Poppy Build Guide by BransterPlays

Update History

13 Nov 2013: Published Guide! Included Introduction, Abilities, Masteries, and Runes.
15 Nov 2013: Updated Runes, Masteries, Spells, Ranked Play, and made other minor changes.
16 Nov 2013: Added Skill Descriptions and Farming.
24 Nov 2013: Updated for Preseason 4
8 Dec 2013: Updated Items, Masteries, and Spells.

Introduction

Hey all! This is my first and probably only guide. I love Poppy and wanted to make a guide for everyone else who does too. This is a work in progress and I will try to finish it as soon as possible. PLEASE DON'T DOWNVOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T ACTUALLY TRIED THIS GUIDE. I know the build may seem peculiar, but it has worked well for me and I will explain my reasoning for it in the future. Meanwhile, I think I posted enough general information for you to follow the guide effectively.

Feel free to add me on LoL! My summoner name is Vince Dao.

My YouTube is BransterPlays .

My Twitch is also BransterPlays.

AD Poppy vs AP Poppy: Why I go AD!

The great debate. I've played Poppy for a while, and I know that AD Poppy works best for me.

Runes

Runes for Poppy are not set in stone. Experiment with them yourself and see what works best for you!
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Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed: Great overall runes for Poppy that scale well throughout an entire match. They are useful for chasing, escaping, dodging skillshots, and saving time in general. Combined with Paragon of Demacia, these runes make Poppy one of the most mobile champions in the game.
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Greater Quintessence of Armor/ Greater Seal of Armor: These are good for extra defense against heavy AD champs like Tryndamere, Riven, and Garen. Combined with Paragon of Demacia and even an early Cloth Armor, These runes allow Poppy to mitigate massive amounts of physical damage during the laning phase and beyond. I also like to take these as a support because they help me last longer in lane against the enemy ADC.
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Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: These are terrific for early game damage. Feeling like an aggressive Poppy? Take these out for a spin and show your opponent who's boss. Try complimenting these runes with a Doran's Blade or Elixir of Fortitude. Constantly harass your opponent with autoattacks and Devastating Blow to frighten them out of lane.
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Greater Quintessence of Magic Resist/ Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: These are very nice when Poppy is against a heavy AP opponent like Veigar, LeBlanc, or Brand, especially in the mid lane. With these runes, Poppy will be able to initiate an attack without of fear of being bursted down to zero health. Valiant Fighter synergizes well with these runes, making Poppy impossible to kill in one combo.
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Greater Quintessence of Health Regeneration: These are useful for Poppy to sustain herself. Generally, I take these when I believe I need some extra sustain, especially against champs like Yorick, Cho'Gath, and Nasus. My main objectives in these situations is to farm as much as possible (probably under tower) and prepare to dominate the late game.
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Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed/ Greater Mark of Attack Speed: I like these when jungling as Poppy because help clear the jungle faster, which is something Poppy is frankly weak at.
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Greater Mark of Attack Damage: These help Poppy farm easier and dish out extra damage to her lane opponents. Pretty self-explanatory, right?

Masteries

Top/Mid/ADC: I usually go 21/9/0 to boost Poppy's damage and defense. 21 mastery points in the Offense section increase Poppy's physical and magic damage, which mainly come from her autoattacks and her Q. 9 mastery points in the Defense section give Poppy some extra health, armor, and health regen. Thankfully, Poppy's passive gives her a significant amount of defense, which allows us to focus on her damage output rather than survivability.

Jungle: I also go 21/9/0 here. However, I allocate some mastery points to better suit the needs of an efficient jungler.

Support: I usually use 1/13/16 for all my supports, and Poppy is no exception. This page allows me to focus on the functioning of a support. There is no need to use points anywhere in the Offense section (other than Summoner's Wrath ). The extra defense and utility bonuses help make Poppy a great support.

Items

Coming soon!

Skill Sequence

Top/Mid/ADC and Jungle: The skill order for Poppy varies depending on the your top lane opponent. Here are some general tips.

Skill Order
1. Diplomatic Immunity> Devastating Blow> Paragon of Demacia> Heroic Charge
OR
2. Diplomatic Immunity> Paragon of Demacia> Devastating Blow> Heroic Charge

Level 1
1. Devastating Blow at Level 1 if you want to harass ASAP.
2. Heroic Charge at Level 1 for CC and escaping.

Maxing Out
1. Max Devastating Blow for extra damage and cooldown reduction for your harass. I usually do this.
2. Max Paragon of Demacia for extra armor and AD. Do this if you're trying to be defensive against a heavy AD opponent. This helps with farming, too.
3. Always max out Heroic Charge last. We're not going AP Poppy so there's little purpose to do this.

Spells

Top/Mid/ADC:
Ignite: A must for doing well in lane as Poppy. The extra damage from Ignite is often needed to successfully finish off a fragile opponent. Be sure to use Ignite after using Diplomatic Immunity to increase its true damage.
Ghost: Essential for Poppy because it enables her to effectively chase down enemies and Whomper them into pancakes for breakfast. Why not Flash? Because Ghost is much better for chasing down an enemy, which is how Poppy obtains many of her kills. Flash may allow Poppy to travel through walls, but it's much less forgiving if you make a mistake. Ghost gives Poppy extra speed for ten whole seconds! Choose whichever you prefer! I personally enjoy having over 600 movement speed when combining Ghost and Paragon of Demacia, and that's without Enchantment: Homeguard!

Jungle:
Smite: Need I explain myself?
Ghost: Simply the best spell for swooping in for a gank.
Ignite: Feeling bold? This is excellent for counterjungling and deadlier ganks. Be careful though, because replacing Ghost means Paragon of Demacia is your only means of escaping!

Support:
Exhaust: The ultimate tool for any support. Use this to ensure a kill or peel for your allies. Summoner's Wrath adds in the extra debuff.
Flash: You're not meant to kill as a support. Therefore, you will do less chasing and more peeling. This means you won't need Ghost. Flash is ideal for positioning a crucial [heroic charge] stun or getting out of a sticky situation in a blink.

Summary

Coming soon!

Poppy in Ranked? Troll Alert!

Poppy is often a victim of prejudice in League of Legends. Many groan and protest when they see Poppy in Champion Select, ESPECIALLY in Ranked matches. They do not consider her to be viable. Only few recognize the great potential in Poppy and trust that you know what you're doing. Contrary to popular belief, Poppy is very relevant to Ranked play and is fully capable of dominating a game.

Farming

Poppy is widely viewed as one of the worst last-hitters in the game. While I admit Poppy is more difficult to farm with than most other champs, it is definitely possible to come out #1 in CS in a match. Unlike many other champs, Poppy has no innate AOE abilities, which forces her to farm minions one by one. Also, it is important to know that poppy is naturally very slow at pushing a lane. This is a reason why Poppy is not an ideal split-pusher without certain items. Like with all champs, you must practice farming with Poppy to be effective. Don't be afraid to use Devastating Blow or even Heroic Charge when farming.

Skill Descriptions

Valiant Fighter: This passive is one of the reasons that Poppy is so frustrating to play against. The effectiveness of this Valiant Fighter increases as Poppy's health decreases, because it raises the likelihood that an enemy's damage will exceed 10% of poppy's health and trigger the passive's effect. I've heard arguments that Valiant Fighter is a reason why one should never build defensive items on Poppy. I don't find this to be completely true. While it would hurt Poppy's passive to use a full tank build ( Poppy should never be built as a full tank!), it is very beneficial to build 1 or 2 defensive items to help her survivability. If no defensive items are built on Poppy, she can be killed very quickly even if Valiant Fighter triggers every time she takes damage. In other words, you want to build enough defense so that Poppy can confidently charge into an enemy team, but not too much that it never allows Valiant Fighter to activate. Valiant Fighter truly shines when Poppy is at low health and allows her to escape seemingly impossible situations.

Devastating Blow: This is Poppy's main tool of harass. You can pop this on your lane opponent and step away until the cooldown finishes, then walk up and use it again. When possible, be sure to autoattack right before using Devastating Blow in order to reset the autoattack timer for more DPS. It is important to know that Devastating Blow is unaffected by Jax's Counter Strike and Pantheon's Aegis Protection.

Paragon of Demacia: This is what makes Poppy naturally tanky, strong, and fast. This gives Poppy extra AD and armor without having to consume any mana. Activate Paragon of Demacia, and Poppy is given a significant speed boost that is perfect for escaping or chasing enemies. Be sure to mind the heavy mana cost that comes with Paragon of Demacia.

Heroic Charge: This is what makes Poppy such a powerful champ, and I'm not talking about damage. Similar to Alistar's Headbutt and Vayne's Condemn, Heroic Charge allows Poppy to manipulate the position of her enemies. This is extremely effective as it can be used to push an enemy toward a friendly tower or away from an enemy tower. It can also be used to shove enemies toward ally champions or even into your own Summoner's Platform! When possible, be sure to utilize [[heroic charge]'s stun by shoving your enemy against a wall or structure (tower, inhibitor, nexus, etc.) for maximum effectiveness.

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