Kennen Build Guide by Rime101

Hey! My name is Rime and I am an ex Kennen OTP. I mained Kennen season 8, OTP'd Kennen season 9 and I'm sorry to say that I re-branded to Sylas main in season 10. If you stop by my stream I'll most likely be playing Sylas or Viego! Guide last updated March 18, 2021. I currently do NOT main Kennen but I still have 1500+ games of Kennen and can play him at a very high level. If he's a good pick or if I get filled top I play Kennen here and there! The current best build on Kennen is Phase Rush Nimbus Cloak Transcendence Gathering Storm + Taste of Blood Ravenous Hunter secondary for runes! For build you will want Doran's Blade Hextech Rocketbelt Void Staff and Dark Seal Every game. You will also want either Banshee's Veil or Zhonya's Hourglass depending on the enemy comp. Verdant Barrier AND Seeker's Armguard ARE OP IN LANING PHASE! For boots Sorcerer's Shoes and Ionian Boots of Lucidity are both good and is personal preference. UPDATED FOR 11.3 Sorry if this guide isn't the prettiest! I did my best to keep it short and straight to the point! Here's my biggest league accomplishments with Kennen

PROS
+ Uses Energy
+ Safe Blind Pick
+ Lane Bully
+ High CC good vs champs like Master Yi, Yasuo
+ Can 1v5 if Ahead
+ Best top laner in the game at killing their ADC :)

CONS
+ Squishy
+ 0 lane sustain
+ Weak 1v1
+ Weak vs disengage ( Alistar, Vayne etc.)

Mid season 9 Kennen got his base AD and base attack speed nerfed. If anyone hasn't played Kennen in a while keep in mind he is weaker pre level 6 now.

SEASON 11 KENNEN:
START E LEVEL 1
Max Q first almost every game Thundering Shuriken
Take armor/MR depending on lane opponent!


Here's the basic order: Start Lightning Rush then max Thundering Shuriken

Choose your summoner spells based on if you can solo kill your lane. Always take TP if playing top lane.

Teleport = good vs bot lanes with low disengage ex. Jinx, Draven, Varus, Jhin, Brand, Soraka, Zyra

Teleport = bad vs high disengage bot lanes like Tristana, Vayne, Alistar, Janna


I highly recommend taking Ignite vs high kill pressure lanes, especially ranged champs. EX. Cassiopeia, Quinn, Teemo, Akali

Ignite is viable vs champs with insane healing such as Fiora Illaoi Sylas etc. but if you take ignite and cant solo kill the game will be very hard.

RUNES


Phase Rush TAKE THIS RUNE VS ALL LANES YOU CANT SOLO KILL EX. Ornn, Sion, Volibear

Honestly Conqueror and Electrocute are both v good vs bruisers but conqueror is the better option for 1 reason.

THE REASON
Most top laners rush merc treads vs Kennen. If you go electrocute you can 1 shot squishies later on but lane lane phase will be hard. If you go electrocute and they build stuff like Mercury's Treads & Hexdrinker Spirit Visage etc. you won't be able to win lane. Basically DO NOT take electrocute top lane. Conqueror or Phase Rush only

Phase Rush is the better rune choice in most matchups because its good for playing aggro and good for playing defensive. Conqueror is only good for playing aggro.


MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO TAKE AT LEAST 1 SUSTAIN RUNE!
Kennen has 0 built in sustain so it is SUPER important to take either Taste of Blood or Ravenous Hunter

SUMMARY: Phase Rush Conqueror & Electrocute are Kennen's best runes.
Unsealed Spellbook is also good, but is much harder to use

THE MAIN COMBO:

Lightning Rush > Slicing Maelstrom> Flash> Hextech Rocketbelt > Electrical Surge


MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO Slicing Maelstrom THEN Flash
R THEN FLASH IS 10X BETTER THEN FLASH R

Void Staff is better then Rabadon's Deathcap 99% of the time. VOID STAFF IS OP ON KENNEN PLEASE BUILD IT!


SMALL TIPS:
+ You can Q while using your E
+ Your W hits everyone in your ult even if they don't have a mark on them
+ Kennen's ult does damage while in Zhonya's
+ Hextech Rocketbelt procs Dark Harvest
+ You can kill any ranged top laner with Flash + Slicing Maelstrom + Ignite at level 6 if they dont have Ruby Crystal or Null-Magic Mantle
+ Always leave lane with empowered Electrical Surge AA ready


BIGGEST TIP:
+++ Buy Oracle's Lens on Kennen its insanely good. As a champion best at flanking this item allows you to get a very good engage

Karate has the tiniest model so its pay2win :^)

I like Super Kennen & Karate Kennen the most

If anyone's interested here's my Socials:

Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/rime

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rime101

Discord server: https://discord.gg/jutGVfr

In Conclusion:

+ Play aggressive, you need to win lane as a lane bully or you will get outscaled
+ Start Lightning Rush, max Thundering Shuriken first 90% of the time
+ Slicing Maelstrom then Flash in teamfights
+ Switch to Oracle's Lens ASAP
+ Kennen will still be STRONG in season 11, hard engage with a team thats ahead is a free win

Was inspired to make a guide when someone in twitch chat called me a Kennen encyclopedia. This guide is a summary of my 2k+ ranked games of Kennen and I hope it helps with your climb!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!