Hey everyone, and welcome to my Ekko guide! I've been playing the boy who shattered time for a while, and love almost everything about his kit. He was designed as a melee assassin, but occasionally, his tank prowess comes through in the jungle or the top lane. And that's why we're here today! So without further ado, let's get into this!

Ekko Top lane has an odd playstyle. Early, he is incredibly squishy. Early ekko is probably the hardest time he has. He doesn't have tank stats yet, and doesn't have a significant amount of damage to justify his early power. Ekko revolves heavily around his Passive, Z-Drive resonance, to trade with his opponents. You need to play passively, going for small trades as you keep your distance. When you think you can, you should be going in for the kill, using your W and Ult to lock down targets and/or keep you alive.

Tank ekko, contrary to popular belief, doesn't always need to be picked. For instance, let's say you have a rek'sai jungle, Leblanc, Corki ADC, and a blitzcrank support. This draft would NOT be a good Ekko draft for a number of reasons. First off, your team has lots of magic damage, making it easy to itemize against. In addition, your engage isn't really needed in a comp with blitz, rek, etc. However, if your team has a good amount of AD and Wants a little bit of engage, Ekko will help your team greatly.

Well, no one plays League because they thing the wave management is fun. I get that. However, you should really take wave management into consideration when playing Ekko. Thanks to the extra AP blues we took, Ekko can clear the first wave of caster minions in 2 Qs. Ekko's Q makes him excell at pushing early, but be sure not to get overzealous. Until 6 Ekko has no good way of escaping. However, if your opponent pushes in, that's fine too. Ekko can set up ganks easily, and baiting enemies will be very easy with W/Ult. Ideally, you should keep the wave pushed while making sure you have the proper vision to stay weary of ganks. If this isn't possible, freeze the lane close to your tower (But not under it) in order to farm close to safety without the enemy being able to push, as well as making it easier for your jungler to gank you

Ekko's 1v1 after your 2 core items is something other tanks can only dream about. Keep your passive in mind when fighting. Generally, your main combo will be Q, Wait for the return damage of Q (you should have 2 stacks of your passive on the enemy by doing this), and E. When your E hits the enemy, you will be granted a significant speed buff, so use that to run away unless you can kill. Your W can also be used to set up duels. One tricky thing you can pull is attempting to Ult into your W zone to fake out opponents, but it requires lots of practice and assessment. Always remember to use your E-blink to get in on opponents who are in the bubble, and you can get a free passive chunk. Also, remember your W execute passive... Sometimes you can catch people off-guard with it!

Ekko is one of the best skirmishing top laners if you know what your doing. Try to figure out where your enemy hasn't warded, and W from there. Now, the positioning of your W is crucial to the skirmish. The BEST way to play it is positioning the W to whichever escape route you think your opponent will take, reveling yourself briefly before the enemy sees where the W will land, and E into them. Best case scenario, your opponent reacts quickly because they know the W is about to pop on them, they attempt to run away, and realize that they've played right into your hands. However, it's ok if your W doesn't land. With IBG, your E can slow enemies, giving time for the mid/bot laner to damage your target. Also, don't be afraid to dive as Ekko. You can reset turret agro with ult in the worst case scenario.

Now, Ekko's teamfight may not be his strong suit, but he provides enough to be an important member of your fight. Obviously, there's the AOE stun. Unlike your previous skirmishes, you want to W EXACTLY where they are. Keep in mind, you aren't necessarily trying to stun them, but pressure them. If the enemy team decides to stay, then congrats, you got a 4-5 man stun. If they move, they spread out. Now, one thing I never see Ekko being complimented on is his ability to get to the backline quickly and efficiently. Thanks to your E, you can get an assasin or ADC, even if they're behind tanks. Just MAKE SURE your team can follow up, or you're going to need to ult away.

Ekko is a champion who excels in his dueling and defensive prowess. You have enough utility to engage fights for your team, are slippery enough to get out of many bad situations, and offers a lot to most team comps. Until next TIME =D