Ultimate Ace Machine

Introduction

Corki is currently one of the strongest AD Carries in the game. He has an arsenal of high-burst nukes to give him a powerful early game, while his true damage and armor shred make him an excellent DPS late game.

*Please don't down vote this guide just because you think that the build choice is wrong. I have considered every viable option I can think of, and it's up to you to choose. I will gladly answer any questions/comments you have regarding this guide.

*Thanks to jhoijhoi for helping me format and organize this guide with "Making A Guide". You can find out more about "Making A Guide" here.

Why AP Corki Is Not Viable

Why Don't You Play AP Corki?

The AP Ratio on all of Corki's abilities are awful (0.5 For Phosphorus Bomb, 0.3 For Missile Barrage). Also, using his escape as a form of damage just won't do.

Now let's have a look at Pros of AD Corki:

1. You have an AoE armor shred ( Gatling Gun).
2. You do true damage with every attack you make ( Hextech Shrapnel Shells), and by going AD, you make full use of it.
3. You still have high burst early on with Phosphorus Bomb and Missile Barrage.
4. You have one of the best escape abilities in the game with Valkyrie because of its short cast time and long range.

Don't go AP Corki, this guide is focused on DPS Corki, find another guide if you want to go AP.

Pros/Cons

*This is comparing Corki to other DPS champions, not to every other champion in general.

Pros:
-High early game burst.
-AoE, armor shredding, DPS on top of your auto attacks.
- Missile Barrage is excellent at poking and removing Banshee's Veil.
-Short cast time and long range escape ability.

Cons:
-No CC.
-Might have mana problems without Manamune.
-Short attack range (Only 550).
-Somewhat difficult to play.

Abilities

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Hextech Shrapnel Shells (Passive)

Corki's basic attacks deal 10% additional true damage to minions, monsters, and champions.

10% extra damage to Corki's attacks. Early game, helps you last hit easier. Late game, rips any high armor target apart.

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Phosphorus Bomb (Q)

Deals 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+50% of ability power) damage to enemies in a target area. In addition, the blast briefly reveals the nearby area and champions hit for 6 seconds.

AoE nuke which reveals area it hit as well as the targets hit by it. Note: doesn't show invisible units.

Tip: Use this to check an unwarded brush late game instead of face-checking. If needed to, use Missile Barrage for the extra range. Better be safe than sorry.

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Valkyrie(W)

Corki surges to target location creating a trail of destruction that deals 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+40% of ability power) damage per second for 5 seconds to enemies in the fire left along his path.

This is Corki's escape skill, and it should be used defensively 99.99% of the time. Only use this to chase when you know you're in no danger of dying. The damage from this skill is pretty negligible.

Tip: If there is a fight happening across the map, and if you can afford the mana cost, use it to get there quicker. That few seconds could be the difference between a kill or your foe getting away.

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Gatling Gun(E)

Corki's gatling gun fires at all targets in front of him for 4 seconds, dealing 20 / 32 / 44 / 56 / 68 (+40% per bonus attack damage) physical 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.

This skill is just an amazing steroid to Corki's already high DPS. It's used on top of your attack, meaning that you can do everything you could do with this ability off. Other main thing to note is that once it's on, it can't be stopped what-so-ever.

Tip: Since this skill has a relatively long cooldown and a fairly short duration, only use it when you know your opponents have committed to the fight.

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Missile Barrage (Ultimate/R)

Corki fires a missile towards his targeted location that will collide with the first enemy it hits. Each missile deals 120 / 190 / 260 (+30% of ability power) and (20% of attack damage) area magic damage.

Corki stores one missile every 10 seconds up to 7 missiles at any given time. Every 4th missile will be a Big One, dealing 50% more damage than normal missiles with 100% splash damage. After dying, Corki will respawn with 4 missiles.

A long range, AoE, skill shot nuke. Excellent at poking and farming. Your missile accuracy is really what determines how good of a Corki player you are. If you're getting zoned really hard, use this to last hit if required.

Tip: As stated, you want to poke a lot with this. However, you must be able to determine what does more damage: Missile Barrage or just your auto attacks. If this does more damage, consider storing the big missile once you have it.

Skill Sequence

Phosphorus Bomb first since burst damage scales the best early game. Get Gatling Gun after as you only need 1 point in Valkyrie for the utility of it.

Summoner Spells

Recommended:

Flash - Best choice on any AD Carry. Flash + Valkyrie allows you to escape from almost anything. Required to manage situations and chase after people who Flash when Valkyrie is down.

Exhaust - In the current meta, almost every AD Carry will take this, and you might find yourself in trouble when fighting against an enemy DPS without it. Also gives better chasing potential and negates 90% of tower dives early on.

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Viable:

Ghost - Take over Exhaust if you want to.

Ignite - Helps you pick up kills early on in combination with Corki's high burst. However, it really loses its edge late game in comparison to that of Corki's DPS.

Cleanse - With the recent buff to it, this is now an even better choice. The main reason I don't take this is that you generally shouldn't get caught that much to a point where you actually must have it.

Teleport - Lets you to recall without worrying too much about your tower being pushed and can lead to a gold and experience advantage over your opponents. It can also instantly turn a 1v1 across the map into a 2v1 advantage for your team if used correctly. Similar to ignite, it scales poorly into late game, which is why I don't take this.

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Not Viable

Don't waste my time. Any other spells not mentioned here do not work on Corki and shouldn't be taken. Period.

Runes

Recommended:

Explanation:

Greater Mark of Desolation: Best choice in the game on any DPS. Everyone has armor.

Greater Seal of Resilience: In the current meta, you will almost always go against an enemy DPS, and these'll help a lot against them.

Greater Glyph of Shielding: Gives some extra durability to magic late game, reducing the chances of you getting nuked down.

Greater Quintessence of Desolation: Since armor goes up per level, these will give you optimal damage late game.

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Viable:

Explanation:

Greater Seal of Clarity: Without Manamune, Corki will have some mana issues, this will help out greatly with that.

Greater Glyph of Warding: If you're laning against an AP/someone who does high magic damage, flat Magic Resistance may be better than Per/Level, as they'll negate a lot of pain that you'll take early on.

Greater Glyph of Clarity: Same as Greater Seal of Clarity.

Greater Quintessence of Strength: Useful early game at last hitting.

Greater Quintessence of Swiftness: Helps out with Corki's low base movement speed.

Masteries

All right, so I've experimented with the Season 2 Mastery Setup quite a bit now, and I find that either 21-0-9 or 21-9-0 is the best choice for Corki.

21 in offense is essential as the buffs they give to Corki's DPS is simply too good to pass up on. Everything in the offense tree below should be fairly self-explanatory.

9 in utility is the best choice for Corki as the 20% buff duration increase from Runic Affinity is really nice to have. However, if you solo lane or go with a support who doesn't have a heal ( Blitzcrank, Janna), it's better to go 9 down defense so you can stay in lane longer.

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21-0-9 Setup:

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21-9-0 Setup:

Items

Start:

Explanation: Boots of Speed if you solo lane or duo lane with a non-sustainable support because you need some sustainability and it helps you kite better. Doran's Blade if you do have a sustainable support.

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First Recall:

Explanation: Gives a lot of health and damage very early on, making you difficult to kill and last hitting extremely easy. Also, the slow from Phage will pretty much ensure that your target is caught in the full duration of your Gatling Gun when fighting.

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Mid Game Items:

Explanation: I find that staying at Boots of Speed is good enough, as getting Trinity Force quicker is much more important in my opinion. Trinity Force is a must have as it'll cause your damage to go through the roof. The Bloodthirster is essential as it lets you sustain yourself and farm it up quick.

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End Game Items:

Explanation: These 3 items will give you optimal damage late game. Get Infinity Edge first if they don't have much armor and you just need more raw damage. Banshee's Veil if you need defense. Last Whisper if they have too much armor and you can't get enough damage through.

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Boots

Explanation: Typically, I will go Mercury's Treads for the invaluable Magic Resistance and CC Reduction. I will only get Berserker's Greaves when the enemy team has little or no hard CC at all.

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Other Viable Items:



Offense:

The Black Cleaver - An optional replacement for Last Whisper. Take if the enemy team does have some armor, but not too much (~100 or so).

Phantom Dancer - Gives a really nice boost to your attack speed, crit and movement speed. However, I don't take it on Corki because I think the Zeal from Trinity Force is enough.

Wriggle's Lantern - Consider this early on if you're having a hard time VS an AD. Also gives excellent dragon control.

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Defense:

Guardian Angel - If you're always dying, take this. However, outside of a premade team, this item is often undependable, as your team typically won't be able to save you once you revive.

Quicksilver Sash - If you're getting shut down by CC and don't have Cleanse, take this as a replacement.

Manamune - Yes or No?

First of all, before I go into whether you should get a Manamune or not, let's have a look at the item:

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If you rush a Manamune, your early-mid game playstyle will greatly diffrentiate. It doesn't affect your late game because the extra mana then is quite negligible. Manamune allows super quick farming and easy split pushing, as well as letting you spam almost endlessly. However, your damage output with a quick Trinity Force is significantly higher, and getting Manamune early on will also delay you from your other major items ( The Bloodthirster, Infinity Edge etc.), causing your presence in teamfights to be much lower.

Even though Manamune does provide a nice 78 damage when maxed out, it doesn't provide anything else to boost your DPS. It's just pure AD, no utility or any other stat what-so-ever. That is why it is a really undesirable choice offensively.

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Quick Summary:

Pros:

-Very quick farming.
-Corki becomes an ideal split pusher with Manamune.
-Stat is gives is quite cost efficient.
-Lets you spam non-stop and almost never run out of mana.

Cons:

-Early-mid game damage far lower.
-Delays you from major damage items.
-Gives no utility what-so-ever.
-Falls off late game since you won't have any mana problems then.

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My Suggestion:

I personally think it's better to not get a Manamune, as I'm able to conserve my mana well enough. Getting more damage is more important to me, as it can potentially be the difference between winning or losing a teamfight.

Hands down, the most optimal damage is without a Manamune. However, some players may have trouble managing their mana without it. Therefore, I'd recommend it to novice Corki players only, and for them to try and eventually move past it.

Gameplay

Early Game:

Don't get your Q right away. Go defend your jungle or gank them if you have a strong Level 1 team. If a Level 1 fight doesn't happen, get Phosphorus Bomb and proceed to lane. If it does, pick up Valkyrie as the mobility from it is invaluable at Level 1.

For Level 1-5, I typically play more passively and mainly focus on farming. Poke once in a while with both your regular attack and Phosphorus Bomb if you can trade favorably. This is only my general play-style, and it can vary greatly depending on who I get matched up against and which support am I with.

Once you hit 6, your damage and harassment becomes much higher. Therefore, I generally step up aggression, as with some help, you can easily zone out your opponents and potentially pick up a kill. If your opponents are playing very passively, and if your support warded properly, go ahead and start pushing.

Summary: Focus primarily on farming, especially pre-level 6. Push if you can. If an opportunity present itself, take full advantage of it.

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Mid Game:

With Exhaust and a good chunk of mana, Corki should be able to 1v1 any AD Carry mid game, since his high burst nukes make him not as item dependent as other AD Carries. You should now start taking red buff whenever it's up, as you are the AD Carry and the kiting + chasing potential you get from it is invaluable.

Other than that, mid game is a really situational stage. You may have to start contesting for dragon with the enemy team, so be prepared. If you have a quick Trinity Force, then a fight should turn out in your favor. With Missile Barrage, you can also simply poke the enemy team away from dragon.

Another option is to split push, especially if you bought Manamune or the enemy team still has an outer tower up. Just make sure to have proper warding if you're going to do so.

Summary: Keep farming, take red whenever. Be prepared to split push, dragon, or go gank someone depending on the situation.

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Late Game:

You should be a monster by now, tearing down everything in your path. Not really too much more to say, just play very cautiously, avoid face-checking an unwarded brush, and don't go out too far by yourself.

Still farm whenever it's safe to, but be extra prepared to fight at any time, or do Baron/Dragon. Also, whenever you have some extra gold, purchase an elixir or two.

Summary: Don't overextend and get caught. Only farm when it's safe to, elixir up, and be prepared at all times.

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Teamfights:

If it seems like a fight is about to begin soon, start poking and removing Banshee's Veil, saving the big missile if you need to.

Your main priority in a fight isn't actually to kill all of them, but to stay alive, as the longer you live, the longer you can pump out more damage. The key to this is proper positioning, keep moving as you attack, and never stay in one place. Also, do not charge to the back of their team to try and kill their AD/AP Carry, as they will simply CC you and melt through your health.

For the first bit of the fight, stay back and only hit who you can at a safe range. Often, the fight is decided right away, as everyone will be unloading everything they've got and it's complete chaos.

If the fight is decided right away, then simply chase while keeping at a safe distance if you won, or kite + run if you lost. If it's not won/lost ASAP, then you'll want to consistently put out damage while keeping yourself alive.

Obviously, the AD/AP Carry are first priority. However, do not go out too far to kill them, as most of the time, you'll die before you can even touch them. Only kill the AD/AP Carry if they overextend. Otherwise, just focus on hitting their off-tank/anti-carry, as they typically will be at the front and if you don't kill them, they'll kill you.

Summary: Poke as much as you can (Save big missile if you need it). Focus on staying alive rather than killing. Always be moving after an attack or two. Wait for everybody to use up all of their cooldown, then go in. Keep a safe distance, hitting only who you can (Focusing Carry if they overextend).

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Farming:

Farming with Corki should be very easy due to his quick attack animation and his high base damage. Last hitting against a tower early on is quite simple too. For a melee minion, let the tower hit it twice, then kill it. For a ranged, hit it, let the tower hit it, then kill it.

However, depending on how far you're into the game, how much damage you have, and whether you have your own minion wave attacking or not, this pattern may change. It is too difficult for me to explain this in full detail, just know that it won't always work.

At Level 7, Rank 4 Phosphorus Bomb + Rank 1 Missile Barrage will clear the caster wave. However, I'd only do this when you have spare mana and need to push the lane quick or recall. Constantly clearing the wave will empty your mana quick (Especially if you didn't buy Manamune), and could possibly push the lane unfavorably.

Summary: Melee minion take 2 tower shot + 1 auto attack to kill. Ranged minion take 2 auto attack + 1 tower shot to kill. Do not be over-dependent on this however. At Level 7, Q+R will clear caster, but avoid doing this too often.

Summary

Well, that's the end of my guide, I hope it helped. Thank you for reading and don't hesitate in posting a comment/question, as well as rating it.

Random troll Rammus video, Credit to fenom for making it: