Viktor is a relatively under appreciated and under rated champion. I have been utilizing him as my main since he came out and have never lost mid. And I can only think of 5 instances where the opposing mid matched me evenly enough to where I would call it a draw. He is a very strong AP carry with a variety of strengths and very few weaknesses. Anyways everything will be covered in the actual body so I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave me some criticism as I am always looking to enhance my Viktor game even further.

I chose my rune build strongly to compliment his passive. A starting item that at its base grants 3 points of AP per lvl. I have enough flat AP to leave me with a decent 33 at lvl while, while at the same time have enough AP per level to where, should the lane be a stalemate, I am getting noticeably stronger as time goes on. Same with the cooldowns. Viktor isnt one of those AP champs that has outrageous cooldowns in either direction. Riot did a good job balancing the amount of damage output he has with a solid cooldown timer for each of his abilities.

ok SO, ive been proven wrong. Thanks to some constructive criticism Ive moved heavy into the Offensive tree with some support from the Defensive tree. Pretty coockie cutter offensive AP with the extra MR and HP to piss off your opposing mid whom should most likely be AP. I myself have always been a HUGE fan of the utility tree. I use it always however, when youre wrong youre wrong. This is most deffinalty the way to go.

The item build is honestly pretty run of the mill. Start out with some heavy AP for the laning phase. Viktor has some pretty solid base damage as he gets to maxing out his skills and some good ratios to go along with it. After you upgrade your passive item alone the ranged creeps will be at free farm with your lazer and should you tag your opponent with it they are going to notice. After you get that deathcap you are going to be wrecking the carries. Gank attempts on you will increase and its time to start building a little survivability along with sustainability. This is when I move into the RoA. Viktor does have some minor mana issues, especially if you have a jungle who needs that blue to stay actively ganking. Just another item that is going to help Viktor improve over time. Matches beautifully with Vik. From here I move right into Rylai's. Again that big health boost. You may not have a whole lot of resistances to go with it, but having almost 3k HP as an AP carry is noticeable. Also this item is VITAL. Viktor has some crazy range that can effect the entire enemy team. And when those opposing carries see you coming they are going to run. But they always seem to underestimate your range. Proc em with that slow and either they are dead or youve forced a flash/ghost. Either way its a win. At this point you ARE the target. There is no doubt. Depending on the bulk of the other team I make a decision here. The hourglass for obvious reasons. Or if their just AP heavy Ill grab that lichbane. Now Viktor does not have "spam-able" abilities. But the way his cooldowns sinc with one another every 2-3 seconds you should be firing off another ability. Which matches wonderfully with the proc timer of LB. Also the bit of survivablity, tho minor, makes a big difference when your supporting 3k HP. And of course that extra move speed. As Ive already stated Viktor isnt a quick fella. But to be perfectly honest the last item doesnt even matter but 10% of the time. At this point youve either already won or already lost.

Your lazer is the key to playing an outstanding Viktor. Max it out first. The damage is devastating, versatile and has an incredible and constantly under estimated range. As you get good at reading your opponent you will either watch them fall back into a defensive play style or watch their composure fall apart as they get aggravated and begin making more and more mistakes. However the very first skill you should grab is your Q. It has about the same range as most other AP carry starting champions. However it is very fast and returns to you a small shield that will absorb about half the damage of your opponents starting ability. If you are a heavy harasser like me this will allow you to play aggressive while maintaining a good portion more of your health than your opponent has. Grab your slow/snare at level 3 and unless you are making an attempt on your opponents life save it for the enemy jungler. This slow/snare has a massive zone and will wreck almost any gank attempt so long as you arent bluntly pushing way too hard.

Pretty basic for an AP carry. I dont get into explaining the summoner spells much. They are very user oriented. You know how you play and what works best for you. This is just the cookie cutter summoner spell pair for an AP carry.

Early and into mid game it is all about you baby. Long as you havent managed to totally noob it up you should have a pretty outstanding damage output. If you find yourself pushing the other mid out of lane a lot make those field trips to top and bot. Feel free to be the engager. They will either run knowing they cant win, or see the squishy and jump on you. Either way snare away. Works every time. You will wreck the other lanes especially if they arent ready for you. However as you move through the game and the other team starts to realize they can not ignore you, it becomes time for you to take full advantage of that outrageous range Viktor demonstrates. Hold back, feel free to harass with some lazer pokes into the other team. You would be surprised to see how much damage you do even to their tanks. However once the engage starts get back. Your tank should be infront obviously, you want to place your snare so the far edge just encumbers your tank. As the goal of the other team is to get past him and wreck you carries. They will dive right into it and either will get stunned or be forced to summoner spell out of it. Either way that leads to giving your team the early advantage. Often (and I even find myself still doing this) Viktor will ult while they are still stunned. Just to get the damage across while they are helpless. However watch and wait, as soon as that stun breaks THEN ult. You have a VERY short silence however if un-noticed it will ruin somebodies spell rotation and completely throw them off. Allowing you and your team to mop up what now looks like a short bus of enemy summoners.

Le Pros:::
- His range is MASSIVE and often under estimated
- He has good base damage and AP ratios that together are dominating
- While his abilities are not spamable the cooldowns mesh well together
- Brings 3 forms of CC to a team (slow-turns into a stun, rotation disrupting silence)
- 3/4 of his abilities are AoE
- Great farmer
- Outstanding harasser

Duh Cons:::
- He is not a very fast champion
- Does have some minor mana issues
- Like all AP carries he is squishy, gotta look out for yourself

EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY
Ok, Ive had debates with many Viktors over which of the 3 cores is superior and also when you should upgrade them. So heres a quick run down on the exact cores and what they do followed by my opinion on each.

DEATH
- +45 AP
- 30% additional damage from death ray dealt over 4 seconds

POWER
- 220 hp
- 6 HP5
- 30% MS increase for 3 seconds after casting power transfer

GRAVITY
- 200 mana
- 10% CDR
- 5 MP5
- 30% increased cast range on gravity field

OK, heres ol' Nocth's opinion on the subject:

45 flat AP, this is a good little chunk especially if purchased earlier in the game. And tho yes 30% additional damage over 4 seconds from your death ray may not be phenomenal. However, Stack that minor damage on 2, 3, 4 times (which a good Viktor should be nailing as this is probably your greatest ability) And you will see a very frustrated opponent. Augment of death is by far my favorite item. And I believe there is a good reason why this augment only has 2 additional buffs, to where the others have several.

220 HP and 6 HP5 is just silly. Not even worth noting. However yes some movement speed every 5-7 seconds after casting power transfer is quite nice. However in my opinion is that really worth 1k gold? This is not a cheap item and I just dont believe the Augment of Power is worth its weight in gold.

The Augment of gravity is deffinatly a debatably good upgrade. Viktor does have some slight mana issues and with my build especially you wont see more than about 18% CDR without blue buff. Ofcourse if you do farm blue buff LIKE YOU SHOULD BE then you are WELL over capped with this item and it drowns its worth. Now the extra range on your gravity field is a beautiful perk. And honestly you can catch many a champions off guard with that increased range. This upgrade is deffinatly worth the cost in my opinion.

Now when it comes right down to it your play style is going to decide which upgrade you take. If one suits your style better it will just naturally be the better choice no matter what somebody says. Now personally I grab the Augment Death because, well, I like to watch em burn baby. But that gravity augment has some uses that I myself sometimes find I wish I had haha. So think about it. This is an important decision in your Viktor gameplay. Just make the right one for you and it will be fine.