Hi! My name is Matt and you will find me under the name Mrobinson587 in league of Legends. This is the second of many guides that I'm am going to be writing. These are my takes on how I play characters. At the time of writing I have a top Ranked ELO of 1425 in solo que. I have 811 wins 722 losses in normal. I have my own style of play and I want to record how I play certain characters.

My take on Gankplank... Awesomeplank! A tank and damage dealer.

I know plank is on the block to get changed so expect his deny to be changed soon. Without his deny, other characters outclass him as a pure damage dealer or supporrt. He does have some very nice tank like qualities (tank meaning team wants to focus you and not someone else... that is what tanks should do)

Strengths to this build
-Your damage is good throughout the game.
-Great survivability with resist built in with the damage.Most teams damage comes primarily from magic damage which this build and runes do not lack.
-Not reliant on RNG for damage! Still does great damage.
-CC? Whats that? Get your face at the front of the battle and eat the deadly CC so your teammate doesn't have to!

--Cons
-Not as strong damage wise as the typical 2 Philo Stones, Ionian boots, IE, Phantom 2x, BT build that I'm seeing.

I find these to be the best for this build. Remember you are a tank and damage dealer that is focused on mobility and eating crowd control.

Armor Pen Reds
Mana Regen Yellow - Helps with early and mid game mana - could be replaced with dodge at the cost of going OOM at certain points in the game.
Magic Resist Blue - You can never have to much MR and this is the best blue for GP
Move Speed Quints - You need every ounce of speed where you can take it!

First before we get the the meat and bones some other items to consider at a glance over Phantom Dancer.

1. Frozen Heart - Pantheon, Twitch or other DPS getting fed? This is my item of choice for its CDR and Mana which contributes to your damage.
2. Quick Silver Sash - Whats better than 2 cleanses? 3! The only reason I would get this is if they have Wick or Malzahar
3. Force of Nature - Not enough magic resist you say? Well you lose some bite but FON give works out pretty alright.
4. Frozen Mallet - I like phantom dancer for the movement speed and you can just control red buff for the equivalent.
5. Soul Shroud - I've found that typically I'm one of the bigger damage dealers. However if you find yourself NOT in this position this is my next favorite item to get to support the team.


Items I really don't like getting
-Sunfire cape- CDR and mana > over the capes damage.
-Shurelya's Reverie- Not worth it here
-Randuin's Omen- Frozen Heart is better for this build.

Deny is why you play plank right now! Get 1 skill early then go Parrrrrrly, Scurrrrvy taking your ult when you can.

This is the probably how you will level him until he gets his remake no matter what build you use.

As previously mentioned.... Raise Morale and his passive is why you pick GP now. IMO other characters outclass him. You have to make the most of both of these to be fully effective with the mighty man.

Cleanse and Teleport gives you insane map control and teamfight control. He doesn't really need anything else for how I play him.

However, you can consider these 3 but
Ghost? You should already be very fast.
Flash? Good but not needed here
Ignite? You shouldn't need to ignite people because you have this awesome thing called a passive!

- All others probably sholdn't be picked on GP

I will touch on this later but you need to get your face at the front of the battle. You want people to blow their CC and cooldowns on you with this build. You want to be kiting focusing the squishiest target close by. You absolutely need to get your passive debuff on key targets which is anyone that heals via skills.
Warwick, Irelia, Vladamir, Taric, Nidalee, Mundo etc.

Early game-
-Solo top is ideal
-DENY DENY DENY early game. Start by running with the creeps from the spawn denying the first melee creep. By the time you make it to lane you should have 2 melee creeps denied.
-Deny priority is Tank>Melee>Caster
-Maxamize usage of the cooldown by watching the upcoming lane and running backwards to deny the tank creep. You shouldn't have to leave EXP range and only should have to run back.
-Stay in lane until you reach approximately 935 gold to start blue pilling. At 955 gold you can afford boots and a Tear of the Goddess
-1370 is also an acceptable amount if you are rocking your lane. You can get your long sword as well. However it just so happens to work out nicely that you run OOM about the same time that you hit 935ish gold.


Midgame-
Passively farm your lane keeping in mind the deny priority. You should have enough of a mana pool that you can now easily harass with Q . Go back when you need to. You can't really gank so why leave your lane? You can however lock down your lane stay at full health, and escape gank attempts with Cleanse and Remove Scurvy. You also should help around the map with your ultimate.

Lategame-
-Kite with q! Target damage dealers first but keep in mind you need to apply your passive to key targets. This is another added benefit to why you build bulkyplank. Mordekaiser,
Warwick, Irelia, Xin, Vladamir, Taric. A dab'll do ya; all it takes is one auto attack.