SO here's the deal, Cho' Gath is my favorite character ever, he was my first purchase, i bought him right after he went FTP. I've been was constantly trying out new builds for him and found that i didn't like any of them so i built my own, enjoy. This is a TANK CHO' GATH build as i think he should always be a tank. Don't think that means you won't be getting kills though. If you follow my guide and practice with it you'll be hitting positive K/Ds every game, trust me.

Ok, so my rune choice may seem a little odd, what with health marks and all that pizazz but just trust me. Thanks to armor seals and the tons of health you get, early game you are virtually unstoppable. I start with around 800 hp, add the extra armor on top of that and gurl you got it made.

Same kind of thing as the runes, this is geared to make you as indestructible as possible early game. Though it depends some what on your teammate, i normally don't head back in till around 1500 gold simply because there is no need to. Well except to buy boots of course. As for why i chose to invest 9 points in utility, well its simple, the health regen is far more important then a little added damage, and trust me, you'll be dangerous enough as is.

OK, obviously items are what make your character what they are. This is a TANK build so i am focusing on TANKING. If you want AP Cho' Gath for whatever delusional reason then go somewhere else. Aight so to start, go with either a cloth armor and 5 HP pots if your going against a AD heavy team. If not go MR cloak and all the HP pots you can get. Stay away from mana pots, thats what the meta game is for! OK the boots of swiftness are very important. As a tank it is your job to be in EVERY team fight possible. You need to be able to dive in and save your allies and still be able to get across the map in no time at all. Thats why i go BoS. You can try mercs or tabi but i never like having them. Now some games i will get heart of gold first but thats only if i get forced to recall early and i feel the need for some gold farming help and a little more survivability. OK after heart of gold has been obtained finish off Randuins Omen. This is very important because the active can save your whole team's ***. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of armor it gives cuts damage by a massive amount. From here it gets dependent on the enemy team. I like to take Mog's next if i can but sometimes things must be changed. For instance if you have a Jax and a Xin in your lane your gonna want to rush thornmail next cause there is nothing funnier then watching them kill themselves. Very rarely will i take banshee's veil before mog's simply because i don't have to many issues with casters. Kassadin is about the only enemy that can make me go that route. Assuming all goes normal and you have your mog's 3rd just take a look at the team, see who's being the most dangerous and purchase accordingly. You can sub force of nature for anything from a Sunfire cape to another Mog's if you feel the need to transcend petty damage in favor of walking from one base to the other with all 5 enemies attacking you and surviving. (True Story.) Note, every thing i have shown above is suggested except for the BoS, Frozen Heart and Guardians. Look at your enemy team comp and decide what you should build from this. In extreme circumstances you may need to build other things like Hourglass but for the average game this should cover all your bases.



Edit: Thanks to the dumbass nerf on randouins, you can scratch that for a frozen heart, the aura on it is great as is the armor and CDR as a bonus. Man sometimes i want to punch riot in the face x.x

Edit for my Edit: Thanks to the epic de-nerf on randouins you can white out the scratch out and re-write randouins into the build >=D

Hokay, so, onto the skill sequence. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS start with RUPTURE. This is what makes Cho' Gath so damn effective in the lane. I view every other skill you have as a support for rupture. A well placed rupture can do everything from kill that damned Heimerdinger as he sits on his tower and recalls to saving your squishy from a pair of hungry DPSers by tossing em up in the air. After rupture always go for vorpal spikes. I know what your thinking, naw i'm gonna get Feral Scream cause it has mad silences. If your one of those people then just take a gander at your passive. This is how Cho' Gath stays in the lane so long. As long as you control the minion wave you have infinite mana. Vorpal spikes lets you last hit 2 or 3 enemies at once. It also is a great way to dissuade and enemy melee from farming. Next is your scream. A very useful tool against channelers like fiddle and combo AP's like Ryze. Now onto rank ups. Always rush Rupture. This is very important because you will pretty much be casting this when ever you can. As long as you follow my masteries and runes you will be putting out some crazy effective pestering damage with this. Learn how to lead your targets and you'll be sending peeps home crying constantly. Its also your best method of bringing your enemies to your mighty jaws of death. I like to always keep 100 mana in reserve but otherwise you should constantly be throwing these out. Your passive will sustain you. When you cant level rupture, should only be level 7, go for vorpal spikes. This is important because this is where all your farming comes from. The added damage also makes you scary in 1v1. Obviously take feast where ever possible.

Not to much here, Ghost to let you escape, pursue, cross the map, dive in front of caitlyn's failtimate. All that good stuff, heal for early game lane survival and late game bail outs for your teammates.

I figured i'd dedicate a whole chapter to feast since it is your most important skill. This is what makes you a tank for a number of reasons. First off it gives you a metric ***ton of HP. Aside from that it makes you HUGE!!!!!!! This is important because you can literally just stand in front of your team and protect them because your all the enemy can click on. Not to mention whats scarier then a 20 foot monster from the void with a nasty habit of eating people alive? The most important thing to understand about feast is a stack is worth more then a skill. I know it does alot of damage but if you don't get a kill with your ultimate directly you get nada. Thats why i feast on minions till i have a full set. Then feel free to nom away.

I'm about to give you a lesson in tanking seeing as how very few people appear to no how to do it right. So here's whats up. By about level 12 you should have Randuins, 6 stacks and at least half of mogs or all of thornmail. Congratulations you are borderline impervious! Now its time to start getting busy.
RULE 1) A rupture can save a life. Lets say poor soraka has xin on her tail. Your to far away to open up on the spear wielding Asian so you toss a rupture with just enough lead to catch him. Soraka takes off and you dive in, silence and basic attack. If he keeps up the chase on soraka then feast him. Even if he survives then loss of a quarter of his total HP is almost always enough to make him run.
RULE 2) Silence Silence Silence! Lets say both teams are gathered up at mid. There's a little exchange of skills but no one is initiating. Tell your team "Yo biznitches ima blat blat those wiggers with mah silence then dive in!" and proceed to lay down some feral screams. Try to get as many enemies as possible in the silence but if you cant get them all make sure you go for the most important. For instance a silence on kassadin is more impotant then one on teemo and jax because they are right click wonders that could care less about skills and kass gets all of his damage from them.
RULE 3) Pick your fights! Lets say your at mid with 4 enemies. Your whole team is here and then you see Yi trying to back door (what else can yi even do?) Obviously you DO NOT GO to get Yi, you send some one else to because you need to be at the team fights. Your a tank, kills should never be your highest priority!
RULE 4) An ally saved is better then an enemy killed. OK Soraka, who apparently sucks, is getting wailed on by that same Xin but you see Yi running away with 200 health, you know you can drop a rupture and finish him but you'd have to sacrifice Soraka to do it, so what do you do? Save Soraka, having her around in the next team fight will probably save your life so DO IT!
and finally
RULE 5) A team saved is worth more then your precious K/D spread! This is pretty self explanatory, call a general retreat and make sure your the last one out! Drop ruptures, screams and basic attacks while you head out to make sure you soak up all the abilities and attacks you can. If some one tries to ignore you punish him with your feast. If it isn't up nail him with tah skillz! This is what separates a good tank from a great one. Knowing exactly what your limits are and being able to judge a calculated selfless sacrifice. You may not get rewarded for your death by others but at least you know you just saved EVERYONE and the possibly the game!

The combination of a rupture into a feral scream can wipe an entire wave of creeps by level 11.

At level 18 your feast is twice as effective at finishing baron as smite.

Always take a side lane, leave mid for the AP

Your dance is ridiculous, don't ever do it!

Sometimes following up a satisfying feast with a /ALL OMNOMNOMNOMNOM is all it takes to score a rage quit.

You can easily hold 2 enemies off the creeps with just rupture and feral scream.

Placing a rupture behind a non engaged enemy is almost a sure fire way to hit them.

Look at the opposing teams speed in comparison with your's. It will help you land those ruptures.

You can take ALOT of punishment by level 11. Remember this always!

NEVER EVER EVER DIE FOR A KILL AS TANK CHO' GATH!!!!!!!!!!!!

By level 11 you can tank a tower from full to dead with a good DPSer.

Don't forget just how scary your ultimate can be for the other team. Once you have all of your feasts use it as often as you can! You'd be amazed at how timid you can make your enemies.

By level 16 you can tank a tower full to dead and 2 to 3 light damage enemies with a good DPSer. Just make sure the enemies are attacking you!

By following this build you will tap into the uber powers of Cho' Gath the ultimate tank! You'd be amazed at how quickly the ability to tank a tower and company can turn a fight around. By following this build you'll have no weakest points because from early to late-late game your 100% effective. So get out there and get to NOMING some noobs!