League of Legends - Kog’Maw Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Kog ‘Maw

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Icathian Surprise  Upon dying, Kog’Maw starts a chain reaction in his body which causes him to move faster and detonate after 4 seconds; dealing 100 + (25 x lvl) true damage to surrounding enemies.
	Caustic Spittle (Target Range: 1175, Cost: 40 Mana, Cooldown: 8)Kog’Maw launches a corrosive projectile which deals magic damage and corrodes the target’s armor and magic resist for a short time. Kog’Maw also gains additional attack speed. PASSIVE: Kog’Maw gains 15/20/25/30/35% bonus attack speed. ACTIVE: Launches a corrosive projectile that deals 80/130/180/230/280 (+50% Ability Power) Magic Damage to the first enemy hit and shreds its Armor and Magic Resist by 20/22/24/26/28% for 4 seconds.
	Bio-Arcane Barrage (Range: 630/650/670/690/710)ACTIVE: Kog’Maw’s attacks gain range and deal a percent of the target’s maximum health as magic damage. For 8 seconds, Kog’Maw’s basic attacks gain 130/150/170/190/210 range and deal 3/4/5/6/7% (+0)% of the target’s maximum health as bonus magic damage.
	Void Ooze (Target Range: 1280, Speed: 1350, Cost: 80/90/100/110/120 Mana, Cooldown: 12)ACTIVE: Kog’Maw launches a peculiar ooze which damages all enemies it passes through and leaves a trail which slows enemies who stand on it. Deals 60/105/150/195/240 (+50% Ability Power) Magic Damage to enemies hit and leaves a trail on the ground for 4 seconds, slowing enemies in it by 20/28/36/44/52%.
	Living Artillery (Target Range: 1200/1500/1800, Effect Radius: 100, Cost: 40-400 (based on casts) Mana, Cooldown: 2/1.5/1)ACTIVE: Kog’Maw fires an artillery shell at a great distance dealing magic damage (increased significantly on low health enemies) and revealing non-stealthed targets. Additionally, multiple Living Artilleries in a short period of time cause them to cost additional Mana. Fires an artillery shot, damaging enemies above 40% health for 100/140/180 (+65% bonus Attack Damage) (+25% Ability Power) to @Effect1Amount*1.5@ (+0) (+0) magic damage based on their missing health.If enemies are below 40% health, they take 0 (+0) (+0) magic damage instead.Each subsequent shot within 8 seconds costs 40 more Mana (max 400).

Strategy

• Always stay at the back of a team fight as Kog’maw. Some of his skills like (W) Bio-Arcane Barrage and (R) Living Artillery are good at long range, so you can pretty much deal a considerable amount of damage to the enemy team.
• Don’t think of your passive Icathian Surprise as an excuse if you want to kill a champion. Never kill yourself just to kill an enemy champion with the passive, it may be applicable in some conditions but as an AD carry your goal is to stay alive and get objectives.
• Position your (R) Living Artillery by using (E) Void Ooze first since it slows enemies, making you hit your ultimate easier.
• Don’t be too aggressive until you get your core items since Kog’maw is weak in the early game. Try to farm your items first before even trying to trade.
• Since Kog’maw doesn’t have any mobility whatsoever, it’s best that you stay close to your support at all times especially in the early to mid game.

Runes & Masteries

COMING SOON

Summoner Spells

Bot Lane
Heal	Flash

Item Builds

Bot Lane

Starter Items

Starter Items
Doran’s Blade	Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation	Warding Totem

Core Items

Core Items
Guinsoo’s Rageblade	Runaan’s Hurricane	Blade of the Ruined King

Guinsoo’s Rageblade – You should rush this item first as it gives you incredible attack speed which scales well with (W) Bio-Arcane Barrage. This item also grants Kog’Maw ability power which also scales with most of his abilities.

Runaan’s Hurricane – Runaan’s Hurricane further increases his attack speed while giving him more waveclear. Runaan’s Hurricane also fits perfectly with Guinsoo’s Rageblade, making this item another must-buy for Kog’Maw.

Blade of the Ruined King – Blade of the Ruined King will act as your main lifesteal item since you need atleast some sort of survivability and sustain in order to fare well in the late game. This item also gives Kog’Maw a lot of potential to kite enemies.

Full Build

Full Build
Guinsoo’s Rageblade	Blade of the Ruined King	Runaan’s Hurricane
Infinity Edge	Guardian Angel	Boots of Swiftness

Infinity Edge – Infinity Edge greatly increases the damage output and critical strike of Kog’Maw. (R) Living Artillery also scales pretty well with his bonus damage.

Guardian Angel – The Kog is very vulnerable, so this item can give him another chance when he dies in a team fight. Some may argue that this item does not allow you to utlize your passive, but he has one of the highest DPS champions in the game, making him more effective in dealing damage when he is alive.

Boots of Swiftness – Boots of Swiftness greatly increases his movement speed  as he really needs good positioning to be able to deal maximum damage to enemy champions. He also doesn’t have any mobility and escapes, making him very vulnerable when caught by a hard control. Also, he needs a lot of movement speed if he wants to chase enemies with Icathian Surprise.

Situational Items

Situational Items
Lord Dominik’s Regards	Mortal Reminder	Wit’s End
The Bloodthirster	Mercurial Scimitar

Lord Dominik’s Regards/Mortal Reminder – These items are also good if the enemy has a lot of armor and health regeneration. If the enemy has a lot of armor-heavy champions, build the former. If they have a lot of health and regeneration, the latter is the better choice.

Wit’s End – Wit’s End is a good substitute for Guinsoo’s Rageblade if you the enemy has a lot of ability power champions that can one shot you.

The Bloodthirster – The Bloodthirster is a good lifesteal item that also gives  a ton of damage. Get this item if you think you are far ahead and the extra attack speed and the active of the Blade of the Ruined King are not anymore needed.

Mercurial Schimitar – Mercurial Schimitar is another lifesteal item that is more on the defensive side. The item grants the ability to cancel any form of hard crowd control, which is greatly needed by Kog’Maw if he is always caught in team fights.

Playing Against

• Get away immediately when Kog’maw dies because he can still chase and kill you with his passive Icathian Surprise.
• Focus Kog’maw early on in the game since he doesn’t have any form of escape and mobility.
• Moving while engaging or disengaging Kog’maw is very important if you don’t want to get damaged by his ultimate (R) Living Artillery. This skill also has a long range so it’s best that you juke and don’t run in a straight line when escaping his ultimate.
• The trick to beating him in the lane is to always move around. He excels at team fights wherein the enemies are stagnant.

Hard Counters

• Varus – Varus is a champion that can deal damage from long range. Piercing Arrow is a long range ability from Varus that can damage Kog’Maw without a trade. Varus can also disrupt and kill Kog’Maw easily with Chain of Corruption and Hail of Arrows.
• Jinx – Jinx’s abilities are great against champions who have no mobility. If Jinx caught Kog’Maw with Flame Chompers! or Zap!, chances are she might be able to deal a lot of damage to him. Her passive also allows her to get away safely from Icathian Surprise after killing him.
• Ashe – Kog’Maw has one of the worst laning phases as he really needs his core items to shine. On the other hand, Ashe is a very strong laning phase ADC that can harass and outdamage many bot lane matches. Kog’Maw will have a miserable game if Ashe manages to outplay him and get a few kills.

Strategy Video

COMING SOON

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