I've noticed how a lot of people play Cho Gath, and while they may do well, they're flawed when it comes to 1v1 situations. This is not good. This Cho Gath build will help you fight 1v1 better than ever, and while maybe not be so great at team fights, it will still be possible.

The Runes of most Cho Gath players are ability power. It doesn't matter whether or not its solid ability power or per level, it's still too high a focus. This build utilizes some magic penetration runes as well, but that's not too high of a focus either. What sets this build from the rest is the mana runes. "Why mana?" I hear you ask. Simple: early game. In the early phase of the game, Cho Gath uses too much mana too quickly. So, all you have to do to counter-balance that is some mana runes. "Why not just get mana from the masteries?" That would take away valuable mastery points that could save you your life when you die and run out of feast. Trust me, it happens. Now another question: "Why have two types of ability power?" The point here is to balance it all out. Every champion scales in all stats EXCEPT ability power. So getting the two types of runes gives you one more stat to scale in.

As a Cho Gath, your main thought is "I need damage!" But what people miss in all of their builds is the ability to survive long enough to deal anything. That's where the masteries come in. It builds survival. Now you may be looking at me like, "What an idiot", but even with feast the survivability increases how long you get to keep your feast. This is important, as feast is the only thing that keeps you alive endgame.

And even with all this said, tank masteries are the best anyways.

All ability power is not a good idea, though you might think it is. First of all, when your big and huge, your speed feels sluggish. Boots of swiftness takes care of that, and to everyone else, you become annoying. Nashors tooth might seem like a bad idea, but it gives a small amount of ability on top of cooldowns, which seem a little slow without the tooth. Plus, it also increases your attack speed, now you have an average 1 hit per second, good to keep the damage up. Then we aim high for a Gunblade. It offers massive damage for your basic attacks, and everything gives you health! What's not to like? Then to balance it, get a Bloodthirster and a Rabadon's. the Bloodthirster gives more lifesteal and damage fore basic attacks, the most important part of a good Cho Gath. Then, the Rabadon's. While you COULD get more spell vamp, it's unique, therefore you'd be wasting hard earned cash; or gold; or whatever the stuff is. So just increase ability power by 30%. Considering the damage you'd be doing, it would be like getting more spell vamp. Be happy. The last, and so far never finished, is the Rylai's. While you COULD get a Frozen Mallet, that would only give the effect to your basic attacks. Rylai's gives the effect to ALL attacks. Eat it Master Yi. No wait, I eat you.

Ok, we all know to get the ult as soon as possible. Duh. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. But about the other skills. While one might think "Get vorpal spikes first", it's actually better to get rupture first. This is great for harassing and, when possible, first blood. This is an important part of the build. Another thing is that people are afraid of spells. But are you midding? NO! So why get scream so soon then? Get it when all of the mages have some ability power on them.

I personally use ghost and exhaust. Ghost is good for speed, so you could use flash or tele. Exhaust is good for taking the offensive, so ignite or other could also work. Just use what suits you best.

Now that you have this build, you can be on your way to victory with your 1v1 situations with Cho Gath.

Important Note: I currently do not have strategies put into this build. Might come later. For now, I leave you with this.