Hello, fellow summoners. I am NoxiousShrooms, playing in the OCE region (Australia, Melbourne in Victoria if you are curious). This is my first guide ever, and my first on MOBAfire. I prefer to play as an assassin or in the top lane, playing all the champions everyone hates (#NoHate), like Fizz and Katarina. This guide will give you the basic info you may need to play as AP Teemo.

I started writing this guide because the other guides fell off post patch 3.8, because for me, it lacked the damage I like to have in the mid game, since the removal of Malady. Now Teemo should really be played in the top lane because now the meta for the mid lane is now a strong caster or an assassin.

Although people see him as really annoying whether on their team or not (I happen to understand, of course, playing as other champions as well), I see him as an underestimated champion with high potential.

Please, by all means, up or down vote this guide, but if you are downvoting this guide, please give a very reasonable reason why.

Otherwise, this should be worthwhile to read, even if it is wordy, so enjoy!

Pros:

-The poison (Highly useful in securing kills)
-The blind (Shuts down champs that rely on autoattacks)
-The movement boost (Lets you run away or chase better)
-The MUSHROOMS (Lane control, wards, slow, more poison)
-The stealth (Ambush without being seen, except if they have oracle's or vision wards)

Cons:

-Extremely annoying (The way he steals/secures kills easily, which seems to affect both teams)
-Extremely squishy (Gets shut down easily by burst champs)
-The stealth (If they have oracle's or vision wards, and the way Teemo can get stuck easily if they zone you out)
-Item dependant
-Short-ish attack range

Alright, if you didn't see the notes, I generally use a regular AP caster rune page. This is because Teemo's mushrooms take up loads of mana, and if his summoner is not wary, his Blinding Dart and Move Quick can be too. Also, having loads of AP throughout even without using AP items is extremely useful for Teemo (and other champions that use a bit of AP).
I use:Your runes should be up to you, however, for AP Teemo, you should (obviously) be going for AP runes.

Here's a chart outlining my skill sequence (although the one in the build outline is easier to look at):
Here are Teemo's abilities in depth (Hover over icons to view the details, like AP scaling and all that):camouflage
Camouflage allows Teemo to sneak up on or hide from the enemy team.
Notes:
Teemo's stealth is activated only if you don't move or take actions, including recall and laying Noxious Traps around. Also, Teemo is not invincible with camouflage, meaning enemies can hit you with skillshots and moves like Katarina's sinister steel. Also, the items Vision Wards and Oracle's Elixir will reveal Teemo.


Q: Blinding Dart is a major reason why Teemo shuts down AD carries (like Draven) or top champions who rely on autoattacks (like Jax). Reason: being blinded means all of your basic attacks miss.
Notes:
Blinding Dart is only a single target attack, meaning you cannot hit enemies in stealth unless the stealth was activated after the dart was launched.


W: Move Quick gives Teemo the ability to chase or escape easily if this is boosted with Phantom Dancer or Blade of the Ruined King along with boots of any kind. The passive part gives a small boost permanently, while the active gives a somewhat large boost for a short amount of time.
Notes:
Move Quick's passive is only there if Teemo hasn't been hit by enemy attacks. The passive is refreshed after a while, however.


E: Toxic Shot is the reason why Teemo is annoying throughout the game. His basic attacks are given a boost scaling with AP and a burn, which if combined with Ignite and/or Blade of the Ruined King's active is extremely lethal to enemies.
Notes:
Toxic Shot is usually one of the reasons why Teemo tends to steal/secure a kill (KS, whichever way you put it). Also, it is only a passive move, continuous throughout the match.


R (ultimate): Noxious Traps lets Teemo players ward key areas with traps which last 10 minutes. I will explain the areas I usually place these traps in the unique skills chapter.
Notes:
Noxious Traps also has a poison. However, this is counted as spell damage, meaning Liandry's Torment and Rabadon's Deathcap will provide the largest boost in terms of damage to the traps. Also, the traps have a slow, which makes escaping easier if enemies come across these while chasing. Like Teemo, the traps use stealth and can get destroyed without triggering with Vision Wards and Oracle's Elixir, but will not get destroyed by skillshots while in stealth. These also tend to steal/secure kills and like wards, give a warning from ganks and subtly control the map. Also, Noxious Traps trigger in an AOE effect, so any enemies nearby the one who triggers it will be affected as well.

For Teemo's skillset, I take Toxic Shot (E) at level 1 and max it by level 9 (immediately)(like most would unless you are supporting, which is extremely unlikely), take my Blinding Dart (Q) at level 2 and max it by level 13 (second)(again, like most would unless you are supporting or jungling, which in that case you would max it first) and take Move Quick (W) at level 3 and max it last (in every case) because of the utility it provides. Teemo's ultimate Noxious Trap, the mushrooms should be taken at levels 6, 11 and 16 (like for almost all champions).

I personally take Flash and Ignite because I can escape, juke or chase and secure kills by coupling Ignite with Toxic Shot. Ghost is also a very viable choice instead of flash if you need the extra movement speed, you are out of mana and need to get out, you are being chased and your W, Move Quick is on cooldown or you want to chase to secure kills (although chasing is not very wise, being very squishy). Other spells are best left alone, unless you are jungling (take Smite with Flash/ Ghost in that case) or supporting ( Exhaust with Flash/ Ghost).

Now, for items. (These are my preferences, and I will explain why I choose these for most games)

Starting items

Currently, I begin with a Doran's Ring and 2 Health Potions. This is for the mana regeneration which Blinding Dart may present. However, Blinding Dart should still be used only as necessary. Also, Doran's Ring should be kept only until you are buying your last item, for cost efficiency.

First recall

Changed a bit from my original build, I now build towards Nashor's Tooth and Haunting Guise as my first completed items, along with Sorcerer's Shoes.

Core items

Since around a month ago, Wit's End has fallen off, along with Runaan's Hurricane. I find that Nashor's Tooth and Haunting Guise are the strongest core items for the entire game. The AP from both items will keep Toxic Shot's poison highly deadly, along with Blinding Dart and Noxious Trap. The Magic penetration that comes with both Sorcerer's Shoes and Haunting Guise will render MR items less cost efficient for enemies, while Nashor's Tooth will up Teemo's attack speed.

Post-Core items

Because Teemo is strong with AP, I prefer to get Liandry's Torment. Liandry's Torment is for the spell burn, where you deal even more damage. Next, I get Morellonomicon for the reduced heal so your Noxious Traps kill them without giving them a chance. Afterwards, I prefer to get Zhonya's Hourglass for the armor, then Void Staff for the magic penetration.

Before I go on, (if you don't know this already,) your team should consist of a Solo Top (generally a bruiser or tank), Jungler (also either bruiser or tank, not the same as the solo top), Mid (a caster or an assassin), a Support (who synergises well with not only the ADC but also the rest of the team) and an AD carry. This way, all lanes are technically solo lane (support does not get much CS, and gets assists instead of kills) and all players in the team get the most experience possible. Furthermore, always have at least one tank on your team when playing, especially as Teemo (for some reason, teams aren't playing with a tank (to absorb damage for the team). Otherwise, it could go downhill extremely quickly.
Note: the item icons shown underneath some of the titles are the ones I usually focus on building in that space of time.

Laning, Early game (Mid lane)

After leashing for the jungler, if you had to, you should be in lane last hitting enemy minions, and having small trades with the enemy laner. Achieve this just by autoattacking them once or twice or even by using Blinding Dart. By the time you hit level 3, you should be going in for the kill if they are low enough and you and confidant enough with Teemo's skills (unless they have loads of burst). You should be making your first recall after getting a kill. If you have >2000 gold, get Haunting Guise or Nashor's Tooth, then get back to lane. When you hit level 6, start placing down your Noxious Traps, mainly where the enemy team would be most likely to step on them.

Mid Game

If you have taken the enemy turret, begin to roam or continue pushing lane. The decision to move or not depends on how your team is doing.

Late Game

Usually, games finish either at this point or later (around 55 minutes), so either you have won (or lost if you fed or your team sucks; don't tell them they suck though) or still be making big plays by pushing turrets or getting objectives like baron and dragon. If you are getting into late game you should now be working on your AP boosting items. You should also be winning (or badly losing) teamfights or split pushing so you can not only get the extra gold but finish off the turrets, the inhibitors and therefore the enemy nexus (so should the enemy team).

Teamfights

OK, so if you are in teamfights, try to harass as much as you can, placing Noxious Traps in escape routes, so the enemy team doesn't get away without punishment, using Blinding Dart on the ADC (as they primarily use basic attacks) and dealing as much damage with your own basic attacks.

When to use Blinding Dart

Just if you are wondering, Blinding Dart is single target, so the target must be in sight and in range (if you cast on the target outside the range, you will walk to it and it will fire automatically unless you get stunned or right-click). Use Blinding Dart on ADC's to shut their basic attacks down temporarily, so they can't harm anyone for a while. Since you are playing mid, then just save your Blinding Dart until your lane opponent attacks with basic attacks.

Where to place Noxious Traps

I place Noxious Traps (let's call them my shrooms, for the sake of being lazy, sort of) at areas called choke points. Basically, choke points are where opponents are unlikely to escape whatever is thrown at them. For example, at the pathways right near the turrets. These areas, along with the river bushes, are central to basically controlling mid lane vision wise and damage wise. Also, if the opponent is away from lane, try to place them at the paths right next to the turret, outside of its range (the turret is pretty much a vision ward).