My name is SkellyBirb, and I play on the NA server under the name "Hextech KogMaw". I was low gold in Season 9 and am constantly testing out builds in normals for my own playstyle. I've come to enjoy League the most by playing a lot of different off-meta builds and created my MOBAFire guides to share them. A lot of these builds I would suggest playing in normals, however if you master them they can definitely be a good situational pick in ranked depending on match ups. However, I would avoid first picking these in ranked, and for some of these builds, I'd avoid entirely in ranked.

Varus has gotten a large buff for his W Blighted Quiver that will make AP Varus much stronger. It doesn't make him a meta pick right now, but it gives you a lot of unexpected burst and makes him a lot of fun to play. He has a lot of combos and can burst down tanks because of blight's percent health damage. With Hail of Blades making it easy to apply blight, you can do a lot to any champion. This makes him very fun and fairly viable as both an AP Mid Laner and AP Bot Laner. As a support, it's more of a fun pick to play, but can still be fairly effective.

Pros

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-Unexpected Burst Against All Champions
-Percent Health Damage
-Good Poke Early Game
-Long Range Abilities
-Long Range Engage with Chain of Corruption
-Scales hard
-Tons of Fun

Cons

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-Immobile
-Long cooldowns early game
-Extremely Squishy
-Skillshot Reliant

Keystones

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Hail of Blades - This is the best for Varus as it gives him a lot of burst instead of having to slowly apply blight. You can easily burst down people with a combo using this. You can get 2 fully stacked blights off easily with this which can burst down even tanks.
The combo is R > AA > E > AA > AA > W > Q
Letting your R applying 2 stacks before you E will make it fully stacked and then 2 autos and the final stack applied from your ultimate will make it 2 fully stacked blights which is a lot of percent health burst.

Dark Harvest - This can give you a lot of damage, but it just feels a lot more lackluster than Hail of Blades because you can't apply blight as easily. It's not awful, but if you aren't stacking it a ton, it will be weaker than Electrocute or Hail of Blades.

Arcane Comet - This is good for poking down enemies, but doesn't have the same trade potential or burst potential as Hail of Blades. The damage will add up, especially with your E slowing enemies, but it is much less recommended than Hail of Blades

Sorcery Options

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Manaflow Band - This is really good as you burn through a ton of abilities early game and it will help you sustain mana..

Transcendence - This is great as you can get Ability Haste and it will let you use your abilities more in drawn out team fights.

Scorch - Great for poke early game

Gathering Storm - Great for scaling into late game.

Domination Options

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Cheap Shot - This gives you a bit more burst when you E or Ulti Enemies, but I prefer Taste of Blood for a bit of sustain as you already burst for a lot.

Taste of Blood - This gives you a bit more sustain in lane which is great for Varus who can poke down a lot of enemies and proc it a lot.

Ghost Poro - If you're warding a lot, this can be great and easier to stack than Eyeball Collection

Eyeball Collection - This is typically what I use and I find it fairly easy to stack throughout the game. It comes down to preference typically.

Ultimate Hunter - This is too good too give up on AP Varus. Outside of his W, his ultimate is his only other AP Scaling ability. Ravenous Hunter is a lot of cooldown reduction and lets you engage and fight more often. You could argue Ravenous Hunter, but I'd never suggest it over this.

Precision Options

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Presence of Mind - This was nerfed in season 11, so it's not that great anymore, but can still be decent for mana.

Legend: Alacrity - Good because it helps you stack blight quicker, but not necessary with Hail of Blades

Coup de Grace - This is amazing for Varus as Blighted Quiver's active is already an execute.

Cut Down - This is alright if you're facing a lot of champions that are stacking health and can help you burst them down from higher health in comparison to Coup de Grace which only works if they're already low.

Mythic Items

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Luden's Tempest - This is my favorite mythic to build just because it means you don't have to worry about mana at all and you won't have to back as often. It gives you a ton of burst and gives magic penetration for every legendary you have. This is a nice combination of everything.

Riftmaker - This seems like an interesting option because of the extra true damage from popping blight being increased by it. It also gives you omnivamp which is great for sustaining health. It will do a lot in longer fights and add up damage that way. This is great if you have a solid front line to peel you.

Liandry's Torment - This is an interesting option for a poke AP Build, but it is probably the worst of the mage mythic items. It can help you burst down tanks with percent magic pen on the passive and gives you some AP and Mana, but it doesn't give the same burst as Luden's Tempest or Night Harvester.

Night Harvester - This is probably some of the highest burst damage you can get on AP Varus, but it comes at a cost of sacrificing mana from Luden's Tempest or omnivamp from Riftmaker. If you want pure damage, this is probably the way to go.

Hextech Rocketbelt - This is a great item for kiting back or chasing down enemies with the dash, especially since it gives you bonus movement speed running towards them right after using it. It gives you a lot of burst potential as well.

Early Game Situational Items

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Oblivion Orb - This will proc on every auto because of Blighted Quiver and is great for Grievous Wounds as it's really cheap for what it does.

Seeker's Armguard - This is good for dealing with assassins as it can give you a lot of armor and ability power for the price.

Verdant Barrier - This is very situational, but could be good against AP Assassins like Fizz to help keep you alive.

Dark Seal - While I'd never start Dark Seal, it can be good if you've got a lead to help you snowball just a bit harder for a cheap price and possibly be upgraded into Mejai's later.

Core Items

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Nashor's Tooth - This should be the first thing you go as you want it for the large amount of AP and easy ability to apply blight. The attack speed and ability power combo is just too good too pass up.

Sorcerer's Shoes - This is gonna be the standard boots option for Varus as Magic Penetration is just insane stacked with a lot of percent health damage.

Luden's Tempest - This gives Varus a lot of what he needs. Ability power, mana, magic penetration, and a burst passive. Even if you don't have blight stacked, it lets your abilities deal a decent amount of damage. With blight, it gives you a lot of one shot potential on squishies and even some tanks.

Rabadon's Deathcap - This is another item that will just end up being too good to pass up on Varus late game. Varus's Blighted Quiver has a large amount of AP Scaling and this gives him one shot potential on tanks even. This can be a good item following Luden's Tempest when ahead or following a situational item if you need to be a bit more defensive.

Situational Items

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Zhonya's Hourglass - Like most mages, this is a great way to survive burst. You will get a lot of survivability from AD Assassins and some AP assassins even with the active. You get a decent amount of AP from it and some Ability Haste as well.

Banshee's Veil - The only option you really have as AP Varus to deal with a lot of magic damage. You get some Ability Power and Ability Haste like Zhonya's Hourglass but instead of armor and a statis Active, you get magic resist and spell shield. This can be good against some champs that rely on one ability to engage.

Morellonomicon - This is the best way to apply grievous wounds for AP Varus. Chemtech Putrifier is an alternative, but I prefer Morellonomicon. Good anti-healing.

Cosmic Drive - This gives AP Varus an easier way to kite back, as well as lot of ability haste and ability power. If you need to kite certain enemies as AP Varus, this is probably the best item to do so.

Horizon Focus - This has a lot of synergy with Chain of Corruption or for hitting long range Piercing Arrows, but isn't all that consistent. It's a decent option when ahead, but I'd never build it when behind.

Mejai's Soulstealer - This can give you a ton of ability power for a cheap price and counts as a Legendary item for Luden's Tempest's mythic passive.

Void Staff - This will give you a lot of burst against tanks. Magic penetration with percent health damage will let you do a lot despite them being tanks, possibly being within one shot range of leaving them low.

Lich Bane - This gives you some movement speed and ability power, but the big thing is the passive. You can get a lot of extra damage from the sheen passive and gives you even more burst. Another good item when ahead, but probably not that great if behind.

Thanks for taking a look at my guide. I'd love to hear if you tried it out and how it went, as well as any additional feedback. If you have any other item suggestions that aren't included in my build, I'd love to hear them and test them out. If they work well, I'd likely add them to my guide. I also would appreciate votes and comments that help me improve the guide and show how how like or disliked the guide is!