Corki Build Guide by SimonRJ

Hello everyone, welcome to my Corki guide. My name is Simon, a decently new League of Legends player. I started League of Legends in the summer of 2015, and have enjoyed every moment and aspect of the game. I'm currently sitting at Silver 4, working my way up the ranks. I dropped down from Gold 4 last season, and I'm aiming for the high ranks this season. I'm a Zed main, but I've been exploring different champions and have found a lot of success, love and fun with Corki. This is my second MobaFire guide, so feel free to come with any feedback you may provide. I take all into consideration, and I love chatting and discussing, in a friendly matter of course. I'll try to update it as frequently as possible, if any new build or secrets may arrive!

Corki is a hybrid, long ranged, ADC/caster. His laning phase is insanely strong, with his long range poke and low cooldowns. I prefer to play him in the mid lane, as I feel his overall map presence and kit fits best into the Mid lane. He can shut down many assassins in the early game, as his range is superior. His package is perfect for mid, as it gives him a chance to roam, but also because the size of the package is perfect for mid lane. He can jump in from either side, but also go straight over the whole mid lane area, between the two outer turrets. If you want a fun to play, but also extremely strong champion, I highly recommend Corki. He has a decently low ban rate, but is also easy to soloqueue with, as he can both be played in the midlane, but also in bot lane. You can easily confuse your enemies, as most people expect him to go bot, however his midlane is just as strong, and thats what I'm focusing on in this guide.

I would like to touch a bit on the subject of Pros & Cons before starting the guide. Now Corki has a lot of positives and strengths, however as any other champion he also has some weaknesses that you should know before trying him, but they also balance him out so he doesn't fly through the ban roof! I have made a little picture showing Corki and his Pros and Cons.

Corki's Pros make him the champion that he his, with a great escape on a decently low cooldown, which is his Valkyrie. This is an awesome tool in lane and teamfights. He can easily escape ganks and teamfights in baron/dragon pit or if he is close to a wall. Which is one of the reasons why his teamfighting is good. However, the most important factor is that he has a lot of AoE long range damage which hits really hard on the enemy team. He can easily burst down any squishy, but his low cooldowns make him a great tank shredder too.

As I shortly introduced before, Corki also has some weaknesses. His early game is quite strong, however his mid game is insanely strong, but as we all know a champion must have an equal and opposite force to balance out the champion. In the late game, Corki falls off a bit. His damage is just not as high as other champions and his survivability is also not as great. In the early levels, before getting Essence Reaver, he is very mana hungry. If you spam his spells too often he will quickly run out of mana, if he doesn't have blue buff of course. So try not to spam Q in the early game.

In this section I'll talk about my choices of Masteries and Runes. There are a lot of different variations, but I will talk a bit about each of them and when to use them. I will go as in depth as possible, and try to explain why and when I choose each of the options. I have tried a lot of different setups, and I've also looked at higher Elo players and also pros. This way you will get the most of information possible. I'll start off explaining the Masteries. Now in the masteries there is a lot of choices, and most of the time you can't go wrong. But I'll show you my favorite mastery setup, and why you should use these too. In the end I'll discuss a few rune pages, and which you should use at each scenario. I'll recommend a rune page for a casual player and I'll show you different setups for more advanced players.

I have chosen a basic mastery page for you to use at the top of this guide. However, Corki isn't as simple as 1 mastery page. So I've decided to show you the thoughts behind each option, and what you should use in different cases and preferences. Almost anything is viable, aslong as you don't go too deep into the Resolve Tree ;)

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Ferocity Tree Tier 1 // Tier 1 in Ferocity Tree is very loose. You can pick either one depending on your playstyle. I'm mostly a very far back poke Corki playstyle, however Fury might be better if you play more like an ADC, it also works better for trades in the early game. Tier 2 // This is a preference mastery choice again. Double Edged Sword can be really good if you're sick at kiting. This will allow you to deal more damage, while theoretically taking more, however if you can kite, you will take no damage. Feast is better for lane sustain, I feel it's an underrated mastery, as the cooldown is pretty high, but the health is actually really nice. You get 48 HP back each minute, if you proc it perfectly. Just after 5 minutes you will have 240 more health than if you went for Double Edged Sword. Tier 3 // Corki is hybrid damage, which is why he benefits from both of these masteries. If you want sustain, go for Vampirism, if you want more damage (especially in the late game, where you really need it!) go for Natural Talent. Tier 4 // This is another tricky one. Bounty Hunter is more snowball focused. To get 5% increased damage, you will need to kill each of the enemy team members. Which can be difficult if they have a tanky team composition or you're behind. Oppressor is the safer way to go, your team often has some form of CC, and so do you, so Oppressor will often give more damage teamfights, where you already excel at so it will make you even stronger. Tier 5 // If you want 18 in ferocity, I recommend going Battering Blows if you can kite, and Piercing Thoughts if you want to play the poke game. Tier 6 // You do not build much crit, and Fervor of Battle is insanely strong right now on ADC and Corki is basically a midlane ADC. You can quickly stack Fervor, as abilities gives 2 stacks.

Cunning Tree Tier 1 // Savagery for a bit stronger auto attacks on creeps. Helps a lot in the early game. Wanderer is great if you want to roam or get to lane just a tad bit faster. Tier 2 // Runic Affinity is a waste on Corki, the other options are so much stronger right now. Secret Stash is very good for sustain, and gives a bit of mana too. Assassin is nice for better damage early as you are always alone, and also good for splitpushing. Preference between Secret Stash and Assassin . Assassin is great for a midlaner, so Corki benefits from it a lot, that's why I choose Assassin. Tier 3 // Although Mana is a problem early game, I would way rather have Merciless, as your poke will only get stronger whenever the enemy is low. Tier 4 // Bandit can be nice if you want extra gold, but it's very little and the 10 gold for hitting a champion isn't that good. I just find it much better to get some health back when I'm finishing off a target and I'm low. Saves you from sticky situations like ignite. Tier 5 // The armor and magic penetration is super strong on Corki as he is hybrid damage. It will be super hard to build against you, as you are so diverse. I prefer Armor Penetration over CDR, as 5% extra is a lot and you need to be able to use your mana wisely and you already have decently low CD. Tier 6 // For Key Mastery, Thunderlord's Decree is no doubt. TLD is so strong right now, and you hardly benefit from the others. You already have decent escape, and you most likely don't need the speed. The shield is a waste.

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Resolve Tree Tier 1 // As you are not building much armor, the health regeneration is awesome in lane. Easier to freeze lane and also helps to go for Assassin instead of the sustain choice Secret Stash. Tier 2 // I recommend taking Explorer over Tough Skin in most match-ups. As you do not get the Wanderer you will need the Explorer for roaming. I do take Tough Skin if I'm against a though AD opponent/team comp. Tier 3 // Veteran's Scars are preferred as it is simply flat health, which is nice in the early game and you have fairly low LS early/mid game. Go for Vampirism if you are going Runic Armor! Tier 4 // Insight is an amazing and very underrated Mastery, as it will help with the long cooldown on flash and heal/ignite/cleanse. Perseverance gives a good sustain in lane, however most midlaners have a high burst and will often not let you survive with >25% HP. The Insight is stronger generally.

The choice between Fervor of Battle and Thunderlord's Decree is all about your playstyle and whichever you feel is the best for you. If you're a great kiter, who can easily get some autoattacks in fights, then go for Fervor. A thing to note about Fervor is that it's actually really strong right now, as it gives 2 stacks with Abilities, so Corki can easily get 8 stacks fast. I would choose Fervor if

there's a lot of tanks too, so you can shred through their armor faster. It's better in teamfights, as they take a lot of time, and a Thunderlord's Decree proc has 15 seconds cooldown compared to Fervor with 0 other than the "charge" time. Thunderlord's is more of a bursty pick in the early game, so you can more easily get a first kill. Fervor of Battle is a great choice for mid/late game skirmishes and teamfights, while Thunderlord's Decree boosts your early game burst damage.

I have made some different variations of rune pages that you can check out and I'll explain the choices as I go. As far as the runes' pictures, I know they are outdated, but the same stats are still the same as now.


The Standard Rune Page The Standard Rune Page is a pretty cheap rune page with great stats for Corki. He benefits from everything on this rune page and most people use this. It works for every matchup, which is why it's great for Corki. Corki is a ADC / Caster champion, I take Attack Damage Marks as it's helps with his autoattacks dealing a bit more damage. It's helps for early CS'ing and also for boosting his passive. As for Seals, armor seals are always great for a squishy target like Corki. Every viable team comp has physical damage and when facing an AD champion your laning phase will be even easier and you can go for more trades and all ins. Glyphs of Magic Resist is great against AP which again, most team comps has, so Corki benefits from it too. I do not choose to go CDR glyphs because of the fact that with the build I use, you're already sitting at 40% CDR. Attack Speed Quints are lovely, but very expensive. They give you a better chance at trading, a smoother AA, and overall boosts your DoT. It also allows for faster Sheen procs.


The Reversed Standard Variation A bit more expensive rune page, but I've seen many pros pick it up. The benefits are more attack speed, from all 9 Marks, while getting a slightly less amount of attack damage overall. The rune page is more expensive, which is why I would rather give the less expensive rune page for Corki new comers. You'll get the same stats with your Glyphs and Seals. But this time you have Attack Damage Quints and Attack Speed Marks.


Against AD Rune Page A bit cheaper than the Reversed and a bit more expensive than the Standard. This is a great rune page against any AD opponent. You'll sacrifice some of the magic resist, but you'll gain massive amount of attack speed. Marks will be the same, so you won't lose out on damage, and you will reach 16.7 attack speed overall from 5 attack speed glyphs + 3 attack speed quints. I highly recommend this page against an AD opponent.


Against AP Rune Page A bit pricy but worth it rune page against an AP laner. I take Magic Resist Glyphs as they will provide you with a lot of resistance against the mages in the early level trades. You should be able to outtrade/equal trade them in the early game. But they key thing is the Seals of Scaling health, I take scaling against most mages especially control mages, as it allows you to survive the early game with a slight bit of health but great amount of magic resist, however you will outscale them and once you hit the mid/late game you will have tons of health and MR against the mages. Feel free to swap the Attack Damage Marks and Attack Speed quints with each other if you like the reversed version.


Against AP Burst Champion This is super great against someone like LeBlanc, however the price is super high and only for people with IP to spend and hardcore Corki mains. The seals of flat health helps against the early burst and so does the Glyphs of magic resist. Someone like Leblanc will do no damage to you. Feel free to swap the marks and quints here too.

For Corki midlane there are a lot of choices regarding Summoner Spells. I will show you the best and which you should use in different matchups. However there is one summoner spell which you cannot choose differently, one that cannot be replaced, and that is: Flash is a must, especially on an midlane ADC. It has so many usages compared to any other summoner spell, which is why almost everyone uses it. You can reposition, dodge abilities, escape, gap close, and many more usages. As a squishy midlane ADC type champion, Corki really benefits from this summoner spell, as he can be caught out without W.

Situational Heal gives you a ton of health back which is great in almost any situation. Heal is in my opinion the best to go if you're not experienced with the other spells. Heal also gives a speed boost for kiting, escaping or gapclosing.

or Situational These are nice spells against burst champions. You can survive many tower dives, and potentially get a kill in return if you use it correctly. Barrier against AP(ex. Leblanc) and Exhaust against AD(ex. Zed) in most cases.

Situational Cleanse is a very good spell against CC/ Exhaust. Cleanse is a very hard to use spell, so you need to know your enemies well and have good reaction. Cleanse separates the good players from the pros.