Hey guys, my name is whuddabeast and this is my Poppy guide to complete and utter domination. I'd like to explain to you why I think hybrid Poppy is the best way to play poppy, rather than some of the other builds you see nowadays, including Crit build and Ap. I think both of these can be viable in certain situations, but for me, Hybrid Ad Poppy has always been the most successful in ranked play, including not getting dominated in lane or shut down early game. With all said and done, hope you guys enjoy!

Pros of Hybrid Poppy:

- INSANELY Amazing damage from Devastating Blow, plus it's Swingtime-reset
- What I consider to be the best Passive in game, most likely other team will report you for trolling because they can't kill you =)
- Great engage ability with E
- Amazing tower diving skillset (again, I consider her to be one of the best at it)
- Ultimate which allows you to 1v5, grab a kill, and walk out untouched (once again, I consider to be one of the best in game)
- Scales very well into mid-late game
- Very nice chasing potential with W active to E combo
- Amazing team carry + Assasin to Adc's and Apc's
- She's a speedy little yordle

Cons of Hybrid Poppy:

- Terrible farmer early game,gets better with practice
- INCREDIBLY mana hungry early game
- Can be very easily dominated in lane unless played correctly
- Squishy
- Item dependent
- VERY Ultimate reliant, ESPECIALLY in teamfights
- Item dependent: Hybrid poppy relies a lot on burst damage which you don't have as much of early game

Well, this is something that you have to decide for yourself based on how the game is going and how you're progressing in it.

Core Items:

Trinity Force: This item is a perfect item for Poppy: it offers hybrid stats, a bit of extra health, much needed mana, plus a very nice mvmt speed buff. But the passive makes this item Poppy's bread and butter item.

Manamune: I usually build this item last but I buy a tear early in the game so I can have the stacks by late game, where poppy shines most. Greatly helps with early game mana problems and adds even more burst potential with the active Muramana in late game.

Ravenous Hydra: Offers great damage and lifesteal; since mostly we need ad dueling potential for early game and better farming, I usually get this over Bloodthirster, plus it has a nice active. Usually a 2nd or 3rd buy after tear.

Hextech Gunblade: This item synergizes very well with Devastating blow combined with Hydra: the amazing life steal and spell vamp it offers are both procced by your Q, since it is a mix of AD and magic damage. Plus a very nice active for chasing down that pesky Quinn trying to fly away from you.

Void Staff: This item isn't necessarily a core, but I have seen myself using this more and more often to wreck the enemy. If you're wondering ",Why would you get void staff if your attack damage is higher than your ability power?" it's because Devastating Blow, Poppy's main damage dealer, is actually magic damage, meaning the passive from this item totally synergizes with the overall Damage output from your q. Plus it offers a nice 70 ability power.


Situational Items:

Black Cleaver: Can be nice, but I would only get if I end up mostly dealing with a tankier enemy team.

Guardian Angel: A nice item, synergizes well with your ult, but in my opinion a little over the top and not worth the gold spent for damage you would deal from another item in the 6 or so seconds you have to beat **** up with your hammer.

Maw of Malmortius: A very sweet item, with a passive that just screams Poppy. Offers nice magic resist as well with good AD. Very situational; I cannot offer more of an opinion on it except know when to buy it and when not to: for example, if the enemy support that you ult in teamfights does enough damage to make you buy this, or if you just simply need to last longer in teamfights.

As I've said, early game is where Poppy is most vulnerable, especially her farming.

In terms of counters, almost anyone can "counter" Poppy in the laning phase; essentially the trick to successful laning with Poppy takes practice. You have to know your limitations and your damage output, when to trade and when not to, choosing which minions to last hit (obviously the preferred option is every one), and knowing when to start getting aggressive, if at all.

I usually start Longsword + 3 Health pots, simply because at level 1, you can actually win trades with most champions if you play smart and effectively, using the swingtime reset on your Devastating Blow to it's fullest potential. However, this is totally situational: I might start boots and 4 pots against someone like Teemo or Gangplank, or Cloth Armor and 5 against a Riven, or even start out with Paragon of Demacia at level 1 if I need to play passive and escape at any moment I need to.

Remember, how you play early game decides who wins or loses the lane, so play carefully and smart, always remember to last hit, and once you hit lvl 6, dont be too afraid of ganks; at the very worst you could at least trade kills.

In Team-fighting, you want to Ult the enemy support, or essentially whoever on their team has the lowest amount of damage and crowd control, with crowd control taking first priority to avoid. With your ult active you only have 6 seconds or so to kill the enemy carry or mid laner, which of course isn't a problem for hybrid poppy! Once activated, immediately rush them with your e-q combo, throwing out all actives that you have and essentially tearing them to pieces in moments. When they die, based on your health and the rest of enemy champions still alive, it's up to you to know whether or not to speedily yordle away or stay and mop up as many squishies as you can with your ult active.

A few tips for ranked play:

Always assume that your enemy/laner underestimates you, as they most likely will! Use this to your advantage, whether it be suprising an ad carry in the jungle, going ham in teamfights (I've chased countless people all the way from something like their tier 2 turret to their nexus, killed them, and escaped fairly easily), and engaging your laner when you get ganks from your jungler.

However, also always assume that YOUR ENEMY IS A GOOD PLAYER, even if they seem not to be. Therefore, don't overestimate your damage output on your q, and don't always be trying to make plays early game. If need be, you can sit back and farm till late game, and then show them the true colors of POPPY.

I hope you benefitted from this guide and are willing to try it out! I know it's a bit different from other Poppy guides in terms of item builds and skill sequence, but it's still the same yordeling, face-smashing Poppy! Be sure to try this build out in normal games before you play ranked, and just get used to Poppy as a champion overall, it took me a while but I consider myself to be one of the better Poppy players out there (there also aren't that many :D ).

Thanks for reading guys, once again I hope this helped you and the time you will be spending beating stuff up with my mistress Poppy!

-whuddabeast