Hello! This is my first ever League of Legends guide. This is a build to make Kog'Maw a strong counter pick for top lane against some brusers such as Darius. I hope you enjoy it and leave feedback in the comments. GLHF!

Pros
Tanky
Annihilates bruisers and tanks
Strong lane phase
Strong in team fights
Does a lot of damage while building health items
Almost impossible to counter pick
Extremely strong late game (he’s an ad carry duh)


Cons
Squishy early game
No escape ability
Vulnerable to early ganks
No cc
No sustain (life steal or spell vamp)

Kog'Maw has, in my opinion, the best skill set in the game for damage. I will be going over the abilities and how they work in this section.

Passive: Icathian Surprise

- Upon dying, Kog'Maw starts a chain reaction in his body which causes him to move faster and detonate after 4 seconds; dealing 100 + (25 x lvl) true damage (cannot be mitigated) to surrounding enemies.

Kog'Maw's passive is decent at best. The role that Kog'Maw plays he should rarly die. The only time this passive is useful is when you are getting ganked and you have no escape, you can get try to bring one of the gankers low enough to get revenge with this passive. Late game it is not that effective because it does not do all that much damage (550 at level 18) and people can usually escape its blast with an ability. However, you should not forget about this ability for it may grant you a free kill after you die.

"Q" Ability: Caustic Spittle

- This ability has both a passive and an active.
Passive: Permanently 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 ability power) magic damage and reduces the target's armor and magic resist by 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 for 4 seconds (8 second cooldown).

The passive on this ability is very strong and you will want to grab a point in it early for the bonus 10% attack speed. The active deals good base damage and lowers resistances, so it will help you take down those who build very tanky. The passive is not removed when you activate the ability, so feel free to open with it when you are fighting someone. The relativly low mana cost will let you harass in lane in combination with Bio-Arcane Barrage.

"W" Ability: Bio-Arcane Barrage

- Kog'Maw's attacks gain 130 / 150 / 170 / 190 / 210 range and deal an additional 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 % (+1% per 100 ability power) of the target's maximum Health as Magic Damage (Max: 100 Damage vs Monsters). Lasts 10 seconds (17 second cooldown).

This ability is insane. Probably the best ability on any damage dealing champion. It gives you complete lane dominance because your harass will be extreamly powerful and can often kill an over-extended opponent. This ability is where almost all of your damage comes from. You will want to activate this ability any time you begin a fight.
NOTE: This ability only affects auto attacks.

"E" Ability: Void Ooze

- Kog'Maw launches ooze which deals 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+70% of ability power) magic damage to enemies it passes through.
Additionally, it leaves a trail which slows enemies by 20 / 28 / 36 / 44 / 52 % for 4 seconds (12 second cooldown).

Good ability for chasing down fleeing enemies or to slow gankers. The damage is insignificant because you will not max it until late game. If you are being chased, DO NOT turn around to shoot this at your persuer. Shoot it in front of you and run over it. You may want to grap this ability at level 1 if your team is going for an invaid.

"R" Ability: Living Artillery

- Kog'Maw fires artillery from a great distance. After a 0.6 second delay, the artillery falls dealing 80 / 120 / 160 (+30% of ability power) (+0.125 per attack damage) magic damage and reveals targets for 4 seconds. It deals 150% bonus damage (250% total damage) to Champions. Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 6 seconds costs 40 additional mana (Max 200) (2 / 1.5 / 1 second cooldown).

This ability is extreamly strong in the right hands. The positioning is vital and will take some time to master. Just to clarify, the bonus 150% damage only affects the base damage, not the bonus damage from your stats. This ability will eat up your mana very quickly so I do not reccomend spamming it in lane to clear creeps or harass. Try to use it mainly in team fights or when chasing a fleeing enemy. The range on this ability is extreamly large and you can usually snipe people who have flashed over a wall. You can also use this ability to check bushes if you have no wards. It will aslo reveal invisible units.
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR WARDS. GET WARDS!

- Simply too good to turn down. The attack speed helps him deal tons of damage with Bio-Arcane Barrage and Madred's Bloodrazor. These can be switched out for Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi if you find yourself dieing a lot.

- This item synergizes so well with Bio-Arcane Barrage that you can build minimal offensife items and still have enough damage to be scared of. This build revolves around this item. I do not recomment switching it out for anything. Ever.

- Very helpful on Kog. Makes you more durable and gives some damage. You also do not need red buff to slow people. Very good and is highly recommended.

- The only item you will have with magic resist. I personally think its way better than Maw of Malmortius for Kog becasue attack speed does more dps than damage. Also highly recommended.

- A ton of health and health regen will make you almost unable to be killed in a 1v1. If you find yourself with a big lead and would rather not spend all o your money on a defensive item, I would pick up either a Guardian Angel or a Banshee's Veil.

Zeke's Herald - Good stats for both you and your team. The CDR will let you keep Bio-Arcane Barrage up more often. The attack speed will cause you and your ad carry to be a face-melting duo. The lifesteal will give you and your team some sustain. Very under-estimated item. If you find yourself having to take the place of your AD carry, try switching this out for a Bloodthirster.

Kog'Maw is the only champion with a percent of maximum health per attack, Bio-Arcane Barrage. It also gives him range, making him a terror against melees trying to farm up some creeps. I find that, because of this, he is a good fit as a counter pick top as well as his other usual lanes (bot and mid). Kog'Maw is (technically) an AD carry and needs a good amount of creep score (cs) to be powerful. Bio-Arcane Barrage out ranges almost all gap closers so you should be able to poke your enemy to death.

(Stronger trades and better farming ability)

OR

(Mobility for escaping and sustain from potions)

OR

(Armor for harassments and sustain from potions)

I strongly recommend . You should be passivly farming creeps for the first few levels and will allow you to leave any engagements. gives you some sustain in case you do take damage. Try to stay in lane untill you can afford your Pickaxe and at least 3 sight ward.

If you decide to start Doran's Blade, stay in lane until you can afford either Boots + longsword (into Madred's Razors) OR Berserker's Greaves and at least 3 sight ward.

If you start Cloth Armor Health Potionx5, you will want to go back for either Berserker's Greaves OR Boots and Madred's Razors and at least 3 sight ward.

At this point, you want to start saving up for your Madred's Bloodrazor. I suggest buying the Recurve Bow second as it will give you some attack speed so you get a kill or two early. Once you finish your Madred's Bloodrazor and Berserker's Greaves, you can move on to your defensive items. REMEMBER TO BUY WARDS!

I have broken Lane Phase up into 3 sub-phases.

Pre Game Phase

Before the game even starts, check to see if their jungler is capable of a level 2 gank. Some junglers with a strong level 2 gank are Nocturne, Lee Sin, and Alistar. If you see one of these level 2 gankers, I HIGHLY recommend getting Void Ooze first as it will help you escape a potential gank without having to waste flash. However, if you see the enemy jungler is a typical jungler starting at blue (ie Malphite) go ahead and get one point in Caustic Spittle.
AND PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT GET LEVEL 2 GANKED, YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO CATCH BACK UP AND WILL GET FAR BEHIND!

Creep Phase

This time is crucial because if you return to your lane with a powerful item fast enough, you can easily overpower your enemy. Once the creeps engage in the lane, start last hitting. If the oppoing top laner comes in for some creeps, just zone him/her with some auto attacks. You are ranged and they are most likley melee. Try to always stand near or in the top bushes and only pok out for a last hit. If the enemy does not know where you are, they will probably stay back behind their own ranged creeps to try to avoid any damage from you. This will end up causing them problems late game when they have no money. When you hit level 2, unless you are already being pressured by their jungler, get a point in Bio-Arcane Barrage. When you reach level 3, if you did not get Void Ooze get it. You will use it a lot for persuing and escaping. Continue to level up and get cs until you have completed your Madred's Bloodrazor and Berserker's Greaves.

Getting Ganked Phase

Because you are a ranged, you will almost always push the lane to the turret and the enemy jungler will try to gank you. just remember to shoot your Void Ooze in the direction you are running and you should be fine. Try to never extend farther then the middle of the second top bush (the one closer to their turret). Always ward the river between Baron and the top river bush so you will have a good four or five seconds to react. When you are going to try to do damage to the turret, ward their tri-bush.

As the mid game comes around, you will want to get a defensive item so you can go one on one with anyone on the other team. Before you decide on what item rout you want to go, you have to analyze the other team. Ask yourself who is the most fed and who has the most CC.

If the other team has a...

Fed AP

> This will give you magic resist and attack speed to help you live through the AP burst and kill them no problem.

Fed AD

> You will have more health to be able to survive the punishment of an AD and still have the damage and slow to chase down and kill them.

CC

> Having a lot of CC is hard to counter. Having a lot of health or a lot of tenacity are your only options. I chose health because it will also help you not die if you get focused early in a fight.


If no one is really fed or you just want more damage, i would go Zeke's Herald becasue it gives some really good stats for you and your team.

Mid game on Bruiser Kog'Maw is a lot of ganking. When you push your lane, you should be looking for ganks. Alwasy try to help your AD carry get fed. Kog'Maw is a surprisingly good ganker. Focus on helping bottom and stealing buffs/killing their jungler. The best thing you can do for your team is allow your AD to free farm without the threat of a jungler gank. Ganking mid can sometimes be tough but with a few well placed Living Artillery's

Kog'Maw is great at killing bruisers and tanks. Your role in team fights with this build is to stop all of the tanky damage dealers or CC'ers from going anywhere near your AD carry. If you can accomplish this, your AD carry will be free to kill any and all squishies. You are going to want to use Bio-Arcane Barrage as soon as the fight begins. Try to keep this up at all times as it will be almost all of your DPS. Next use Caustic Spittle on your chosen target so they will die faster.

You will want to be standing near your AD carry to ensure that you can protect them. If someone begins to approach you, use Void Ooze to slow them and kill them with auto attacks in combination with Living Artillery between auto attacks.

For late game, you want to finish off the rest of the items in the build in the order you find best fit. There is not really much to explain here. For more information look at the item explanations section.

STAY WITH YOUR TEAM
If you are not with your team and a fight breaks out, you are probably going to lose. A late game team fight loss can lead to a free Baron and possibly a GG. Stay with the team and this will not happen.

The reason I chose this rune set is becasue it complements Kog'Maw the best.

Attack speed is the only offensive stat Kog'Maw becasue of his Bio-Arcane Barrage.

Armor is a great counter to most brusers and you will need the durability they provide.

Magic resist will not really help you early game but will be very useful late game so these glyphs are a good choice.

Once again, attack speed is a great offensive stat for Kog'Maw and with this much from runes you can eliminate an offensive item such as Phantom Dancer.

Pretty standard masteries. I go offensive for the attack speed and damage for a stronger early game. The points into defensive are just for some durability and sustain.

I will keep this part of the guide shot and sweet.

Farm until you get Bloodrazer
Kill people
Get fed
Kill more people
Win

Please leave me some feedback. I want to improve this guide but I can't without the help of the community. Suggestions, coments, criticism, anything to help me shape this guide. If you see something misspelled, I am sorry. Leave a comment and i will fix it.

Have a good day and thank you for taking some time to read my guide!