My name is Brad and this is my guide on arguably the coolest mage in the entire game: Veigar.

My goal with this guide is to show you that the way Veigar is usually played is suboptimal and there is a better way to play him.

PROS + Great Damage + Infinite Scaling, great late + Secures picks easily + Low cooldowns for a burst mage + Powerful Crowd Control with cage + Good burst at all points of the game Veigar gets better as the game progresses. Event Horizon is a great tool to secure picks. Primordial Burst will put any squishy target right back into fountain, but if that's not enough, Baleful Strike and Dark Matter will provide any extra damage needed. Veigar should be the second person to engage in a fight, in order to cast Event Horizon on as many enemy champions as possible.

CONS - Bad Early Game - Immobile - Countered by Mobility - Vulnerable to ganks - Countered by Engage Tanks - Needs utlity items to stay relevant Any mobile champion will 100% try to dodge your cage unless you are playing in Iron 4 Oceania or something. Tanks are hard to kill if you are playing Veigar, but if their CC abilities are on cooldown, you might be able to sneak in two Baleful Strike casts and secure enough damage to kill a tank. When playing against assassins, it is best to play safe, and play around your defensive cooldowns ( Flash,[[item zhonya's hourglass]).

Keystones:

Electrocute - Great for bursting. If you are learning this champion, this is the rune I would recommend opting for.

Predator - Currently bad, especially in low ELO, where you want to carry. I suggest ignoring this keystone for now.

First Strike - My personal favourite keystone for Veigar. Allows you to get enough gold for your very expensive items. Requires a bit of experience on the champion to be viable.

Arcane Comet - Back in the day, this was Veigar's bread and butter. Nowadays, it's quite useless, since we no longer need to poke people out of lane (even though First Strike already does that better.

Dark Harvest - Excels against 5 squishies. Got my first pentakill with this keystone. Potent when full AP if you are not used to Tankgar.

All viable small runes:

Cheap Shot - Great synergy with Event Horizon. Adds to the huge burst that Veigar already offers.

Taste of Blood - Has scaling, unlike Cheap Shot. Can work in melee matchups, though I think First Strike into sorcery is better for that overall.

Eyeball Collection - Gives AP. Not much else to say

Treasure Hunter - helps you spike faster, but, again, First Strike already does that better.

Ingenious Hunter - provides CDR for Everfrost active. If you are 100% certain you are running Everfrost, you are free to take this

Relentless Hunter - Helps with roaming. A little too situational for my liking. If you ever need to roam a lot, buy Dead Man's Plate 4th item.

Ultimate Hunter - You can never go wrong with this. Veigar's ultimate is very overpowered, so, being able to spam it is always useful.

Magical Footwear - Free 300 gold and 10 ms. Always good.

Perfect Timing - Risky, as you can never really tell if you will be buying Zhonya's Hourglass later on in the game.

Future's Market - Helps us spike faster. Insanely good for buying Lost Chapter early on in the game.

Biscuit Delivery - Good if you are struggling with mana. Noob-friendly.

Cosmic Insight - Provides 10 item haste, which is really good for Everfrost. Generally better than Ingenious Hunter, because you don't need to stack it.

Manaflow Band - Free mana. Very good for staying on map in the late-game, as it regenerates mana.

Transcendence - Very good for switching targets/multikills. INSANE synergy with Dark Harvest

Absolute Focus - Only really good when the enemy doesn't have mobility and your team can peel for you (a rare occurrence in low ELO).

Gathering Storm - Stacks infinitely, just like Veigar

Overgrowth - Quirky rune for Veigar. Only really useful for fun.

Conditioning - Provides resistances. Mostly bad, but if you REALLY want to go for Overgrowth this is really the only other rune you can take with it.

Mythic Options:

Everfrost - You can run this 100% of the time with no issues. This item provides a root, making it easier to lock down enemies.

Rod of Ages - Great option if you only want an AP mythic and then opt for tank items only. This can even make you a frontline in some scenarios.

Crown of the Shattered Queen - Good against assassins. If you are struggling against burst, you can take this item.

Luden's Tempest - DOOOONT NO NO NO. If I ever see this item being built on Veigar I am literally leaving the game. It's complete bait.

Boots:

Sorcerer's Shoes - The bread and butter footwear for Veigar. Provides us with Magic Penetration, which helps us burst faster and more efficiently.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity - Only really good against 2-3 Tanks/Bruisers. Void Staff is needed if you are building this.

Legendaries:

Rabadon's Deathcap - Needed 95% of the time. It Synergizes with your Passive to give you a TON of AP.

Mejai's Soulstealer - Only buy when really really ahead and you want to one-shot tanks.

Cosmic Drive - Provides a lot of utility that Veigar needs: Movement Speed, Ability Haste, and Health. Good when you already have damage, but have difficulties applying it.

Void Staff - Best Magic Penetration option for Veigar. Because Veigar's damage is 100% Magic, most people will buy some Magic Resistance to counter you.

Zhonya's Hourglass - Good defensive option. Many people think this is bait, but, especially in low ELO, it can compensate for bad peeling by teammates.

Banshee's Veil - Best option to prevent CC. The magic resistance on this item can be completely ignored.

Anathema's Chains - Good for disabling Carries. Do not that this removes some Tenacity from the target, EVEN IF they have none.

Dead Man's Plate - Useful when in need of movement speed, but not damage.

Force of Nature - Better than Abyssal Mask because you don't need to be close to the target to make use of it. Generally the best Magic Resistance option.

Frozen Heart - Great for Reducing the Attack Speed of enemies. Also provides a bit of mana.

Randuin's Omen - Situational, as the active is most useful when near enemies, which is not what we want. Good item for Full AD teams when you buy Rod of Ages.