Run ele if you have early kill pressure or predator for roaming and kill pressure at 6.
It can be hard to trade into nami because of her heal but you should be able to push the lane for a early lvl 2. at the lvl 2 spike you can hit the root + auto + ignite for an easy first blood. Pretty much at anypoint in this lane you can all in as you heavily out damage nami. Try to snowball and end early as Nami is more useful in late game fights as she has as much peel as you but can also sustain her team through poke.
Sona
Run ele as Sona is extremely squishy and easy to kill. Before first back keep trading very aggressively as she will oom before she pokes you out. Not much to say into this since its very easy just keep trying to pick her with a full combo and snowball.
Alistar
Take guardian. You must start to pressure him lvl 1 with empowered W autos to make sure he cannot go in lvl 2. Once you have a lead keep the pressure on him and find roots on the adc while you continue to poke the ali down so he cannot engage. Only thing you have to be careful is playing around the enemy jungler. Ali can very easily setup ganks for his jungle and is his win condition for lane.
Janna
If you have no kill pressure in lane then take Pred and look to roam else take ele and look to get kills before 6. I put janna as minor as she doesn't have much kill threat on Neeko but she is almost a hard counter to Neeko snowballing in lane. Her shield negates your poke and her ult hard counters your ult. Look for kills pre 6 and look to roam mid/top as your adc can farm safely 1v2 vs a Janna.
Morgana
Can run Dark Harvest or comet. Into morg you need to put 3 points into Q early to break her E with 1 Q. Its pretty ez with your w to dodge binds. You may have a hard time finding roots but you can ez poke her out. Once teamfights start she makes it hard for you to engage so just focus on peeling
Taric
You want ele into Taric to burst b4 his ult goes off. Early its very easy just poke and use your w to dodge his stuns. Once 6 comes it can become tricky as if you don't do enough burst to kill before his ult goes off he can turn the fight back onto you.
Braum
Take ele. You can bully super hard early but his shield is actually really good at stopping you from being able to catch out his adc. This lane can go either way just respect his ability to all in if he lands a Q and play around his shield CD for all ins.
Gragas
You can take ele or guardian. Get a lead lvl 1 with W auto procs and zone him from the wave. He has sustain in his kit so you have to keep poking him to stop him from being able to engage. His ult can be used to knock your ult out so be careful for that. Not to much to say about this matchup just respect his all in and find picks on their adc.
Leona
With a aggro adc you can take ele and with a passive adc guardian. Leona E is a root so you can cast stealth before she gets stun off and run away and root her. You wanna be poking the adc as much as possible but do not use root as if you miss leona will turn and kill your adc. Just poke and look to counter engage on their adc.
Lulu
If you have an strong early adc like cait or lucian then go ele else I would take predator and look to roam or get kills at 6. Lulu is very hard to auto trade with W since she has shields and can trade back onto you. Just look to farm safely and find all ins on enemy adc. Lulu's ult is pretty decent at stopping neeko's from granting kills at 6. She doesn't have much pressure to dive your adc so look to roam if possible.
Soraka
run ele or pred. In lane she can poke you pretty hard early and negate most of your poke. You really can only all in when you have ignite. You need to find big ults to start fights or her sustain will ruin your team.
Bard
Run pred to counter roam as bard will roam all game. One of the only supports that can trade with your W auto lvl 1 so focus on pushing the wave and hitting 2 first. You can use your w to steal his heals even when he puts them under tower. He can out roam you very easily and setup ganks. I don't consider him a hard counter but usually its not easy
Blitzcrank
Run nimbus cloak with barrier to escape after being hooked or guardian. Make sure you are always behind your minions. Hes actually not too bad 2v2 but if he gets ganks you will die every time. Also if he starts to snowball you are screwed!
Brand
Run Comet. Most mages counter neeko but brand isn't that bad compared to the rest just try to poke without letting him poke you. Be careful with your clone at 6! If you send your clone at him, then he can ult the clone to make it bounce between you two.
Rakan
I would run ele or guardian into Rakan depending on how comfortable you feel into it. Be careful when trading empowered autoing into him as it is the range or his knockup. It similar to most tank supports just poke with Q and keep E up for counter engage if he goes in. He is very squishy and will die in a combo but he is very hard to hit because of all his mobility.
Karma
Run ele or pred. This is so hard she can match your poke but you cannot poke back cuz of her shield. Your only hope is to make it to 6 and all in. Only problem is you will be shoved under tower getting poked all game and probably get dove lvl 4 or 5 by the enemy jungler. Only way I win this is getting an early jungle gank bot while they over extend
Lux
Run ele. She is annoying she can out range your poke and root plus can shield your poke. Only advantage you have is you can root through wave. At 6 if she catches you in a root you are dead unless you have aftershock. After lane she will just have an easier time then you finding picks as she has longer range on bind
Pyke
run ele or guardian. At first I thought pyke was a hard counter but now I think its even so I placed him in major. bully him hard pre lvl 3 but at 3 be careful. hide behind minions and counter engage when he goes in as he dies very fast. you can block max range hooks with your w.
Yuumi
run ele or pred. This matchup is very adc dependant. If its an adc that is hard to root then you lose as yuumi will poke and sustain you outta lane. If its an adc that is easy to root then you just all in and win with ignite.
Zilean
run comet. If he lands double bomb you are probably dead and his ult counters your ult. You can find early kills vs him tho if you play well
Vel'Koz
Run Comet. Neekos hardest counter even if you aren't even in lane vs her. She can poke you outta lane early but this is your best time vs her. After 6 you literally cannot get close to her. If she lands a single Q she will 100-0 you with ult. Dodge if shes in game
Xerath
Run comet. He just out ranges you and pokes you outta lane you have to play aggro and get early kills or you lose.
Nautilus
take guardian. Stealth right as the hook hits you and you can avoid him hitting the auto after to root you. You win this lane early ez and usually can get a free tower plate in first few waves. care tho if he gets ganks and snowballs he can be unplayable vs.
Senna
Run ele or pred. After nerfs she isn't at extreme threat but still really annoying. Her auto q combo lvl 1 will out trade you and she can heal your poke. Last till 6 and all in. Also her auto is canceled if you stealth during it.
Thresh
run ele or guardian. He has extreme kill pressure lvl 1 and 2. If you can survive to 3 its okay but he can always lantern gank or save his adc with a lantern. After lane his ult makes it hard for you to get into the fight and his hooks have way more pick potential then you. I usually ban him tbh
Zyra
run comet. She out pokes you and out all ins you very hard. Anytime she lands a root you probs die but if you land a root she's either living or trading her life for yours with a counter root ult.
Kog'Maw
Champ is really bad with neeko. He just needs a support to peel him and keep him safe. While neeko can peel very well she just doesn't have enough for this guy.
Vayne
shes like a worse kai'sa. She needs to scale but unlike kai'sa she can't fight early until shes gotten some items. Maybe its just meta but I dont like vaynes
Ezreal
Your root isn't that useful since you have to root through minions and minions block ez q. This will bait him to E in early and die. With a good ez this lane can be strong but even at master elo I have bad Ez that play to aggro early. Also into bad matchups ez doesn't have any kill pressure with you. Look to roam alot.
Tristana
If you miss root you are gonna lose. Many times my trist will start her w as I root then when i miss we die. I don't like playing with over aggro adcs
Draven
If you can land some roots then you guys can snowball but if you start to fall behind or miss some roots then Draven will most likely int all game.
Ashe
In lane its great you can put points in Q to poke with her and all in at 6 very ez. Only reason I didn't put as Ideal is because in teamfights she needs peel and if you go for big neeko ults you are leaving her to die.
Lucian
If you land your roots then you can snowball with him but if you miss and fall behind then lucian will int. I prefer adcs that don't need me to land roots to win but rather can play safe then follow up when I do.
Jinx
She can combo your roots with her root and poke really great adc. Not many weakness in this combo other then you need to peel her in teamfights.
Kai'Sa
shes great you can let her scale but she can burst and kill anyone in your roots. she can follow engages with her ult and doesn't need peeling with the stealth and dash in her kit
Sivir
she can follow your roots with both spells since her dmg goes through minion waves and her ult can set you up for big ults.
Varus
He can poke through minion wave on your roots and his ult sets you up at 6. He needs peeling in teamfights
Caitlyn
One of best combos. You can both poke early. she can q over your root in minion wave and once you have 2 points into root she can trap combo it. In teamfights she doesn't need as much peel so you can go for big ults more often.
Jhin
You can point Q early because jhin can w your lvl 1 root. You can both poke and all in off each other. Super great combo.
Kalista
Kalista is a weak adc but she is very stong with neeko. you can neeko ult in and she can pull you out for safety or she can ult you in to combo your ult.
Miss Fortune
Max root and watch them die at 6. only reason its not Ideal is shes very easy to gank and you will probs get camped as a neeko MF
Swain
crazy good lane. He can stack his passive off your root and he can land his full burst off your root. This is one of my fav neeko lanes to play just don't play over aggro pre lvl 3
Senna
Go glacial. You can auto to slow which lets senna get her glacial auto off and then she can pull soul off that slow. Maybe shes just op rn but either way you guys can combo roots off each other. She can heal you and when she uses E you can send a clone out to really scare the enemy.
Xayah
Your root max sets her up for free roots which does crazy amount of burst. She can q auto e on a lvl 1 root to combo it and doesn't really need peeling with her ult.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Kog'Maw
Champ is really bad with neeko. He just needs a support to peel him and keep him safe. While neeko can peel very well she just doesn't have enough for this guy.
Vayne
shes like a worse kai'sa. She needs to scale but unlike kai'sa she can't fight early until shes gotten some items. Maybe its just meta but I dont like vaynes
Ezreal
Your root isn't that useful since you have to root through minions and minions block ez q. This will bait him to E in early and die. With a good ez this lane can be strong but even at master elo I have bad Ez that play to aggro early. Also into bad matchups ez doesn't have any kill pressure with you. Look to roam alot.
Tristana
If you miss root you are gonna lose. Many times my trist will start her w as I root then when i miss we die. I don't like playing with over aggro adcs
Draven
If you can land some roots then you guys can snowball but if you start to fall behind or miss some roots then Draven will most likely int all game.
Ashe
In lane its great you can put points in Q to poke with her and all in at 6 very ez. Only reason I didn't put as Ideal is because in teamfights she needs peel and if you go for big neeko ults you are leaving her to die.
Lucian
If you land your roots then you can snowball with him but if you miss and fall behind then lucian will int. I prefer adcs that don't need me to land roots to win but rather can play safe then follow up when I do.
Jinx
She can combo your roots with her root and poke really great adc. Not many weakness in this combo other then you need to peel her in teamfights.
Kai'Sa
shes great you can let her scale but she can burst and kill anyone in your roots. she can follow engages with her ult and doesn't need peeling with the stealth and dash in her kit
Sivir
she can follow your roots with both spells since her dmg goes through minion waves and her ult can set you up for big ults.
Varus
He can poke through minion wave on your roots and his ult sets you up at 6. He needs peeling in teamfights
Caitlyn
One of best combos. You can both poke early. she can q over your root in minion wave and once you have 2 points into root she can trap combo it. In teamfights she doesn't need as much peel so you can go for big ults more often.
Jhin
You can point Q early because jhin can w your lvl 1 root. You can both poke and all in off each other. Super great combo.
Kalista
Kalista is a weak adc but she is very stong with neeko. you can neeko ult in and she can pull you out for safety or she can ult you in to combo your ult.
Miss Fortune
Max root and watch them die at 6. only reason its not Ideal is shes very easy to gank and you will probs get camped as a neeko MF
Swain
crazy good lane. He can stack his passive off your root and he can land his full burst off your root. This is one of my fav neeko lanes to play just don't play over aggro pre lvl 3
Senna
Go glacial. You can auto to slow which lets senna get her glacial auto off and then she can pull soul off that slow. Maybe shes just op rn but either way you guys can combo roots off each other. She can heal you and when she uses E you can send a clone out to really scare the enemy.
Xayah
Your root max sets her up for free roots which does crazy amount of burst. She can q auto e on a lvl 1 root to combo it and doesn't really need peeling with her ult.
EVERYTHING BELOW THIS POINT HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED FOR SEASON 12
I am updating one guide a week for the next 10 weeks. If this message is not at the top of the guide then it has been updated
Welcome tomatoes! I am Doglightning an grandmaster Neeko Support main. I have been playing league since season 3 but s9 was my first season I really tried to progress as I was done with school. I hit Diamond for the first time playing Neeko support and managed to climb my way up to Master by the end of the split. Now in s10 I have hit grandmaster from being a plat player a year ago. To me this is proof of Neekos viability as I am not just a high elo player I actually managed to climb to high elo using this champion!
This guide is updated for Season 10, so you know the information to be the best comes from the best and ensures YOU get the most up to date information possible.
Why Neeko support?
Other the the fact that she's hella fun and cute! She's also got good synergies with most adcs and is good vs most tanks and healers. She can play many different styles. Engage, disengage and vision control are all things Neeko excels at. I like to think of her like a lower dmg Zyra but has the ability to engage more aggressively. If you are looking for an off meta support then I strongly recommend Neeko!
Please check out my twitch it really helps support me in making Neeko content like this:
PROS
+ Good base damage + Great CC + Peel/Engage + Lane bully + Excellent at vision control + Only mage support with an escape + Fun passive
Neeko is an very underrated support. She can disengage with Tangle-Barbs & Pop Blossom while still able to look for engages when her Flash is off cooldown. Neekos vision control is one of the best in the game imo because of Shapesplitter allowing her to safely ward alone without getting caught. She is also the only mage in the game with an escape thanks to Shapesplitter so you can pick her into engage tanks and not int if you get caught.
CONS
- Low range - Squishy - Falls off late - Hard to play from behind - High skill floor - Gets flamed by teammates
Neeko has short range for a mage because she has an escape which most mages don't have. Unfortunately this short range makes her a harder champ to play at first and very weak into mages who will out rage you. Neeko is very squishy and falls off late game so you will need to end games ASAP. The worst part about Neeko imo is that she is off meta so people will instantly blame you when you are losing so you must have thick skin and mute these type of people!
SUMMONER SPELLS -
FLASH: This is an mandatory summoner spell. The most common uses for it are to flash Tangle-Barbs and flash Pop Blossom the enemy.
IGNITE: Ignite is a direct counter to Heal which almost every adc takes so be sure to use it before the enemy Heals for some early kills. In teamfights put it on whoever is getting the most healing.
EXHAUST: I usually only run Exhaust into Tristana and Yasuo because of their ability to hard engage lvl 2 and snowball. If you struggle vs assassins then this is also a fine option.
Barrier: Nimbus Cloak + Barrier is one of my favorite combos into hard engage champs like Rakan, Nautilus or Leona. Go for aggressive trades early and if they hard engage on you just kill and and escape with 10% hp.
DOMINATION
Electrocute is a super good all in rune as you can proc it very easily with your E>Q>AA combo. This is my go to rune if I don't know what to run and is very good if you have kill pressure in lane lvl 2 or 3.
Predator is a good option if you think you don't have kill pressure in lane and want to roam. Say its a Ezreal and Soraka then you will be safe to leave adc 1v2 and roam early. First back get your Boots and look to roam mid or top. When you hit 6 you have insane lane pressure since you can hard engage at any point.
I only ever take Taste of Blood in this section because Neeko has low range and will be taking poke. This allows her to sustain herself by landing Blooming Burst whenever you can. Also since I go for W start on Neeko I am trading aggressively lvl 1 with auto attacks and Taste of Blood procs off autos so you can sustain some of the poke the enemy adc/supp trade back on you.
I run Zombie Ward because the late game vision control it gives is insane but I think it's only better in diamond+ elo as it requires the enemy to actually ward which lower elo supports don't really do that well.
Ghost Poro is better in low elos because for one the enemy is less likely to sweep wards making it easier to stack compared to higher elo where they enemy is constantly sweeping wards before you can convert them into powos.
Relentless Hunter is just great for keeping presence on the map also very good for games you think you will not be building Mobility Boots.
Ingenious Hunter is a must if you are running Predator as it significantly reduces the cd. Also is mandatory if you plan on running the enchanter neeko items.
Celerity is really good on Neeko. This rune will add about 9 ms when you finish your boots and will add about 15 ms every time you use Shapesplitter. It may not seem like alot but this can be the difference in landing a root or dodging a skillshot.
Second Wind is a very good option vs poke lanes. In combination with Taste of Blood you will be healing about an extra 200hp b4 first back which is more than a extra pot.
Waterwalking is imo a really clutch rune. Neeko is a early/mid game champ. the movespeed from Waterwalking allows better roaming in the early game while giving movespeed for big ults mid game. By this I mean a lot of the game winning Neeko ults are around baron and dragon making the extra 25 ms in river very valuable.
Overgrowth scales really well later into the game since you get free health from the support item and 300hp from Hextech Rocketbelt.
Unflinching is good if the enemy bot lane as a lot of cc and you want free tenacity. For example this rune is really good vs Nautilus.
Axe rune is very underrated on Neeko. Since I start Shapesplitter you are autoing as much as possible early and if you all in the enemy at anypoint one extra proc of Shapesplitter will do way more dmg then Diamond would add.
RESOLVE
Aftershock is a good choice if you have a safe adc but you are scared they will all in you. For instance you are facing a Nautilus and your adc is a Ezreal. Since ezreal is not hookable because of his blink then you will be the kill target. After you get hooked throw a Tangle-Barbs to proc Aftershock and get tanky.
Guardian is good if you have a weak early adc and want to protect him from getting all in from the enemy support. If the enemy support engages on your or the adc just walk in range of Guardian to proc the shield and block a ton of damage.
Demolish is great for pressuring the enemies tower and taking early plates.
Never can go wrong since if you don't get plates in lane it's still useful to help push towers later.
Font of Life is kinda useless early. It heals when people auto attack people that you have rooted for a % of your hp. Early because you don't have hp it barely heals anything. Later when you finish Hextech Rocketbelt and Bulwark of the Mountain it will start to heal a decent amount in teamfights.
Conditioning is good if you have an easy lane and plan to just scale into late game.
Second Wind is good into poke lanes where you are just constantly taking damange.
Bone Plating is good vs all in lanes where you wanna avoid getting bursted.
Relentless Hunter is good if you wanna go full ap Neeko and be able to rotate around the map faster as you don't need item cdr with just protobelt.
Axe rune is very underrated on Neeko. Since I start Shapesplitter you are autoing as much as possible early and if you all in the enemy at anypoint one extra proc of Shapesplitter will do way more dmg then Diamond would add.
SORCERY
Arcane Comet is amazing if your lane is very easy to poke out. This inherently means its worse into shields and heals because they will just sustain the poke out. Landing a good root lvl 1 or 2 will guarantee that the comet and scorch both hit giving 35 free dmg on your first spell that hits which is the same dmg as electrocute.
All the options in this part of the tree are viable but I think Celerity is the best. This rune will add about 9 ms when you finish your boots and will add about 15 ms everytime you use Shapesplitter.
Scorch is just good. Every time you hit a spell it burns the enemy for extra damage. If this hits a few times before you all in the damage could be the difference needed for a kill.
Waterwalking is imo a really clutch rune. Neeko is a early/mid game champ. the movespeed from Waterwalking allows better roaming in the early game while giving movespeed for big ults mid game. By this I mean a lot of the game winning Neeko ults are around baron and dragon making the extra 25 ms in river very valuable.
Taste of Blood is just good for sustain in lane and making your trades more favorable for yourself.
This page is usually used vs mages in the bot lane so I take Circle for some extra resist to the poke.
PASSIVE
ABILITY
Inherent Glamour(Passive): Neekos passive allows her to disguise herself as an ally.
Imo there are two uses that are super important. One is you can use the passive you hide your ult cast and two that you gain the base movespeed of the ally you turn into. Make sure when roaming you are getting the best ms champion. As for trickery just play around with it changing into low hp allies and try to bait the enemy. Click to watch a few passive tricks
Q
Blooming Burst(Q): For Support Blooming Burst isn't that good which is why I leave it at one point usually. Since it bounces when it hits a target you can use it to check if enemies are in bushes. Not to much more to say about this spell.
W
Shapesplitter(W): Neekos clone is one of her most unique spells and has many functions. you can use it to dodge spells, deaggro minion wave, start a slow push, trick enemy,
avoid ganks and many more. If you want to see how to do these tricks then click right here!
E
Tangle-Barbs(E): Tangle-Barbs is the bread and butter of Neeko support. The first target hit will be a half duration but every target after that will be double duration which at max rank is 3 SEC! Try to always send your root through the minions before you hit the enemy. An EXTREMELY IMPORTANT trick is you can root then flash after to make the root harder to dodge rather than flash then root after. Click here to see how it's done.
R
Pop Blossom(R): Pop Blossom is probably one of the most satisfying abilities in the game. You can hide its cast with neekos passive then flash on the enemy at the last second and they won't know what hit them. Its important that you don't only use Pop Blossom for engages when you get to teamfights. You need to learn to use it for disengage just as much as you engage with it. Try holding it in teamfights sometimes until maybe 10 sec later rather than blowing it at the start! Full combo example.
All in playstyle
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The all in play style of Neeko is great with adc's who are looking to "all in" or go for extended
trades. Adc's like Kai'Sa, Lucian and Tristana all want to get their full dps combo off
and long roots help enable your adc to carry. There are also adc's that can combo your root
if you put extra points in it. Great example is Caitlyn can easily trap under your root once
you have 2 points in it and Xayah can Q auto and E to combo your root with her own root.
Another side benefit of maxing root immediately is once you hit 6 you can Tangle-Barbs
into a Pop Blossom without having to worry that they might flash out of your ult since the
extended root duration is 2.4 sec by the time you hit lvl 6.
It is important to note that you do not want to max Tangle-Barbs vs mobile adc's that can
dodge the root like Vayne, Lucian or Ezreal. Also vs Sivir you do not want to max
root or she will just spell shield it. Max Blooming Burst and make her choose between getting
poked or rooted.
Poke playstyle
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The poke playstyle is much better with adc's that will not make use of an extended root and
are more just looking for quick trades. Adc's like Ezreal, Varus and Ashe are great
with this since they can poke with you early and look for all ins once you hit lvl 6. Since Jhin
can extend a lvl 1 root easily with his Deadly Flourish it is a good idea to do the poke style
with him. Also vs Morgana you can break her rank 1 Black Shield with a rank 3 Blooming Burst so its good to level this style vs her.
Why W then E first?
This is a question I get a lot and there are a few reason.
1. Shapesplitter has no mana cost so you are much less likely to oom before first back.
2. Once you hit lvl 2 you can stealth out of a bush and look for an empowered root for an easy first blood.
3. If you get ganked early it's better to have Shapesplitter and Tangle-Barbs then Blooming Burst.
4. In an early all in you will get more dmg out of Shapesplitter which is why I run Axe.
5. You can trade very efficiently with Shapesplitter lvl 1 since it cannot be dodged and you can deaggro the minion wave after you trade to take no dmg in return. Deaggro technique.
6. If you cannot trade lvl 1 say its a Draven Nami then you can use Shapesplitter to push the wave and hit lvl 2 first.
Why max W 2nd?
This is a topic that I get asked all the time on stream. I will start by saying everyone has a play style and if you like the extra dmg then for sure max Blooming Burst 2nd. For me I am all about vision control and mid game I am spamming Shapesplitter on cd to get control of the enemy jungle. Maxing Shapesplitter reduces its CD so I can get my vision control quicker and safer. Also maxing Shapesplitter 2nd gives you an extra 20% ms at max rank. This is very helpful for engaging with your ult or kiting a teamfight out. I personally think supports are there to support and don't need the extra dmg from Blooming Burst.
Starting Items
This is your go too if in a lane where you can constantly poke the enemy.
Once fully upgraded Relic Shield will provide an extra 200hp for a 20ap sacrifice. Since Relic Shield gives health regen now its good vs Neekos hardest counters Vel'Koz and Xerath since it will help you survive the poke!
Boots
Really synergizes with Neekos stealth on Shapesplitter. when using stealth out of a bush the extra movespeed means you can get closer to the enemy without them seeing you. If you can rush this early it's also great for roaming.
I don't build this too often but if you are the only AP carry on your team this will help you be a real threat in teamfights forcing enemy tanks to build MR.
Amazing item if the team has a lot of AP or CC. Most ults you engage with will get you CC chained and this boots option will help break that chain.
If enemy has all ad or lots of auto attack champions then this is a good item.
AP Neeko Support Items
(note: you can mix items from ap, enchanter and tank builds)
By far best item on Neeko. You can use the rocketbelt to extend the Pop Blossom range just like a mini Flash. It also can be used as a tool to dodge spells or push waves. With Ap, Hp and CDR idk what more you could ask for in an item.
Zhonya's Hourglass is only needed when the enemy has champions that can 1 shot you before ult lands like Katarina or Rengar. This is a really expensive item and you may not complete it every game which is why I don't like building it unless I have to.
Decent item to round out your build at the end as it is cheap and easy to complete with not many open slots. This item offers no defensive stats so I usually build this as a 3rd item. The active is good for scouting but Neekos Shapesplitter does that job well enough so you will probably just use it for engage/disengage.
Great item if the enemy team has a bunch of healing champs such as Soraka, Darius or Ekko. You can rush Oblivion Orb as it is only 800g and applies the anti heal.
Good if enemy has a lot of AP champs or long range spells you want to block like Zoe sleep or Blitzcrank hook. Also when you disguise using Inherent Glamour the enemy cannot see the spell shield making it easy to bait key enemy spells.
Great if you are snowballing hard. basically when you land your root the rest of your combo will do 10% more dmg. If not snowballing don't get it as its expensive.
Since it does %hp dmg it is very good vs tanky teams. Also it makes you tanky which is always good on Neeko as you are usually front lining with your Pop Blossom
If the enemy team is stacking MR and you are trying to be a big damage source then Void Staff is a must as it greatly increases your damage potential.
Enchanter/Tank Neeko Support Items
(note: you can mix items from ap, enchanter and tank builds)
This item provide engage/disengage for not only you but your whole team. It also Provide a damage boost for you and your teammates next 3 spells. Seriously a great item on Neeko.
If you team is missing engageor you are facing an all AP team then this item is perfect. The AoE slow at the end makes it so whoever you are ulting cannot escape even if they flash. Fun fact I first hit diamond rushing this item with aftershock every game. Trust me its fun!
One of my favorite support items. If you are ever falling behind just build this item. It is the cheapest item in the game costing only 2100g and it literally does everything. The heal is good, it can give vision to scout baron, can be used while dead and does 10% of the enemies hp as true dmg. If you combo this with Hextech Rocketbelt you aren't really reducing your all in dmg and you are increasing your survivability. Seriously try this item!
If the enemy team has a lot of cc like a Thresh Ashe bot with a Veigar mid and a Fiddlesticks jungle then this item can save your adc 1200g on a qss and really solo carry a game. If you get this then pair it with a Redemption. Redemption triples healing power so the 20% healing power on Mikael's Blessing becomes 60% on Redemption.
This item is good if you are wanting to peel your adc as it makes your adc do more damage to the people you root off them.
Super niche item. Only get it if the enemy is all AD and they keep diving your adc. The effects of this are halved for ranged champs so you should wait until your adc has at least 3 items to make this item effective.
If enemy team is AP this is great as it makes you very tanky but at the same time enables your team to do 10% more damage to the people you are CCing
This video of me vs Aphromoo is great at highlighting the power of starting Shapesplitter into Tangle-Barbs. Level 1 you want to be autoing the minions to get your empowered auto then poking the enemy. Notice how after I auto the vayne in the video I instantly pop Shapesplitter to deaggro the 3 ranged minions that would of attacked me! I then predict a gank coming and since I had Tangle-Barbs I am able to CC the graves and save my adc. If I had started Blooming Burst I would have done less dps then Shapesplitter and probably wouldn't have been able to make this play happen.
Now say you are facing a ranged support with a long range adc that you cannot poke lvl 1 with Shapesplitter like in that video vs Aphromoo. This is okay you can instead of going for poke use your empowered autos to push the wave and hit lvl 2 first. You can then stealth from the brush and look for an empowered Tangle-Barbs to get first blood. Stealth + Empowered Root Example!
If you are in a lane where you are in a losing matchup this is okay since Neeko can win at 6 even if you fall a bit behind. Remember to use your passive Inherent Glamour to disguise your ult and look for flash ults to catch your opponent off guard. If you are losing lane so bad that you cannot win at 6 go roam. Using Inherent Glamour to look like a jungler can really throw top/mid off when you gank!
Once mid game hits you want to be getting vision around the objectives your team will be fighting over. That could be drag/baron/ a tower. Utilizing Neekos Shapesplitter will be key to safely getting vision down without needing a teammate to babysit you. Neekos ability to safely ward alone is one of her greatest strengths as a support and it's why I max Shapesplitter 2nd. To reduce the CD and increase your ms for engages.
Speaking of engages lets go over your role for teamfighting. This can be difficult to learn as Neeko can act as your teams engage/disengage. Once you get into this phase of the game ask yourself a few questions. Does my team have better engages then me? Will my adc need peeling? Is my adc very fed? These are really important into discovering your role in a teamfight. If your team has great engage like a Zac then you should let him engage. You can follow up his engage with your combo but this is when you need to ask yourself if your adc needs you too peel. If it's a self peeling adc like Kai'Sa, Xayah or Ezreal feel free to follow up on your teams engage but if its a Jinx, Ashe or Jhin you should consider holding your Pop Blossom for peeling them.
Defending against Baron pushes is something Neeko is great at. Since your adc will have a tower to protect them this is a great time you use your Sweeping Lens and go hide in a flank. If you use Inherent Glamour to disguise yourself as a teammate and come from behind with a big Pop Blossom & Hextech Rocketbelt & Flash combo this can be an easy way to come back in games. Teams with baron always play over aggressive and if you have been peeling all game they won't expect you to be flanking them!
Just remember you might lose your team games when learning when you need to be an engager and an peeler but you need to just keep failing until you learn the best times to be doing each role. Most mage/enchanter supports can only disengage and peel. Neekos ability to engage is what makes her so fun!
Thanks to anyone who made it this far. It look me about 11 hours to make this guide and I would really appreciate it if you checked my twitch out! Neeko support is a passion of mine and my goal is to make this something that isn't flamed at by the lol community. I will be updating this guide about 2 weeks after preseason drops so make sure you come back!
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