Hey guys and girls, this is my first unofficial guide and I chose to make it about 1 of my favorite champs...Kog'Maw! I've seen countless topics saying 1 build is better than the other which isn't necessarily true. I thought it would be a good idea if someone cleared the air on how to use Kog'Maw purely for fun and how to use him effectively.

Have you ever seen Aliens off of AvP(Aliens vs Predators) before...? Mix a caterpillar with an alien and that gives you Kog'Maw! More intimidating than a bulimic Cho'gath, shoots more acid than Singed can hold, and more of sniper than Caitlynn. His main roles are to lower his enemies armor with Q, devour his enemies with his stomach acid W, push lanes and slow enemies with E,and use his pin-point ultimate of doom Rto clear out the jungle to ensure no one is there. If Kog'Maw dies he turns into an abomination and desecrates himself with.

The most common builds are AP(ability power) and hybrid builds with AS(attack speed)/AD(attack damage) and AS/AP. For future references, those will be what the acronyms mean when I use them later on. Ignore the masteries, items and runes listed above since I'm making an all in 1 guide.

Full AP allows you to harass everyone with a huge distance between you and your enemy and the AS builds allow you to take out single targets much more effectively-especially anyone who stacks HP(Health Point) gear.

The first build I'll touch on is the most fun build to me...AP!

So you want to kill things 1/4th of the map away and watch them QQ with no way to stop you o.O? Too bad. Jk. This build utilizes his long ranged ultimate followed up with every other spell he has. All of his spells-excluding his passive-benefit from AP.
QCaustic Spittle - Passive: Increases Kog'Maw's attack speed. Active: Kog'Maw launches a corrosive projectile which deals magic damage and corrodes the target's armor for 4 seconds.
Passive: Increases Attack Speed by 10/15/20/25/30%.

Active: Kog'Maw launches a corrosive projectile which deals 60/110/160/210/260 (+70% of his AP) magic damage and reduces the target's armor by 5/10/15/20/25.

Cost
60/60/60/60/60 Mana
Range
625
Cooldown
8 seconds(4.8 @ 40% CDR(Cooldown Reduction))

This is the main spell that you'll use to support any AD carries/AD dealers in teamfights. Along with that, it's high ap:magic damage ratio (1:0.7) makes it hurt anyone who comes close to you and the armor reduction helps Ad carries alot. Be cautious about closing in with this skill when you don't know if anyone else is around since you have to get close to use this skill. It's very easy to get ganked using Q especially when you don't have rylai's with it-with Rylai's, Q can slow down 1 target by 35% for 1.5 seconds;makes it great for disengaging and chasing targets down.
W Bio-Arcane Barrage - Kog'Maw's attacks gain range and deal a percent of the target's maximum health as magic damage.
Kog'Maw's attacks gain 130/160/190/220/250 range and deal additional magic damage equal to 2/3/4/5/6% (+0.01)% of the target's maximum Health (Max: 100 Damage vs Monsters). Lasts 6 seconds.

Cost
50/50/50/50/50 Mana
Range
530
Cooldown
17 seconds(10.2 @ 40 CDR)

This spell gives your AA(auto attacks) more ranged for 6 seconds and deals magic damage based on your targets max health and 1 % extra every 100 AP. Early game this skill is nice to use if you're having a hard time getting minion kills when you go against a heavily aggressive laner like Ashe or Anivia. the bad thing about this skill is that it isn't the most valuable skill in your arsenal since you can't fully utilize it's 6 second duration with 1 shot/second since this build doesn't focus on IAS(increased attack speed). Nevertheless, if you can coordinate well with Kog and use your W with the rest of your skills, it can be used to harass anyone away from you that can't tank your shots.

#Note:Rylai's doesn't slow down anyone with W since it's an on-hit effect; any spell that is casted to deal damage by itself and not after you use your AA slows them with rylai's.
E Void Ooze - Kog'Maw launches a peculiar ooze which damages all enemies it passes through and leaves a trail which slows enemies who stand on it.
Kog'Maw launches ooze which deals 60/110/160/210/260 (+70% of his AP) magic damage to enemies it passes through.

Additionally, it leaves a trail which slows enemies by 28/36/44/52/60% for 4 seconds.

Cost
80/90/100/110/120 Mana
Range
1000
Cooldown
12 seconds( 7 seconds @ 40% CDR)

This spell is what makes anyone think twice about coming towards you. It spews acid in a line, deals a lot of damage, and slows on top of it all-even crazier with rylai's. this spell is your main skill used to farm and harass anything you spew your stomach juices towards. E is normally the first spell you'd use in close-ranged with any champion to deal a high amount of damage and to chase or disengage the target. However, use it with caution since it's your only spell that has any form of CC(crowd control) from it's slow. If anyone is immune to slow effects like Master Yi when he uses Highlander and Olaf's Ragnarok and you can't kill them before they get to you, use your ultimate(R) so you can see where they are and flash into a spot they have to run around in order to get to you. After that they're food to you xD.

Last but not least...
R Living Artillery - Kog'Maw fires a living artillery shell at a great distance dealing damage and revealing targets. Additionally, multiple Living Artilleries in a short period of time cause them to cost additional mana.
Kog'Maw fires artillery from a great distance. After a short delay, the artillery falls dealing 80/120/160 (+30% of his AP) magic damage and reveals targets for 4 seconds (deals 150% bonus damage to Champions).

Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 6 seconds costs 40/40/40 additional mana (Max 200).

Cost
40/40/40 Mana
Range
1,400/1,700 /2,200
Cooldowns
2/1.5/1 (0.6 @ lvl 3 and 40% CDR)

This is your bread and butter ultimate that makes you a rageseeking threat of destruction! this spell has a relatively short cooldown from level 6 and allows to outrange every champion on the game with a barrage of acid. This spell is what makes Kog'Maw more of a utility champion opposed to a pure nuker:it can be used to spray areas to check and see if anyone is there(mainly bushes that aren't warded), deals moderately high damage, and is spamable! the downside to this ultimate is that it's to be used sparingly until you have enough mana and mana regen to spam it(golem makes everyone your b*tch xD) this spell can also be used to farm up the charges on ToG(Tear of the Goddess):by the time you get an AA staff(Archangel's Staff) it should be fully farmed with your minion and champion kills.

Prior to level 20 and low mana regen, it's hard to harass with Kog until you're properly equipped with the right gear, masteries,and runes. The 2 viable options mastery-wise are 21/0/9 and 9/0/21. Personally, 9/0/21 is easier to use since you'll be more mobile and can depend on the golem buff a lot less, but if you want to fully utilize his damage potential, 21/0/9 is where to go. 21/0/9 is more built for a hybrid build since it gives you armor pen and AS, and 9/0/21 focuses more on CDR, exp, and movement speed.

Your quints will beto maximize your survivability and harassment. Movement speed is valuable to Kog since he doesn't have that many ways-excluding your 2 summoner spells-from getting out of trouble besides using E. you'll use Magic Pen reds, blues, and Mana regen/lvl seals.

When you start the game, depending on what lane you're in, you'll buy aMeki Pendant and 1 hp and mana potion if you're in a solo lane. If your lanemate isn't concerned about getting minion kills at the start, use the same set-up. Otherwise, buyso you can get as many minion kills as possible: Kog is best off soloing a lane and if your partner doesn't like it, they can go f*ck them self o.o. It's best to get E first and depending on how hard your enemies push whether you should up Q or E afterward: if you can't damage your opponent(s) while they are pushing, it's best to get your Q to 2 before you start upping W, but remember E is your priority for mobbing and disengaging you from fights.You want to rush a Tear of Goddess asap to begin farming it by level 4. After you get a ToG, you should be around levels 4-6. Buy boots and follow it up between aif you're getting fed and aotherwise. Once you have your ult, it doesn't hurt to buy anto make it easier to farm golem-and dragon if you don't have any junglers on your team. Your next item to buy isvs anyone with >100 MR and if they are rushing MR buy a. Vs a tanky team you want both items, but if you're facing off vs players than don't buy MR by the time you get 650g after you buy our Rabbadons, buy. Your ToG should be farmed by now and you'll have 200 AP+ after 12 mins in the game. If you have a good team that warded the map from the start and ganked heavily in both 3v3 and 5v5, the game should be over. Your ultimate+ a warded map practically gives you ez kills and options to take out turrets. If it isnt over, buyand start stacking Arch staves xD.

Warning: If you're having problems surviving against other champions and you didn't get fed with minion and champion kills-followed up withvs a balanced team,vs a heavilly AD team, andvs AP teams and if you're really having trouble vs AP, buy+ guardians Angel instead of Banshees; if you're having a downspiral match vs an AD team, buyand Frozen Heart.

#Note: If you need to buy more than 1 item solely for survivability with an AP build, you need to practice more with Kog before using him xD. He isn't suppose to be heavily dependent on migitations or health since he uses his range to his advantage and keeps areas warded to know where his enemies are so he can kill them before they get to him.

Combos: I'll make videos illustrating using these combos later...I have 2 more builds to add after this one x.x.

1. E+R;E,R
Using E allows you to slow minions/champions in a practically fail-safe attempt for you to use your ultimate (R) and kill them. Normally you do this to farm creeps at lower instances of the game and to harass champions. It isn't recommended to do this if you can't increase the gap between you and your enemy since they have heavy anti CC-, immunity to slows, etc.

2. Q,E
If you have Rylai's, this allows you to both chase champions and disengage them. even without it this allows you to hurt anyone who tries to get close to you. It can be mixed with your R to be Q,E,R for maximum devastation.

3. E,W+Q
If you're pinned in a spot that makes it hard to chase someone down and they're running from you and you don't have your ult, this allows you to get a potential kill before then run away from you.

4. R;x
Don't ignore the fact that your ultimate reveals players you normally can't see. Once you hit a player once and you're sure they aren't getting enough help from their teammates, begin harassing them repeatedly with your E asap to make it hard for them to run away. If they're outside of it's range, spam R and W. So many options you can do with your ultimate. If a champion stealths after they were hit with your ultimate, you can still see them.

5. Flash+E;R;+Ghost
Flash allows you to control the gap between yourself and everyone else. You can trick players into engaging you, flash away, ooze them and spam your ult until they die.If they run away from you and you don't want to waist flash, ghost is effective at doing this as well.

Pros of AP Kog'Maw
1. Fully utilizes his long range and AP.
2. Easy to farm.
3. Godly harasser.
4. Hard to find where Kog is if he wards the map since there are many places around your opponent that you could be, but they don't know where you are exactly.
5. Can fill the role of a midline champion with his ooze followed with Q and R.
6. Passive can easily steal kills throughout the game.

Cons of AP Kog'Maw
1. Early game, he's normally passive vs heavily aggressive champions like Dr. Mundo, Anivia, Ashe, etc.
2. His escape options suck...
3. Heavily dependent on items.
4. Requires good coordination and teamwork to be used perfectly.
5. No ways to heal himself unless you buy Spell Vamp items.
6. The worse jungler compared to an AS/Hybrid build.

Conclusion: AP Kog'Maw may be the funnest build to play with, but it also takes the most amount of skill and coordination opposed to AS/Hybrid builds since AP gives you less survivability vs builds that have lifesteal, bonus movement speed, constant slow fromand 2.0-2.5 hits/second with AA. If you're more of a midline player, it's best to go AS or use a hybrid build.

Do you want to be close-up to enemies and not worry about dying if you are silenced and have higher survivability than going AP? AS Kog is the way to go! Capping his AS from items and his Q allows his E to burn enemies to bits. With 2.5 AS,,, and LS(life-steal), this method allows you to control the jungle with a puking clutch on your enemies! There are two builds with IAS: AS Kog'Maw and Hybrid Kog'Maw.

Having your attack speed at practically 3 hits/second has it's perks with Kog:

1. Your E with Madreds is deadly: without migitations being added and no additional AP, 25% of your enemies hp is gone every second. Highly effective against tanky champions that are making ti hard to kill off their teammates.
2. Excellent jungler from the start without Smite: Kog'Maw's base damage is at 46 and you're coming into games starting at 1.4 attack speed with your rune setup.
3. Compared to an AP build, it's easier to counter migitation stackers:without migitation, your enemies are food; if they stack MR, you can buy AD gear and visa-versa.

With an AS build it's best to go 20/0/10 with Archaic Knowledge, Alacrity, Sunder, Brute Force at 1, and Lethality and Savvy at 1. You'll use full AS runes. Itemwise it depends on what you want to do: jungle, solo a lane, or 2vX a lane. The routine jungling build is to buywith hp and mana potions. You up your W and E depending on how your jungling/ team's laning is doing. Start at whichever lane is closest to Golem:starting at the bottom lane it would be the bottom left portion of the map and starting from the top it's at the top right portion(visuals later), kill the lower level creeps before going to the other side to get the lizard buff. Afterwards, you either initiate a gank once you have both buffs, or clear out the other side of the jungle. Repeat. Wash. Repeat.

If you need to shop, clear the other jungle first to make sure no one gets the buffs on the other side. By the time you finish your first jungle run you should have around 2k+ gold. Buyand. Priot to doing this, it's best to ask your mates to ward near the dragon so you can use Teleport to kill it: to kill dragon, you only need to have your W at rank 2, E at 1(depending whether you ganked prior to going for dragon) and Q at 2. once you pop your E and Q, it should die by the time your E is finished. Grabbing an Elixir of vitality prior helps out a lot.

Finishing my guide later xD. I'm bored. I'll add item item names next to the pictures later.