Hello, I am Aerturios and am new to MOBAfire but have played League of Legends for over a year now. Cho'Gath was one of the first champions I purchased because I wanted a versatile champion that could tank and still dish out some punishment! Of course I am definitely open to idea's or suggestions as there is no such thing as a perfect build the first time out. I see a lot of builds that do Cho'Gath well but they never get it perfect. Cho'Gath is best suited as a tank, but that doesn't mean that the Terror of the Void can't devour a few noobs while hes at it! Thus, this build is devoted to synergy and viable tank/damage in all stages of battle.

Rate this build down if:

You have an IQ lower than 20
You have no idea what MOBAfire is and came here on accident
You have no fingers

Rate up if:

You think a gigantic monster is the ****!
Enjoy literally eating people.
Like playing a Champ that requires skill
Enjoy absorbing amazing amounts of damage
Staying alive in a teamfights

Pros

Strong tank
Good damage output for a tank
Fun to play
Strong early game
Farms well
Has a lot of cc
You grow into godzilla proportions early game!
Having the satisfaction of literally eating your enemies!

Cons

Takes skill to master
Mana hungry early game
Always focused in team fights

Cho' Gath is naturally tanky and with this item and rune build a defense mastery tree is overkill so I choose hybrid attack and ability power along with the corresponding armor and magic penetration. I choose mana in the utility tree because of Cho' Gath's early game mana problems. Doing a primarilly offense tree not only allows for a more balanced Cho' Gath but allows you to have viable damage output late game when other tanks have had there damage drop off by mid game.

This build is entirely designed to be hybrid and work on synergy to allow both tanking and damage output while mitigating cho' gaths innate flaws. Synergy and Skill are the cornerstone of any Pro' Gath.

I take x9 because of Cho' Gaths normally slow cooldowns.

Some may argue that cho's cooldowns aren't that bad but when you are a tank and you only escape is landing that slow or that silence the two extra seconds are gonna save your life.

I take x9 because as a tank the extra armor is a big help against those pesky dps champs such as [Tryndamere],[Xin Zhao], and [Master Yi]

I take x9 because as a tank you will be initiating and that ap carry is going to blast away your life bar without an edge in magic resist.

Finally, I take x3 for the flat HP boost for that early game edge that allows you to be in lane that much longer and make you that much more tanky.

Viable Spells


An excellent spell for both chasing and escaping. Also Ghost has better synergy with Cho' Gath because he is naturally slow and a flash will not necessarily save you from those pesky movement champs such as [Master Yi] or a well aimed/timed cc skill.

Exhaust, again, is great for both chasing and escaping. That tryndamere whacking you hard? [Exhaust] him for a 70% damage reduction and 40% slow and watch as he tries to run for cover.

Teleport is a good skill if you are playing solo top and don't want to lose time or to save that tower from death when across the map or even jumping into a losing team fight to turn the tide.

Flash is one of the best skills in the game and can save you from certain death or secure a kill. However [Ghost] will do the same thing and has a much shorter cooldown. If you are skilled with flash and know when/how to use it effectively then it can be just as good.

Not as Viable

Heal is an underrated skill in my opinion but isn't the best choice with with cho'gath because he already has a heal from his passive and as a tank he will not be at critical health very often. Take this if there is no support on your team.

Clarity is a good skill for a Mage' Gath. This is not an ap build. Despite Cho's early game mana problems, that doesn't justify this skill for mid and late game. Take this skill if you wanna stay in lane till dinner time or are not well practiced with cho's skills yet.

Ignite is a very good skill for cho'gath to be honest, and can secure the retreating low life enemy kill. The issue I have with this skill is that with your skill set and you popup/slow you won't see your enemies escaping enough to justify taking this skill. Compared to Exhaust which gives a massive damage reduction this is just not as useful for a tank.

[Rupture] Ruptures the ground at target location. After a delay of 0.75 seconds, enemies are launched into the air for 1 second, dealt 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 305 (+100% of ability power) magic damage, and have their movement speed slowed by 60% for 3 seconds.

This is a great for stopping a foe in there tracks and does decent damage late game. If you need to escape OR keep a fleeing foe from escaping pop this under them and enjoy the satisfaction of being pro. This is a skill shot that actually takes skill to master. Its somewhat predictable and its 0.75 second cast time means that the timing and placement of this is everything. Watch your opponents and play smart. Don't waste it by harassing with it or checking bushes. It requires a lot of mana early game so you want to max this skill last and use it mainly for the slow until then.

[Feral Scream] Cho'Gath screams in a cone in front of him, silencing enemies for 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 / 2.75 / 3 seconds and causing 75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+70% of ability power) magic damage.

This is your bread and butter and is what allows Cho' Gath to do what he does. Use this to interrupt that ap Nunu's or Karthus's ult or to keep from being cc'ed to death when you need to retreat or before you initiate. Use it to deal moderate early game damage. Use it before auto-attacking for some decent harass. Initiate clustered enemies with this and watch as your team unleashes unchecked hell for 3 seconds. Use it on that pesky Tryndamere so he can't ult out of trouble. You get the picture, use your imagination.

[Vorpal Spikes] Toggle: Cho'gath's physical attacks launch spikes which deal 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 (+30% of ability power) magic damage in a line in front of him.

This is what gives you such amazing farm and pushing ability. Not to mention, its free! Shred your enemies with it early game, and last hit minions easier (which assists your passive). Don't forget to toggle this off when attacking a tower because hitting an enemy with it will attract tower aggro and get you promptly destroyed and it doesn't apply the damage modifier to towers.

[Feast] Devours an enemy unit, dealing 300 / 475 / 650 (+0.7 per ability power) true damage (1,000 to minions) that ignores armor and magic resist. If the target is killed, Cho'Gath grows, gaining 90 / 120 / 150 extra health (max 6 stacks). Cho'Gath loses half his stacks (rounded up) upon death.

Feast is in my opinion one of the best skills in the game. It is essentially a fast cooldown smite which can also target champions, at six stacks it provides almost 1000 extra health, making you naturally tanky. It deals true damage to its target meaning you will be hitting for 300 damage at lvl 6 which is very strong last hitting tool and it scales well into late game being that it deals, like I said, true damage. Not to mention it makes you literally bigger which makes you feel like godzilla, and everyone gets pissed when you are digesting them :)

This is what you want for Cho' Gath because in order to get the fatty moving you need the extra movement speed. Not only that but the tenacity from [Mercury Treads] doesn't stack with [Eleisa's Miracle]. So Boots of Swiftness has great synergy with Eleisa's Miracle. The two items essentially create a set of mercury treads with 150 extra move speed!

This is the engine of cho's tank. Cho' benefits from every aspect of this item and you will feel noticeably more effective. The passives from this item are great. The on hit bonus damage from ability use is great for a boost to cho's burst. Has a slow and a movement speed boost, both of which help chase. I buy this every game

If tri-force is the engine then frozen heart is the fuel and armor plating. This item gives a massive armor boost which is great for any tank. The the 20% cooldown reduction is very helpful. The 20% reduced attack speed aura is wonderful against auto-attack dps. Then pile of mana it provides is not unhelpful being that cho'gath is very mana hungry. I buy this every game.

Eleisa's Miracle is not an item that is that great to be considered a legendary item admittedly. However, buying and early [Philosopher's Stone] will give you a strong early game and allow you to build it later on into a great source for that tenacity you are missing from the mercury treads that are not in this build. Plus this item is CHEAP and helps with some of that mana loss.

[Warmog's Armor] This is the item I use best as it boosts your hp significantly and that is never a bad thing no matter what the enemy team looks like. This item, plus your feast, you will have over 4000 health making you quite tanky. Buy this if the enemy isn't too stacked as dps or ap and/or their carries aren't badly fed. You will buy this most of the time.

[Atma's Impaler] IF you chose warmog's armor then this item is a must as it will drastically increase damage output and provide a good armor boost.

[Thornmail] This item is great when the enemy melee dps is fed a lot or there are more dps than usual. This items massive armor boost is nice and the return damage helps to level the playing field a little.

[Randuin's Omen] I personally love this item. It gives everything that cho' gath needs in an item a decent passive that mitigates some decent damage and slows them. The active on this item is key, if you don't like actives then buy thornmail but if you are comfortable with actives then take this instead, you will feel your play jump immediately.

[Force of Nature] When you need that extra bit of magic resist this is a good addition. Especially when you buy warmog's first because the passive makes your health regen. suddenly jump from good to DAMN! A little extra movement is never unwelcome either.

[Banshee's Veil] This is a great item when you need some extra protection from the ap nukes. A nice boost in health and magic resist is the solution. Not to mention a 45 second cooldown spell shield, which is a great passive when you are about to take that doped up Karthus's reqiuem or that snare or stun that could spell your death.

[Wit's End] This inexpensive item is a fun one. Very situational because to justify having you need to be attacking mages primarily. However it gives a nice damage boost and an on hit magic resist boost. Buy this if they have 3 or more casters and you are doing well.

[Leviathan] If your are getting fed consider getting this item. If you think you can get the stacks this item can be a fantastically cost effective tank item and will mitigate a monstrous amount of damage with its passive at 20 stacks.

Cho' Gath is an extremely skill based Champion and as such takes some anticipation and quick placement in order to be truly effective.

Farming

Once your not worried about mana too much around mid game, hitting a feral scream and a vorpal spike (with tri-force on hit damage proc) shortly after can clear all the minions in a group. This will frustrate an enemy champion to death because with good placing and timing he/she will be silenced and damaged as well and not be able to farm very well.

Harass

Harass from cho'gath is not hard to predict but if you catch them with a well placed rupture you can burst for a lot of damage. Q, W, Auto, Feast. If they didn't end up in your belly after that then they will have a massive chunk of life missing afterwards. Deciding when to use your feast is the difference between good cho' gath players and great cho'gath players.

Placing Rupture

Rupture has a massive range and so it can be used in order to snag a fleeing enemy from the jungle or to continue assisting your team despite being low on health. Placing rupture is tricky because the 0.75 cast time is rather long. When an enemy is chasing you, place your reticule so that the edge of it is ahead of you, thus landing the popup on the champ behind you. Judge this attack well when escaping because if you summoner spells are gone this is your only hope. Practice the position of this with bots till you get the hang of it. The most common thing for an enemy to do when they see you use rupture is to immediately run back. If you see the enemy doing this from inexperience place your rupture accordingly. You get the idea. Don't waste your rupture, its not spammable and is very valuable.

Please feel free to give your opinions and your logical reasons why something should be changed in a comment and please rate up if you like it.

This is my first guide and I would like to get a good response.

Good luck and have fun out there!