This is a guide to AD kog'maw. He can be the biggest single target AD damage dealer late game, if played and geared right. So let's get started!

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When the prophet Malzahar was reborn in Icathia, he was led there by an ominous voice which thereafter anchored itself to his psyche. From within, this voice bestowed upon him terrible purpose, and though Malzahar was no longer tormented by its call, the voice did not cease its unrelenting summons. This baleful beacon's gentle flicker -- now fastened to Runeterra -- drew forth a putrid beast that ambled across a threshold it did not understand, widening a fissure between spaces which were never meant to meet. There amongst the haunting ruins of Icathia, Kog'Maw manifested in Valoran with unsettling curiosity. The spark which led him to Runeterra teased him still, urging him gently towards Malzahar. It also encouraged him to familiarize himself with his new environment, to the stark horror of everything he encountered on his journey.
The enchanting colors and aromas of Runeterra intoxicated Kog'Maw, and he explored the fruits of the strange world the only way he knew how: by devouring them. At first he sampled only the wild flora and fauna he happened across. As he traversed the parched Tempest Flats, however, he came upon a tribe of nomads. Seemingly unhampered by conventional rules of physics, Kog'Maw consumed every nomad and any obstacles they put in his way, amounting to many times his own mass and volume. The most composed of his victims may have had time to wonder if this was due to the caustic enzymes which stung the ground as they dripped from his gaping mouth, although such musings were abruptly concluded. When his wake of catastrophe reached the Institute of War, an enthusiastic Malzahar greeted him with an enticing prospect: taste the best Runeterra could offer…on the Fields of Justice.

"If that's just hungry, I don't want to see angry." –- Tryndamere, the Barbarian King

Pro:
- Great harassing
- Very high single target damage late game
- Very high range
- Tank shredder pur sang
- Passive allowing you to damage (and kill) enemies after you have died
- You are a walking bug that spits on enemies!
- When skinned shoots actual fireworks!

Con:
- Squishy as hell
- Weak early game
- Lack of decent escape mechanics
- Countered fairly hard with MR

First up: Items.

You are gonna start of with Boots and several health potions. This is to both help you survive early game, and keep you in your lane just a bit longer. Don't let yourself get zoned because you lost 2-3 bars of hp, pop that arcane barrage and go back to harassing.

When you come back you should have saved up enough for both Berserker's Greaves and Zeal. You should now be able to easily get yourself out of range from fighters and assassins who got the jump on you. A slow kog is a dead kog, so remember to buy these for movement speed.

Afterwards, you should be finishing your Phantom Dancer , and maybe get your Madred's Razors as well. This will allow you to get minions out of the way quickly, as well as getting red buff without having to recall.

You will then finish Madred's Bloodrazor since this is THE Kog'maw item in game. It's synergy with your Bio-Arcane Barrage is unbelievable, and makes you the biggest tank shredder in game. An aditional 10% of your target's hp converted into magic damage (at Rank 5), is massive. Your opponents will have to build both armor and MR to fully counter you, so kill them while they're catching up.

The game should be near completion now, I tend to get a Zeke's Harbinger first, but you could also build defensive by now. Look at your opponents for what to buy: Annie is quite fed, comboing everyone she sees, means get a Banshee's Veil . Is there a Xin Zhao tearing up your hp, get a Frozen Heart. Remember though, your range is your biggest defensive advantage, so use it.

Lastly, you could get a Malady. I agree it's synergy is great with Kog'maw, and should help you shred even harder. I don't feel it being prioritized over your PD, MB or even Zeke's Harbinger, because they give you the most benefit, and you need them now before later. But it is a nice item though, and could be considered earlier, just not my usual item.

Runes are pretty straight forward:

Arpen marks are needed to buff your Barrage, by cutting opponent's MR. There simply is no alternative to these, so get them!

In seals, I take Alacrity. More attacks, equal more damage, equal more rape. You shouldn't have that many mana issues, because you will hardly ever use your A/Q, and your E is also very situational.

Your glyphs are pretty much what you feel like. I've seen Kog's get AP, some more AS, but I believe MR to be the best. This will make you just a tiny bit less squishy, which you need, A LOT!

As for quints, you really should go for alacrity. Remember the passive on your Q? This gives you just that, without even getting rank 1 spittle. Great use both early and late game!

My masteries are quite different from others, in the way that others go for more utility, while I basically go all out offensive.

Your positioning and map control should be all you need to be safe, and since you're shooting from way back, you might as well do that with some extra firepower. Havoc increases your damage by an extra 4%, and you get extra AS, AD and both armor and MR reduction!

In your utility tree, get awareness to get your skills faster, and make those first 5 levels just a bit shorter. We do not want to be underleveled, or stay too long below level 6.

Pretty easy: ALWAYS max your ulti: Living Artillery. Not only does it do more damage now, it's range also gets much bigger, enabling you to get kills from afar. (Use it on low hp enemies fleeing the battlescene)

Your W/Z: Bio-Arcane Barrage, is your main ability, so always max that when you can. As with your R, it's range AND damage increases, so make use of both of them. You should always have barrage up in fights.

Q/A: Caustic Spittle comes second, it's passive gives your more AS, and it's active lower's enemy defenses. The active is quite low range, so you will hardly use it besides getting red buff, debuffing baron / dragon / overzealous tanks, or 1-1.

Your E: Void Ooze is a pure caster ability, so unless you are playing AP kog, just get it once on level 3-4 (depending your playstyle). Max this last, but use this to slow enemies when you can get a kill, or when you can save your teammates by slowing enemy champions.

In my opinion, kog'maw is not really a great sololaner. So leave that to the big bad AP mage, or the big tanky dps. You are a ranged AD carry, who is especially squishy early game. So I advice you best go duolane with some sort of a babysitter. Janna, Sona, Soraka, any support is nice basically.

If you aren't grouping with a support, at least make sure your buddy has some sort of CC, since you lack escape mechanics, and that extra stun / snare / slow could help you get some kills as well.

If you have no real midlane player in your team, or that brand just sucks too much, I suppose you could go midlane. But it's not something I like to do with kog. There are much better alternatives available for midlane, so take those for midlaning.

Early game: Play defensive! You are not yet powerful enough to do heavy damage, like say a Vayne. Just sit back, harass with Barrage, get creeps, and wait for level 6.
After this you should be harrassing hard with both Bio-Arcane Barrage as Living Artillery. Your R hits quite hard now, so try to get a few of them off on enemy champions. Wait for it to cooldown tho, so that it doesn't cost you 80-120-160 mana for following artilleries.

Mid game: Teamfights are commencing, remember to stay in back. When both teams are just looking at one another, use the range on your ult to your advantage. Cripple them before the actual fight starts. This gives your team quite the benefit when it does come to a teamfight.

Late game: Don't ever go out by yourself. You are one squishy bug and while it is possible to kill 2 heroes by yourself, you will die if they get the jump on you. So stay clear, scout bushes with your R, and give the enemy team hell from afar. Pop your Barrage as much as possible (while in combat) and you shouldn't have too many problems getting kills.

Remember your passive: when you see you are going to die, it might be beneficial to damage an enemy champion so much that it becomes possible for your passive to kill them. Don't forget to blow up in their faces when you die!

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21-08-2011: Tossed Runes around a bit.