If you are already familiar with some of these Champions, picking up and mastering Vel'Koz with the help of this Guide will be a breeze:
- Ziggs
- Xerath
- Orianna
- Viktor
- Veigar
- Lux

There are certain notable Combos for Vel'Koz; some are optimal for clearing waves, some for bursting down your opponent through the procing of your Passive.

Before getting into specific Combos and Mechanics, I hope you are familiar with the very bare basics of Vel'Koz' Kit. If not, go ahead and read the Ability Descriptions by hovering over their Icons in the Ability Order section, then come back here.

(Q>)W>E>R (vs Champs)
This is the basic and most useful Combo for Vel'Koz to burst down your opponent. W has no cast animation, so it's optimal to start any Combo with this ability. This will allow a fluid casting of W>E, which can catch your opponent off-guard. The knock-up will allow both stacks of W to hit, meaning your Passive will proc. Your ultimate will now deal True Damage, leaving your opponent no chance.
It's important to note that the knock-up will be much easier to hit if you can slow your opponent with Q first.

Q>R (vs Champs)
A well-placed Q, shot at such an angle that it zones your opponent towards you, can allow you to easily finish off a low HP enemy.

(Q>)W>R (vs Champs)
If your enemy is low health, You can use W>R (seeing as W has no cast time) to catch him off-guard and finish him off.
This is especially effective if the enemy is already slowed and has a Passive stack from your Q.

W>W (vs Wave)
Two Ws (after W lvl 3) will clear the caster minions in the back. At the end of the game, it will clear the entire wave.
I prefer the next Combo for wave clearing myself, as I do not like being caught without a W cast up (because of its ability to proc your Passive).

W>E>Q (vs Wave)
This is another Combo to clear the entire minion wave. Hit the entire wave with your W first; follow this up with an E on the caster (back) minions, and a Q on the melee (front) minions.
I prefer this over the previous Combo for wave-clearing, as it leaves you with a W for damage (with its great Passive-procing ability)

Q
Your Q ability is extremely versatile. It can be worked into Combos or allow you to start a Combo by slowing your enemy.
But it can also be used for other things; for one, it is great for poking your enemy. A landed Q will proc Arcane Comet, and its innate slow will guarantee it to land.
Moreover, the ability refunds 50% of its Mana cost when it kills a Minion, allowing for fantastic Mana sustain in lane (killing three Minions with your Q will make you gain Mana!).
Both of these facts allow for great usage of the ability, especially during Laning phase: You can try to position yourself so that when you last-hit a minion with your Q, it splits upon impact in the direction of your opposing Laner. This will catch you opponent off-guard, creating extremely strong and Mana-efficient poke damage in the early game.

Auto Attacks
Yes, you are a mage, but in this special case, your AAs are not completely useless! Your AAs can be used to refresh your Passive (7s) timer. This means that you can, for instance, AA an enemy who has 2 stacks of your Passive while you wait for your Abilities to come off Cooldown. The same goes for the True Damage proc for your Ultimate; you can refresh the (7s) timer after procing your Passive, which allows your R to deal True Damage, while you wait for it to come off CD.

Vel'Koz' many flaws make it a weak Blind Pick:
- Weak CC (only a slow and a hard-to-hit, weak knock-up)
- Is easily countered (see Matchups/Threats section)
- Extremely immobile (no dashes, etc. - very reliant on Flash to get out of sticky situations)
- You need to be in a safe position before using your R (your R is a channel, meaning (a) it leaves you extremely vulnerable and (b) it can be easily cancelled by hard CC)

For all of its flaws, Vel'Koz is an insanely effective Champion in the right hands:
- Insane damage
- Great Poke (see Mechanics section)
- True Damage (you can circumvent any MR your opponents might build to stop your damage by procing your Passive and using your R within 7 seconds - making it deal True Damage)
- If needed, can go Utility (see Glacial Augment Rune Page and Build)
- Great Wave-clear
- Great for learning Wave Management and picking up the Ins and Outs of Mid-Lane
- Can be flex-picked as a Support Champion for those annoying Autofill games
- Fantastic Range (allowing for a fairly safe, artillery-esque playstyle when needed)

The following is both a Pro and a Con:
- Vel'Koz scales more with levels than with Items. This is a good thing because it means that, even if you are behind gold-wise (killed early, etc.), you can still out-scale your opponent by soaking up XP by simply being in lane. It can also be considered a bad thing, because - even if you are ahead to begin with - your enemies can easily kill you once they reach critical Item Spikes, meaning you always need to be wary and aware of your enemies' Purchases and Powerspikes.

This should be an all-encompassing Guide, but if you find yourself wanting more Vel'Koz, I would like to advise you to check out the #1 Vel'Koz World, Azzapp. He has great Videos and a fantastic stream and streaming community, where he often explains his thought process and educates his viewers on Vel'Koz.

Some of my personal highlights from his YouTube channel (videos which helped me!):
https://youtu.be/5BK-cnMWHyQ - This is a video where he explains his thoughts on Vel'Koz' Lane Matchups; he even explains what to do against each Champion in brief.
https://youtu.be/gG-XVF8VUsY - In this video, he explains how he got Challenger in NA despite his 150-ping handicap. He explains the importance of Macro, Wave Management, and being aware of Powerspikes.

Another Resource I use is the Coach Curtis YouTube channel. He is a former professional coach who explains everything you need to know about Mid-Lane.

This is a Playlist where he explains the Mid-Lane Fundamentals - I highly, highly recommend you check it out:
https://youtu.be/_Svz3EqoGTM

If you have any other questions or concerns regarding my Vel'Koz Guide, feel free to ask them in the Discussion section. I will get back to you ASAP.

I would also appreciate you leaving behind a rating to make this Guide more visible. Thanks!