UPDATE:
As of recently, I have added a semi-proper support blitzcrank build to provide a side by side comparison of how this is built different and what you gain/miss out on.

Hello everyone. My ign is CharIie from the NA server and I'm a LoL player of about two years now (unranked).

I'm here to offer a different Blitzcrank guide from the regular. Having probably 200+ games of him under my belt, i have dabbled in multiple builds from AD, AP, Hybrid, pure support as well as read tons of guides and eventually come to this point where i feel my information might be of some value to players who are either starting or feel that there is something amiss in their experience.

I hope to enlighten newer players with a different way on how he should be played, and his role as something that i find few other champions can do quite as well, especially with this particular build. Putting Blitzcrank aside just for a second, this guide is aimed to help teach you build not just one, but every character in any game.

Here I'm also going to walk through some situational building rather than just throw you a straight up build. I might have failed Math 11 in high school but here is my little attempt at some theory crafting. I hope you enjoy it.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed
1.5% move speed for a total of 4.5% movespeed. This gives you a passive movement boost that will last you throughout the game and come in very handy for those clutch grabs and rage quit inducing escapes. I chose these over Greater Quintessence of Health because I value his need to position and chasing ability over the health. Combined later with Force of Nature providing 8% move speed, you ensure yourself to be virtually inescapable. Iron Maiden.

Greater Mark of Desolation
1.7 (+15) Armor Penetration and Greater Mark of Magic Penetration are the only really viable option for many champions. Offensive Runes offer very little when you take one for something other than offence. When damage is to be dealt, most of it will come from your AD rather than your AP.

Greater Seal of Replenishment
Will assist in your mana management. The inability to use your grab as often as you like will be new for many players, but it also teaches you how to use it correctly. If you feel like taking Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration or even Greater Seal of Vitality, this one is not a big deal.

Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction
Blitzcrank is very reliant on cooldowns to make the greatest use of his utility. Previously, i have taken cooldown reduction into mind as blitzcrank's core stat and built towards that for decent results due to the immense utility of his Power Fist when put under 2 seconds.

In the pure support blitzcrank build, i go with Greater Quintessence of Gold for the gp5 which is essential for consistent warding without any farm. Other runes are Greater Mark of Armor, Greater Seal of Armor, and Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist. These runes are centered on early game sustain so you can survive in your lane without items.

Under the defense tree, we focus on getting:

Enlightenment for cooldown reduction

Initiator for movespeed

Juggernaut for tenacity.

For the 9 remaining points:

Expanded Mind and Meditation are the masteries of value in the utility tree. However, I do really wish I could put more into Swiftness . If someone has a different take on this setup, please enlighten me.

I chose this setup for the purpose of maximizing a combination of Survivability, Sustainability, and Movement. Not trying to sound redundant, but making a strong point of what is important in this build.

There is no change in the masteries for being purely support blitzcrank, i find the new utility tree to be subpar and completely overshadowed by the offence and defense trees.

Exhaust

Adds to your cc power and it has served me greatly. I save this for champions like Tryndamere or AD carries who are trying to get away.


Flash

Is simply the best spell in the game. Instant positioning should basically ensure you a kill or escape from an otherwise impossible situation. Using Flash to land a Power Fist or even a Rocket Grab is very common in my games to pick up that last hit.

I pick these because of their use in actual combat. Other Summoner Spells that I consider interchangeable are:

Heal has become a new meta spell that never had alot of play before season 2. In the bottom lane, at least one of you should take heal, preferrably the carry, but if you dont find exhuast to be of great use, double heal might be a good pick.

Ghost for an extra movespeed skill. Ghost + Overdrive is insane.

Teleport to fly across the map for a gank and then return to laning.

Clairvoyance is a skill that takes finesse. You should have a great understanding of different jungle champions, jungle routes, and use it to watch and predict bush camping or ganks. When used effectively, this can easily decide team fights, and works amazingly with Rocket Grab to take apart enemy plans.

Mana Barrier

(Innate): When Blitzcrank's life is brought below 20% health he activates Mana Barrier, creating a shield that lasts 10 seconds. The shield strength is equal to 50% of Blitzcrank's current mana. There is a one minute cooldown before Blitzcrank can activate this effect again.

More is mentioned about it later.



Rocket Grab and tips to use it!

(Active): Blitzcrank fires his right hand at a straight line to the target area. If his hand encounters an enemy unit it will stun them, deal magic damage, and pull the enemy unit to him.

Mana Cost: 140
Range: 1000
Cooldown: 20 / 19 / 18 / 17 / 16
Magic Damage: 60 / 120 / 180 / 240 / 300 (+0.8 per ability power)

Its his signature move, however, its very easily and commonly misused. The skill is pure utility at its finest, and needs to be preserved for the right moment. The cooldown will only let you pull once or twice per team fight so you need to understand when to use it. Do not always try to initiate with it. Save it for a good situation such as:

• pulling enemies away from your important teammates during team fights
• bringing enemies towards your team so they can assist in the kill
• when an enemy flashes through a wall to escape
• when an enemy tries to run away from you

During the lane phase, only grab them if you have the advantage or can pull into towers.

You want this to be as little of a skillshot as possible. Using things like ally stuns or chasing enemies to an obvious direction will ensure a landed grab which is really what separates good and bad blitzplay. Of course, making those game breaking skillshots also separates the pros from the noobs. That's why i play Blitzcrank after all <3

This may come as slightly contradictory, but it is best to use his grab as little as possible. In the delicate balance of early laning, you put your enemy into the mindset that you are not using your Rocket Grabs, and may lead them to become less wary and move into range for better grabs or bad positioning. However, another way to do this would be simply to spam bad grabs, and let them think you are a free week player. Subconcious expectations from studying enemy movements in lane phase can carry on into later game teamfights. This is when you surprise them and turn your terrible grabs into precise and devastating ones.

Now that you have a better understanding of when to use your grab, the most important yet obvious thing to hit that grab is YOU MUST AIM IT WHERE YOU THINK THEY WILL BE WHEN YOUR GRAB GETS THERE. NOT WHERE THEY ARE NOW. This involves mental battles with other players and you must defeat opponents with your psychic powers for epic skillshots.

For example, let us pretend that you, your ally, and an enemy form a perfect triangle. The enemy is heading straight for your ally to destroy them and you have your grab ready for a game winning **** block. Do not panic and pray for a landed grab, watch the speed at which the enemy is moving, compare with your understood speed of Rocket Grabs projectile and predict the location where the two will intercept.

To plan even further, let the enemy close the distance until they are right ontop of your teammates ready to wreck havoc. During this time, you can try to position yourself at close to maximum range of your Rocket Grab and aim for an easy pull when the enemy is ontop and right beside your ally attacking it (therefore, becoming an unmoving target). This not only ensures the best pull due to maximum zoning, but also wastes the most time for that enemy making it the ideal support play.

I personally find that Rocket Grab is not an extremely difficult skillshot compared to some such as Nidalee's Javelin Toss. Many claim it to be one of the hardest skillshots (because it is unarguably one of the best) and in the process put Blitzcrank on a pedestal as one of the most difficult champions to master. Contrary to that, Rocket Grab has a decent projectile speed and a decent range that can extend a bit over what the skillshot pointer displays.

Another small tip to remember is that his grab will come out of his right hand only. This may cause failed attempts from certain angles.


Overdrive

(Active): Blitzcrank super charges himself to gain dramatically increased movement and attack speed for 8 seconds.

Cost: 75 mana
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Movement Speed: 16 / 20 / 24 / 28 / 32 %
Attack Speed: 30 / 38 / 46 / 54 / 62 %

Not much to be said, it is what it is and its amazing. Its basically a constant Ghost because there is literally no cooldown on it, and the AS buff helps you hit the Power Fist a little better. Use whenever you need to get somewhere fast.



Power Fist

(Active): Blitzcrank charges up his fist to make his next attack deal double his total attack damage and pop his target up in the air.

Cost: 25 mana
Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5

Bread and Butter and MEAT and Vegetables. Awesome. Just simply amazing. Although you should watch the cooldowns on this and use it to disable key enemy players, its almost spammable with its ridiculously low cooldown.

Don't just use it whenever you can, use it to stop enemy players from hurting your allies, breaking channeling spells or catching the enemy carry and keeping them with you.



Static Field

(Passive): Blitzcrank causes lightning bolts to deal a small amount of magic damage to one nearby enemy unit every 2.5 seconds (not affected by cooldown reduction). This will not damage enemies in stealth.

Passive Magic Damage: 100 / 200 / 300 (+0.25 per ability power)
Passive Range: 450

(Active): Blitzcrank can activate this ability to deal a huge amount of magic damage to nearby enemies and silence them for 0.5 seconds. Activating it removes the passive lightning bolts until Static Field becomes available again.

Cost: 150 mana
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Active Radius of AoE: 600
Active Magic Damage: 250 / 375 / 500 (+1.0 per ability power)

As if Blitzcrank wasn't good enough already, this skill is just balls.

Although its active is godlike, you want to save it and blow it on as much of the enemy team as possible. Sometimes you might want to Flash to position the ult for a team fight. Don't use it as a skill to ks. Passively, try to find ways to fight enemies away from creeps or neutral camps nearby so it "randomly" always hits them. The passive use synthesizes amazingly with this particular build due to the Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Before i dive right into my own version of what i consider item perfection, let me just say something important. All Champion builds are Situational. For those of you who google up a build and build it item for item, understand that each game is different, you must build according to your opponent for the best results. That is all.

Now behold your arsenal in all its glory.



A grand total of 3 item slows, 2 passive move speed items, then include your move speed skill, 3 second cooldown Power Fist and the Static Field Silence. Let it sink in a for a second.

So lets start with a Regrowth Pendant and a Mana Potion. Blitzcrank typically falls into the Bot Lane Support Category. The way LoL is set up, many champions do not have a perfect role to fit into, but for the sake of this guide, lets just pretend you are there.

At the beginning of each game, you want to take a look at the team composition. Take a good look at the enemy team before you start buying. Here are the main questions to ask at the start, and throughout the game:

• Who is in your lane?
• Who is the carry?
• Who is dealing the most damage?

Now if you are facing against:

Mostly AD damage or AD with Support
You build your Warden's Mail first and then finish up your Boots and Heart of Gold

Mostly AP damage
Take a Heart of Gold + Negatron Cloak and get your Mercury's Treads

Have Boots somewhere in the early middle of those items and finish Mercury's Treads by the end of them. Soon you should have two Regrowth Pendants and all of the above mentioned items that you haven't already.

Grab your Phage. With both Phage and Warden's Mail you begin to see a miniature version of the slowing utility of your final build quite early in the game.

Take another look at the enemy team. Is anyone doing a little too well in particular? What type of damage are they built towards for late game? Build against that either finishing up Force of Nature for an AP Champions or Randuin's Omen for AD.

Now turn that Phage into a Frozen Mallet. By now is usually the time where you start being extra useful. Finish off your Force of Nature or Randuin's Omen if you haven't done so. If nothing is really hurting you, finish the Randuin's Omen later because of gp5 from your Heart of Gold.

With your 4 "Core" items done, get another Giant's Belt and then Rylai's Crystal Scepter and then Atma's Impaler. Get the Chain Vest first if the enemy is AD focused.


Situational Building

These items are deemed as useful in situations.

Sunfire Aegis: If you feel like it for easier farming or some form of dps. try to get it earlier rather than late.

Frozen Heart: More useful than Thornmail. It's actually a really great item but i didn't have room to include it. I would substitute this item for Rylai's Crystal Scepter if the enemy is running an strong AD team, as well as against champions who use AP with attack speed such as Teemo or Kayle. Actually, I would take this up for quite a few games due to its 20% cooldown reduction as well as everything else it provides. Having close to 40% cdr makes blitzcrank shine in denying enemies from doing what they want with his constant knockups and permanent speed boosting. Really top tier and should be considered as the 7th item to this build. When getting this, I would suggest Glacial Shroud somewhere after Warden's Mail and Phage.

Banshee's Veil: If the enemy is high on AP or disables.

Warmog's Armor: 1k HP is simply ridiculous.

Shurelya's Battlesong: I had this included in my older builds and to be honest it is a big yes and a no. The team speed buff is basically superb and it has great early game sustain but not enough in the way of survivability compared to the current build. This item has in many cases made the fights so much more fun when you make big plays with its active, but overall is lacking with a higher chance of death. I would suggest this for more advanced players if you are working towards more of a support utility style.


Build Summary

This build may seem unorthodox due to its focus on item effects but it is very straight forward and logical. By counter-building against the enemy towards survivability and sustainability, your tanky roots allow you to stay alive throughout the game. Item parts are taken first to offer you consistency and a constant gain in stats that will help you stay at the level of the match (unlike, for example ranged carries that rush for Infinity Edge at 15 minutes in).

The combination slows from Static Fields passive combined with Rylai's Crystal Scepter and auto attacks from Frozen Mallet is literally unescapable. If that isn't enough, throw down your Randuin's Omen active.

The reasoning behind building which item and when is based on many factors from individual champions to team fight results and the order you build in may be different every time. If you are doing so well that you don't need the survivability first, feel free to get Atma's Impaler before your Rylai's Crystal Scepter, or trade in your Force of Nature for Frozen Heart if the enemy team decided to get zero AP on their side. Items not mentioned anywhere in here can just as easily become core if your game requires them.


Why not Manamune or Trinity Force?

These two items are currently seen in almost every Blitzcrank guide out there, from the top rated Blitzcrank Guide on Mobafire to the DoubleLift build, and here I offer my reasoning against them. Ideally, the use of these two items requires you to deal enough damage while relying somewhat on the Mana Barrier to defeat the enemy team before they can kill you and your allies.

Manamune Takes away the need for any sort of mana from other sources and offers an increased Mana Barrier and the AD stats of a B. F. Sword. The increase of a 500-1k magic spell shield after dropping to 20% HP makes this item worth its value in every aspect and as an item itself, synergizes more with Blitzcrank than any other champion.

However, Blitzcrank has no real need for mana when played conservatively and in most cases, correctly. The item cost of 2100 which also needs to be rushed early game along with the need for Sheen to compliment it is replaced in my build with more reliable hard survivability and cc. By reliable, I mean flat HP or defensive stats that tell you exactly where you stand. Mana Barrier may work in some situations, but I find that usually if my spellshield is too big, enemies will simply ignore me until it dissipates or, in most cases, it wouldn't have saved me anyways.


I was once a huge advocate for Trinity Force on Blitzcrank, but then i took an arrow to the knee. Honestly though, I was otherwise convinced.

Just knowing that it costs a whopping 4k doesn't quite take away from its allure. The improved Sheen proc, as well as the move speed and slow basically makes it an item that i would stupid not to get. It took some rethinking and in-game testing to realize that 4k is actually a bit too steep of a price for what it offers Blitzcrank as a tank/support. Your main job in a battle is to defend your key ally players.

Frozen Mallet offers much greater survivability and the 100% reliable 40% slow on hit as well as money to spare so you can purchase even more survivability. I never understood how good it was until i decided to replace my Trinity Force. As a result, i die a-lot less and am able to lead tower dives much better. As blitz, you absolutely MUST be tanky enough.

I chose not to include Sheen for the same reason. Those items are geared more towards a DPS build (no doubt a mandatory buy) which is why people consider Blitzcrank a bruiser before he is a support. Having Atma's Impaler allows him to retain that title with minimal lowering in damage and more importantly, without the need for building other items that lack hard survivability. Admittedly, lacking Sheen, Manamune or Trinity Force really makes you feel nerfed in the damage sector but my scores as well as kills have significantly improved.

Just as an endnote, Manamune and Trinity Force can become a better item build at higher levels of gameplay. When proper jukes and ganks become much more pronounced in your survival, having the damage to back up good plays will be the factor that ensures kills. Defensively built, you are basically allowed more room for mistakes/being outplayed. This will definitely decrease kills due to the fast and furious nature of higher elo brawls, but can also offer its own benefits such as better tower tanking.

Typical Support Blitzcrank

The 2nd build shown above is how i build my typical "pure support" Blitzcrank. Like most other supports, you start with 3 Vision Wards accompanied by Faerie Charm and 2 pots. Build into Philosopher Stone, Boots, Heart of Gold and Frozen Heart. This build is aimed at complete sustain/survivability with gp5 providing money for warding. Each return to base calls for at least one or two wards to be purchased, even if for example, you have 250 gold and you could buy your boots really soon. What you lose out on in comparions is the ability to be a tanky dps. It is indeed more reliable to build this way, and if you are confident in the ability of your carry or jungle ganker, you should itemize so. This is aimed at a much more proper team setup. In most "high elo" premade matches, blitzcrank support might be one of the most unorthodox champions in the match. With support Blitzcrank, you must understand that unless you are picking off a sure kill, you cannot fight anyone by yourself. Your team MUST be nearby to capitalize on grabs.

Warding

Just to finish off with a little rant about warding. Use of Sight Ward is extremely prominent in higher level gameplay. Now I really don't want to preach to you about its greatness but blitzcrank is one of those designated champions that should be buying them. Infact, everyone should really be buying them.

If you want to progress to a higher level of gameplay and you currently dont buy wards, make a point from now on to get one whenever you have the extra money to place either in the bush to prevent ganks in your lane, or at Dragon or Baron Nashor. Warding at bot lane consists of four major locations: the tri-bush if you are on the lower side team, the river near dragon, and the two bushes in the lane itself. Having control of these areas means being able to zone, make unexpected grabs and denying enemies as well as wasting enemy jungler ganks. I make a point to purchase Vision Ward for dragon so i can deny enemy vision from that location. Oracle Elixer is also another item that should be purchased early, especially if you are ahead. Sometimes, saving up for an early oracles can deny enemy wards, so although you might both not have and jungle vision for the moment, you are up by an oracles (especially since blitzcrank has so much good defensive utility you can evade ganks much better than other supports).

Let me just point out first and foremost that during lanephase, Blitzcrank may well be one of the most useless support champions you can play. He lacks sustain for himself and his carry, which forces the carry to either have a way to deny harass on him/herself or build for earlygame sustain instead of damage. He shines in teamfight utility, and

SUPPORT. By typing with Caps Lock on, i'm essentially yelling through the keyboard to let you know that THIS IS YOUR MAIN ROLE!!!111 You only do other unimportant things if this one is not applicable at the time. Of course you don't have any heals or buffs, so support means sticking to your carry like Summon: Tibbers to Annie and doing anything you can to stop the enemy from hurting them.

During the Lane Phase, sit in that bush and scare your opponents with your presence while your carry farms creeps forever. Do not push your lane because the closer you are to your tower, the more useful you will be.

For example, If i am close enough to the tower, I stand near it within Rocket Grab range of my ally so they are able to last hit, and in doing so, deny the enemy from engaging. As support, your priority is always to farm up other players, and not yourself. This seems counter intuitive at first because of how item reliant Blitzcrank is, but you should mostly be getting money from player kills and assists. To make the most of yourself, you want to bring killable enemies towards your carry and carry killers away from it (tongue twister!). When your carry is dying and needs to escape, run between him/her and the enemy so you can absorb any skillshots aimed that way. Your move speed and slows allows you to escape almost any situation.

Being the Bruiser that he is, you probably wont get your Atma's Impaler most games but with double damage hits from Power Fist and your super slows, you will have no problem dishing out damage if need be.

As an Initiator, you have the mega supreme unique Rocket Grab + Power Fist but in the section right below, ill list a few other ways to start things off.

Combos

Rocket Grab to Power Fist is his typically seen routine but there are many ways to set up a fight. As i mentioned before, relying on Rocket Grab as a skillshot takes luck and mindplay into the factor and there are many more reliable ways to initiate.

I now prefer to Overdrive in and Power Fist to start a fight, then Rocket Grab when the enemy is escaping bringing them back into my team. The speed buffs in this build help you accomplish exactly that.

you can also Power Fist then Flash to a location you want to pull them to and then Rocket Grab while they are still knocked up. This is a strategy that most players who are unfamiliar with will not expect and can be used to pull enemies into towers or even through walls. It takes practice, but removes the skillshot factor (unless you cant aim at a motionless target).

In a fight you want to run around using Power Fist on enemies who need to be disabled, using Overdrive to navigate through other enemies and allies to the correct targets. Deciding who the correct target is, sadly, will not be included in this guide.

Knowing team fight focus is probably one of the most important skills you will need as Blitzcrank. Your Rocket Grab is reserved for pulling enemies away from, and back into your team, not as a harass or damage of any kind. Unless i have slipped my mind, this is the only skill in the game currently that can relocate an enemy player towards you from a good distance. Use it for that purpose.

As an added tip, if you know enemy jungle timers, his grab is perfect for stealing red or blue buffs from the other side of the wall, at level 6 your static passive lets you solo any neut buff creep with ease due to isolating it from the 2 smaller creeps.

Any sense of pride/love for the robot aside, I find myself hard pressed to name any other champion that is so capable of keeping the opposition exactly where you want them. This does make him extremely team reliant, but also someone who is able to make or break the game depending on how well he is used.

Here i will name a couple of the other typical support champions you will be matched against and how you fare against them.

Janna is considered a top pick support and highly regarded and one of the best. Her difficulty of use is extremely high (due to her ulti) but otherwise her Q is quite simple and extremely disruptive. In lane, if will be hard to land a kill on the enemy due to her Shield as well as Q and her slow disrupting any attempted plays. Conserve mana and let your carry farm.

Alistar is your best friend, and worst enemy. He has just as much cc as you do accompanied by a fast cooldown, low cost heal. It does push the enemy lane slightly so go for freezing your lane near the tower and landing grabs on the enemy carry. Alistar does exactly what you do expect he must engage while you can engage safely from a distance. (BlitzStar lane is extremely fun to play).

Taric is what i consider to be the ideal support. A heal, a stun and an aura ult. his stuns will properly deny your carry the same way your knockups do, making fights end up pretty even... except he heals. Engage on the enemy if you have a gank.

Blitzcrank mirror match is basically about who gets ahead. The one who lands the grab will be able to harass better but can also be countered by a grab as well. If you are more experienced you will easily win out.

Sona can be annoying with her combination of heals, harass and speed buffs, none of them being very good but the combination of all ending up quite annoying. Shes incredibly useless in a fight until she gets her ultimate, and even then shes still pretty useless, play up on her if you can, your carry should be able to harass more than she can heal if you help them play offensively.

Soraka is the same as sona, dont underestimate her Starfall or heals due to the high armor they provide afterwards. Avoid getting outplayed, she falls quite easily with some help.

Many of these champions are better picks in terms of usefulness, For Blitzcrank, the unique ability of his Rocket Grab and his low cooldown Power Fist are his saving grace. Be innovative about your grabs, go for good blind hooks and dont be afraid to make the plays that your team can pick up on.

So there you are. I know it's fat a wall of text, but i hope it has its value to someone other than me. I appreciate any feedback or questions regarding. Blitzcrank is a special little guy who is very fun and rewarding to play.

Honourable mentions go to:
Miya - for being my favourite person and helping me come up with this build
Jhoijhoi - i read your guide to a guide and came up with this peice of ****. thanks

As i said my ign is CharIie feel free to add ingame for inquiries or whatnot :3