Hello! I am Xiralid a Challenger rank LoL player who mains Cho'Gath.
My intention here on Mobafire is to make informative guides for less experienced players who wants to learn from a more experienced player such as myself.




I started playing LoL around October in Season 7 and reached Silver 5 when I completed my ranked placements.
As a new LoL and MOBA player i wanted to play a cool looking champion so i was scrolling through the collection tab and as soon as i saw Cho'Gath i didn't hesitate to buy him since he was looking like an absolute beast:).

I played him alot and didnt wanna play anyone else.
Of course once i reached Gold i started to play other champs like Yorick,Karthus,Kayn,Azir and Kled but Cho'Gath was my very comfy pocket pick.

Well here we are 2 and a half years later (as of original publish date ) and i went from Silver 5 hardstuck to Challenger by playing Cho'Gath 80%+ of the time and even writing this massive guide to pass my knowledge onto you!

NOTE The information in this guide is 100% from me and nobody elses


If you want to be a part of a new community or just ask questions about Cho then you can join here for a faster reply https://discord.gg/RwfHVTVwzh
https://www.twitch.tv/nightmarechogyy
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVcRXQ-EBY5A6up-u0BDSXQ

i]Check the notes on the builds and runes for shorter info :D[/i]
How to play Full Tank ChoGath



As Tank Cho (Armor OR Magic resist) you want to be able to cc the enemy as much as possible by making their most valuable carries useless in your presence.
Playing any version of tank will result in you having a weak early which may result in you dying alot if you are new to cho. Theese builds are relatively easy to play but can be confusing when it comes to itemizing if youre not used to the s13 items.


As Hybdrid Cho'Gath your goal is to be able to poke your laner to around 600-700 hp and then going all in on him to secure the kill and increase your damage and tankyness
This is probably the best choice for new Cho'Gath players since with this build you are hard to kill,deal alot of and mainly play around your Q thats noob friendly. This build is easy to learn and play.

Full Ap ChoGath Build (Electrocute)

This build should only be played by ChoGath players who can hit an entire combo without making a mistake/missing Q as this build is far more rewarding than the previous BUT also very punishing if you fail to successfully 1v1 your lane opponent and give him a lead since your rune is only directed towards bursting and if you are behind you cant burst as well as u could if u were ahead. This build easy to learn but requires more focus to master than the previous builds.

Hail of Blades (ap)
This build is harder to play than any other and should only be used once you are comfortable with Cho'Gath, how to reset the auto attack timer and kiting. If you are comfortable on all these topics then i urge you to use hail of blades no matter if youre going tank or ap.
You are maximizing the damage and decreasing the time needed for you to deal that damage.

(NEW!) Ap Hail Of Blades Cho'Gath

This build is VERY good against top lane Bruisers like Darius,Irelia,Illaoi and any champ that wants to fight you very often in melee range.
The backstory of this build is that Hail of blades Cho was requested for me to do from my Twitch chat when i was against Darius which many consider to be one of Chos biggest counters as of season 9.

Turns out i managed to win my lane very easily with hail of blades vs Darius so i decided to test different rune combinations with Hail of blades on Cho and this is the final result which i am very pleased with and so excited to share with the rest of you!

Anyway so now i will explain how the runes benefit Cho.

This rune works good against top lane Bruisers like Darius,Irelia,Illaoi and any champ that wants to fight you very often in melee range. This rune does work good against ranged characters aswell but you will need to be ready to step up if you hit a Q so you can actually use the rune.


Hail Of Blades you are making your E cooldown low with HIGH damage. you can often start a fight with your enemy by acting like you overextended or made a mistake which they surely will react on and want to try to get a chunk of ur health bar but thats when you press E and use your 3 hail of blades attacks combined with your E ability to shred his/her health bar and once you have used 2 of your hail of blades attacks you want to use your Q before your 3rd auto attack as they will get slowed by your E and make it easier for you to land your Q on them since they cant get away from the Q hitbox when they are slowed by your E while inside of your Q circle.

The best combo for this is if you first do a normal auto attack which will trigger your hail of blades and then you press E and then use all 3 of your hail of blades attacks with your auto attack empowered from ur E and then use your Q while the enemy is slowed which will allow you to get away and wait for the hail of blades cooldown. This gives you an extreme amount of fast damage that bruisers cannot handle early game and if they don't recall or get help from their jungler you will win the next fight assuming you are lvl 6 . This tactic is very useful even if you are not able to kill your opponent since Chos passive have been buffed and your sustain guarantees you will heal back up alot faster than the majority of champs which will allow you to have the lane advantage and the opportunity to force the enemy to play the lane on your terms.


Cheap shot because of the extra damage you get with your Q when you hit it and since the cooldown of Cheap shot is only 4 seconds you will always get the bonus true damage from this rune and since Cho doesn't have dash or doesn't need any more sustain there's no point to take Sudden impact or Taste of blood in Cheap shots place.

Eyeball collection since you can scale with ap for each takedown and if you get a lead then this rune will help you snowball unlike Zombie ward and Ghost poro which requires you to leave your lane to ward or destroy wards which i dont think alot of people in lower ranks do anyway.

Relentless hunter because Cho is immobile and needs the extra ms and will help a lot when roaming or running away from champs with high movement speed or/and lots of dashes.
If you dont like movement speed then fine just take Ultimate hunter.
So in my opinion if you dont want to go Relentless hunter then use Ultimate hunter and use your Ultimate right when you get it back from cooldown to increase your early-mid game tankiness by a few hundred hp more than if you wouldn't have had it (If you cant kill you lane oponnent shortly after its off cd).

Absolute Focus
Due to this rune pages extreme focus on burst damage its only logical that this rune is included since Cho has his passive to keep him above 70% health very often and if you engage with 70+% hp you are basically guaranted to win the trade since Absolute Focus will increase your damage on your E which you will use with hail of blades to murder your oponnent.

Scorch
To maximize your early game impact and strenght scorch will help you put the nail in the coffin for the enemy laner. This rune will help you with ensuring that you are a threat in the early phase of the game which a cho is not supposed to be and since chos scaling to mid game is really satisfying Scorch will make the snowballing easier when you try and kill someone.

Additional Notes

You should play passively and only look to fight/trade vs the enemy when you have ur hob up and try to be as quick as possible in the fights since some champs like Darius or other bruisers could potentially turn the fight around if you are to greedy too early. The key is knowing what the enemy champion can do with their abilities and play around them that way while fighting (think before you act)

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Full Ap ChoGath Runes(Electrocute)



This build should only be played by Cho'Gath players who can hit an entire combo without making a mistake/missing Q as this build is far more rewarding than any other and less risky to utilize.

If u get a lead then don't hesitate to upgrade your dark seal to Mejai's Soulstealer for extra 1 shot potential in the early-mid game when you are not full build and can sell it for another ap item if you die and loose all your stacks later on in the game.

Electrocute because you can easily outtrade your opponent very fast and kill them thanks to the burst with this keystone.
The combo is aa into 1E auto attack into Q (these 3 will proc the electrocute) into 2E Auto Into W Into Last E auto attack. After this combo you can pretty much ignite and ult or only do 1 of them and that should be a easy kill.
If you want the easy combo then it's Q into W and then 1 E auto attack and u could probably still kill your laner but I find the first mentioned combo more efficient since it deals more damage overall but if you are vs a ranged opponent then the 2nd combo is better.

Cheap Shot because it deals True damage when u cc someone with Q or items.

Eyeball Collection because you get even stronger with ap when you kill someone with this rune.

Relentless Hunter because Cho lacks mobility which you need in this meta (and since s9) so this will compensate and also allow you to later on in the game sell your boots for an item if your game is 40+ minutes since you will still have movement speed from the rune.

Absolute Focus to be able to deal as much damage as possible but transcendence is fine to exchange for Absolute Focus aswell if you'd like.

Gathering Storm due to the huge ap scaling which will help you to 1 shot people later on in the game.


Hybrid ChoGath Build
Arcane Comet to poke safely while still doing damage
Manaflow Band If you hit a Q it costs 35 instead of 50 since you get 25 mana per spell you hit.
Transcendence 10% CDR
Gathering Storm to scale and have damage

Demolish to 1 shot towers later with your team when sieging and for geting plates easier early game

Overgrowth gives you HP that scales with your R,E and demolish.

https://discord.gg/RwfHVTVwzh
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVcRXQ-EBY5A6up-u0BDSXQ
https://www.twitch.tv/nightmarechogy

https://www.op.gg/summoners/eune/NightmareChoGath
https://www.op.gg/summoners/eune/PsyChopathGath

Cho'Gaths gameplay should be adapted to what the laner ur against. For example if ur against a melee champ you max E and if ur against a ranged champ max Q since you probably wont be able to walk up to them and use ur E alot.

A combo every Cho'Gath player should know is Q,aa,E and W

Hitting someone with Q allows you to punish them since they cant do anything while knocked up so if you auto attack and then imideatly after use your E to auto attack again you will maximize the damage output and also apply another slow making them forced to flash BUT after you have used your E thats when you want to use your W which silences them and makes sure they cant use any summoner spells or abilitys (except for Tryndamere and Olaf R)

A combo to 1 shot when playing Ap ChoGath in lane when you have hextech revolver is Q,aa,E,W,R (ignite aswell :) )

Combos later on in the game is simply Q,W,E,R since your ap will be so high your Q will deal atleast 1/3-1/2 of their hp and then using your W and E will get your target(s) low enough for you to R or let ur teammates clean up the kills.

If you want to see a game with my ChoGath in action vs the Rank 1 playing adc and rank 4 playing jg both in the enemy team then here is the 25 min game :)

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/550424855

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK3y64TUtpk&t=920s

PASSIVE:Carnivore

Whenever Cho'Gath kills any minion,monster and champion or destroys an enemy structure he restores Health 20 − 71 (based on level) health and Mana 3.5 − 7.75 (based on level) mana.

Q Rupture
TARGET RANGE: 950
CAST TIME: 0.5
COST: 60 mana
COOLDOWN: 7


Cho'Gath gains sight of the target area which, after a 0.625 seconds delay, he ruptures dealing magic damage and knocking up enemies hit for 1 second and slowing them by 60% for 1.5 seconds afterwards.

Scaling
Magic damage:
80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+ 100% AP)


W Feral Scream
TARGET RANGE: 650
COST: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 mana
COOLDOWN: 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9

Cho'Gath roars in the target direction, dealing magic damage to enemies in a cone and silencing them for a duration (1.6 / 1.7 / 1.8 / 1.9 / 2)

Cho'Gaths W can cancel abilities that are being channeled such as Karthus R, Jhin R,Xerath Q and R and many many more.

Magic damage:
75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+ 70% AP)
Silence:
1.6 / 1.7 / 1.8 / 1.9 / 2




E TARGET RANGE: 500
CAST TIME: 0 sec
COST: 30 mana
COOLDOWN: 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4


Cho'Gath's next 3 basic attacks within 6 seconds have 50 bonus range and launch a volley of spikes in a line, dealing magic damage and applying a decaying slow over the next 1.5 seconds to enemies hit.

This ability resets Cho'Gath AA(Auto attack) timer allowing you to deal slihgtly more damaged if timed correctly!

Magic Damage:»
22 / 34 / 46 / 58 / 70 (+ 30% AP) (+ 3% (+ 0.5% per Feast Feast stack) of target's maximum health)

Slow per level:
30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50%








R
TARGET RANGE: 175
COST: 100 mana
COOLDOWN: 80



Active: Cho'Gath attempts to eat the enemy target,dealing Hybrid penetration true damage ( a mix between to factors of damage in this case its ap and max hp).

Against non-champions, the base damage is increased to 1000 (the damage still scales on non champions).


True Damage to Champions:
300 / 475 / 650 (+ 50% AP) (+ 10% bonus health)

If Feast(R)kills its target, Cho'Gath gains a Feast stack. Only 6 stacks can be gained from non-epic monsters or minions.


Each stack grants bonus health as well as attack range and increased champion model size for a maximum 75 bonus attack range.

Bonus Health Per Stack:
80 / 120 / 160 bonus health

Bonus Attack Range Per Stack:
4.5 / 6 / 7.5

Why not use "Ultimate hunter" ?

Well the ultimate hunter reduces your cooldown for your R which is great and all but ask yourself are you really going to ult someone every 40 second when its 5/5 stacked ? No you wont and yea sure u can get ur stacks from minions faster but thats only gonna help you early and not later on in the game. Relentless hunter is a better option since cho lacks mobility and playing an ap bruiser with no mobility is just not healthy at all when you have mejais since you can get caught alot more often then.