My name is Aizac (Ømni), 2021 was my first season (ended Silver 4), I usually just play draft for fun with my friends. I main the ruined king himself, Viego. Even though I'm low rank, I'm making this to show proof of concept that First Strike Viego is viable, at least in lower elo.

Viego's early game isn't the best as he gets beaten in early fights constantly but one thing he is able to do is to engage and trade in the laning phase. Enter Viego First Strike.

At level one, using auto-Q-auto, you're able to get 5+28 gold/trade on average (on top of having 10% increased damage), this number decreasing if you're up against a higher armor opponent or you're using Doran's Shield. At level 2 this increases to 5+36 gold/trade. At level 6 you're able to get 5+60 gold/trade with just Doran's Blade.

To expand onto this, having noon quiver at level 6 increases it to 70 gold/trade, with it coming up every 25-15 seconds (based on level) you're able to get almost the same as a canon minion every engage, relying on you hitting your combos.

This build is heavily reliant on good farming and proactive trading/poking. Doing those things will get Viego to his first item faster, making him reach his power spike sooner. But not only that, he will most likely have an item before anyone else if played properly, meaning he will be able to 1v1 champions he usually is unable to do so with.

For all combos you're gonna want to buffer each one with an auto-attack.

Lvl 1
AA -> Q -> AA

Lvl 2
AA -> Q -> AA -> W -> AA
AA -> W -> AA -> Q -> AA

Lvl 3
E -> AA -> Q -> AA -> W -> AA
E -> AA -> W -> AA -> Q -> AA

Lvl 6
E -> AA -> Q -> AA -> W -> AA -> R -> AA
You don't wanna use W then Q when using your R, if you use Q then W, they'll be stunned when you click R on them.

Most of the runes are not changeable for this build. The only ones that are able to be changed and still remain effective are Future's Market, Alacrity, and Coup de Grace.

Future's Market can be switched for Minion Dematerlizar if you have trouble farming but in my opinion, you should just practice CSing instead.

Coup de Grace can be switched for Cut Down if facing health tanks and/or are running the 3am Core. Can also be switched for Last Stand if playing against a burst comp or a lane where you'll be poked a lot.

Alacrity can be switched to Tenacity if they have a lot of CC.

Full Crit Core - This build is best for when you either get fed early, or the enemy team is all squishy and you're able to pop them all without risk of being popped like a balloon.

Reliable Core - This is my favorite build and is blindly buildable into almost any team comp making it the "Reliable" core.

3am Core - Started as a meme but became something more, the 3am core doesn't shine a lot in any particular way unless health tanks are on the other team. At level 18 with just this 3 item core V.S. a tank with 500 Armor (Level 18 Mega Gnar with 6 Armor Items) you're able to get 5+94 gold. When the same dummy has higher max HP this increases to 5+122 gold.

Comes down to preference, although in top lane you'll be more likely to be facing melee champions, which you want, you could go mid if you plan on roaming to bot or top to proc First Strike there and helping other lanes.

With objective bounties being a thing this season being able to be present at fights for objectives is all the more important, whether your team is trying to score the bounty or stop the other team from getting it, you can't do either without being there. Bring it top 90 percent of the time, in the mid lane about 50 percent of the time, with ignite being your other choice.

Some of the best champs to play into are,

Kayle - Her early game is super weak and when this build shines the most. If you abuse her before she gets ranged you may just allow her to sit in the grey screen the rest of the game.

Kassadin - Same thing as Kayle, use your E to get close and abuse him before he's able to spam R.

Cho'Gath - Viego is mobile as hell so Cho's main form of damage early, his knock-up, is virtually useless. Use your W to dodge if you're right in the middle or your E if you just need a little extra to get out.

So this build is easily shut down, I doubt this will work in high elo, seeing as how it barely works in my elo. But the biggest issue is ranged champions. Getting hit before you're able to hit them is the shutdown of this build, so obviously, anyone who can attack you first is going to be an issue (except "ranged" users such as Urgot or anyone else with a very small range).

Another issue is auto-attack blockers such as Teemo, Jax, and Shen to name a couple, Malphite is also an issue because his E slows auto-attacks. But these champs can still be beaten and are manageable.

In the video below I get a pentakill on my 2nd game using this build. In the clip I proc First Strike on three people, each time getting 10% increased damage towards them. I got 160 gold from Syndra, 166 gold from Trundle, and 81 gold from Wukong all via First Strike. This is 12 percent of a 3400 gold item. Play Video (Idc if I'm low elo and it wasn't good, I thought it was good and that's enough.)

While I do believe that First Strike Viego may be doable, he requires and very specific playstyle and is countered by too much right now. Do not pick First Strike Viego in ranked until I iron it out more, or if you play enough draft to figure him out. Thanks for reading.