Hi! I am an UNRANKED (probably mid-Bronze at best? I should do placements) player who not only hasn't ever played Ivern before - even on countless ARAM games - but don't even own the guy. I do however play on 200+ ping because I accidentally created my account on the NA server. Of course, this makes me very qualified to write an Ivern guide. Ivern is a very unique champion both in-game and lore-wise, and certainly isn't easy to pick up, but I hope that this guide somehow helps you to become better at playing Ivern.

Why SHOULD you play Ivern?

• Environmentally friendly.If you are a die-hard environmentalist, it's hard to find champions that suit your ideology quite like Ivern.
  
• Can spam brushes anywhere, from base to Baron.
• You get to have a friend through your ult to keep you company when you are lonely.

So far so good, but are there any reasons Ivern may not be the one for you?

[*] If you are anti-environment, this is one champion you want to avoid.
[*] If you like hurting jungle monsters, avoid Ivern.
[*] If you want to flame your team, Ivern may not be appropriate because he is a jolly chap.

You may find this hard to believe, but Legend of Leagues is a TEAM game. This means you'll need to work with other human players to win (unless you're stuck in bronze with botted support accounts). As such, here are some champions that synergise particularly well with Ivern.

• Maokai and Zyra makes for a very pro-environment trio and should be prioritised as allies at all costs.
• If facing an all-human enemy team, consider Nidalee as she can act as a diplomat between you and your nature friends, and the enemy human team. It's also good for more hidden Bushwacks I guess?
• Rengar can go ballistic by leaping out of your bushes.

And here are champions you must be wary of if they are summoned by the enemy team (yeah I come from the old days of this game).

• Annie and Brand will burn your side of the jungle down and destroy the environment :(
• Cho'Gath and, to a lesser extent, Kog'Maw will eat up your monster friends.
• Rengar on the enemy team can exploit your brushes against you.

Resolve is taken as the primary rune. This is mainly for the Guardian rune, which fits Ivern's role as guardian of nature perfectly. Overgrowth is also essential to promote rapid reforestation.

I chose Sorcery as the secondary rune mainly for Gathering Storm. As time passes, your anti-environment enemies will get stronger, so you need to keep up with them.

Ability haste is essential so you can spam even more brushes for faster reforestation.

It's still 2012 right?

At the start, choose Refillable Potion. This is the least wasteful starting item, certainly wasting less plastic than multiple health potions. Ivern is a pro-peace individual, so avoid offensive items such as Long Sword or Dark Seal. Avoid Doran's Shield at all costs as it is made out of wood and you can't hurt your tree friends like that.

You can pick any boot you want EXCEPT Boots of Swiftness because if you look at the art, you'll see that particular brand of shoes uses feathers, meaning animal abuse. That goes against Ivern's principles. I chose Boots of Mobility for rushing around the map to aid monster friends in need, but Ionian Boots of Lucidity is probably the better choice to spam brushes actually. I'm just too lazy to go back and edit it right now.

Force of Nature is your most important item, and the name kinda speaks for itself. Knight's Vow allows you to protect monster friends such as Baron (well no it doesn't, but if you have belief in yourself maybe). Stridebreaker allows you to break the strides of anti-environmentalists and gives you a damage boost for retribution kills, as does Youmuu's Ghostblade. Staff of Flowing Water is good to harness the power of nature in river fights.

AVOID Warmog's because that is made out of wood >:(

I'll be real here: I only know Ivern's W and R by heart and can't be bothered to search the other two right now. So I'll focus on W and R.

W is your key ability in this build, because you will spam brushes to promote reforestation. It also serves as an emergency stealth bunker against anti-environmentalists out to kill you. Keep spamming W the whole game, and be prepared to run out of mana if needed. Your mana is not as important as the trees.

R summons Daisy, your friend. Basically non-fire Tibbers in a sense. Use him in teamfights, but also if you just feel lonely.

That's it for this very uninformative Ivern guide! Thanks for reading and leave your thoughts in the comments, as well as suggestions for who I should make a guide on next.