Hello summoners,this is generally my first guide and its about Kog'Maw.I was playing Dota for 5 years since i discovered League of Legends.This Guide is about the AP on Kog'Maw and new tactics to rule mid from the start and carry even ranked games in Mid-Late Game.

When the prophet Malzahar was reborn in Icathia, he was led there by an ominous voice which thereafter anchored itself to his psyche. From within, this voice bestowed upon him terrible purpose, and though Malzahar was no longer tormented by its call, the voice did not cease its unrelenting summons. This baleful beacon's gentle flicker -- now fastened to Runeterra -- drew forth a putrid beast that ambled across a threshold it did not understand, widening a fissure between the spaces which were never meant to meet. There amongst the haunting ruins of Icathia, Kog'Maw manifested in Valoran with unsettling curiosity. The spark which led him to Runeterra teased him still, urging him gently towards Malzahar. It also encouraged him to familiarize himself with his new environment, to the stark horror of everything he encountered on his journey.

The enchanting colors and aromas of Runeterra intoxicated Kog'Maw, and he explored the fruits of the strange world the only way he knew how: by devouring them. At first he sampled only the wild flora and fauna he happened across. As he traversed the parched Tempest Flats, however, he came upon a tribe of nomads. Seemingly unhampered by conventional rules of physics, Kog'Maw consumed every nomad and any obstacles they put in his way, amounting to many times his own mass and volume. The most composed of his victims may have had time to wonder if this was due to the caustic enzymes which stung the ground as they dripped from his gaping mouth, although such musings were abruptly concluded. When his wake of catastrophe reached the Institute of War, an enthusiastic Malzahar greeted him with an enticing prospect: taste the best Runeterra could offer...on the Fields of Justice.

Caustic Spittle

- Passive: Increases Kog'Maw's attack speed. Active: Kog'Maw launches a corrosive projectile which deals magic damage and corrodes the target's armor for 4 seconds.
Passive: Increases Attack Speed by 10/15/20/25/30%.

Active: Kog'Maw launches a corrosive projectile which deals 60/110/160/210/260 (+0.7) magic damage and reduces the target's armor by 5/10/15/20/25.

Cost
60/60/60/60/60 Mana
Range
625

Bio-Arcane Barrage

- Kog'Maw's attacks gain range and deal a percent of the target's maximum health as magic damage.
Kog'Maw's attacks gain 130/160/190/220/250 range and deal additional magic damage equal to 2/3/4/5/6% (+0.01)% of the target's maximum Health (Max: 100 Damage vs Monsters). Lasts 6 seconds.

Cost
50/50/50/50/50 Mana
Range
530

Void Ooze

- Kog'Maw launches a peculiar ooze which damages all enemies it passes through and leaves a trail which slows enemies who stand on it.
Kog'Maw launches ooze which deals 60/110/160/210/260 (+0.7) magic damage to enemies it passes through.

Additionally, it leaves a trail which slows enemies by 28/36/44/52/60% for 4 seconds.

Cost
80/90/100/110/120 Mana
Range
10000

Living Artillery

- Kog'Maw fires a living artillery shell at a great distance dealing damage and revealing targets. Additionally, multiple Living Artilleries in a short period of time cause them to cost additional mana.
Kog'Maw fires artillery from a great distance. After a short delay, the artillery falls dealing 80/120/160 (+0.3) magic damage and reveals targets for 4 seconds (deals 150% bonus damage to Champions).

Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 6 seconds costs 40/40/40 additional mana (Max 200).

Cost
40/40/40 Mana
Range
1200

Icathian Surprise

- Upon dying, Kog'Maw starts a chain reaction in his body which causes him to move faster and detonate after 4 seconds; dealing 100 + (25 x lvl) true damage to surrounding enemies.

Pros

-Great pusher,amazing farmer
-Spammable skills with great amount of damage
-Defensive and Offensive way to play by changing only 1 skill Bio-Arcane Barrage
-Huge Range
-Massive AOE Damage
-Can see inside bushes via Living Artillery rendering unable to get ganked
-Easy to gank and get kills
-Truly effective skill combination( Void Ooze and then Living Artillery)
-Sometimes he can get some kills with his passive Icathian Surprise
-A bit boosted Hp from all the other casters in the start of the game(he is a fighter after all!)

Cons

-Always focused on fights
-Easy to die
-Not really great escape tactics(except Void Ooze)
-On AP Kog'Maws Caustic Spittle isnt needed for its passive(Armor penetration)
-Needs some good aim to kill so you need to practise a lot for a good Living Artillery
-Blink heroes and fast movers such as Kassadin and Akali is very hard to kill
-Lack of Mana
-Low Base Movement Speed

Pros

-Great pusher,amazing farmer
-Spammable skills with great amount of damage
-Defensive and Offensive way to play by changing only 1 skill Bio-Arcane Barrage
-Huge Range
-Massive AOE Damage
-Can see inside bushes via Living Artillery rendering unable to get ganked
-Easy to gank and get kills
-Truly effective skill combination( Void Ooze and then Living Artillery)
-Sometimes he can get some kills with his passive Icathian Surprise
-A bit boosted Hp from all the other casters in the start of the game(he is a fighter after all!)

Cons

-Always focused on fights
-Easy to die
-Not really great escape tactics(except Void Ooze)
-On AP Kog'Maws Caustic Spittle isnt needed for its passive(Armor penetration)
-Needs some good aim to kill so you need to practise a lot for a good Living Artillery
-Blink heroes and fast movers such as Kassadin and Akali is very hard to kill
-Lack of Mana
-Low Base Movement Speed

Teleport- My favorite spell,i use it to be everywhere my team needs me,to obtain stucks on my Mejai's Soulstealer(if i have) and always be on my lane for not losing exp/farm!It can be used as an escape tactic too cause only stun/fear/taunt can interupt it and not simple hits!

Flash-Its just an easy way to stay away from trouble...great escape tactic and i recommend it cause if a Warwick or Malzahar catch you only this spell can save you!


Ghost- You got Low base Movement speed,this spell will give you a big boost on escaping,chasing and killing with the big amount of speed you get!

Exhaust- This spell makes a fighter complitely useless against you!of course this spell too is an escape tactic vs one and can be great combinated with Ignite for a sure kill!(Heroes like Tryndamere and Master Yi cant even come near with this spell!)

Clarity- Super help for the Kog!With Clarity you can farm and farm and farm all the time never go to base in the early game and of course help your allies if you have it enchanted on your masteries!

Cleanse- To be honest i never used that spell on Kog'Maw but its really cool not to get stuned,taunted or feared for some secs!

Clairvoyance-Can prevent ganks,can help your team see the enemy team traps and steal Baron(xD)!But you already got your Living Artillery which reveals the enemies(you dont really need it)


Smite- You are not a jungler so...NEXT!

Rally- You are caster so...NEXT!

Fortify- You can just go and pentakill the enemy team cause they hit your turret!you dont need it so...NEXT!

Revive- Its complitely useless on Kog cause you dont die...so NEXT!

(Just kidding...these spells are useless...on kog...if you want to protect turret take Teleport not Fortify and you need escape tactics to not die...not a resurrection spell!)

Mastery setup for Kog'Maw !
I use 9/21/0 to increase my magic penetration on Offence page and on Defence page i increase regeneration,health,Ability power + AS and i gain 4% less damage taken.

I tried in so many ways Kog'Maw and the 9/21/0 was the best! I could handle my lane without back, with just last hitting and a bit of harrass be always full mana and of course with the defensive masteries if i get ganked or harrased by the enemy champions, increase my survivability!

Recommended Runes

First of all Greater Mark of Magic Penetration the ultimate mark for a caster.Not much to say its the only mark that helps mage!Now Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration suits great on Kog'Maw cause he lacks of mana and he needs a great regen to spam his skills especially Living Artillery that needs twice mana per cast!From the glyph section i take Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power cause i want a nice steady ability power to increase my Void Ooze and with a Doran's Ring i reach from the start 40 AP with the help of my Greater Quintessence of Ability Power!

Optional Runes

I guess no one wants to change his marks cause Magic Penetration is always needed.But there are some optional runes for glyph,seal and quintessence section!Starting with seals and glyphs ,if you want some extra health at the beginning and keep mana regen these runes can help you Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration, Greater Seal of Health ( just remember that you can double your mana regeneration with Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration and Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration to make a very annoying KOG!)
As for the Quintessence,the optional are Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration that increase your penetration and Greater Quintessence of Health to give you a big boost to your health and make easy your survivability in your lane!
[As for the Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction i don't recommend them cause you got spam skills and cooldown reduction is not needed!]

Early Game

Mid Game

Late Game

At the start i crab a Doran's Ring and usually laning mid for fast lvl up and a big amount of creeps only for me!With the first 1100 Gold i go base for Sorcerer's Shoes and buy if i got extra gold, wards and potions to keep me alive!(i gain Magic Penetration with Sorcerer's Shoes,and with wards and Flash i will always be alive from possible ganks which means i stay in my lane farming all the time and never go back!)
(if i have over 1600 gold going back i buy fast my needlessly large rod.Its the best choise for fast killing just dont forget to take single boots)



Sorcerer's Shoes- Its the best boot for extra damage on a caster!But if the enemy team has too many stun you should use Mercury's Treads to reduse the stun duration!

After Buying all these its your decision what to increase, Mana Regeneration or Ability Power?

Tear of the Goddess- I love this item it boost my mana regen and i always spam without losing any mana and that help me most on laning/farming but not to kill!If you wanna kill use the same gold for a...

Needlessly Large Rod- You need except Mana regen, Ap to kill and this item can give a boost in your killing abilities.

(its your choise what you will buy first just then combine your items for...)

Archangel's Staff- Spam ,Spam and Spam from its active and a great amount of AP from your combined with Rod of Ages Mana!

Rabadon's Deathcap- The ultimate item for every AP beast!+30% AP WoW!Just try to get it fast!

Rylai's Crystal Scepter- It combines a Huge amount of Health and AP and slows the enemies!Its a must item for a hard game cause it increases the survivability ratio!

Void Staff- For extra AP and Magic penetration its the best item!(use it especially when the enemy team has bad *** tanks!





Haunting Guise- A rear seen item that is very helpful and cheap in the early game...it combines health and ability power and also provides magic penetration which you like cause it boosts your runes!



Rod of Ages- You may need it!It combines great Mana+Health+AP and boost your stats per min!



Zhonya's Hourglass- Boosts your AP + Armor and of course with its active you have a new way to survive!



Will of the Ancients- The most you spam the most spell vamp you get!Its a great item for Kog'Maw cause all his skills are spammable with a great amount of damage!So you are free to try it :P!


Malady- As a very special request from PokiMoki i present you Malady!Its a very good choice to increase the effectiveness of your Bio-Arcane Barrage.It also increases attack speed and ability power lowering enemies' magic resistance by 6. Magic resistance reduction stacks up to 4 times.

(Warning:As a caster Kog'Maw you may not need this item in the late game!If you need something more worth your gold in late game...instead of Malady take Nashor's Tooth,it gives you AP+AS combined with 25% cooldown reduction!Besides its a Luxury Item and completes your Built in the late game)

Morello's Evil Tome- I tried it right after the new patch release and it was really good.Giving some mana reg that you really need ,Flat AP and cooldown reduction.With this item your masteries and an Elixir of Brilliance your cooldown reduction is 35%!Really good but i think you need more flat mana than mana regeneration so i will keep my old build as it is!(Tip:With Ionian Boots of Lucidity you have 40% CDR!Try to Avoid taking Mejai's Soulstealer while having this item cause your core build will be always a step back.Instead of making your Amplifying Tome---> Mejai's Soulstealer , make it Morello's Evil Tome)



Deathfire Grasp- It gives you AP + Mana regen + Cooldown reduction + gold/10 sec and of course its unique active(Deals magic damage to target champion equal to 30% of their current health +3.5% per 100 Ability Power) which is like Ignite giving you +1 summoner spell but in the form of an item!

(Remember: Deathfire Grasp can be very effective help to increase your stucks on Mejai's Soulstealer)

Mejai's Soulstealer- I know its very risky to buy it but as an Massive damage beast in every team fight you may gain 1-10 stucks.After the Boots take it and try to farm kills with Teleport's help to be overpowered in the mid-late game!Its a very risky item so if you take it...dont do suicidal dives and always take care!



bansee's veil- Its the item you wanna have against Karthus, Ashe, Sion etc.Increase magic resist and mana+health and it will definately help you survive in teamfights if you are the enemies first priority!

Quicksilver Sash- If you got enemies such as Malzahar, Warwick, Mordekaiser definately obtain this item for your own good!It makes with its active useless Nether Grasp, Infinite Duress and Children of the Grave!



Abyssal Mask- I usually buy this very unique item against strong AP enemies like Veigar, Ryze to increase my magic resistance and my damage dealt cause of Abyssal Mask passive to reduce nearby enemies magic resist!Of course it can be used against bad *** tanks like Rammus, Amumu etc!



Frozen Heart- Its a very special item for every caster.Normally in a core built this item is not needed,but under some specific conditions Frozen Heart can save your ***!Against an enemy team full of AD you can survive only with this item!It gives you full armor protection and decreases nearby enemies AS while boosts your cooldown reduction by 25%!Just remember that Frozen Heart is a luxury item,so don't ruin your built...get it as last item!



Guardian Angel- My built usually does not contain Guardian Angel...but because of the enemy focus on Kog'Maw in the teamfights this item can save once per 5 minutes boost your armor/magic resist and of course after your death make the enemy team lose their focus on you...!Sometimes it helps you survive or it gives you one more chance to pwn the enemy team!

(One more Plus for this Item is that when you die while its passive works, your Mejai's Soulstealer doesn't lose stucks!)

On the Pros/cons section i pointed in Pros that Kog'Maw can switch gamestyle by only changing 1 skill.

This skill is Caustic Spittle.I use it when i play offensive in my lane for extra damage,but when kog has hard time against heroes like Anivia, Kennen can just tower hug and instead of increasing Caustic Spittle can increase Bio-Arcane Barrage!

Bio-Arcane Barrage helps you obtain some extra range on your single hits and make farming less hard(if the enemy pushes!

(Remember: Bio-Arcane Barrage will not help you on killing heroes cause your hit doesn't count so much!)

So now its your decision what gamestyle you will follow!(i recommend offensive cause the KOG is a killing machine :P!

In this section i will give you a full explanation on how to play the KOG from the start,to the very end!I will also point some tips to help you gain more Farming,Aim experience or just to make it easier for you!


When the game starts pick the items you like(check reccomended)and try to get most of the times in the middle lane!Middle lane in my opinion is a "must" for Kog'Maw,you must exp fast,farm alone,and get lvl 6 fast enough to start disturbing your enemies with the annoying Living Artillery!
(Tip:While creeping try to harass your enemy on the lane by using Void Ooze and hit both creeps and the hero!)
When you reach lvl six the farm will be very easy for you using this combination

(Remember: Living Artillery cossumes double mana when used twice so w8 till the passive ends!)

Reaching lvl 7-11 starts the real farm!Using this combination its easy for you to obtain fast gold without losing to much mana:


As you can see i use it on the mage creeps.(Fighter creeps need the combination from Above!)

When you reach lvl 9 ,after a successful mid farming and having a good amount of AP
(about 80-100) you will be finally ready to boost your farm to the max!Using your Void Ooze to let the enemy creeps with a very low amount of Hp and kill them with 1 Living Artillery!
But enemy creeps are not the only easy target for farming...!After killing enemy creeps on your lane,you can use the same combination to kill the nearby creeps on the jungle!




In The late game you will need only Void Ooze to kill creeps cause you have a great amount of AP.



Of course all this time from the first moment i go back to the base(about lvl 7 and i buy Boots,2 sight ward, Health Potion), i take sight ward to prevent possible ganks from junglers or missing heroes from the other lanes!I really believe that if you ward really wisely the map...you will easily,not die,kill enemies,prevent ganks and steal buffs!So here is the Ward Sequence i use for all the above reasons! :


The above information will keep you alive in the late game!You will have a lot of creeps,maybe not deaths in the early-mid game with the right map warding and you will have if you are unlucky a couple of kills!I say unlucky cause its almost sure that in teamfights you will get kills,or by ganks!

Now lets see the top 10 of heroes that you love in your team or laning together and your worst 10 enemies!





10 Veigar :You are an awesome duo!you both cast a very heavy amount of damage!Of course this little guy has this massive stun Event Horizon giving you some easy kills,or save you!

9 Zilean :You really love his Time Warp,he gives you the right movement speed you need to survive and slows the enemy if you are about to die!And if you die near him,he can just save you with his Chronoshift and make the enemy focus fail!

8 Shen :He is as annoying as you are!He is a tank and he has Shadow Dash that taunts the enemies on him...giving you 2 secs to get away of 2 seconds to make a quick pentakill :P !Moreover he has one of the best survivability skills for his allies Stand United that prevents death and now the focus player (you) is invunerable till the shield ends!

7 Lux :Nothing much to say,she holds Light Binding ,slows Lucent Singularity,support you plasmatic barrier and of course she dels a great amount of slow + damage with finales funkeln!You just kill and kill everyone together becoming an incredible DUO!

6 Udyr :In my opinion one of the best tanks ,with a great MS spam stuns and help you all the time get kills(he really has nothing to support you..but because an experienced Udyr like a friend of mine knows what to do...game for you becomes just a funny killing spree!

5 Morgana:Supports with the Black Shield that prevents a stun/taunt that you really dont like! Dark Binding to catch the enemy and give you 1 free kill!and of course...cause you love mass slow/stun her soul shakles will make you so happy if hlps you escape or get several kills!

4 Galio:This Big Guardian is just what you need!slows the enemy team Resolute Smite,giving you speed for some sec Righteous Gust,gives you Ar/MR with bulwalk!And the best part of this guy is Idol of Durand!Just mass taunt and till it ends you have so much kills that chat cant even show your killing spree!

3 Sona:One of the top 3!Ultimate support!Heals you and gives you lot of Ar/MR Aria of Perseverance,giving you speed Song of Celerity and boosts your AP with Hymn of Valor!But most of all she has Crescendo which makes enemies dance,while you kick their ***es!

2 Amumu:This Sad buddy has 2 great skills that makes your life easy in the game! Bandage Toss stuns the enemy,you kill and his Curse of the Sad Mummy makes all the enemy team cry ,cause he holds you kill from behind!

1 Malphite:I really had a very good cooperation with all the above in every game,but this Rocky boy is the ultimate Allie and your best buddy!just slows the enemy while you kill with his Seismic Shard and after that his Unstoppable Force makes the enemy team fly, while you kill them!In my opinion the best tank in League of Legends!


As you can see in the Best Allies all have at least a single stun/hold or mass! Kog'Maw is made for team fights an mass harass!Try to lane together with those champs and if you are the game carry in a premade game tell your friends to take one of those to assist you great for an easy victory!




10 Udyr :This dude goes always jungle and when he is lvl 4-5 always come for a gank,if you dont have a ward you are really screwed up!his Blazing Stampede gives him a dramatic increase on is MS and a stun as a first hit!Because of your low base MS if udyr knows how to gank this may be your first death in game!

9 Kassadin :As much as you spam this much you will satisfy him cause he uses his Force Pulse + Null Sphere slowing you and silencing you all the time!The main problem with this guy is that his ulty Riftwalk makes him a very hard target cause you cant easily harass him with your Living Artillery!

8 Warwick :Oh..cmon!he just chases...hits,heal himself,take speed from your low hp,and killing you just by casting his Infinite Duress.You can only escape by using Flash after his ulty or you are just dead!

7 Master Yi :I hate him cause in early game he spams Alpha Strike and in the late game if he has a good built you cant escape from his Highlander!Of course one more annoying thing on this hero is the critical strike that always deals you a very big amount of damage!

6 Shaco :He is just an annoying brat spamming slow and huge damage!He comes after jungling with the red buff and you are sure a dead man cause he is invisible! (Tip:when you see him, Flash!)

5 Vladimir :This Bloodsucker is so stupidly annoying and OP against the kog!You just cant spam against him your Void Ooze cause the next minute you do it...he will f***ing suck his life back from you/minion!Try to avoid him and play defensive and one day you will get your revenge!

4 Kennen :This midget spams skills and his annoying Thundering Shuriken and give you every 3 successful skills a nice and big stun!when kennen reach lvl 6
and you dont have your summoner spells,try to run away ,cause you are a sure frag for his Slicing Maelstrom!

3 Mordekaiser :If you dont start killing him at lvl 4 your lanning will be very hard on his next lvl up!He spams Mace of Spades + Siphon of Destruction to kill all your creep wave and harass your health!in lvl 6 dont even try to go against him on 1vs1 cause you will surely lose because of his Children of the Grave combinated with an Ignite!

2 Katarina : Bouncing Blades makes you wanna go suicide on a corner of the map!she just keeps on spamming it in combination with Shunpo and you just cant handle it any more!If you want to destroy your game tell your team on the chat "solo mid" while she is in the enemy team!if you do it so...just play very defensive and tower hug.(but i think she can kill you under the turret too :D )

1 Akali :I present you your worst enemy!If she wont die fast...and play defensive till lvl 6 the game is ruined for you! Shadow Dance harasses and slows you with the help of Rylai's Crystal Scepter!Try to avoid 1v1,try to run on teamfights if she focuses on you and make her suffer on teamfights by focusing first on her and then all the other, otherwise you are DEAD!
(Tip:Her Shadow Dance make Akali move fast so she is one of the toughest targets for your Living Artillery,so you better use first your Void Ooze to slow her down and then bullseye successfully!)


As you can see the more you love an existing stun/hold on your team the more you hate it as an enemy skill!Slow/stun/hold can kill you fast,making you useless and unable to do a thing for your team!Avoid those enemies on the middle and in 1v1 and with good farming you will be able to kill them on the mid-late game!

- Use Void Ooze to set up a perfect Living Artillery.
- Use Caustic Spittle on the main focus of the enemy team.
- Use Living Artillery to reveal the hidden enemies in bushes and prevent ganks.
- Use Void Ooze + Living Artillery to make a perfect farming.
- Use Bio-Arcane Barrage to play more defensive.
- Use Bio-Arcane Barrage to harass the HP stalkers of the enemy team.
- Use Icathian Surprise in order to gain kills after your death
- Use Living Artillery for long distance targets aim it in front of them.
- Use Living Artillery wisely so you never get out of mana
- Always try to be behind everyone on the temfights and spame your skills all the time!
(Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 6 seconds costs 40/40/40 additional mana [Max 200])

Its a very easy question to answer.Kog'Maw has 2 skills that use 80% of his ability power( Void Ooze, Caustic Spittle) and a great ultimate Living Artillery,spammable to damage/defense/farm/reveal possible gankers and just make the enemy useless to play offensive on your lane!

I always see Kog'Maw against me as an AD carry and thats why i started that guide,to give you a new way to play this hero!I used to play on AD too but when i saw the fun and the damage of the AP Kog i wanted to share it!

I am so bored seeing AD on kog and Attack speed with no AD and AP so i give you this fun version of Kog'Maw!

I guarrantee that with this built and a bit of Aim practice you will never use AD again on The KOG and his destructive abilities!And Remember what king Tryndamere said: