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With the new changes to rune, Yasuo is more of a lane bully than he ever was before. With "Lethal Tempo" the minute he strikes you with an auto or a Q, he'll gain a burst of additional attack speed which will also lower his Q cooldown. He's a bigger threat a level 2 than he ever was. Don't aim to trade with Yasuo early. Rush Tabi's if needed.
Annie
Yikes... An Annie. Let me just say, your W won't always help you out here. Sure you can cleanse her stun, but her burst is pretty amazing, her early game poke is massive and her pressure in general is pretty high. She can push lane faster than you due to her Q going on CD and refunding mana while you can only Q every 3-5 seconds. You're going to have to get some ganks to deal with Annie. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Anivia
Now that people are getting the hang on Anivia (using wall to block you off and then pop their R) it's a little harder to escape the poke of Anivia. A good Anivia will W and then R you, and Q to where you are trying to escape and shoot out that E. GP's W can't cleanse the "frosted" stat so even if you cleanse her Q-stun, you'll still take the double damage from her E. Plus due to lack of high burst early game, Anivia's passive will be hard to grab a solo kill on early pre-6. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Ahri
Now this one is all personal preference. I've laned against so many weird Ahri's before that I can actually find a set difficulty on Ahri players. She's one of those champions where you need to learn how to farm under tower to stay in the game during lane phase. Be careful though, Ahri when she hits 6 WILL push hard and roam to a lane since Gangplank lacks push until he has a sheen, and can't one shot the back line until Triforce. Make sure you farm well, get Sheen ASAP to try and counter push and when she goes MIA, your eyes better be on the map to ult in for support. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Cho'Gath
Cho'Gath... Well first off, he can silence you and deny you from using Q to farm, and when you walk up to melee something he'll just use his Q and knock you up further preventing you from farming. The safest way to farm against Cho is to Q under tower, and make sure you have Sheen ASAP. I'd go Mana Crystal start on Cho'Gath, get 700G and back ASAP. He's also naturally tanky with his ulti, and has much much much better in lane sustain than you do, so trading and 1v1ing with Cho is out of the option. Farm up and try to carry out of lane phase by picking on the squishies. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Akali
Personally, I never see an Akali mid lane anymore so I can't really say much. But I used to main Akali (waaay back in S3 though) and despite her nerfs, like her E procing Q, she's still pretty bursty, but remember that she's squishy as well. Get that TriForce, and if it's still lane phase by then, either get a hexdrinker or rush steraks to survive her burst. Exhaust only comes up every so often so be sure to get some tankiness to yourself. If you're running crit plank though, get Phantom Dancer 2nd item so when you Q her or auto, the passive will proc. RECOMMENDED START: Sapphire Crystal and refillable.
Swain
Borderline 10/10 difficulty. He's got massive DoT poke, and if you're not rushing executioners calling asap a good Swain can tower dive you level 7-8. Be careful vs Swain, he's an actual counter to Gangplank, whether it be mid or top. He's one of those champions that are oppressive to GP and can even oppress him under his tower. I personally hate Swains, and I'd give him a 10/10 for difficulty but you CAN play around him by rushing executioners, having exhaust and getting ganks. NEVER try to 1v1 Swain, for your sake. RECOMMENDED START: Doran's Shield or Corrupting.
Aurelion Sol
I'm putting 1/10 difficulties on champions I have yet to lane against unless I can get a rough idea of what they're like, I'll put them at 5/10.
Bard
I'm putting 1/10 difficulties on champions I have yet to lane against unless I can get a rough idea of what they're like, I'll put them at 5/10.
Diana
Diana hurts. Like a lot. She's pretty bursty so you'll need a steraks or a maw right after Triforce. She's one of the easiest people to lane against PRE-6 though, so I'd suggest starting mana crystal and backing for an early sheen and see if you can poke her out and force her to back. Since she's melee, using barrels after you get Sheen will help poke her out, but the con is that it can push your lane. So manage your barrel usage accordingly. The real match-up starts when she hit's 6.
Brand
I have yet to lane against a Brand (hello Brand support) but from what I know, he's got some nice range on that W, some high damage output and a good brand won't mindlessly waste his mana and go OOM. Brands mana cost are decently high as he levels his skills up, except for Q, but the cost of more mana for more damage is worth it. Be careful when Brand hits 6. You don't want to be caught up in his ultimate bouncing on and off of you. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Corki
What a pokey champion. Poke is Corki's middle name, and mid lane style. You'll need to farm under tower for this as he will constantly poke you before and after 6. When he gets package, you better be ping spamming your team that Corki is alive because they're going to need it. If a Corki W's into you, there is two reason why: 1. He's bad. 2. He's getting a gank. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill
Jayce
He hurts but is not a common mid laner anyone. I lower his rating due to his pick rate in mid being substantially low, but be careful due to the amount of burst he can and will do to you.
Azir
With the Azir changes he is more oppressive than ever before and dishes out a lot more damage. He also has a shield in his E again. Be careful laning against an Azir, he'll poke you down and due to the new runes, you'll have a harder time staying in lane. Best to take TP.
Cassiopeia
Stupid snake lady. She's VERY pokey and can oppress you in lane. Be wary of her Q when you go up to farm a minion with your Q. I'd fake the Q and wait for her to use her Q, dodge it then Q up the minion you want to farm. Her W can't be cleansed with W, so you're gonna have to walk out. Her wave push early is very mana costy so I'd rush sheen and be ready to counter push the wave. RECOMMENDED START: Any.
Ekko
Fairly easy match up. Just make sure his Q is used before you walk up to melee some minions. Only a dumb Ekko or an Ekko getting a gank will use E (his dash) on you while his Q is down. When Ekko uses W, you can be 90% sure that he's getting a gank, so when you hear that voice line, make sure you move back and just wait it out. He'll push eventually. Just make sure he doesn't roam too hard or he'll get out of hand when he returns to lane. If he has hextech revolver, he'll use E to poke you, so beware of that. RECOMMENDED START: Any.
Fizz
Yikes. Now Fizz can be a hit or miss match-up. If you find him abusing you/trading with you, try to asks for ganks, since most Fizz players will use their E during a trade. If he DOES go in on you, make sure you have a barrel near you or on top of you and wait that E out before you pop the barrel. You CAN use the barrel before he E's but you'd have to auto the barrel. Ideal trade is that he Q's you, you auto-pop a barrel, he'll use his E, you Q him when he lands. Fizz can roam on you too, so be ready when you hit 6. RECOMMENDED START: Sapphire Crystal + pots. Go for sheen rush to trade with him.
Gragas
I think this is a pretty easy lane. As long as you're behind your minions, he can't really E you, so I'd stay behind your minions and keep track of his cooldowns if you're going into melee range to farm. Gragas' poke output is fairly low, so if he ever uses his E on you, you're most likely getting ganked. He's got good lane sustain so don't bother wasting too much mana trying to Q him. But remember he is melee ranged as well, so you CAN occasionally Q him for your bandit passive. Just make sure you're still farming. Minions give more gold than bandits after all, and you'll be drawing minion aggro if you poke him. I've only faced 1 Gragas mid so far in Season 7 but I had a good farm lane. RECOMMENDED START: Sapphire Crystal + Refillable, rush sheen, push waves and look for roams. His wave clear is worse than yours once you have sheen, and is nothing to yours when you have Trinity Force.
Heimerdinger
I've yet to lane against one this season but from past experience from playing other champs, he'll be pushing you in. So be ready to farm under your tower. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill. Sheen can usually one shot Heim turrets.
Karma
Karma isn't all too hard to lane against. Her Q gets blocked by minions as well and it's her only source of wave clear. Of course if she starts running at you using her shield, you better be prepared for a gank coming at you. Other than that, it's a farm lane. You could even get Cull in this lane if you really wanted to. RECOMMENDED START: Any.
Karthus
I've only seen one Karthus in my ranked grind so far. His Q damage buff gets blocked off if you're with some minions, so try to stay near them but not too close that you'll still get hit by a Q of his. Be sure to keep your eyes on the map and allies when you hit 6 to turn the tides of battle before he can use his ult to clean up. If your ult can help win a fight and prevent your team from getting too low, that's already a win. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Kassadin
Painful. Just. Painful. Kass is not fun to lane against. He'll just Q and E poke you when you walk up for CS and your Q helps out his E to come up. Be wary once he hits 6 because he's going to go in on you to trade with you. You need to have a barrel near you at all times if you want any hopes of winning a trade. His damage output is quite high on you if you don't have MR on you, and he can roam harder than you as well. I'd suggest only using Q to farm. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Katarina
Katarina is one of the most busted champs right now. I'd say she's a solid perma ban in solo queue for now until they nerf her level 3-4 all in potential. Hell, a good Kat can even kill you at level 2 if you took too much Q poke early on at level 1. Trust me, I've mained the new Katarina on day 1 when she was reworked and she's freaking crazy. I'd honestly say try your best to FOLLOW her on roams because your ult is NOT going to be enough to prevent her from trying to get a kill or two on your bot lane. Ward river and keep an eye out for her and be ready to follow up. RECOMMENDED START: Sapphire Crystal + Refillable, sheen rush.
Kayle
I'm putting 1/10 difficulties on champions I have yet to lane against unless I can get a rough idea of what they're like, I'll put them at 5/10.
LeBlanc
I won't lie, due to LeBlanc being nerfed fairly hard, she isn't getting much play time anymore so I lowered her from what was a 10/10. She still can do a high amount of burst to you, it's just that her W and wave clear has been butchered. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Lissandra
Lissandra isn't too hard to lane against to be honest but it's the fact that all her CC and utility can mess you up. She can set up ganks pretty easily, escape ganks easily and can poke you down while usually winning the poke battle. A smart Liss player will always save her ult until AFTER you W to cleanse her W (her farting root.) and trust me, if you're below 60% HP you'll want to cleanse that W of hers before she pokes you even more. Yet another lane to farm under tower with. What a surprise. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Lulu
I have yet to lane against a Lulu mid, but she's got plenty of utility against Gangplank. She can shield your Q, poke you down with her autos, Q and even her E, speed up allies or bait out your W with hers for ganks, and her ultimate grants her health and a knock up which is problematic for killing her. Another farm lane against Lulu, as she has too much utility to actually solo kill. RECOMMENDED START: Any.
Lux
I personally hate Lux because that E is sooooooo annoying to lane against. You'll be walking up to Q a minion and OH LOOK! E>AUTO is what this mother #$^&%! will be doing to you. You CAN play around her and try to rush sheen and barrel poke her to go even in trade or even out trade her, and if you do ending up rushing sheen, you can roam since her E costs up to 130 mana at rank 5. RECOMMENDED START: Any.
Malzahar
What can I say? His passive is the most annoying thing to deal with, he pushes lane super super hard with his space aids and he can silence you and prevent you from using Q, even under tower if you get hit by it. Honestly, just do your best to survive, and make sure he's not too big when the lane phase ends. I'd actually get a Spellthiefs Edge just to make up for some of the minions you'll miss early on. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill. Mana sustain in lane is needed.
Morgana
Revised from 7/10 to 2/10. Pretty easy lane match up, sure Morgana can push you in with her W but it's all you can really do. If she misses her Q on you, that's your time to go abuse her. Poke her with Q, or even get a barrel off on her. She's easily punished for it, and if you're having trouble vs Morgana, you just need some more experience. Dodging her Q is literally all you need to do in this lane. RECOMMENDED START: Any.
Orianna
I know what you're thinking... "A 9/10?! Are you sure?!" Yes I'm sure. I'd give her either an 8 or a 9 here. Mainly dependent on the Ori player's playstyle. Some are oppressive with Q poke, and some just like to farm. The aggressive ones are hard to farm against, even under tower but easier to gank while the passive ones are harder to gank and also gank reliant. Ori has insane damage output and you don't want to be hit by that Q>W after she has an item. Do your best to farm, get Triforce to clear waves, maybe a few ganks and stop her from roaming. PLAY IT SAFE! RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill.
Pantheon
Poke's hard, Q is very spammy, ult range is huge and can roam very well with it, damage output is high, ihatepantheonsomuch, and his passive can block your Q. A true counter pick to Gangplank but you'll rarely see one mid since he's pretty easy to gank. Just sustain in lane, don't let him force you to back before sheen and stay under your tower. RECOMMENDED START: Any. You're doomed anyways in lane @_@ Pray for ganks.
Riven
4 dashes on this champion and she's mid..? Yeah, good luck. Not much I can say other than SHE'S FREAKING RIVEN. Farm under tower, and push the lane when she roams. Don't bother following up when she roams, FORCE her to come back mid by pushing it. Ult to save your team, the slow helps more than you think. Lethality just makes her a monster! Sure, you'll rarely see a Riven mid, but if you do be careful. RECOMMENDED START: Sapphire Crystal + Refillable. Steraks Gage 2nd item if she's ahead of you by 2+ kills.
Ryze
Hope you get some ganks early. You better know how to farm under tower though, he'll still push you in early on. RECOMMENDED START: Any.
Syndra
TO BE MADE.
Taliyah
TO BE MADE.
Talon
TO BE MADE.
Teemo
TO BE MADE.
Twisted Fate
TO BE MADE.
Veigar
TO BE MADE.
Vel'Koz
TO BE MADE.
Viktor
TO BE MADE.
Vladimir
TO BE MADE.
Xerath
TO BE MADE.
Zed
TO BE MADE.
Ziggs
This is a battle of wave clear. Ziggs will always end up pushing you in, so try your best to manage your farm under tower. RECOMMENDED START: Crystal + Refill. Rush Sheen to TRY and counter his wave clear with your E's.
Zilean
TO BE MADE.
Zyra
I'm putting 1/10 difficulties on champions I have yet to lane against unless I can get a rough idea of what they're like, I'll put them at 5/10.
Zoe
At the moment she's absolutely broken. One of the higher learning curves of a champion but once you know how to play her, she's fierce. Sure she has no escapes but her E (Sleep) is insane. She can steal your exhaust, your flash and even pick up summoners from last hitting minions. I'd go the Nullifying Orb rune against her and just don't get poked down by her Q's. It's a small AoE blast. Also remember that her E puts you under the DROWSY status effect which cannot be cleansed with W. Wait until you fall asleep first and then use your W. Get lots of ganks and you can shut her down and bully her out of lane easier.
In case you still want to run Kelptomancy on Gangplank, here's a picture and description of the old runes before Patch 8.2. (Klepto nerf)
Introduction
Introduction
GUIDE IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS.
Last updated on: April 9 2018. Next update:
Guide Goal
This guide is meant to help those aspiring Gangplank mid mains to become the manly pirates they were destined to be. This is my first guide as well, but I'll do what I can to help you succeed. I'll be making a super in-depth guide for you to learn the ways of Gangplank mid and how it should be played. Of course, you can play it your own my, but this will be my way of teaching you how I've played my Gangplank mid and hopefully help you out where you're struggling.
Who is Vaneio?
http://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=Vaneio
I'm Vaneio!(Van-Knee-Oh). I'm a mid laner who has taken GP to mid lane and suffers a living hell when I get him top lane. I'm currently in mid plat ELO, battling between Plat 3 and Plat 4. (Fell from Plat 2, feelsbadman.) I'm here to post my Mid Lane Gangplank guide as he is my new mid laner, and actually my OTP champion. I used to play more champs but I played GP once in a normal in mid not knowing what was going on and now I play him non-stop. I'm trying to Gangplank my way to Masters as my end season goal. I was somewhat stuck in plat 5 at the start of Season 7 and as I picked up GP, I went from Plat 5 to Plat 2 in about 4 days. (then demoted due to playing while depressed from IRL situations. Don't play when your mind isn't on point. Trust me. I went from Plat 2 41LP to Plat 3 - 4 LP in a day due to that.) You can also catch me streaming at https://www.twitch.tv/vaneio. I stream every day for about 8+ hours.
Laning with Gangplank in Mid
Laning with Gangplank in Mid
Now we all know that Gangplank's laning phase is pretty bad. Well it's even worse in mid lane since most of the time you'll have to farm with Q. NEVER use your barrels for poke pre-Sheen unless you're setting up a gank. Always keep a barrel by your tower though for an escape route, or for an easier gank setup. Using barrels before a Sheen will screw over your lane and will push towards them, and even if they still manage to push you back, your tower isn't going to be getting those mage minions down to Q-able health anytime soon. They'll most likely end up killing them. The only time I'd use barrels before Sheen is for getting the slow for ganks or when you actually need to back for your Sheen.
Once you get sheen, life will be a little easier for you. You can last hit the mage minions under tower 10x better, and finally use those juicy barrels for poking. When you get triforce, you will ALWAYS kill the mage minions with a Q, even when they're at full health. TriForce is how you can counter push lane matchups like Ahri, Ekko, etc...
Most Gangplank players would tell you to use that bandit mastery for your advantage and steal that 10G. I WOULD NOT recommend this until Sheen due to the fact that resetting minion aggro is a lot hard than top lane, since in top you can just Q and run in a bush to reset minion aggro. Mid lane you'll always take a few hits from the minions if you're trying to use bandit. USE IT AFTER YOU GET SHEEN and you'll be okay.
Your lane becomes a lot easier when you hit level 7 because of the barrel tick speed. You'll probably have Sheen by then too so your lane shoving should be better. When you hit 6, make sure you're looking at the map and allies because those kills and/or assists will help you get back all the CS you missed under tower when being shoved in. The only time I would roam on GP is to counter roam or when your jungler is getting invaded and needs help. Yes, farming on GP is the most important thing, but a kill or assist will 100% make up for the CS you miss if you roam. But you have to make sure to get the kill or assist. Never waste flash for an assist. A 5 minute CD on a survivability summoner just for an assist will cost you dearly.
YOUR GOAL IN LANE.
Don't feed, and farm up till out of laning phase. Once you hit level 13, they should fear you if you have at least 2 core items.
Pros and Cons to Gangplank Mid
Pros and Cons to Gangplank Mid
Pros
+ Insane burst damage + Can shred even the tankiest of tanks. + Flexible Builds. (Even tankplank which a guide to that will also be made in due time) + Amazingly strong late game/level 13 power spike + Always one shots minion backline with TriForce + Can cleanse CC and heal with his Oranges. (W) + Sheen = Very good early power spike and strong Q sheen-proc poke.
Neutrals
~ Generally needs only 2 full items for power spike. (Can be good and bad depending on how ahead or behind you are) ~ 2 Spikes. Level 7 and 13.
Cons
- Lack of escapes early. (Can abuse barrel escapes at level 7+) - POOR laning phase - Generally squishy - No hard CC abilities - Hard to give ganks to early. (Will go into detail further on) - Cooldown reliant - Lane freezes will mess you up - Using barrels pre-sheen will cause your lane to generally push.
My Personal Build.
My Personal Build.
Trinity Force
This is literally the item you will ALWAYS get on Gangplank. I don't think I'd have to explain why you get this but I will anyways, in a swift matter. Enhances Q damage, gives needed stats especially CDR (20%), and enhances every stat that Gangplank would need. HP, AD, MANA, CDR, Movement Speed, etc etc.
Boots of Mobility
Lately I've been testing out rushing boots of mobility on Gangplank right after I get my SHEEN and try to roam/gank for my lanes. From experience, I've noticed I've gotten enough money for my Sheen AND Boots of Mobility at level 7, which is the level that Gangplank can roam and not be laughed at when he puts down an E. This strat will take practice, map awareness and map knowledge as you need to know which lane to go to or you'll waste precious exp Gangplank so desperately needs. I personally hate taking TELEPORT on Gangplank as well so the Boots of Mobility will help me get back to lane quicker once I recall.
Infinity Edge
I like to go Crit Plank, so I take IE on him, and rush it after my Trinity Force. Most people would go Youmuu's Ghostblade right after Trinity Force but this build is a 100% crit plank build, so I don't go Youmuu's every time. That being saidm Youmuu's is still the go to choice after Trinity Force unless you have your own build or going this one.
Stattik Shiv
I get Shiv next to increase my Crit Rate to 50%, and I personally take this over Phantom Dancer first due to the fact that you can pop Shiv's passive with Gangplanks Q, and it can also crit. It also does magic damage, so it works well against people who get more armor than magic resist.
Phantom Dancer
Getting Phantom Dancer next will grant you 80% Crit and also more movement speed and much more movement speed chasing champions. This also grants more dueling stats as you take reduced damage from the first champion you Q or Auto attack. I'd get this before Shiv only if you're gonna be dueling a lot more than poking with Q. Example: Facing a Yasuo
Essence Reaver
Last but not least, I buy Essence Reaver. This is a more expensive build and really shines when you're late game or full build(or even at least 80% crit tbh.) as this will give you consistent damage, instead of having to gamble 80% crit rate. You'll have 100% Crit rate AND this is where you'll also get a bonus 30% CDR from the ER Passive, but you'll only be using 20% of it as Trinity Force will be giving you 20% already. But this also saves you from having to get the +10% CDR mastery at level 10 since you'll get 40-45% CDR when you buy this item. I mainly get this for the CDR and the consistency of damage.
You're probably wonder what happens when you're up against hyper tanks like Cho and Sej, and Urgot. Well you can also sell you dirt cheap Boots of Mobility for...
Lord Dominik's Regards
If you're against Hyper Late Game Tanks such as Cho'Gath, Sej, Urgot, Etc... LDR is the item to go to maximize damage against them. Tbh Gangplanks barrel's/E already ignores 40% of the enemy's armor. So I'd only get this if you aren't already doing enough damage to tanks, and I'd also only get this as my sixth item. Sell the boots for it and you're good. You'll still have movement speed from Shiv, Phantom Dancer and Trinity.
Core Itemization
Core Itemization
Trinity Force
This is the core item for all Gangplanks out there. This is one of Gangplanks best power spikes as it gives him 20% CDR which he needs, a greater sheen proc and immense wave clear. This item makes Gangplank deal TONS. OF. DAMAGE.
Youmuu's Ghostblade
There's a lot of debate between getting Youmuu's after TriFroce or Infinity Edge after TriForce. WELL VANEIO IS HERE TO SETTLE THAT DEBATE. Youmuu's. 100%. Youmuu's damage is more consistent than IE's because you already know that you'll be doing a fixed amount of damage rather than having to place your luck on that 20%. Sure it has 15 less AD than IE but the Lethality on Youmuu's will show that the base damage and scaling will end up dealing more than IE would. I'd rather but my money on consistency than gamble early.
Infinity Edge
A juicy item right here and one heck of a damage spike. I'd get this after you get your Youmuu's to even further increase your power spike. It's always so satisfying to see those crit barrels blow up champions. But really, this item is crazy for Gangplank. It'll give you even more burst than you already have, and is a MUST for Gangplank mid, considering the fact Mid Lane Gangplank goes full Glass Cannon mode.
Runes
Runes
A MORE DETAILED CHAPTER WILL BE ADDED SOON!
In the meantime here's what you can pick over other runes:
NULLIFYING ORB for harder AP match-ups and early survivability - Replaces ULTIMATE HAT
BISCUIT DELIVERY for better sustain in lane. Restores % HP/Mana and also gives 40 permanent mana - Replaces PERFECT TIMING
MAGICAL FOOTWEAR for when you don't want to worry about boots. Also makes boots cheaper - Replaces FUTURE MARKET
again, a more detailed breakdown of Runes will be added soon!
Other Items and Why/When to Build Them.
Other Items and Why/When to Build Them.
Will be added when I have free time. Just started a full time job, so I haven't had much time to work on this guide or even stream.
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