Welcome to my first build, featuring Kennen. This yordle was my first champion that I bought, and after months of using him I have created a build that I think works in many cases. This build focuses on him dealing major damage reaching over 400 AP by late game while still being able to take several hits due to the HP from Rylai’s Crystal Scepter and the defensive stats from Abyssal Mask and Zhonya’s Hourglass. I just love his stuns and by endgame he can do a ton of damage as well as many utility uses from his stun combos.

Pros:

- Damage, and a lot of it
- Quick mobility with E with can be used as an escape or a chase, and even an initiate
- Stun combos that can keep an opponent stunned many times in a row
- He’s a flippin’ ninja

Cons:

- Squishy until he gets some of his defensive items
- His stuns make him focused quite a bit
- His combos take a decent amount of time to get used to – he is NOT a “pick up and play champion”

Mark of the Storm: Passive
Kennen's abilities add Marks of the Storm to opponents. Upon receiving 3 Marks of Storm, an opponent is stunned and Kennen receives 25 energy. Has a diminished effect if done twice within 7 seconds.

3 Marks = 1 Stun
This is what makes Kennen, Kennen. All his abilities are pretty much based on this.




Thundering Shuriken: Q
Kennen throws a fast moving shuriken towards a location, causing damage and adding a Mark of the Storm to any opponent that it hits.
Throws a shuriken that damages the first enemy it hits for 75/115/155/195/235 (+0.66) magic damage and adds a Mark of the Storm.
Cost
65/60/55/50/45 Energy
Range
1050

Harass with this early game. It can do crazy damage when you get some of your AP items. Since this gives a Mark, enemies will probably wait out the Mark to disappear and you can last hit freely. This is an essential part of your combo.



Electrical Surge: W
Kennen passively deals extra damage and adds a Mark of the Storm to his target every few attacks, and he can activate this ability to damage and add another Mark of the Storm to targets who are already marked.
Passive: Every 5 attacks, Kennen deals magic damage equal to 40/50/60/70/80% of his attack damage and adds a Mark of the Storm to his target.

Active: Surges electricity through all nearby targets afflicted by Mark of the Storm, dealing 65/95/125/155/185 (+0.55) magic damage and adding another mark.
Cost
45/45/45/45/45 Energy
Range
900

Amazing ability to harass your opponents with. When they have a Mark, just press W when it's off cooldown and bam they get damaged, and if this has a lot of levels it hurts like a truck early game (and later too!)



Lightning Rush: E
Kennen morphs into a lightning form, enabling him to pass through units. Any enemy unit he runs through takes damage and gets a Mark of the Storm.
Kennen moves very fast and may pass through units, dealing 85/125/165/205/245 (+0.55) magic damage and adding a Mark of the Storm to any enemy he passes through. Additionally, Kennen will gain 10/20/30/40/50 armor and magic resistance for 4 seconds.

Kennen is refunded 40 energy if he passes through an enemy, but can only gain this effect once. Lightning Rush deals half damage to minions.
Cost
100/100/100/100/100 Energy
Range
200

Escaper, chaser, and Mark-placer. This can initiate fights in both teamfights and your lane. Amazing move for Kennen, and one that is probably the most easily remembered by opponents of Kennens.




Slicing Maelstrom: R
Kennen summons a storm that strikes at random nearby enemy champions for magical damage.
Summons a magical storm that deals 80/145/210 (+0.4) magic damage and applies a Mark of the Storm to a random enemy champion near Kennen every 0.5/0.4/0.33 seconds. This storm attacks up to 6/10/15 times and cannot hit the same target more than 3 times.
Cost
40/40/40 Energy


Amazing ult. This pretty much gives 3 Marks on random people inside its radius, and part of his infamous stun lock combo. Mid-Late game it destroys and does a ton of damage while stunning at the same time. Works well with Electrical Surge, and other AoE CC ults such as Amumu's.

9 21 0 masteries setup is my favorite on Kennen. He is quite squishy so having the defensive bonuses from Defense is very beneficial, and Ardor even boosts your AP. The 9 in Offense is standard for casters.

Marks: Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Necessary. The magic penetration is standard for most casters and will give you a huge edge early game, and it also helps a bit late game.

Seals: Greater Seal of Armor Flat armor helps so much early game. Auto-attacks will not hurt as much, and since Kennen is pretty squishy early game, defense is wanted.

Glyphs: Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power AP boosts help so much for Kennen early-mid game. These glyphs are better than flat AP after level 5, which is quite early so most of the time AP per level ends up being better than flat AP.

Quintessences: Greater Quintessence of Health Flat health is so useful early game. I break 700 HP at level 1 with these and a Doran’s Shield and the masteries. Enough said.

Flash It can save your life if you are close to a wall and can Flash over it, and it has so many uses. A must-get on Kennen IMO.

Ignite You want those early game kills. Ignite helps you do that a lot. It also includes useful 50% healing reduction, which is useful on champs such as Dr. Mundo or Swain when they use their ultimates.

Other spells to consider:

Ghost Can be better than Flash in some cases; however, I consider Flash to be the superior spell utility-wise (have fun using Ghost and Lightning Rush at the same time).

Cleanse Removes CC which can be useful if Kennen is focused down hard; I’d recommend Flash and Ignite though.

Teleport Useful for getting around the map, especially if you mid. It has its uses, but let other people like tanks get this instead of you; Flash and Ignite are just too useful to replace.

While some max out Thundering Shuriken first and others max out Electrical Surge first, I prefer maxing Electrical Surge first, putting an early second point in Thundering Shuriken before maxing Electrical Surge. Maxing Thundering Shuriken first is completely viable and okay; however, I find that sometimes I can’t hit my Thundering Shuriken against some good opponents, and so I’d rather have Electrical Surge do more damage than Thundering Shuriken. Slicing Maelstrom should be gotten when you can.

Personally, I go:
R>W>Q>E

Early Game

At level 1, you start with your Thundering Shuriken. Usually I end up laning top or bot due to other carries that I feel are more important taking mid, but if you can take mid, go for it! Early game you want to focus on harassing with your Q, and using it during brush fights at top or bot if you lane there. You need to farm. Last hit as much as you can; if you are pushed back to your tower then just last hit at the tower, and if your laning partner is messing up your last hitting, just tell him to stop messing it up.

Last-hitting under a tower: (this might not work very early game depending on how much AD you have)

2 tower hits + 1 standard attack / Thundering Shuriken will kill melee minions
1 standard attack + 1 tower hit + 1 standard attack / Thundering Shuriken will kill caster minions

Focus on getting those last hits while you get to level 6. Try to harass with your Thundering Shuriken and then proc’ing Electrical Surge, or use the passive from Electrical Surge and then proc Electrical Surge. After you use this combo, while they have 2 Marks of the Storm on them, try to hit a Thundering Shuriken or an auto-attack that has the passive of Electrical Surge to put 3 Marks on them and stun them. You can either kill them if you can or just leave them; if you leave them, they will get scared and will most likely run back, allowing you to freely get a few last hits in.
When you get your Lightning Rush, you can do several combos. The one I use most is, Lightning Rush into enemy minions and an enemy champion. If they start running away, proc Electrical Surge. By now they should be out of their minion wave, and then you should have a clear shot at aiming Thundering Shuriken or an auto-attack with the passive of Electrical Surge. Don’t waste it. Run back and finish off the already damaged minions while they are retreating back. After performing this combo, if your laning partner and you are able to kill him, just do it – he is far away from his minion wave and the minions won’t attack you if you are far enough.

When you get your Slicing Maelstrom, you are ready to destroy your lane. You should look for kill opportunities – just use your E – W – Q combo as described above, and then pop Slicing Maelstrom when you feel like it. I usually proc it in between the W and Q, and then continue to stun lock them and kill them. Try to use your Electrical Surge first when they are in Slicing Maelstrom so that if they don’t have any Marks on them left, it won’t be useless (but if you are getting 2 people in the AoE of Slicing Maelstrom, wait till both of them have Marks and then proc Electrical Surge).

Early-Mid Game

You should have your Rylai’s or at least some components of it. Let the tank initiate if he is there. Run in with your Lightning Rush and use Slicing Maelstrom and Electrical Surge, stunning the enemy team for your teammates to destroy. Focus 1 target and use your Thundering Shuriken on them, and try to add as many marks as possible onto them so they keep getting stunned. You should pick up kills from doing this over and over again from teamfights. If you are the tankiest person on your team at the moment you might want to initiate with your E and then do what was described above. Don’t forget about the armor and magic resist from your E.

Don’t forget to use your E as an awesome escaping method if they are chasing you down after a teamfight.

Mid Game

You should be doing the same as above, but a TON of more damage. You should have your Rabadon’s Deathcap or at least a component of it, and your Hextech Revolver. The combo described above will probably be what you use most often in teamfights.

Before initiating, ask yourself these questions:

1. Is your next auto-attack going to apply a Mark of the Storm, or is it close?
2. Do you have enough energy to do a combo?

If you don’t have enough energy to do a combo, then wait until you have enough. A good amount to initiate would be above 100, at least. An auto-attack that has a Mark of the Storm is more useful than you think – an extra Mark can make the difference between life and death, or a kill or them escaping.

Late Game

Everyone should have their full item build, or close to it. Mostly you'll be concentrating on controlling team fights and taking control of Baron, then attacking their base. You should have all your situational items. Continue using your combos, but now you may not do as much damage as in mid game. Be sure to pop Banshee's Veil on squishies before your team focuses them. Mostly during this phase stunning will be your biggest contribution to this team, and your hard carries will be carrying and owning the people you stun.

Core:

Start with a Doran’s Shield.
On your next back you want to get your Boots, and if you have enough gold, get your Sorcerer’s Shoes.
Start building a Rylai’s Crystal Scepter, placing the Giant’s Belt as the highest priority to stop being squishy as soon as possible.
If you feel like you need more power, get a Blasting Wand instead which can be used to build into a Rylai’s or a Rabadon’s Deathcap, depending if you need more durability or power.
Next, get your Hextech Revolver, which can later be completed into a Will of the Ancients.

Situational:
If the enemy team has a lot of physical dps, get a Zhonya’s Hourglass.
If the enemy team is caster heavy, get an Abyssal Mask.
If the enemy team has a lot of magic resist, get a Void Staff.
If you are owning face, get a Mejai’s Soulstealer somewhere early if you think you can get a lot of kills / assists and not die a lot. If you have doubts about getting one, it is better just to skip it.

Lightning Rush, then Electrical Surge. At around level 9, you should start killing minions just with this combo alone. Kill stragglers that survive this combo with autoattacks and Thundering Shuriken, and remember, try not to push your lane too much early game by autoattacking minions!

Kennen is a great champion. You do a ton of damage, and with your stun combos you should easily do a ton of damage and wreak havoc on the enemy team. However, you have to learn him first. Not many people, just by reading this guide, will completely understand how to play Kennen, but I hope that this guide helped you a lot! :D Have fun destroying with Kennen, the Heart of the Tempest!