You're probably asking yourself - "What credibility does this guy have? Why would I want to follow this guide out of all the popular Veigar guides out there?" Well, here you go - I have 400k Mastery Points on Veigar, been playing him since Season 5, and I have successfully climbed from Gold V -> Plat V using Veigar [Both Flex and Solo/Duo].

Don't believe me?

Here's my OP.GG - http://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=Lvl+99+Dark+Mage
For more statistics - https://www.leagueofgraphs.com/summoner/na/LVL+99+Dark+Mage
Formally known as xXxL33tHax0rxXx

Now, moving on. You clicked this guide because you wanted to play our favorite little midget with a cheeky voice - Veigar. Well, I'm here to show you how to dominate and destroy your opponents as the most ridiculously powerful (yet hardest to maneuver) mage in all of League of Legends.

You probably only considered Veigar after seeing some chump one shot you with one ability combo - "Ooooh, infinite AP? Sign me up!"

Hold the brakes there partner, Veigar is not all powerful as you think. To understand how to utilize Veigar, you need to understand both his strengths and weaknesses. Veigar didn't suddenly become the monster late game from mashing Q. You have to understand that Veigar is extremely weak early game, and that weakness is easily exploited.

Lets start with the basic pros/cons of Runeterra's most terrifying mage.

Pros

-Glass Cannon:Usually deals the most damage in the entire game.
-Extremely powerful CC which can turn the tides of a teamfight.
-Can nuke tanks and squishy champions.
-Very strong Mid-Late game due to scaling.
-Cute.

Cons

-Kit doesn't include any mobility.
-Is reliant on teammates for protection.
-Solo carry is very difficult.
-Targeted in every teamfight.
-Extremely weak early game.
-Tiny.


Whether you like it or not, early game is going to be a pain in the *** for you. Good enemy ganks will almost guarentee your death. You are likely to be outtraded in skirmishes. You have no presence over the map.

However!

Your Event Horizon synergizes really well with well positioned ganks from your jungler. Take advantage of this and request ganks when possible. Additionally, your early ganks to your bot lane via Teleport or roaming are extremely powerful, and you are likely to secure a kill or two.

Make sure you have good map knowledge and check your mini-map frequently to help your jungler or other lanes when they're in a pinch.

Let me explain why I choose these specific runes and summoner spells.

Summoner Spells

Flash is pretty much a given here. Veigar has no mobility (I mean, have you seen his tiny little legs?) and is prone to any champion that has an initiator. Additionally, Flash provides a gap closer to an otherwise slow mage.




Teleport is a very strong utility tool for Veigar. First - it provides him instant travel back to his lane after backing, allowing you to maintain farm/experience. Second - it allows you to set up ganks and help out your teammates when they are under pressure. Third - you can split push or traverse the entire map to end the game. These factors combined make Teleport one of the most optimal picks for Veigar.

Runes

Arcane Comet is a flat damage boost - it acts as a poke and burst. If you're lucky, you'll hit multiple targets with it. Since it scales with your AP (and Veigar is the master of HUGE AP) it will deal a considerable amount of damage, and even secure some kills for you.




Manaflow Band is arguably one of the best Runes out there (I'm surprised its not a Top Tier). It gives your champion a whopping 250 Mana and as a bonus - Mana Regeneration! I don't think I need to say much more.




Transcendence provides you with a free 10% cooldown reduction. This will aid you in your path to Mini-URF Veigar - 45% cooldown. The more cooldown, the more damage Veigar will dish out.




Gathering Storm is just a small bonus to give you more AP. (Also it has infinite scaling...)









Biscuit Delivery provides you with sustain in lane, and even better - 160 Mana! You can already see that with Runes themselves, you have gained a total of 410 Mana!




Cosmic Insight allows you to overcome your limits and get a grand max cooldown of 45%! Additionally, it gives you a free 5% cooldown reduction (and importantly - to your summoner spells and active items as well!).




The combination of Sorcery and Inspiration gives you 12 Attack Damage or 20 Ability Power [Adaptive]. Since you're going Veigar, this will give you a bonus 20 AP at the start of the game. (And lets be honest, who doesn't want raw AP as Veigar?)

If you looked at the champion matchups and the dangers they pose, you might have noticed a common trend.

Veigar gets SCREWED in laning phase.

This is due to (as I stated earlier) Veigar's extremely weak early game. He will not be able to outtrade his lane opponent until he builds a core item. You have to concede to this fact and play safer than a typical mid laner. HOWEVER, this is not an excuse to not take advantage of opportunities presented to you. If you can secure a flash kill, then do so. If you can get some Baleful Strike or Dark Matter pokes on your opponent, then do so.

Now, lets move on to WHAT exactly you should be doing in laning phase.

Warding

Warding is essential for a champion that is very vulnerable to ganks. Make sure your warding trinket NEVER reaches 2 stacks. Use them constantly, and occasionally buy control wards. Ward the two bushes next to mid, and if you can, ward the bushes in the river. This way, you will have some sort of fighting chance against enemy ganks and play around them.

Farming

Now it's pretty obvious that you have to farm minions, but you have to realize that Veigar's auto attacks are extremely weak. They are somewhat hard to time, and you'll need to get used to them. You should ALWAYS be getting at least 1 AP from every Baleful Strike, so that you can stack constantly and have a decent entry into mid-game. Whenever you can, use your Baleful Strike to kill 2 minions OR to kill one minion and hit the enemy champion. Keep in mind that Cannon Minions give you 2 stacks instead of the usual 1.

Kill Participation

One perk of Veigar's passive is that you get a massive 5 AP for each kill participation. If you cannot get any kills mid lane, roam and get some bottom or top. Either way, try to secure at least 2-4 kill participations (assists/kills) by 20 minutes. Stay mobile, and show your opponents the power of Veigar!

Here are the stats of your passive.

1 AP per minion or monster killed with Baleful Strike.
2 AP per large minion or large monster killed with Baleful Strike.
1 AP every time an ability lands on an enemy champion.
5 AP every kill or assist on an enemy champion.

Quick Tip - Veigar's Event Horizon will give an assist as long as your opponent was INSIDE the circle when you start the cast animation. It doesn't have to stun or keep the opponent inside, the opponent just had to be inside the circle when the animation started.

For reference, here is how much AP you should have per 10 minutes:

10 minutes - 50 - 100 Stacks.
20 minutes - 100 - 200 Stacks.
30 minutes - 200 - 300 Stacks.
40 minutes - 300 - 450 Stacks.
50 minutes - 450+ Stacks.


The amount of AP stacks vary with kill particpation, Baleful Strike kills, and amount of abilities landed on enemy champions.

Veigar requires a commanding yet safe playstyle. Yes, I know, it sounds contradictory. But you have to understand that you CAN take the initiative in team fights. Smart plays while staying in the backline can edge a fight in your favor.

In case you didn't know before, objective damage is adaptive. If you are an AP oriented champion, you will deal magic damage to structures based on how much AP you have. Veigar can abuse this with his insanely high AP scaling, dealing 300-600 damage to structures late game with every auto-attack.

Make sure you follow up on your team's plays, using your Dark Matter after your team expunges their crowd control. Protect them by deleting the front line. Do all this while staying in a good position so that you can't get flanked or focused without going through your team.

Here's an example of a game where I followed up on my team, resulting in a pentakill. (Normals, not ranked)



Play Video



Here's a game that I had from Gold 1 80 LP to Gold 1 100 LP. This video showcases the powerful aspects of Veigar's potential, including teamfights, damage output, crowd control, positioning, objective damage, and late game.



Play Video



Finally, for those who have a lot of time. Here's a full Veigar game I had in Gold V.



Play Video

Above all, Veigar is a fun pick. You can play him to release some stress and laugh as you delete champions with your abilities. Learn his range, and utilize his kit to the most of your abiltiies so that you can contribute the most to every game. Now go summoner! Have fun out there! Show them the true might of Veigar!