Hello! I'm Master Emerald, a player on the BR server :). I came up with this guide after playing with many sup champs (Soraka, Sona, Janna, Alistar, Blitzcrank...) and I think Cho'Gath can work as a support IF you solve his mana problem and use his abilities wisely as his kit has plenty of CC. Let's start!

Well! League of Legends has many champions and while many were designed for a specific role, every champion is different and can be used in any way you like if you know their limitations.

- Cho'Gath can work as the front-line for a squishy champion,and his kit has lots of CC which makes it useful without the damage-focused items.

- Breaking the meta brings variety in lane matchups and can result in nice strategies ( Kalista's Fate's Call + Feast = easy kill)

- His abilities are best used when going 'all-in', because of his mana costs he can't usually spamm them and stay in lane. Knowing that these runes and the early Tear are game-changing aspects that make this viable.

- Knowing when to pick a champion or not is really important. If the enemy ADC is an early-game focused champion (like Miss Fortune) you should pick some other tank (like Alistar!) that doesn't rely so much on items to be a meat shield for your carry.

Pros
- Great poke with Rupture
- A better silence than Soraka's
- Using Feast on Minions restores the ADC health thanks to Relic Shield
- High damage output even with support-focused items

Cons
- Early game Mana problems
- Low mobility
- Hard engage if the enemy ADC has dashes/jumps ( Kalista specially, as it's jumps can't be silenced)
- Seen as a Troll pick

Other possible rune setups are:

- 9x Greater Mark of Scaling Mana
- 6x Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
- 3x Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction

The mastery setup we have in this guide aims to remediate Cho'Gath high ability costs and low mobility.

Meditation is specially important with the Tear of the Goddess for lategame as you'll be able to spam your abilities, something a top Cho'Gath wouldn't be able to do.

Explorer helps the early game engage if you walk through the brushes and river (specially for dragon), if you don't plan doing that, getting Tough Skin helps you sustain early.

If you want, you can take Stormraider's Surge instead of Strength of the Ages but as you usually just counter-engage, you wouldn't need to escape anyway. Just take the masteries that suit your playstyle better!

I don't see any reason no to get Exhaust and Flash.

The F combo ( Flash+ Feast) is super OP and instead of using it to 'finish the fight' as usually done by Top/Mid Cho'Gath, you can also use it to engage and secure a kill for your carry.

Exhaust is useful in escaping is also useful for escaping and engaging your targets, it's perfect with this build and remediates your low movespeed earlygame.

In the rare occasion of your ADC not bringing Heal, you may get it in place of Exhaust.

Spawn
- Relic Shield > Sustain, health and gold
- Faerie Charm > Mana regen, really useful to build into Tear later on
- Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation > Sustain, a bit pricy though!
- Stealth Ward > Vision

First Back (Recommended!)
- Tear of the Goddess > Cheapest way to solve your mana problem, so you'll be able to rush other important support items earlier, getting Seraph's Embrace is your last priority as the Tear will slowly charge with mana letting you focus on another items.

TIP: The tear grants you 4 mana everytime you use an ability and another 1 additional mana each 8 seconds. In my experience it gets fully charged at the 35min mark, but you have to spam your abilities! Also, after you get the Tear, use Q and W everytime you go back to base. This way you gain free 8 mana :).

Alternative First Back
- Catalyst the Protector > Only get this if you plan getting Eye of the Equinox, so you'll have to rush Rod of Ages after Sightstone and Targon's Brace. I consider this a bit risky, so only consider this option if you are ahead.

Second Back
- Sightstone > You need vision, but as it has only three charges I wouldn't get Sweeping Lens right away, as you'll sometimes run out of wards. Specially if your ADC doesn't ward.

Core Items
- Face of the mountain > Nice shield. lets you use Feast on minions without feeling bad for taking CS from your AD carry, gives you CDR and life. I love it!
- Randuin's Omen > Armor, health and makes engaging and escaping easier with that slow
- Locket of the Iron Solari > Gives you the MR you need and another shield for you and your teammates
- Oracle Lens > Reveal enemy wards, get it when you feel you need it most. In some games I got Farsight Alteration, but I recommend advising your carry into getting it instead.

More Defensive Options
If you got Eye of the Equinox instead of the Face of the Mountain+ Ruby Sightstone combo, you'll have an open slot for another item:

- If their AD carry is fed, get Dead Man's Plate
- If they have too much lifesteal, get Thornmail
- If their AP carry is fed get Spirit Visage
- If their team is balanced and you just want to get Tankier, get Zz'Rot Portal! It will help you destroy turrets and give you lots of movement speed near structures.

Boots
There's not much to say, just get one when you feel your lack of movement speed is punishing you. Each game is different and I've used all of them in different situations, so it's a matter of personal preference.

- Explain your mana problems for your carry as soon as you enter the game, and recall to base as soon as you have enough money for the tear (625G if you got Faerie Charm, 750 if you did not)

- Don't waste mana poking a tanky support. You can use it as a disengage tool so you can protect your carry, though.

- If you're against Soraka, focus her, but don't stand where she casts Starcall as she'll heal really fast.

- If your carry is not experienced just use more Pings. If it's not working just make sure he stays alive and go for the kills yourself (but that should be your LAST option, as a squishy character without gold from kills is just useless lategame).

- Ward. A lot. If you're on the blue side, ward the tribush near dragon with a Vision Ward, if you're on red side, ward the river bush with it instead. If the enemy goes destroy your ward, just punish them for the 75G he made you waste!

- When getting CS to heal your carry (the passive from Relic Shield), be sure to untoggle Vorpal Spikes as it will hit other minions and make it tricky for your carry to farm.

- Get Feast stacks as soon as possible, and prioritize Siege Minions as they grant more Gold and XP

2015/12/4 - Guide Created
2015/12/5 - Added 'Introduction', 'Pros/Cons', 'Runes', 'Masteries', 'Items' and 'Changelog' sections
2015/12/6 - Completed the 'Items' section, and reorganized the 'Item Purchase Order' at the top
2015/12/7 - Added the 'Match History' and 'Tips' sections and changed a point in 'Abilities' section
2015/12/8 - Added the 'Why Cho'Gath Support?' section