I AM CURRENTLY LEARNING HOW TO DO BBCODING TO MAKE THIS GUIDE PRETTIER. IN THE MEAN TIME, PLEASE OVERLOOK THE UGLINESS AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE INFORMATION

Hi and welcome to my Ekko guide. A little about me: I have been playing League since Season 6 but never really had much time for ranked until Season 7. A couple months after I started playing I picked up Ekko and immediately fell in love. Why listen to me? I have been an Ekko main for about 2 years, and I currently currently have a 73% win rate with him him in ranked, so I guess I'm doing something right. I have put a lot of time and effort into this guide so I if it helped, please give it an upvote :) In this guide I will cover Ekko's laning phase, match ups, power spikes, item builds and abilities. However, this is NOT they only way to play this champion. Every champion has different builds and different strengths that you can play around. How you play depends on the matchups and team comp as well as your PERSONAL PREFERENCE AND PLAYSTLYE. Play how you feel comfortable, don't force yourself to play a certain way because that's what a guide said to do. Now just because there are multiple ways to play him doesn't mean they will result in a win or a good time. I've found this way of playing and building to be very successful and super fun and I hope you will too. Without further ado, lets jump into the guide!

Pros + Snowball's well + Very mobile + Slippery + AOE stun with Parallel Convergence + HUGE mid game power spike + Chronobreak makes him VERY hard to kill Once Ekko gets to the mid game he is a powerhouse. He roams well, and can one shot ADC's faster than you can blink. The tank's haven't gotten a super tanky yet so you still deal a ton of damage to them. You're ultimate ( Chronobreak) makes it nearly impossible for them to shut you down so you can keep on snowballing. Landing Parallel Convergence on the enemy back line basically guarantees a team fight. Once you get to the mid game and start picking up kills you just snowball so hard its unreal. You will go from like 2/1 to 10/1 in 5 minutes.

Cons - Weak early game - Has trouble catching up when behind - Very item dependent - Getting hard CC'd basically means you die. - Starts to fall off late game (around 50 minutes) - Project Ekko's hair makes him look like a toucan Ekko does have his downsides though. His early game is pretty bad, and while he does stay pretty relevant, at some point you won't be able to just one shot everyone super easily and your power starts to fall off. If the enemy team CC's you then you cant ult or use Zhonya's Hourglass so you're pretty much a goner. Since Ekko needs his items to do damage, coming back from behind can be challenging. Also Project Ekko's hair is too much, like its half the size of his body and he looks like a toucan. The skin is super cool but the hair just bothers me so much, it's OC.

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Passive - Z-Drive Resonance

Ekko's basic attacks and damaging abilities apply Resonance to affected enemies for 4 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. At 3 stacks, Resonance is consumed to deal magic damage to the target, doubled against monsters, but capped at 600. Resonance cannot affect the same target more than once every 5 seconds (cannot be reduced by CDR).

This is what gives you most of your burst (along with Electrocute). The movement speed is so useful for roaming and chasing, allowing you to stick to people and finish off the target. It is also a great assassination tool because once you proc it you can just run away.

Mid and late game it can just delete people, but early game it really doesn't do much damage. It is good for short trades because it procs at about the same time as a Electrocute and the movement speed allows you to just back off real quick. A little while ago (Season 7 I believe) it was buffed to deal double damage to monsters, which made jungle Ekko viable again :D

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Q - Timewinder

Ekko throws a device in the target direction, dealing magic damage to enemies along its path. At maximum range or upon hitting an enemy champion, the device slows to a stop and expands, slowing nearby enemies. After a short delay, the device contracts and returns to Ekko, dealing magic damage to enemies along its path.

This is your main ability in lane for farming and trading. However, it has a high mana cost so don't spam it. Getting aggressive with ekko pre 6 is iffy, as you are kinda weak before buying Hextech Revolver, so if you are getting bullied in lane, just sit back, let them push, and use Timewinder to farm. If it is thrown and hits someone, it will apply a stack of your passive, and then another stack on the return. The return is faster and deals more damage, but the AOE is smaller.

If you manage to hit someone with it in lane, you can look for a trade. It is also great for keeping the waves pushed out. Max it first because early game with Ekko you are not looking to get super aggressive, and as your only AOE ability, you need it to keep from getting pushed in. Even if you hit a enemy champion with both the outgoing part and the return, it still only counts as one spell foe Electrocute, unlike with the old Thunderlord's Decree .

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W - Parallel Convergence

PASSIVE: Ekko's basic attacks deal a percentage of the target's missing health as bonus magic damage to targets below 30% of their maximum health. ACTIVE: Ekko bats a device into a target location. After a 3 second delay, the device expands into a broad sphere, only revealing itself to enemies in the last 0.5 seconds. The sphere slows enemies, but if Ekko enters it detonates, shielding him for 2 seconds and stunning enemies within the sphere for 1.75 seconds.

This ability is amazing. No other way to describe it. It gives you bonus damage on auto attacks against low health enemies to help you last hit in lane, or execute champions that you cant finish off with your burst. On top of that it gives you a short acting shield that becomes MASSIVE late game, allowing you to dive in and take no damage in team fights. Most assassins don't have any hard cc, and those that do, its usually single target. Parallel Convergence stuns EVERYTHING inside, so if you get it on the backline, it gives your team a HUGE advantage. The sphere can detonate while you are untargatable, meaning you can Parallel Convergence on top of yourself, and then use Zhonya's Hourglass and still get the shield and stun off.

We max it last because it is not very useful in lane, since the enemy can hear you cast it. Also, the stun does not increase by putting points into it, and the shield already has a ridiculously high AP scaling. If you are ganking, place it while you are out of vision and try to predict the enemies pathing. Take it first when jungling as it will help you clear that first buff faster and with more health.

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E - Phase Dive

Ekko rolls towards the target location. He also gains Primed, which make his next basic attack gains 425 range, deal bonus magic damage, and cause Ekko to blink to his target. The bonus magic damage is classified as ability damage.

This is a very versatile tool. It can be used to enter a fight or escape from one. Early game it's doesn't do a lot of damage but once you get that Lich Bane, boy does it start hurting. The roll can get you over small walls, such as the one s in midland, but the blink range is huge. Keep in mind that the second part is a blink, not a dash. If are stuck in a Veigar cage then use you're Phase Dive empowered auto attack on a target outside of the cage, and you will teleport to that target without being stunned, unlike abilities such as Lunar Rush.

Late and mid game it actually does more damage than Timewinder, but we max it second because it is single target. The roll range is short, but you can use it to dodge abillities, and then use the blink to re-engage. FUN FACT: if you get a Rapid Firecannon, it makes the blink range larger, and if you kill a target with the blink auto while Energized then you don't teleport to them, so that's nifty I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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R - Chronobreak

PASSIVE: While Chronobreak is not on cooldown, Ekko is followed by a time-delayed hologram of himself that tracks where he was 4 seconds ago. ACTIVE: After a short delay, Ekko blinks to his hologram's location, becoming briefly untargetable, dealing magic damage to surrounding enemies on arrival and healing himself, scaling with AP as well as a percentage of the damage taken in the last 4 seconds.

Probably one of the best ultimate's in the game. It is increadibly versitale, and it has a very short cooldown. Chronobreak is not just an escape tool, it deals massive AOE damage and gives you a massive heal, making it a great for re-engaging or bursting. If you get cc'd, you can't activate it, so don't count on it in every situation. Using it to re-engage takes some practice, because after you hit that ult button, there is a delay before you go back to where your shadow was. During that short delay your shadow could have moved just enough that you don't hit them with the damage portion. Eventually you will just know by instinct when to ult based on how fast and where you were moving in the last 4 seconds, but to learn, try ulting a little earlier than you would if there wasn't a delay

NEVER BE AFRAID TO USE YOUR ULT. I cannot stress this enough. I've seen so many Ekko's say "I thought I would make it and I didn't want to waste my ult." You're ult has a short cooldown, and its much better for you to have to waste you're ult that die. If you think there is even a CHANCE you might die, just ult out. The moment you start to get that feeling of "whoa, this is bad, I might die here" just ult. Ekko is incredibly hard to shut down or kill because if things go south he can just get out. It also is great for laning because it takes away almost all of the enemies kill pressure on you.

COMBO 1: [
[Phase Dive]]--> Timewinder--> Auto Attack--> Second part of Timewinder

How to do it: Phase Dive onto a target and then instantly Timewinder. Auto attack to proc Electrocute as well as Z-Drive Resonance. Use the extra move speed from your passive to reposition yourself so that the second part of the Timewinder hits them. Make sure to weave in auto attacks to keep up the damage

COMBO 2:
Hextech Gunblade--> Combo 1

How to do it: Same thing except you can use your Hextech Gunblade active (which has a longer range than your Phase Dive empowered auto to slow them so you can get in range.

COMBO 3:
Parallel Convergence--> Chronobreak

How to do it: If you ult through you're Parallel Convergence, it will trigger its stun and shield. Place it down as you're running away, to bait the enemy, then ult back through it to stun them then re-engage, pick up a kill the start running again. Or just skip that last part and use that shield to protect yourself so you can keep running.

MORE COMBOS COMING SOON

MID

Take this always, gives amazing burst. It functions like the old Thunderlord's Decree , but unlike Thunderlord's, you need to hit 3 different spells or attacks, so you cant stack it twice with Timewinder. It has a long cooldown so keep track of that. Your Hextech Gunblade can apply a stack.

Gives you a burst of magic pen when you E someone. Not much to say there, just a useful assassin tool.

Vision is sooooo important. Always place down your wards in key places. Use control wards to establish vision over hey places and clear out those wards.

It's the same idea as The Ultimate Hat but it functions differently. You stack it by picking up kills on different champions. It stacks multiplicatively with regular cooldown reduction. 40% CDR with a fully stacked Ultimate Hunter really only gives you 49% ultimate CDR. With Cosmic Insight added on that bonus is increased to 53.25% CDR.

SECONDARY

Ever since The Ultimate Hat got moved over to the Domination tree, I've started going inspiration second. Magical footwear is a great choice so you can start getting in better roams early, and it makes your tier 2 boots cheaper.

Personally, I really like CDR, and having reduced cooldown on items, summoner spells and abilities, as well as an increased CDR cap is something that Ekko can really take advantage of.

JUNGLE

Very useful for ganking, helps you to stick to your target. A common problem I run into as Ekko, is that after the E-->Q combo, I am sometimes unable to keep to the target and proc the final stack of Z-Drive Resonance. With Glacial Augment, not only are you able to stick to the target, but it makes it easier for your laner you are ganking for to get in their and help.

Again, who doesn't like free boots? They are especially useful as a jungler. Makes tier 2 boots cheaper which I really like. Makes ganking early kind of hard since you cant get boots until 10 minutes(unless you have kills), but Ekko isn't the best early ganker anyway, and the Glacial Augment helps keep them slowed.

Helps you to reach your item spikes earlier or get that last little bit of gold to buy something. Backing without enough gold to get your items is tough as a jungler, so this can help give you the little bump up you may need. Don't just go wild and use it all the time though, because every time you use your debt, it takes out an extra 50 gold and that can rack up over time.

Again, CDR is always good on Ekko. Not much to say here that I didn't already say.

SECONDARY

Ekko is fast and this makes him faster. After you proc your Z-Drive Resonance you get a burst of movement speed so this gives you more AP to keep fighting with if you need to. Honestly though, I just take this for the extra movement speed.

The extra AP you get during the mid to late game is amazing. Who doesn't like free 40 AP at 30 minutes? Its basically 870 gold worth of free stats (the cost of 2 Amplifying Tomes).

OTHER RUNE OPTIONS
I havent tried out every rune on Ekko, but these are other options I've explored.

Transcendence - If you really want the extra CDR, or if your build includes enough movement speed already then taking transcendence is fine. I take it when I have Relentless Hunter.


Relentless Hunter - Good for roams, lets you just run around and get your team ahead. Not a bad choice, its up to you whether or not you want to use this or Ravenous Hunter. Both have their perks.

Predator - Electrocute is much better, this makes your laning phase ****.

Dark Harvest - Again, Electrocute is better, but this does buff your Phase Dive damage. All in all though, this rune is better for jungle and I wouldn't recommend taking it mid.

Perfect Timing - This is really good on Ekko, because even after you use it it still builds into your Zhonya's Hourglass. It is getting a pretty big nerf soon though, so I don't take it, however it is a VERY good rune on Ekko and definitely viable.

Future's Market - I don't really like it on Ekko but if you are going Inspiration second, this is probably gonna be your other rune unless you need the sustain that Biscuit Delivery offers

Ravenous Hunter - Combine the spell vamp from this with what you get from your Hextech Gunblade and its amazing. It actually helps you survive fights a bit better, and in between team fights you can go clear a wave or a jungle camp and get back a bunch of health.

As AP Ekko mid, you will generally buy a Hextech item first. That item is either Hextech Rocketbelt or Hextech Gunblade. I used to favor Gunblade over Protobelt, but now I honestly can't decide which I like more. A lot of it comes down to personal preference as well as the matchup and how the game is going. After having played both builds countless times, I think I am qualified to give a good analysis of the merits of each of them.

Hextech Protobelt-01

Cost: 2500 Gold +60 Abillity Power +10% Cooldown Reduction +300 Health ACTIVE: Dash forward dealing 75-150(based on level)(+25% AP) magic damage on your way and behind you. At the end of the dash, fire a nova of seven fire bolts in a cone, with each bolt dealing the same magic damage. Champions and monsters damaged by multiple instances take 10% damage per additional instance.

This is the more popular Hextech item on Ekko. It's 900 gold cheaper than Gunblade, so you can get it a lot sooner. As Ekko, you want your Hextech item ASAP so you can start building your your Lich Bane. Those are the core 2 items on Ekko, so the sooner you get them the better. If you aren't stomping in lane, or you are getting bullied, then getting a Protobelt could be your best bet, as it's cheaper and offers more defensive stats.

The dash active is really useful for getting in range of your target to use Phase Dive, or just dealing a little extra damage. However, the dash cannot go through terrain or pass through unites, and the dash distance is very small. While it is cheaper and offers a lot of good stats, it doesn't give you much AP, so you won't really start hitting hard until you get some more AP or at least a Sheen.

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Hextech Gunblade

COST: 3400 Gold +80 Ability Power +40 Attack Damage PASSIVE: Heal for 15% of ALL damage dealt (physical, magic, and true damage). Area of effect damage only heals 5% for every unit affected. ACTIVE: Instantly deals 175-253(based on level)(+30% AP) magic damage and slows the target champion's movement speed by 40% for 2 seconds (700 range).

This is the less popular Hextech item on Ekko, but it's still really good. It costs more than Protobelt, doesn't give CDR or health, and only gives 20 more AP. So why is it any good? Well, that 40 AD actually comes in pretty useful. It scales with Lich Bane damage, and it can be useful for helping to finish off a target you don't kill with your abilities. If you get a good lead in lane and think you will be able to afford it fast enough, Gunblade is a good choice. If you are getting getting wrecked in lane, don't build it because that will make it take longer for you to get the rest of your items. Generally whenever I buy Gunblade, I feel like I do more damage than with Protobelt pre Lich Bane.

Although it doesn't have all the awesome stats that Protobelt does, it's passive and active are better in my opinion. The passive combined with Ravenous Hunter basically gives you 30% spell vamp. This means that after a fight, you can just go clear a side wave and be back to full health. It can even help you survive a fight (although I wouldn't count on it). The active is what really makes me love this item. Not only is the damage more than that of Protobelt, but it slows as well, which helps you stick to a target. The active range of Gunblade is just longer than that of you Phase Dive empowered auto attack, so if you are just barely out of range, you can use Gunblade to slow them and then Phase Dive onto them. You can't really do this with Protobelt's active because after you use it, you stop moving.

Here are the other possible items you could get on Ekko after your Hextech item.

Lich Bane
O baby this item is good. CDR, movement speed and AP, it has it all. Pretty much always get it seconds, its a lot of your damage.


Zhonya's Hourglass
A good defensive item that gives you damage as well. I generally take it 3rd always. The item active is great, if you place your Parallel Convergence and then use the active you will still you will still detonate your shield and stun even though you are untargetable which is great for surviving a skirmish. Use it to avoid cc(such as Rocket Grab) or damage (like Final Spark) that might get you killed or put you in a bad position. It has a long cool down, so keep track of it.


Rabadon's Deathcap
This item gives you a insane damage buff. If you're fed and have to carry, take it 3rd before Zhonya's Hourglass. If you are behind and really just trying to stay in the game, take it 5th or 6th or even not at all depending on how bad you are doing. It's hella expensive so its hard to get. Generally it can be you're 4th or 5th item, after you're core 3. Don't build it 1st or 2nd please. The only champion that you could ever do that with is Veigar and even then its not you're best choice.


Void Staff
4th or 5th item usually. It helps a lot with burst, and can help to crack open anyone who builds MR. Keep in mind that while it does give a lot of percent magic penetration, it's still not gonna let you one shot tanks. Always go for the squishy's.


Banshee's Veil
Solid defensive item. Gives you a shield, MR, AP, and CDR. Don't build it unless they are hitting you with enough magic damage that its necessary.


Mejai's Soulstealer
This item is soooo situational. Only take it if you are super fed. Ekko is a champion who snowball's well and is hard to kill, which makes Mejai's great on him. Once you start to die more sell it. Generally start off with Dark Seal if you are starting to get fed, and if you need to carry or think you are fed enough to make use of it, upgrade to Mejai's. You can build it before Lich Bane even.


Luden's Tempest
I've see it work on Ekko, but I just prefer Gunblade. Getting it first just means you wont be buying any of the other items with a haste passive, which is fine since you don't build them on Ekko anyway.


Twin Shadows
It's just the active of Frost Queen's Claim with some AP, CDR and movement speed. It's cheap, and I've experiment building it first and it wasn't bad. The active is great for roams and catching people out. A nice ganking tool for jungling.


Morellonomicon
Doesn't give CDR or mana anymore, but it does give health and magic pen! Build it late if the target you're trying to kill is just healing up before you can burst them down. Mainly against ADC's with life steal.



BOOTS


Sorcerer's Shoes
I generally take this when I'm playing Ekko mid unless I'm pretty behind. If you are pretty fed or need more mobility, you can build them as soon as you finish your first item to help with burst.


Mobility Boots
I would't recommend them for mid lane unless you are roaming non stop, but even then it't iffy. They offer no resistances or damage, just speed. They are really fun on jungle Ekko because they allow you to roam around the map and gank so much more.


Ninja Tabi
Great item for Tanko. Gives you a little bit of armor, but it reduces the damage dealt from basic attacks by 12% which is really good against things like Master Yi or Jax. You can take it on AP Ekko, but Sorcerer's Shoes are really useful


Mercury's Treads
Another good item for Tank. I don't take it much on AP Ekko because if you get CC'd you're probably dead regardless. If you are against a mage and just really need the MR or slow/stun resist then these can be a good buy.

Laning

Levels 1-5: Ekko hits a decent level 2 power spike. If you hit level 2 first, try and look for a trade. After level 2 though, you just want to farm for the most part. Stay back and try not to take any unnecessary damage. If you are being pushed in you can use your Q to farm. Whatever you do don't push the wave. There are a few champions you can take trades with but for the most part you just want to last hit. Ekko doesn't really have a lot of kill pressure in lane without outside help.

Level +6: After level 6 this is when things start happening. You're ult deals a lot of damage and makes you insanely hard to kill. About this time you should also have your Hextech Revolver, which means you can start to get more aggressive. Being level 6 doesn't mean that you win lane, it just means that it's hard for you to get killed. Some match ups you just want to keep playing it safe and farming.

Roaming: This is how you will pick up most of your kills, and also one of you're most important jobs on Ekko. If you aren't winning lane, look for roams after you push out a wave. If you are ahead, then it's even more important to roam, and a lot of poeple don't understand this. Yes it's fun to kill your enemy laner over and over again, but it doesn't get anything done. If you get a lead, do something with it. Push out your lane and roam. By roaming you spread that pressure from mid to the other lanes too. This helps your teammates much more. Ekko is great at dives because his ult just allows him to cop out so easily.

Make sure that your bot lane and top lane get vision control. A lot of roaming is map awareness and cooperation. Use pings to indicate when you are on your way, and back off if your teammates aren't down to fight. If your laner roams, ping missing and warn your other laners. Try to follow them if you can. If you push in your lane and can't get any roams, off, look for something else productive to do, whether it be something big like a dragon, or just getting some vision.

Ganks/Warding/Map Awareness: The mid lane has 2 sides has two sides to be ganked from as well as a long line of bushes incredibly close to the lane. It's also the shortest and thinnest lane. This all makes ganking you increadibly easy, but it also makes it easier for the enemy mid laner to be ganked and for you to pull off good roams. Pre 6 Ekko is incredibly easy to gank, and if your E is on cool down, then you have no way out. Play back and let the enemy push in the lane, that way it's harder for you to be ganked, and it's easier for your jungler to gank. If the enemy laner just gets super aggressive out of nowhere it probably means you are getting ganked and you need to back up. When your jungler comes to help gank, throw down your Parallel Convergence behind them to block their escape path. Placing wards in the bushes right next to the lane is okay, but it doesn't give you much reaction time when you get ganked. Place wards in the river bushes. Get control wards ASAP to get vision control.

Mid Game: Once you reach the mid game and you have some items under your belt, you really start to hurt. Roam often and pick up kills.

I feel like Tanko deserves its own section because it is so different from regular Ekko, and it's not exactly a tank. My personal favorite version is the Cinderhulk build but the Runic Echoes version is more popular.

Newer league players will not remember this, but a few seasons ago (Season 6 I believe), Tank Ekko or "Tanko" was not only viable, but a fairly strong pick. Over the years Riot changed a few things that made building straight tank on Ekko less appealing and eventually Tanko faded away and died....BUT NOW IT'S BACK and I'm gonna teach you how to play it. But first some history:

HISTORY OF TANKO

In season 5 Riot changed Parallel Convergence so that the base shield received was significantly lower but had a higher AP ratio. This meant that Ekko could no longer get the same kind of shielding and protection without building AP. In season 6 the stun duration was reduced from 2.25 seconds to 1.75 seconds. This nerfed Ekko's one form if hard CC, which is essential to most tanks. Other base damage decreases combined with AP ratio increases caused Ekko to lose significant amounts of damage without AP. However the real death of Tanko came in Pre-Season 7 with the Assassins update. The healing ratio on Chronobreak was changed from 20%(6% per 100 AP) of damage taken to 60% AP. This was a big hit to Tanko, no longer could you get a massive heal by building a ton of health, you needed that AP. They also took away the slow from Z-Drive Resonance, leaving just the slow. Ekko had become a powerful assassin, but he lost his tankiness.

Tanko was traditionally a top lane pick, but when Ekko received some buffs that made him a better jungler( Z-Drive Resonance damage doubled against monsters and bast attack speed increased by 10%), Tanko managed to work its way back meta, and in Season 8 it became a decent pick.

There are two main ways of playing Tanko, Runic Echoes and Cinderhulk build, but they have very different play styles.

SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF EACH SECTION TO GET A SUMMARY

Runic Echoes Build

Currently the more popular Tanko build, even played by challengers. It makes you fairly tanky, and you still deal a good amount of damage. While it may be really good in higher elo, the majority of players are bronze/silver/gold. Challenger games last usually about 20-30 min while lower elo games usually are about 30-40. The reason for this is that challengers and other higher elo players are better at ending games and can really snowball leads. Lower elo players can snowball but they usually don't prioritize objectives and throw leads more.

So how does this play into the Runic Echoes build?

With the Runic Echoes build you start to deal a lot of damage as soon as you get you're jungle item, and that helps you to snowball. If you aren't behind you'll start racking up kills and you will have the Iceborn Gauntlet in no time. Both items are very cheap, and they give you a lot of damage while making you pretty tanky. You'll be thinking to yourself "holy **** this is OP!!!" And it is, but only if you play it right. Unless you start building more AP straight away, then you're damage will start to fall off. The biggest thing you need to remember when playing Tanko is that you are not an assassin, and you cannot burst people. Sounds simple but when you are snowballing, you feel invincible and forget that the build you're playing doesn't allow you to 100 to 0 people. And while you may be tanky, you are a hybrid tank/assassin, and you can't just sit there and soak up damage, especially in the late game.

So what do I need to do to with with this build?

With the Runic Echoes build, you snowball quickly and your core items are cheap, meaning you will hit that power spike very early. The most important thing you can do as soon as you get damage is GANK NONSTOP.

The pro's put a lot of emphasis on farming, and while it is a needed skill, once you hit that power spike you don't want to be farming a lot. Secure your buffs, hand off the blue to the midlaner (if they aren't feeding), but other than that, you'll only really be farming when there are no gank opportunities. You need to take advantage of your power and get your lanes ahead and put the enemy behind. You don't wanna necessarily hand off the kills, because you need gold, but as soon as the mid game and laning phase start coming to and end, let them have those kills because they will be carrying you into the late game. At this time you are still able to burst people very hard BUT THAT WILL NOT LAST. I will discuss the late game soon. Getting your team ahead is good, but continuously racking up kills is not going to end the game for you. SECURE AND DENY OBJECTIVES.

Say you get a double kill down bot, now you need to be thinking "whats the next thing I can do to get us more ahead?" Don't go just farm your camps. If you can, take the turret, if the dragon is up go get that. Always have vision of the dragon and rift herald because whatever you do DON'T LET THE ENEMY TEAM GET OBJECTIVES FOR FREE. If you see them doing drag, and you can't stop them or steal it, do something somewhere else on the map. If they are taking drag, go grab rift herald. If they are doing herald, try and stop them. The herald is pretty tanky but doesn't do much damage. Usually the enemy jungler or will try and solo it, or get the help of the top laner they will both take damage in the process and they probably can't melt it. YOU CAN STOP THEM. Get your mid laner and your top and just collapse on them. Never let them get anything for free. Always be watching the map. If bot is being ganked then counter gank,gank another lane, or get an objective. Get vision around Baron. Ekko is great at stealing because he can dash in, smite, and ult out. If you take out their jungler and carries, do Baron, and if you can't, take turrets. You need to end as fast as you can. If your team is trying to group, or if their is a fight going on, get there and do something.

But what do you do if you cant end and you get to the late game?

If it gets to the late game, your damage will start to fall off. You won't be able to burst people down and then run away. You also won't be able to initiate for your team and just sit there on the front line taking damage. Look for openings to go in and get damage on a high priority target, and cover your ADC and carries. You have a lot of slows, and you can stick to people, so chase down anyone who tries to get away. You still deal a good amount of damage, you just aren't a full assassin. Likewise, you are still pretty tanky, so block for you're ADC and tank damage, just not everything. If you pushed in and they cleared the waves or you can't get any more towers, go push in other waves, and get deep wards. Don't just sit there huddled around a turret trying to siege for 5 minutes, that's a waste of time. Go push another lane, get vision in their jungle, clear wards and steal their jungle camps to deny them gold.

If you are behind, just make plays where you can and either go full tank, or get more AP. This build lacks wave clear, and you need to keep your towers up by pushing waves and farming up for later by building AP. Alternatively you can just go full tank to survive team fights and get a Titanic Hydra for wave clear.

SUMMARY

The quick and simple version of what I wrote is this: You're damage starts to fall of late game, so once you get your core items gank a lot and get objectives. Prioritize getting your team ahead over farming. Come late game you can't burst people down, and you can't just sit on the front line and tank damage. Look for openings to get damage down on high priority targets and cover your carries. Always be thinking about what you can do next to get your team ahead and win the game.

Cinderhulk Build

This build is my personal favorite. You aren't very bursty but you are very tanky and still do some good damage. With the Cinderhulk build there is less pressure on you to end the game early, but it is still a good idea. Most tanks and fighters can be very easily kited, but they deal a lot damage in return or have hard CC. This build trades off the hard CC and some damage for being unkiteable. You are incredibly fast as Ekko, and with Iceborn Gauntlet and Glacial Augment you are incredibly sticky. The early/mid game is very similar as with the Runic Echoes build except you can take things slower. The reason I prefer this build is that come mid/late game, your role sort of transitions. Where before you were didn't want to just dive into the back line in team fights, that's exactly what you want to do. You still have some burst, but now you deal more sustained damage. You get on the back line and just stick to the ADC or carry or whatever. You're goal is to be a disrupter. The ADC can't kite you out, and you are dangerous enough that they need to turn their attention to you. Unlike with the Runic Echoes build, you can't really get blown up. You can take the beating and when you get to low you can just ult out. I will be developing this section of the guide more as I play more games with Cinderhulk Tanko.

SUMMARY

Your early and mid game are very similar to the the Runic Echoes build but your role starts to switch over after about 25 min. Just read the paragraph for the Cinderhulk section of this chapter, it's short