Gangplank was born the son of the dread pirate captain Vincent the Shadow - one of the most wealthy and feared pirates in all of Blue Flame Island. One might think this would have spoiled the boy with a cushioned life of privilege, but the truth is quite the opposite. Growing up in the city of Bilgewater isn't easy; pirates are not known for their compassion, and that most certainly extends to their families. Vincent wanted his son to grow up tough and strong, so he was extremely hard on the young Gangplank. Even as a child, Gangplank was as mean as a snake and is said to have slept with his eyes open. As he grew, the young man rapidly became the most ruthless and feared pirate in all of Bilgewater, and his daddy was never more proud than on the day of his son's eighteenth birthday - when Gangplank stabbed his old man in the back and claimed the famed pirate ship, the Dead Pool, for his own.

The continent of Valoran, however, is a dangerous place for pirates; Gangplank could read the writing on the wall. The den of pirates known as Bilgewater would soon be pulled down by the undertow of Valoranian politics and the Institute of War. It was time for Bilgewater to have their own champion to represent them in the League of Legends, and who better than the fiercest pirate of them all? It is said that Gangplank has enough power and favor to claim the title of the Pirate King back home, but that he is simply biding his time and building his reputation as a champion before he returns to a life of piracy.

Pros
- Good Farmer
- Amazing Crit Damage
- Ultimate with Global Targeting
- Can Jungle
- Slower
- Anti-CC Skill
- High Armour

Cons
- Weak against Madred's Bloodrazor
- Low Magic Resist
- No Escape Skills

Medium ranged skill with massive damage output and can critical hit. This is Gangplank's main skill as it deals the most damage and has the shortest cooldown. This skill is great for farming gold, as it gives bonus gold depending on skill level. With enough critical chance and damage, this skill will make the enemy fear you. Use it at all times to harass or kill the enemy.


Self casting skill. Great skill because it has a healing effect and also has an anti crowd control effect. Can be used against champions like: Warwick. Although the amount of health healed is very low, it is mostly used for the anti-CC effect. This skill can be boosted massively by AP, as it has a 1:1 ratio.


Self casting skill. This is a very important passive skill for Gangplank as it boosts both attack damage and movement speed. It's active is better, when maxed the skill gives a boost of 26% to movement speed and give s bonus 46 attack damage. The active for this skill also applies to surrounding allied champions. The effects cannot be boosted in any way.


Long ranged area of effect skill that randomly targets the area with cannonballs that deal magic damage to enemy champions and slow them for 1.25 seconds. This skill is great for killing off any enemy champions that have happened to escape the fight with low health. It's also useful for slowing down champions that are trying to get away, as it slows any enemy champions for 1.25 seconds and if the enemy stays within the targeted area, the duration on the slow effect will refresh.

The runes for Gangplank are important and it is vital to get the right runes for each section. It is recommended that you go for the physical attack and utility runes as they will benefit to Gangplank the most for the type of build. If you cannot afford the Tier 3 runes right now you may also decide to choose the Tier 2 or Tier 1 runes. However, it is advised that you save up enough IP, so that you may be able to purchase the Tier 3 runes after you have either surpassed level 20 or have achieved enough IP. The runes that I highly recommend are Armour Penetration, Attack Speed, Critical Damage and Cooldown Reduction.

Greater Mark of Desolation Greater Quintessence of Desolation

I have chosen Greater Mark of Critical Damage as a mark because Gangplank simply can't get the most out of in game items to boost his critical damage. He needs these extra runes to make him hit over 1k critical damage.

I also choose 3 Greater Mark of Desolation to provide that early game boost of Armour Penetration. With this extra Armour Penetration you'll be hitting more damage against the squishier champions, such as Vayne. Therefore, it could be kinda like true damage. This also comes useful late game.

I have chosen Greater Seal of Attack Speed as it provides that extra boost in attack speed. As the item build shown above cannot provide the attack speed you need. Therefore, I have chosen 6 of these runes to maximize attack speed.

These glyphs are highly important. Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction provide the cooldown reduction that is needed. As Gangplank's Parrrley is highly important and the most potent skill out of all his skills. With a quicker cooldown, he'll be able to quickly take out his opponents.

Lastly, I chose Greater Quintessence of Desolation to back up the lost Armour Penetration from the Marks. This will provide that extra APen needed to deal more damage with your Parrrley.

The masteries that I have chosen are specifically more offensive play. You should have 21 points in the Offensive tree and atleast 9 in the Utlity tree. You can choose to add the 9 points into a the Defense tree but it is recommended that you stick to the 21/0/9.

This is an important skill, as it provides two uses. The first use is as a escape spell, normally used to slow the enemy and lower their damage. Very useful when trying to get away from a 1 vs 1 fight. The second use is as an offensive spell. Yes, this spell can be used offensively. If you get into a fight with an AD based champion and feel that he is doing too much damage to you, then you will activate this spell to suppress his damage output. Use this spell wisely and only when needed, as many people waste it and later on they don't have it available.


Another mandatory skill for Gangplank. This will provide that speed boost during early game; when you don't have Raise Morale or any movement speed increasing items. However, this spell may also be used late game. It can provide a massive increase in movement speed - useful for when chasing down enemy champions or simply used for escaping a fight.


Ignite is a great finishing off skill. If an enemy exits your Parrrley range, you may activate this to finish them off. Great for when there's an enemy turret hugging with low health. May also be used to force the enemy to return to base to heal and while they're at it, you can take out turrets and inhibitors.


Another great escaping spell. Useful when being chased to a dead end. Also useful for turret diving and getting that extra kill. Many players like this spell as it comes in use a lot during a 5 v 5 match and it also has a decent cooldown.

Cleanse is a great optional skill. However, this skill may be a waste of the tow summoner spells. It's alright to choose this summoner spell if you suspect the other team has more than one champion that has a CC skill.


Decent skill for jungling. Although, Gangplank is not the best champion to be jungling with. You will do better in lane as you don't have any lifesteal skills nor are you tank.

Don't ever get this with Gangplank. It's an overall terrible skill to have as it wastes one out of the two spells that you may have,


Again, same with Heal. Not necessary and a waste of summoner spells. You are not a mana hungry champion like Pantheon.


Terrible skill. Doesn't do much once you've reached mid game. Neither are you a support class. Even for a support class, it's quite useless.


Decent skill, however you're not a support so you don't need this skill.


Again, same with Fortify. Not a support and don't need it.


You don't need this as your movement speed is about 400+. Waste of a summoner spell. Also you already have Raise Morale which boosts your movement speed a bit.


Terrible skill to have unless your an unskilled player who uses this to revive themself but ends up getting themselves killed as they attempt to avenge their own death.

Starting Items


You might be thinking why go for Brawler's Gloves instead of a Doran's Blade or Doran's Shield. Well, the Brawler's Gloves give you that edge in your critical chance and are used later on to get your Avarice Blade, which gives you a decent 12% critical chance boost. The Health Potion are selected because you don't have Remove Scurvy yet and also you're a melee character, which means you will constantly have to get up close to deal damage. In the process, taking damage from ranged champions or casters. Even though that you get Remove Scurvy at Level 2, it's not as effective yet.

Early-Mid Game


Once you have obtained enough gold. You will go purchase a Avarice Blade, as it gives a decent 12% critical chance. From then on you will need some speed to chase down some faster enemy champions. You will then buy a pair of Boots. This will really help you get around the map and also useful for dodging skill shots from champions like Ezreal or Nocturne.

Once you have both the Avarice Blade and your Boots, you can move onto building your Youmuu's Ghostblade. This item is especially worth it, as I have seen many other guides that tell you leave it at the Avarice Blade. Youmuu's Ghostblade has great stats. The main reason I got this item is because it has the extra ArPen, increases your critical chance, gives attack damage and also has great cooldown reduction and active ability.

Once you've completed your Youmuu's Ghostblade, you will want to quickly grab your Ionian Boots of Lucidity as these will help increase your cooldown reduction by 15%. Very effective when combined with your Parrrley skill. After that you will want to move onto your next mandatory item. The Phantom Dancer. This item is a must as it boosts your attack speed by a whopping 55% and also grants your champion with an extra 30% critical chance. You will want to get the Sheen first as it gives that extra damage 100% bonus damage on your next base attack. Very good for farming. After that, grab your two Zeal, they will greatly enhance your movement speed, attack speed and critical chance. Once you have enough gold, you will finish off your Phantom Dancer and move onto your Trinity Force. This is where the second Zeal and Sheen comes into play. You should be able to quickly build your Trinity Force as it only requires the recipe and the Phage.

Mid-Late Game


By now, I'm assuming you have already built your Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Phantom Dancer and Trinity Force. If you already have all those items, great! You can now move onto your Bloodthirster for that edge in life steal. First off you will buy the Vampiric Scepter. Do not get the B. F. Sword first as you will not get the life steal that you want. Damage may be important, but if you want survivability, you want the Vampiric Scepter. After finishing off your Bloodthirster, you want to grab your Infinity Edge as soon as possible! As this item will increase your critical damage by 50% and give a 25% boost in critical chance. First off, get the Cloak of Agility. The reason being that it gives the critical chance. Then, get the B. F. Sword and finish it off by buying the Pickaxe and the recipe.

End Game

Once reaching end game you should already have every item. If your are gaining a lot of gold at this time of the game, you might want to just spend it on the Elixir of Fortitude, Elixir of Brilliance and the Elixir of Agility. These basic elixirs will help you a bit, boosting health, critical chance, attack speed and ability power. Ability power may be considered a weird choice by some, however, it adds up for you Remove Scurvy skill.

Optional Items

Here is a list of some items that you may want to switch with the main build items. As some games you may find that the enemy may be building items that are used to counter your offensive.

Last Whisper - Useful ArPen. Great against enemy champions that are building armour.
Black Cleaver - Lowers armour, again great against champions that are building armour.
Frozen Mallet - Has a nice slow effect. Useful against fast movers.
Executioner's Calling - Life steal and has a anti health regeneration active.
Atma's Impaler - Works great with GP's health. You'll get about 40 bonus attack damage with this.
Frozen Heart - Decent amour. Useful against AD champions.
Cloak and Dagger - Gives extra critical chance.
Thornmail - Great against full out AD champions. e.g Nocturne or Riven
Force of Nature - Has a great unique passive is useful against AP champions.
Banshee's Veil - Has a negative spell blocker and has decent magic resist.
Tiamat - Gives splash damage. Not recommended though.
Mercury's Treads - Has +35 Tenacity and decent magic resistance.
Berserker's Greaves - Increase a small amount of attack speed.
Warden's Mail - Good armour. Also has a nice slow on hit passive.
Wriggle's Lantern - Has a sight ward active and good combination of attack damage, armour and life steal.
Warmog's Armor - Gives health on purchase. Also gives additional health and health regen after killing minions, creeps or champions. Great combination with Atma's Impaler.

Introduction to Wards

Wards play an important role in every single match that you play. Wards are normally used early game to mid game, as they provide vision to a small area. There are two kinds of wards available in the game. The first type of ward is the Sight Ward. The Sight Ward grants vision to normal units only, for a maximum range of 1100 units and it lasts a total of 3 minutes. These are the cheapest type of wards that you can get in the game. The second type of ward is the Vision Ward. The Vision Ward will cost more gold as it also reveals stealth units. The maximum range is 1000 units. These are only used when the enemy has a champion with a stealth skill.

Uses for Wards

Wards have many uses. They are normally used to reveal brushes to counter against ganks and surprise attacks. They are also used to reveal the two main bosses in the game. Baron Nashor and Dragon. Wards are normally placed at the entrance of the bosses, so whenever the enemy team gathers up at the bosses you will be able to know. This is useful to prevent the enemy team from gaining the buff that Baron Nashor gives. The wards may also be placed at Blue Buff and Red Buff. There are a total of 2 Blue Buffs and 2 Red Buffs. You may decide to place only one ward each at your own buffs to prevent a jungler from stealing your buffs or you may also decide to place a ward each on the enemy's buff spawns. This will also help you alot as it gives you a insight at what you're up against in the next possible fight.

Oracle's Elixir

The Oracle's Elixir is a great item against stealth related units. It provides the champion who purchased it with stealth detection capabilities until death. This is really useful against champions like: Twitch, Evelynn, Teemo and Shaco. This is more recommended than the Vision Ward as it provides stealth detection wherever your champion walks. Unlike the Vision Ward which only provides a certain radius around the area that it is placed.