Teleport just seems like kind of a waste, especially with TF being so squishy and usually being mid.

@Critorious Teleport makes you globally godlike. You can easily push a lane and escape with B and push another total different lane and yet still have the ability to enter teamfights.

Pretty nice build! However, my friend used Twisted Fate in ranked games, and we realised that it is REALLY important that TF is in the battle. Even if he might down a couple of inhibs (we actually downed 3 inhibitors while the distraction occurred), the other 3 of our teammates got pwnt. Since most lanes' creeps were not close to tower, we cannot use them to tank. By the time they reached the enemy nexus, our own was destroyed (Unable to do anything about it). So, late game we lost since the teamfight had failed and the opponents forged on upon the inhibitors.

Another game, where I was playing Rammus and the same TF, we did the same backdooring method. We had the advantage of 2 lanes' inhibitor down but they won the teamfight. We teleported to our hidden ward (Just outside their base) and rushed the Nexus turrets where unluckily, we lost by seconds as the opponent inhibitors had spawn in time.

So, in my opinion, unless your team is owning, TF should NEVER backdoor until the enemy are distracted by anything BESIDES team fight.

Good guide, detailed and quite nice :) Hope you take my suggestion of not backdooring unless the team can hold safely (3v5 usually is really hard to win for the 3) :) Keep up the good work!

I would suggest building Sorc Boots and using Mpen Marks and then build Sword of the Divine instead of Malady first. That way, you end up with reducing all champions (that don't have masteries or runes) magic resistance to near 0, similar AS (Divine has 10% more AS than Malady), and Divine's awesome on use and effect that synergizes with stacked deck. Just make sure when you buy it you have 0 stacked deck charges and you can align them for max burst before a Destiny.

Plus, you can then build Malady if they begin stacking Magic Resistance, where with your current build you would be forced to build Void Staff or Abyssal Mask, where the staff is only good in the upper levels of stacking resistance (They would need to have >90 to break even with Scepter).

Also, I don't think the Mpen quints are worth it. They only provide .7 more than the marks, and you can have 9 marks verses 3 quints. I would say flat AP or flat AD would be better.

Besides the playing style, I also have some suggestions.

AP/Attack Speed TF isn't so good, seeing the attack speed isn't much help as your damage isn't increased. Going Pure AP or pure AD/AS is better in my opinion, but AP still has the problem of only 2 skills dependent on it (Wild cards is hard to aim, Pick a card does not get affected much)

As for items, Tank items are NOT viable. Unless you go for something like 4 warmogs, 1 Force of Nature and 1 Thornmail, TF will forever stay squishy. And getting tank items is useless, seeing your damage/AP will be ****. An easy way to stay alive is to get a tanker with an escaping ability to rush in and help. I use Vladimir through this method. With high AP and HP (Crimson pact gives hp from ap and ap from hp), I do good damage upon opponents, sanguine pooling after facing a ton of CCs and Ultis and finally my own ulti to initiate our revenge. This way, no one in your team is in much danger besides you and ALL fragile champions can easily blast the enemy team off :) I suggest TF to be one of those people who stand back and wait for the pain to end before rushing in for damage and kills

I would say it is a strong guide with nice descriptions. I personaly like full AP as TF, but thats juist because i like that play style, I would say even though you do get quite a few CDR items the extra 9% from masteries is nice for early game with you ultimate being on a long cooldown. I also agree with Noticrtsed in that a defencive item is worth it, as a banshees veil could block that grab from blitz or a spear through the wall from nidalee etc.

If you took these surggestions into account this could be a very solid guide and build.

This man speaks the truth. I really need to fix that section of the guide with more guidelines on WHEN backdooring is acceptable. You really don't want to be the one responsible for your team losing the teamfight. Expect that section to change soon.

@Deathalo44: ??? I don't remember recommending any tank items in my build, unless you count Rylai's Crystal Scepter or Thornmail in the optional items section, so I don't really know what your gripe with my items is. On the subject of your other comments: you have three skills that scale with AP. Pick A Card, Wild Cards, and Stacked Deck. Wild cards takes quite a bit of practice to aim, but is a highly rewarding skill to land, has a very long range, and can be spammed every 3.6s once max CDR is achieved. Ignoring this skill is foolish if one builds any AP. Also, attack speed improves your damage by virtue of letting your attacks (and by extension, your stacked deck) hit more often in a given period of time. Also, my build gets a fair amount of AD from Guinsoo's Rageblade and Hextech Gunblade. Also, I am a bit confused as to why you brought up Vlad strategy in my TF guide, seeing as these two champs have wildly differing playstyles o_0. On what I think is a related note, I don't remember saying that TF should initiate teamfights. I haven't really said much about teamfights at all...I should write about.

@Noitcurtsed: I had thought about adding in Sword of the Divine, but I prefer to passively shred their MR rather than actively pierce their armor and prevent dodging. Malady does just a bit less damage over four moves than does the divine sword, although you are right about SotD giving more AS. I think I will add this to the optional items section for dealing with those annoying Jaxes, and I will credit you with the suggestion (if I remember to). As a side-note, Sword of the Divine's effect activates vs. towers (if I recall correctly) while Stacked Deck doesn't, so it doesn't really matter if the two are synced.

@soelra: I can see how that early CDR from masteries could be useful. The main reason that I didn't take 6 of the 9% was that I felt like those points were totally wasted late-game. It might be nice to shave an extra 1/3s off of your abilities cooldowns (or 9s off of your ult at lvl6), but I figure that Stacked Deck and your first CDR item should be enough CDR for early to mid game. Feel free to play with the masteries, though, and tell me what you like best. On the subject of defensive items: I am of the general opinion that the best way to win a gunfight is to shoot the other guy first, but I have made some concessions to reason in the optional items section in the form of Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Mercury's Treads, and Quicksilver Sash. I somehow forgot to put in Banshee's Veil, whose HP bonus, MR, and passive ability can be nice. If you are having trouble with CC, though, I still recommend looking into a Quicksilver Sash. The thing is relatively cheap, and you get to chose when you want to get rid off all debuffs on your person. I will be adding veil to the optional items section with a credit to you, though, in honor of those too lazy to take a proactive approach to CC prevention ;).

Also, I will probably be adding some info to the guide's intro on why I like to play AP/AS rather than full physical DPS, full AP, or AD/AP hybrid. I will also be adding a short section or two on how to deal with different laning buddies/opponents. Thanks to all who are helping to improve my guide, rather than just saying that it needs to be about 20% cooler or that my playstyle sucks. Don't forget to vote when you comment!

The reason I stray away form Maladay with TF is he is a very get in, kill, and GTFO character. Your first attack will always only have 4 Mpen (Add a bit for the mastery, like 4). Malady takes 4 attacks to gain full effect. And they should be dead by then.

Plus, keep in mind this means your gold card opener will always do approx -30% damage. And don't forget the nice ArPen on Divine.

nice

Guide has been updated with a section on how to handle different types of laning buddies and laning opponents. I hope that people find it helpful. Also, don't forget to express your opinion on my guide by commenting and (hopefully) voting my guide up (or down if there is something that is fundamentally wrong about my guide and I don't fix it).

Well, thornmail is always useless on squishies, unless your opponent team is all AD, but even so, you don't have the hp to tank a few hits. Its better to let your tank witness to full damage :) It'll save everyone else.

:) Nice improvements to your guide

This build looks like it can get first bloods really quick and able to utilize the cards well