Teemo Build Guide by Jarlaxle

Introduction to the Dps/Off-Support Teemo

As many of you have seen with my item build, it is not your mainstream Teemo. I focus on CDR and Mobility so that I can ward up the map completely. With Move Quick, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Ghost and Shurelya's Reverie, you will be the fastest champ, able to support and gank the lanes very easily and support your teamates in small lane fights. But we'll get to my build later as I will start by showing you the other current Teemo builds(On-hit,AD,AP) and that even though they excel in certain situations, they are VERY lackluster in others.

This build makes Teemo a off-support late game while a great DPS early-mid game. But this style of playing Teemo do not suits every type of play I recommend using it in premade mostly.

The AP Teemo

The AP Teemo : It is build like any other casters but they get more CDR for more mushrooms spamming.
Pros :
- Noxious Trap quickly becomes the most annoying skill, granting you a very good map awareness and the damage is not to be overlooked on squishy champs.
- Blinding Dart and Toxic Shot are very good at laning phase for harrassing and 1vs1 situation. They will help you get mid kills etc...
- The AP Teemo is generally more tanky then the other 2 builds by getting item such as Rod of Ages, Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Zhonya's Hourglass.
Cons :
-Very limited damage output in teamfights compared to other AP caster, unless you planned a huge mushroom trap but hey the odds of that happenning is about 25%...
-Cannot gank very well in the laning phase as you have no stuns/slows, so since most Teemo takes mid, that spot isn't used in it's full potential.

The On-Hit Teemo

The On-Hit Teemo : Usually focus on item such as Malady, Wit's End, Madred's Bloodrazor and The Black Cleaver. They seek synergy with Camouflage and Toxic Shot
Pros :
-You will destroy squishy champions such as Karthus, Twitch with ease.
-You can also destroy tanks if given enough time.
Cons :
-Close to no survivability, I mean sure you destroy them but you get kill even faster... so if you dont have a tank in teamfights to draw some attention well then you won't last that long.
-Your ability to ward the map with mushroom is greatly reduced as you have no CDR and no mana regen or mana.

AD Teemo

AD Teemo : Built like most ranged AD, it sed to be very popular back in the days, but now it is rarer to see them, so I'll make this short. It is somewhat still viable but compared to other AD carries such as Vayne, Ashe and Corki, Teemo is very behind since he has no real steroid except Camouflage and his Toxic Shot isn't that much of a boost to damage since you aren't building AP.(I mean even if you built Ap...)

The Dps/Off-Support Build

So as you have seen with the crrent Teemo build each of them either has a great map awareness but reduced teamfight ability, or great sustained damage but reduced map awareness and survivability. In my build you play as a Dps with decent AS and Armor Pen, but lategame you build into a off support as Teemo doesn't have enough Dps to contribute as much a carry lategame for the team even if you built like a dps. Playing this build is like playing say Zilean or AP Twisted Fate, you focus on damage dealing early-mid game and by lategame you transition to utility. If you look at the Teemo tags, he is actually tagged as a support but it is clear to most of us he doesn't have what it takes to be the main support as Soraka. But he does extremely well in his job of a off-support.

Pros :
-Great mobility and boost to speed for escapes,chases and pushes.
-Maxed CDR and moility allows you to spamm mushrooms all over the place.
-Since you are a dps/off-support your death won't affect the team as much as if you were playing a DPS or on-hit Teemo.
-Blind last 3.5 sec and is on a coolown of 6 sec.
-Effective gank with your speed. Also you are very good at counterjungling with your mobility and mushrooms.

Cons :
-Your mushrooms do not deal as much as AP, they serve for the purpose of slow/vision rather then damage.
-You won't deal as much damage as the On-Hit and DPS Teemo lategame. But early-mid game your damage is just as good.
-You need a good team with coordination and synergy in order for this build to truly shine, ( more in the team comp section).

My Teemo build goes in another direction than the other 3 build by building as a Off-support with low CDR and Movement speed while dealing decent damage due to the Armor Pen, AS,AD. It is no way better then the other ones just a entire different playstyle that fits for the team I am currently playing with.

Runes/Masteries

Runes :

For Marks I take MPen because I already have enough APen with Sword of the Divine and Youmuu's Ghostblade. It helps me harrass and kill early game with Blinding Dart and Toxic Shot.
For Seals, Mana regen/Health and Magic resist will work just fine. But Armor is a poor choice for Teemo since your Q shuts down any AD easily.
For Glyphs, I take Flat AP again for better early game with Q and E. But MagicResist can work very well too.
For Quint : Health/APen/AP will work fine and also Movement Speed works for Teemo too.

Masteries : I usually go for the 9/0/21 typical build, but depending on your and the enemie's team set 21/0/9 works well sometimes too.

Summoner Spells

Flash is a absolute must have for most champs, and Teemo is no exception. Not a lot of explaining here to be done.

Ignite/ Ghost/ Cleanse/ Exhaust are good choices for a secondary summoners because:

Ignite Gives you a DOT to complement with Toxic Shot, helping you get FB and kills in general.
Ghost Gives another boost to speed.
Cleanse Get CCed?---> Cleanse---> Shurelya's Reverie Youmuu's Ghostblade Move Quick---> Captain Teemo Out.
Exhaust Great spell for ganking and with it you can completely shut down AD carries : Blinding Dart---> Exhaust---> Blinding Dart. With the max 40% cooldown reduction which you et with this build, your Q has a cooldown of 6sec and lasts 3.5sec (hey hey..)

Playstyle and Item

Early game

If you are against an AD at mid then you are sure to get some kills just by harrassing with Q and E. If it is an AP then it is more tricky but played wisely with the Flat AP and Mpen you should be able to grab kills too. Also I start with Boots and 3 Health Potions for better harrassing and lane sustainbility.
When I first blue pill I usually have Philosopher's Stone with me, if I did my job well i sometime take a Dagger too. This helps me to stay in lane better and get gold faster. A little tactic I use is to stealth near minions after I've killed the enemy champ so that he'll think I blue pilled and will call mia. Making the other enemies playing more passively thus giving my teammates some edge over them.
Now by the time I hit 6 I usually have turned that Dagger into a Sword of the Divine. If I am doing extremely I sometime have The Brutalizer too. With them you should be hitting for true damage on any champ that didn't build Armor yet. And NO champ except tanks or jungle will build armor before lvl 6 because if you dont get the damage iem early game you are useless late game (thats true for most AD and AP carry). In ganks you will be able to dish a lot of damages and keep your upper hand in mid.

Middle Game
After that I usually finish the Boots, and turn it into the boots that fits the current situation most. 65% of the time I take Boots of Swiftness for the movement speed.
Youmuu's Ghostblade comes after, by that time you should already be warding the river, I usually put 4-5 each side of the river and bout 4 in the middle. With this you will be able to save some gold for your main support and grant map awareness. You will be able to counter gank very easily since with Ghost, Move Quick and Youmuu's Ghostblade you can get from lane to lane very easily. THIS is how you are beoming bit by bit a off-support.
Finish your AD build with Infinity Edge for more crit chance and damage.
So you think that my 3 AD item aren't enough? let me tell that in this build we are not building a AD teemo but a off-support/dps. Teemo with this build is a bt like Zilean, from early to mid he's a damage dealer but then he becomes a support. And those 3 items provide you enough AS/AD/Crit and Armor pen against most champions thoughrout the game.

Lategame
By lategame, AD isn't necessary anymore because the squishy you will still be able to kill them with moderate ease, and the Tanks you won't kill them by getting more AD. So we transition to the role of a Off-Support.
I finish after IE Shurelya's Reverie. This item is a great item and helps your team in various situation such as : team chase/escape, pushing after a teamfight, and getting to baron/dragon faster for the steal. Combined with all your other speed buff it is just the right item. And now it grants Assist : YEA!!!
The last item, emm lost of choices here but I usally go for Rylai's Crystal Scepter, "WTF?!? Are you noob?", let me explain the logic behind this. Rylai's passive makes your Q, E and R slow, you will be able to kite and escape a lot easier, also Teemo has no slow except for his R. Now Noxious Trap combined with Rylai's Crystal Scepter is not to be overlooked as it slows down the targets so much that it will most of the time grant a sre escape/catch up. The bonus HP and AP comes in handy too.

Teamfights and Lategame

As I have mentioned this Teemo build is NOT a pure damage dealer but rather you help your team in map awareness, mobility, pushing etc...
In teamfights, your role is too :

-Blind the AD carry, if you use it on a caster just because he was squishy or something then I must just facepalm.

-If the teamights hasn't started yet but looks like there would be one then you must place mushrooms at exit paths for your team. Also ALWAY in teamfights place a mushroom under you so you can run away easier if someone get's melee with you.

-Who do I attack in teamfights? Well obviously not the tank of the AD carry that you just rendered useless. You must focus on their support, yes, dont waste your attacks on the tank ( fairly self-explainary), and do NOT waste your time on that AD because he will most likely to close to no damage for 3.5 sec. So who do you attack? You must focus on their support, because they are the weakest link but at the same time they are the tide turners of a fight. Your damage output is enough to scare most support, so you must occupy and pressure the so that they can't just heal their teammates carefree. If that

Kayle of Zilean uses the ult on himself then you have done your job well.


Something else that this build does well is to backdoor. You can get to any tower with minimal amout of time and just take it down by spamming wards (for those who don't understand, ward spamming near a tower will make the tower focus on each wrd b4 attacking you)
You are also very useful at cutting the supply lines: say the enemy is waiting at bot inhibitor tower for minions to push. You can go out by mid gate and place a feew mushroom at bot where the minions will pass and buy your team extra time, again thanks to the mobility.

Other Possible Item

Infinity Edge has been a debate for me since I've started using this build. It is greatl beneficial to any Dps, and since this build has Armorpen/AS/Crit with Sword of the Divine and Youmuu's Ghostblade I've always thought of it as the huge boost of damage that Teemo needs. But it costs A LOT and so if you aren't doing well as a dps, I suggest you skip this and move on to he role of a support directly by rushing Shurelya's Reverie.


For people who really dislikes Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Other last item possibilities are Frozen Mallet and Force of Nature. Frozen Mallet for the same reason as Rylais and FoN if they have an AP carry that's desstroying you and it gives extra movement speed. Hourglass is also good for Teemo.

Boots : really in my opinion any kind of boots fits this build. If you get Sorcerer's it gives more laning/harrassing early game. Berserkers is AS for your AD output mid game. Mercury for their CC. And the mouvement boots for their speed bonus. The only two that for useless is Ninja because you got blind for those AD carry, and the boots of luciit is useless too because with masterie+shurelya+Ghostblade you have your CDR maxed out already.

Team Comp

When should I use this build?

This Teemo build is best used while playing in 5vs5. It is decent if you solo queue, but it's true potential is only optimized in a premade 5vs5 game with skype/vent. Because synergy, communication and fast reaction from the team is needed in order for this build to truly shine.

Which champ complements Teemo best?

First you must make sure that no one in your team NEEDS mid, like Karthus. That way you can place mushrooms all over easier and gank better.

At top lane,if your team follows the 2 caster/1ad/1tank/1support meta, you want to have a solo with decent CC and/or good damage dealing+slow. Since your Teemo have none of those.

Best Option : - Malzahar Great Dots which complements Teemo and Nethergrasp is great.
- Annivia Stun+Slow+Wall, and she does high damage
- Annie OP stuns and burst, though now they fixed her damage bug, we'll see.
All those are ideal to have because they have a great CC and do great damage.

Good Option : -Ap Alistar Knock Back+Stun, Damage isn't that high on tanky champ
- Urgot Great Ult for ganks but only medium damage.
- Fiddlestick Terrify doesn't last long enough unless it's maxed but great damage.
- Ryze Rune Prison and great burst
- Singed Sling + the slow. But lacking on burst though the poison is great with Teemo.
- Irelia Stun,Tankiness and jump to target. Overall one of the best top solo even after her nerfs.
- Twisted Fate Gold card stun and great contribution to the team in general, haven't tested him out after nerf to see if it really affects him by a lot. But just the stun and damage makes him good enough for Teemo.
Those either lack burst or cc compared to the ''best option'', but they'll usually do just fine.

Bad options (hard for Teemo to gank):
- Tryndamere, yes people solo top often with him to get the extra farm. But he doesn't have enough damage to compensate the lack of CC early-mid game.
- Nidalee, very good top champ with great sustainbility but she just lacks CC for Teemo.
- Mordekaiser, he deals sustained damage and has no CC, while Teemo needs brst and CC to complement him.

For the jungler you want someone who can gank well and who clears the jungle while never getting low so whenever you need him he's there. Example for lane holding, counterjungling with you and duo ganking a laning for more chances at kills.

Good Options:- Trundle, a very much so underestimated champion, but he is constant thoughrout the jungle while having a great slow/block.
- Warwick, he can be built into so many different ways, it's just good to have him if your team lacks something. His Blood Scent is very useful for you late game. Not to mention his great ult.
- Nunu, well one of the best slows and stable jungle.

Bad Options:- Shaco, Although considered a great jungler and ganker early game, he has been nerfed down to a point of uselesness late game. Making him unviable for most ranked games.
- Gangplank, He is laking in damage early game since he is a AD carry and he doesn't have any stuns only a ulti and passive slow. The passive h*** been nerfed down to 9% at max stack I think and you want to save that ult for teamfights.

At bot lane, if your team follows the current meta you should have a Ad ranged+Support.

Good duo for Teemo : -Taric/Sona/Janna + Ranged is good because they are good at CC.
-Ashe is the best AD ranged that Teemo can have in his team for the Ult.

Bad Duos : Any duo with no CC is pretty bad for Teemo. Because bot lane in itself is harder then top for Teemo to gank. Why? low damage early game because it's support+ranged AD, and the enemy side has a support that can make your gank futile.

Conclusion

So here's my Teemo build that I use when I play with my current team. As I said it is a totally diffenrent way and method of using this champion. Now I hope you have been intested enough to try this out and comment, all feedbacks are welcome in fact I'm curious to the community's response for this non mainstream build.