Blitzcrank Build Guide by koksei

This build has been archived and is for historical display only.

PLEASE NOTE: This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.

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HOOK CITY DUDE, HOOK CITY!

Last updated on November 23, 2012

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Build 1 (Cheat Sheet)

Champion Build: Blitzcrank

Recommended Runes

Purchase Order

Ability Sequence

Mastery Tree Is Outdated

WARNING: These masteries are still using the old tree and have not been updated to the new tree by the guide author. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.

Masteries

Offense: 1

Defense: 8

Utility: 21

Guide Table of Contents

Intro

Positive & Negative Aspects

Runes

Masteries

Summoner Spells

Skills & Skill Sequence

Items

Warding

Laning Phase & Zoning

Rocketgrab / Video Section

Lane Partner

Pre Teamfight & Teamfight

Questions & Answers

Summary

Credits

Intro

Okay here comes my guide on I've picked him up for a longer time and most mobafire guides kinda don't really give him the support role he should fulfill.

Uhhh, I rerelased the guide now, since I am maining support anyway, did a small tweak - other starting items but besides that it's basically the same!

Anyway let's get dis started![*]

Positive & Negative Aspects

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Pros

+ Massive CC
+ Pretty tanky
+ Can changes games in the blink
of an eye!
+ Warding benefits him more than anyone else
+ His roaming is incredibly strong
+ Best invade-ability in the game
-->
+ Super fun
+ He is a STEAMGOLEM

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Cons

- Extremely hard to play successful
- Has a hard time playing from behind (laning phase)
- You'll get flamed a lot if you
aren't that good yet
- No heal or shield

Runes

Greater Mark of Attack Damage
You may wonder why I get these runes on a support but you'll hit your opponent 2-4 times every time you pull him so that's quite some extra damage moreover, his Power Fist scales with it!
Greater Seal of Gold
In my opinion Blitzcrank is tanky enough even without Greater Seal of Armor and I just like these runes. Combined with quints you get 5 GP10 for free!
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
Since you won't face that much magic damage early on I prefer these runes like this you'll be tanky later on!
Greater Quintessence of Gold
In my opinion the best quints for a support and you HAVE to get them;
it's not like you really need any other runes on a support anyway.

Alternatives

Marks:

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration since Blitzcrank got huge base damage on his skills they will benefit you quite well; not that much in laning phase tho (pre 6) since only your Rocket Grab and Static Field deal magical damage.
Greater Mark of Armor because you go for Greater Seal of Gold you won't be that tanky. If you feel like you are too squishy get them.

Seals:

Greater Seal of Armor I'd rather stick to the armor Marks and keep the GP10 Seals, but definitely the most viable alternative!

Glyphs:

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist if you are facing an AD that deals heavy magic dmg early on e.g. Tristana you should get these runes!

Quintessences:

Greater Quintessence of Health I really wouldn't recommend getting other Quintessences on a support but these work quite good.
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed kind of overkill on Blitzcrank but well - you can't have enough MS right?!

Masteries

OFFENSE TREE

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Tier 1 // I take this 1 point in offense so I can get for improved , to shred some armor and MR!

DEFENSE TREE

Tier 1 // 3 points in to make up for my GP10 runes in my opinion this is enough to stay in lane. The 2 points in are quite good against any magical damage which you will eventually meet in lane as well.

Tier 2 // Now you go for so you'll be a little bit more sustained. With this + you'll be regenerated in no time!

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UTILITY TREE

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Tier 1 // You'll go for to improve your and get 3 points in for extra mana, since is quite mana hungry and it synergizes with his passive;.

Tier 2 // Next up are for even more MS and to sustain your mana, like I said above is quite mana hungry! And this will help you to regain it faster.

Tier 3 // In this Tier you'll pick to get even more GP10! + + grant 7,25 GP10 for free! That's more than one gold item grants!

Tier 4 // Now you'll go for , 40 gold might not be that much, but due to the fact that you want to start with + it's inevitable.

Tier 5 // To get some CDR you'll get ! has quite long cooldowns so this mastery comes in really handy. After you finish and you'll have maximum CDR. The afterwards isn't really for the CDR but for the other stats and the active.

Tier 6 // Last but not least you take which will bring up your Summonerspells way faster!

Summoner Spells

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First off all you HAVE TO get here are the reasons why:

Before you got your Boots of Speed or Boots of Mobility you'll lack movespeed and a support without Flash will just get ganked over and over again. Which will eventually succeed once the Flash is down,
Escaping, Chasing!
DEM FLASHGRABS (Video below, "Rocket Grab-Section")

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Secondly I take , it's awesome for Blitzcrak and the bottomlane for several reasons:

Shreds resistances = more damage!
Slows the target down and reduces it's damage
Great to secure kills or to escape - due to it's slow; damage reduction!

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Alternatives:

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is quite good for botlane but since is ALWAYS an aggressive lane I prefer over it. If you wanna play it safe tho you could still get it.
I heard that some people actually swap out for which is just dumb in my opinion.

spaaace

used to be quite a viable summoner on , but since the change the CD is just way too long. I rarely get it on him. Even tho it's super strong for invasions.

spaaace

If your jungler and/or your toplane takes you could go for it. But nowadays the AD usually get's so it'd still prefer !

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Everything else is ********. Dun even think about getting it, could be funny to troll but meh - not viable for a serious build.

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Skills & Skill Sequence

Once you drop below 20% health a shield for 50% of your current mana will activate.
In my opinion this passive is quite strong and suitable for .

Pros:

+ Makes him tanky even without that many items
+ While he builds manatank-items (e.g. Frozen Heart) he gets even more tanky
+ A great lifesaver
+ Extremely strong mid/late game

Cons:

- If you are oom your passive is useless
- Isn't that useful earlygame

The skill, that makes so strong and funny at the same time.
This skill is literally your way to success!

Pros:

+ Awesome range (longer than the indicator)
+ Can grab through your OWN minions
+ One of the best if not the best invasion skill
+ Awesome to zone (combined with Power Fist)

Cons:

- Has quite a long CD
- Skillshot, you can't just click on him and suddenly he stands infront of you

The skill you'll max first! Just an awesome speedboost which is insanely strong.
Combined with your you'll catch anybody!

Pros:

+ Great follow-up skill combined with your other skills
+ Even if you just got Boots of Speed you'll be faster than most other people
+ Low CD

Cons:

Actually I don't think that this skill has any negative side effect.
It used to debuff you when it ended but that's a long time ago.

When activated your next hit will deal double damage and knock your enemy up! Activate it before or while your grab so the enemies gets instant knocked up! Also works on towers, resets your AA.

Pros:

+ Low CD - Massive CC
+ Low Manacosts
+ Good to engage fights
+ Awesome zoning ability (combined with Rocket Grab)

Cons:

- You have to be next to the target to use this ability. AA range
- Not really that much damage, at least with my supporting build!

And here comes 's ultimate it has HUGE base damage. And grants a short AOE Silence that's a huge benefit for your team, since it stirs up the teamfight for your favour.
The passive is quite good for chasing down people. Even tho it's not that good for laning phase.

Pros:

+ AOE Silence
+ Huge burst especially combined with Rocket Grab --> 800 when both skills are maxed!
+ Really low CD which allows you to cast it often

Cons:

- You may take kills with it due to it's high basedamage.

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

At level one comes Rocket Grab, it's just made for invading and if you got Blitzcrank you should always invade! (You max Rocket Grab at lvl 18)
On lvl 2 you pick up Power Fist - and now the fun begins! Don't even bother to grab someone on lvl 1 since you'll most likely just waste your mana. From lvl 2 on you can start the killing/zoning.
Next up you'll pick up Overdrive - the skill you'll max first (by lvl 9), simply because it makes grabbing and zoning (+ escaping) way easier!
What you max 2nd and 3rd is up to you but I prefer maxing Power Fist due to more utility - shorter cooldowns.
To sum things up it's like this Static Field > Overdrive > Power Fist > Rocket Grab - like I said above you could switch Rocket Grab with Powerfist!

Items

Item Sequence

Item Explanation:

I usually start with Faerie Charm, other alternatives would be Regrowth Pendant or Boots of Speed - if you feel like you'll be safe with only 1/2 wards, buy Boots of Speed vs passive lanes to outdo them in speed --> easier grabs!
You'll either want to get Boots of Speed or your first GP10 item, if you are winning hard anyway you can go for Philosopher's Stone, if you feel like you need some more beefyness get [[Heart of Gold.
Remember to buy at least 2 Sight Wards again!
Next up is Heart of Gold/ Philosophers Stone, obviously the one you don't have yet :P
Remember to buy at least 2 Sight Wards again!
Now you'll go for Kage's Lucky Pick, with this your 3 GP10 is completed and the gold will rain down on you!
After finishing Boots of Mobility your "core" is set and it's kinda situational what you get next!
If you are having a hard time and they have a lot of physical damage in general
you should rush Frozen Heart.
But most of the time I'd go for Zeke's Herald or Shureylia's Reverie!
From here on it's completely situational, I usually have no problems with magic damage even lategame, but if you are having problems you can go for Banshee's Veil, other than that you should finish your Shureylia's Reverie (if you haven't before) or buy Zeke's Herald, Frozen Heart or Randuin's Omen.
Of course you have to buy way more wards than stated above - after my "core"
3 GP10's + Boots of Mobility I usually get 4-5 wards every time I port back!

Alternative Items:

SPACE

A great item for the support in general but I don't like it as much as on - simply because it doesn't grant any mana at all. If someone else gets tho I'd go for it! Usually I'd ask the jungler or the toplaner to get one - if they feel the need to have one.

SPACE

A or is actually really strong on . You'll deal such huge burst! I only get when we are completely dominating lane tho and rarely ever finish Trinity Force (too expensive - Shurelyas's Reverie and other items are more important)

SPACE

A great item for against AP heavy teams - e.g. against a fed mid or double AP!

SPACE

Ninja Tabi's

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I go for 80% of the time, but if we are losing quite hard and I need the armor I go for Ninja Tabi's, Mercury Treads --> can be useful against heavy CC.

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Mercury Treads

Wouldn't really recommend too many other items, we'll see what season 3 brings upon us!

Warding

You'll of course never have wards on all these places and you'll focus them on objectives but these are most of the keypoints which you could ward. Sometimes one key point is unecessary if you have warded another one.

Of course there are some more important wards like, pit wards at or .
But these are situational (e.g. when your river ward gets destroyed due to a pink ward)
Or if you are doing you'll ward over the pit so they won't steal it.

Laning Phase & Zoning

Let's get to one of greatest abilities - Zoning!
Explanation of Zoning and Zoning tactics: Here's a small article about zoning!

Due to s kit he excells at this and forces the enemies to ward the lanebushes - if they don't ward them it's kind of a won lane for you! Just by walking in it you'll make your enemies do it because they are scared - with reason.

The trick to this is NOT using the grab too often - if you make use of too often you'll just run out of mana and your ability to zone will run out so instead of spamming it
aim for PRECISE s!

Once your is used and missed your enemies have about 15 seconds
before you'll be able to zone them again.

Ways of Zoning/Killing:

You position yourself in a sidebush run up to them with (+ )
you only activate if there is a chance to get them.
If the enemy escapes you either back of or try to .

Usually your PRESENCE is enough to make your enemies afraid of you!
Just be there be patient try to land most of your Rocket Grabs and you'll succeed in lane.

Zoning Tutorial by Shureylia:

Rocketgrab / Video Section

In this section I want to give you an idea about s Q-Skill, ,
since it has such unique ways to use it! And I'll give you some tricks to it as well.

Blitzcranks job is basically to secure kills (objectives) by getting them out of position,
and since you'll have a ****load of MS that can happen really fast.
Below I'll post videos & screenshots of some grabs you should learn, know.
I'll add more later on - going through LoL-Replay takes time :-/

The Flashgrab:

WP by as well :)

Grabbing the blue without resetting:
(You gotta stand almost exactly at that point or else it'll reset)

The range of Rocket Grab is a little bit further than the indicator!

In this video a small teamfight occurs, it greatly shows the power of "towergrabs"
and your passive;

One of the most common ways to grab someone - while going to clear/ward:

--> Fun fact: was Diamond Season 2, and this mistake cost them the game.

Lane Partner

SPACE

Lane Rating: Incredible

really excells with , they synergize so well with each other,
due to high burst & mobility. just bursts so hard with his and once he is level 6 the enemies have to pray you'll miss your , it'll be a certain kill otherwise!

SPACE

Lane Rating: Incredible

+ is one of those lineup's you just don't wanna face it's so damn strong due to 's huge burst from:
AA -> -> AA + just shreds people.
If you manage to grab someone the chances are pretty high you get a kill or force
them to use escape mechanisms -

SPACE

Lane Rating: Incredible/Strong

is one of the better matchups for ; even earlygame she has a lot of burst and and can reduce healing () which is really strong for short skirmishes! The only problem in this matchup is miscommunication - missing your due to the jump resulting in losing a lot of burst.

SPACE

Lane Rating: Incredible/Strong

is one of the best, matchups for [Blitzcrank. The killing potential in this lane is just incredible due to the high CC given:
--> --> .
If manages to smash the enemy into a wall it's gonna hurt
and certainly result in kills quite often! --> Very hard too pull of tho!

SPACE

Lane Rating: Strong

's AAs will really hurt due to she'll also reduce any healing abilities by 50% with those. More than that she got a slow and quite a burst with AA --> --> AA. It might not seem like a strong matchup but give it a try and you'll see for yourself! ( should max W, )

SPACE

Lane Rating: Strong/Medium

I actually haven't played that matchup in a while since isn't picked that much but it's quite strong! got a lot of burst damage due to + ricochet moreover she has a lot of mobility due to her passive, .

SPACE

Lane Rating:Medium

is actually quite a good lane partner for .
But it's kinda hard to pull of since the needs some timing for that. Due to her s you got even more CC and you'll be a real threat.

There are two ways to do this:

Caitlyn plants the Yordle Snap Trap beforehand and
you Rocket Grab them right into it!
(This one is way harder since it's kinda obvious,
at least if they have a Sight Ward in the bush)
While you use Rocket Grab, Caitlyn plants Yordle Snap Trap
and it goes up when the enemy reaches you or after Power Fist
(Usually more successful but Caitlyn needs timing for that)

SPACE

Lane Rating: Medium

Since relies on poke and needs quite a lot of mana for that isn't the best matchup but that doesn't mean that it's weak. If maxes
and rushes a he'll have huge burst - just what needs

SPACE

Lane Rating: Medium

has his s which really hurt
+ a great chasing skill --> .
The only small problem is to catch your s but that shouldn't be too hard.

SPACE

Lane Rating: Medium

doesn't really have that much burst but his AAs hurt quite alot due to . He also has a slow + healing reduction skill; .
The lane is definitely quite strong pre 6 you probably won't secure too many kills but once is level 6 you'll have even more CC and you'll be able to do da killings.

SPACE

Lane Rating: Weak

isn't really a good matchup for - usually aims to farm well and needs sustain due to heals or shields for that.
It's one of the weaker lanes and I'd usually prefer something like as !
The main problem about this lane is that it lacks killing potential and you'll most likely not score any kills without the help of a jungler.

SPACE

Lane Rating: Weak

doesn't really synergize that well with
since she doesn't has the burst, other AD's have.
I'd say is the "worst" AD-Partner for but it can still work out.
The main problem will be that most other ADs will just outdamage her even tho you grabbed successful and you'll probably lose the trade.

SPACE

Pre Teamfight & Teamfight

If you know there'll be a teamfight soon due to or try to ward the whole area your chances to get someone of position are way higher like that. You should always try to ward/clear with 2 more persons, since you'll probably meet someone in the jungle.
Grabbing someone (usually the support) because he is going to ward, occurs very often and directly puts your team in a better position to defend/contest an objective.

Like I stated above s job is to get people of position. Usually the enemy team won't engage on if your is still up since the risk is too high to make it an instant 4v5.

Of course there'll be teamfights anyway, your job is to protect the carries and to stirr up the teamfight with your (AoE Silence).

The weird thing about is that you'll have way less teamfights than with any other support since noone wants to engage 4v5 - and this should happen quite a lot if you play it right.

Questions & Answers

Q: Hey koksei, is this build viable for ranked play?

A: Yes it is I played it from 1500-1700 and once I am back to 1700 I will continue using it.

Q: Hey dude, I never hit my grab what do I do wrong?

A: Try using smartcast for faster reactiontime, also don't always engage with . Run up to them with and use Powerfist - if he escapes use , hitting Rocket Grab from a shorter distance is way easier!

Q: Why should we trust you?

A: Well I played around 1500-1700 season 2 and atm I am 1750+ and main support, not really high elo yet but I guess it's not that bad.
And many people said I am a good .

Q: Hey koksei, are there situations where I should avoid picking Blitzcrank?

A: Well in laning phase an can be quite annoying but that's actually no reason not to pick him. or are also quite good against him since your team will usually stick next to you they'll get a good ultimate off.

Q: Why'd you ever start Regrowth Pendant / Boots of Speed?

A: Like this you'll have a huge advantage on the enemy support, if you can actually afford it, due to their jungler "being known not to gank bot early" or at least not that effective it's not really a problem.

Summary

So that's it I hope you guys enjoyed it and learnt a bit and you'll play a succesful soon!

Masteries: 1/8/21
Runes: , , ,
Skillorder: > > >

Have fun DOING DEM GRABS
Lemme know of your results and feel free to post them!
I appreciate any constructive critism and feedback in general :)

Credits

There are some people I wanna thank for helping me out with this guide:

samgoeslol aka strawhatbro for his Article about zoning. For more stuff like this go here!

GrandmasterD aka GrandmistressD for his feedback/critique for my graphics.

jhoijhoi for her Guide about making a guide

Guide Discussion (49)

The Great Steam Golem

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Blitzcrank Build Guide by koksei

This build has been archived and is for historical display only.

HOOK CITY DUDE, HOOK CITY!

Champion Build: Blitzcrank

Recommended Runes

Purchase Order

Ability Sequence

Mastery Tree Is Outdated

Masteries

Offense: 1

Defense: 8

Utility: 21

Intro

Positive & Negative Aspects

Runes

Alternatives

Masteries

Summoner Spells

Alternatives:

Skills & Skill Sequence

Items

Alternative Items:

Warding

Laning Phase & Zoning

Rocketgrab / Video Section

Lane Partner

Pre Teamfight & Teamfight

Questions & Answers

Summary

Credits

Blitzcrank

The Great Steam Golem

This Week's Free Champions

About the Author

Latest on MOBAFire TV

Scheduled Tournaments

Drop-in Games

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