A wise man once said, "If you underestimate the power of the scouts code, I will bend you over a crate." Oh wait... that was me. *CACKLES*

Let me start by saying, this build is not for everyone. In order to effectively play in the way which this build suggests you probably need to be naturally sadistic and conniving. Why? Because the play style avoids direct combat (unless the edge is significant and obvious) and you need to wait for those 'perfect moments'. If you miss those moments, you'll die, feed the enemy, and be told to uninstall. If you want to learn how to play Teemo in an 'easier' fashion, I suggest you go and read AP/AD/AS hybrid builds. If however you enjoy lurking in the shadows, if you enjoy insane burst damage, and if you are generally a sick person, I suggest you continue reading.

Marks: All magic pen

You need the magic penetration.

Seals: All mana reg per level

You must always be able to use your skills at any time. With no mana, you're worthless.

Glyphs: All ability power per level

This build is purely offensive. Is that stupid? It can be, if you play the build incorrectly. This will help your mid/late game damage.

Quintessences: 2 Flat AP, 1 AP per level

You need the flap AP so that your early game isn't 'quite' as bad and of course the AP per level helps you mid/late game like your glyphs.

Ignite + Flash (Option B: Ignite + Teleport)

In my opinion, Ignite and Flash are a must. You could probably switch out flash for teleport if you are really ballsy (but that's a risk I wouldn't take); teleport could also be good for ganks and counter-jungling. Unfortunately, you're as squishy as squishy gets... sometimes you need to have a way to get away quicker than your Move Quick ability can offer. Also, having flash is beautiful for putting you in position for that perfect Death-Fire/Blind/Ignite combo (which we'll get more into later).

Item Purchase Order:

1) Deathfire Grasp

> Start with Meki Pendant + 2 Health Pots
> Then get Kage's Lucky Pick
> Then finish upgrading to Death Fire Grasp ASAP.

This item is the heart and soul of your build, once you get it, the fun begins. As soon as you get this item, you should be looking for those enemy chap's that are below 50% health, and you should be trying to sneak-shot-gank.

2) Sorcerer's Shoes

You need the additional speed and magic pen this item offers. No other boots make sense for this build.

3) Rabadon's Deathcap

Once you get this item, you are straight up deadly. You can start more aggressively targeting their squishy characters.

4) Void Staff

Although I generally avoid targeting characters with good magic resistance, sometimes you can't avoid it and you'll need this to add more penetration to your attacks. It also helps against some squishy characters who play smart and who get magic resist; plus magic resist per level glyphs are probably the most common/popular.

... THAT CONCLUDES THE CORE BUILD...

5 & 6) These are situational. What do you feel you need to be more effective against the people you are playing against? I personally like adding Lich Bane, Stinger, Malady or Banshee's Veil. I do rarely get defensive items for 5 & 6... why? Because I don't engage in direct combat. If I'm in combat I'm either trying to back the weakling, or I'm "trapdoor spidering" someone solo (leading to their death in about 1-2 seconds). Long story short, I do everything in my power to avoid getting hit by anyone. In this build if you get CC'd, you're probably dead.

FAQ's

Why don't you get Soul Stealer!? This item is too situational, with this build you don't want an item that is feast of famine, and/or an item that might make you more greedy for kills.

I start with blind, I then get Toxic-shot, I then get Move Quick...

Then I alternate blind/toxic-shot as needed, leveling my mushrooms up every chance I get.

Why "as needed"? Against some characters, having more Toxic-Shot than Blind might be more effective. If I'm being forced to hug my tower and just auto attack, I would put more in Toxic-shot. If I'm able to successfully harass, I'd probably go with more in Blind. If I'm playing against a mage, blind may hurt but it isn't very effective if they decide to dive me. All of these things are in my head while I'm playing, anyone who plays well needs to adapt in order to be most effective.

I've played Teemo for a very long time and I've tried just about every build out there. Here are some of the other Teemo builds that are popular, accompanied by my critiques.

1) AP/AS/AD Hybrid Teemo: This build is very popular. In fact, this build was the highest ranked on a few LoL sites for a while. Basically it attempts to make Teemo less squishy, and attempts to make him more of a support/carry. I don't like this build. When Teemo goes into a fight, he gets targeted, I don't care what build you are playing. If you try to go toe-to-toe in a team fight, you'll probably be dead in about 2-3 seconds; regardless of your mastery alignment. You can do some successful kiting with this build, but the positives don't out weigh the negatives. Most importantly, why try to make Teemo an attack speed carry? There are a lot of other characters that are much better for this position.

2) AD/AS Teemo: Why? You're basically a less deadly and more squishy version of the AP/AS/AD Hybrid relying almost entirely on your auto attack. All of your skills rely on AP, it just makes zero sense. Anyone who has played Teemo for a while knows this build is stupid.

3) AP Shroom Teemo: Just no. Although my build does get your shrooms up to about 1k (which is roughly where shroom damage caps), you aren't relying on them to do well. The other team gets Oracles (as any good team does, particularly in ranked games) and you are worthless.

Here is what you really want the enemy to get hit by...

Shroom + Death Fire Grasp's active + Blind + Ignite (AKA - THE PERFECT STORM)

Once you get your AP up, DFG, Blind, and Ignite will do the trick just fine.

As stated before, look for the quishy's! Mid/late game if there is a squishy with below 75% health, you can kill them in about 1-2 seconds... find a way to back door them. If there are 4-5 of them pushing your tower, and you have teamates there to defend it, go behind them and let your passive Camouflage (invisibility) set in... when they run back home to heal up, BAM! Just be ready to flash/Move-Quick to get the hell out of there (their friends will be on their way). If your team is going after a tank that is out of position; hit him with your Deathfire Grasp and go for the kill; you'll instantly do 30% of his health + 3% for every 100 AP you have, it's mean. With this build you'll do best if you have patience. If all of their jungle is up and they are pushed back, you can bet that someone (probably their carry) will head into the jungle to clear it out; this is where you shine. When I see 2-3 of them with oracles, and see them going into the jungle in pairs (because they are so afraid) I know I have done my job; at this point, you're winning the mental game and you've put them on the defensive, this is key to your team winning.

When I first started playing this build I would focus mainly on jungle traps. I'd cut off all key points with shrooms and then I'd just sit... and wait. This strategy is definately a part of the build, but you can't rely on it solely. While you're controlling their jungle you also have to back door and get those kills. If are setting up a "Trapdoor Spider kill" try to set at least one extra shroom on your escape path; this will save your ***. When do I find this most helpful? When I'm jumping a character with high attack speed and life steal. Sometimes they will survive the initial burst and before it finishes them off they hit me to regain health, then I quickly Flash or Move Quick back, let my shroom poison and toxic-shot poison hurt them. When they chase and hit my escape shroom they normally turn around, I then bolt back in range and burst them with blind one more time (if that's even needed)... they will die and hopefully rage/quit.

Another point is, learn your poison. Chasing an injured enemy who is on the cusp of death might be stupid because they could died from your poison anyways and now their team has you surrounded! YOU MUST LEARN TO MASTER THE SHOOT AND RUN TACTIC! YOU CANNOT BE GREEDY! GREED = DEATH. Generally speaking, if you aren't certain you can kill them and escape, let them live. The exceptions to this rule are few and far between.

Although you do not rely on shrooms, they are awesome. If you plan to play Teemo well, you need to research shroom placement; also remember that you don't always want shrooms in a place where the enemy would most likely run into them. Sight can be just as useful.

If you don't like being sneaky and annoying, you should play a different champion.

I've played against every champion out there with this build, who am I most afraid of? GANG PLANK! Particularly a jungling Gang Plank. If you're playing draft and the enemy team selects Gang Plank (accompanied by Smite), you should play a different champion, unless there are also a bunch of soft characters on their team. Normally when I see Gank Plank, the team selects another 2-3 thicker characters, in which case I DO NOT PLAY TEEMO. If you can't Trapdoor Spider kill or back door snag a team because they are too beefy, you will be worthless.

Play Video
This is me playing Teemo solo-mid against Ashe, it shows the deadliness of "Deathfire/Blind/Toxic-Shot/Ignite" combo.

Play Video
This is me in the same game and it's an example of me pushing the lane, going into stealth and then solo ganking (I didn't even have Deathfire yet).

Pros:

> Amazing burst damage
> Map control
> Carry Killer
> Decent harrass (but be careful)
> Great at clearing groups of minions (via shroom)
> Great at sneak-shot-ganking
> Unmatched satisfaction with successful ganks and Trapdoor Spider kills.

Cons:

> Semi-poor early game (the 2 flat AP Quint's are what make you "semi" instead of just "poor")
> Virtually zero ability to 1v1 if sustained combat is required
> When Deathfire Grasp is cooling down you aren't much of a threat
> You CANNOT engage in direct/diving team fights (you can kite and snag though - just be very careful)
> Extremely squishy
> You will be the number 1 target (because your squishy, annoying, you piss-off carry's, and if you play well you'll have lots of kills and very few deaths), frankly I would probably say this is more of a pro, because you can bait people like nobody's business.

With this build you can either solo mid or lane (preferred) and you cannot solo top unless the other team is solo top as well! Generally speaking if you don't die at least once going solo mid, you've done very well, fortunately you'll be fine after get your Deathfire Grasp.

If you are taking the lane with a teammate, make sure he or she understands your plan style. You probably won't do very well if you're coupled with an aggressive, greed hungry diver.

As mentioned before, do not dive into team fights. Kite, bait, back-door or snag.

Here are some additional notes for playing Teemo against other characters...

Annie: Learn the range of her attack/stun. DO NOT GET HIT BY IT, PERIOD! If you do, you'll probably be dead if she's greater than level 4 (early game). If you're going solo mid against her, that's fine, Annie isn't that great of a threat for a well played TDS (Trapdoor Spider Teemo). If she goes into the grass and you don't have a shroom set up yet, call MIA and hold your lane. DO NOT GO AFTER HER! If Annie has flash, you need to play VERY defensively. Annie is not a character that you want to go toe-to-toe with unless she's around or below 50% health and you have full health.

Ashe: If you are lucky enough to lane against Ashe, you need to make sure you /dance around because a well played Teemo eats her for lunch. When her Volley is up, stay just out of its range or stay behind your minions. Once she pops it, dart forward with Move Quick and Blind shot her; this will hurt her and keep her less aggressive (allowing you to get more last hits). When your lane pushes to her tower fall back to the center, go invisible and wait. Once she gets to you or beyond you, place a shroom on or behind her, and pop her with everything you got! This works better if you've finished purchasing your Deathfire Grasp (of course). Once you start getting your AP up, you should be able to destroy her in the blink of an eye.

Heimerdinger: This is simple... don't solo against this character. You'll get destroyed. You don't have enough attack speed or consistant damage to negate his turrets. This is the only character that you should NOT solo lane against.

Orianna: This is hard, but do-able. Her ball will keep you back which will affect your last hits, but not your experience. Also, because she relies so much on her ball, she won't do too much damage to your tower if you're playing smart. Your main focus will be not giving up a death. In this situation I would focus mainly on leveling Blind because you're going to use it to snag minon last hits before the tower does, and even if you harass you're not going to chase Orianna down lane.

Mordekaiser: Just keep some distance from your minons. Recognize that Mord is very good at getting over confident early game; flank harass! Kite him constantly! Just make sure that your not below about 20-30% health after he's level 6. His ulti Children of the Grave has excellent range, don't even hug your tower if you're low on health... RUN BACK AND HEAL!

Brand: Just keep on moving, never stand still! He will continually try to land Pillar of Flame, and will get really ticked off and aggressive when he constantly misses because you are like a squirrel on crack. Just get your last hits and keep moving.

Generally speaking, if you don't know what you're up against, you'll die. Play every character, learn their strengths and weaknesses, learn their cool-downs!

WARNING:

When playing Teemo in ranked games or normal draft mode, people will hate you. Why? Because normally, Teemo players play one of those other popular builds, and they just drag down the team. With this build you'll nuke the duce out of their carry(s). You'll also bait like no other, and just generally piss them off. When people get pissed, they don't normally think clearly, and then you have the edge!

Also, let me state again...

DO NOT PLAY TEEMO IF THE OTHER TEAM HAS 3-4 BEEFY CHARACTERS! You may love this character like I do, but that doesn't mean you can be stupid and screw over your team!

You aren't good at being the middle of 'team fights' but you dominate on the edges. This build creates a completely viable AP CARRY even in ranked games. I know I already said it a bunch of times, but you CANNOT BE GREEDY! AIM for the squishy carry's. If their tank over extends, blow your load on him, he'll **** his pants when he see's 30% (plus) of his health drop with one dead fire shot. If your whole team is there, they can be responsible for finishing him off. Be careful though, do not blow your death-fire-grasp load too early. Blind shot until the fight gets heavy or a squishy over extends. Do not screw your team by playing this squishy character or any other when the other team has lots of beef. Do not screw your team over by playing this build (which is bad in team fights) when there is already someone on your team who isn't good in team fights (like Shaco). It's very hard to be good with Teemo (I mean truely good), but it's so damn fun that it's worth the effort! SWOOT!

I love feedback... tell me what you like or don't like about this build!