Kog'Maw Build Guide by masterxiao

Introduction

Hi Everyone,

I'm masterxiao, and this is my guide to , the Mouth of the Abyss. Kog'Maw is a very fun champion that I would recommend to anyone who likes playing ranged carries (Caitlyn, Ashe) with some utility as well. As you read through this guide, please note that this is in fact my very first build on Mobafire, so please be nice and don't downvote just because you felt my guide wasn't visually appealing. In fact, I actually barely know how to use the Mobafire UI so unlike the top guides on mobafire, mine might be a bit plain. Without further ado, I give you my build for KogMaw!

Updates

Update LoL Game 1.0.0.127 Kog'maw's W got nerfed a bit, from 10 sec to 8 sec. Shouldn't make that much of a difference.

Guide Update 1.1 Changed Quints and Changed Passive Description

Guide Update 1.0 Guide Released!

Update LoL Game 1.0.0.126 No changes to Kog Maw!

Pros / Cons

Pros

easy farmer
one of the longest ranges in the game with w and ult
good attack speed without items with q
can be built a variety of ways (AD, AP, AS, Hybrid, etc.)
awesome passive that makes you a freakin' bomb :D

mana problems early game and late game if spamming ultimate
not much cc, skillshot (unreliable) slow
rather squishy if you get to close to enemy team
no escape ability

Summoner Spells

Without a doubt, one of the best (if not the best summoner spell in the game.) Flash gives you that needed escape ability and can be used offensively as well. An overall great choice for any champion.

Personally, I take Exhaust over Ignite on most champions because I love the amount of debuffs it applies. Exhaust can shut down any AD carry for the majority of a teamfight, it can help prevent an enemy from escaping your W range, and it can slow down an enemy to guarantee your escape.

Other options:

As I said before, it really is personal preference whether you take Ignite or Exhaust, as both are two of the top summoner spells in the game. Ignite is effective for getting first blood, and is often picked as a counter to pesky healers (Vladimir, Dr. Mundo, etc.)

Ghost is another great utility summoner spell, as it can be used to effectively chase down enemies or to run away from enemies as I mentioned before.

The last summoner spell worth mentioning is probably Teleport. This spell gives you wicked map control and lets you protect towers and wipe out entire creep waves. Someone on your team should get this as it helps prevent your other lanes from getting pushed and is a great spell for backdooring as well.

Runes

I use a pretty standard rune page, except for my marks, which may seem a bit funky.

I take 3 Greater Mark of Desolation and 6 Greater Mark of Magic Penetration because most if not all (I believe) champions start out with higher magic resist than they do armor. This extra magic pen will synergize well with your W and give you some amazing lane power.

For seals I take Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration to help with Kog'Maw's mana problems that I mentioned before. This will help you stay in lanes and also prevent you from having to buy mana items that aren't as effective as your main build.

Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction is another popular choice for many different champions and it will make Kog's ult have a ridiculously low cd (of course, we don't want to spam it). These glyphs will also allow you to cast W more, giving you consistent damage and range.

Greater Quintessence of Desolation is just a great quint overall. The bonus armor pen is AMAZING at the earlier levels and give you some crazy damage later levels. AP quints aren't that good because we are building physical+magical damage kog, not hybrid kog.

Greater Quintessence of Health not a bad quint as well but I would recommend the armor pen instead.

Masteries

I use standard 21/0/9 masteries making sure to take Archaic Knowledge , Havoc , and Meditation .

Since my build focuses on dealing both magic damage and physical damage, 9/0/21 would also work, as long as you still get Archaic Knowledge and Meditation .

Skills

Kog'Maw has a very unique skillset. His various abilities make him fun to play and also very powerful as a carry.

Upon dying, Kog'Maw starts a chain reaction in his body which allows him to move faster for 4 seconds and detonate at the end of the duration, dealing 100 + (25 x level) true damage to surrounding enemies.
"You kill me? I kill me. And You" -Russell Peters. This passive seems flashy and all, but it's really not that great. As a carry, you don't want to die or your team has pretty much lost the teamfight. So don't flash into the team just to die and blow up lol.

(Passive): Permanently increases Kog'Maw's attack speed.
Attack Speed Bonus: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 %
(Active): Kog'Maw launches a corrosive projectile at a single target which deals magic damage and reduces its armor and magic resist for 4 seconds.
This ability will passively give you some nice attack speed, which is helpful throughout the game. The active is useful but try to restrain from using it in teamfights, because if you are, that means that most of the enemy team is in range of killing you. I max this 3rd.

For 10 seconds, Kog'Maw's autoattacks gain range and deal additional magic damage which is equal to a percentage of the target's max health. The damage caps at 100 against minions and monsters.
This is KogMaw's main damage ability for both AD and AP. This increases your range like crazy and your damage deal a % of the target's max health, good for destroying tanks. Note that this deals MAGIC damage, which will be discussed later in the Items section. I prioritize this after my ultimate.

Kog'Maw launches a projectile in a line in front of him which deals magic damage to all enemies it passes through and leaves a trail for 4 seconds which slows enemies who stand on it.
Even though I don't use this ability that much past the laning phase, it is useful for harassing and catching up to enemies that are fleeing. The damage is ok, but the slow is pretty good at max rank. If you can hit all or most of the enemies in a teamfight with this, go ahead, as an AoE slow will be very effective for the whole duration and might change the outcome. Besides that, I max this ability last because I prefer saving my mana for my W and ult.

Kog'Maw throws a living artillery shell to a target location at a great distance and falls after a small delay dealing magic damage to all enemies hit and revealing them for 4 seconds. It deals 2.5 times as much base damage to champions.
Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 6 seconds after a cast will cost 40 additional mana, capping at 200 per cast.
This is what defines KogMaw (well, it and his W.) This ult is amazing for scouting, poking, and finishing off people. BEWARE, mana problems will occur if you spam this skill without waiting for its "cooldown." Treat it like Kassadin's ult and similarly, don't use it more than 2 or 3 times in a row. With that being said, if you know you can secure a kill by using it, don't be afraid to use it either.

Items

My typical build:

3x : I start with this typically because it gives you more utility in lane, as I can harass and farm more easily. It will help you get to lane faster and give you more sustain in the lane with the 3 health pots.

: I would only use this if you don't have flat health quints. This also depends on your laning partner (if bot.) The 100 health it gives can be compensated by your quints and therefore, the blade isn't as effective in that situation. Stacking these are viable, but after the change to the price I feel that 2 is the maximum number you should get.

: This is probably the best item for Kog'Maw. The stats help him alot, (AD and AS) but the passive makes Kog godlike. Combined with his W at max rank, this will deal 10% of the target's max health in magic damage. The only downside is that the entire 10% is MAGIC damage, and therefore can be countered by MAGIC RESIST. I typically build my Bloodrazor starting with Madred's Razors, then Recurve Bow, and finally Pickaxe. The Razors help with getting blue buff.

: This is probably one of the best boots in the game, and you will get these 90% of the time. They will make you much less squishier, and you will be less vulnerable to cc.

: These boots are when the enemy team has pretty much no cc at all (very rare.)

: O Infinity Edge, how i love you.... This item is without a doubt one of the best in the game, and it will boost KogMaw's dps very noticeably.

At this point, you might ask: Why don't you get a Malady and build Kog Maw with full on-hit procs?

Well, after thinking about this for quite a while, w + Madred's Bloodrazor can still be easily countered using MR. As Phreak said, Kog Maw should be played as a hybrid. If he can do a fair amount of DPS along with the % magic damage, he will become pretty much unstoppable. If the enemy buys both MR and armor, they will spend a ton of gold and will therefore still be less effective.

: I get Frozen Mallet for some more flat health at this point and the slow helps with kiting and sticking to single targets. If you feel that you aren't dying much, you can skip to the Phantom Dancer and buy the Mallet later or even choose not to.

: This item is great, as it synergizes with your W and your infinity edge, and your DPS will become ridiculous. The movespeed is great for chasing and escaping as well.

Sixth item choices:

Purely Defensive

: This item is still one of the best defensive items and helps with casters like Karthus, Annie, etc. Typically the last item slot SHOULD GO TO A DEFENSIVE ITEM.

: Another effective anti-caster item that gives you some nice health regen.

: This is great when facing champions like Malzahar, Warwick, Skarner, and even Urgot.

: Great overall item that gives a nice amount of armor. Good for countering heavy AD teams. Don't forget about its active.

: This item can shut down a Master Yi, or Trynd, or etc. Pretty cheap too.

Both Defensive and Offensive

: This gives you more armor and crit and boosts your AD abit as well. GET THIS WHEN THERE IS AN AD CARRY WRECKING YOUR TEAM AND FOR SOME REASON YOU WANT MORE DAMAGE.

: This is similar to Atma's. GET THIS WHEN THERE IS AN AP CARRY WRECKING YOUR TEAM AND YOU STILL WANT MORE DMG (Atk speed = dmg pretty much)

: This item is great for Kog. Get if the other team is stacking armor. If their armor is above 112 or 113, get a Last Whisper instead.

: Similar to Black Cleaver, get this if the enemy is stacking MR.

Build Summary:

Starting: + 3x

Core: or

Luxury Items:

Jungle Buffs

Always, Always, Always, ask your jungler for blue. If you don't have a jungler, you should be able to take blue easily once you have madred's razors and are around lvl 6. RED IS ALSO VERY GOOD ON KOG. He is perhaps one of the best champions when he is double-buffed.

Early Game

Get your Boots of Speed and 3 HP (or maybe doran's blade) and go bot or mid. Typically in high ELO games (pro games), the AD carry goes bot with a support, the AP carry goes mid, and a monster laner goes top (+ a jungler.) However, kog is still a good solo laner as he can safely last hit with E and W and can also harass quite well. EIther way, try and stay in lane for as long as possible, recalling when you have enough gold for Madred's Razors at least (1000 gold) or maybe even Mercury Treads (1850 total.) If you can (your lane is pushed and your jungler lets you,) go and get blue before going back to your lane. Try not to push your lane too hard as it will result in ganks from the other team.

Mid Game

You should have your Madred's completed by now along with your Tier 2 boots and possibly even a BF sword. Mid Game should be the time for ganking. GANK GANK GANK. Also kill dragon btw. The gold bonus is huge as it is 190 gold x5 not 190 for the whole team. Keep getting the buffs if no one else wants them and help your team in teamfights (don't stick to my words and farm while there's a teamfight going on.)

Late Game

At this time you have probably almost completed your build. This is the critical part of the game and you need to work together with your team to figure out who to focus down first. Stay at the back, and poke and scout with your ult. Once your tank initiates, pick out the most dangerous target (the carry, the fed one, or essentially the one that will hurt your team the most.) If their tank initiates, DON'T TAKE THE BAIT. ALWAYS WAIT FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON, THEN FOCUS HIM/HER DOWN LIKE CRAZY. With your W at max rank, you shouldn't be anywhere close to there melee champs nor their ranged champs (except caitlyn and tristana possibly). Kog Maw truly does destroy late game if played correctly. His late game is one of the strongest in the game right now and that's why I love him so much.

Video Guides

Phreak is awesome. :D

Listen to his farming tips. You can use 2 ults and an E to wipe out the caster minions around level 6. Just be careful because we don't get a Meki Pendant like he does.









LegendCommentaries is amazing as well. I love to see people putting such great amounts of effort trying to help other people learn how to play the game better.

Summary

Whew, I'm almost done my first guide! Well, Congratulations on reading the whole thing, and I'm sure you didn't just scroll down to the bottom as fast as possible. Please don't trollvote and give me some constructive criticism on how to improve my guide. With that being said, I guess it is TIME TO FEAST!