I'm stealing this chapter title from Coach Curtis because I feel that this is an important topic to cover. Ability Identity means to know what the purpose of each part of your kit is. This is different from knowing what each ability does, this is meant to explain how to use your abilities to their limits.

Z-Drive Resonance

Your passive is the core of your damage. If you don't know how to use it well then you'll find yourself doing very little damage as well as much more limited mobility. The ability can be activated from any part of your kit except your Parallel Convergence. Look to use the massive movement speed boost you get after proccing the passive to move to the outskirts of the fight until your other abilities come off cooldown.

Timewinder

Extremely good wave-clear and zoning tool. Remember that this ability also provides a slow which is useful to proc passive, land a W stun or just setup your team. Try to land the second part of Timewinder as it does more damage on the return. This can be achieved using your passive, Hextech Rocketbelt or even Flash.

Parallel Convergence

Ekko's highest skill-cap ability. Parallel Convergence usage is what differentiates the good Ekko players from the great ones. Knowing when and where to place this ability is crucial. Remember that the stun isn't the only useful part of the ability. Using it for the shield can let you tank more crucial damage to survive. Parallel Convergence also provides a useful slow to catch enemies. Finally, extremely important for Ekko jungle is that the ability gives vision on where it's placed. Useful for scouting bushes if you can't enter Timewinder range. Use it on Baron and Dragon pit to check if the enemy team is doing it or to attempt a steal. Don't tunnel vision on a single use but instead keep in mind all the ways to utilize the ability.

Phase Dive

Extremely strong mobility and dodging tool. Use this to dodge skillshots like Trueshot Barrage or Dredge Line. Being able to identify when and where to use wallhops in fights and to escape allows you to become extremely difficult to kill along with your other abilities. Refer to the video below in Tips and Tricks to learn the more uncommon wallhops.

Chronobreak

Insane playmaking and the main part of Ekko's core identity. Damage, healing, escape, this ability has basically everything to let you make plays. Combining your Parallel Convergence and Chronobreak let you almost 1v5 teamfights and skirmishes if you can place your abilities well. It's hard to explain the maximum potential of this ability in text, it's that versatile. After playing enough Ekko you'll learn the limits of Chronobreak, you can only learn more.

DOMINATION-INSPIRATION This page is the one I prefer in 99% of my games. Inspiration allows you to reach your Hextech Rocketbelt and Nashor's Tooth spike faster because you can use the extra 300 gold from Magical Footwear and put it into another item. Cosmic Insight is extremely useful for most junglers including Ekko, the rune allows you to finish your 5 smites earlier to gain Chilling( Hailblade) or Challenging( Emberknife) smite. The item haste also lowers the Hextech Rocketbelt dash as well as Zhonya's Hourglass if you have it. The same can apply for Future's Market, the faster you get your Rocketbelt/Nashors the faster you can start one shotting people. DARK HARVEST VS ELECTROCUTE TLDR - Better skirmish power and snowball potential I've tried Electrocute but it falls short of Dark Harvest in my opinion. Electrocute's low cooldown (25-20 Seconds) is much better in mid as a trading tool. If you take electrocute in the jungle I feel like you lose out on some of the value it brings simply because you're not actively trading against champions. Ekko's skirmish power also compliments Dark Harvest's reset mechanic. Your Z-Drive Resonance and Chronobreak allow you to get stacks on multiple people throughout a fight.

FIRST STRIKE A new addition to season 12, First Strike provides extra gold and damage if you hit the enemy first. The rune allows you to reach your 1 and 2 item spikes a good amount faster if you're skirmishing and ganking quite a bit. Just be aware that you have a little less damage without Dark Harvest and Sudden Impact or Eyeball Collection. The Inspiration greatly benefits Ekko in all 3 rows. Magical Footwear lets you save 300 gold to reach your first 2 core items. Future's Market serves the same purpose in letting you reach your core faster. Cosmic Insight gives you item and summoner spell haste allowing your Hextech Rocketbelt to be up for almost every fight as well as any other actives like Zhonya's Hourglass. Don't feel pressured to take Domination secondary if you go First Strike as Ekko benefits a good amount from Sorcery and Precision too. Precision with Legend: Tenacity and Triumph can let you escape from some really close calls with the healing and reduced amount of you time you'll be CC'ed. Sorcery allows you to get a large amount of extra AP with Absolute Focus and Gathering Storm. Late game it can be a difference maker with Ekko's huge AP ratios.

RELENTLESS HUNTER Faster out of combat movespeed. Allows you to traverse the map faster, be in time for more counterganks and fights. With the nerfs to ravenous, this rune has only become more of an option and can let you be at almost every fight if you pair it with Lich Bane or Mejai's Soulstealer due to the MS increases. ULTIMATE HUNTER Ultimate haste. Pretty simple rune, the more you have ult up the more fights you can take with much less risk. More ultimates means more dives, objective steals or as before just being able to limit test more with the safety your Chronobreak provides. INGENIOUS HUNTER Item Haste. This lowers the cooldown of actives and trinkets. This will ensure that you have your rocketbelt up for almost every fight when it's stacked. This also lowers the Zhonya's Hourglass cooldown if you're building it. Paired with Cosmic Insight, this can almost guarantee you have your item actives up every single fight. RAVENOUS HUNTER All hunter runes are viable, even Ravenous Hunter through all the nerfs so be sure to experiment with all of them.

Lich Bane With the buffs in 12.2 to give ability haste, increased AP ratio on the spellblade passive LichBane has come back into the light as a secondary item option. The burst works best against when your priority is to kill squishy targets. The movespeed can't be forgotten either as it allows you to rotate to skirmishes and gank more effectively. The movespeed can make the difference between being at a game-changing fight. Another underrated perk of Lich Bane is the extra burst allows you to combo your smite passive and spellblade all in one combo to allow you to steal more objectives and have a higher success rate of stealing.

Zhonya's Hourglass Although an extremely powerful item on almost all champions, Ekko is an exception. Zhonya's Hourglass is viable but building it 2nd or 3rd hinders your damage significantly. Delaying your Nashor's Tooth or Rabadon's Deathcap leaves you with less 1-shot potential especially heading into the late game. The item can be worth it if you're playing a more utility based style and looking to peel or disrupt the enemy team though.

Mejai's Soulstealer Take if snowballing hard. Ekko can solo carry especially in lower elos if you have the items and right assassin/jungle fundamentals so limit test a little. If the enemy team has low amounts of CC and you're ahead I will buy this item even if my Dark Seal is only at 7-8 stacks. Be more careful if the enemy team has lots of CC or abilities that can easily shut you down (EX: Malzahar's Nether Grasp, or Pantheon's Shield Vault)

Morellonomicon Build this item if nobody else on your team will buy grievous wounds. Ekko doesn't apply grievous wounds very well and your grievous wounds equivalent late game will be one shotting the enemy before they can heal/lifesteal. Buy if you're behind and need to compliment your laners if they scale hard or are ahead. Do your best to avoid building this item thought as it's almost never worth on Ekko.

Void Staff If the enemy is stacking MR. So think Mercury's Treads and Wit's End. Champions like Irelia or Akshan can use this combo very well so make sure to pick up a Void Staff. Just remember to only pick up a Void staff if a priority target is building MR. For example if your priority is to kill the Orianna and Caitlyn who both have no MR, don't buy a Void Staff because the enemy Sion built Spirit Visage.

Banshee's Veil | Spirit Visage Your MR options when the enemy has a lot of magic damage or the only threat to you is a magic damage dealer. Banshee's Veil offers you more damage as well as a single use spell shield that regenerates over time. Spirit Visage gives you a lot more tankiness as well as extra healing on your Chronobreak, Ravenous Hunter, jungle monster healing or any other sources. Extra shielding as well for your Parallel Convergence. Banshee's can be a game changer against champs like Blitzcrank who get denied their Rocket Grab or Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow engage. Spirit Visage makes you much more durable and able to fight for a longer period of time with the extra healing/shielding effects. If you already got yourself a lead and don't need any more AP to 1 shot enemies then getting Visage could almost cement your lead and making you near unkillable. The two items are both viable but usually one wins over the other in situational benefits, try to look at the enemy team composition as well as your own current power to decide which item to get.

Shadowflame Gives 100 AP and 200 HP once completed. This gives you quite a bit of extra HP as well as Magic penetration especially when up against shields. (EX: Lulu, Ivern) As of right now (Patch 11.23 - Preseason 12), the item seems mediocre for Ekko. It doesn't beat Nashor's Tooth or Lich Bane second and Rabadon's Deathcap or Void Staff 3rd still seem like better options. You already get a good amount of Magic Penetration from the Hextech Rocketbelt mythic passive and the item just doesn't seem to provide the utility like the other 2nd item options do. I think unless the item gets more value against shields as a buff later down the road it doesn't have much of a place in Ekko's build path.

NASHOR'S TOOTH

VS

LICH BANE

Gathering Info:

Try to set a ward into the enemy jungle to get info about where the enemy jungler is going to start. If you face wiith him and can't set an offensive ward set a deffensive one on your red/blue buff. Recall between 0:50 - 1:00 and swap your Stealth Ward to Oracle Lens. You always want to adjust your clears to take advantage of overextended or low health laners! This might mean doing a 3 camp into gank or skipping a camp. Gank opportunities can change in an instant so be sure to adapt!
Keep in mind that Ekko loses the 1v1 to a majority of junglers. It's important to assess if you have priority in your lanes before trying to fight most Scuttle. You wil most likely need help from your lanes in order to secure the crab. Another option if you know you don't have priority and you can't 1v1 the enemy jungler is to path to the opposite side Scuttle. After Scuttle you should look to see if a gank opportunity is available, if not then resetting is always a good option.

1. Vertical Clear

Prefer invading the Blue Side. Clear Blue > Gromp > Murk Wolves to get level 3. Consider ganking Mid or Side lane, if there's nothing to do, go full clear your Red Side. Don't forget the Scuttle!

2. Prioritizing a lane/matchup

Be aware to know where the enemy jungler is and make sure do make the opposite path because you can't trade well before level 6 and can also guarantee a Scuttle.

If the lane you want to pay a gank is in the same side of your Blue, just clear the Blue Side to get level 3 and go to gank, then go back to finish your clear and get your Scuttle.

Else if this lane is in the opposite side you will go to Blue > Gromp > Red, then go back to finish your clear and get your Scuttle.

3. Full Clear

Ekko is not the strongest early game champion by himself, but he can still deliver some pretty nasty ganks. If you land your W on a laner it is almost a guarenteed kill for your team especially if the enemy does not have Flash up, so make sure to keep track of the enemy summoner spells. You can contest scuttles if your team has their lanes pushed up if your laners are pushed in then look for the other scuttle to kill.

After first back continue to prioritize efficient clearing while continuously scanning the map for high-percentage plays. It is important to play for yourself on Ekko because you do not want to fall behind. Constantly failing ganks and missing farm is the easiest way to throw games on Ekko. It is way better to get a CS lead and not gank as much than it is to gank too much and lose farm.

Mid game is when Ekko really starts to shine. With your amazing ultimate and hopefully you have got some useful items by now, you want to be looking for any fight or ganks. Ekko is really strong at turret diving as well, so once you hit 6 you can actively be looking for dives too. Contesting dragons is not too hard on Ekko either, so long as you have your team to back you up. Q'ing the dragon for 2 passive stacks then going in with your E smite to proc the passive is a very good way to steal Dragon/Baron, and of course ulting out.

You should be looking for overextended enemies to pick off, dive opportunities with your ultimate and farming jungle camps in your downtime when no good openings are available. Don't forget to take objectives when you get a successful pick or win a fight. This is when you should have your Hextech Rocketbelt and Lich Bane which let you start to become a lot more aggressive with your plays. One shotting people is now a realistic option here. Don't be afraid to test your limits a little bit when you reach this point in the game, Ekko is an extremely safe champion due to his Chronobreak so you should try to figure out what the champ is capable of.

Going into the mid-game, continue to prioritize farm however with some items built Ekko becomes a lot stronger. This means you can look for a lot more aggressive plays. You can set up tower dives with your Chronobreak very easily and safely, just consider what CC the enemy has. Look to pick off enemies in their jungle using deep wards.

By now Ekko is one of the strongest AP carries in the game. If you play fights correctly you should be able to take out multiple opponents with ease.

In order to teamfight effectively, play slow and wait for an opportunity to hop in, assassinate a target, and hop out. Your Chronobreak can be used as a quick escape or an ability to do a massive amount of damage. The most important aspect of teamfighting on Ekko is not getting CC'd and bursted before you can use your ultimate. This is why you may build Zhonya's Hourglass, because you can use it if you get CC'd.

So around this time youre probably looking to secure baron, you either want to start it yourself with your team, if they are down a member, or look to invade it with your W which can work really well if you have your team to back you up and a Zhonya's Hourglass to stall a little bit more before ulting. Ekko is also pretty good at pushing because with your W you cant really die under tower and your E does a good amount of damage to the tower as well. Ekko is a very good champion for late game because he scales pretty hard, so you shouldn't be too worried if your team gets behind early, but as with any champion make sure your always pushing and getting objectives to close out the game and secure your well deserved LP.

This is where the full scale teamfights start to begin. Thankfully Ekko is still viable at this stage, though not as powerful as some hard scaling mages and most ADC's, you're still able to assassinate squishy targets and contribute to teamfights an AOE stun with Parallel Convergence and a huge burst of AOE damage with your Chronobreak. You should look for flanks and play around vision with an Oracle Lens and Control Wards. Ekko doesn't like approaching from the front like a bruiser or play front to back like an ADC. Your goal is to assassinate the enemy backline and put your team at a number's advantage while distracting the enemy using your ult and mobility.

GUIDES:

• RICHMRFORK
• KEEPFARMING
• SPOODYIWNL

VIDEOS:

• FULL CLEAR - Phylaris
• LICH BANE OR NASHOR - RvzStealth
• T&T #1 - LoL Dobby
• T&T #2 - Devprogamer
• T&T #3 - Mobalytics