• I shifted a little to offense, now with Crit dmg, scaling CDR and 21/0/9.
• Statikk Shiv more often, more push and poke. New BC usefull even without passive IMO.

NO! :[ - Gangplank is not a good solo-laner, most matchups counter him, dominate him and carry better - he needs a serious buff before we can even consider him. He can't duel, he can't kite, he can't push, he can't poke, he can't trade ... his role as melee carry is obsolete. You will be beaten if you try. I don't encourage you to take him up if you are already a good top laner.

Yes :) - Gangplank is a very, very good solo laner for people who are new to the role, he is a versatile champion - not beeing super top notch, he has no gaping weaknesses and can be picked up with ease. If you are looking for a way to face your nightmares top, the Pirate is your choice. Farm, Sustain, Assisting your team is easy. You won't win many lanes, but you will finally stop dreading loosing them. Gangplank will teach you a thing or two about the League and is fun to play.

Details Short distance blink. It lets you cross walls and artificial terrain and it can be used to dodge skillshots. Otherwise used to keep up with dashing, flashing and blinking enemies. Always take it. Synergies A good combo is - to execute or slow enemies. Take Summoner's Insight and Enchantment: Distortion to shorten its CD and improve the ability. Mistakes Don't be afraid to use it.



Details Teleport to allied minions, pets, wards, towers and flags. Synergies Used together with your Cannon Barrage for huge global presence. Use Summoner's Insight and Enchantment: Distortion here as well. Mistakes Don't let enemies cancel it with CC.

• Optional: Smite, Exhaust, Ignite.
• Remove Scurvy replaces Heal, Barrier and Cleanse.
• Raise Morale replace Ghost.
• Grog Soaked Blade can replace Ignite.

Optimal Some Crit Damage to hit harder. Situational AD if you need it to last hit. HybridPen to fight squishies - half your damage is magic!



Optimal Seals of Armor is your best choice. You need it in lane and jungle alike and early game resiliance depends on armor above all. Add a Crit rune to be unpredictable early.


Optimal The best Glyphs are CDR and that for 4 different reasons. They give more poke (Q), more sustain (W), saver escapes (E) and higher global presence (R). Recently I switched to scaling again to make my items more flexible. Situational Mix with AP and adjust CDR to your build. MR is an option vs magic damage.



Optimal The ultimate winning Quints: AP. Your heal defines you. Situational Mix with CDR. Also, there is a huge amount of other Quints you can take, MS, AD and Crit are just some of them.

Optimal There are some very good low-tire masteries you should never skip as Pirate.

• Meditation is the best of them, it gives the highest gold value of any mastery points and Gangplank needs mana. Feast, Culinary Master and Expanded Mind add to that.
• Sorcery is another overall improvement, for every skill, defense and offense. Intelligence is a great addition, also for items, but requires you to invest deep into utility.
• Summoner's Insight , like other utility masteries ( Scout , Runic Affinity ) adds to your kit where items cannot.
• Mental Force and Arcane Mastery are a complete waste for anything but your heal, but on that they - together with your runes - work wonders. Its a lot better than the same amount of AD to your lane.

Situational Offense deep down to penetration, increased damage and AD is good for easy lanes. Low tire defense can help you in jungle or duels, but don't go too deep. Mistakes Seriously don't ignore utility!

Details It gives an On-Hit slow [7-21%] and a damage tick every second [4-63]. After the last auto attack it wears off, dealing [12-189] damage. Think of it as a single target Sunfire Aegis. Synergies Unless fully stacked, it does next to no damage and the slow is also barely noticeable. I suggest you AA- -AA to quickly apply it and then try to keep it up with one AA or Q every other 3 seconds. A very usefull item is Wit's End, as only MPen really benefits this passive. Mistakes Don't think AS improves the DPS.



Details A enhanced, ranged auto attack with mana refund and gold bonus on kill as well as an auto-attack-reset. Synergies Spellblade items like Sheen are applied, also On-Hit effects are cheap for the damage they bring. Always have some minor crit chance to get lucky. Mistakes Trade with AA- -AA and don't forget to use the reset.



Details A CC-removal is similar to Quicksilver Sash together with a very potent Heal. Synergies Your best bet is CDR. Don't overdo AP as Gangplank has few other synergies with it. Early game, 50 AP really make a difference because the Health Pool is the smallest and damage is less severe. Mistakes Don't leave it at low levels, or the CC-removal will be useless as you die anyway.




Details Passive self and active aura MS and AD boost that gets increasingly stronger with ranks. Synergies Flat early Crit increase your DPS the most. Notice that your E damage scales into your Q. Very nice synergy with Zeke's Herald for a massive team bonus. The activation is very helpfull in coordinating your team's play (solo Q). Mistakes Don't waste a victory and have it down in teamfights.




Details Global, AOE slow and magic damage, now that it's not random any more, really great ultimate. Reveals the area. Synergies Very usefull for farming waves and pushing lanes from afar. Liandry's makes this wreak havoc on clustered enemies. Mistakes Really, really long CD and easy to waste with wrong timing or placing. Also requires you to scroll over the map and makes you vulnerable.

Early Skills Start with Parrrley for farm, damage and the auto-attack-reset. Then get Remove Scurvy for sustain and safety and finally one point into Raise Morale at lvl 3 or 4 for the passive AD and MS boost. General Skillorder > > > Situational first if you are far ahead. first against kite, skillshots and for teamfights.

Gangplank doesn't have a particularly good scaling on AD or AP and glass-cannon builds that turn him into the melee carry he was designed to be, have small chance of success. Other champions have better scaling, gap-closers, shorter cooldowns more burst. How do you play him ?

• Farm With Parrrley, farming is easy (high damage), save (ranged) and efficient (bonus gold). Doran's Ring gives you the mana you need to spamm it. Iceborn Gauntlet allows you to extend the bonus gold and mana refund on multiple units and to push your lane.
• Lane Play passive and nothing can ever push you out of lane forever. Remove Scurvy with some CDR and AP lets you win any trade you should have lost, removes all poke for 65 mana and escapes ganks and dives with ease. Together with Teleport and Cannon Barrage you should never loose farm or a tower.
• Assist Your ultimate Cannon Barrage can turn the tide of any gank or skirmish and contributes to your team's first dragons and towers. It prevents pushes, turns a 1v1 into a 2v1, gets escaping low-life enemies, gives vision, zone control - beeing global has never been easier. Raise Morale is a great team-boost, together with Zeke's Herald gaining your team millions of free riches. While you aren't geared towards single-handedly winning duels, you can assist in every fight.
• Bait and Kite Gangplank should be easy to predict... but he isn't. Lucky crits, huge heals, speed and damage for everyone and all these slows. A single Q means nothing, but use it 6 times with Iceborn Gauntlet, add your ult and you do have kill potential.

Starting Items are very unusual so read this carefully. The whooping 50 AP don't mean you are "AP Gangplank". They are designed to improve your mana efficiency early game. Doran's Ring is a mana item for you. No Sapphire Crystal, Mana Potions or Faerie Charms will do the trick as well. Together with masteries it adds to your Q refund, with Meditation it brings back your losses and the AP increases your healing by 50% (early) to 20% (late). Finally you have the highest base health pool of any champion, and the small boost from Dorans makes sure you stay ahead. It allows you to focus on Gauntlet without worries for the first part of the game. A great item, even if you are no caster.



Priority Items Back once you run out of sustain to buy a Sheen. A pirate without shiny sword is weak. Because you start without MR, an early Null-Magic Mantle can come in handy. Rush Iceborn Gauntlet to farm, poke and push. Once you get this you are able to dominate your lane against weaker enemies.


Now this is where your build path becomes flexible. Gangplank depends on items less than other champions. His unique playstyle gives him the freedom to adapt to his team.

Support Cost efficient support items if you decide to group and end the game with teamfights: Face of the MountainZeke's Herald

Damage Dangerous Snowball build, works in some lanes (Nasus) and with some teams:

Fighter Balanced build path with damage and defense for a flexible late game:

Survive Lane with -farm and to sustain and walk out of skirmishes and ganks. Use it often, but be very carefull while it is down. Early potions help. Don't take risks. By and back for and upgrade, evaluate your trade/kill potential with occasional poke. Wait for ganks and assist your team. Don't fall victim to ganks or dives, always play save.

Set up fights with + and catch enemies off guard also to disengage or entangle bad fights.

Bait CC, poke and engages: Expose yourself and use and to survive.

Assist your team with +Zeke's Herald to coordinate sieges and objectives. Give vision and zone control with .

I tested my beloved Ganplank with a variety of builds, again and again. My only-Gangplank-account "God of Pirates" is on its way up the ladder, and I will keep sharing my experiences. Have fun with this!