Introduction
So, I should probably explain the purpose of this. Essentially, I am often infuriated by the way people build certain people, most often the people I frequently play. So in this (potential) series thing, I will slap a paragraph down about how I would build a certain champion, why I do it, and why the way people frequently (at least as I see it) do it is incorrect, or at least less effective. Flame if you so desire, but this is simply a place for me to share my opinions.
Sometimes, the build may not even be that severely differing from standard methods, but I simply think that a few subtleties are enough to make a difference. As a side note, this is not intended to be some prettily formatted guide, just a place for me to post my thoughts for those who care.
My methods are likely to be questioned by many, so if you are doubtful, don't hesitate to throw me a comment and I'll be glad to answer.
Shaco
To be honest, I haven't seen a huge abundance of Shacos, but those who I do see build pure damage, which can work, but I honestly think that getting a tad tankier is definitely to your own benefit. Most of the early items are largely damage, while touching slightly on defense, so the huge burst damage characteristic of Shaco will still be present, and you'll still be able to absolutely wreck teams and assassinate with ease. Near the end I top off with some defense, since people tend to focus Shaco eventually due to his huge burst. By adding the
Force of Nature and
Randuin's Omen, you'll be able to maintain most of your damage while staying around long enough to deal more of it. I get a
Doran's Ring to open so that you can do some damage early on with your
Jack In The Box while ganking, or simply when nesting (try going with a Blitzcrank some time for some serious laughs). I get
Deceive and
Two-Shiv Poison in an alternating order to maximize damage from your
Deceive crit early on. Throwing a shiv and then
Deceive critting with a
Sheen proc is such ridiculous harass in lane, very few can actually trade with it.
Maokai
I see a lot of people build, well, okay, honestly, I don't even get what the hell people build on this guy. This is how you do it.
Trinity Force tanky AP. Sounds oxymoronic, right? You see, it's still more productive than getting a
Lich Bane since it has overall more useful stats for my purposes, and 150% of this build's AD is still more than its AP. With this build you'll still be the tankiest bastard on the team, but dole out lots of damage. In lane you'll be a really strong support with
Heal and also be able to sustain yourself quite nicely off your passive, but you also work excellently on solo top. Not really much to say. I max out
Arcane Smash and
Twisted Advance first over the
Sapling Toss, since I mainly use that for scouting purposes, which is not to say it isn't an excellent skill. It's simply the fact that the W+Q(+R) combo is so safe to pull off in most situations and much more damaging, it's just overall better harass.
Twisted Fate
Very strong way to build Twisted Fate. Yes, yes, I know, this isn't your beloved AP or Hybrid build. Both work, especially hybrid (AP sucks hue hue hue), but I think this is the most stable. In a duo bot situation, you'll be able to slowly farm up and at end game, this build will wreck absolute face. Twisted Fate makes an excellent assassin/carry, and with your tankiness from this build, you'll be able to assassinate much safer, and be able to dole out damage just as well, and for a very extended amount of time. Your sustain and tankiness combined is absolutely unfair. A
Stacked Deck Blue Card with
Sheen proc in lane is so ridiculously scary, it doesn't even make sense.
Wild Cards are not obtained until much later, mostly for the purpose of proccing your
Trinity Force. Additionally,
Teleport makes you a great backdoor candidate, as usual.
Sion
Farm. All day. Everyday. All the time. At top. Then, when you finally get off farming and go do something, they can type /ff. Sit and farm everything you see and just rack up all the health. After your
Atma's Impaler, you'll be such an unstoppable truck, it won't even be funny. Don't play AP, it's bad. It falls off late game, and this doesn't. You literally just sit and farm, and no one can stop you, and then at about 30 minutes, the enemy is screwed. Absolutely hideous damage output, and you can't be touched. You'll have upwards of 4000 health and respectable resistances, not to mention
Cannibalism will heal your whole team in a single swipe. 3 early points in
Death's Caress means it won't be too easily breakable, so you can farm in safety for the most part.