Hello and welcome to my first guide for League of Legends. I'm Delecto and I'd like to introduce you to one of my most favourite champions, Twisted Fate, the Card Master. Even though this is my first guide here on MOBAFire, I don't want you to be easy on me, but to be honest about what you think about this guide. But now, let's stop talking and start with the guide.

Yes, AP Twisted Fate. You want to know, why I play Twisted Fate as a burst caster? The reason is, that his damage output played this way is consistantly high throughout regular matches. From the beginning on you'll be doing some nice damage. He may be harder to play as an AP Carry later on, but he's a high risk - high reward champion. The reason I don't go AD with Twisted Fate is, that there are plenty of other champions, which can take this roll better than him, for example Vayne or Caitlyn. Also, AD TF needs to be fed as hell in order to be a succesfull damage dealer. But that is just my opinion on AD Twisted Fate.

Sadly, every champion has them. (Except for Tryndamere sice he is OP as ****. Naah just kidding. :P)

Pros:
- Very strong caster once you get the way, Wild Cards is casting and once you manage the right use of your Pick A Card.
- Won't mana starve thanks to his blue card.
- Can easily outtake the enemy carry with his gold card.
- Can deal tons of damage if you manage to combine his red card with his Wild Cards.
- His Ultimate, Destiny. Can easily prevent ganks by the enemy jungler, suurprise him while (counter)jungling, determines, what the enemy team does, when many are MIA, set up nice ganks, get out of BIG trouble with the help of your teleport, since it can't be cancelled, etc.

Cons:
- Very squishy, but against this, Rod of Ages and Banshee's Veil will be our two countermeasures.
- Focused very easily once the enemy team realizes your potential threat. (Which you will be.. Trust me.)

As you can see, the pros definately outnumber the cons.

For runes I grab Magic Penetration Marks, Flat AP Seals, Flat AP Glyphs and Flat AP Quintessences. The reason I get the Magic Penetration Seals is obvious: Combined with the Sorcerer's Shoes and the Void Staff, you are sure to shred the Magic Resistance of every champ. You may be wondering about, why the rest of my runes are flat AP runes.
In my opinion, you need the AP right away, to be able to burst your enemies into oblivion early on so that you can kill them more often early game and cause them to end up being outfarmed against you.

I start off with a Doran's Ring. This will enhance my health pool, give me a decent amount of AP and a bit of mana regen. Now you should be farming and killing enemies long enough to get gold for your next Doran's Ring and your first core item, the Sorcerer's Shoes.

Next on our list we have a Rod of Ages. As you can see in the item sequence on the top, I rush the Blasting Wand. This is only situational! If you and your team are dominating, you should rush your Blasting Wand, before you get your Catalyst the Protector. If you are having troubles in lane, you should get your Catalyst the Protector first, then get a Blasting Wand, followed by Rod of Ages.

After that, I get the item,which is essential for every AP Caster in my opinion. Let me introduce you to your new hat, the grinning Rabadon's Deathcap. This item will give your AP a huge boost. 140 AP + 30% AP of your AP on top of it. This passive stacks with every AP item purchased after.

The next item will be Void Staff. 70 AP and a nice boost of Magic Penetration. Everything you need.

We will continue with Morello's Evil Tome. An item, which is underused in my opinion. It delivers you a decent amount of AP, a bit of mana regen and, the main reason I pick this item up, 15% CDR. A must have for AP Twisted Fate.

Our last item will increase our survivability. Banshee's Veil gives you a nice healthpool, manapool, magic resistance and its awesome passive, one free hit. With this you will survive a bit longer in teamfights. So you will be able to deal more damage and be the one, deciding the teamfight's outcome.

You may also consider buying Lich Bane since its passive should be working great on you. I never tested it though. So if you could give it a try and tell me what you think about it, I definately would thank you.

First of all, I wanted to point out, that I'm one of those guys, that likes the new masteries. Even though they make nearly every champ very powerful early on, this is something, we'll use to our advantage. But let's get started with them.

I get 21 points in the Offensive Tree, getting every possible extra point of ability power and getting the 10% magic penetration. This will give you loads of damage from the beginning on. Combined with the runes and a Doran's Ring, you'll already have a total of 52 AP. That's a lot with only one item, isn't it? Now you may also get, why I'm using the flat AP runes.

I don't get any points in the Defensive Tree since we won't need that survivability as long as we play smart enough. Also, once you're CC'ed/ganked, the few points in the Defensive Tree won't save you, so taking points in there would be a waste of 9 points.

In the Utility Tree I take 1 point in Summoner's Insight , since those 15 second CDR on flash could be deciding about living or dying, killing an enemy or letting him survive with 12 HP. I take 3 points in Good Hands since those 10% can change a lot, espescially early/mid game. The 4 points in Swiftness are really nice for Twisted Fate since he definately is not the fastest champion in the game. My last point goes into Runic Affinity , since the 20% increased neutral buff duration is always nice.

Loaded Dice (Passive) - Twisted Fate and his allies receive an additional 2 gold per kill.

This is a very nice passive since it affects all of your team members no matter where they are located on the map. You may be thinking "Oh, it's just 2 gold per kill, it won't make that much of a difference.", but it does, since minion kills are also rewarded with an extra 2 gold.



Wild Cards - Twisted Fate throws three cards, dealing damage to each enemy unit they pass through.Throws three cards that deal 60/110/160/210/260 (+0.65) magic damage to each enemy unit they pass through.
Cost 60/70/80/90/100 Mana
Range 1450

This is the skill with your primary priotity. Always try to poke your enemy with this. Those cards might look harmless but they're not. They already deal a decent amount of damage on level 1. We want to take 1 point in this skill at level 2 and max it by level 9.



Pick A Card - Twisted Fate chooses a magic card from his deck, and uses that for his next attack, causing bonus effects.
Cast once to shuffle the deck and again to choose your card, enhancing your next attack.
Blue Card deals 40/60/80/100/120 (+) (+0.4) magic damage, restoring mana equal to 65% of the damage dealt.
Red Card deals 30/45/60/75/90 (+) (+0.4) magic damage to units around the target and slows their movement speeds by 30/35/40/45/50%.
Gold Card deals 15/22.5/30/37.5/45 (+) (+0.4) magic damage and stuns for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds.
Cost 40/55/70/85/100 Mana
Range 200

This is your bread and butter skill. It gives you nearly everything you need for the early laning phase. The Blue Card provides you with mana when needed, the Red Card provides you a nice AOE Damage/Slow and the Gold Card gives you a nice single target stun. Max this second after Wild Cards since it will give you tons of sustain in the early laning phase.



Stacked Deck - Every 4 attacks, Twisted Fate deals bonus damage. In addition, his attack speed is increased and his cooldowns are decreased.
Passive: Every 4 attacks, Twisted Fate deals an additional 55/80/105/130/155 (+0.4) magic damage.In addition, his attack speed is increased by 3/6/9/12/15% and his cooldowns are decreased by 3/6/9/12/15%.

This is a nice skill for AP Twisted Fate, since it's a passive stack. It also triggers, when your Pick A Card is up. Always try to combo this with your Pick A Card for maximized damage ouptut.


Destiny - Twisted Fate predicts the fortunes of his foes, revealing all enemy champions and enabling the use of Gate.
Reveals all enemy champions (including stealthed champions) on the map for 6/8/10 seconds.

While Destiny is active, Twisted Fate can teleport up to 5500 units away.
Cost 150/125/100 Mana
Range 5500

*Sigh*... Too bad this ultimate isn't global anymore. Back then it used to be one of the best ult's in the game since enemies weren't able to predict, where you will pop up all of the sudden. But now, that its ranged got nerfed like hell, they will be able to predict you a bit better. Like mentioned in the "Pros/Cons" section, this ult still has its variety of very good uses, the main one being ganks, which we will be focusing on later in the guide.

With AP Twisted Fate, I take Flash and Ignite.

Flash doesn't need any explanation in my opinion. It's a great summoner cast to initiate, flee, gank, etc. This is a MUST on every champ in my opinion.

The next thing I grab would be Ignite. Its use is mostly good for the early game laning phase (except they have a Mundo, interrupt his ult with this), to kill them off when they're on low HP, and you cant reach them with any of your skills.


Of course, those are just preferences by myself, you can still run Twisted Fate with the Summoner Casts you want to, but I think some of them, like Clarity or Exhaust are just not needed on TF, since he has both mana regen and a decent slow.

This section will focus on the common mid champs you will see very often. The order I'll use is just alphabetical for each subsection but I think you should be able to figure this out on your own. So let's get started.

Your NIGHTMARE!
This will just include one champion...
Xerath. You know, why he is a problem to you. He simply outranged you with ease from level 4 on (or whenever yor opponent feels like getting Locus of Power). Also. his stun is ridiculous. And the damage off of his Arcanopulse. Just try to hold yourself back, farm creeps at your turret and try to poke him from time to time with your Wild Cards.


Causing some trouble.
Veigar. E -> W -> Q -> R. This will kill you faster than you can look. Just simply don't try to be to close to him early game or he will try to hit you with his E -> W -> Q combo, when he has his ult, add that R to the combo. Just poke him with your Wild Cards and your blue card from Pick A Card since your range should allow it. But don't overextend.

Brand. He will caue trouble for sure. Especially his passive, Blaze is annoying. Also, he will try to trigger his extra bonuses granted to him. Pillar of Flame puts out lots of damage from the beginning on. Since it's delayed, it would be smart to start with boots and 3 health potions. Try to dodge is Sear when he just hit you with one of his other abilities, since this will cause you to be stunned for 2 seconds. And trust me, 2 seconds can decide a lot. Also, he can outrange and zone you a bit with his Pillar of Flame. But since your Wild Cards range is huge, try to poke him with this and force him to retreat from his lane in order to get some free farm.

Kassadin. Duh. You outrange him, sure. But don't try to mess with him from level 6 on. He will harass you like crazy with his Riftwalk, then he'll Q -> E you, if his E is up. Just don't be too aggressive against him. Try to force him to b with your Wild Cards in order to get an advantage level wise. His massive burst and ability to turret dive you with easy from level 6 on gets him ranked here.

Karthus. What makes him dangerous is his Q, Lay Waste combined with his W, Wall of Pain. The slow by Wall of Pain is hard, but what hits you harder is the magic resistance debuff you get. If you should happen to run into this wall, hope for minions to be on their way, since Lay Waste will deal half the damage if it hits more than one enemy unit. Also beware of Karthus when he has a blue buff. he can toggle his Defile forever with this and this ability deals large amounts of damage. Don't forget his passive, Death Defied. This will allow him to spam his abilities for 8 seconds without having any mana costs. Try to get away from a dead Karthus as soon as possible! Oh, and I don't think I need to mention his ultimate, Requiem. Press R for Penta.

Heimerdinger. His Hextech Micro-Rockets will hit you hard. But if you stay behind 3 minions most of the time, the rockets will hit them since they focus the 3 nearest targets. Also, his H-28G Evolution Turrets will give him the ability to zone you hard and deny you lots of creeps. Just stay back, poke him with your Wild Cards, avoid running into his turrets and force him to get out many abilities. This will cause him to mana starve (except he starts with a Meki Pendant) and going back to his base in order to refresh his mana.

LeBlanc. I really hate LeBlanc. Her burst damage is so high. Just try to not be so aggressive as you usual should and could be. Throw out some Wild Cards and try to not get hit by her snare because then it most possibly is over and the lane is lost.

Vladimir. Your main problem against him is his sustain granted to him by his Q, Transfusion. Denying creeps for Vladimir is essential so he can't stack his Tides of Blood, since it will deal more damage after 4 stacks. Poking him will also be hard, as he may will dodge it with his Sanguine Pool. Not the easiest matchup for you, but once you get Vladimir's way of playing, you should win this one.

Swain. Yes, Swain. Once he hits you with his snare, your HP will fall below 60% at least. You may be starting off with boots and 3 pots so that evading his snare is easier. Also, his sustain from level 6 on is ridiculous. Ignite is a MUST if you're going to face a Swain in mid. The rest of the time just use Wild Cards and refresh your mana with your blue card.


Meh, somewhat difficult
Morgana. She's in here because of her high damage output. Everything else will absolutely be no problem for you. She has a fairly low movement speed and only 1 combo, which can easily be destroyed if you're able to dodge her Dark Binding.


Annie. Her stun combined with her nice burst can be lethal. Just look for that white circle around her, since this indicates that her stun is ready. From level 6 on, she will try to burst you down with her R(Stun) -> W -> Q combo. The range of your Wild Cards is higher than her range is, so just try to abuse this range for your advantage.

Fiddlesticks. You outrange him with ease. Poke him with your Wild Cards and harrass him like crazy with basic attacks combined with Pick A Card and Stacked Deck. This lane matchup is easy and should be won by you if you're not the biggest noob on the planet, but I don't think they would look up a guide, wouldn't they?

Malzahar. In my opinion, a matchup against Malzahar is not that hard, since you outrange him. Just stay away from your minions when he hit one with his Malefic Visions since it will jump on you whenever it killed a minion of yours. Poke him with your Wild Cards and try to be a little aggressive against him since this will be forcing him to retreat. Yes, it does work.

Akali. Where should I start. You definately outrange her from level 1 on until level 6 where she gets dangerous for the first time. Because of her amazing harrassing ability Shadow Dance and that ridiculous damage output from level 1 on, I put her in here and not one tier lower. She uses Twilight Shroud? Pop Wild Cards into the stealth area and you should hit her in most of the cases. Except of her burst she will be no match at all against you.

Lux. I put Lux in here, because she personally annoys me very often. She isn't hard at all to lane against but she gets annoying fairly quick since she has tons of CC like her slow and her snare. Just poke her with Wild Cards and harass like crazy with your Pick A Card. Boots and 3 pots also are recommended for her since you don't want to get hit by her CC.

Cassiopeia. Beware of her combos, they can be lethal. Just stay behind your melee minions and the lane should be won. I put her here because a good Cassiopeia can get you in trouble. But just Wild Cards a while, refresh your mana and you should be easy going.

Orianna. Yes, even though she has the ability to zone you like crazy, this is another easy matchup for you. Try to stay next to creeps, since her Command: Attack gets weaker the more enemy units are hit. You can counter this zoning with your Wild Cards easily and even harass her a bit since she is reliable on that ball. And if that ball is positioned wrong once, it'll be easy for you to harass and burst her down.

Anivia. Your main problem is her Q, Flash Frost. Combined with her E, Frostbite and her ult, Glacial Storm, your HP can drop really fast. Lucky you, that she is one of the slowest champions out there. This will make it easy for you to poke her often with Pick A Card and Wild Cards. But please remember, that her passive, Rebirth, doesn't allow you to kill her instantly, so don't flash in there the instant you see a chance to kill her since she will be reborn and you wasted your Flash.

Ganking. This is essential for Twisted Fate. He will be a very dangerous ganker from level 6 on since his ultimate will allow you to reveal the enemy's location. You also can teleport to a place of your favor within 5500 range.
Since you are AP TF, you want to take midlane, to get your ult earlier. You will reach level 6 in front of the other duo laners, if you're not getting your butt whooped, but that should not be happening. The instant you reach level 6, tell your teammates, that your ult is up and that they shall give you any sign of them wanting a gank by you on their lane. But remember, you should always scout the lanes by yourself and check, if an enemy is low on HP and can be taken out by a gank of yours.
You see a Renekton on low HP, still pushing the lane? Pop Destiny, teleport in the direction he will walk once he realizes, that he is in danger, hit him with a gold card and a kill should be secured for your team.
If you're not used to Pick A Card, try to lock in the Gold Card before teleporting, since the Gold Card will make ganking a LOT easier. If you think, you're experienced enough, just use Pick A Card "blindfolded" and gank a bit faster. Like this, ganks should always secure a kill unless you, your teammates or both fail to initiate and execute the gank.

This concludes my guide and thoughts on Twisted Fate running on steroids.. I mean AP. Feel free to leave any form of comment. I really appreciate criticism, since it will help me to enchant this guide. If you like it, tell me so with a comment.
Also I hope, that you enjoyed reading this guide. For my part, I really enjoyed writing this guide, since I always wanted to give back something to the MOBAFire community. :)
With this said, there's only one more thing to add: Have fun exploiting the power of AP Twisted Fate on the Fields of Justice.

Delecto, signing out.~

11/28/2011: Guide created and published.
11/30/2011: Changed the skill sequence and the Skill Explanation chapter. Maxing Q over W now.
11/30/2011 Patch 1.0.0.130: Nothing new on Twisted Fate.. Luckily. Jungle is screwed now.
12/1/2011: Inserted the chapter "Items and Situational Purchases". Edited BB Codes to make it look better.
12/5/2011: Added "Who you lane against and what you should do." section to the guide.
12/13/2011: The patch tomorrow will buff TF. Increased AA-Range and Pick A Card doesn't automatically hit the last target anymore. That was so annoying, thank you for fixing this issue.