This guy is one of my favorite champions, fast and deadly much like most assassins if played right. I've seen a lot of people who play Kennen as if he's a mage, and I can see where they can get that impression from reading many of the guides. I don't really like mages personally, too squishy for my tastes and they always seem to be in the back of teamfights hiding in the bushes. This guide is about playing Kennen as an aggressive carry and initiator, not a boosted AP mage.

The runes are setup like the basic mage champion with some health for tankish purposes. Some runes that could be alternatives are solid armor seals and solid AP glyphs. These changes will help out more early game to get an extra jump on that annoying Caitlyn range that loves to try to counter other ranged and/or mage champions.

What are those masteries doing on Kennen? If built like a mage then Kennen won't survive long against high DPS or off-tanks. For that aggressive initiator that I love Kennen to be, he has to have to be able to take some punishment. Some of the masteries chosen give health early and throughout the game, allowing Kennen to survive most ganks as well as greater lane presence. A movement speed increase and AP buffs are also a help to Kennen, the faster you can get around the more dangerous you are to the enemy.

I always pick boots of speed first with some health potions, these will allow you to continue laning and get back in the fight quicker than a Doran's Shield health regen bonus will give you. With Kennen: more speed=more adaptability. This is also why Nashor's Tooth, the less you have to wait on your skills cooldowns the more you can fight and harass. I try to go for items that give AP and health, opposed to solid AP which will do damage sure, but if you miss it might cost you a death. Near end game I start to build that solid AP which will give Kennen that final boost he may need to really destroy the enemy team.

Who maxes lightning rush first? Isn't it supposed to be maxed last? That depends, do you want to go for shuriken and waste your time on skill shots while getting gank killed? I love lightning rush, very high damage once built up, a five second cooldown once maxed out which allows you to quickly dart around the map, plus it scares the sh*t out of that squishy Malzahar who thinks he can dominate mid. I use lightning rush + ulti to initiate and insta-stun anyone that gets caught in the middle of it. Shuriken is used only as that last shot will could give you a kill or a stun.

Not too long of a guide, but I feel like I should let people know that there's an alternate way of playing Kennen from the boring mage feel that most builds have. When used right, this build is very hard to kill, very hard to lose with, and impossible to get a gank on. Just keep loving that lightning rush, catch LeBlanc with her pants down and carry your team. Good Luck playing and thanks for reading.