-Made by PointlessOne (Thanks!)


-Made by Me.

UPDATE! 11/16/11 9:20 PM: See announcements! I will be reworking this guide. However I must test every change I do. I thank you for your patience.

Hello! Before I start I would like to thank you all for looking. This is my first time making a build/guide. (Writer of famous Gankplank guide..."Balrox Says Hi" inspired me. Thanks dude.) So this won't likely be the neatest thing in the world, but hopefully it will work out ok. (*Crosses Fingers.*)

**Note this guide is still a work in progress. Strategies will come soon!**

**Keep in mind that this guide was made for "midding" Twitch. Twitch was made to solo mid. Period.**

With that part out of the way. I will be making a guide on how to Twitch. I will be including all the neat little tricks I have learned over this year of playing him, and the important things such as build order and such. My overall major goal is to get some videos in showing the techniques. However until then that is a work a progress.

One last thing; Many people will be picking up Twitch now that he got a IP reduction. (6300 IP to 3150 IP.) Most of you will be, unlike I was, veterans of this game. Many are/will be disappointed with Twitch and regard him as "garbage". Erase what you know about carries from your mind. Twitch is significantly harder to play. He is more squishy and needs great positioning and timing to succeed. This alone makes him less optimal at first glance compared to other carries such as

While we are talking about all this Twitch, we may as well get started with the pro-cons.

Pros:
-Distinctive: He is really different from most other champions. Most other stealth champions just have it for a short amount of time. (Except Eve, which was nerfed to the ground until she could be "remade.")

-He is viable yet still flexible in his build. He can be built with many different items and still be viable with them all. My recommended items are really just what I find myself building most often. However like all champions you are supposed to be flexible in your builds to counter the enemy team.

-He is viable yet still flexible in his playstyle. He can jungle, lane, or roam. (Although roaming can get harder as time goes on.)

-He requires more from the enemy team. I would be ignorant for not mentioning this. However he does require the other (opposing) team to adjust their play-styles and buy certain items (IE Wards and Oracles.) to counter Twitch specifically. What makes Twitch such a great pick is that there are always holes in people's counters. Great Twitch players are able to slip through these holes until he ahead enough to win the game.

**Off Topic** For quite a while there were huge debates weather Twitch (I believe it was actually mainly focused on Eve.) was OP or not simply because of how he requires distinctive items and playstyles to counter him. Is this true? Weather this is true or not I personally don't think so, but have decided to put my faith in the staff at Riot decide that for themselves. Should you worry? Again, I don't think so. At least not for the time being. I have played him an entire year and practically nothing has changed about him.**

-He has a good skill set! I honestly really like this about Twitch, and I like it a lot. I wouldn't call it "The awesomest skillset" but it is a very nice one. They stack, are a combo, and give him great buffs. I will talk about his abilities and combos in more detail a little bit later.

Cons.
-He needs a good team. Honestly, as much as I hate to say it. I would be misleading you if I didn't. You (Err..Twitch.) needs a good team. Except in solo blind. You may/could get away with playing Twitch in solo blind. Due to the fact the other team is less likely to be coordinated. Back on point though, you need to be able to coordinate ganks with your other team members, and know when to engage, and positioning. I will get into this in more detail later.

-Twitch is a High Risk/ High Reward champion. Twitch is good, real good at what he does. (Ganking and such.) However if he isn't at least a little bit ahead, he can be shut out completely.

-He is harder to position. Unlike heroes such as Caitlyn who sort of auto position themselves due to their range, Twitch isn't so lucky. You must keep positioning yourself every teamfight, every engagement. Wrong position you can find yourself focus fired and dead.

-He is very squishy. Having a low auto attack range, base stats, and movement speed. Twitch is pretty fragile.

Runes and masteries are essential, and we will get to that. However now we must break down the different abilities and spells that Twitch uses. My source of information is the official League of Legends wiki.

**Keep in mind** that 12 is Twitch's lucky number. 1200 is the range of Expunge Expunge and Debilitating Poison. That is around twice the length of Caitlyn's auto attack range. (Which is 650....Ok so my numbers are slightly off. It's meant to give you an "idea" of the range of your abilities.)

http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Twitch_the_Plague_Rat



This is Twitch's Neesh, or bread and butter, or trademark. ( You get the idea.) This ability is what makes Twitch. Everything else seems to follow after this. I like to think of Twitch sometimes as a snake. This ability here is the head of the snake. It controls everything. Use it to your advantage.

**This will be my first tip.** If you have enough mana, try to be invisible whenever possible by the time it's mid game. Even if they have wards or oracles you still gain massive attack speeds when you come out of ambush. You want to be as unpredictable as possible. You want that enemy mid lane saying to his teammates "BUT HE WAS JUST THERE!" I see wannabe Twitches all the time that are never invisible. Heck, there were even times that I'd get a free kill from a twitch that I just "so happenly" ran across while in our jungle. The map is smaller then you think people! Don't be predictable.



This ability's slow gets stronger with every stack of poison that is on the enemy. I typically level this last. Though it is an essential part of the "combo" that Twitch does. (Will get into that briefly) If you think your enemy is getting out of range, try slowing them. Chase a little bit, and expunge. Most of the time you have one shot with your Expunge per teamfight, don't waste it. That kill could be a/the game changer. (Yes I say that from experience.)


Expunge

For us Twitch players, it is usually when we use this ability that we smile, or scowl. This is Twitch's final knockout punch. Don't **** it. If you aren't sure if you are in range to cast it, do what I suggested with Debilitating Poison. Really, try to have as many stacks as possible before you blow this ability. Don't be too picky, but don't blow it after one stack either. This has a much bigger role early to mid game ganking. That is why most people level it first.



Early on this is kind of pointless for actually killing people. This is due to the fact that enemies can dodge it. It is when the enemy team is all grouped up that this ability shines. (So basicly it isn't really that useful for killing early-mid game.) It lets you do your full damage to all the enemy team, which is why Twitch's damage output is enormous. I mean that fact really drives me nuts too. Throwing out some random thoughts here, but lets say people see Twitch bursting and getting the three squishies to half health, instead of Vayne totally face-rolling and killing a single champion. They then turn away from Twitch calling him garbage, when in reality he did way more damage then Vayne did. See how that works? (I know that situation isn't accurate, again it is to give you guys an idea.)

Early game (So level 1 and 2 Spray and Pray.)Spray and Pray can be used to take potshots at the creeps. To push back a lane and in mid game possibly knock down towers. So if I needed to take a blue pill (Go back to the fountain.) I would ult, kill all the creeps, invis, and back. I will go over this again and in more detail later. (When we talk about farming and pushing.)

Passive:

Ok, basically this is Twitch's passive. Going back to the snake analogy, if Ambush is the head of a snake, this ability here is the neck (If that is possible.) This passive effects two of Twitch's other abilities depending on how many stacks there are. (That would be and Expunge) With your Debilitating Poison they move slower the more stacks they have on them, and with Expunge the damage of it increased dramatically with each stack. This passive is a great farming tool also, but I will go into that when we get to farming and pushing creeps back.

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UPDATE! as of 11/16/11. I still an hardset on taking flash regardless of nerfs. Read on to learn more!

Spells: So, SO important on Twitch depending on how you play. I personally go with Ignite and Flash. These spells could even go into the full combo Twitch uses, making it more powerful. I will show you an example later. (A personal invention of mine.)

FlashFlash:

This spell is a no-brainer. Twitch is all about positioning. This is the all in one package for Twitch. It lets him juxe, quickly position or escape. No matter how you play Flash will always be a strong, if not the best, option for Twitch.

**Tip** If you flash into a brush, you can evade enemy fire for the split second needed to become invisible. This can be used as an easy escape route!

IgniteIgnite: This one I actually had a tough time and thought about a lot. I decided this was more viable the entire game while other abilities weren't. I could see how exhaust could work early to mid game but.. Twitch isn't like Vayne. He isn't all about single shooting people. He is about blowing his ult and spraying the entire enemy team with a wall of pain. This helps him pick off stragglers without letting them put up a fight.


Honorable Mentions.

Cleanse Cleanse:

Twitch is squishy. If you are even in the position to get CC'ed you are most likely in a bad position in the first place. Plus it doesn't remove all debuffs. (Such as Suppresses IE Malzahar's I'd much rather have flash.

**UPDATE!**(11/16/11) As of the newest update, I also am still mostly against cleanse use on Twitch. It's a good spell by all means, but for the same reasons listed before I still dislike it.**

Exhaust Exhaust:

Could work early to mid game, but would start slacking off as the enemy starts grouping up. I felt that it wasn't Twitch's job to lay CC down anyways. If you are in a specific situation though (Blind solo que!) and feel that need to have that CC, then go ahead and take it. Plus if your are a jungler this would be much more viable for ganking.

Teleport or Ghost aren't necessary because you should have the movement needed to get to places quick anyways.

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IN TESTING! I will be doing tests that will encompass around 20 games.

-UPDATE! As of 12/3/11 I have come to a conclusion about surge, yet am still testing Heal.

With the buffs this could help Twitch a lot more since it scales into late game now. He could use it to sustain early game and cast it during teamfights, pushes, and farming end game. Again this is speculation as I've never used Heal before on Twitch. However I will test it for around 20 games.

(Surge information updated as of 12/03/11)

I would see this spell as a pushing, ganking, or a quick farm tool. (For example; if you where a jungler.) Use it before you ult laning phase to push back minions then recall. Or when you gank pop it and use the rest of your combo. Though I'm not so sure if it's as good as Ignite teamfight wise. (For picking off straglers.) Though given the stats it might be better. It depends though... It depends on if the new cleanse becomes popular or not and Tanky DPS returns with these new masteries. If the new FOTM (Flavor or the month.) is to use the new cleanse (Which now can remove ignite.) then I will likely switch it with Surge. Though again I will need to test it extensively before I make changes.

(This information is the updated information on Surge as of 12/03/11)

My conclusion on Surge is that is that its use is situational. Ingite tends to work better in the following;

1. The enemy team has a healer or healing ability. (Such as Mr.Mundo

2. Furthermore, Ignite tends to work better then Surge for ganking early-mid game because enemy champions in lanes today commonly have

2A: Has Flash or an escape ability (Such as Kassadin's )

2B: Has a Suppress, Exhaust, or some kind of CC (For example Sona's ) which just flat out ruins the burst, while Ingite lets you continue to do damage even if CC'ed or they get under Tower cover.

2C: A mixture of above. (Which includes Ghost as well)

3. Ingite tends to work better in chasing characters with low health, because Surge relies on your attack range and speed. (Though Attack Speed shouldn't ever be a problem on Twitch.)
3A. Ingite Lets you chase characters without knowing they are being chased through your stealth. Though the enemy usually falls for that mistake only once or in higher level play don't fall for that mistake at all.

4. Lastly Ignite is a must when versing characters such as because he can just dodge your burst because of his or more recently whom likes to jump all around the battlefield.

4A: Extending on 4 but for a different reason, Ignite is a must against
due to his W ability. ( ) which reduces the conventional damage you do to him drasticly.

**Tip** I should just throw this out there, though you should not aim for Rammus in the first place as he's the tank. If you have to please don't focus him when his is active as it boosts his defensive stats (Or how much damage you do to him.) drasticly. Not to mention it does return damage.**

However Surge tends to work better because;

1. Pushing minions back quickly and knocking down towers. Not so much with the attack speed build, but with the primary build it is a great helper in knocking down those towers fast.

1A: I wanted to elaborate on this point a bit. Sometimes when both sides in a lane, "Take a blue pill." (A slang term meaning a player returns to the fountain.) and leave the lane there is a nice lump of minions left behind. You can leave mid to quickly farm the side lanes before any other players get there or return. To accomplish this you want to ult combined with either Yommu's active or Surge to quicly decimate those minions. Then proceed to return mid. This accomplishes farming yourself and gathering a nice bulk of gold. And pushing back the minions from the sidelane's tower. Though be warned that this puts your own mid tower at risk.

2. Surge tends to work better in teamfights; espessially so before you have your first main item that gives you attack speed (Which in my build is either or ) and before your is leveled. (As I max out Expunge before Ambush.) Furthermore, the attack speed gained from Surge also greatly benefits the Critical Strike Chance you have AND pumping out those deadly venom stacks faster.

**Note** 2A: Lets not forget about the Ability Power Surge gives; which is nice because after doing Twitch's combo and you spread out Twitch's among the entire enemy team you can Expunge for an increased amount of damage. As a result, this makes you even more likely to kill an/the enemy player(s) you are targeting.**

3. Surge tends to work better when decimating those Jungle minions. (Specificly; Red and Blue) Though I don't reccomend using it for that purpose as it has a longer cooldown. Espessiallty after this recent jungle remake. Besides, if you are going to jungle I recomend you get Smite anyways. Though again it depends because Smite isn't as useful end game. (But remember there is no choice if there is an enemy jungle. You have to get smite. It's hard but also hilarious to steal their red buff/blue buff right under their noses while stealthed.)

4. Surge tends to work better end game. (Where most of the players that are going to become tanky, (Via health.) become tanky, thus Ignite isn't as effective against them.

The Bottom Line

I still personally take Ignite. Epessially because it works better against (Who likes to jump around the battlefield.) and (Due to Volibear's passive ) who are both FOTMs at the moment. However it also just fits my playstyle more. Though after these current FOTMs end I highly encourage you to try both and see which one is right for your playstyle. Though don't forget to take Ingite when it counters certain enemies.

The runes/masteries I choose for Twitch let him stay in lane for long periods of time. (At least for early-mid game.) Those levels and early gold are really, REALLY, important. You really want to get those Boots of Mobility/Avarice Blade as soon as you can. Plus you want to be as strong as possible before you start ganking the side lanes, and the Avarice Blade's gold per 5 passive works sort of as a backup plan to help keep you from falling behind should the ganks nor work out.

This is getting off topic though, lets dive into masteries. Shall we?

UPDATE! (11/16/11) Masteries are being updated at this time. I thank you for your patience.

After some testing, preliminary results show.....That I found this mastery tree fits this guide's vision of how Twitch should be played the most. So I take 21-9-0 for masteries. The point of this build is to give Twitch those awesome offense stats most ad's get while also giving him enough sustain to,

1: Sustain long enough in lane until he gets his first few, yet essential ganking items.
2: Also very important, to theoreticly trade blows with the enemy and take less damage yet do more in return.

2a: When you auto attack/get auto attacked. (Which will most likely happen.) Defensive stats don't just go towards champions. This will reduce minion aggro damage you will inevitably get when you auto attack/harass. Yet the offending mid (With the exception of in which case you just hug tower.) will recieve more damage from the minion aggro. Lastly, with Doran's shield, you will regen that damage traded faster, while your continues to impair the health regeneration of the harassed mid by doing damage for six seconds.

**Note** To elaborate, Twitch's damage per second is higher then one would think at first glance. As Twitch continues to do damage even after he stops autoattacking via his passive. It does 2 damage with 1 stack per second for six seconds. Basicly, that is 12 damage by the time the passive wears off. So add this to the 51 base damage Twitch does at level 1 and Twitch does 63 damage, not including the Armpen Runes and Damage Masteries, at level 1. And his base attacks blow for blow do 53 damage. Not bad when compared to other carries. (Such as who does only 46 damage at [Without any extra passive damage from her abilities] level 1.)**

With that being said, the per level defense runes I chose for this build ( & Greater Seal of Defense) won't start kicking until you start leveling up. So this further re***aures my point (No pun intended.) of putting those two points in Resistance and other two points in Hardiness.

Switching from Defense to Offense. Because I either use Ignite or Surge currently, (Depending if they have cleanse, how squishy they are, and if they have healing abilities) let's go over the different attack masteries I use.

**Important** AS OF THE 12/03/11 UPDATE of this guide everything in Orange is now outdated.**

**Important** AS OF THE 12/03/11 Update of this guide the Offensive Mastery explanation and analysis is still a WIP. Apologies.**

In the wake of the new mastery tree. I take all the attack masteries with the exception of Vamparism (Lifesteal) and Butcher (Extra damage vs minions.) Instead I opt to take some sustain in the defense tree. Also make sure to take the masteries that enhance your sommuner spells though no matter what. Unless it is Flash then I wouldn't take it. You can live with an extra fifteen seconds on your cooldown for that spell early game.

So, I will quicly explain the benefits of taking what I take over another tree. As explained before; I take some defense masteries to be able to exchange blows with the enemy mid and recover faster. Basicly to sustain. It also lets me farm a little bit more at ease. However, as a Twitch player your main goal is ganking once you have your first few items. The attack masteries I take give me a bigger chance of suceeding in killing the enemy. (Though I don't take Vamparism nor Butcher, they don't help Twitch in directly killing the opponent.)

**Note**Even if I was a jungler/roamer I'd still probably take the same masteries. Espessially so with the new, albiet weaker, jungle in season 2.**

Also keep in mind, these masteries' damage could possibly be multiplied by five. No other masteries has this kind of potential to be multiplied. When you use your ult; ( ) Twitch's shots go through people and could theoreticly do the exact same damage to the person the shots hits after them. (This includes minions too.)

For those who still want more information; here is some.

Brute Force & Sommuner's Wrath - Brute force adds up to three damage (I put all three all three points into this.) to your character offbatt when the game starts. Obviously this is perfect for Twitch or any carry for that matter. Though I don't see what else you could take other then the ones I chose for the first level of the attack masteries anyways.

Sommuner's Wrath simply enhances the spells you take or gives a slight buff while they are on CD. Take this if you have any of the spells that this mastery enhances. This mastery enhances the following.

A. Ingite - +5 Damage and Ability Power while Ignite is on CD.

B. Exhaust - Reduces the target's Magic Resist and Armor by 10 when applied. This debuff is removed when Exhaust ends.

C. Ghost - Increases the bonus movement speed buff from this ability to 35% (From 27% Increase. Adds an extra 8%)

D. Surge - Increases the bonus Ability Power and Attack Speed gained from this ability by 10% (Normally just increases Attack Speed by 35% and Ability Power [Depending on one's level] by 10-78.)

Alacrity and Weapon Expertise - I put all five points into this small branch here. 10% Armor pen from Weapon Expertise is great. To keep it in relative terms; you'd gain 5 extra damage against characters that had exactly 50 armor. This really helps end game against those tanks. Who could have up to 200 or more armor. This would give you an extra 20 damage vs them. This is great for a mastery. While the Attack Speed gained from Alacrity (6% when max level) goes great with Twitch's passive poison and for getting more crits. (The more times you auto-attack, the more possible times for crit.)

Havoc - Increases damage dealt to enemies by 1.5% (I put all the points I'm able to into it.)is a must as it goes absolutely amazing with your combo.

Deadliness & Lethality - I put all five points into this branch. It goes right into your burst and makes it more powerful. Deadliness increases your crit chance by 4% at max rank. I can't tell you how nice it is to get some early crits laning phase. Combined with Alacrity, (With Crit damage increased by Lethality.) it is an awesome asset/tool for farming creeps and harassing early game. It also is great for those early ganks. Sometimes I get kills I wouldn't of because of a lucky crit.

I skip Vamparism, Butcher, and Demolitionist; as it doesn't directly affect Twitch's damage output and I'd rather put those mastery points it into his early game defense/sustain.

Sunder - Increases Twitch's Armor Penetration by six at max rank. (I max it out.) This just translates into free damage early game for Twitch. It goes into his burst, his farming, his pushing, his killing, ect.

Executioner - I put the last point in this mastery. It is the most powerful attack mastery, and is the best attack mastery for Twitch on the entire attack mastery tree in my opinion. As a Twitch player I typicly only gank lanes if I know I can win. (Meaning they should be somewhat harassed/weakened by the time I arrive for the gank.) This mastery just lets Twitch finish stragglers off much faster.



With attack masteries I always put the first three points into Deadliness. (+3% Crit Chance ) It is so nice getting some critical hits on creeps early game. It is a very nice tool for farming, and since we don't use Exhaust or Smite (Unless you are a jungler) we put the other point in Archmage's Savvy.

Then I devote 5 points to Sorcery (+3% CDR) and Archaic Knowledge. (+15% Magic Penetration.) This will greatly benefit your Expunge, and the cool-downs are nice for all your abilities. Just always keep in mind how much mana you have, being able to cast your abilities faster means faster mana depletion too.

Two points go into alacrity. Though twitch gets a lot of AS from his
you really can't start being constantly in Stealth until around mid game. This is due to the fact that with my build you level Expunge first. Not only that but AS and critical hits go hand in hand. More attacks equals more possible critical hits. Both of these equal better farming and killing.


I max out Sunder, (6 Armor Pen.) Brute Force, (+3 Damage) and Havoc (+4% Total Damage) without question. Twitch is a DPS hero, and obviously those fall right into his category. He uses damage in everything he does. (Farming, killing, ect.)

I also max out Lethality (+10% Critical Damage) because this goes right into Twitch's Burst, and when he gets a critical hit on a minions it will make it so that the minion is more likely to actually die, giving Twitch the gold.

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These are the following Runes I use on Twitch.

**Depending on your playstyle and what runes you actually have/ can actually afford. (I know seals of evasion and Quintessences of Swiftness are expensive.) you can switch these runes to serve other purposes. Or at least until you can afford the ones I recommend.**

**It is best to have a full set of runes. So if you don't have all the runes instead of mixing them with ones you do have, try using whole different set until you have everything, then switch them out.**


Greater Seal of Defense

Greater Mark of Desolation


Greater Mark of Desolation Gives Twitch that much needed early game damage. Twitch uses Damage in everything he does.

Gives Twitch some defense so he can actually farm a little bit and take some harass early game. These are really good because most opposing "mids" nowadays are casters or use AP. This also lets him stay in lane for longer.


UPDATE! With the new mastery update nimbleness was removed. As unfortuneate as it is, we must move on. Dodge and armour can be as good as one another, though I just dislike leaving things to chance without a big enough reward. (Nimbleness was that reward, and now it's gone.) EVERYTHING IN ORANGE IS NOW OUTDATED!

Greater Seal of Defense Though with Nimbleness I felt like Dodge was better as it gave defense AND it gave offense. (Through Nimbleness) I now am going to have to go with the safer route and take Armour per level runes. This is because Dodge's risks now outweigh the reward. It's not too big of a deal though. Armour runes substitute nicely in the place Dodge runes. They fill in dodge's sustain role and help you stay in lane until you can buy your first few items. (Which are normally and )

These give some sustain, (Like dodging an auto attack or a physical ability such as Gankplank's ) but as mentioned before the whole idea is that these rune's dodge will make nimbleness more beneficial and more viable. Twitch would pop out and start attacking the player. Well if there are minions/creeps nearby they would theoretically start auto attacking you as soon as you do damage to the enemy player. Hopefully you will dodge a few of those minion's auto attacks and gain the movement buff from Nimbleness. This will let you chase down enemies, reposition, or escape faster. Perfect for twitch.(Info edited in as of 11/16/11) I now prefer armor as it's safer and more stable. However Dodge does have its own benefits; such as dodging attacks or physical abilities that would/could have done tons of damage.

What? What kind of crazy person would get movement instead of an attack rune? I know I know, the price is steep and you feel that he would benefit more from an attack rune. However there is reason behind my madness!

1. Farming and Sustaining early game. Twitch needs to be able to sneak up, get the last hit on the creep, and get out faster then an enemy hero can land an attack you.

2. Same Idea as Nimbleness. These runes will help you chase down your enemies with that little bit extra movement to chase down your enemies. Getting those essential kills on Twitch could make/break the game for you.

2a. These will let you be a little more confident when using and Expunge which are almost smartcasts in my opinion.

**Note**(As of 11/16/11) I still feel these are the best runes for Twitch, and may even play a bigger role now that Nimbleness is gone**

Honorable Mentions.

If you don't have these runes, can't afford these runes, or don't want to use these runes for whatever reason. These could work too.

**Note the runes I have synchronized well for me in my goal of doing considerable damage yet having a nice sustain early game, I am not sure how other runes would work together. I can only assume. Apologies in advance for my lack of knowledge.**

**If you have to use different runes on Twitch for whatever reason, try to at least use Primary runes.**

**Reminder; Going with what I said before in my Introduction. Twitch is very flexible.**

You could use the following on Twitch;

Marks:







All of these add to Twitch's damage output. I don't have exact numbers to tell you which ones would benefit him more. However in general "flat" runes (Runes that give him straight up stats.) are better early game while "Per Level Runes" are more beneficial end game.

Seals;



Greater Seal of Vitality
Greater Seal of Defense


Twitch doesn't have that much health in the first place, but again I don't have numbers to prove it really. However My 2 cents tells me that since he doesn't really have any natural health.. Health Regeneration runes wouldn't be as beneficial. Besides, with my build you get a nice chunk of Health regeneration from Doran's Shield. (Which is my build's starting item.)

Glyphs;




Greater Glyph of Knowledge



For the longest time I used Glyphs of warding. (I was saving up for the three at the time. I don't find them as effective as the however they are definitely still viable. I could see how the other could work. Specifically the Glyphs and

Quintessences;

There are so many, I can't even come close to mentioning them all. So I will just mention four types that I like.

or Greater Quintessence of Vitality
Greater Quintessence of Desolation



Some people could argue that would be a better substitute then and quite honestly, it could work. I don't think as good as flat movement, but it is your choice.

For the longest time I used Greater Quintessence of Desolation they are definitely viable.



One last mention as a side note, I don't recommend these but many of my Twitch friends swear by it. They claim it would get and help keep Twitch ahead. I can see what they are saying, and as cheap as they are it could be worth a try.

The first three items should always be the same. These are Doran's Shield, Boots of Mobility, and Avarice Blade.







Always try to start out with a Doran's Shield when solo mid. Twitch needs some health badly, and this will give him it to him. You aren't trying to start ganking until you have Boots of Mobility and Avarice Blade anywyas. This will keep you in lane until you do. Besides to sustain with Doran's Blade you need to keep auto attacking for the life-steal. Twitch has a really short auto attack range, so you are just setting yourself up to be harassed. Perhaps if you were a jungler or roamer you could use it.





These next three items are your core. You should normally build these in most games, in that order (From top to bottom.) Youmuu's is the item for Twitch. It has perfect Syphony well with your ult. In fact, the two almost seem to be made for each other. The speeds given from the active of Youmuu along with having you shooting near the attack speed cap. Imagine being by yourself in lane mid game and someone just pops out of nowhere doing HUGE bursts really quickly. Taking huge chunks of health in a matter of seconds! It is quite an amazing sight. This item lets you use your abilities (Primarily your ultimate.) more often too, which should let you farm and knock down towers signifigently quicker. Lastly, due to avarice blade being part of this item, you can get it fairly quickly.

Infinity blade's main purpose is also for your ult. It's purpose is so that your Ultimate does massive crit damage. Though the huge amount damage gained is really nice too. When you ult, you gain a ton of range. Imagine shooting behind the safety of trees through the walls of the jungle yet being able put up a wall of pain that can drop enemy squishies in seconds. (Will explain this strategy later.)

Frozen Mallet is just a fricken awesome item in general and even more so on Twitch. This gives Twitch plenty of health for survivability, it lets you kite with its slow, and when you ult it can potentially slow the entire enemy team, which is a great benefit to your team as well. Not to mention when they are slowed it is almost certain the next shot of your ultimate will hit them.


Anything after those three items isn't your core build. Depending on how you, your team, and the opposing team is doing the build fluctuates from here. Typically to counter the other team.



Usually the other team wants to counter you at this point. So usually at least two enemies have picked up a Thornmail to counter you. What are you to do? If you focus fire them you risk losing a chunk of your health. Yet you can't ignore them due to the nature of your Ultimate.




If at least two players on the opposing team get Thornmail. My solution to this is that you are to stack some heavy health to take the brunt of it. You can accomplish this yet still increase your damage dramatically buy getting an Atmogs. (Nickname for Atma's Implailer and Warmogs.)

Get the Warmogs first. You should have no trouble filling up the extra health and regen from assists. Your ultimate should hit every person on the enemy team in most teamfights. So even if you don't kill them you should be racking up assists like it is your job. Then save up for an Atma's Impailer. It will take 2% of your maximum health and convert it into damage. The critical strike is a nice perk as well, and the Armor doesn't hurt either.

In some rare circumstances (I personally do this.) such as when there is a on the other team. I wouldn't be afraid to pick up a myself (So neither should you.) as he has a habit of slipping by tanks and killing the carry. Items like these will help you counter him and also survive.

**Tip** Sometimes you are going to die. It happens. We are only human. So when you feel like you are trapped and have no escape try to at least feed the least useful character, and die doing the most damage possible. For instance, I wouldn't ever try to die to a due to the nature of his and how it would make him a bigger pain to deal with.**

---

Some other items to take note of and could definitely work on Twitch.



Going with the flexibility thing again, if I was facing an enemy such as or I would pick this item up to counter their ults. Especially if I was facing one of them mid.




Twitch is naturally a ganker, that is why I get Boots of Mobility but I could see you getting these two items together if you were a jungler or roamer.




You don't really need the attack speed. However you could get these items if they were all tanky.



You would give up a lot of gankibility but if you wanted to kite better, farm better, and have better positioning ability in team fights. You could get this. I don't personally recommend it however.

So, I was playing a Normal Blind Ranked and met a guy. I don't wish to disclose his full username without full consent. So for now I will be using a name that will let people know it was in fact him should he refer back to this guide as proof. We shall dub him "GhosterMad" Credit goes to him for this build.

So we're talking after the game. So GhostMad tells me that he is very adept at a wide range of heroes. He tells me to try a build. Me, always looking for new and powerful twitch builds said I would. So he signs off and I proceed to play. And then in the middle of one of my games I realize "OMG THIS COUNTERS ATMOGS!"

So....What is Atmogs? Atmogs is a term for two items that synchronize together very well. These items are Warmog's Armor and Atma's Impailer.



There is a chain reaction of sorts with these two items. One makes 2% of your health into damage while the other supplies large quantities of health. So basically you give yourself great survivability while also giving yourself a huge boost in damage. Not to mention the nice Crit Chance and Armor that goes along with Atma's Impailer.



Now it occurred to me. I get Atmogs routinely because of Thornmail to take the brunt of the burst. However what if the problem isn't Thornmail, but is actually opposing players getting Atmogs. After all, that combo is becoming more and more apparent in many games.

So I decided this following build was to be the Counter. Should two or more players get Atmogs. OR if you decide this fits your playstyle better as a "DPS" (It still shreds squishies.)

You start out the same. Same masteries, same leveling, same runes, and same first two items. ( ) Now the fun begins. Your core is these following four items from left to right in that order.



Yep, you got it. This is a pure attack speed build. Let me tell you right now. This SHREDS health, and the damage output due to these items's passives and effects is INSANE combined with the attack speed. These items where made to be together. It's almost like these items are actually in fact one. That is how well they synchronize. I could go through every item and tell you exactly how they benefit Twitch most, but it's the beauty of them being together that makes them so amazing. If you want to counter the opposing team's health via attack speed. This is the build to go.

As for the last item. It depends. Twitch should have his AS capped by now so I try to shy away from more attack speed, but if lets say three of the enemies have stacked health. A great item to get would be

Madred's Bloodrazor was Ghostmad's recommended for the last item. I'm not to certain on it though. A big chunk of it is AS, (Which is already capped at this point.) but I could see his reasoning. That four percent health to magic damage is huge against those health hoggers. Not to mention the other perks it gives. (Which is a nice bit of AD and Armor)

Depending on the enemy team, once again, the last item you should get fluctuates with the opposing team and how you want to play against them. For instance if you wanted some survivability and the ability to kite I would get . You could also reason, if they have some Atmog's on their team, That they are a primarily DPS team. What counters heavy DPS? (Yes, this would be considered a rare circumstance.) That counter would be

If you wanted to be the ultimate damage machine, finally you could pick up a . I don't think I need to go over why damage and critical strike are such a great choice on Twitch twice. (But to give a hint, he's a carry and uses damage in almost everything he does.)

**Note** This is sort of a tip in general. Please don't forget to activate any items that can be activated. In this build, the case is Sword of the Divine, however too often I see items with significant active effects go unused throughout engagements.*

**Tip** Also one last thing. If you decide to use this build it's an "All or Nothing" decision for that game. Meaning that you must sort of predict what you think the opposing team is going to do. First step is seeing if they are mostly DPS characters or not. If they are that is a good sign for this build. Next is seeing if they have defensive or offensive early base stats. Defensive players like to stay that way, defensive. They have a higher chance of getting Atmogs...Which works to your advantage.**

**Tip** Another thing, with this build the damage has a tendency to drop off late game. So I recommend stacking Crit Runes/Masteries if you plan on making this your main build.**

-Once again build idea is from GhostMad

Because I want to include pictures and possibly video in this section. This is still a work in progress. (WIP) Hopefully I will have this done soon. I will be adding more and more strategies as I complete them over time.


Advanced Strategy #1 Twitch's Combo

This will be confusing at first, but bear with me and read it through. First I must show you what the combo actually is. The order to use these abilities is described in my guide from left to right. (So you the ability on the far left first, then follow the order until the last ability to the far right.) Then I will explain how to use each one.

Combo #1 The Basic Burst

Expunge

**Note** You may want to practice these different combos in a Co-Op vs AI game to get used to them.**

To put it flat. This is the basic combo that you do most of the game. The combo is Q--W-R-E. You stealth, and then let it build up until the teamfight happens. (Thus the 2 dashes. You don't do it as part of the actual combo but it still is involved.) You then slow them, ultimate, get a many auto attacks on the enemies as possible, and then as a last ditch effort you finally Expunge.

Combo #2: The Single Death Burst (When 1v1'ing people.)

**This combo is actually two combos. One is for when people actually 1v1 you and one is when you think they are going to try and run away.**

Expunge

With my build it is Q--D-W-R-4-E (When they 1v1 engage you.)

**Important Tip** You should always be aware of the length of cooldowns of abilities or spells that really counter Twitch as should your team. (So your team knows when and when not to engage.) Twitch sort of needs his team to call out when an summoner spell or ability that counters Twitch is used. (For example, When uses his or when an Exhaust is used. Not knowing can lead to not getting a kill or even dying. (So being unaware can have big consequences.) I mean abilities such as Exhaust totally ruin Twitch's burst, and once it's gone. It's gone for the rest of the teamfight.**

This burst gets the most damage possible out of Twitch in the shortest amount of time. So now you Q (Ambush.) let it build up, sneak behind the enemy, and then D (Ignite) the enemy before you engage. Immediately after you Ignite you W, (Slow) R, (Ultimate) 4, (Makes Youmuu Active.) after you get as many stacks of as you can, E. (Expunge) You can't do this burst until you pick up at least and it doesn't do its max damage until you have the

Expunge

If you feel that that the enemy isn't going to engage, and just are going to run away. Then the combo is Q--D-4-W-E. So you Q (Ambush) and let it build up, sneak behind the enemy, D (Ignite) him/her, and immediately proceed with your W, (Slow) 4, (Yomuu's Active) and after you get as many stacks on them as possible you E (Expunge) You don't ult because, again if they are running away, then they will just dodge your bullets.

**Note** I keep Youmuu's Ghostblade in Slot 4, due to the fact that I can easily activate it using my long middle finger. If you feel more comfortable with using another Slot go right ahead. Same goes for the Summoner Spells.**

Combo #3: End Game Team-fights

Expunge

With this it is Q--D-4-R-W-F-E. You should not do this burst until you have the three items In this one you move your W (Debilitating Poison) and F (Flash) to the end to help chase down fleeing stragglers or to get away. You shouldn't need the slow anyways because after the first hit they will be slowed by Frozen Mallet's passive.

So....Lets get some basic info out of the way.

First, Vision wards can stack five times per item slot. Sorry but I had to throw that out there. Second, if you buy an oracle with all your items it will automatically activate. Third, oracle's exixir puts a pink "eye" above a person's head. This lets you easily tell who can see you or not.


**Note** The Ward Placement Map was taken from Balrox Says Hi's guide. Credits go to him for making this.**



The ultimate counter to Vision Wards is to really be aware. As mentioned before, Twitch is harder to be good with. He demands more out of you and your team. This is another example of how he does... Your team needs to communicate a little bit more. Along with stating "mias" and when major abilities that counter Twitch are used they should also somehow state when enemy Vision Wards are put down. With my team and I we just ping where we see the enemy players set it down. Additionally, if Vision Wards are put down right in your route...First off it's out of all likely hood at the edge of the bushes. So just stay to the far right and swing around it. If it is in your route beyond the bushes then (Even if you aren't sure.) take the scenic route. Remember, this is a part of ganking. You have to time yourself so you that you can reach them before they back to tower.

If a Vision Ward put it in the middle of the your lane. It's a hassle but not impossible. Immediately take a look at the game's timer and add three minutes in your head. This will let you have an idea of when the time of the ward runs out and it dies. If the opposing mid player rushes a Vision Ward really early. (Before you have your and ) simply wait until the Vision Ward's time expires. You weren't planning on ganking with my build until AFTER you have your and . The ward only lasts for three minutes anyways. So continue to farm and gather exp. as you normally would. You should see the ward's death animation when the time of it runes out and it "dies." If you miss the obvious death animation due to Fog of War (Area outside of your vision range.) just recall on the time you calculated the ward would die. If you are defensive you can add 15 seconds to that time for reassurance, and then you should be fine.

If a ward is placed in the middle of the lane after you have those three items, again it's a hassle but not impossible. Before we continue recall that I stated that whenever affordable you should go invisible to keep the opposing player guessing if you are there or not? Now instead of being in the middle of the lane you do that at your tower. Play even more defensive and let the minions push to tower. You should theoretically be out the range of the Vision Ward there. You will have a slight difference in the gold you get, but you won't give up your ability to gank. Then have the enemy player guess from there.


Now if the enemy team is ward crazy, or you are just going against a . Then it is essential that you have to buy an yourself. This will let you kill the enemy wards (Or Teemo's which can ruin a gank.) Though be warned. If you kill a ward chances are somebody will notice it has died. I would buy this after you get your and .

One last thing, if you can see a Vision Ward, it can see you too. (And so can the rest of the enemy team.)

**Tip** Also, (You should do this anyways.) have your teammates in the lanes lay a Vision Ward near baron and dragon. This will let them be aware of ganks plus eliminate potential vision wards of the enemy team. Stealth or no Stealth, people usually put Vision Wards near baron and dragon. Try to follow this map (Made by Balrox Says Hi.)

This is a premiere ward laying map. Again at locations 6 and 3 you should have put down. At locations 5*, 4*, 5, and 4 you can have Sight Ward if there is an enemy jungler. (Depending on which side of the map you are on is which "5" and "4" you put Sight Wards down.) Although adept players (IE players to like to jungle themselves but aren't doing so in that specific game.) are sometimes able to guess the "rotation" (The order of neutral monsters the jungler goes through.) of that specific jungle hero. All the other locations should also have Sight Ward

---

Oracle countering coming soon!



Twitch Countering

Today I will be showing how to counter the evil Twitch! Yes Twitch! Well, if he is on the enemy team of course. In this guide.

**Tip** Keep in mind if there is an enemy Twitch, (In Normals, especially.) that the player is likely either a die-hard Twitch player or a newer player. In my Twitch adventures I haven't experienced much of an in-between....**

Countering Twitch can seem simple and most of the time it is. It comes down to a matter of who gets ahead of the other Twitch. As Shishio would put it, (From Rurouni Kenshin.) "The strongest will live, and the weak shall die." The first step is analyzing the enemy Twitch. There are a series of questions I want you to think of when facing an enemy Twitch.

The first is; Is he a jungle? If he is a jungle, sorry to break it to ya, but things just got tougher. However they still aren't impossible. I will cover the basics first then go into advanced Twitch countering later. However, if he a jungle the rule of thumb is if he doesn't get any kills you automatically won against him. (By that I mean against the enemy Twitch,

The next questions is; (More importantly) "What spells did he grab?" and "What is his early game stats?" This is kind of how you answer the first question too. So you kind of killed two birds with one stone if you get what I mean... Anyways, if the enemy Twitch has Smite you can assume he is a jungler. This is common sense and I will explain how to beat him later. As for his stats. If he has any movement speed you can tell he's a gangker so watch out! If he's stacking defense he's going to farm/sustain. If he's got close to nothing he's got "secret stats". (Arm-Pen, Crit Chance and Damage, CD Reduction, Regen.)

If he has Exhaust or even you can assume the Twitch is a single target Twitch. (What does that mean?) This means the Twitch is likely going to target carries and be a sneaky puss. (For lack of a better term.) This Twitch is likely to build all dps and little to no defense besides movement speed from the phantom dancers he's building. If he grabs Ignite or Surge you can tell he is more of a spray and pray player. Who loves team engagements and splattering the enemy team with a wall of pain then picking off the left overs. (That's me.) If he has Heal or Clarity then he is a farm Twitch that won't gank much but will get stronger rapidly.

**Tip** Don't fall for "Heal Traps" early game. Where the enemy players lure you into attacking them then they heal and kill you. Remember, just because an enemy player is weak doesn't mean his damage drops. (Same as SC2)

If (You think) the Twitch is building pure dps with little to no defense. Then listen up. One of three scenarios will happen. The first is that this Twitch will fail. Either there will be/is another carry on the enemy team and this enemy Twitch won't be fed at all and will not be a problem for you team to handle...Or this Twitch is flat out bad. These are most of the Twitches you see and people associate with the term "garbage".

The second scenario is that this Twitch gets fed off your team's ignorance and get's really fed. SO fed in fact that the game is over by surrender at 20. In this case, the Twitch won by getting kills early laning phase in his own lane before you could intervene and stop him. (Either physically or by message to your team.) These scenarios cannot be helped and is the case with any hero in the game.

The third scenario is that he isn't an idiot, but doesn't get fed beyond retribution. This is when the third question comes in. "What is his build?" In this case it's a race. Get an after your first few items. (Boots of Mobility, Doran's Item, and the next one after that.) and have your teammates that are in the same lane as Twitch buy two Vision Wards and putting one in the river/bush area for early detection of incoming ganks and one in them middle of the lane to reveal the Twitch in their lane. If you die and lose your Oracles, don't rush and buy more oracles. Wait until you finish your next item then proceed to buy another oracles. Even if you have to stop ganking and play defensive and farm for a few minutes.

Many Twitch players. (Like me) love messing with their opponents and making them paranoid. This is how I do it. I go invisible and sometimes I go for a gank and sometimes I don't. Either way I love the attack speed steroid in lane :). Don't let the Twitch get fed nor farm. What I said about Tryndamere applies here too. If you have to die try to die to a different hero BESIDES twitch. (Tell your team that.)

If he does get fed. In all likely-hood he is stacking all attack and no defense. Tell your teammates to aim their hard cc. (Stuns and Exhausts) for him in team fights. As for yourself, Stack an Atmogs + Thornmail to get the same damage as him. Even if you aren't able to get to him and kill him due to his range...If he is stunned or can't do damage he is done for for that engagement. (His positioning will be ruined, and his ult's time will be gone along with his range.) If he stacks lifesteal then you use your Ignite on him. If he is going for an atmogs himself then use the attack speed build. (Primarily

During laning phase, make sure you get mid to out-farm him. Even if he gets one or two kills you will be at the same level of farm and one or two levels ahead of him. If the Twitch is a jungler and you know the average Jungle rhythms...use this to your advantage. Ward and invade their jungle to ruin their Twitch. Use either a member (or two depending if the enemy lane is there or not...) or your own jungler to invade their jungle. You should have an oracle's at this point (You shouldn't start ganking until you have your first few items...) and find him with his pants down kill him and enjoy the free gold. If he isn't there just steal the blue/red buff and enjoy.

Still need help? If you need to know Twitch's Jungle rhythms, you'd be surprised how many Twitch players refer to MOBAFIRE for their builds and information. Simply take a look at the most popular Jungle guide and take note or memorize the jungle paths.

Here is the most popular one.

http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/a-jungle-twitch-is-a-happy-twitch-137451

The enemy jungle Twitch will most likely not invade your own jungle early game, and to prevent it just have the bot lane take a quick look or go yourself.

Also, he came up with a genius idea of microing the North/South Golems to regain health. After evaluating and determining if the Twitch is good or not, make your jungler ward the Golems using his or standard ward. So between invading the enemy jungle and stealing their buffs you should be able to push him out of the game. Don't worry about losing 1v1 to Twitch. Early game Twitch is the squishiest hero in the game.

Lastly, I know you can't tell in Blind Ranked but Ignite, Exhaust, and Clairvoyance (Against Jungle Twitch.) are much more effective against Twitch then most other spells

V-1 Incomplete Guide - October 15, 2011 4:36 PM
V-1.1 Incomplete Guide - October 15, 2011 8:50 PM
-Added first Advanced Strategy
V-1.1.01 Incomplete Guide - October 16, 2011 11:50 AM
-Added Tryndamere Counter to main build.
V-1.2.01 Incomplete Guide - October 22, 2011 10:45 PM
-Added Ward Countering
V-1.3.01 Incomplete Guide - October 23, 2011 4:42 AM
-Added Atmogs Counter Build
V-2.3.00 Incomplete Guide - November 16, 2011 9:21 PM
-Changed Masteries and Runes to fit gameplay change (Please see announcements.)
V-2.4.00 Incomplete Guide - November 17, 2011 12:44 AM
-Updated Runes
-Updated Spells
v-2.2.00 Incomplete Guide - December 03, 2011 5:30 PM
-Surge vs Ingite
-Update on Masteries, though still a WIP.
*Mastery update still WIP*
V-2.2.001
-Updated Sig
-Updated Acknowledgements (Added PointlessOne)
-Updated Intro
V-2.3.001 Incomplete Guide - December 10, 2011 7:05 PM
-Mastery update completed
*Now I can get on with completing more advanced strategies!*
V-2.4.001 Incomplete Guide - January 21, 2012 7:22 PM
-Added Twitch Countering
-Replaced with


*Next advanced strategies: Oracle Countering & Farming (Put off until guide updated.)

"Balrox says Hi" - AKA "balrox" is a really nice guy I met on LoL that inspired me to create this guide, and has also given me nice pointers in creating this guide. Thank you.

"GhostMad" - Also a cool guy I recently met while playing LoL that gave me this build that I found counters Atmogs. He also gave me a pointer or two with this guide. Thank you.

"PointlessOne" - Awesome guy that made my my sig! Yea!