Heya and welcome to my guide to Galio. I'm Sanun,a top laner who have played League Of Legends since season 1. Galio is one of my most played champions and started playing Galio around his release. I'm Diamond on multiple accounts on EUW and pretty known for my Galio top and mid. I'm here to share you the secrets about Galio top and mid and how to be a hyper-carry with him. This is my 14th guide so feedback is appreciated!

Pros :
+ Excels at initiating a fight
+ Good protection
+ AOE Damage
+ AOE CC

Cons :
- Dependent on his allies to support him
- No good escape
- High cooldowns early game

Flash is one of the summoner spells that is available in League of Legends. Most of the time, everyone will have Flash as one of the two summoner spells they can equip before getting into a game as it is considered to be an important and must have spell because it grants you the ability to instantly switch your position to wherever your cursor is pointing at within a 425 units range, and this allows players to make creative plays as well as escaping from the brink of death.

Since season 4, there are almost no summoner spells in League of Legends that have a bigger impact than Teleport. Sure, Flash is a big deal and can change a team fight, but Teleport determines everything from which objectives you can take, to whether or not you can fight, to where each individual player can and should be standing on the map.

In fact, until patch 8.23, even just starting a Teleport then cancelling it could be enough to turn a fight, or save your team’s bot lane. But, after this most recent preseason patch, Teleport can no longer be cancelled. And that’s probably a good thing.

Now, when you want to impact the map with a teleport, you have to be absolutely sure it’s a good idea. No more faking teleports to get enemy teams to back off of a fight, or to bait teleport out of your opponent, if you start a teleport in season 9, you’re teleporting.

This is the kind of change that, rather than making one playstyle weaker, actually impacts the entire game itself. At the highest levels of the game, map movements will have to be more purposeful, while things like tower dives can be done with a little more confidence, knowing that the enemy team will have to either decide not to help the target of the dive, or commit everything to help them.

If you have kill-pressure, go for ignite. If not, just pick TP and farm up and be ready for dragon. You can still pull up a good teamfight TP if the opponents overextend a lot and you team has good CC. Ignite also falls off hard as the game goes, so you have to abuse it and snowball and close the game before its 'late'. Champions like Kled (which can use his ult to get into places/fights and have more map pressure AND can also kill ppl with ease). That means you can use your ult kinda like a weaker TP and go with ignite, therefore he's more forgiving with ignite than most top champions.

PASSIVE - COLOSSAL SMASH :


What does it do:

Galio gains a buff every eight seconds that makes his auto attacks do additional magic damage as well as strike all enemies in a small area. When Galio uses his abilities, his passive cools down by four seconds instantly.

This is an AoE basic attack passive through and through, not completely dissimilar to Nocturne. Basically, this is a great way to get extra damage out in a teamfight. It is worth noting that Galio is a melee champion, and as such, he will struggle when farming against ranged champions. Colossus Smash should provide him with an easy means of CSing under tower if it comes to that, which it probably will. As long as you are building AP (or MR, which Colossus Smash also scales off of), you won’t have to think about this ability too much, other than to weave basic attacks between his abilities.

(Q) - WINDS OF WAR :


What does it do:

Galio flaps his wings and makes two tornadoes that move in a crescent shape towards a common meeting place. When the two tornadoes collide they form a small area of “bad” on the ground. This area deals damage to all enemies inside.

Winds of War is some weird amalgamation of old Galio’s Q and E. This is Galio’s main damage dealing ability as well as his only form of ranged farming. As such, it is crucial that Galio is able to make the most of this ability. The cooldown isn’t terrible, but it isn’t spammable by any means. This means that you must be cautious when using this ability casually, as you may find yourself starving for a ranged means of damage, especially in the mid lane.

What is most interesting about this ability, is how it behaves when you fire it. Essentially, you choose the location of where you want the vortex to land, and the tornadoes shoot out accordingly. This means that with enough practice, you should be able to hit multiple targets with the tornadoes and the vortex. That being said, the vortex is going to be the main source of damage in situations that force your target to stand still inside of it. Kinda like this next ability...

(W) - SHIELD OF DURAND :


What does it do:

Passively, Galio gains a null-magic shield after not taking damage for an extended period of time. When Galio firsts casts Shield of Durand, he will become slowed but gain extra damage reduction. On a second cast, Galio will taunt all enemies within a certain radius and for a certain amount of time, both depending on how long between the first and second cast of the ability.

This sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is. First, the passive. This shield grants him some extra staying power against mages, his primary opponents, and forces his enemies to continue to try and poke him down if they don’t want his shield to return.

On the taunt side of things, this ability will not be particularly useful for chases, but provides incredible lock down for teamfights. If there is ever a situation where Galio finds a way into the entire enemy team, that teamfight is as good as over. This is an extremely powerful CC ability, and it grants Galio frequent opportunities to make big plays. However, it is important to note that this ability is not particularly helpful outside of teamfights and lane ganks. If enemies choose to split you down, Galio will have some trouble catching up to them.

(E) - JUSTICE PUNCH :


What does it do:

Galio dashes in a targeted direction. If Galio collides with a champion or terrain, he will stop at the collision point. If Galio collides with a champion, they will take damage and be knocked up.

This is like a little baby Malphite ultimate for just one person. Justice Punch is an awesome engage tool for a melee magic gargoyle to have. Combined with his other abilities, it can also provide a pretty exceptional 1,2, punch. Place Winds of War around your enemy, knock them up with Justice Punch, and then taunt them into the vortex. It requires a pretty precise situation, but it should be fairly deadly. This is also a great ability to use to dash away from ganks and into them, just keep in mind that you can’t cross walls. Justice Punching your way into a teamfight is also a nice way to get yourself into a battle, unless you have your ultimate available to you.

(R) - HERO’S ENTRANCE :


What does it do:

Galio jumps up into the sky and flies towards an allied champion that he has selected. His target gains damage reduction until Galio reaches them. When Galio reaches his friend, he smashes into the ground around them, dealing damage and knocking up all enemies in a large radius. Enemies right under Galio are knocked up for longer.

This is a cool ultimate for a cool gargoyle. Basically, Galio gets a cooler Shen ultimate (Stand United) that is good for teamfighting. Do you see a pattern here?

Hero’s Entrance provides Galio with an opportunity to arrive late. Maybe you backed before a fight? Maybe you died before a fight? Maybe you are split pushing before a fight? Maybe you feel like smashing into the bot lane at 12 minutes? The possibilities are endless. Like most global ultimates, this one exists to give the player and their team options. No matter where your team is, if they are right next to you, or across the map, Galio can find his way into a fight or even a skirmish within seconds.

THE MID BUILD :

In the mid lane (or top if you want to be risky), you want to make sure you are building an appropriate amount of damage. As such, we should start off with a Morellonomicon just to get the ball rolling. Next, or first depending on how hard your lane is, go for the Abyssal Mask. For three and four we are gonna go Hextech Protobelt-01 and Rabadon’s Deathcap. Finally, round out your build with a Spirit Visage for some extra tank and damage. As with most AP mid laners, you want to buy Sorcerer’s Shoes, although Mercury’s Treads look great on Galio as well.

THE TOP BUILD :

In the top lane, you should probably be building a little more tank. Lucky for Galio that for him, MR = damage. That being said, for a lower damage build, I would suggest a Rod of Ages first, just for the lane sustain and tank stats that is provides. Next, grab that Spirit Visage and the Dead Man’s Plate. After that, you probably want to buy a Banshee’s Veil and a Randuin’s Omen. Keep in mind that if you want a little more damage you could trade it with a Iceborn Gauntlet, depending on the situation. For beefy Galio, you are almost always going to want to build Mercury’s Treads Or Ninja Tabi.

Galio's lane phase is super standard:

Sit back and farm/poke with Q. If you see a chance to get a kill, go in with your E and W. A good combo to know is (E -> Auto) -> Channel Taunt -> Flash on person -> Release taunt -> Autos and Q.

If the enemy is able to approach you for a trade, it's most important that you hit your W for the damage reduction and back out once your abilities are on cooldown. Extended trades VS enemies like Fiora and Darius are not suggested.

Everything else is just fundamentals. Read the summoner spell section for Teleport usage. Ward river. Watch your minimap. Push creeps into enemy turret after killing him/her or forcing a back.

If you’re getting engaged on, ult whichever one of your allies is in most danger - the damage reduction is quite significant and can save them. Priority should go to carries if more than one person is in danger.

If you’re engaging, try to ult on one of your allies that would be diving in like a Rengar/LeBlanc/Olaf. A flanking Teleport into an E -> Channel W -> Flash W is also quite solid.

After the initial engagement, peel for your carries. Taunt and knock up as many people as your can. Hit your Q on as many targets as possible. Use your item actives.

This is the end of my guide, I hope you enjoyed it and learned a lot about our Colossus Galio. If you have any questions or want to watch some educational high elo content, then be sure to follow my stream on https://www.twitch.tv/Sanun
Here I will be streaming a lot in the near future.
GL HF with Galio!
Thank you for reading my guide! if you have any feedback or questions feel free to comment. Upvotes are heavily appreciated!