3rd time is a charm!

Summoner "DBug the Great" here!

This is my 3rd attempt at a Kog'Maw build.
I got a lot of good critique on my build, I got a lot of good critique on my guide writing, and I think I'm ready to put the final one out there. This is it, this is my final Kog'Maw build, tweaked to what I'd call perfection.

-To give you a quick idea of why this is guide #3-
First build was in the infancy of my Kog'Maw experimentation, left some holes- such as squishiness and a poor rune setup and poor masteries. I had some points in some crit masteries and there's no need for it on this build.

Second build was an "All things Kog'Maw" build, and it was pretentious, too lengthy, a wall of text, a lot of uninformed ****, and was pretty much me going overboard with the whole "I'm good at writing builds" mindset when really, I'm no better than anyone else. I'm an Aries, I get full of myself sometimes. **** happens.
My bad, guys :)
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What to expect from this guide:

Most importantly,
A viable, unique, sustaining Kog'Maw build designed for use in the middle lane.

But Also...
Several build options to help adapt with situations you may encounter
Specific guides against "problem champs" who tend to give Kog a hard time
Strategies for each stage of the game
Why you should and shouldn't use specific items
Why you should and shouldn't use specific skills
An explanation for every aspect of the choices provided in this guide
A bit of humor, and a lot of unique opinions which surprisingly make sense
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~~U--P--D--A--T--E--S~~

1/16/11None yet. I just published the thing, sheesh. What do you think I have, Clairvoyance?

1/17/11
-Added Chalice of Harmony to viable options, (thanks to Chronicredeye)
-Added options for beggining items to sub wards out (thanks to Chronicredeye)
-Explained Void Ooze versus Caustic Spittle a bit more
-Added a summary
-Added problem champions
-Added Tank'Maw
-Added notes on Sejuani patch
-Added Pros/Cons

1/17/11
Working on all of this today...
-Complete revamp, due to tweaking around with suggestions I've received from the community and other players. Special thanks to PsiGuard and Khazem for dealing with my sudden defensiveness and providing a lot of good information.
-Changed build around to negate the need for clarity and provide a bit more sustain,
as well as help damage output a bit.
-Changed runes to help sustain and damage output
-Switched skills around a bit to include ult at earlier levels
-Made Void Ooze versus Caustic Spittle a lot more concise and easier to read
-Added section on why Kog is a viable middle laner
-Removed Tank'Maw section, it was all off the top of my head and pure theory, I tried it, it worked like ****. I'll re-add it later when I actually figure out a viable Tank'Maw build.

So I haven't been home to play yet, but I did notice (thanks to PsiGuard) that there is a new item worth mentioning.



I'll add more to this section after I get a chance to get home and check out the patch.

UPDATE
Yeah... Ionic Spark just doesn't help enough to replace anything else in the build. I've tried it a few times. It just slows you down, really. I mean... It's nice for farming, but it hurts your end game.

Drops enemy resistance, does magic damage, passive attack speed bonus

Attacks do magic damage based on health, adds range to auto-attacks

Creates a path of slowing ooze, does magic damage

Long range artillery, reveals enemy, does magic damage

Things to know about Kog'Maw's abilities

This, more than anywhere else, is where other Kog'Maw players and I get into arguments. Yeah, my build is unorthodox compared to what is out there right now, and some people comment on that, but what people ALWAYS get on my case about is my skill order.

Why?

Because it's common practice in the world of Kog'Maw to get Caustic Spittle first, and get Void Ooze only when it forces you to put points into it, and I do the exact opposite. But there is a REASON.

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I recently re-wrote this section because I feel I wasn't getting my point across or truly explaining what I wanted to explain.

Caustic Spittle is a MUCH better option if you're in a LANE with someone ELSE to tank the damage of an approaching enemy engagement. It's cheaper, does the same damage, and has a passive attack speed bonus. It is your staple in a lane, and it's a great skill.

However, in the middle, Void Ooze replaces Caustic Spittle as your staple. It's not really an option. It has a much longer range and you need the range to more effecively harass. It leaves ooze on the ground, which, although it doesn't do any damage, the enemy will avoid it because it slows. This forces the enemy to work around an obstacle, and any way you can throw off the enemy's mobility is a good option.

Let me paint a scenario for you.

The enemy mid engages you, and they're obviously throwing more damage than you are. They have better runes or something, or just a higher damage output... whatever reason. If you have Caustic Spittle as your main staple skill, you need to get into an awfully dangerous range if you plan on poking at them. On top of that, your farm is much slower because you need to hit ONE minion at a time, which means you're up in the fray longer and more prone to being attacked by the opposing mid. Being as squishy as Kog'Maw is early game, you really don't want to be taking any hits this early.

Now, let's say that you went in with Void Ooze, and at level 2, you got a point in Bio-Arcane Barrage. NOW they run to engage you, the moment they get into range of Void Ooze, which is a much longer ranged skill, you throw it right at them. Their approach is slowed, and you have time to get away. You activate Bio-Arcane Barrage so you can farm from a safer distance for a second if your Void Ooze didn't deter them from pushing. Nine times out of ten, they'll be hit by your poke and turn around for a few moments before trying to push again. Usually long enough for your abilities to cool down substantially, if not completely.

Say you get ganked. You only have one point in Void Ooze, and tons of points into Caustic Spittle. Your slow isn't very effective, and you're now in range of Exhaust if they choose to use it on you if you turn around to throw Caustic Spittle at the person attempting to engage you. You're also in range of all of THEIR abilities. If your Void Ooze is on a much higher level, its slowing potential is a lot higher, the damage is a lot higher, and they'll be stuck on that trail longer, allowing you to get a few more hits in before turning tail and getting out of there.

Say you're engaging a fleeing failed gank, and the enemy gets away from you, they flash around a corner (I hate that.) and you have lots of points into Caustic Spittle. You fire your Void Ooze on a very low level through the wall in the direction they flashed. It hits them, but the slow is on a pretty low level, they get off the trail and get out of there before you can get around that corner. If you switched Void Ooze and Caustic Spittle, your slow may be JUST effective enough to keep them still until you can get around, or at least close much more of a distance so maybe Void Ooze comes off cooldown during chasing.

Void Ooze fits much more into a middle strategy dynamic than Caustic Spittle does, and Caustic Spittle destroys the need for early Void Ooze in a lane.

It is your main poke in the middle, it will keep you safer, and it will get you more kills and allow you to push more effectively. Caustic Spittle is a great skill, but it's better used late game.

You've been doing X damage all game, the enemy watches this if they're worth anything. They know what you can do, they anticipate it. They know when to get out, when they can engage you, and they have a pretty good expectation on how much of a percentage of life they should abandon a fight with you at. They expect that you already have Caustic Spittle, and have been working with it the whole game, because that's what Kog'Maw typically does.

Suddenly, late game, you actually spam points into Caustic Spittle. The enemy rushes you expecting to do X damage, and instead you do Y damage. Free kills, my friend, until they figure it out and re-adjust.

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Using Kog'Maw's abilities

Void Ooze -This is your bread and butter. It's a really beefy slow. -It deals a nice amount of damage, it will help you keep an enemy in range longer to land more shots from Bio-Arcane Barrage -It is your escape, it is your distance closer -It is your initiate when not hunting stragglers. -Use it often. Bio-Arcane Barrage -This is your damage dealer, your tank cleaver your squishy crusher, your ace in the hole. -Stacked with madreds bloodrazor You can chew up enemies like dinner. -Pop this AFTER slowing.

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Living Artillery -Separates the good Kogs from the bad Kogs. -Crazy range, decent damage, double damage to champs. -Reveals, so you can keep track of runners. -Good fear factor, good psychological effect. -Become a sniper with it, or become useless. -Learn to lead the enemy's movement. -ANTICIPATION IS KEY. Caustic Spittle -This is what gets you free kills in the endgame. -You've been doing X amount of damage since the start -Now suddenly you do X plus Y -Enemies will underestimate you -They will die.

-Offense-

You should be starting any confrontation with a well placed Void Ooze. It keeps them in range of your other attacks, and keeps them from catching you if you start to suddenly lose. It really gives you a chance to assess the confrontation and see if it's really worth it to dive in for the long haul. Try and catch them in the middle of void ooze's trail with you on one end of it, and their escape path on the other end of it, so that no matter which way they turn, or which choice they make, they're doing it much slower.

If you have Malady, attack a few times before moving onto the next step. Drop their resists a bit. If you have Caustic Spittle on a decent level doing 200+ damage, (you shouldn't until late game) use it on them do drop their resists more and help your burst... but if it's a low level, it's not worth the time it takes to squeeze it into the burst. That's time you could have taken to land another barrage shot and do a lot more damage. So if it's high, use it, if not, move right along and pop your Bio-Arcane Barrage, get a few attacks off, and keep in mind you should be moving towards the enemy a little bit in between attacks to keep them in range longer.

If you're lucky enough to have Void Ooze come off of cooldown before they've gotten away, pop it again. But if they've gotten out of your range, start raining Living Artillery on their escape path.

-Defense-

The enemy is coming at you, or you went after them, and you've realized that it isn't going to go well if you stick around. Try and get as far from them as you can before they start catching up, because the better distance you have between you and them, the more effective your slow is (they have to run over a longer trail). So as you can imagine, it's good to figure out your odds of winning pretty darn quick.

On your way out, pop Void Ooze. Try and get as much ground between you and them covered as you can. Watch their move speed once slowed, anticipate their path, and pop Living Artillery. Keep popping it as they chase you. Eventually they'll either give up or die.

If you've failed at getting away, Kog'Maw's passive is his ace in the hole. Do not just start chicken-**** running. Keep raning artillery on them, slow them if you can, burst them with Caustic Spittle and Bio-Arcane Barrage, work their life down as much as you can, kite the **** out of them. When/if all hope is lost, commit to the death, run back at them. You don't want to have to close any distance if they pop your passive.
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A few words about Living Artillery

Oh, living artillery, how I love you. Pardon my french, but this is how I imagine my enemy's reaction when I use kog's ult (I'm a world class sniper with it, you'd be amazed.)

RUN AWAY! (shooooooFWAP) AH, PISS! (shooooooFWAP) AHHH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, **** (shooooooFWAP) JESUS, ****! WHY?! (shooooooFWAP) IT NEVER ENDS! (shooooooFWAP) JESUS, MAN, I JUST WANNA (shooooooFWAP) CAN WE TALK ABOUT IT? (shooooooFWAP) IT'S LIKE SEX WITH A BLENDER (shooooooFWAP) I'm just gonna hang out behind my tower until he's done being pissed off
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(shooooooFWAP)
You have slain an enemy.
****.

Yeah. It's kinda like that. And then they stop chatting because they've thrown their keyboard out the window and murdered the family cat... so... they have THAT to deal with.

But on a more serious note, your Living Artillery is what is going to put you apart from other Kog'Maw players. You NEED to learn how to anticipate the enemy's movement with it, it's not really a choice. Pro use of Living Artillery will make or break a Kog'Maw player. Pay attention to their movement patterns. Do they favor juking to the left, to the right? Do they duck out once they hit a certain percentage of life? Do they always use their dash ( Vayne, Renekton, Graves, etc.) as soon as it comes off of cooldown, or do they save it for escapes?

Pay attention to the enemy's strategies, and it will help you to anticipate where to throw your artillery shots. I'll have some pictures and videos up here soon, too.

Also... No one said you had to HIT anything with Living Artillery. You can use it to control enemy movement because it has a huge fear factor to it. People don't react well to being pelted by green gooey artillery shots, studies show. Use it to move an enemy towards your team, away from your team, out from behind a tower, whatever seems useful to you. It's like a swiss army knife skill, it has hundreds of uses.

I started out with 100% pure attack speed runes

But I found that the new rune build I have listed works a lot better, and I'm still looking to improve my runes a bit. You've got a lot more sustain early game thanks to the added magic resist and armor, and you do a lot more damage thanks to the magic and armor penetration.

Attack speed will come from your gear, as well as a lot of added penetration. So there isn't much need to hyper-pump your attack speed with runes that could be better used to keep you alive. I'm still experimenting with my little Kog'Maw, and having a ton of fun doing so. I'm really building him into a viable middle, despite many people thinking he's a terrible middle.

It's always a good ego stroke to hear the enemies compliment my mid game.
(these are actual enemy quotes I'm collecting)


"Jesus bro, can we talk about it?" - Ezreal Middle Lane- Won Mid. 12:11
"That's the longest it's ever taken me to break the middle, gj Kog" -Morgana Middle- Lost Mid. 16:40
"Are you psychic with that ******* artillery?" - Kennan Mid- Won Mid. 11:50
"Guess nobody wants to hang" - Vayne, Ashe, Caitlin, taking turns mid- Won mid. 12:14
"OMFG, MID FAIL. IT'S ****ING KOG. NOOB." - Olaf, commenting on Fiddle mid, Mid won- 13:00 or so.

Pros -Very difficult to overcome in the middle -Excellent damage output that is hard to mitigate -Unthinkable range -Lots of fun to play -Great addition to a team -Great at securing buffs -Excellent at hunting stragglers -Good farm potential -Relatively inexpensive build

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Cons -Very squishy early game -Still a little squishy late game -Shut down by any effective CC champ player -Weak versus minion bounce skills -Relies too much on range to combat distance closing -Becomes a high priority late game -Mana hungry, even late game -Relatively low ult damage

Do me a favor with kog maw and type /joke into chat.

Tell me that isn't awesome. I dare you.

What the battle horn does for you:
Studies show that the battle horn increases Kog'Maw's appetite for destruction, and the sound of the horn causes the parasympathetic nervous system in nearby players to send them into a "fight or flee" decision process, pumping them with adrenaline and stimulating the Amygdala. the part of the brain responsible for emotional reaction, which causes them to be more prone to mistakes.

I have no idea how medically accurate any of that is.

The fact is, you have one of the most entertaining /joke functions in the game. Kog Maw is a little ****, and should be played like one.

Use your /Joke in the following situations:

You just successfully pulled something shady, like stealing baron
You just narrowly avoided death by less than 100 health
You just entered a lane that nobody expected you in
You just saved a team mate's life, such as tanking Caitlyn's ult
You got a kill on an enemy that nobody could kill
You got a kill in general. Or an assist. Or just because.

If you aren't going to have fun playing this game and crack up the people around you, and cause some good vibes, and be a memorable player...

...Why are you playing?

Non-Core Items

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Sorcerer's Shoes Helps your Madred's Bloodrazor chew through resists, helps all your skills do more damage, and sort of out-potentials any other set of boots for this particular Kog build. I used to build Boots of Swiftness, but I'd rather take a passive aside from move speed.

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Hextech Gunblade Adds more sustainability, now everything you do provides a good amount of life return, you hit harder, and you have an active that can really help your battles go a lot better.

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Black Cleaver Helps chew through tanks a lot more efficiently, adds a bit more attack speed, and gives another nice attack damage bonus.

Now our combo looks something like Void Ooze to slow, Caustic Spittle to drop resists, auto attack to drop resists even more with Malady and slow with Frozen Mallet, Living Artillery for some quick burst damage, activate Bio-Arcane Barrage auto attack until your mana cost on Living Artillery goes back down (6 seconds), Void Ooze again once it comes off cooldown, auto attack more to keep your slow and resistance drops stacked, and just watch them shred into champburger meat.

If they turn and face you and you don't have Hextech Gunblade yet, REALLY pay attention to who is doing more damage, you or them. If you are, then shred them up, but be mindful of approaching enemy champions coming to help. If they're doing more damage, run while they're slowed, and trail your escape with constant Living Artillery. They'll either give up chase or die. Feel free to turn and spit a shot of Bio-Arcane Barrage at them if you're feeling saucy.

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I feel like this is Kog'Maw's most solid build.

He has killing power, he has sustain, he helps his team, he has armor, he has resists, he attacks quickly, he amps damage for your casters and for your AD team mates. Stacked life doesn't make much of a difference for your victims, he can take on red buff, blue buff, dragon, and help substantially with baron. It's a rock solid build, provided you play him how he's supposed to be played (in my humble opinion, of course.)

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Kog Tips

While we're talking about general gameplay, let me go over a few key things you need to know, just very basic things that will help you.
We'll call them "Kog tips".
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-Kog tip 1- Enemies always underestimate the range of Void Ooze -Kog tip 2- Just because your passive happens after you die, doesn't mean you should be trying to die or accumulating deaths because "I got him too, though". -Kog tip 3- Living Artillery reveals the enemy. Dropping on characters like Akali or Talon who like to quickly fade into a shroud will certainly wreck their day.

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-Kog tip 4- Void Ooze slows for the entire time the enemy is in the trail. If you're engaging, rather than harassing, try to catch the enemy in the middle of it, with you on one side, and their escape on the other. No matter what they try and do, engage or flee, they aren't going to get there very fast. -Kog tip 5- Use Living Artillery in bushes as you approach them. You never know who's waiting for you to pass by. -Kog tip 6- Once your Living Artillery is on max level, its range is almost an entire screen. If you have a lane warded WAY ahead of you, you have a much higher potential to catch an enemy of guard with your shot. sight wards are your friend.

Back-End tips
There are a few tweaks that will also help you with Kog'Maw in the long run that usually go overlooked.

-Back end tip 1-
Press escape, go into your key bindings, and look for "smart/self cast skill", there should be 4. Change these 4 to your Q, W, E, and R. Smart casting takes away the aiming portion of casting a skill, it will simply go either wherever your mouse is, or at whatever champion or minion/monster you have highlighted. Normally, the enemy would see you stop to aim, and they'd anticipate an attack. With this, there is no pause. It makes you much harder to anticipate.

-Back end tip 2-
Also in key bindings, set your Joke and your Taunt to hotkeys. Use them in the lane. You'd be surprised how much more willing an enemy is to dive in for a stupid death when they're being taunt spammed. They REALLY just want to shut you up. I mean, it's annoying enough to where I'd say YOU should probably have your speakers turned down and just spam the taunt. They'll get so fed up with hearing it, they'll take breaks to chat to you ("KNOCK IT OFF"), they'll try harder to kill you so the noise stops... It really does throw off the enemy's game.

SO many people think/say/argue that Kog'Maw is a terrible middle.

Let me go through that list again.


1.) He's squishy early game
-So we get tanky runes, some sustainability gear, and we play very carefully. We capitalize on enemy cooldowns, we play at our maximum range, and we keep our squishiness in the front of our mind. We harass mid like mad and starve them. We call for ganks often.

2.) It's easy to mitigate the majority of his damage if
he builds straight AD or straight AP, and he's weak and slow when built hybrid.
-So we don't do any of those things. We make sure we have gear to make sure we can shred whatever armor or resistancs they DO decide to build, at least a little. We build an on-hit core build because it's hybrid damage without a hybrid build, and it's very inexpensive and hard to mitigate. That gets us through early game. We throw a bit of hybrid gear in at the end to really maximize his potential.

3.) He has no HARD CC (like a stun or binding)
This is the only thing I can't really come up with a witty argument for. I wish he did.

4.) He doesn't have the mana pool to sustain well against AP carries
who usually occupy the middle lane
-We build ourselves a Chalice of Harmony, and with the on-hit build, we still do plenty of damage even when our abilities are on cooldown or we're out of mana.

5.) Nearly every AP carry out-damages him if he builds AP
-We don't build AP. They may out damage us but we out-range the majority of them, and AP carries are even squishier than Kog.

6.) Nearly every AD carry out-damages him if he builds AD
-Good thing we almost never see AD in the middle lane, and we out range almost all of them. Caitlyn's ult, Ashe's ult, and Morgana's binding all out range us, but our abilities come off of cooldown much faster than Ashe and Caitlyn, and we have more long range abilities than Morgana does. Tristana can match our range, but... she's Tristana. Everyone does her job better than her.

7.) Hybrid builds take a lot of time and use a lot of expensive items,
He tends to get out-built if he builds for a high-hybrid reliant build.
-I'd never try and build Kog for straight hybrid just because of how long it takes, how expensive it is, and how slow it makes his early game. I don't think I've ever even seen a true hybrid Kog'Maw build, despite the fact that his abilities seem to suggest that it's his ideal build.

8.) It's very hard to fit runes in that actually really fit well with Kog.
-This is a huge issue. I'm still working on runing Kog correctly. If you lean more towards AP or AD, Armor pen or Magic pen, you leave one or the other pretty skimped, and you need them both. But you also need sustain, so that subtracts from your offense potential, but if you build a ton of offense, you stay pretty squishy, but if you balance them, you don't get much of a boost on anything, whereas if you're in a lane, you can spam offense and not worry much about sustain... I'm still sorting it out. For now, I just have it balanced.

9.) Summarized, his unique play style and scaling and setup make him incredibly weird. It's confusing to build/play him effectively in the middle the way I build him.
-Correct. He's either too squisy, too weak, too slow, or too easily shut down if you build him AD, AP, or Hybrid. So if he's not meant to be middle as AP, AD, or Hybrid, then why would you automatically assume, as many of you have, that my VERY strange build must also be completely non-viable? I'd say it's the fourth option. The missing link.

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Why Tanky On-Hit works for Kog Mid

You need to be able to take a few hits, you need to deal damage but you need to be able to get to that point very quickly. You need to be able to harass, but not BE harassed. You need to starve them and you need to get fed, without feeding them.

Chalice of Harmony gives you your early game mana sustain.

Your runes will keep you from getting TOO messed up if you do accidently take a hit.

Void Ooze- You have one of the longest ranged CC skills in the entire game. Morgana's Dark Binding out-ranged Void Ooze, but it doesn't leave any sort of a presence in the lane. Yours leaves a trail of ooze, which acts as an obstacle, which gives you a bit of a psychological advantage.

Your first few items are a lot less expensive than many champions' core items.

You have a lot of farm potential with Void Ooze and you can farm pretty safely with a combo of Void Ooze and Bio-Arcane Barrage. Morgana (I keep listing her because she's an AMAZING middle) has her pool, and that's a ton of farm potential as well, but she needs to get a lot closer to use it. She also has to wait for minions to group up, whereas yours is more effective for plowing down an already lined up wave of minions. You can start your effective farm a lot earlier in the wave than she can, and once that ooze is down, the enemy mid isn't going to want to go near it. Use bio-arcane barrage to farm from a distance that no hero has anything that they can hit you with from until at least level 6.

At the same time, once you both hit level 6, you STILL out range most middle heroes. Say ashe actually hits you with Enchanted Crystal Arrow- by the time she gets to you, it's almost worn off. If caitlyn lands her ult, she's probably far enough away from you for you to throw Void Ooze in her direction and run safely away. They may out-range you, but they aren't able to use it to their advantage because of YOUR range, and the low cooldowns on your high ranged skills.

Your ult is castable every second on it's max level, and only slightly more on lower levels. It makes for an absolutely insane fear factor skill, and really gives you a great ability to harass.

Once you have Sorcerer's Shoes, Malady, Frozen Mallet, and Madred's Bloodrazor, you can kill any middle champion before they even have the chance to get enough damage off on you to stop you. If they run, they're too CC'd to effectively get away. If they DO make it away, your artillery is still a huge threat.

If Kog'Maw plows ANY lane one on one once he's fully geared this way, it goes in his favor. Such is just a law of nature. I've hacked down a fully geared fed Rammus in seconds. I've even dropped Galio fully geared, blocking almost all of my Madred's Bloodrazor damage, just off of leech, attack speed, CC, and AD.

Essentially, if they shut any aspect of you down, there's still quite a bit that's coming down the lane at them. You'll never NOT be a threat. You're even a threat when you die.

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Just keep in mind that you can't feed them, no matter what the cost. If that means losing the middle lane, then lose the middle lane. Screw it.
(but you shouldn't lose the middle lane because you can always run behind your tower and rain artillery.)

It's a lot more important to keep them starved than it is to keep your first tower up, because it will tip the favors in a team fight if it's 5 versus 4 and a half, and you can always just plow them right back to THEIR base and take it. A cocky, too early, poorly planned team fight with starved champions on the enemy's part, provided your team played well, will always win you a game. Especially if top and bottom starved their lanes as well.

There is no shame in retreat.
But if they take that second tower, then you've significantly failed in the middle. I'm not kidding when I say that usually, if we lose when I'm playing middle, its because the team plowed down either the top or the bottom lane. They're beating on our inhibitors and both of our middle towers are still up. Makes me facepalm every time. I'm telling you, played correctly, there's just no stopping him.

FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS SECTION
It's gonna be kind of lengthy and it's geared more towards theory, some people find theory boring.

Also, I won't be focusing on any AP items.
I don't build Kog'Maw for AP, if you need pointers on that
Check out someone else's AP Kog guide, there's some really good ones out there.

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What is in this section:
-What items to swap for what items if you end up in a bad situation-
-What items people usually put on Kog'Maw and why they're not ideal-
-What items to NEVER put on Kog'Maw-
-A quick lesson on using actives to your advantage, and how-


So let's get started...


As for actual gear
lets start with the most interchangeable item in the build- The boots.


I chose these because I feel I really need the penetration to hit a lot harder early game, when harassment is really key.


Non-viable options would be:

Mobility Boots: I have hatred for these boots. They deceive you. You'll think you have a certain movement potential and suddenly Tryndamere skull-****s you with his biggoron buster sword as you're out for a morning stroll and WOAH suddenly you're moving at half speed again and death happens a bunch.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity cooldown reduction on Kog... why? I mean, CDR is good on anyone, but other items help more. This is one place nobody ever really argues with me.

Mercury's Treads Sure, magic resists, tenacity... But you're ranged, you're a back line guy. You shouldn't be getting the brunt of the CC and you already have resists from Wit's End. Even more if your bio-raping someone.

Ninja Tabi last time I checked, they're removing dodge, which leaves 25 armor on these. No thanks. You don't really need dodge or armor anyway.




[boots of swiftness size=60]
These are really the only boots I can think of that would augment this build at all if I weren't to get
Sorcerer's Shoes.

Boots of Swiftness would be a good choice if you find yourself having a hard time getting around, and Berserker's Greaves would make your Bio-Arcane Barrage / Madred's Bloodrazor combo a lot more effective. So I guess that part of it is up to you, they're all 3 pretty viable options.


Next, let's look at the core items.


I'm gonna be really sore about swapping any of these out. I REALLY like these as core items. I can't see why you'd want to do anything else with Kog'Maw

The main other core build I see is

And that's such an overly safe, obvious, typical AD build that is EASY to shut down by anyone who knows how.
( Thornmail much?)

I mean, obviously there are ways to shut anything down. For instance, if you really wanted to jack my world up while I'm playing this Kog build (mine) you'd probably build Guardian Angel, because it would knock off a lot of my damage, because it's magic damage that I'm mainly using to grind your face off.

But then you've still got 170 damage per shot that I'm getting through clean to you unless you build some defense too. And your magic resistance is going to be substantially lowered (30 from Caustic Spittle and 24 from Malady) by my gear within a few seconds of us starting a fight. So unless you TANK magic resistances and get a pretty good chunk of armor, you won't stand up to me. And at that point, your damage output is absolutely nothing (figuring you'd need at least 3 items just to mitigate me effectively) and so I'd kill you anyway just with mass attack speed and minimal damage. Oh, and I'm still leeching off of every hit.

Whereas with Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, and Last Whisper as a core build, you're dealing straight physical damage. Easily mitigated in only one item, Thornmail, two at the most (probably Randuin's Omen or Guardian Angel) and on top of that, if you crit them, it'll probably kill you. Yeah, you get more leech, and you see bigger fancier numbers pop up when you hit someone, but you're wasting the potential of Bio-Arcane Barrage, you've lost any real use for Caustic Spittle aside from the passive, and you've also lost the early game defense and resists. You've zeroed out your sustainability until late game, and any player worth their salt is going to shut you down as soon as they see your build.

Shutting down the core build I chose requires a huge sacrifice of damage and usually doesn't fit into your enemy's build schedule. I feel it's a much better option.

This leaves one more question I've gotten here and there.



What about sword of the divine to replace Malady early game?

In the new Sejuani patch, this item has been removed in favor of Ionic Spark.
See my section on the Sejuani patch for my feelings on this item.

Thanks to AncientNecro for the memo!



Moving on to the non-core items...




Adds dual leech, attack speed, and AP. Makes everything you have hit harder, and now you get a health return no matter what you're throwing at the enemy. You also have an amazing active.


Great armor penetration, good attack speed bonus, and a good chunk of bonus AD.

Viable substitutions would be:



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Aegis of the Legion is dual resists and damage for everyone on your team. Pretty nice. Not really expensive, either. I'd use it to help mitigate a fellow on-hit champ.

Banshee's Veil life and mana, magic resist, spell shield, a pretty good sustain item that a lot of people have made a staple- they never play a game without it. I'd call this one in if there's a heavy caster on their team or you're playing against Karthus.

Last Whisper I'd grab this if you find that your magic damage is the only damage getting through, or if the enemy is REALLY ******* tanky and you just aren't doing ANYTHING to him. If you get this, I'd also swap your boots for Sorcerer's Shoes.

Quicksilver Sash I'd grab this if the enemy has a heavy CC caster on their team, like Fiddlesticks or Swain. Magic resists, built in cleanse... that ought to piss them off nicely.

Randuin's Omen Ok so now we're apparently going for Tank'Maw... I'd get this if your tank is just fail sauce. Somebody's gotta take the role or you'll fail as a team. What's cool about Kog is that he's plenty powerful with just his core build, and he needs boots, so that leaves two completely optional items. He can easily evolve into a tank late game if he has to.

Zeke's Harbinger The only item in the game that combines life leech with attack speed. It also grants a huge bonus to the rest of your team, which well significantly help an AD-heavy team. If you're with a heavy-AD team, I'd run this instead of Hextech Gunblade, because it will REALLY help your teamfights.

Bloodthirster I'd pair this with Aegis of the Legion if you go that route, just to give you more sustain against an enemy on-hitter.

Youmuu's Ghostblade Some AD, Nice cooldown reduction, sure, some armor pen, cool, but what's great about this is the active. I call this the anti-rammus. If I face rammus, I get this, because god dammit that dude is hard to catch. With this one, you're going to want to keep Frozen Mallet. Rammus knocks off a lot of health really fast with his burst, so you want to be smacking him the whole time to leech. There's NO point in trying to get away from him, its gonna be a face off. When you get him low, he's GOING to try and bolt off. Mix the active with this with the passive from Frozen Mallet and your Void Ooze and you'll secure that kill.

Wit's End If you really find yourself taking heavy AP damage, I'd swap the black cleavr out for this one.




Completely NON-VIABLE items...

Any of the boots I discussed would fit here, so I'm not gonna repeat them. Infinity Edge/Phantom Dancer fits here, because there are obvious better options, but there are some others worth listing as "non-viable".


Yeah, no. Part of Kog's dynamic is death. Why would you prolong that for a few seconds and give the enemy melee guys a chance to get away, send in the ranged guys, and pick you off SAFELY when you get back up, and then your passive pops and nobody is around? Makes no sense.


Yeah, this will boost your damage output to insane levels... for one shot every few seconds. Plus, the only stats you really use are only boosted by 30 by this. Also, you have no need for the critical on this at all- almost all of your damage output is magic damage, so your attack damage isn't going to be that high to begin with. I mean... with this build, you'll throw an extra 288 damage... your artillery does almost that on level 2, and your barrage is going to CERTAINLY do more than that late game. There are better options. And aside from all that, trinity is ridiculously expensive.


Why are you the guy dealing with the enemy who is throwing enough melee damage to necessitate thornmail? Derp.

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A quick word on actives...

Nobody uses them. Pretty quick word, right?

I don't understand it. You guys know that you don't have to click on the item, right? You just hit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6? Hell, 1 is right by your Q. Just move the item with the active over to your 1 slot. Reach up a little further, it isn't hard.

My build uses Hextech Gunblade. You're wasting a lot of potential by not using an active on an item. Especially ones like Shurelya's Battlesong with that crazy AOE move speed bonus. You don't know how many stragglers I've killed because my brother, playing Sona, popped the active on that item. Or Deathfire Grasp's active, holy freaking god, that hurts.

Hextech Gunblade slows and deals a lot of damage. I have no idea why you wouldn't use the active on it.

They work. Use them.

This section is dedicated
To a quick look at enemies that might give you trouble
in the middle lane, for one reason or another.

Kog is pretty unstoppable in the middle, but there ARE certain key things that will jack him up pretty effectively.

I'm going to start with the champ that pisses me off the most.

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Ugggghhh.... I HATE you. SO MUCH.

Why this champ stands up to Kog:
Because Kog is squishy early game, that's why. VERY squishy. None of Lux's abilities really do much damage, except for one tiny little problem... If she hits you with one, she hits you with all of them. She's got range, she's got CC out the wazoo, she has harassing power unheard of by mortal men, and that STUPID freaking expanding ball grenade thing ( Lucent Singularity) is a pain in the neck to work around.

How to overcome:
I'm not even kidding, just click around like you're having a seizure between attacks and harassment. She can't skillshot a completely unpredictable move pattern. Also, play Lux and get used to her cooldowns and capabilities. ALWAYS play a champ that gave you trouble, its the best way to learn how to beat them. Once you have Living Artillery, she isn't a problem, but all the way until you're level 6, she's going to piss you off.

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Damn scarecrow...

Why this champ stands up to Kog:
Fear, Silence, and a distance closing ult. He'll minion bounce you with Reap which will silence you, which may allow him to get in quick enough to pop fear and get his drain on you. He has a lot more sustaining power than Kog because of his drain as well. This is the only champ I've ever been sent back to the fountain by- Ever. Lux gets some hits on me, but fiddle just lasts too damn long in the lane and that minion bounce is hard to avoid.

How to overcome:
Play overly aggressive. Fiddle is unbelievably squishy, and if you pop your Bio-Arcane Barrage early, he doesn't deactivate it with his Reap. Also, you may want to rush Vampiric Scepter into an earlier stage of your build and swap Black Cleaver and Wit's End, maybe even Quicksilver Sash so that his drain doesn't kill you while you're auto attacking him. As for his ult... just watch for the channeling, keep your lane warded, and if it looks like he's going to get it off, run.

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Chronicredeye plays her alot.
This is probably the hardest champion to mid against in the game.
For anyone. I don't care who you are. Mid is morgana's house.

Why this champ stands up to Kog:
That ******* spell shield. THAT ******* SPELL SHIELD. Well, at this point, you can forget Void Ooze, it won't do anything useful to her. Oh, and she has a stun that out-ranges everything but your artillery. In fact, it's about the same range until you get your artillery to level 2. She does insane damage, she can out-farm you any day of the week, her sustain is incredible with that shield, and on top of that, her Dark Binding is perfect for setting your squishy *** up for ganks. If she binds you on top of her shadow puddle thingy, you're going to cry.

How to overcome:
Same build switch as you'd do against fiddle except for the scepter, play defensively near your tower... you're going to get experience from your tower killing minions, maybe not as much gold, but for the love of god, at least you aren't feeding her. NEVER feed morgana. Once you hit 6, you can start straying out from behind that tower and beating her down with artillery. Dammit... I like her sister better.

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Beauty kills.
You don't see her mid much, but she does sometimes.
She gave me problems the other night, so she makes it into my guide.

Why this champ stands up to Kog:
Because Kog depends on range, and she's a distance closer with a LOT of damage potential. You have NO way to stop her ultimate, she has a minion bounce like fiddle does... she's just generally a pain to deal with. On top of that, if you do end up feeding her, she can snowball and destroy the rest of your team. Just like morgana, it's critical that you don't feed her.

How to overcome:
Play off your tower. When she ults, get out of range and drop artillery on her. Early game, make sure you stay just in range to hit her with void ooze, and ONLY use void ooze to attack her, your auto attack isn't going to give you a safe range on her until bio-arcane is level 3 or 4. Do NOT get in range of her Shunpo or she's going to put a world of hurt up your nose. Just like most champs, once you hit 6, your artillery will help fend her off. I might even consider swapping Black Cleaver out for Zhonya's Hourglass so you can survive her ult, and the added AP should help you drop her faster. I REALLY don't like Zhonya's Hourglass though. I always forget to activate it when I should.

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I'll add more as I face them!

Feel free to message me in game if you want to take me on in the middle!
Summoner "DBug the Great"
Sorry, I don't face high ELO players, I'm just not there yet.

-Special thanks to-

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-Shoutout/Thanks to Chronicredeye, known him since first grade and he's always got my back.

-Thanks to Squeezy102 (my brother irl) for giving me some tips on facing Lux (he plays Lux alot)