Welcome to my Kennen Guide!

I'm making this guide because I think I can teach you something about a champion that seems to be forgotten, although it is pretty strong.
I've been searching for some good kennen guides and there are few that can teach you how to play kennen (if you're new to him). I'll try my best to teach you how to play him mid lane (the only lane in the current meta that he can fit in), also when to NOT pick him, how to play in a teamfight and how can you help your team achieve victory.

PS: If you're new to some terminology of League of Legends, click here to learn a little more.

PROS x High Damage x Energy Champion x High Utility in Teamfights x Lane Poker x It's a ninja!

CONS x Depends heavilly on items x High cooldown on ultimate x Hard to hit stun (needs training) x Disengage Team are a problem x No escape with E on CD

This are just some pros/cons of Kennen. You have to take this points in mind when picking him in a game. It's allways a good idea to think if you're gonna be a menace to their team or a menace to your team.

Before you instalock any champion in your next ranked game (god I hate who does that), it's allways good to learn and train your abilities.

Passive: Mark of The Storm - You have to know your passive very well: It's gonna have a big impact on your game. Each ability leaves a Mark of the Storm on your enemy. On the third proc of the Mark, the enemy is stunned. It's your only CC, but it fits very well on the playstyle of Kennen.



Q: Thundering Shuriken (65/60/55/50/45 Energy - 8/7/6/5/4 CD) - Your main harass ability. Your bread and butter. It has a long range and leaves a Mark of the Storm on your opponent. It hits the first character it hits, so you can use it to last hit from a safe distance. It can also be used as a bush checker, because when it hits, it makes a electric sound, so use it if you think that someone is in the fog of war.



W: Electrical Surge (45 energy at all ranks - 14/12/10/8/6 CD) - Passive: Each 5 autoattacks, deals extra damage and leaves a Mark of the Storm on the character that it hits. Active: It deals damage to all the nearby enemies with Mark of the Storm, leaving another Mark of the Storm. This spell is very useful. With some AP you can deal heavy damage to your opponent and land the stun to harrass him even longer. It hits also damage to stealth champions with Mark of the Storm and it gives you an idea of where they are (altough it not reveals them).



E: Lightning Rush (100/95/90/85/80 energy - 10/9/8/7/6 CD) - Kennen transforms into a electrical ball, gaining Movement Speed, MR and Armor. It can pass trough enemies, leaving an Mark of the Storm on every enemy it passes trough, but it cannot attack during the duration. Also, it's refunded 40 energy if it passes trough an enemy while using this spell (only once per use). Pretty nice ability to farm, especially after buying some AP (combined with your W). Also, it can be used to avoid some skillshots or to get close to your enemy so you can land the stun and get the kill.



R: Slicing Maelstorm (No Cost - 120 CD at all ranks) - Your ultimate, oh baby. It can be a HUGE factor in a teamfight. It deals magic damage to a random enemy every few seconds. You can't hit the same enemy more than 3 times. At rank 3, it deals 15 strikes, so if you're in the middle of a teamfight, you can hit every champion within range of the ultimate. Use it wisely tought: it has the same CD at all ranks, and without Zhonya's, you can get bursted down quite easily. You can use your Q and W while the ultimate is on, so you can make your enemies stay within ult range.

Skill Sequence
You want to max Thundering Shuriken first, since it's gonna be your main damage source in most part of the game. After that, max W and for last E. Allways take a point in Ult when you can, obviously.

Before we start with masteries, let me explain something: you don't have to follow 100% these masteries. You can do a mastery page of your own if it works better for you. For me, this works better than other i've saw.

Masteries
Runes
Mobafire is screwing on showing a rune planner. SO I'm gonna put a screenshot of my runes.

Again, pretty standard rune page for an AP Mid Laner. 9 Marks of Magic Penetration, 9 Seals of Armor, 9 Glyphs of MR and 3 Quintessence of AP. You can change the marks and glyphs. Change the marks for hybrid penetration Marks (i've seen it and I can say it works) and scaling MR Glyphs, altough I think that flat MR is more useful in the early game than scaling MR, but you can use which one you prefer.


Spells
No discussion here. Flash is perfect to surprise the enemy team, to escape or to chase. Ignite to finish your enemies. You can take Teleport if you want to help a lane, but I don't think it benefits you, I think Ignite suits you better.

In this section i'm gonna show the build that I do the most. The order can change from enemy to enemy.



Doran's Blade is the best starting item for Kennen, since your early game benefits a lot from your autoattacks. A Health Potion so you can stay in lane longer and a Stealth Ward so you can ward and stay alert to ganks. Easy to explain.



Seeker's Armguard is part of one of your main items, and I priorityze Zhonya's Hourglass first to be more helpfull in teamfights. It's also very good against AD mid's (like Zed or Jayce). Boots are an obvious choice: you move faster. Buy a ward (because more vision it's allways better), and some Health Potion to heal yourself in case.

By mid-game, you should be reaching this build. Zhonya's Hourglass serves as a little godmode as 2.5 seconds, avoiding ticks of ignite, skillshots that would kill you or avoid damage as you are using your ultimate. Abyssal Mask is a wonderful item to you. It gives AP, MR and some MR reduction, which is great as you are in range for the passive to affect your enemies while you're using Slicing Maelstrom. Sorcerer's Shoes add some more Magic Penetration and give you more speed.


So here it is: your final build. Adding the new items: Rabadon's Deathcap it's an obvious choice: MORE AP. Void Staff helps you get even more Magic Penetration, Rylai's Crystal Scepter gives you Health, AP and, in my opinion, a great passive: a slow when you land your spells of 35%. Sweeping Lens are to gain control of important objectives and deny information to the enemy team. Enchantment: Captain can make your teammates follow you more easily. But if you're in need for getting right back to fight, buy Enchantment: Homeguard. Pretty good build in general.


However, you can build this tems if you think it fits your game. I recommend Twin Shadows if you're against an heavy AP team, Randuin's Omen if you're against AD team. Banshee's Veil of all, it's the item I recommend the most. It avoids one spell of the enemy team, and that's allways a good thing. Guardian Angel it's one of the ones I recommend the least, I think you can get better items, but if you want, be my guest.

First of all, beware that are times when you pick Kennen and times where you don't pick Kennen. So before you learn how to play Kennen, learn when you can play Kennen.



Like I said, there are good and bad times to pick Kennen.
When you are first pick, don't pick Kennen. It gives the other team the oportunity to counter your pick, so try to make other player in your team to pick him when you feel it's safe. It's a good time to pick Kennen if the other team doesn't have much hard CC.
Example: Dr. Mundo, Shyvana, Zed, Caitlyn, Nidalee

On the other side, there is a team with many hard CC or heavy disengage. On this example you can fit also: Leona, Amumu, Orianna, Zac, Hecarim, etc.
Example: Renekton, Lee Sin, Lulu, Lucian, Janna
Against this kind of team you can pick Kennen, but you'll have a hard time if they are coordenated. Think carefully before you pick it.

There is also synergy with your team. A support with heavy cc (like Leona or Sona), a jungler that can engage (like Vi or Amumu) could be good options for your Kennen.

With this done, let's get to the gameplay.


Early Game: Early game is basic for Kennen. Help your jungler doing red/blue, then go to your lane and start farming. Use and abuse of your poke to make your opponent go back. Make wraiths when you're lane is pushed to the enemy turret. Beware of ganks and if you can kill your opponent, good. After 6 you begin to get more useful to a teamfight (if it happens) and you can become a menace to the enemy team.


Mid-game: Here is when you're gonna start snowballing. If you have Zhonya's Hourglass by this point, you should be fine to ult in teamfights. Start moving around the map if you can and try to pick kills. Avoid getting caught out of hand, ward well the river and allways take dragon or a turret if possible. Remember that objectives are better than a single kill. Continue to farm when nothing seems to be happen and you can have a Sweeping Lens so that you can deny vision of objectives or routes from your enemies.

Late-Game: Teamfights, Teamfights! If your game reaches this point, you can be the factor that determines victory or defeat. Ward baron as often as possible and try to push as often as possible. In teamfights, try to not be the engager, unless you are fed or your team can follow up after your engage. Get baron if possible and don't be dumb: if you can win the game and there is only one enemy left with 2 hp, don't chase him, end the game.

Personally, I think matchups are very very relative. And what I mean by that? Well, it depends on the skill of the player on that champ, as well as your team composition and their composition. This are the matchups that I know, if you think they're different, feel free to tell me.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - Heimerdinger is not a bad matchup. In the early game he's gonna push like crazy, thanks to his turrets. However, since you have range and you can poke him quite easily, aswell as you can destroy his turrets with your Q. Beware of his grenade upgraded in teamfights and avoid his missiles as better as you can and you can outscale him later.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - Zed is not an easy matchup, especially if he's a good Zed player. Early in the game, he's not that menacing, since he'll be most farming. You can deny him CS by poking him and make him return, and that is a good thing for your team. However, when he get's his items, he becomes more dangerous. Counter his ult with Zhonya's and ask your jungler to gank him as often as possible, so you can snowball while shutting him down.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - Ziggs is a *strong word*. He can push very very hard, poke you from a distance and avoid your ultimate with his W. But you can fight back. Poke him as often as you can and avoid his bombs. Allways be careful with his ult when you're low health. Buy some MR as soon as possible, so you can survive some of the poke. Abyssal Mask it's a great item against him.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - Besides being part of a fetish of some weird guy, Ahri until lvl 6 it's not that much of a danger. Avoiding her charm denies must of her damage, and you can easily poke her and make her miss cs. However, after 6, her ult allows her to avoid your ult and gives her much mobility in teamfights. Beware of that when ulting.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - On this one, i'm not very sure. In the early game he can poke you from far with his Q+E combo. However it's very easy to dodge, and you can position yourself for poke while he's trying to cs. In Mid-game, beware, since it's when he hits his spike damage. Also, beware of his E while on Hammer form since it knocks you back. Zhonya's Hourglass can help you.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - Oh LeBlanc. How I hate you. She's one of your biggest nightmares. Her ability to move and burst you down it's so bad for you. I recommend you to avoid this lane at all costs. If you can, ban her.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - Ryze it's other of your nightmares. His W avoids your entering in teamfights and late game, he's a beast. However, unlike LeBlanc, he can't teleport and get back instanly. Also, early game, he's squishy and highly vulnerable to ganks, so shut him down early and try to make him miss cs.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - Katarina is one of your dream matchups. Your stun, stasis with Zhonya's Hourglass and your poke from far can make her go down easily. Beware however of her snowball potencial and her E, since it can dodge your damage.

Seriously? I don't know. He's been banned since I remember, and now, few people play it. If I play against some Kassadin's, i'll update this.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - This matchup it's one of that matchups that you don't know how it's gonna end. You can win or she can win. Beware of her burst and her balls (insert your personal joke about balls here). Allways avoid her stun at all costs. In teamfights however, you are a little more useful in my opinion.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game Even with the rework, Xerath doesn't receive much love. Beware of his range and most of all, avoid his stun by dodging his skillshots. Beware also of his ult. Xerath is a bursty champion and can't be trusted. Try to outscale him in the mid game.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - This is one of the matchups I most hate. Yasuo is annoying as hell. His wall blocks your poke and his dash can make you rage a lot. However, it's almost banned and most of the yasuo's that I find are very thirsty. Use that in your advantage.

Does anyone actually play this champ? I don't think so.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game Veigar can be dangerous in late game. Remeber that he is highly dangerous against AP champions. Also, his cage can get you in trouble. Try to poke as much as you can and outscale him fast. Don't let him get his power spike, or you're in trouble.

Another champion which I never played against. However I can say some things. Since her early game is very very dangerous for her, win the lane as fast as you can and make her pay for farming. Beware of her wall and her stun, that thing has a huge range and can suprise you if you're not ready. Allways be on the watch for her passive CD (240 seconds = 4 minutes).

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - God how i hate playing against Lulu. She can be one of the most annoying champions to play against. Her silence, shield and poke with her Q can be a problem for you. Focus on CS and ask your jungler to gank you, so that you can shut her down. But the best thing is to avoid this kind of matchup.

Early Game / Mid-Game / Late Game - Orianna can be a pain in the bottom. Her Q+W combo can deal heavy damage, and her ultimate in teamfights can turn the tide around. Beware of that. You can fight back, but it will not be an easy task.

There can be another champions, but either I forgot, or I don't know how they can be against Kennen. Again, if you remember more matchups, feel free to tell me which and why.

And this is the end of this guide. Thank you for reading it and I hope I see more Kennen players out there. If you have any questions or commentary, feel free to leave it. Try to be constructive in your commentary.

Thanks to:
jhoijhoi for her how to make a guide!
Astrolia due to her columns guide!