Cho'Gath is arguably the best tank, and jungler in the game. He has two amazing crowd control spells (AoE at that), built in tankiness, and an ult that keeps him a threat no matter how tanky he becomes. In addition to all this, he has incredible sustain in the jungle, right there with Warwick. Not to mention, his ganks...

Greater Mark of Attack Speed x9
Greater Seal of Armor x9
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist x9
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed x3

I use attack speed reds to proc Cho's E more often, which adds aoe damage to all of your attacks.

Armor seals makes him incredibly sustainable in the jungle, as for every other jungler in the game.

Magic Resist Glyphs make him that much more tankier earlier in the game, because I rush Rod of Ages, the flat resistances from your runes will synergize well with it. Thus why I choose not to get MR per lvl runes.

Movement speed quintessences are great in general, with cho it will help him get in range of targets for feast considering its very short range.

I go down defense to pick up: Base resistance, HP5, flat HP, AS, and AP. I skip dodge and nimbleness because of its low proc chance, considering we're not using dodge seals.

As always you must pick up the XP bonus in utility for junglers, and improved buff durations. The bonus regeneration also helps Cho at all stages in the game, considering his regen rate is off the charts late game.

I start with Cloth Armor and Health Potion x5 on Cho, as you can get to level 5 double buffed and at full hp with a Health Potion left over, thats how amazing his passive is.

When you first go back, pick up Boots and work towards your Catalyst the Protector, picking up a Sight Ward or two if you can.

After a bit of farming and stacks, you should be ready to pick up your Rod of Ages. You can then finish your boots into Ionian Boots of Lucidity (I choose CDR boots because as a tank your most powerful threat is your high cooldown cc, the faster these come up the better) At this point in the game you will have a ton of HP from items and , and resistances + regen from runes and masteries.

Now you want to start picking up some real resistances for the mid-late game to come. Pick up a Negatron Cloak and Chain Vest ASAP without building them into their final items. These will later turn into a Force of Nature and Frozen Heart. Once you finish this core build you will have almost max cdr to spam your abilities with in teamfights, and insane survivability . Your items after this point may vary but I prefer a Guardian Angel.

Sight Ward Sight Ward Sight Ward Sight Ward Sight Ward

Your final items should look like this



Core

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Optional

Your first skill depends. If you will be invading or get invaded, level your , if not, stick with for faster jungling.

1
2
3
4

From this point on you level > > >

I choose to level first because it not only improves the damage, but the disable duration (Whereas Rupture only increases the damage). The choice between leveling over if a playstyle preference. In the long run you do more damage with your auto attacks than damage.

Flash
I take flash because it helps you position in teamfights better than ghost. You can easily surprise enemy carries by flash feasting them, essentially taking them out of the fight, as they will either: A) Die or be too low HP to continue or B) Be forced to attack you.

Smite
General jungling tool. Great when used in conjunction with while trying to secure or steal objectives.

When stealing / securing baron, flash in (if necessary), begin to cast at ~1400-2000 hp. Since there is a delay on its animation, you do not want to use smite and feast at the same time. Make the window of opportunity for the enemy jungler as small as possible. Begin your ultimates animation, and smite just as the damage is about to go through. This will provide a nuke that no other single combo can beat, not a , or EVEN a + .

Starting with , your jungle clear should be extremely fast. If you have the Miss Fortune of having to start with , it will be a lot slower and less mana efficient.

Path

(The ones listed in bold are to be smited

Wolves -> Wraiths -> Golems -> Blue Golem -> Wolves -> Wraiths -> Golems -> Lizard Elder

Here is a picture of this path, starting at the Wolf Camp. Your first clear will be the blue section. After clearing the 3 neutral camps, you head back to Blue Golem and start the red path. At any point during this path you can stop to gank or cover. A full clear of this will hit you level 5.

http://i.imgur.com/sPQeG.jpg

The next picture is of the same exact path, but with a little counterjungling involved.

ONLY ATTEMPT THIS IF YOU YOUR ENEMY JUNGLER IS STARTING AT BLUE

http://i.imgur.com/YYcmC.jpg

(pictures uploaded with link for zoom)


It is very recommended to gank and not clear the entire thing first. Once you acquire blue buff you can gank, or kill the wolf camp and rank your silence before attempting this. If all lanes are pushed, it is great for the Cho individually as he will be level 5 and double buffed at ~5:00.

In the early phases of the game (1-8), gank as much as you can and get stacks up. Do not blow flash or let your teammate blow it if the gank victim still has theirs up. If at all possible, walk up the them and silence them, moving between auto attacks. As soon as they flash use to knock them up, do not blow your cc when opening a gank ever. Also in the early game, you will want to control dragon with your combo. Get an RoA asap.

In the mid game (9-14), use your incredible cc and high damage nuke to smash their carries in teamfights. NEVER use to get a killing blow unless you are in dire need of stacks or no ally carries nearby. Be sure to prioritize your silence on specific enemies, not always their squishies. A well time silence on an Amumu, Nunu & Willump, Jarvan IV, Alistar, or any other initiator can save your team big time.

End game (15-18), is essentially the same tactics as the mid game. At this point you should have your core build ready, and be standing in the middle of teamfights, tanking towers, and being a gentleman. Your health regen rate with and the regen you get from max mana (defense mastery) will be out of control. Be sure to always have wards down, in case you need to steal baron.

Here is my ranked stats for Cho'Gath, I know its not a lot of games but I haven't played a lot of ranked this season, looking forward to it in S2.

Happy Cho'Smashing