Glass Cannon? Fk that. IRON CANNON.

So this build is similar to my Zilean build, which is extremely successful. There are only a few modifications based on the need to slow enemies down I find this build to be the absolute best Veigar build I could come across. I've tried all the "get a tear and rabals first!" approach, and all the others like them, and they just don't cut it. This build literally makes you off-tank potential. That beefy. And yet, you still hit 700ap. Other comments I have received were "But you could have 1k ap instead! Just think how awesome that would be!" Honestly, Veigar doesn't need 1k ap. He can do just as good with 700ap as he can with 1k ap. The big difference is your enemy cannot gank you! And when you survive all 5 of them, you become a HUGE asset to your team with a second round of stuns and nukes.

All I've gotta say is....don't knock it till you try it. You will be impressed. So it goes something like this:

Buy two faerie charms, hpot, and two mana pots. Farm your Q like you normally would, but try not to engage the enemy until you get your ulti. When you get to level 5 it should be around 7 or 8 minutes into the game and you will be low on mana. Return to town and buy the two phil stones. At this point, return to your lane and while farming your Q, harass the enemy steadily to open them up for team ganks. Also begin farming wraiths on both sides of the river. A rank 3 dark matter will 1-hit the smaller wraiths if it is the first time they are being killed (be mindful of junglers causing wraiths to get stronger). You now have the mana to do so. To all those people out there who say you ruin your early game AP by getting phil stones....you are quite wrong and the proof is in checking your enemy's gear. Unless they've gotten some major feed from your team, you will find at the 20 to 30 minute mark that you have exactly the same items as your enemy (in total gold price) PLUS your two phil stones, PLUS all the extra farming you got in.

Team fights start to break out, and you will have your sorc boots at this point. You are not tankish, and you are still farming. Get your Abyssal Scepter. Your ability to farm will be insane, and you can kill full health champions (roughly 14 minutes in the game). Then get your Rabal's. This should be around 25 minutes into the match.

Remember, not only did you get an extra 10g/10seconds, but you also pushed your mana regen so high that you were able to farm mid AND jungle without losing creep kills. (Think about it, phil stone is the most efficient and highest mana regen item in the game, you have two, and a passive that makes it even MORE effective). Next up get your Warmog's and DFG. Technically, as soon as you get your Warmog's you are quite capable of tanking the enemy team's damage without dying. However, in order to continue to do so as you get into late game, you will need to purchase your last item, the hourglass. It buys you 2 seconds for your cooldowns to reset. You are quite possibly as tankish as your team's main tank. Remember, with 700ap and 50 magic pen in this build, your DFG will do roughly 50% of an enemy's health in damage AFTER their magic resist item.

1) No real sufferage of your AP at any point in the game except at the 12-15 minute time frame. ALL times before and after that range...you will have normal AP totals compared to build guides that say "get tear and rabals first!"

2) To those who do the math, you will notice that buying a phil stone recovers all your gold spent after just 12 minutes of the purchase since you will be selling them later on. They are for SUPER farming. If you buy two stones at the 8 minute marker....at the 20 minute marker its pure profit (no advantage loss, and infact huge advantage gain from outleveling your lane via jungle).

3) Awesome mana regen without rune dependancy.

4) HUGE life total, great magic resist, great armor, and decent hp regen. (Though no longer *quite* as huge as Mundo). Mundo goes where he pleases? VEIGAR GOES WHERE HE PLEASES. No more sitting at the back of the pack waiting for a shot. YOU can be the tank with Veigar, and shoot straight for their back line when your tank engages.

5) You still have 700AP and near-max cooldowns.

6) Strength of Spirit is a huge free hp regen bonus from masteries that helps you in the early game.

7) Your opponents will SERIOUSLY underestimate your ability to tank their damage. Late game they will jump you all at once, and you will survive their CC and then stun and nuke them and flash out with almost half your health. Then, with your good regen, you are back into the fight before it is over. What good is a Veigar with 1k AP when he dies after he blows his abilities one time? Be a Veigar that has 700AP and uses his abilities over and over and over and over.

1) *Update* I resolved the "armor vs magic resist" conflict. The build now incorporates both sufficient armor and sufficient magic resist. I also took exhaust out, for clarity, to farm even faster early game.

2) The first 5 levels are a little bit tough. You have a low hp count until you get your warmogs. Use your rank 1 stun for defense only, unless you are absolutely sure you can get the kill.

I changed my skill progression to give Dark Matter high ranks earlier. You can begin doing the wraith camp when dark matter reaches level 3. If its the first time the wraiths are killed, all the small ones will die with one dark matter. Each progressive time the camp is killed will require more auto attacks or upgrades to your dark matter. Notice I do not even get my ulti until later levels. The main reason for this was farming. You farm so much that you literally still get your ulti around the same time as everyone else. Two ranks of Bstrike is sufficient to time your hits without error. After that, you want all points in Dark Matter for the explicit reason of *super* farming. By putting points into this early, and having super mana regen from your phil stones, you can push your mid lane fast, and go jungle, return, and kill the new minions, and still have mana left over to kill your mid opponent. This can get you to level 10 when your mid enemy is still level 8 and everyone else is still level 6. Its a huge advantage.

Another note, I changed this build to reflect what I believe is a superior start to the early game compared to my old build. It also frees up an item slot for more AP late game, or for more magic resist or void staff depending on what you need.

End game stats are typically as follows:

700AP
18% cooldown reduction from items and masteries (maxed with bbuff or near max with blue pot)
3500 health (with red pots)
150 armor
120 magic resist
50 magic penetration