Hi, my name is Indeeed and this is my first guide. I'm (currently) in Gold 1 and I play pretty much only Teemo, with more than 550 ranked games this season (when the need comes to play support I favor GP ;)).

The reason I managed to climb my way out of ELO-Hell despite the fact that I totally suck at this game (no, really!) is because Teemo is ******** OP and I was lucky enough to find Feel The Teemo's excellent guide about split-pushing with AD Teemo (although many changes were made since and the guide is now obsolete). Until Riot does the sensible thing and nerf him I strongly suggest you abuse this champion and play him all the time :)

Why AD Teemo??

The reason AD Teemo is superior to AP (IMO) is because of his excellent sustain and more importantly, his flexibility. They have lots of AP casters? Get Maw of Malmortius and Wit's End. Lots of AD? Get Randuin's Omen and Frozen Mallet. Your ADC is a troll? Get Blade of the Ruined King Spirit of the Elder Lizard Infinity Edge and take his spot in team fights.

This guide is meant to be a walkthrough on how to splitpush with AD Teemo. I will explain very clearly exactly what you need to do at every stage of the game.

Pros

+ Amazing damage output right from the start with Toxic Shot - easy last hit, op harass.
+ Blinding Dart shuts down autoattacks making any skirmish with autoattack based champion to be partially one-sided.
+ Move Quick passive and active give incredible mobility allowing you to escape ganks and come back to the lane faster than anyone else.
+ Noxious Trap provides vision and slow, essentially enabling the whole split-pushing strategy.
+ Camouflage makes last hitting even easier and provides some kill and vanishing opportunities.
+ Tanky (with this build).
+ At the end of the game you will always be the guy (or girl!) with the most gold ;)

Cons

+ No CC.
+ No gap closer.
+ Relatively short ranged.
+ Shrooms will NOT do the imba damage that AP teemo does (although with lizard elder it feels almost the same).
+ No good abilities for team fights with the exception of Blinding Dart and with all its merits, shutting down the enemy adc for a few seconds isn't exactly on the same level as for example Wukung/Zac mass CC.

Masteries choice seem pretty straightforward to me with standard AD 21/9/0. I used to play 9/21/0 but I found out that while it does help in keeping me alive in tight spots, that's not exactly what I should be aiming at. If you want to move up you need to be able to crush your lane good, and if needed, carry a lost game and make it into a victory. Going defensive will not make it easy for you. The specific choices aren't very important although I think it's worth mentioning that Destruction is a good choice for pushing towers. Feel free to make changes as you see fit, this is not carved in stone.

As for runes, Greater Seal of Armor and Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist is pretty standard for all top laners in my opinion. What makes this build special is the Greater Mark of Attack Speed and Greater Quintessence of Life Steal, which coupled with Doran's Blade give you an amazing early game sustain and a very strong lane presence.

Noxious Trap> Toxic Shot > Move Quick > Blinding Dart
Take Blinding Dart on level 4 and don't take it again before you're forced to on level 14.
Blinding Dart refreshes your auto-attack so whenever the poor soul who is laning against you (who we will simply refer to as "villain") goes into range Auto-Attack -> Blinding Dart- > Auto-Attack = Profit.

Doran's Blade - More HP, 10 more damage and 5 hp per hit. This will add up with your Greater Quintessence of Life Steals to give you 8-9 HP per hit, and the hits can come faster when you want them to thanks to Greater Mark of Attack Speeds.

I almost always rush level 2 boots next, they just makes you more mobile and let you harass and run away from ganks. Damage and lifesteal items can wait:

Berserker's Greaves - The standard choice. AS is just what teemo needs at any stage of the game.

Ninja Tabi - Consider them if both villain and jungler are heavy AD ( )

Mercury's Treads - Always pick those if both villain and jungler are AP or even if villain alone is AP but is a problematic champ( ). In that case make sure NOT to get Zephyr as tenacity does not stack.

Spirit of the Elder Lizard - A great item if you're not having trouble in the lane. It's a win-more item because if you're being zoned out you probably need to start getting those Vampiric Scepter -> Bilgewater Cutlass or even Warden's Mail ASAP to not be pushed from the lane. If you're in Blue team you don't need this item because you're going to be taking most of the enemy jungle Red golems. It is important to mention that Spirit of the Elder Lizard's bonus true damage over time is triggered by Noxious Trap despite the confusing wording on the item. This actually turns your shroooms to be almost as annoying as AP Teemo's shroooms. In addition the mana regen and the CDR mean that there will be more shroooms! a happy thought :)

Vampiric Scepter -> Bilgewater Cutlass -> Blade of the Ruined King - This item is a must have on teemo! It gives you all the stats you need (AD, AS, LS), a passive (5% of the target's current health in physical damage) that is especially good against many top lane bruisers and an active that is good both for chasing and for escaping ganks (and for winning in 1v1 skirmishes too!).

Warden's Mail - Get this next every time you're laning against AD. 50 armor and -15% AS for them basically mean that you are not losing 1v1 skirmishes, at least for a very long time and it's so freaking cheap!! The upgrade to Randuin's Omen is expensive (2000 gold) and you only get a small bonus in stats to go with the nice active, so don't bother to make the upgrade any time soon.

Wit's End - Get this instead of Warden's Mail if you're laning an AP. It also helps if villain is starting to build armor because it deals bonus magic damage on hit.

Hexdrinker - Get instead of Wit's End if you're laning vs a burst mage or if you're low on cash (since it's a lot cheaper). If both villain and jungler are AP get both items and upgrade to Maw of Malmortius right away.

Phage - Pretty cheap item that helps with chases/kiting and upgrades to either the tons-of-hp /mega kiting tool Frozen Mallet or the fearsome jack-of-all-trades Trinity Force.

Zephyr - A little AD, a lot of AS, CDR, movement speed(!!) and the much needed tenacity. I usually take this right after Phage but it's possible to take it before, especially if you need the tenacity.

The early game is the most tricky part of playing this build. You are going to the lane on level 1 with no wards, no armor, no pots and you need to make do... Why not just start with Cloth Armor + Health Potions + sight ward? Because if you start with Doran's Blade and manage to pull it off you will start snowballing early. It's definitely worth it.

Last Hitting Like a Pro!

Help your jungler with the Blue (if your in Blue team) and go to the lane (not through the river to avoid unpleasantness). The creeps will meet in the middle of the lane. Stand there in Camouflage and last hit. Right now when you're level 1 and standing in the middle of the lane without your Move Quick you are at the most vulnerable. Keep your eyes open and be super alert. Don't harass villain while the creeps are in the middle because the enemy creeps will stop attacking your creeps and move forward to attack you, taking damage in the process and causing the lane to be pushed. When the enemy wave moves forward toward your tower you will be relatively safe and villain will be vulnerable to jungle/mid ganks. Some good junglers will gank you lvl 1 (usually when you start Purple team and they can come right after taking Blue).

Lane Freezing

When the wave pushes towards you, you will want to harass villain and to occasionally damage creeps so that the wave doesn't push into your tower. If it does, you will need to last hit under the tower. With Toxic Shot level 2, let tower hit caster minions once and full health melee minions twice before last hitting them. Sometimes if you let thier wave go into your tower you will find out that your creeps are now pushing back into the middle of the lane and you need to go into last hitting mode. It takes a lot of practice to manage what is termed "lane freeze" but it's certainly doable. Villain will usually be forced to waste a ward to keep standing in his pushed lane and will also take harass from you every time he tries to go for a last hit. Be prepared to Flash/ Ignite to finish him off at any point he overstays his welcome.

Heading Back

When villain dies or goes back, this is your chance to make a fast push and head back yourself. You should try to push all the way to the tower (so villain will lose a whole creep wave), but if the enemy jungler is there or you're too low on hp just push enough so that you wont lose a wave of creeps. Try to stay in lane so that you have at least 900 gold to buy Berserker's Greaves before going back.

When you reach level 6 go place a shrooom at the far end of the river bush. You are now 30% protected from ganks. Wait for 2 more and go place in the middle of the river (halfway between Baron and the river bush) and another in the tri-bush. Congratulations - you are now 90% protected from ganks. You can now move on to PUSH-MODE #1.

The Cycle Push

Hidden behind your protective shell of shroooms you can now target the enemy tower. In order to push faster attack every creep once and then cycle back to the first one and finish him off. Make sure to get the last hits!

The Tower Dance

When your wave of creeps are attacking the tower you stand a little behind your creeps and harass villain whenever he tries to last hit. Auto-Attack -> Blinding Dart -> Auto-Attack does a wonderful job but if you're low on mana AA is enough. Your poison will be ticking on him most of the time and while it does try not to let the tower get aggro on you for longer than 0.5 second or it will shoot you (which is not too bad considering you gain the life back very fast). When a new wave of enemy creeps arrives, use the cycle push to quickly dispose of them so your creeps can keep pushing. If villain is passively standing behind the tower feel free to start hitting the tower.

Thicken Shrooom Grid

As the game progresses place shroooms to block even further the jungler's path to you through the river. If you have extra, use it in the lane as well, a bit to the side of where the enemy creeps are walking so they don't trigger it. If villain steps on one, Move Quick and dash towards him AA -> Dart -> AA and they will usually panic flash at this point. Do not place shroooms too close to each other! They need to be at least a few steps away. Remember - shroooms don't deal direct damage when stepped on, but rather only damage over time, so stepping on multiple shroooms does not deal more damage and is a waste.

Do not waste shroooms to push the lane! Your shroooms are valuable and should be used to prevent ganks, to escape when jumped on and to set up situations for good skirmishes vs villain.

Skirmishes

If villain jumps you, use Blinding Dart, shrooom under your legs, Move Quick and move back, kiting him and AA every few steps until he backs. When he does back, chase him! Flash/ Ignite will usually finish him off and sometimes even that is not necessary. If you are strong enough to take him on, you don't even need to escape and kite. Just Blinding Dart -> Noxious Trap -> AA -> Ignite keep attacking until villain is dead.

If the jungler is spotted through the special river shrooom, just move back and wait for the sucker to leave. Good time to go shopping if you have gold.

When you take the first tower down, go place a shrooom in the bush leading to the enemy jungle and go shop - buy a sight ward.

Jungling Adventure

First tower is down and you're back from shopping. It's time to slowly start shroooming the enemy jungle and make it your second home. Place the sight ward in the enemy Blue/Red bush (this is especially important if you are on purple team to ward the Blue). The neighborhood Red/Blue golem is your new girlfriend/boyfriend (depending on your gender and preferences) so make sure to remember its birthday (aka - spawn time) so that you could take it for a ride (tip - it's 5 minutes). I usually kill both small creeps next to it because I intend to take it every time so I don't see the point in preventing it from spawning. If you're in Blue team constantly farm the jungle golems. If you're backing home to shop and want to demoralize the enemy team you can leave the small one as a gift to ensure the big one doesn't respawn. Shrooom all the entrances to the enemy jungle and shrooom once in the path parallel to your lane for vision. The enemy jungler and mid champs will come visit you often. Make sure to waste their time as much as you can and tell your team to not come help you. They should be doing dragons and pushing their lanes instead.

The Way of the Blade

At this point you may already have Blade of the Ruined King + Berserker's Greaves.
If a skirmish begins between you and villain wait for you both to go low on health before using the active on the blade, making it hard for villain to escape and also serving as a surprise if he's dumb enough to forget you could do that. You can also use the active to escape ganks. Against AP villain go now Wit's End (the usual choice) or Hexdrinker (vs bursters or if you're low on cash) as the second major item.

The Way of the Armor

I probably get Warden's Mail about 80% of the times as the second major item (mostly because most top lane villains are AD), because up until this point I'm basically a glass cannon and I really need this uber item to give me my tankiness. Don't bother to upgrade Warden's Mail, it is a very effective item on its own and the upgrade to Randuin's Omen can wait till much later. Phage is usually a good item to pick at this point. Take down tower and go shopping - get another sight ward.

Pushing the inner-most turret of the top lane is usually extremely difficult. When I started playing Teemo I was able to push all the way and pick up the top inhibitor, but as I moved up the ranked ELO ladder I found that the enemy team defends that sucker better and I get killed all too often. I suggest you use judgement at this point and consider either to continue pushing your lane, going to push another lane or, god forbid, join your team (from time to time) and help with objectives as well as 'team push' mid.

Teemo the Team Player??

Even though Teemo is a pretty bad champ for team fights, you will still make a contribution because you have the most farm and because your runes/masteries and (to some extent) your gear are damage oriented. The fact that they will often focus you instead of someone important also plays in your favor. Even if you do that, don't neglect the top lane and make sure it is always pushed as far as you dare go. Ward the Red/Blue enemy golem - don't forget you're in a monogamous relationship with it ;)

Teemo the Splitpusher!

If a team fight occurs while you're in your lane, use that chance and push like mad hitting creeps in a cycle, using shrooom to fast clear wave (this is the only time when such shrooom wasting is allowed) and try to take the inner tower. Feel free to upgrade Phage to Trinity Force instead of Frozen Mallet if you're filthy rich.

Securing Baron

Eventually your complete control of the enemy jungle is going to ensure you have a good shot at Baron Nashor before the enemy team does. This is one of the more important aspects of the OPness of Teemo. Even with the baron buff you can continue split-pushing top while your team is heroically pushing mid as 4 (although if you want to push with your team that's fine too although less optimal).

The Splitpush Dance

You can splitpush top and when they send 1-2 guys to stop you, join your team, and then move back to top. Your mobility allows you to really be everywhere, moving from top to mid, to bot to a fast drake, back to top and so on, while at the time leaving a trail of shroooms in your path making sure the enemy team is unlikely to catch you. Your goal here, as it always was, is to take down objectives for your team and not to gank and chase champs (although that's sometimes OK if you spot the enemy ADC farming top lane all alone or something like that).

If the game goes on and on and you already have Zephyr and a full set of items you can sell boots when you have 3800 gold for Infinity Edge, which will make you less mobile but a lot more deadly in the big team fight which will ensue.

- Start with Cloth Armor +5x Health Potions, only way to be able to not be pushed from the lane.

- Start with 2x Rejuvenation Bead + 3x Health Potions.

- This matchup is all about movement speed. Swap runes to MS Quints and Armor penetration in reds. You wanna build Boots of Swiftness and upgrade the MS on them, Trinity Force Zephyr so that basically he can't catch you when he uses 'q'. It's possible to take ghost instead of flash if you're 100% positive he's gonna be top and not jungle.

- Similar to the Volibear matchup in regards that movement speed is important, but I would find the time to get some of the normal build and not rush MS all the way. MS Quints and Armor penetration in reds.

On occasion the jungle and mid will take AD champs, forcing you to go AP (or forcing you to go mid). The most important thing is to let them know what a great sacrifice you are making for the greater good of the team ;)

While spectating ranked games of top players I found 'Frky', who is a superb Diamond-5 AP Teemo player. His build differs from game to game according to need, but his core items are always Zhonya's Hourglass -> Nashor's Tooth and he usually rushes Zhonya's Hourglass as first item.

Full build example:
Zhonya's Hourglass Nashor's Tooth Berserker's Greaves Rabadon's Deathcap Lich Bane Liandry's Torment

Going AD in ARAM is a must imo because sustain is so much more important. Being more tanky in this setup over the more damage based AP teemo is not a bad trade-off.

Start Spirit Stone + Boots + Health Potions.
Spirit of the Elder Lizard -> Mercury's Treads -> Blade of the Ruined King -> Wit's End -> Maw of Malmortius and finish off with Trinity Force.

From what I observed the creeps always walk on the left side of the screen, so place your shroooms on the right side where the creeps don't walk, and in the bushes too. Be aware that if you place a shrooom on a spot where a relic spawns the shrooom becomes visible. Make sure to always leave one on you for emergencies.

Statistics FTW

Following this guide don't expect to have a good KDA statistics. You will get ganked often and occasionally you will get killed. Because you wont be in too many teamfights you will not pick up many kills or assists either and will mostly just be "farming your lane". However, just like a good Leona or Taric don't need to have lots of kills to win, Teemo doesn't need them either. You are there to make sure your team picks up objectives by keeping maximum pressure in the top lane. I had many games where I was 0-3 or 1-4 and was by far the strongest champ in the game, having taken 2-3 towers down and miles ahead on CS keeping half their team busy with me while my team was taking drake after drake and pushing their respective lanes.

The Lobby Trolls

You will occasionally get flamed in game lobby for picking Teemo by some of the Teemo-Hater-Community. Make sure to keep this handy and quickly paste this to the lobby chat whenever the need arises:

"Teemo will bring swift death to those puny mortals that say "Nooo Teeemo!" and a slow and painful death to those who ask him if he's a troll".

That usually shuts people up.

This is it for now, I tried my best to bring my unique perspective about how AD/Bruiser top Teemo should be played.

I will add more stuff later and will make sure to add some videos too.
If you liked it upvote it! :)


INDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!