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Kog'Maw Build Guide by

[S6]Beast Mode Kog' Maw

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8 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author TROLLing1999

Kog'Maw Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (8) More Kog'Maw Guides

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(386) |

Some food for thought:

Cheat sheet:

I would personally prefer to start MR glyphs over AS in your cheat sheet as pretty much every support deals magic damage as their primary output, on top of that late game the little bit extra MR means you don't get hit with true dmg by abyssal+sorc boots mages.
Defensive items: your guide implies defensive items should always be left for last, but I think defensive items should often be bought much earlier than this (as early as 3rd item). While you list QSS and Hexdrinker as possible 3rd item options, I would also put the finished items in 3rd slot. I.e. if you decide to get an early QSS, build it into mercurial scimitar asap as completed items are generally more gold efficient (not to mention slot efficient).
I would never ever consider swiftness boots in the current stage
I like the idea of splitting the mastery points between Batting Blows and Piercing Thoughts, but in reality I question its effectiveness because the actual values you get from splitting are so minor that it might be better to go all 5 points in only one. I'm still unsure of this, but I'll add that I haven't seen a single pro player go a single point in the magic pen tree.

Guide:

Quoted:

I used to analyze matchups in my previous guides but I came to the realization that while there are indeed some specific tips, tricks, and play alterations against certain champions, in most cases you end up doing the usual stuff.

I strongly disagree. I've played a number of different Kog'Maw matchups and while some of the patterns indeed are the same, how aggressively you can play in certain matchups and the general difficulty levels differ greatly. Particularly support synergies and counters are key to maximising Kog'Maws potential.
Bio-Arcane Barrage; I think it is at least worth a mention that playing around W cooldown is key in both sides of the matchups. When it's on cooldown, you really have to play cautiously because it is a window for the enemies to trade into you (in the same light, use it carefully). Furthermore, attack-moving becomes impossible past something like 3.0 attack speed so positioning well beforehand is key.
I don't think you ever get guinsoo's first, even if you have a huge lead. If you get a large early lead you can snowball much more effectively by going wits into a very early runaans rather than waiting >10 minutes to finish guinsoo's; in particular because the build path is really, really poor.
Again, if you decide to get hexdrinker or qss as a defensive item; you generally want to finish the full item as it is much more efficient.
Banshee's is a pretty poor item against "unavoidable cc" because the team will generally just wait until it is popped (happens very easily and has a long cooldown) and only use it when it is down. Especially against Vi, I'd rather get qss to cleanse her ult (you can cleanse the knockup-part of the effect).
I don't think sterak's is a very effective defensive item either, the shield is only 30% of your max health (and rapidly decaying) and will certainly not be enough to deal with a strong rengar/talon/zed. For these purposes I'd again much rather get GA (although truth be told I don't like GA either).
Quoted:

At level 1 you should push the minion wave in order to gain level advantage.

It is much more nuanced than this. If you're against a high-range, high poke lane (i.e. karma support lanes), you really do not want to contest the level 1 push. Instead, you want them to overpush the lane so you can farm safely under turret. Also consider that pushing the lane 2v2 leaves you very vulnerable to ganks, which is not always good when playing Kog'Maw (even if it grants you lane priority).
Quoted:

For that reason he synergizes particularly well with supports that can force extended trades and excel in them such as Braum and Thresh.

Braum I like, but Thresh not so much. Thresh doesn't offer enough peel for Kog'Maw nor do you really have any kill potential. I much rather like supports that can enable him to deal damage, like Janna/Lulu or tank for him and get him out sticky situations like Braum/Tahm.
Quoted:

This is a good time to actually try to force an all in 2vs2 fight with your support

Reminder: this really depends on 2v2 matchup and support choice. I.e. Karma is really bad at level 6 (practically has no ultimate) whereas Leona isn't. It also highly depends on item spikes; if you have a few daggers against BF there's no way you're going to win this.
Quoted:

If you've managed to maintain the stacks from Guinsoo's Rageblade, Wit's End, Fervor of Battle etc., then you should activate your W right away.

I don't like this part. Considering how fast you can stack these once you activate W, I see no sense in waiting. In fact, I think it is really bad to wait because it means you cannot optimise the ranged advantage.
Quoted:

You really want to avoid picking Kog'Maw against team compositions with multiple gap closers and high damage and especially against those with 2 assassins(i.e. LeBlanc mid, Kha'Zix jungle) [...] In lane you synergize best with supports who can protect you and simultaneously force extended trades such as Braum, Thresh and in some cases Janna or Morgana.

Again, if you have a support that is capable of defending you, you can just force these trades on your own. The result will be that they run away, but this gives you push priority and enables you to i.e. take their tower while they are stuck trying to CS under their tower. Janna is much better than Thresh in this regard.

Also, I think your examples of "when not to pick" are very poor. If you have the right support and build, Kha'Zix in late game teamfights is really not a problem, nor will someone like zed or talon be. On the other hand, a Leona or Vi will always be a problem (perhaps unless you have a Morgana/Janna to reset the teamfight). That being said, I think Kog'Maw can always work if YOU have the right team comp (utility support and lots of CC from top/jungle/mid) and you have the ability to survive lane, no matter what the enemy picks into it.

(49) |

First of all thanks for reviewing the guide and actually doing more than I initially requested. Let me respond to some of your remarks.

I'll stick with AS glyphs because of the reasons mentioned in the guide. Versus lanes with low/mediocre magic damage AS glyphs outclass MR ones. Additionally, you build Wit's End and often one more MR item, so you will seldom receive close to true magic damage at any point of the game.
The upgrades of QSS and HD are indeed more cost and slot efficient and it is true that you should actually upgrade them immediately on most adcs. However, on Kog'Maw they're not really STAT efficient since he does not benefit much from flat AD. That's why I'd rather use the ~2000gold that is required for the upgrade on other BotRK or Guinsoo's components over the other MercS and MoM components.
Sure that's what I meant about play alterations, as far as matchups are concerned. As you said, though, and I have pointed that out in my guide too("Note, though, that the presence of supports on bot lane influences the outcome of the laning phase a lot.") supports do play a great role. If one was to make a proper matchup list for bot lane, then the right thing to do would be to analyze the 2vs2 matchups and honestly it's impossible to do that for every single combination. That's why, I decided not to refer to things such as "AA Draven when he is about to catch his axe".
Since I took notice of the Wit's End rush, I have only rushed guinsoo's 2-3 times and that was because I was able to complete it at my second back(had a Recurve Bow from the first back). Probably, I should phrase it that way because indeed when having a slight/average lead wit's end is still better.
On thresh: He does not have the peel or the ability to soak up damage of the other supports you mentioned(btw I totally forgot Lulu...). However, he makes up for it imo with his outplay potential( well timed Es and Lanterns can do the trick) and offensively he has the ability to lock up the target for quite some time allowing you to make the most out of your W.
On the item stacks and attacking: I think you shouldn't comment on this particular sentence alone but on the whole paragraph. What I am actually saying later is that when not having the stacks, AA'ing first without W and activating after you get some stacks dishes out more damage. I am not claiming that this is what one SHOULD do. In fact, I do point out that it is risky to AA from just 500. Perhaps I should say that the only time one should pull this off is when the enemy is already within 500 range and emphasize more on trying to keep the stacks on before team fights.
On team comps: I do see your point and I will change the threats mentioned. Keep in mind though, that in the majority of solo queue games your teammates won't commit to picking a team comp around Kog and that is part of the reason some examples might seem a bit odd.

On the rest: I agree with your remarks and already plan on making changes/additions.

(386) |

Quoted:

On thresh: He does not have the peel or the ability to soak up damage of the other supports you mentioned(btw I totally forgot Lulu...). However, he makes up for it imo with his outplay potential( well timed Es and Lanterns can do the trick) and offensively he has the ability to lock up the target for quite some time allowing you to make the most out of your W.

Meh Thresh's outplay potential is very limited when paired with Kog'Maw as you cannot just engage on any good hook, you have to kite back constantly in order to defend your carry. If the Thresh goes all in on the ADC, chances are you won't have enough damage/lockdown early on and they'll just turn. He's decent against Leona matchups for the E interrupt and the lantern, but I fail to see how you'd prefer Thresh over Janna. Janna can give kog'maw an almost free laning phase and offers so much more in late game.

Quoted:

On team comps: I do see your point and I will change the threats mentioned. Keep in mind though, that in the majority of solo queue games your teammates won't commit to picking a team comp around Kog and that is part of the reason some examples might seem a bit odd.

True, they won't. That's also why I'd never pick Kog'Maw without knowing either my support pick or the enemy botlane. Also, you should quickly proofread section 4.3 because you've made a few typo's and editing mistakes while making some changes.

In particular, just a note on your writing in this section:

Quoted:

You really want to avoid picking Kog'Maw against team compositions with multiple gap closers, hard CC and high damage. For instance, a team consisting of LeBlanc mid, [vi]] jungle and Leona support can put you into great trouble, if your teams does not compensate for it by picking champions with enough peel and good disengage. As. To make up for your little counterplay against this particular type of champions, you're incredibly strong versus tanks. In fact, Kog'Maw is arguably the best champion in the game at taking down the enemy frontline. Lanes versus strong early game supports+marksmen can also be incredibly painful.

Basically, at first you're describing Kog's difficulties (in bold), then you go back to describing his strengths (italics) and then back to his weaknesses. It hurts the structure of the paragraph.

Quoted:

On the item stacks and attacking: I think you shouldn't comment on this particular sentence alone but on the whole paragraph. What I am actually saying later is that when not having the stacks, AA'ing first without W and activating after you get some stacks dishes out more damage. I am not claiming that this is what one SHOULD do. In fact, I do point out that it is risky to AA from just 500. Perhaps I should say that the only time one should pull this off is when the enemy is already within 500 range and emphasize more on trying to keep the stacks on before team fights.

Must've missed it. My bad.

Quoted:

Sure that's what I meant about play alterations, as far as matchups are concerned. As you said, though, and I have pointed that out in my guide too("Note, though, that the presence of supports on bot lane influences the outcome of the laning phase a lot.") supports do play a great role. If one was to make a proper matchup list for bot lane, then the right thing to do would be to analyze the 2vs2 matchups and honestly it's impossible to do that for every single combination. That's why, I decided not to refer to things such as "AA Draven when he is about to catch his axe".

You're right that it's impossible to make a full, comprehensive botlane matchup list. However, I do not think it is impossible to write down a few lines for each champion to explain what his/her strengths and weaknesses against/with kog'maw are; even if you want to avoid being too generic as you describe above. Example matchups (the way I see them):

: if coupled with a strong laning ADC this can be a really though matchup; if he hooks you they can burst you. Be especially wary when you have your flash on cooldown, as he can just walk up to you and latern in the jungler. However, you can also abuse his lack of reliable hard CC once he misses Q; the cooldown is around 15-20 seconds early game and you can abuse this to win a trad.

: sivir is generally speaking not too difficult to deal with as she doesn't have a lot of kill pressure but you will not have pressure on her until you finish . The basic play pattern is that she will shove you under your turret all day and make you lose cs/pressure that way, but in all-in fights after a few levels you should be stronger (especially after 6 as her ult does not give any combat stats).

What I've done above is simply describing play patterns that are common to these champions that give the player some broad idea of how the matchup will turn out. Especially new players will have no idea at all about how the matchup works and for them this might already be some help.

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(49) |

I just like thresh and I don't think I've ever lost a lane when paired with him. I'll keep him on my list for that reason. I've already added the other supports you pointed out.
I'll see what I can do with matchups. It will definitely take some time.
Thanks for pointing out those errors in chapter 4.3.

All in all thanks for taking the time to review the guide and discuss those points. You did help me a whole lot.

(47) |

Voted +1

Overall nice guide. I haven't played ADC in years so I didn't form my opinion based on experience, but rather on basic game knowledge. To me the guide seemed initially incomplete, but then I realised this is specifically for and so you left most of the general things out of your guide. Also, while it isn't ugly by any means, if you want it to make big money, you need to learn to code again and get one of those sexy guides.

(49) |

Thanks for taking the time to read and review it!

(953) |

Voted +1

Build looks to be in order and it's a nice clean guide so +1 from me :) I'd probably move those dividers to the end of each chapter rather than at the start, as they're dripping down if you will. I think it'll look better that way. Maybe you could get some banners to put at the beginning of each chapter instead of that divider?

(49) |

My image designing/editing capabilities are very limited so I don't really trust myself to make banners. Emi had created this divider for my previous Kog guide in S4 and I just thought I could use it here as well. I will move it to the end of each chapter and see how it looks. Thanks for the feedback!

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