I am NorthernRedStar, a diamond ranked player on both EUW and EUNE servers. I enjoy playing various PvP and PvE -oriented games, including League of Legends. This is my first guide on Mobafire. Vel'koz is one of my favorite and most-played supports, having an average KDA of 7.2 and + 60% win rate with him over season 4. He's a strong pick for anyone who wishes to carry games in either soloQ or ranked 5v5 due to his unique nature in the current bot lane meta. //Bragging rights. BACK TO TOP Pros & Cons Pros; + Superb kit synergy + Good amount of CC + True damage + Good ranges and animations + Low mana costs + Element of surprise Vel'Koz is a very versatile support who is largely independent from his lane partner. He has a very unique style of playing, being able to burst enemies, peel for his ADC and crowd control key targets, often at the same time. Despite played as support, he is able to deal equal amounts of damage compared to any mid laner even without similar focus on raw damage. This often ensures your team's combined damage is higher than the enemies'. VEL'KOZ, THE EYE OF THE VOID Cons; - Entirely skillshot reliant - CC disrupts his ultimate - No heals or fancy shields - Very squishy - Low mobility - Tentacle jokes On the flipside, Vel'Koz is definitely not the easiest support to play, especially later in the game. He's very immobile, so you have to position wisely and consider when to use your skills to their fullest. All of Vel'koz's skills are slower-than-average skillshots. If you don't have a steady, consistent aim, you're going to have big time trouble against some champions. Practise will lead to realizations that have a big impact on how you play Vel'koz. BACK TO TOP Q U I N T S ... Greater Quintessence of Ability Power increases your early-mid game damage against squishies. Since most ADCs have small amounts of magic resist, you will chunk them more with flat AP than magic penetration during the lane phase. Greater Quintessence of Armor helps you survive closer trades and utilize more basic attacks between trades. Against heavy poke or stronger burst, I like to take 1 or 2 of these instead of the extra AP. Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration makes poking down heavier supports and tankier ADCs, like Graves a lot easier. Your all-in and ultimate DPS will be noticeably stronger as well later in the game. Q U I N T S M A R K S Greater mark of hybrid penetration... Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: Vel'koz deals primarily huge amounts of magic damage and scales extremely well with bonus magic penetration. Helps shred the defenses of your enemies both early and late game alike. greater mark of hybrid penetration can used against melee supports who cannot trade back for the very first levels. However, the armor penetration part becomes almost a non-factor after lane phase. Greater Mark of Armor provides a safe lane phase, at the cost of your magic damage. The only reason they're a viable pick is because Vel'koz has both the CC and true damage to compensate. M A R K S S E A L S ... Greater Seal of Health: After the buff to seals that grant health, these have been used in place of armor ones for mages. You will have a HP pool of 527 at level 1, allowing you to take 2 extra basic attacks. Greater Seal of Armor can be used in conjunction with flat health to provide a balanced mix of survivability. Otherwise, they're easily replaced with the quints of the same type. Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration promotes the idea that you don't use basic attacks at all. You should be able to use your spells from afar with less mana problems during the lane phase. S E A L S G L Y P H S ... Greater Glyph of Ability Power: Pretty obvious choice for a support with heavy poke. The damage you cause to squishies grows by a decent margin. The lost magic resist can be substituted with items later on. Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration is more effective when dealing with tanky all-in -type supports, as you can easily turn the fight around on them if they engage and bypass their resistances. Greater Glyph of Magic Resist can be used against other poke supports who have potential to be able to trade with you from afar. Take 3 if you plan on combining with others. G L Y P H S

SKILL SEQUENCE . 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th Go to Abilities NRS BUILD NRS RSTART: . RCORE: K ROFFENSE: . RDEFENSE: RUTILITY: . RTRINKET: . Go to Itemization . RUNES . RMY SETUP: 2x 1x x2 RVIABLE: greater mark of hybrid penetration Go to Runes . MASTERIES . Click to view! Go to Masteries . SUMMONERS . & sporsp Go to Summoner Spells . MATCHUPS . RFAVORABLE: RHIT OR MISS: RSYNERGY: Go to Matchups

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Offense 10% cooldown reduction Ability power Damage modifier Utility Mana regeneration Movement speed Action modifiers Gold generation Item and Spell cooldown reduction

This is the one commonly used by me. This page neglects the protective bonuses from the defensive tree for stronger early game pressure. Summoner's Insight is a must-have for obvious reasons, whereas Wanderer acts as a replacement for Mobility Boots. We also a Phasewalker to save time during recalls and Scout for increased warding range. Overall, offers tools for both safe and aggressive playstyle.

Defense Health regeneration Expanded HP pool Flat damage reduction Utility Mana regeneration Movement speed Action modifiers Gold generation Item and Spell cooldown reduction

This is another mastery option, and the more common one used by supports like Nami and Janna. The added base HP combined with Block / Unyielding allow you to take roughly 1 more basic attack and Recovery grants you slightly faster healing capabilities. Both traits can be useful when being in the receiving end of heavy poke. On the other hand, Vel'Koz isn't one of those champions who need to visit the auto-attack range very often and should not end up being the one focused in fights. It's up to whether you are content in your abilities to position and avoid danger or not.

Offense 5% Cooldown reduction %-Damage modifiers Extra AP and enhanced basic attacks Hybrid penetration Utility Mana regeneration Movement speed Action modifiers

This is a bit riskier setup, as your actual gold income becomes more dependant on your gold income item. I'd recommend trying this against the tanky support cast; namely Thresh, Leona, Alistar and Braum. Against them you can definitely take an advantage of every little boost you can get, and 21 points in the offensive tree grant you a whopping 8% damage increase on targets who are under 50% health, which synergises nicely with your ultimate. The other noticeable downsides are that you only attain 5% CDR instead of 10% at level 1 and you lose your bonuses from Wanderer and Culinary Master . Instead of Fleet of Foot you can put points into Summoner's Insight , but this leaves you even more vulnerable in terms of mobility. This page is a viable choice to consider if you can utilize the early power it brings.

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	Flash
	>> Flash is mandatory on a non-mobile champion like Vel’koz that really benefits from the fast re-positioning. It can do so much for you; help catch up to an enemy to land that Plasma Fission, escape Jarvan IV's ultimate or any other lock-up skill and land an easy Life Form Disintegration Ray, dodge a crucial spell to earn a kill and many other things.

	Exhaust		Ignite
	>> Exhaust can really save you or someone else from that enemy Zed or Graves and turn the tables. It's basically the best counter to bursty assassins and AD caster-type ADCs. It can also function as an effective last-option escape and catch-up tool. On the rare chance I have to fill the mid lane, I use Exhaust against champions like Fizz and Zed, allowing you to buy a little time between cooldowns and kite backwards. Last, but not least, it can be used to force enemies to stay in the way of your skillshots.		>> Ignite is a spell I don't find myself using very often, partly due to the popularity of various assassins and bursty ADCs. Since Vel'koz will often be executing enemies from afar, the range of being able to ignite someone is also something to consider. The few cases I would pick it are against tanky healers or heal spammers, such as Taric, Alistar and Soraka. Otherwise, you'll benefit so much more from Exhaust.

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Organic Deconstruction (Passive)

Vel'koz's skills apply stacks of Organic Deconstruction for 7 seconds on every enemy hit. Upon attaining 3 stacks, they take 25 + (10 x Vel'koz's level) amount of true damage and the stacks are consumed. Basic attacks refresh the duration of the stacks. Stacks can be applied to multiple enemies at the same time.

Notes

Has no innate cooldown. Ignores all forms of damage reduction except temporary invulnerability. Vel'koz's every skill can apply more than 1 stack on a single enemy, safe for Tectonic Disruption.

Plasma Fission (Q)

Vel'koz fires a bolt of energy in a line, dealing magic damage and splitting in a 90¤ angle upon hitting an enemy, with 2 bolts going in opposite direction. Each enemy hit is also slowed by 70% for a few seconds. Vel'koz can reactivate the ability to split the bolt at will. Range: 1050 Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 Mana Cooldown: 7 Magic damage: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+ 60% AP) Slow duration: 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 seconds

Notes

Every bolt of energy that hits an enemy applies a stack of Organic Deconstruction, up to a total of 3 stacks. You can increase the range and hit rate by firing from unexpected places with the abuse of positioning and geometry. Aim towards a target and reactivate when they dodge to the side for maximum hit chance. You can apply 2 stacks to a single enemy by flinging them into the second bolt with Tectonic Disruption after they've already been hit once.

Void Rift (W)

Vel'koz opens a rift in the ground that proceeds forward in line, dealing magic damage to every enemy hit. After a 0.25 second delay, the rift explodes, dealing a second amount of magic damage to every enemy standing on it. Void Rift is charge-based, and Vel'koz stores a charge after a period of time that is affected by cooldown reduction. Maximum of 2 charges can be stored, and there's a static cooldown of 1.5 seconds between their uses. Range: 1050 Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 Mana + 1 Charge Recharge time: 19 / 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 Magic damage (1st hit): 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+25% AP) Magic damage (2nd hit): 45 / 75 / 105 / 135 / 165 (+37.5% AP) Total magic damage: 75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+62.5% AP)

Notes

Both parts of the skill apply a stack of Organic Deconstruction. To ensure that both parts of the skill hit the target, either Plasma Fission or Testonic Disruption is used in conjunction with it. Can be used to zone an enemy to force them to choose between 2 bad options, setting up another skill, or to prevent safe farming. Has no cast time and will stay on the ground even after Vel’koz dies.

Tectonic Disruption (E)

Vel'koz hurls an anomaly at target location, dealing magic damage to all enemies hit and knocking them up for 0.75 seconds. Any enemy close to Vel'koz is slightly pushed into the direction where the skill is fired. Range: 850 Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 Mana Cooldown: 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 Magic damage: 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+50% AP)

Notes

This skill is considered a projectile and it is blocked by Braum's Unbreakable and Yasuo's Wind Wall. The travel time is roughly 0.5 seconds. The knockup duration is affected by crowd control reduction, as it is counted as a stun. The closer the enemy hit, the further they’re knocked back.

Life Form Disintegration Ray (R)

Vel'koz roots himself and channels a huge laser up to 2.5 seconds, dealing damage to every enemy caught in the line every 0.25 seconds. This skill applies stacks of Organic Deconstruction every 0.5 seconds, up to a maximum of 5 stacks. Enemies hit are slowed by 20% for 1 second. Range: 1575 Cost: 100 Mana Cooldown: 130 / 110 / 90

Notes

Life Form Disintegration Ray cannot be blocked by skills and obstacles, including Yasuo's Wind Wall and Braum's Unbreakable (the % damage reduction still applies). You can cancel the ability after channeling for the first 0.5 seconds by recasting in order to freely move again. Spellshields will not block the entire ability because the damage packets are separate. Since it's a channeled ability, it can be interrupted by stuns, silences, displacements and Kassadin's Null Sphere.

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SKILLS/LEVELS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

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Plasma Fission

Void Rift

Tectonic Disruption

Life Form Disintegration Ray

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Q

E

W

Q

Q

R

Q

W

Q

W

R

W

W

E

E

R

E

E

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Take points in your ultimate, Life Form Disintegration Ray at levels 6, 11 and 16 respectively. Max Plasma Fission first, it’s your main poking tool and has greatest range with most flexibility. Second, max Void Rift over Tectonic Disruption for the damage and lower recharge time. The skill we're going to be using absolutely the most during the lane phase is Plasma Fission. While the cooldown doesn't decrease per rank, it still has easily the lowest recharge rate of all Vel'koz's skills. Also, the slow duration is increased from 1 second to 2 seconds when fully leveled, similarly to Lulu's Glitterlance. The base damage is the second highest out of the basic skills. As a small additional benefit, using Plasma Fission is less likely to push the lane when you don’t want to, since you can manipulate its track freely. We max Void Rift 2nd instead of Tectonic Disruption because it's our next most-used skill and the cooldown of the charges is reduced with each rank. At rank 5, Void Rift deals the highest amount of base damage out of the 3 basic skills and has the highest AP scaling, assuming both parts hit the enemy. This is also Vel'koz main wave-clear ability and the reason he's a strong sieger. When going mid lane, you’d usually max Void Rift first for maximal push and farm strength. Tectonic Disruption is our utility skill with the lowest damage and, as such, will be maxed last.

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		A very common start for a poke support. With the Wealth -mastery you're able to buy a Stealth Ward and 2 Health Potions, or replace the ward with 2 Mana Potions. I recommend grabbing 2 Mana Potions because, while Vel'koz has low mana costs, you will eventually run low on mana without extra mana regen. If you don't have mana, you're unable to protect yourself or your ADC and your kill potential drops exponentially. You should be able to net gold fast enough to be able to grab a Sightstone during the first recall to base, provided you poke actively.

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		Overall, there are three key statistics Vel'Koz benefits hugely from: CDR, mana regen and magic penetration. Maxing cooldown reduction allows more ultimate usages within shorter time span and makes it possible to out-duel almost anyone as long as you kite properly. Another reason CDR is the most important stat to build is its collaboration with Organic Deconstruction, granting access to more rapid output of resistance-ignoring damage. Magic penetration synergises better with your ultimate than ability power, due to its high base damage, and ensures you remain a threat to the enemy front line as well. Building mana regeneration lets you use your abilities every time they're available without the fear of running out of mana. And then we're definitely going to grab the must-buy item for every true support: Sightstone. Remember to swap your trinket to Sweeping Lens (preferably) or Scrying Orb (long range sniping, spotting Shaco, Evelynn doing camps etc.). Next we need to analyze our needs accordingly and build our next set of big ticket items. Oftentimes the next item I complete is Liandry's Torment. Why Liandry's Torment? Because the synergy it has with our ultimate and the rest of the kit is almost too good not to buy it every single game. Even tanks will greatly suffer from standing in your ultimate for the full duration. Throw in the rest of your spells and the whole enemy team will be low enough for your allies to have easy time cleaning them up. You can also opt to buy Haunting Guise and upgrade it later if you're in more dire need of other items at first hand. It's also advisable to update your second trinket into its further form as soon as you hit level 9 and have enough excess gold.	/ /

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>> Morellonomicon grants all the stats Vel'Koz needs and a nifty passive that cuts the healing of any carries by half. As such, I usually build an early Forbidden Idol for the mana regeneration and 10% CDR for early lead, which I can then finish into either Morello's or Mikael's Blessing. >> Void Staff is a must-buy in games where the enemy team has more than one tanky front liner and/or the carries build magic resistance too. >> Twin Shadows and Athene's Unholy Grail are situtional items that I SOMETIMES build for utility and stats (magic resistance/movement speed/AP), whereas Rabadon's Deathcap and Rylai's Crystal Scepter are items that, due to their luxury cost, cannot usually be bought very often, but can replace your gold income item at 6 items should the game last long enough. It's a choice between survivability/utility and raw damage.

>> Mikael's Blessing and Locket of the Iron Solari are items to build when the enemy team has a variety of crowd control and magical AoE damage at their disposal. Both provide safety not only for your teammates but, importantly, yourself as well. The actives can craftily be used to survive a close encouter that'd kill you on spot. After all, a dead Vel'Koz is a huge drawback for his team. >>By contrary, Zhonya's Hourglass and Banshee's Veil are selfish items that are used to ensure one's own survival in a fight. If the enemy Lee Sin is constantly trying to Insec you into their team, it might be efficient to grab Banshee for the shield. On the other hand, Zhonya's stats and active come in useful when trying to buy seconds against an assassin -heavy team with champions such as Rengar or Master Yi, who you will attract due to your teamfighting potential.

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Overview

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Vel'Koz doesn’t have any real hard counters in current bot lane meta - he has the tools and means to walk over every other support. Key to succesfully laning with Vel'koz is making sure you hit most of your spells. However, as fun as spamming your purple unearthly magic is, remember to keep an eye on your mana bar. If you don't have enough mana to repel a gank with AT LEAST one E, you might find yourself in deep trouble. Frequently using your Q for harass doesn't eat a whole lot mana, but you have to think when it's worth pulling a quick W+E(+W) combo. Not only does it seep a noticeable amount your mana pool, but it also functions as both your heavy poke / all-in combination AND escape mechanism. As soon as you have more mana regen and CDR you can feel pretty carefree to spam abilities at your opponents - with a grain of salt. Your first job when you enter the lane, is to help your ADC push to gain a level up before the enemy bot lane. Vel'koz's spells really cut down the enemy's HP bar early, so while pace poke between hitting the minions. If you get a level up first, you want to go more aggressive.

Vel'koz has high kill potential from level 2 upwards, whereas at level 1, you want to focus on being a constant spike in the enemy's backside by spamming and hitting Plasma Fission. You and your ADC have time for a few free attacks whenever you catch someone with Tectonic Disruption, so make use of that when you pressure and scare the enemy off the lane, or aim for a kill. The key to succesful early game is balancing right amount of aggression and respect for the enemy (=not getting too cocky and careless).

Vel'koz is extremely irritating for every enemy ADC to lane against - even more so without a sustaining support. Just remember to never use your E on an ADC that hasn't used his dash ( Relentless Pursuit, Quickdraw, etc.) first by baiting it out with an item activation or Q. The most dangerous marksmen to your well-being are Graves and Vayne, albeit both can be even outdueled late game (tested and confirmed).

Vel’koz holds 2 things over Leona and Thresh: He can safely poke them while not exposing himself, and he has tools to disengage his ADC (and himself) from them, or simply blow them up if they are too careless. His true damage also bypasses especially Leona’s durability, making the poke and ultimate hit harder even on her. Be careful to not get engaged upon yourself, it's always easier to peel for others than yourself. Sometimes it can be wise to hold on to your Tectonic Disruption and Void Rift if you don't have any idea where the enemy jungler is. They're not only your best tools to repel gankers, but also a chance to turn the gank around on the ganker. When the enemy jungler ganks, try to separate the laners from him/her with Plasma Fission. Then use Void Rift + Tectonic Disruption to chunk their health with Organic Deconstruction. Remember to keep auto-attacking (stutter stepping) between spells and when your spells are on cooldown to maximize your damage output. If the enemy jungler doesn't give up at this point, your Q should be upt again, so ping him and lauch the projectile at him to prevent easy escape. Use Exhaust or Ignite to burn their Flash or secure a kill.

In short, your task during the lane phase:

• Constantly pressure the opposing ADC and/or support to make them lose CS.
  
• Make sure your ADC feels is able to farm to the best of his/her ability by zoning the enemy bot lane and granting vision.
  
• Punish enemy mistakes when possible by
  - killing an enemy champion
  - taking an objective
  - denying enemy an objective or kill

> Buffs and Dragon > Towers > Baron Nashor > Inhibitors > Enemy Nexus

After you feel your ADC can handle himself alone at bot lane and you see a good chance to roam to mid lane, do it. You can roam earlier if you see benefit in doing so (adding pressure / helping relieve pressure from mid lane), just make sure your ADC doesn't have to hold the lane alone for long periods of time. Alternatively, you may see an enemy support roam towards mid lane. Remember to AT LEAST warn your own mid laner, and if circumstances permit, follow the enemy support. After the first bot lane tower has been annihilated, next step is usually trying to take the mid one if it's not down already. Remember you are one of the responsible players who can make the dragon calls when you see an opportunity - when there's a time window after roams or enemy bot lane has just recalled for example. If and when you get ahead in lane, remember you can make your and your jungler's life easier by warding parts of the enemy jungle. THIS IS NOT something limited to mid game and is highly, HIGHLY advantageous to your team because it allows your teammates and yourself to make plays and anticipations on the enemy plays. This is HOW you snowball your lead for th entire team. Even still, this is not always possible, and presents danger to your own character if the enemy team has vision or knowledge of your movements (or you just happen to be unlucky - prime case: Evelynn).

In teamfights, you want to position yourself at the backline, peeling the would-be-attackers of your carries and yourself, while obliterating entire enemy teams with your properly timed ultimates. Choose wisely when it's the right time to ultimate, as completely failing it may cost you that teamfight, whereas a perfect one will usually result in turning the tide heavily in your favor. Sometimes though, there won’t even more many teamfights due to your ability to poke and pick off single targets, similar to Ziggs, ideally followed by fast and efficient objective securing. Vel'Koz transitions into an excellent sieger and counter-sieger for late game, thanks to his fast and efficient wave clearing and long-range poke. The enemy often has to retaliate moving in a straight line from under their tower, providing chances for easy multi-enemy-hitting ultimates and chain-CC:ing to provide efficient cleanup for your team's carries. On the opposite, Vel'koz is perfect for repelling enemy sieging attempts while keeping them on their toes. He's got his chance at being able to steal Barons and Dragons as well, by taking an advantage of the sudden burst provided by his passive, Organic Deconstruction and the massive base damage of Life Form Disintegration Ray.

If I had to classify Vel'Koz, he would fulfill the requirements for being both poke and all-in type of support, effectively being a “control”-type of support. You are the one who makes the lane as easy as possible for the ADC player without needing his help at it - because you can. By 8-10 minutes, it's not uncommon for my ADC to be leading by 20-30 CS. That is the power of Vel'koz.

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Due to the nature of Vel'Koz's laning phase, he doesn’t exactly have problems laning with any ADCs, but xdefinitely has better cooperation with a select few. Preferably, you'd own a partner that has a strong early xxxgame, doesn't lack in the mobility department or has a way to compliment it, and packs decent burst. Here is a list of the ADCs that, in my opinion, have great cooperation and synergy with Vel'koz.

P R O S

+ Strong burst and all-ini + Easy follow-up

- Short range & little poke - No complimentary CC

C O N S

P R O S

+ Potent poke combinationi + Fast pushing ability

- Weaker all-in - Snowball -reliant

C O N S

P R O S

+ Versatile and flexiblei + Crowd control combination

- Low mobility - Less safe - Three skill shots

C O N S

P R O S

+ Superb burst and all-ini + Fast follow-up

- Short range & little poke - Tough when behind

C O N S

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Leona easy difficulty This can be an easy lane or a tough lane. If you’re able to keep her on her toes by constantly hitting your Q on either one of them, they’ll be constantly too low to engage safely. Harass with Q, spare the rest of your combo in case she decides to jump on your AD carry. This way, you have an easy chance to turn the fight around and blow her summoner spells or maybe even grab a kill. At level 3, hitting all your spells should take off about half her health due to your true damage passive. You should never allow Leona to engage on yourself, as (inexperienced) ADCs usually somewhat panic when Leona initiates, and forget to peel and kite (especially in lower ranks). Their kits are not nearly as effective at turning around the engage as yours and you’re squishier than they are. Should you be engaged on by Leona, try to time your E on yourself to interrupt her combo (there’s a slight delay between the hit and landing of Zenith Blade. Key points: You have all the time between levels 1 to 3 to harass her as much as you possibly can to prevent successful and safe engages. If she’s stupid enough to initiate a fight when she’s at half health, kill her. Leona doesn’t fall behind as badly as many other supports, so it’s adviced to not get too careless when getting ahead, as she can still make sure one of you dies. Consider taking Ignite for this matchup.

Thresh easy difficulty Pretty similar to Leona, but squishier and hence much easier to have your poke stick onto. If you get hooked though, you’re dead even more likely than if you get stunned by Leona, unless you burn a flash. This lane is very easy to control at early levels due to Vel’koz outranging Thresh and being able to safely harass him and his lane partner. You should be able to zone them away from the experience range since Thresh’s only hope of getting a proper engage is hitting a hook. You can also push the wave to their tower to noticeably reduce the space between which he can try landing his hooks. If he pulls the jungler with Dark Passage, aim Tectonic Disruption just in front of him to knock them both back. Thresh’s best hope for engage is coming close enough to use his Flay first to set up a clean Death Sentence. This should never happen without being punished. Thresh is at his strongest in lane if you let him do as he pleases from early on without punishing his positioning and mistakes. Regarding itemization, it’s good idea to try and grab Mikael's Blessing as early as possible. Frost Queen's Claim's active is good at stopping his engage attempts in their tracks. Key points: If Thresh takes Death Sentence at level 1, you can out-trade him using autos alone due to SE’s passive. If he takes Flay it’s advisable to not try trading autos with him unless he went Relic Shield path. Landing a combo on engaging Thresh is extremely easy and chunks his HP bar. Do not break the walls of The Box to avoid huge bursts of damage, instead focus on trying to dish out as much burst as possible before going down (unless you have Flash).

Morgana easy difficulty Vel’koz is an extraordinary lane matchup against Morgana. It is really hard to hit a binding on Vel’koz that doesn’t get too greedy. Unlike against Thresh and Leona though, getting hit by their spells doesn’t mean you can’t return some of your own. Her Black Shield DOES NOT block true damage, and the base protection amount is only big enough to block one of your spells. It can’t, and it won’t, hold for long against your ultimate. In fact, Vel’koz’s pure kit overdamages the shield vastly, which almost negates the skill’s existence altogether. Finish her or her ADC off under their tower with your ultimate. If you have trouble dodging her Dark Binding, you can always try pushing the lane under their tower to take away her free space. Key points: Morgana’s early levels are extremely weak, and she is essentially useless if she doesn’t hit her Dark Binding, providing easy harass chances for you with little-to-no retaliation. You can quickly destroy her Black Shield to combo the target up as any other champion.

Braum medium difficulty Keep away from your own minions and keep poking when he has used his Relic Shield stacks. True damage is the best counter to Braum alongside heavy poke, and you got both. He’s still one of the tankiest supports and will not go down quickly unless you’re playing Vayne/Vel’koz lane. It’s essential to avoid getting any stacks of Concussive Blows being applied to you against ADCs like Lucian and Graves who can quickly turn it into a kill or summoner burn. Braum himself has no escapes though, so baiting him into using his Stand Behind for initiate before a jungler gank or counterengage is super effective. Remember that while Braum's shield may not block your ultimate, the damage is still cut by 1/3! Consider taking Ignite for this matchup. Key points: Baiting out Braum's Unbreakable before bringing out the bigger guns is important. He can't engage on you as long as you're mindful of your positioning in lane.

Karma moderate difficulty Unless you’re playing a sustain champion, Karma's always a b1tch to lane against. Her poke power is slightly stronger than yours early, and she also has a failsafe escape with her Inspire. However, your burst becomes much stronger than hers as the game progresses. Keep in mind that she can root you from roughly AA-range and shield damage if you’re trying to finish off on the laners. Karma herself is squishy, so turning around a careless engage attempt can be deadly for her. Key points: Avoid standing next to your minions to avoid the AoE of her Soulflame. Karma has no real ultimate, meaning her power doesn’t spike the same way others do at level 6. If you’re able to make it through the lane phase without casualties, you’re in good spot.

Nami medium difficulty Playing against Nami is like playing against a Thresh who doesn't have to come close to pose a threat. Because her Aqua Prison lasts as long as the stun from Death Sentence, it's advisable to avoid it at any cost. This is easier than it sounds due to Vel'koz's spells vastly outranging those of Nami's. Keep in mind that extended trades in closer range will go in her favor thanks to Ebb and Flow's heal and Tidecaller's Blessing being an AA-modifier. Be especially careful in lane if her ADC is Caitlyn, as Yordle Snap Trap wombo-comboes nicely with the bubble and she can easily proc the 3 hits from Tidecaller's Blessing. Key Points: Nami is relatively squishy early, and if she doesn't take her heal at level 1, you really hurt her. Constantly having to heal herself or her ADC will quickly burn through her mana pool, so keeping her on her toes from level 1 onwards can quickly snowball into zoned out or dead enemies. Consider taking Ignite for this matchup to counter her heal.

Lulu medium difficulty Lulu is a relatively tame opponent pre-6. As long as you don't make prolonged trades with her by staying in her AA range, you should come out top. Poking at her ADC forces her to shield some of the damage, making her run out of mana a lot faster than you if she wants to try and poke. You are in a pretty good position before that. Post-6 you have to be extra careful and think twice when is the optimal time window to use your ultimate. Lulu has 2 spells that can interrupt the channel immediately, and a wise Lulu will spare one of those for you in 2v2 situations. Wild Growth can also be used to save someone from dying when using Life Form Disintegration Ray as a finisher. In teamfights, it's relatively wise to wait until you have enough free space and distance before firing off. Think of her as a potentially more dangerous version of Morgana that was modified to make your life hard. Key points: Stay away for her spell and AA range, constantly pressure her lane partner early and make her waste her mana. Be extra careful about jungler ganks, Lulu has an extraordinary utility to provide for them.

Alistar moderate difficulty Alistair is not a difficult lane at all as long as you stay away far enough from his tower and poke his ADC full of holes while he can't do anything about it since his Headbutt range is easily avoidable. If you get caught, don't panic, he has nothing on you after using his combo, so turn the fight around on his ADC, or calmly disengage with Tectonic Disruption. True damage works wonders against every tanky support and Alistair is no exception, even if he shouldn't be your primary target. He has no mobility outside his only engage, so kiting is rather easy. The time you should be worrying about Alistair is late game, and his potential of interrupting your ultimate at key moments, so stay somewhat separated from your team's other carries and wait until his skills are on cooldown before starting the channel. Key Points: Do not get too greedy and stay out of his combo-range. Consider taking Ignite to counter his heal and tankiness. Let him make his move first in teamfights. Unbreakable Will does NOT reduce true damage.

Zyra Medium difficulty Zyra is a very mana hungry support early that needs to hit level 3 before she's able to effectively pressure the enemy lane. Her Grasping Roots is rather easy to dodge unless it's aimed at you point-blank, but her Deadly Bloom is trickier to dodge (she won't usually max this skill first, so it's not a big deal). You'll be most likely taking the most damage from her plants, so try to either take them down quickly, or move away from their range. The plants are her biggest asset against you, as they have potential to set you up for further chain-CC or damage, so do your best to avoid the slow applied by the melee ones. A good Zyra will seed the plants in a position where they will have space to mostly attack you instead of minions. Anyways, since she's very squishy and lacks a proper zoning tool at level 1 (0.75-second root doesn't really scare on its own), you have a noticeable advantage. Once you catch her in your Tectonic Disruption, it's pretty much Flash or dead for her. As the game goes on and she starts to gather levels and her combo becomes as deadly as yours, but slower to execute, giving you time to disengage or retaliate. Be mindful of her ultimate, Stranglethorns in bigger fights, as it may go unnoticed beneath all the champions, and cancel your ultimate. The most annoying aspect of this matchup is probably the fact that her plants can block your Plasma Fission in certain situations. One effective way post-6 is hiding in their lane bush after securing it of wards, and combo her with all your skills as she ventures close enough. This is usually enough to kill her in one rotation if she doesn't get medical aid. Key points: Squishier than you early, she has no way out of your combo without summoner spells and vice versa against you. Has no heals or flat-out utility spells, but her plants provide her tools to zone and pressure. Her ultimate is very strong in teamfights, but the knockup is rather easy to dodge in lane. This lane will quickly snowball if you give up an early kill or two. Likewise, if they fall behind, you'll have much easier time executing her.

Blitzcrank medium difficulty Blitzcrank is quite possibly the most dangerous enemy support you’re going to face. There are good and bad Blitzcranks. You can’t afford mistakes when against the former because the advantage will quickly snowball against you. You want to avoid feeding any kills at all costs. If you get grabbed, you’ll be forced to burn a summoner unless you’re able to quickly combo the enemy ADC away from you. If you’re playing Graves or Lucian, expect massive burst the moment you get grabbed. So, how to avoid getting grabbed? Staying behind minions is not going to be a permanent solution, you need to ram at the enemy hard at level 1 and harder when the Rocket Grab is on cooldown. You cannot give the benefit of doubt away, you have to make both of them too scared to engage. Missing too many Qs can be fatal, and missing E is not an option. It may be very hard to aim at a speeding Blitzcrank with Boots of Mobility, though, you’ll have to rely on Frost Queen's Claim for a hard slow. Key Points: Never, ever let a Blitzcrank run at you in lane without retaliating. If he grabs your ADC, be prepared to quickly block his ADC from proceeding to follow up. Pre-6 this lane is easier, but post-6 it will be harder to due the ultimates granting burst and the added silence to enemy repertoire, which can interrupt your ultimate’s channel. Some bastards save Static Field just for you in late game tamfights if they’re not stopped in time.

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Vel'Koz is an exceptional support in teamfights. He is able to both peel the frontline for his carries, and help decimate the backline - largely thanks to his ultimate, Life Form Disintegration Ray. You want to secure your carries' safety first by using your basic skills for peel. After seeing an opening where enemies are tighly packed up in line or pile, it's time to fire the laser. Ideally, you're able to hit both the enemy frontline and backline. If your frontline is doing a heavy engage, you want to follow up with the laser as soon as the enemies' key players are CC'd by an ability like Unstoppable Force or Cyclone, and then chase further with the rest of your kit. In terms of positioning, usually a support is required to position somewhere close to the middle of the fight in order to reach all allies in need of help, and enemies in need of locking down. When playing Vel'koz, your positioning should be more akin to that of a traditional APC. You're one of the best damage dealers in your team even with few items and dying early in a fight is a major setback for your allies.




Sometimes the game is very even and straight-up 5v5 fights can go either way. Maybe the enemy's frontline is strong and mobile enough ( Irelia, Jarvan IV) to cause you major problems while yours lacks any real beef to stand out? This is where Vel'koz's independance shines. With enough vision, preventing enemy vision, and pulling off a succesful chain of abilities you're able to decimate a squishy or take off a good chunk of bruiser's health bar. Killing an enemy is not always needed to fulfill the goal in mind.

First Scenario The game is stalemated with both team having only outer base turrets and inhibitors left. Both teams know that someone getting caught will lead to a loss. Both teams head for the baron, as gaining the buff at this point will grant a considerable advantage due to the sieging boost. Our team makes it first and clears the site of all enemy wards. I have warded the enemy top side jungle, so I know they're on their way through the blue buff side. I am unsure whether we're able to win a flat-out 5v5. The enemy team does not plant any wards to the banana brush's side of the jungle, and the enemy Lux ventures too close to the wall with only Shyvana being near her (their support being Braum). I quickly take the chance and use Frost Queen's Claim's active, Plasma Fission ensuring Void Rift hits her 2 times, followed by a quick Life Form Disintegration Ray, leaving a dead Lux under 1.5 seconds with no chance to retaliate and Shyvana being chunked to almost half health. The enemy team backs off, knowing they can't contest without the AoE-damage from Lux unavailable and theit tank at not being at anywhere full health. Easy Baron for us, afterwards we finish the game. Priority target: Enemy APC

Second Scenario In another scenario the enemy team has already started Baron Nashor, because our top lane had been seen farming at bot lane. I know he won't make it in time to contest the buff fairly. Good for me, I had placed a ward inside the pit earlier that they had missed. Their jungler is J4 and he is tanking the Baron, gradually taking him lower on health. At this point, I have almost full build myself with lots of magic penetration, so I fire my ultimate at him, catching him by complete surprise, killing him in cooperation with Baron Nashor and preventing a secure by Smite. My mid laner starts clashing with their top laner, keeping him busy, leaving their Lucian, Nami and Ziggs without protection, with Lucian being somewhat separated. I quickly combo up Lucian, baiting the dash out with Frost Queen, leaving him open for Tectonic Disruption and everything that follows, taking him down to 1/5 health. My ADC comes in just in time to clean him up and together with our now-arriving top laner we finish the rest of their team, proceed to finish down Baron Nashor (who was around 2k HP at this point) and wrap up the game. Priority target: Enemy jungler

Vi

Vi provides an uninterruptable way to engage on you while preventing you from retaliating long enough. She can also displace you with her Q and shreads your armor. Don't venture too close to her while she has her ultimate up, she can cover an amazing distance onto you with her Vault Breaker into Cease and Desist. Her lane ganks are really hard to avoid, your best bet is to try and interrupt her dash mid-travel (with Tectonic Disruption) to prevent her getting in range for her ultimate. Exhaust her before her ultimate damages you to survive longer.

2 seconds of being stunned. 'Nuff said. With Trinity Force she’s able to largely finish you off before you’re able to cast any spells. Her Bladesurge has a ridiculous range and her innate tankiness combined with CC-reduction means you can’t kite her for long by yourself. Avoid getting caught off away from your teammates and pray she doesn't get fed.

Irelia

Orianna

One of the best AoE 'n siege mages in the current meta game. She can effectively pressure and zone you further from your allies and her frontline with her ball, while providing massive utility for her teammates to both survive your burst and catch up to you. Avoid being in the middle of the events and escape enemy frontline's attention at all costs. If you're in range, Exhaust her just as her ultimate is about to hit you and/or your allies to spare lives. Biggest factor: Command: Shockwave.

Puncturing Taunt

Perhaps the most dangerous ganker during the lane phase. Has much easier time dodging your spells than the rest of the junglers, and keeps you locked up for his teammates should he reach you. You need deeper vision to make sure his speed doesn't catch you off-guard and in-game eye to hit your spells during his Powerball. Use Frost Queen's Claim to make him an easier target in order to save teammates and yourself.

Rammus

Riven

Her kit just overflows with mobility and CC-on-demand, your worst enemies. She can quickly take you down when she gets the chance, and forces you to stick to your teammates to survive. It’s extremely hard to outduel / outkite a capable Riven, she's a high contender to be your most dangerous enemy. One of the only ways to ensure hitting her is aiming your knockup directly beneath yourself when she closes in. Remember Wind Slash when you're low in teamfights.

As a support, placing wards at strategic key points is one of your most important tasks. You can't illuminate the whole map after the season 4 changes, so you have to make the best out of 3 Stealth Wards and 1 Vision Ward.

Buying a Sightstone, and later a Ruby Sightstone, not only makes this easier since it grants you 4-5 wards every time you return to base, allowing you to change the locations of your wards without paying extra, while also retaining you a few for situations where you might need them (chasing through bushes, getting chased, contesting Dragon or Nashor).




The List (Changelog):
- Adding a full chapter on how to properly use Vel'koz's kit during the lane phase, skirmishes, roaming and teamfights.
- Reassembling the gameplay chapters.