This build and guide will tell you how to play a hybrid Kog'Maw effectively in any lane with any team. Why is Hybrid better than going full AP? Well in all honesty, it's not, if you can play an AP Kog'Maw and do really well with pure AP then by all means do it, but I'd say that going Hybrid takes less skill and can punch out an equal amount of damage to that of an AP Kog'Maw.

PROs:
- easy to play
- high damage
- good for any lane
- very fun

CONs:
- squishy
- likely to get focused

The runes are the basic normal mage runes that are used for most AP champions.
The marks will help you push some heavy damage at a low level and even more so at late end game.
The seals are good to keep you in a lane and to save money on pots. also good to keep up harassment or to stop a well timed gank when you are low on mana.
The glyphs again are to keep up harassment and also make his ult even more "spamable" at late game.
The quints are again to help you get a head start on damage to help you either harass at low level and keep you competitive with the opponent or to even help you get FB.

My preference is ignite and flash. Ignite, to maximize his damage and kill runners that are just too fast (yi) and the flash to escape or gank with.

Other good choices are teleport, exhaust or clarity. Teleport will help you get more map control and better ganks, exhaust will help you get more auto attacks or line up better ult shot spams and clarity will help you stay in the lane and make your ult more "spamable" (it becomes useless in late game and even more so if you pick up early Archangel's staff or Manamune.)

The first item you will want to get is either a Doran's ring or amplifying tome. You would get a Doran's ring if you are new to the build and champion, or if you think that you need the extra health because you are too squishy. But if you feel that you are good with the champion and the build then get an Amplifying tome to boost your beginning damage to help you harass more or get FB.

As for boots, you can either go with Sorcerer's Shoes or Berserker's Greaves. what you get depends on your preference. If you like and are good with Kog'Maw's spells and think that you will be able to get lots of hits with his ult and spittle, then go with Sorcerer's Shoes. Where as if you are better or prefer using Kog'maw's auto attacks then you will want the Berserker's Greaves.

As for the rest of the item build it again comes down to play style and preference. If you are playing Kog'Maw very well with his spells and want to improve them as much as you can, (then go read an AP guide!) you will want to buy the archangel staff first to boost your AP and mana regen to make his spells more "spamable" and to enhance his laning stability, after that you can either go a Manamune or make his ult even more "spamable" and to increase on his auto attacks or a Malady to up his AP and his attack speed to get even more kill steals and then a hextech gunblade for spellvamp and auto attack life steal, also it has a slow to help you line up more ults. On the other hand, if you are strugling to hit anyone or anything with any spells (then you are a noob and need to stop playing this game...just kidding) then you will want to pick up a Madred's Bloodrazor first, followed buy a malady and a Hextech Gunblade and then a Manamune and lastly an Archangel's staff.

when in a lane with someone else you always have to be aware of what they are capable of. For instance if you are with a tristana then she might hit the target out of where you want to land your ult in which case don't use it unless you either, know it's on cooldown, isn't a high enough level to use it, hasn't put the points into it yet, doesn't have the mana, or has just cast it mid fight. So if the person you are laning with in able to move the target then wait until they have (if they are going to) before you use your ult. I find that the best people to lane with are those who can either stun, slow or better yet, make air born. This is because it really helps either keep them in range for auto attacks or help you line up an ult shot spam.

The best place to play Kog'Maw is in the middle lane, this is because he is very good against other ranged player, because he can easily out range them, you don't have to think about your team mates, no one is going to KS or claim the you KSed. But mainly because you want to get as much gold and EXP as possible! the faster you are level 6 the better!

After level 6 you will want to be ganking or constantly killing the enemy in mid. Ganking will do several things, get you lots of EXP and gold and turn you into the teams carry at end game, suppress the enemies in the other lanes, help push the back doors and also leave the mid lane wide open for attack. Where as staying in mid lane will get you lots of money and EXP if you play well and will also open the front door to the enemy nexus. If you are doing well with his ult then i suggest ganking because it is much easier to gank and you are likely to get the kills you need. But if you are going auto attacking play style then you should stick to the mid and only leave if people are in dire need of your help. This is because the auto attack style is very good at taking down almost everyone so ganking you will be hard to do and it is the best one for pushing towers down.

In the end you should be pushing HUGE damage and KSing almost every time and every team fight. Your only worries are that you are going to be very squishy, so try to hang back and use his ult to catch the enemy unawares, or use it to your advantage by putting yourself out as godlike bait for the enemy, while your whole team is sitting in a bush ready to ambush them when they arrive. How ever you play his is up to you with this build and i think you'll find that it is just as effective as any AP build.