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Twisted Fate Build Guide by

[S5 High Elo] Mid Lane Twisted Fate Full Guide

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Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Items

Agressive Start

Skillshot Start

Rush

Core

Late Game

Other Items???

Boot Options/Enchants

FULL BUILD EXAMPLE

Ability Order

Twisted Fate Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

guide is currently being changed/updated, thank you for your patience

special thanks to the_nameless_bard for making this banner art for me

ABOUT ME

Hello. Thank you for coming to view my guide on how to play - The Card Master. I am a 15 year old mid lane main who has played for a moderate amount of time. I've seen him frequently picked by professionals at higher levels of play like the LCS. As a result, I have been recommended to learn and play him by many people as for he allows you to obtain a greater level of understanding on how to play squishy mid-laners who require a lot of map awareness to play at a successful level in all elo's in the game. In this guide, I want to also share what I've learnt in addition to the information I've found from other sources to be a good .

ABOUT TF

Twisted Fate is a high utility mage who scales incredibly well with items, utilising his strong waveclear with and 's area of effect red card ability. has incredibly strong pick potential and single target damage since he has huge synergy with and he has a single target stun with his yellow card from his ability . He is a very strong farming champion who will automatically do better than his opponent in a farm-fest based game/lane since his passive gives him bonus gold for every enemy unit that he kills, which allows him to buy his major-scale items earlier than his opponent. He can also reveal stealthed targets with his ultimate, and then teleport to a location within a range of 5500 range with his gate ability. This makes him strong at picking off low health targets who are fleeing from a fight. It also gives him strong teamfight-cleanup potential.

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

+ Waveclear
+ Mana Sustain
+ Gold Generation
+ Crowd Control
+ Strong Roaming
+ Low Cooldowns
+ High Damage

hasn't got a defined weak point in the game. Whilst he isn't the strongest champion in the laning phase, he can create a huge amount of pressure on the enemy laner in the early game. This is due to his good base damage on and having a stun with 's yellow card and then being able to sustain his mana pool with 's blue card. His lockdown potential and mid-game burst make him a huge threat in the mid game if he's not dealt with, and snowballs incredibly well which is difficult to prevent since he can use and then gate to teleport to a lane and pick up a kill. He is an incredibly strong roamer. will usually have a lead/item advantage over his lane opponent if both mid laners are left alone for too long. This is because his passive grants him bonus gold for every enemy unit that he slays.

- Very Squishy
- Very Immobile
- Item Dependent
- CC Susceptible
- Low Range (525)
- Mediocre Scalings
- No Level 6 Powerspike.

is very easily shut down by lane bullies and champions that can abuse his laning phase which isn't weak, but is far from strong. Assassins who have high mobility, burst and escape potential fare very well against . Champions with high outplay potential from in-vulnerabilities or low cooldown mobility spells like makes unable to lock them down unless he gets into range. His range is fairly low anyways since he is dependent on using 's auto attack enhancer to access his utility which puts him in auto attack and spell range. His have a high mana cost, and 's low base mana pool cannot handle that in the early game. and gate can also lead to his death if he mis-uses it. When behind, he deals very little damage and only has his stun and slow from his and becomes virtually useless since he needs ability power for it to be effective.

RUNES, MASTERIES & SPELLS

OPTIMAL RUNES

x9
x9
x9
x3

These runes are great on since he is a late game burst mage who has good ability power scalings but is very squishy. Magic penetration increases his spell damage. Scaling health seals make him harder to kill later on in the game and give him the survivability he requires to be effective. Scaling and flat ability power boosts his overall damage output at all stages and makes it easier to farm minions and win trades for all the game. Against assassins, flat armor seals can be used instead.

BLIND PICK RUNES

greater mark of hybrid penetration

greater mark of hybrid penetration x9
x5
x4
x5
x4
x3

These runes are the best for as for everything in this runepage benefits him. Hybrid penetration helps him with early game last hitting and early game trading since he uses auto attacks more than the average mage. His squishiness, especially early game can be taken advantage of by his enemy laner and jungler, especially considering that he's immobile so we take defensive seals and some magic resistance in glyphs. The ability power is a standard choice because it makes our abilities deal more damage.

ALTERNATIVE RUNES

x9
x9
x9
x3

These runes are good if you don't have enough influence-points to purchase higher tier/more utility based runes. The basic setup of defense and offense means that we deal more damage with abilities early due to the extra magic penetration and we also have a good amount of defense against all types of damage.

ROAMING RUNES

x9
x9
x9
x3

Taking movement speed quintessences allow you to dodge abilities from your opponents such as or deadly bloom. Movement speed quintessences also help you roam down to sidelanes or your jungler faster on foot so that when your ultimate is down you can still join a fight.

OPTIMAL MASTERIES

OFFENSE
T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

T6

UTILITY
T1

T2

T3

'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'

These masteries are the best for twisted fate. Cooldown reduction, increased ability power, sustain through last hitting, more damage to low health targets, tower bursting and some percentage hybrid penetration allow us to deal a lot more damage in scenarios we would often lose without them (e.g. in lane duel to the death). The utility tree allows us to travel faster, gain more health and mana every time we use a and recall to base faster. Personally, there is no better setup than this one for since everything synergises with him very nicely.

ALTERNATIVE MASTERIES

OFFENSE
T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

T6

DEFENSE
T1

T2

T3

'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'

These masteries are the best for . Cooldown reduction, increased ability power, sustain through last hitting, more damage to low health targets, tower bursting and some percentage hybrid penetration allow us to deal a lot more damage in scenarios we would often lose without them (e.g. in lane duel to the death). Defense allows us to take less damage from champions due to / and we're tankier with the health so we can withstand more damage from all sources such as minion damage and have a better chance of not dying.

MANDATORY SUMMONER SPELL CHOICE

FLASH

FLASH

Make sure to pick up every game, especially on immobile carries like . It's a mandatory spell for just about every champion, as having can make the difference between getting a kill or not, and escaping or dying. allows you to make plays by either gaining distance and surprise stunning someone with 's yellow card or by dodging a skillshot which can heavily damage you or CC you such as 's .

OPTIMAL SUMMONER SPELL CHOICES

IGNITE

IGNITE

Make sure to pick up if you want more kill pressure, or want the grievous wounds/reveal effect that it provides when you use it on a target. This significantly cuts off lifesteal and spellvamp effects so you can duel champions such as or . will often allow you to secure a kill you wouldn't got without it. Because of it's range is 600 so you should usually be in range for it if you're also in range for which is what makes an effective carry. As of patch 5.3 now interrupts recalls so if you're desperate enough to... You can use it for that purpose.

GHOST

GHOST

Make sure to pick up along with and take the utility mastery and the . This gives you amazing catch, chase and kiting potential. and are both good summoner spells for travelling/covering great distances in a short amount of time and they can be used offensively/defensively (escape from ganks, dodge skillshots, get out of projectile based abilities like 's . I take this if I'm confident in the matchup I'm in.

HEAL

HEAL

Make sure to pick up if you're against a champion and you're not confident in your matchup. The health that it grants is good in all stages of the game and it could save you or your teammate, especially against burst assassins who you are most vulnerable against. The movement speed boost allows for chasing and juking as well. builds quite a lot of movement speed multipliers due to and for a majority of games and the movespeed boost briefly grants can benefit you a lot more than for what it would on other immobile champions.

BARRIER

BARRIER

has a lower cooldown and grants more shield strength than the amount of health you're granted from but it only lasts two seconds. is good against champions with high burst damage who have or grievous wounds like (.

TELEPORT

TELEPORT

and combined together give incredibly enormous map pressure in all stages of the game. is an exceptional roamer. can be used to gank the sidelanes by surprise when the enemy has over-extended and is un-aware that you're missing and doesn't see you teleporting to a sight ward in a brush.

EXHAUST

EXHAUST

Make sure to pick up if you're against a champion who tends to snowball and has huge single target burst damage when using a combo (such as ) since it makes them deal less damage for the duration is on the target. also slows movement speed and attack speed for the duration, making it very effective at shutting down auto attack reliant attack damage carries such as . is also a good defensive spell as for it can stop an enemy from getting objectives or reaching an ally.

ABILITY EXPLANATION

TWISTED FATE'S SKILLSET

's abilities give him strong pick potential and single target burst. He can use on towers allowing him to splitpush effectively due to the bonus damage it deals. He has mana sustain, an area of effect slow and a single target stun. He's easy to farm with auto attacks due to his high attack speed he gets from his and he has strong global map pressure with .

Loaded Dice (Passive)
Upon killing a unit, Twisted Fate rolls his dice, gaining from 1 to 6 bonus gold. Naturally, Twisted Fate has a higher chance to receive a large bonus.

Grants you bonus gold for every hostile enemy unit you kill. This includes epic monsters, towers and even wards that you kill. You have a higher chance to receive +6 gold from a unit kill compared to any other number. The total average amount of gold yielded per unit kill is 4. This passive makes him able to get his core items faster.

Wild Cards (Q)
Twisted Fate throws 3 cards forward in an arc, dealing 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+ 65% AP) magic damage to enemies they pass through.

Use this ability for waveclear, poke, and sniping in teamfights. Its high base damage and good ability power scaling makes it an incredibly hard-hitting spell and landing it multiple times will force your opponent to back off if they don't have the health to afford getting hit. The ability does has a very slow projectile travel speed though!

Pick A Card (W)
Twisted Fate picks the current card over his head; the card picked converts his next basic attack within 6 seconds to deal magic damage and add a special effect. He has 6 seconds to select a card.

Use this ability to sustain your mana early game, slow and clear the minion wave and lock down important carries. This skill is very versatile and can be both used in offensive and defensive situations. Use this ability on towers if you want to quickly take them down, use red card to help push the wave when you want to roam. Rotation is blue, red, gold, repeat.

Blue
40 | 60 | 80 | 100 | 120
(+ 100% AD) (+ 50% AP)

Red
30 | 45 | 60 | 75 | 90
(+ 100% AD) (+ 50% AP)

Yellow
15 | 22.5 | 30 | 37.5 | 45
(+ 100% AD) (+ 50% AP)

Stacked Deck (E)
Twisted Fate gains a bonus 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30% Attack Speed , and every fourth basic attack will deal 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 / 155 (+ 50% AP) bonus magic damage.

Auto attack your enemy laner when the passive is up since you'll deal quite a lot of damage. Stacked Deck also procs when used with Pick A Card so use the two abilities together and you'll deal a huge amount of damage. The attack speed the passive part of the ability grants you is also really nice and makes last hitting a breeze.

Destiny (R)
Twisted Fate reveals all enemy champions, including stealthed characters for a duration of 6/8/10 seconds. After a 0.5 second delay, Twisted Fate has the ability to cast Gate when his ultimate is active.

This ultimate reveals all targets, including ones who are in brushes or stealthed. If you're chasing and your opponent leads you into a brush, cast your ultimate to locate their position so you don't get baited. Destiny also pop's Banshee's Veil's shield and Sivir + Nocturne's spellshield.

Gate (R2)
Twisted Fate channels for 1.5 seconds and teleporting/blinking to a location within 5500 range of his position.

Use Gate when there's a champion who is alone and positioned incorrectly. After a teamfight where everyone is trying to escape, use this ultimate to pick them off. Zhonya's Hourglass can be used to interrupt the channel which can lead to baits and outplays. Correct use of the ability can win you the game, but mis-use it and you'll end up dying.

ABILITY SEQUENCE

Skill Order

> > >

then then then is the best skill order for . It allows him to get the powerspikes he needs once he maxes a skill and utilize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses by using this optimal skill order.

PROS & CONS
OF R>Q>W>E

Destiny
Allows you to chase champions who are fleeing, create picks and gain information of the position of enemy champions. Max this first.
Wild Cards
Waveclear, high base damage and good ability power scaling and allows you to poke/trade in skirmishes and teamfights. It's long range and high damage make it a very good ability, especially on TF's kit. Max it second.
Pick A Card
Grants you mana sustain, area of effect waveclear and a single target disable which is great for picking off enemies. Versatile ability which can be used in numerous situations but takes time getting used to. Max it third.
Stacked Deck
One point wonder ability until late game, the attack speed it grants allows you to last hit with auto attacks easier. The extra magic damage this applies to every fourth auto attack you do makes it invaluable but not worth maxing early. Max it last.

By using this order, you rule out all of your weaknesses. There are no drawbacks so there are no noticable cons with the exception of lack of lane sustain and slower stun duration on at the early levels. But this skill order gives you the damage and utility when you most need it.

GAME STAGES + ABILITY USAGE

LANING

Use in lane for last hitting creeps for the extra gold and regenerating your mana with blue card. You get extra gold from for doing this and you sustain your mana pool. When against low waveclear mid laners such as use red card to try shove the wave. Use your splash damage by hitting a minion which is next to a champion. Try and harass your lane opponent when they wind their auto attack animation up on a minion so you can punish them and get free damage off them. Auto attack your opponent when is up and use to get minions you're too far away from so you don't deny yourself gold or you can use it if you want to push the wave to the tower. When you finally reach level 6, push the wave with and 's area of effect red card and then use to teleport to the sidelanes and attempt to burn summoner spells or pick up a kill. By this time, you and your jungler should organise an invade in order to deny their jungler either or , especially if they're dependent on them. It's important to have gold card up so that you can zone your opponent from minions as seen below. Be careful to not expose yourself too ganks for long periods of time though. You're very vulnerable to CC and burst and if you get caught you'll be dead in an instant. Make sure you use your .

ROAMING

You have synergy with movespeed multipliers since the items you generally build will grant you a small percentage of movement speed. You can push your lane and then walk to another side lane and flank them, or when you have your ultimate up you can teleport in and surprise your opponents. Twisted Fate snowballs incredibly well, as a result, it's important to pick up early game kills so you can translate that into a lead in the mid game for your entire team.

MID GAME

Your high ability power scalings and good burst damage mixed in with your pick potential makes it easy for you to find a lone carry who hasn't positioned correctly and punish them for it. Your lockdown from allows you to immobilise carries stray from their team and burst them down without retaliation. This can then help you take objectives such as dragon or towers since the enemy team is at an unfair disadvantage due to one of their players being dead.

TEAMFIGHTING

Twisted Fate should rarely initiate a fight. You should only do so if you're confident that you won't get blown up and you can outplay the enemy team. You want to stand in the backline and wait for the fight to erupt. Before a fight, throw in order to try and poke the enemy champions down from afar. Try and avoid putting your abilities on cooldown for pointless reasons as for this gives your opponents a window of opportunity to act on since you don't have that spell up for another few seconds. In teamfights, try and look for opportunities to burst down carries without putting yourself in danger, or help your attack damage carry kill the tanks by peeling and locking them down and dealing huge burst damage to them with your abilities. By putting yourself in a vulnerable position, you are warranting a free win for your opponents. Only jump in when you feel like it's safe enough to go in and you have sufficient vision coverage of that particular area of the map and know the enemy champions positions on the map.

SPLITPUSHING

Your synergy with and your working on towers makes you an incredibly potent splitpusher and tower-killer. Your area of effect damage instantly clears waves and your bonus damage onto structures makes you a problem to deal with. You can also escape with if you see enemies coming your way. This strategy can be the most efficient of all in solo queue in order to win your games, but it can also backfire and create many issues that not only you, but your entire team will have to deal with as a result of being too greedy.

ITEMISATION

STARTING ITEMS

This item grants you the stats that you need to survive the early game and get as many minions as possible. The two 's that we get also allow us to sustain against poke which a majority of mid laners have and to survive against all-ins. I start this a majority of the time since it's mana regeneration is invaluable in the early laning phase. In addition to this, the health it grants is great too!

I would only ever buy this if I desperately needed the movement speed to avoid skillshot nukes against an ability power oriented mage/lane bully such as or . The sustain we get from the four 's is also invaluable since it grants us 600 effective health which is great since the enemy laner won't have enough burst to kill us as long as we avoid their skillshots.

Against early game attack damage assassins, we can start if we're scared of being killed and we can use the 's to stay in lane if we survive their all in. I generally advise starting this only if you're in-experienced or if you really need the armor against an assassin so you can get to mid game. This item is good to start with if you want to rush into an early .

LANING

This builds into a which is in my opinion one of your core items. If you don't want to buy that early you can buy a instead for the waveclear and more instant early game burst.

I see a lot of people buy but I dislike it. Mana regen and magic resist is good but I think there are better options. gives you good early damage and better tower pushing + mana.

Against attack damage assassins or champions which have single target targeted nukes like 's ultimate we can buy this so we can upgrade it into later on which allows us to outplay.

MID GAME

These boots are great since they increase the amount of damage we deal with our abilities that deal magic damage (which are all of them with the exception of our ultimate) and grant us movement speed.

Twisted Fate has great synergy with Lich Bane since he uses auto attacks quite often and the extra magic damage also procs onto structures making him a very potent turret killer and single target burst mage.

You get a choice of what to build here. All these items benefit you but you shouldn't buy all of them. Build what is appropriate in order to fulfill your requirements to becoming a successful AP carry for your team.

LATE GAME

This item grants you a huge amount of ability power which is good for you since your abilities all have a decent ability power scaling on them. Once you buy this item you hit like a truck and will burst bruisers down with a combo.

If you're becoming a threat and the enemy team have a brain they will start building some magic resistance against you in order to nullify your damage. You need void staff in order to remain effective at the later stages of the game.

Has the enemy team got an ability like or which can easily catch you out from far away? Don't want to be initiated on and blown up in an instant? This item is really good against catch-based crowd control teams.

IMPORTANT

You need to have vision of your enemies in order to make the correct play. Having the information of enemy positions means that you know whether or not they're trying to invade or whether they're vulnerable or not.

Areas that are left unchecked where you need to deny vision are the places where vision wards work best. By placing one, you can know whether or not that area is warded or if a stealth character is near that location.

You lack sustain, so buying potions in the laning phase and in the mid game allow you to not get poked down too much and remain in lane at low health. Health pots can also save you from Ignite so remember that.

Example Build 1.

.

Example Build 2.

.

MATCHUPS

color of champion name indicates difficulty: easy medium hard

TIP:
When starting recall to base at 1:20 and then wait at base for 5 seconds for 10 gold and purchase an extra health potion so you have x4 's rather than x3.

AHRI

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ DECENT CATCH POTENTIAL
+ HIGH COOLDOWN MOBILITY
+ SUPER AGGRESSIVE PLAYSTYLE

has good early damage and can be a good lane bully. Farm and roam when she isn't in lane. You both have good waveclear and pick potential. She has an easier time killing you. Hard matchup. Start + 2 's.

AKALI

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN HYBRID BURST
+ HIGH RANGE STICKING POWER
+ HIGH COOLDOWN TARGET MOBILITY
+ ULTIMATE HAS RESET MECHANIC

is weak early so you can bully her. She has strong roaming potential and cleans teamfights up well. She can kill you if you play stupidly in lane with + . Easy matchup. Start + 2 's.

ANIVIA

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ HIGH RANGE AOE STUN/SLOW
+ LONG COOLDOWN SELF-REVIVE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Weak early game who needs to farm to do anything. Difficult to kill early due to passive which revives her after 6 seconds after taking lethal damage. Dodge Q. She has little waveclear pre level 6. She has amazing waveclear after level 6. She has a long auto attack range. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

ANNIE

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE STUN
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Strong all game. Her auto attack range is 575. Try trade with her early but don't over commit. Level 6, try roam and push when she's not in lane. Play safe against her post-level 6. Hard matchup. Start + 2 's.

AZIR

PROPERTIES

+ SUSTAINED AOE MAGIC DAMAGE
+ AREA OF EFFECT DISPLACEMENTS
+ STRONG LATE GAME CHAMPION
+ COOLDOWN REDUCTION SYNERGY

Strong zoning at all stages of the game and decent upfront damage. His unique crowd control, mobility and burst with strong waveclear, sieging and tower taking potential makes him a force to be reckoned with. High skillcap. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

BRAND

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ PERCENTAGE HEALTH MAGIC DAMAGE
+ SINGLE TARGET LONG RANGE STUN
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Strong waveclear and good synergy with . Weak early game just like you. Don't let him get fed since he becomes a monster in the mid game. Has limited mobility and little CC. Skillshot reliant. Medium matchup. Start + 3 's + 1 .

CASSIOPEIA

PROPERTIES

+ SUSTAINED SINGLE TARGET AP DPS
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE STUN/SLOW
+ MOVEMENT SPEED BOOST AND KITING
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Strong early game lane bully with insane late game potential. Strong dueling and difficult to kill, appreciates farming over roaming but is effective at it. Requires to hit Q or W to maximise late game efficiency. Hard matchup. Start + 4 's.

CHO'GATH

PROPERTIES

+ SINGLE TARGET TRUE DAMAGE
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE CC
+ HEALTH BUFF FROM ULTIMATE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Strong waveclear and burst with high base statistics and base damage. A force to be reckoned with. He is melee so take advantage of him early. He has good lane sustain. Don't let him farm. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

CORKI

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN HYBRID BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT ARMOR SHRED
+ LONG RANGE AOE MAGIC NUKE
+ SAFE AND CONSISTENT LANER

Very reliable in the mid game. His poke through ult and his good burst with his escape make him difficult to kill. Wait until level 6 and then roam and try and get kills outside of your lane since it'll backfire. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

DIANA

PROPERTIES

+ DECENTLY LOW MANA CONSUMPTION
+ AREA OF EFFECT DISPLACEMENT
+ TARGETED MAGIC NUKE MOBILITY
+ REALLY STRONG ASSASSINATION POTENTIAL

Very tanky due to W and difficult to kill, but not known for her laning phase strength and therefore tends to play passive. Melee and cannot spam Q early, so punish her, at level 6, try and make picks rather than duel her. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

EKKO

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT STUN
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Just auto attack him and use at level 1 to make him lose half of his HP. Don't stand in his and constantly poke him. If you let him get close to you or allow him to close the gap he can kill you, but you can bully him early on and kill him in lane when he goes aggressive on you. Easy matchup. Start + 2 's.

EZREAL

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN HYBRID BURST
+ LONG RANGE LOW COOLDOWN POKE
+ SKILLSHOT RELIANT ABILITIES
+ DECENT MOBILITY + OUTPLAY

His long range and blink mobility makes him a strong pick. Has no waveclear pre lvl 6. Use red card + wild cards and shove the lane really hard into his tower. Roam and try kill him in the mid game. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

FIDDLESTICKS

PROPERTIES

+ SINGLE TARGET HEALTH SUSTAIN
+ AREA OF EFFECT POKE + SILENCE
+ HIGH DAMAGE AREA OF EFFECT DOT
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Squishy. Will farm and use and once he buys items he'll use his ult everywhere. Keep him down at early levels and punish him if he makes a mistake, his early game is awful. Roam when he's dead or recalled. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

FIORA

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN PHYSICAL BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE BLINK
+ INCREDIBLY HIGH AD SCALINGS
+ VERY GOOD DUELIST/SPLITPUSHER

Can use parry to reflect your yellow card and then punish you with her dash if you get out of position and easily push you out of lane. is your best friend. Don't let her roam and ask for ganks pre 6. Medium matchup. Start + 4 's + 1 .

FIZZ

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE KNOCKUP
+ HIGH MOBILITY + UNTARGETABLE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Can use his E to dodge your stun. Strong early game all in. Strong roamer and good burst. Snowballs well. He has high mana costs but builds quite a lot so the mana that gives helps him a lot. Hard matchup. Start + 2 's.

GALIO

PROPERTIES

+ FREE MAGIC RESISTANCE STATS
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE TAUNT
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Galio is difficult to beat as any champion. He's melee and only has two abilities that are ranged so you can abuse him early but he'll build magic resistance and you'll have little damage. Snowball by roaming and build . Hard matchup. Start + 1 + 1 .

GRAGAS

PROPERTIES

+ LONG RANGE AOE DISPLACEMENT
+ LONG RANGE MOBILITY/AOE STUN
+ PERCENTAGE HEALTH DAMAGE NUKE
+ IN LANE SUSTAIN WITH PASSIVE

Melee but his damage is not to be underestimated. Strong roamer and playmaker with good mobility. Strong at dueling and is very tanky and has sustain with . Try and abuse his melee auto attack range early. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

HEIMERDINGER

CH-1 Electron Storm Grenade

PROPERTIES

+ LONG RANGE MAGIC DAMAGE NUKE
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE STUN
+ STRONG LANE CONTROL/ZONING
+ HIGH ABILITY POWER SCALINGS

Will attempt to zone you away from minions with his turrets and long range auto attacks. Has good burst and utility but is vulnerable to ganks due to no mobility and his pushing capability. Roam at 6 and only fight him when his abilities are down. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

JAYCE

PROPERTIES

+ LONG RANGE PHYSICAL AOE NUKE
+ SINGLE TARGET MELEE KNOCKBACK
+ GOOD BURST + SUSTAINED DAMAGE
+ REALLY HIGH DAMAGE SCALINGS

Strong lane bully who scales well into the mid game. Has good poke and decent team utility. Becomes a real problem after he's bought a few early items. Has no level 6 powerspike. Strong duelist and pusher. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

KARMA

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ SINGLE TARGET DAMAGE SNARE
+ IN LANE HEALTH SUSTAIN
+ AOE DAMAGE MITIGATION SHIELD

Good early game bully with strong mid game teamfighting due to utility and high damage. Will take early game magic penetration and most likely try to push by instantly killing backline caster minions with her . Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

KARTHUS

PROPERTIES

+ SUSTAINED AOE MAGIC DAMAGE
+ AREA OF EFFECT %MR SHRED SLOW
+ GLOBAL DAMAGE MAGIC NUKE
+ STRONG LATE GAME TEAMFIGHTER

Karthus can't answer back to your short and sweet trades with + . He needs farm to scale and you can deny him quite heavily. He runs out of mana if he doesn't get an early . Easy matchup. Start + 2 's.

KASSADIN

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN MOBILITY BLINK
+ SINGLE TARGET NUKES + AA RESET
+ IN LANE MANA SUSTAIN + SHIELD
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Weak early game assassin who snowballs and roams very well after level 6 due to his massive powerspike that he gets by accessing his main ability, . Has a magic damage mitigation shield with . Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

KATARINA

sinister steel

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ PASSIVE INNATE ABILITY RESET
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE ULTIMATE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Quick and nimble. Mobile Katarina is weak early but will snowball really heavily just after one kill. She's melee, so try punish her and in lane avoid her harass. Roam at 6 when she's not in lane for a quick kill, don't ever over-commit to picks. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

KAYLE

PROPERTIES

+ SUSTAINED AOE MAGIC DAMAGE
+ SINGLE TARGET DAMAGE SLOW
+ PERCENTAGE RESISTANCE SHRED
+ DAMAGE DENIAL ULTIMATE SPELL

Can self-cast her ult to take no effect from your burst then all-in you and win. Bait it and fight her when her E is off cooldown. Weak early, roam and try and get fed and deny her items. Should be easy enough once you get . Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

KENNEN

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE STUN
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

His skillshot harass and strong auto attack and manaless resource bar all mean he can bully you in lane. He's not the strongest early game champion but his late game teamfighting and lockdown is monstrous. Try deny him farm when possible. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

LEBLANC

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE NUKE
+ MOBILITY DASH + RETURN BLINK
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Early game assassin's can stomp over . His weaker than average early game coupled with his low defensive and offensive stats and lack of mobility means that for a majority of the time, he can't fight and must play safe. His ultimate reveals the stealth. Hard matchup. Start + 4 's.

LEE SIN

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN PHYISCAL BURST
+ LONG RANGE LOW COOLDOWN MOBILITY
+ TARGETED ABILITY PHYSICAL NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH DAMAGE SCALINGS

Lee Sin is melee but has a huge amount of mobility and burst damage whilst being tanky. His strong early and mid game, huge AD scalings and outplay potential make him difficult to play against. His assassin potential is unrivalled but he is very high skillcap. He can roam. Hard matchup. Start + 2 's.

LISSANDRA

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE ROOT
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY LONG RANGE MOBILITY

has long range, but long cooldown blink mobility and a point and click target stun ultimate which can also be used to block damage from your . Her mechanics are simple to use but she has lots of outplay potential and burst and snowballs really hard. Strong roamer/teamfighter. Blue reliant. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

LULU

PROPERTIES

+ LONG RANGE WAVECLEAR + SLOW
+ AREA OF EFFECT KNOCKUP + HP
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Shields, health steroid, movement speed steroid and damage. A strong duelist and early game bully with good late game potential. Becomes impossible to kill once she gets CDR or tankiness and has a good mana pool. Strong teamfighter. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

LUX

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE SLOW
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Shield, catch potential with light binding and strong waveclear. Early game is weak but once she has AP she can destroy you and has build room for a which gives her sustain and tankiness. Outranges you and can easily roam and get a kill with and snowball. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

MALZAHAR

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN MAGIC SUSTAIN DMG
+ SINGLE TARGET DAMAGE SUPRESSION
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC D.O.T.
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Long range and difficult to deal with. The damage potential that this guy has in a prolonged fight against tanks or squishies is crazy. He can easily roam or catch out someone alone in the jungle and pick up a kill. His level 6 powerspik is too high for you to handle and he has waveclear so you have to force him out of lane to roam. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

MORDEKAISER

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC D.O.T.
+ FREE DAMAGE MITIGATION

Can block your damage with his passive and can easily all in you at level 6 if you get too close. Immobile but deadly if you try duel him in a straight up 1v1 duel since his sustained and burst damage mixed in with his health sustain and lack of a resource bar (uses cooldowns only, no mana). Hard matchup. Start + 2 's.

MORGANA

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE STUN
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Catch potential and a way to stop getting cc'd by your and can block your burst with it. Waveclear, pick potential and teamfighting make her a worthy foe. Can roam and create picks which will obliterate your entire team if she's left alone to farm and get items. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

NIDALEE

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ SINGLE TARGET DAMAGE NUKE
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Mobile, and can dodge your with . Gapcloser, roam potential, sustain and poke. Impossible to fight against in the mid game and she snowballs really hard. Her early game isn't awful nor strong so abuse her with your and try harass her down. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

ORIANNA

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE DISPLACEMENT
+ TARGETED ABILITY RESISTANCE SHIELD
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Strong mid game champion with super high damage and late game utility. Safer than most and always effective. The most consistent champion in the game, a good can beat almost anyone and as a result carry a game. Decent roamer but will focus on pushing and pressuring mid lane for global map control so she can start teamfighting. Be careful. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

PANTHEON

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN PHYSICAL BURST
+ SINGLE TARGET DAMAGE STUN
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ATTACK DMG SCALINGS

Very strong early game champion with cheese strategies. Snowballs and strong roamer, can solo carry the game and has the ability to stop your ult channeling with his stun. Blocks your auto attack harass with passive and has a strong all in and is very tanky in the late game. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

RIVEN

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN PHYSICAL BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE STUN
+ VERY MOBILE + OUTPLAY POTENTIAL
+ REALLY HIGH ATTACK DMG SCALINGS

Outplay potential and damage mitigation with huge mobility and damage through abilities and auto attacks. Can easily kill you early game so you need to use range and disengage when she uses her mobility and just farm, push when she backs and roams. Zhonya's is important here. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

RYZE

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE DPS
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKES
+ SUPER LOW MANA COSTS

His low cooldowns and high base damage with medium ap scalings and decent range make him a formiddable foe to go against. His mid game is strong but his late game is weaker than yours since you can instagib him if he doesn't buy any magic resistance. He isn't amazing at roaming but isn't awful. Avoid dueling. You won't solo kill him. Immobile = jungler camp. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

SWAIN

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC DPS
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE ROOT
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC D.O.T
+ MEDIUM RANGE HEALTH SUSTAIN

Weak laner but godly mid game champion. Difficult to farm with so high skillcap but doesn't take long to ramp up and get going. Deny blue buff and camp him early since he'll get fed. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

SYNDRA

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE STUN
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Her magic damage nuke and huge single target burst makes her a strong ranged ap assassin who's base damage and scalings can kill even the tankiest of foes in an instant. She tends to be very aggressive in lane or at level 6 so you want to freeze the lane and call your jungler to gank since she's immobile and vulnerable, especially when her abilities are on cooldown. Take mid outer tower and then roam like mad. You'll need blue. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

TALON

mercycutthroat

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN PHYSICAL BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE NUKE
+ TARGETED ABILITY PHYSICAL NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ATTACK DMG SCALINGS

talon] is an assassin with low counterplay, high damage but little mobility and no escape. Catching him out with gold card will be your best bet. His weak laning phase must not be underestimated since he can still trade with [[rake and cutthroat if you get too close. Hard matchup. Start + 2 's.

VEIGAR

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT LONG RANGE STUN
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Strong late game champion due to infinite ability power scalings with waveclear and burst. Immobile and weak roamer so take advantage of that and try roam. Punish him for every mistake. If his Q is on cooldown (it has a high mana cost) fight him since it's his main damage/harass source. Medium matchup. Start + 2 's.

VEL'KOZ

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC/TRUE BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE KNOCKUP
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKES
+ REALLY HIGH BASE DAMAGES

His true damage and good sustained/aoe burst damage can be difficult to deal with but like most mages he is very immobile so you can shut him down early. He tends to play aggressively and try and poke or shove the lane. Blue reliant. You outroam him and can lock him down. Easy matchup. Start + 2 's.

VIKTOR

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT STUN/DISPLACEMENT
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Is a late game powerhouse with strong mid game power and high AP scalings on his abilities. Is capable to carry and is a decent duelist. Weak mobility but good movement speed through Q and has damage mitigation/long range and waveclear. Tends to stay in lane and shove but can roam. Medium Matchup. Start + 2 's.

VLADIMIR

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT PERCENTAGE INCREASE
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Can dodge your stun with his pool and has good burst and sustained damage with HP sustain and decent range. Decent follow up with jungle ganks and a mid/late game carry. Tanky for building AP and damage for building tanky because of passive makes him difficult to deal with, even in lane! Hard matchup. Start crystaline flask + 4 's.

XERATH

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE NUKES
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Will try and poke you down and push the wave, regaining mana through passive. Dodge and you'll be fine and interupt his ultimate channeling to stop him roaming and getting a kill from the sidelanes so he's weak in the mid game/late game. You outroam him and can kill him late game. Medium Matchup. Start + 2 's.

YASUO

PROPERTIES

+ LOW COOLDOWN PHYSICAL BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE KNOCKUP
+ TARGETED ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ATTACK DMG SCALINGS

Mobile champion with a wind wall to stop your stun, a good Yasuo will crush your dreams and outplay you constantly, whilst maintaining good farm, pressuring the map and roaming. Tends to build assassin but usually builds tenacity boots which makes him hard to kill. Medium Matchup. Start + 2 's.

ZED

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN PHYSICAL BURST
+ SINGLE TARGET DAMAGE NUKE
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY PHYSICAL NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ATTACK DMG SCALINGS

Mobile champion with strong assassination potential and good diver. Can dodge your stun with his ultimate and outplay you and a good zed will roam and kill you over and over again so you'll need an earlish zhonya's to counter his insane burst damage potential. Wait until late and make picks. Medium Matchup. Start + 2 's.

ZIGGS

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE DISPLACEMENT
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Waveclear and range, can usually poke you down and go for an all in at 6 if he knows what he's doing but has one of the highest skillcaps of all mid laners just because of his easy margin of error. Try and kill him early or mid game, since his late game is really difficult to deal with. He's super strong at short trades and sieges. Medium Matchup. Start + 2 's.

ZYRA

deadly bloom

PROPERTIES

+ MEDIUM COOLDOWN MAGIC BURST
+ AREA OF EFFECT DAMAGE ROOT
+ SKILLSHOT ABILITY MAGIC NUKE
+ REALLY HIGH ABILITY SCALINGS

Good burst and sustained damage but immobile. Amazing laner with super strong mid game and unique late game utility. Decent but inefficient roamer since she's very slow and all her abilities have a delay which can be good or bad. Make sure she doesn't get ahead. Medium Matchup. Start + 2 's.

CONCLUSION

is an immobile but fun low range mage who has a strong mid and late game. When played perfectly, he can carry most solo queue games alone and when in coordinated play can obliterate enemy teams with strategy and outplay potential.

CHANGELOG + THANK YOU

Special thanks to Emikadon for her inspiration into getting me to writing guides. Without her I wouldn't of made this guide as for she was the reason why I got into it. Huge thank you to Scrap Computer who does detailed guides on champions who is a friend of mine who has helped support me with this, in addition to jhoijhoi for her guide on how to code and create a guide so it looks formal and is interesting to read. Special thanks to Vaedrix for being fat. Special thanks you to for viewing my guide and reading it all! I hope you learned something! :)

Changelog:
29/04/15: Started Guide.
10/05/15: Finished Majority of Guide.
11/05/15: Finished Guide (Exception: Matchups).
17/05/15: Added Anivia To Matchups.
22/05/15: Added Ability Icons To All Matchups.
22/05/15: Added Annie, Azir, Brand
23/05/15: Added Champion Names (Color Difficulty) To Matchups.
25/05/15: Added Fiora - Kassadin Matchups. Added runes. Updated cheatsheet.
26/05/15: Added laning items. Fixed runes coding. Changed TF splash in runes from classic to underworld.
29/06/15: Added rest of the matchups and fixed coding errors.
30/08/15: Updated matchups and added Ekko. Changed item suggestions. Fixed mastery page images. Removed at level 2 from ability sequence and placed it at level 4 instead. Fixed cheatsheet.

Achievements:
40,000 views? You guys are amazing! = 03/07/2015.
50,000 views? 10,000 extra views in only 10 days!!! = 08/07/2015.
110,000 views? Dafaq? = 23/07/2015.
150,000 views. Thanks. = 30/08/2015.

Check out my Lissandra guide here.