This guide is still a work in progress. I will be updating this guide when I see something that I think should be added to it. Sorry about this. I have had my most success with this build that I show and it is a good build for me, and hopefully you :D. Until then, enjoy!

Hi, my name is NinjaDr34d, a mid lane main who is currently climbing up the ladders and attempting to get to gold this season. I have recently started playing yasou and can personally say he is able to set a velkoz back, but I will always remember how many times I have put a smile on my face after calculating his q and locking down a kill. Vel'koz is a very fun champion but takes some playing before you can really get him mastered. I am currently working on getting him to mastery 7 as that is a goal with him.

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Pros
-Good CC
-Good zoning
-High burst potential
-Explosive
-Tentacles

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Cons
-Super Squishy
-Easy to counter
-Requires a lot of playing before you feel his power
-Easy to mess up combo

Sorcery a basic mastery for mages.
Feast I personally like feast more than Double Edged Sword because it gives you a nice sustain.
Vampirism this will help with sustain again
Oppressor you will almost always have enemies under some form of cc so you have a constant 2.5% damage increase
Savagery This will help you cs with autos as you will have almost no ad
Assassin Helps with you doing more damage as you are in a solo lane
Meditation Helps keep your mana up so you can cs with w and not go oom as fast
Dangerous Game this is a way that you can live through super close fights with its 5% missing health/mana heal on kill or assist
Precision Because you arnt going 18/12/0 you don't get the magic pen from the ferocity tree so this is a must, it also helps you do more damage at higher levels.
Thunderlord's Decree this just adds that much to your blowup potential
Stormraider's Surge this is another choice for your last mastery as it will allow you to blow up an enemy and get away with its move speed increase

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As I mention up on the runes for the build do some casual mid lane mage runes with the ability to swap 1-3 marks with magic pen.

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Flash : a pretty basic summoner spell that will be seen on most champs, it also helps with being able to flash q

Exhaust : I personally find this to be the second summoner to run because it will help reduce the damage output from your enemy while also making them take more damage

Ignite : another summoner that you can run because it helps you in a game with champions that have heals (i.e Soraka or Vladmir)

Barrier : Barrier is a summoner spell that can help you win trades or even dive and lockdown that kill.

This is the order I prefer. The new q helps with the increase slow on his q in patch 6.11 and its new passive from the mage update, allowing it to give 50% of its mana cost per cs slain with it, potentially giving you more mana than you spend with it. Starting w allows you to get that first wave in minnions down fast while even getting damage on the enemy. Maxing w second will help you with getting more damage and faster passive procs, as well as having a good way still clear waves. E isn't as vital to max out because it only lowers the cooldown by one second. The ult is a usual level up at 6/11/16.

Basic start for mid
A good item because of its passive as well as the move speed
good defensive item with a good way too keep your mana up
Comes with a good amount of ap but has an invaluable passive, ignoring 35% of the targets magic resist
Good defense in the life with good ap and a good burn passive
120 ap with 35% increased ap
Good defense with good ap and an amazing slow passive
A good item with a good source of gold income and a good passive that allows you to either chase or escape better
good armor and as of the updated build path it has less ap but comes with cdr
abbysal scepter Good defense against an ap heavy team and also allows you to do more damage
Goood ap and if you are winning hard can spiral to over 140 ap with a move speed increase
if you are feeling squishy and are coming fast this is an item that fixes both of those while also giving you some more damage in the long run
Good mana source with some nice ap and later a shield.

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if you wont get blue buffs this helps with keeping cdr up
Helps against a ad heavy team
Same as ninja tabi, only ap
If you will get blues this is the boots to go, helps with damage

Vel'koz has some interesting abilities that give him some unique ways to farm. His w allows him to get two stacks of his passive on minnions allowing for a quick q clear on 2-3, which can either give you back the mana for q or even give you more mana. He has short cooldowns all throughout the game, but it gets really good near the end when his cooldowns are all 12 seconds or less on basic abilities. He is able to stop waves from pushing with his w/e. Sitting near the caster minnions early game and using w to quick clear that first wave and hit level 2 will allow you to proc your passive early in. Farming is harder on velkoz as he starts with 55 ad, and only gains 3 per level.