs.
Ignite, Clarity, and Teleport.
I have tried all 3, and let me explain why I chose teleport.

• Ignite is great on AP carries, I take it on most of mine actually, but the problem is that it's range is significantly smaller than the range of your Q, W, E and R. If you are playing Ziggs safely, then you will never have a chance to use ignite.
• Clarity is great if you're harrassing a lot, and there are a lot of situations where you'll find you're out of mana. But I find that your mana problems early game can easily be reduced by being safe, and you should be able to get blue buff later once any blue dependent junglers don't need it anymore
• Teleport is my favorite pick. Why? Because you can use all your mana early game to farm up 680 gold, then teleport back with boots and kage's pick, and boom sha bop you can easily dominate your lane opponent at this point. Ziggs is also a great defender with AOE attacks he can easily destroy minions if a lane is being pushed, and his ganks aren't half bad either
  
• Oh, and Flash is an obvious must ;)

I'm assuming that when you're reading this guide, you already know Zigg's skills, so I'm not going to waste space with the numbers and whatnot.

What you need to know:

• Bouncing Bomb Max Q first, bouncing bomb.
• Satchel Charge Max E second, hexplosive minefield.
• Hexplosive Minefield Max W last, satchel charge.
• Mega Inferno Bomb Obviously level your ult when you can, 6, 11, 16

However, you should grab satchel charge at lvl 4, because it makes for a great escape mechanism throughout the game.

Tips for using your skills:

• Do not waste your mana, aka, if you don't have blue buff, throw your bombs if you know they are going to hit.
• Bouncing Bomb is easier to hit if the are slowed by your Hexplosive Minefield, in fact, you should never miss if they walk through your mines.
• Use your minefield strategically. Throw it behind them if they are running away, throw it at them if they are using a spell that requires them to stand still for a second, throw it in front of them if they are coming at you.
• You can also use your minefield as a choke, to force them to go a certain route, allowing your bouncing bomb probability of hit to be much higher.
• Your minefield can also use to escape with, throw it behind you to slow enemies that are chasing you or allies.
• Your Satchel Charge is your best escape mechanism. Not only does it fling you away, but if there is a champ on your ***, it will blow them back and stun them for a second. With that in mind, you can also use satchel charge after a minefield. Zigg's minefield takes about a second to spread out after it hits the ground, which is perfect time for an enemy to run out of it if you chuck it right at their feet. However, if you chuck the minefield, then satchel in front and detonate, they are forced to sit right in the center of your minefield. R, Q, dead.
• Your Mega Inferno Bomb is best used when the enemy is frantically running away. If they are expecting it, it is quite easy to dodge.
• Best times to ult include: When a weak enemy in another lane runs back to their turret to b while their minions are pushed. Typically they will be looking at the shop or something, because they think they are safe.
• Also when you see your mid opponent go towards blue buff, typically around 7:10, count to 6, then ult the blue buff spawn point. You should get it most of the time, unless the enemy jungler is having a problem getting the blue buff and needs mid's help to get it down
• During the beginning of a team fight, when the enemies are committed to their spells. Most initiators need some kind of jump or gap closer to get in, that's when you ult them, because they'll have no way out.
• When your allies are chasing an enemy, throw it in front of the enemy, so they are forced to run into it, or run back into your allies for certain death

Of course, all of this is easier said then done, but I assure you that if you play Ziggs a lot, and try to do these tricks, you will eventually master them all and become unstoppable

I'd rather not go into depth as to why I chose those items to build, but I will take a quick glance, as well as argue why other common items are not good enough.

First off, a lot of people doubt Kage's Lucky Pick. Mathmatically speaking, it is 30.6 Gold per AP, while a standard AP item like Blasting Wand is 21.5 Gold per AP.
However, in 25 minutes and 30 seconds, the Kage's Lucky Pick has produced enough gold to pay for itself. Meaning that is a 0 gold for 25 AP. Not only that, but every 10 minutes it produces another 300 gold for you. Considering if you're rushing it with teleport, you should break even at 30 minutes and make 300 gold every 10 minutes after that.

Okay, so like I've been saying, Ziggs is all about that AP burst (and being able to land your skill shots, but that takes time). If you don't do damage, the enemy will simply walk up to you and kill you, no questions asked. I start, most of the time, with rabadons and void staff. Then I will build zhonyas if they have a gap closer that likes to come for me, or I will build rylais, if my team is closing gaps on the enemy. Either way I'll end up with both. Lich bane is the final touch if you go into that extreme late game where if one person dies, the game is over. It makes your AP go into AD, gives you increased movement speed, and AP. Really helps you dish out some crazy damage especially with your low cooldowns.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

What I Build:

• Start with Amplifying Tome and a Health Potion
• Once I reach 680 gold, I go b for Kage's Lucky Pick and Boots (Around 5 minutes in if you farm well)
• Teleport back
• Now I start harassing the enemy, maybe grab a kill
• Go back for Sorcerer's Shoes, and if I really have the money a Blasting Wand as well
• Now I grab a kill or two with ganks and whatnot
• Go back for Needlessly Large Rod
• Kill some more
• Rabadon's Death Cap then Void Staff
• If enemy has a lot of gap closers Zhonya's Hourglass
• If your team has a lot of gap closers Rylai's Crystal Scepter
• Game goes into super late game, sell Kage's Lucky Pick and buy Lich Bane
• Of course buy Health Potion and Sight Ward when you can

~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about other items?
The only other common items I've seen build on Ziggs are Rod of Ages, Morello's Evil Tome and Will of the Ancients.

• Why not Rod of Ages? Because it doesn't give you enough AP early game, and with teleport the sustain isn't a problem.
• Why not Morello's Evil Tome? It's gold per AP (31.33) cost is weak, and it basically is like a mini blue buff. Which you can just get a blue buff and be much more productive
• Why not Will of the Ancients? I am a huge supporter of WoTA. Even though they recently nerfed it a little, I think it is great on most AP carries. However, Ziggs is not one of them. I play Ziggs from afar, meaning, I burst champs down at a safe distance, and I manage to let them catch me, then I die. WoTA will not help me whatsoever in that regards, and I would be much better off going more AP to kill the enemy faster. Also with teleport lane sustain is not a problem.

1. Early Game:

   Farm like it's your job. It is fairly easy with your passive, and feel free to use your Bouncing Bomb Q and Hexplosive Minefield E combo to kill mage minions in the back once you're level 3. Push the wave and go B when you have 680 gold, don't dilly dally about that. Grab some health potions if you can afford them, they are always nice. Keep playing defensively unless you get blue, in which case you can probably secure a kill fairly easy. Still, the #1 key is farming. By playing defensively and farming, you may egg on the enemy to try to be aggressive. That is the common pitfall. If your enemy starts playing aggressively against you, you can easily out harass them. Simply throw a Bouncing Bomb Q at them if you see them coming, or if they are really committing to attacking you spread your Hexplosive Minefield E in front of them. If you're really good you can still manage to farm while you're doing this. The second bonus to play defensively is that your lane is always pushed to you. Meaning that your jungler can easily gank, which is normally a secured kill. If your jungler has cc, it's a guaranteed kill: Wait for jungler to cc enemy, spread Hexplosive Minefield E right on them, throw your Satchel Charge W in front of them, blow them back further into your mines, and finish with a Bouncing Bomb Q. Never fails.
   
   
   

2. Mid Game:

   Midgame, is about the time you have a Needlessly Large Rod or Blasing Wand, after Sorcerer's Shoes. You should have 0 deaths at this point, because you have been playing defensively, right? If you have 1 or 2 kills, you're golden, otherwise keep laning unless something such as your jungler starting dragon, or your jungler getting caught, etc where you can go help. However, if you have a kill or two or more, then you start ganking. Your ganks are quite marvelous, you can either go the side bush route (If your lane is pushed you run up the side bush and they never know) or go straight through the river bush (If your lane is being pushed and they need help). Initiate with a E behind their run path, save your W for if they start coming at you (you should ping that you're coming so your allies can come help you if they do jump you), and if the enemies continue to run, then use your W to CC them for your allies to start attacking, and use Q as a harrass/finisher. You should also have your ult at this point, which, if aimed right, will snag a kill or two. When most players are under situations like that, they can't react fast enough to dodge your ult if you shoot it dead onto their head. The beauty is, if mid lane is pushing while you're ganking, you can teleport right back into mid lane. woohoo.
   
   
   

3. Late Game:

   Lategame is where it gets intense. If you get caught, it could potentially be GG right there. It is the most important time for you to stay safe. STAY WITH THE TEAM. Be sure you have viable escape routes if things go bad, but also be prepared for a teammate to initiate a battle. Once a fight starts, it is all about your ability to remain calm and land all of your shots that will really tip the fight into your favor

Ziggs range allows him to be a very unique sort of AP caster, He can stay in the FAR back and still dish out crazy amounts of damage. And that is the key to his success. Play carefully, learn your skill shots, learn to do his tricks, and you will end up carrying the team with no deaths. Of course you will get caught, they will come after you and kill you, but be sure to take each death as a learning experience. Reflect upon what you did that made you exposed. Also, well this is more common sense, but learn how to farm. Every champ needs to know how, but especially with Ziggs, you need as much gold as you can get.

I hope you guys enjoyed my thoughts on this wonderful little guy, and be sure to share your comments and suggestions; I am very open to discussion and debate :)

N/A