Welcome to the JEFFY40HANDS' Guide to Competative Corki. Within this guide I hope to give you readers some insight on how to properly build and play Corki effectively. To those of you already critisizing my guide for the title choice I invite you to stop reading. Why you might ask? Because this guide is filled with something called humor and sarcasm. Of course I do not mean this guide is a joke; the information I'm going to share is valuable but "Why SO SERIOUS???" facts/opinions are most often better understood when humor is thrown into the equation.....

IF.......

You're still reading, let us begin.

This bit of the guide is meant to give a brief summary of Corki's role on a team, his strengths/weaknesses, do/do nots, common misconceptions and whatever else I might feel pertenant to this section of the guide.

Strengths:Best AD poke champion in the game
Superb combination of utility and DPS between all 4 of his abilities.
Great team fight champ.
High AoE/Single Target DPS
Probabaly the best farm champ in the game. If you're not the highest CS by games end then you're doing it wrong.

Weaknesses:Mana muncher, though once you hit level 6 your ulti provides solid harass and farm in one spell.
Squishie
Easy to grasp hard to play champion
Making mistakes with this champ will 100% kill you.

Common Misconceptions:A good Corki can carry any kind of team. Clearly false, Corki can fit into many different team comps and help carry his team. With that said Corki relies on tanks with a solid a initate. Amummu is a great example, bandage toss(that hits the target)+Curse of the Sad Mummy, will allow Corki and his team to get some great damage in.

Mordekaiser, though strong and durable when played well HAS to almost purely rely on enemy creeps to help in a fight. He also has no form of CC which means he cannot protect his carries.

Singed since his light revamp now has more presence in team fights, his ability to fling and initiate means a team can burn 1 carry down quickly. His slow and poison help add to team damage/team focus but overall unless he is literally on top of his carry(s) to try and protect them with defensive flings a ranged carry like Corki may find himself the target of someone like Akali or Xin both high damage champs and both with solid gap closers.

Shen and Rammus are solid tanks due to their taunts and can aid in protecting their carries. So to reiterate: Corki is a strong carry but relies highly on a versatile and strong team comp. Preferably a tank with a taunt or solid initate to allow Corki to fight from the outskirts of a team fight or quick reactions to CC an enemy focusing him.

Another common misconception is that BECAUSE Corki is considered a Tier 1 champion in competitive play that must mean he is is OP. Another false statement. Just because Corki is strong and regarded as a champ (that if someone plays him right)can bring death and destruction to his enemies does not make him OP. It makes him a solid pick, I ask you to look at the damage coefficients for some of his abilities (Which save for Gatling Gun and half the damage from Missle Barrage are AP). Top Tier Players may build 2 Hybrid AP/AD items on him. Tri-Force and Hextech Gunblade. The latter being an end game item that provides spell vamp AND life steal as well as AD/AP. They do not build him AP typically, because his abilities lend him to being a fighter, one who can duel rather well because of his abilities but most of his damage comes from auto attacks, the supplemental damage from his AP abilities is not strong enough to do the job alone (typically).

Corki is SOOO EASY MODE....Pick up Annie with limited knowledge and you'll probably kick *** regardless. Pick up Corki with limited knowledge and you'll probably die a lot. Corki has a large learning curve, getting the basics is easy enough but turning basics into proficiency is a hard task. There is a reason not many people in ranked or normals even play this champ. If it's your first time playing Corki, BE CAREFUL and don't let trolls get you down. You gotta learn some how and bots don't make good training partners. Unless you simply like target practice.

Role in a team fight:
Solid single/multi target DPS. Your one and only job is to kill the opposing teams carry(s). You don't heal teammates, you don't tank turrets, YOU KILL KILL KILL!!! I don't know how much simpler it gets than that.

Good strategy for playing Corki (Do):Simply farm minions early and mid game, help in teamfights, but focus on farming. Normals and low ELO brackets find themselves in an idiotic situation. The fascination with going 50/0/5 and still losing the game then blaming your team for feeding. In actuality a team down in kills can still actually win, scratch that not only WIN but DESTROY their opponents. What am I saying? I'm saying that for once my math teacher was right (I have a real world scenario to apply simple Math to :D)). All these numbers are going to be averaged to make the math easier, but I do not think anyone will disagree that the numbers are comperable to in game experiences.
Average Champ Kill 475g
Average Minion Kill 25g

2 Corki Players (Blue/Purple)

Blue's Score Mid Game (25minutes in roughly) 3kills/2 deaths/0 assists 200 minion kills
Gold Earned from these stats alone?

3x475=1425g
200x25=5000g+1425=6425g

Purple's Score Mid Game 7kills/4 deaths/ 0 assists 100 minion kills

7x475=3325
100x25=2500g+3325=5825
gold difference: 6425-5825= 600

With half the kills but twice the minions farmed Blue is in the gold lead. These stats don't count Turret Kills, Dragon Kills, Barons Kills. Just flat KDR and CS. The same amount of time played between the exact same champs (hypothetically) and the one who spent more time in the lane and less time traveling around for ganks has AT LEAST an extra 600g in his/her pocket. You might not think 600g is a lot but that's only 25 minutes into the game. For some that might be late game, but this is all hypothetical. Simply me trying to explain why you should focus on farming first. ((Giving someone roaming 100 creep kills is quite generous, at best they could be pushing 70-80 creep kills))

Mistakes often made by new Corki players (Do Nots):Not farming enough
Using Valkyrie to tower dive
Using Valkyrie to chase/gap close/get in front of an opponent who is within auto attack range
Using Valkyrie to help your tank initiate teamfights
Using Valkyrie in the middle of a teamfight to try and add some more damage into the mayhem.
Not using every ability (except Valkyrie) to increase your farming in lane mid to late game.
Over-extending to try and harass someone with Phosphorus Shot when your MISSLE BARRAGE (Ultimate) is better suited and more cost effective as a poke.
Not poking enemies before a teamfight

((On rare occassions using Valkyrie as an offensive maneuver IS viable. Examples include: repositioning to avoid a skill shot, pinching a low health enemy into "non flashable walls", kiting enemies (though defensive the conscious act of applying Valkyrie's path in tight spaces to force enemies into the extra damage while they are chasing you is a solid offensive tactic too.))


The list can go on. But that sums up your role. I'll reiterate though. YOU FARM YOUR *** OFF AND KILL ENEMY CARRIES IN TEAM FIGHTS!!!!!!!!!

21/0/9
Standard enough, we aren't going for a critcorki (I'd put IE in this build if we were) we are going for a sustained DPS build. That is why I take the extra 3 AD, the CDR isn't the most beneficial thing but it is to get the bonus 15% Magic Pen we want. Why you ask? Because Corki's Q,W, and even R, have AP components. So we take the MPen to help early game when we need to harass. As well a point to do extra damage to minions why? To make last hitting easier. Who can say no to faster farming?

Another reason we take 21/0/9 as opposed to a 15/0/15 or 15/15/0 build is because 21/0/9 allows for you to be passive and farm while being able to retaliate if forced to. Doing solid damage early game will be enough to deter most from engaging you alone. Between hextech shrapnel shells, phosphorous bomb, and Gatling gun most enemies should not stand a chance 1v1.

0 in Defense because you're a Carry Killer, and though defensive masteries aren't terrible you're handicapping the benefit from how solid of a farmer Corki is.

9 in Utility because who can say no to bonus EXP? And why do I take Good Hands over Perseverence? Because Perseverence is garbage, it sounds better than it actually is. And for those going "Why get the extra 1g per 10 when you can get a point in Improved buff duration?". 1 because I've found buffs on Corki (Once you complete Trinity Force) to not be as helpful. 2 because it's more reliable. I'm guranteed 1g every 10 seconds vs trying to use buffs within their alloted times which can get me killed when I should be farming. In truth it is all preferencial put the point where you want. I'm simply sharing my opinions and experiences while playing Corki. I tend to grab the buffs whenever they are up but I spend 60-80% of my time in game farming. The last 20-40% is split between teamfights and turret killing.

Summoner Spells:

Flash: Great for escapes, great for ganks, great for getting out of range of melee champs so you can get extra DPS time on them in team fights. If you don't take Flash because you have Valkyrie I'm going to call you special. Why? Simple soooo many people take Flash now that you pretty much need it, even with Valkyrie you can be pursued if your opponent has flash. With double flash you basically become more infuriating than a Porn Star who won't put out.

Ghost: You're quick and you don't collide with minions....Basically a solid escape or chase spell. Not as essentail as Flash. It can be replaced with Ignite/Exhaust/Teleport/Cleanse anything else and I'd call you ******ed.

Heal is garbage, anyone who plays with heal ((Unless you're support)) is bad, it's a garbage crutch for weak players who are too stupid to know by now ((Summoner level 30)) that face checking a bush at level one is about as smart as kicking a bull in the balls. A side note, some of you might do SOOPER well and use Heal as a summoner spell on almost every champ. Stop using it, heal loses it's effectiveness against champs like MF/GP/Katarina basically ANY champ who can put a MS (Mortal Strike) Debuff on you. What's MS? It means you take 50% reduced healing....SOOO in summary anyone that runs ignite as a summoner spell basically just made your spell worthless. You know what makes ignite/exhaust/flash/teleport useless? Nothing save for silences, each of those spells has essentially an uncounterable use and can pretty much aid in detering enemy champs.

Rally needs to be removed from the game it too is garbage.

Fortify while being useful the most beneficial part about it is when you have the talent for it which is in the bottom of the defense tree. ((We aren't speccing defense))

Smite, we aren't jungling folks.

Clairvoyance, while useful it takes away from your offensive or defensive capabilities as Corki. It's great for tanks or support though.

Items:Doran's Blade hands down to start with. Some of you might be all about getting a mana crystal so you can build Manamune on Corki, stop it right there. 1st you have to spend gold on an item that does not directly affect any of your offensive/defensive stats ((Attack speed/Damage/Life Steal/Crit Chance/Health)) Tear of The Goddess. 2ndly though it promotes good farming habits, spending another 900 or so gold to finish Manamune is counter productive when the pinnacle of a (good/great) Corki build is Tri Force. 4k Gold isn't going to shower down on you quickly even with superb last hitting. You're better off rushing Tri Force after you get AT LEAST your basic boots. The build order of Tri Force has 2 routes. Sheen first or Phage first. Zeal is the least beneficial to build first and that is why I always save it for last. Phage first if you're doing alright but want more survivability in lane, Sheen first if you're doing fine but find yourself harassing more than you'd like to aid in control of a lane. The extra mana/AP/and proc are perfect for cementing yourself in a lane.
I've also seen Corki's grab cloth armor and health pots. Simple sustain in lane build NOT terrible, but I'd prefer a bit of extra damage/health/life steal for early game laning. Helps with last hits and is well worth the cost at level 1.

Boots of your preference I would suggest Zerker Greaves because you are a DPS but Merc Treads or even boots of swiftness (Tier 3 speed boots) aren't terrible choices.

Blood Thirster mmmmm good Life Steal and damage.

Last Whisper because it gives you immediate ArP vs stacking ArP on a target (From Black Cleaver), which late game save for tanks they won't live long enough to have a full set of stacks on them. The choice is up to you though both Black Cleaver and Last Whisper are viable however I prefer the flat ArP, though the ATKSPEED from Black Cleaver isn't terrible it comes down to preference and cost.

The reason there are only 5 items is because the 6th is up to you. Doing well? Build another Blood Thirster. Need some anti nukeage? Get Banshee's Veil. The choice is up to you.

Runes:ArP Marks to help early game damage
Health Per Level seals to give a little boost in survival however flat health seals, dodge seals, Attack speed Seals, many other types of seals can work.
Flat Mana Glyphs can be substituted for CDR, Mana Per Level, Mana Regen per 5 per level, even ability power per level to give a little more early game damage to Phosphorous Shot.
Attack Speed Quints help with early game last hits, also puts your AS at a reasonable level without items for early game harassment in between farming. These can be substituted for ArP Quints.

Hextech Shrapnel Shells (Passive): Corki's basic attacks deal 10% bonus true damage to champions and minions.

Basically a solid passive that allows Corki to have a sustained damage role. Great early game boost to your damage especially against a squishie like Karthas or Veigar and doesn't lose its effectiveness as the game progresses. ((But it doesn't gain effectiveness either))

Phosphours Bomb (Q): Deals 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+50% of ability power) damage to enemies in a target area. In addition, the blast reduces an enemy's chance to hit by 35%.

By far one of the best harass skills in the game. Solid damage and with a bonus 35% chance to blind a target makes 1v1ing vs AD carries like Pantheon/Xin/MF/Vayne a peace of cake. This skill also helps clear out minion waves like a bad fart in an elevator. Max this skill 1st over Valkyrie/Gatling Gun.

Valkyrie(W): Corki surges to target location dealing 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+40% of ability power) damage per second to enemies in the fire left along his path.

Great escape mechanism, I do not recommend it be used in team fights for anything else than repositioning yourself to get more damage on a target while avoiding as much damage to yourself. Max this last as all you should truly be using it for is an escape mechanism.

Gatling Gun (E): Corki's gatling gun fires at all targets in front of him for 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 5 seconds, dealing a quarter of his total damage and shredding 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 armor with each shot. The armor reduction persists as long as the enemy is under continuous fire.

A reason Corki is so solid in team fights. The combination of his single target DPS auto attack combined with solid AoE output with things like Phos Bomb and of course this ability Gatling Gun. This skill also puts a huge benefit in your corner if you're dueling. Constant damage output and armor reduction combined with Corki's passive will literally shred your target. Max this second over Valkyrie.

Missle Barrage (Ultimate/R): Corki fires a missile towards his targeted location that will collide with the first enemy it hits. Each missile deals 125 / 200 / 275 (+30% of ability power) area magic damage.

Corki stores one missile every 14 seconds up to 7 missiles at any given time. Every 4th missile will be a Big One dealing bonus damage.

The best skill shot in the game in terms of utility and power. Quick reloads, a spammable long range harass, great for poking enemies, or clearing creep waves from safe distance. LEARN to master this ability, learn how to lead a target. I almost never aim this baby in a straight line. Learn to aim this puppy towards an enemie's shoulder, say someone is running and hugging a wall, position yourself in the middle of the lane as you chase and aim for their shoulder closest to you. If they are in the middle of a lane and running you hug the wall still aim for the shoulder closest to you. Typically if their summoner abilities are down and or any ability like Arcane Shift for Ezreal or Tumble for Vayne aiming for the shoulder closest to you will give you the proper lead to hit them. (Barring any creep in the way or another enemy target). The lead required is not much and thus regardless of distance properly positioning yourself to aim and fire across the target (Shoot from an angle) vs through them (Shoot while directly in front or behind them) will reduce the enemies ability to dodge the shot. Learning to abuse the range and damage of Missle Barrage sets average Corki players apart from the greats. TAKE THIS SKILL AT 6/11/16.

Simple phrase to remeber where the OPTIMAL (Not saying plugging away with Missle Barrage from point blank behind someone doesn't work, or even saying long range straight shots are a big issue. Just saying the best way to assure you land your skill shot is from an angle) position is when using your skill shot on an enemy champ.
"Aim from an angle make them an Angel, aim from behind and you'll miss like you're blind".

Though Corki is a ranged AD carry sending him mid isn't always required. Sometimes laning works better depending on the champs you have to pick from. Champs with CC like Alistar/Cho' Gath/ Maokai/ Blitzcrank/ Jarvan/Pantheon etc. Those champs work better for him, simply because he can abuse his passive freely. I stand by comments about focusing more on farming less on harass BUT their is a need to establish lane prescense. If you can drop your opponents to half HP and force them to pot up or even return to their base you've started winning the lane. Keeping constant pressure between farming is another one of Corki's strenghts, he can harass and farm with virutally every ability in his spell book.

I'd say with a competant lane mate you can be a bit more agressive, however when playing mid it really depends on the champ you're facing. Against Vlad I'd say focus on farming, AP/AD Teemo focus on farming with minor harass. MF/Leblanc/Urgot type champs you should focus on farming creeps and harassing defensively. Laning against Annie, Veigar, Morganna, Fiddlesticks or Brand you can probably play agressively. As Brand, Fiddlesticks,Veigar and Morganna rely on long cool downs and skill shots to boost their damage early game making them waste mana and miss their attacks is a great way to force them into a fight, one in which you should expect to win barring their summoner skills ((Clarity/Flash/Ignite/Heal weaken your chances of killing unless you've harassed them enough and they were too dumb to return to base)). Annie needs to focus on last hitting with her Q skill. If she misses her Q a lot you'll be able to notice by her dwindling mana pool, she does have some solid early game damage even without items. Her stun can be deadly but if you feel confident in your ability then you can probably take her in between levels 3-5, at 6 she will simply focus on trying to ulti and kill you but those are things you can avoid if you pay attention . It really all depends on the level of skill of your opposing lane/your map awareness/your understanding of your opponent's character. And of course the understanding of your own character. I say focus on farming because 1st blood means nothing when the enemy is at your nexus.

NOTE: THOUGH I SAY CORKI CAN LANE EFFECIENTLY IT IS ALMOST ALWAYS BETTER TO GO MID.
Corki has strong abilities but he isn't one to initiate a gank. Your best option should a lane need help is to wait for your opponent's to over extend. Lately I've been accustomed to seeing tower dives on teammates when they are at about 50% HP, Corki's number one role?!!?!?!?! KILL ENEMY CARRIES. Your enemies try to line up your teammate for a kill under your tower? Well they will have to eat turret blasts to do that, if your teammate is smart they'll kite them around the turret as long as they can. Exploiting an enemy team's greed is something that is on a game to game basis. But it is something that Corki excells at. Swooping in with Gatling Gun rolling and a Phos bomb on top of that and you'll probably line up a double kill. And have a trade in favor of your team.

Before a Teamfight there always seem to be a point where the tension builds between the 2 sides. Both looking for an opening to jump on so they can have a solid fight and maybe win it. Corki excells at exploiting those 30 seconds or longer with his long range poke. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS poke when avaiable. You spend little mana in exchange for AoE damage that is either regened, healed, or simply absorbed. Doesn't sound all that worth while until you factor in the fact that you're forcing them to use cooldowns maybe 10 seconds or more on a heal, eating away some HP and mana from the enemy before your tank just gets fed up and dives in. Poking refers to using a skill(s), generally skill shots that can harass an enemy at range. Caitly's Piltover Peacemaker, Ezreal's Mystic Shot, Nidalee's Spear Throw, Janna's Whirlwind all refer to abilities that are long range and capable of inflicting solid damage while keeping the user outside of the enemies range to retaliate. Use them (Pokes) well and you might get to go in against a team whose starting at 75% HP rather than 100%.

Once a team fight starts you need to get in a safe position to DPS. I have said your job is to KILL KILL KILL ALWAYS KILL their carry but if their carry is on the opposite side of the teamfight you're probably better off focusing the next best thing, a support, or mage. Postioning is the most important thing to get right when it comes to a fight, Corki is typically best attacking from the side in a fight. Not directly in the fray but on the outskirts, almost always circling/strafing back and forth on the friendly side of the fight, never stand still even if you're getting solid damage on your target. You need to pay attention to how the fight shifts and moves. Granted most team fights are over in 10-15 seconds but the movement of the fights is so rapid finding yourself out of position will most likely result in your death. Thus you need to get very good at moving in and out of the fight, one moment your positioning could be fine the next you're in the middle of it and surrounded by the enemy with your team getting further and further away.

For a 6th item it really depends on the enmy comp. HOWEVER even against an almost full team of AD champs Banshee's Veil can do soooo much. Save your from an Ashe Arrow/ Bandage Toss/Taunt/ Knock Up/ Disable etc. Banshee's Veil is such a solid item that I almost always reccomend it be the last or next to last item you build. Then again the final item as well as the boots are all relative to your/your team's performance. If you're simply rolling face you can build another Blood Thirster or any other DPS item you might want. If you need some more survivability Aegis of the Legion isn' bad. Even an end game Guardian Angel works well.


I typically always start Doran's Blade get basic boots then work on Tri Force. For some players this might be difficult if you're new to Corki or having a poor game. I'm not opposed to Doran Blade Stacking to help try and pull yourself up and out. Damage and Health plus some life steal NOT COMPLETELY BAD if it's all you can afford. It isn't really ideal but it is something worth buying if you need to.

Corki is a powerful harass champ thus I feel listing these champs as "Lane Synegizers" for Corki should be appropriate.

Synergize Well-Blitzcrank- Grab/Knock Up
Renekton- Stun and tanky albeit solid DPS disposition for this champ.
Nasus-Best ranged slow IN THE GAME meaning more time on target.
Swain-Snare/Slow
Cho' Gath-Knock Up/Silence/Slow
Twisted Fate-Stun/Slow
Singed-Fling, Slow
Taric-Stun
Maokai-Snare/Stun
Sion-Stun

Synergize "OK":Nocturne-Fear
Orianna-AoE Slow
Xin Zhao-Knock Up/Slow
Jarvan-Knock Up/Slow

Counters to Corki in mid:
Leblanc-High burst damage and silences as well as a snare. Though you can harass her early game fairly easily the fact that this champ has probably the highest burst in game doesn't boad well for anyone against her.
Vlad- Solid sustain and harass as well as solid escape mechanism too. Not too scary if you learn to deny him though. Still a very capable champ in terms of countering Corki.
Vayne-Need I say more? Nice early game damage, very fast and Corki is quite slow. Super stun making denying this champ deifficult if they know how to use Condem.
The profile for a counter to Corki is a champ that can out harass him or out sustain him, in truth not many champs fit that description. The few I've listed however do fit that description.




The reason I list these champs is to express how solid Corki can be in a lane. With some sort of CC Corki can lay on the hammer when it comes to harassing allowing him and his lane mate to empose their will on the lane when they want. Proper Lane control will mean an early tower kill OR the opposing team will have to pay more atterntion to your lane. Both of which means less pressure on your team mates in their respective lanes.

Corki is one of the best if not the best ranged AD carry in the game. Superb all around damage, survival, and in fight utility make him pack a solid punch. Exploitng his abilities properly will keep you in the positive, as well as make you the highest farmed champ in that game.

With Corki it's not about doing a lot of damage in a short time (though he assuredly can do that). It's about properly positioning yourself with your team so you can spread your damage to the enemy WHILE focusing their carry (or the next best thing that isn't a tank).

Too many players get caught out of position with champs and they pay the price. LITERALLY 2ft in game can mean the difference between being killed doing the killing ESPECIALLY when ranged AD carries are concearned. If there is anything you can take away from this guide it is that properly positioning yourself in fights will win the day. (Or at least give you room to run if your team loses the fight.)