Blitzcrank Guide - by Korean

Blitzcrank




Summoner spells: Teleport/Flash or Teleport/Exhaust

You should always grab Teleport while playing Blitzcrank. There will be many times where your teammates will be fighting, and you will have the opportunity to teleport in and help out with Power Fist.

Flash is also a great summoner spell to get. You can flash in an initiate with a power fist. You can flash out to try to escape. Or flash in to power fist someone running away.
And some more advanced techniques would be flashing away, and grabbing them towards your tower/allies.

Exhaust is another option. If you are the more aggressive player, exhaust can help you and your teammates score that first blood. Later on as you reach Power Fist
level 5, exhaust + power fisting can keep your enemy by your side almost indefinitely. Exhaust is great for ganking.

Runes:
Marks- +Mana at level 18.
Seals- +Mana at level 18.
Glyphs- +Mana at level 18.
Quintessence- +Mana, or +Exp, or +Hp regen. Take advantage of these Quintessences early game. So grabbing the +Mana (not the level 18 ones), or exp boost,
or Hp regen can really make a huge impact on early-mid game. All 3 work well, and all depends on personal preference.

I believe runes are the most important thing that you can put on a Blitzcrank. They play the biggest impact on how a Blitzcrank can operate throughout
the game. And I have found that stacking mana runes will make you extremely hard to kill. And give you the mana pool that you need early game to spam Grabs.
I've tried various rune builds, cooldown builds, dodge builds, regen builds. Stacking mana seems to be the most effective. By level 18, runes alone
will net you somewhere near +800 mana. The reason why this is so effective is because of Blitzcranks passive. He forms a shield with his mana when he gets low
on hp. Having a large mana pool will allow you to stay at low hp for a long period of time, because people will be draining your mana instead of your hp. And just
natural player instinct, when you see low HP, you will aim for it. Little do they know, that youre still really hard to kill. While enemies are trying to get the
last hit on you, your teammates will be killing them. This is my personal little secret to get the edge on other Blitzcranks. And I might regret sharing this!

Masteries: 9-0-21

9 Points in Offense tree.
0 Points in Defense tree.
21 Points in Utility tree.

Get the extra cooldown reduction!

Skills:
Q - Rocket Grab
W - Overdrive
E - Power Fist
R - Static Field

1) Q or E. Depends on what your teammates want to do. E for early ganking (first blood). Q for regular laning.
2) Q or E. Whichever skill you didn't get for your first skill.
3) E.
4) Q
5) E.
6) R
7) E
8) W
9) E
10) W
11) R
12) W
13) Q
14) W
15) Q
16) R
17) Q
18) W

This is my personal skill order. W (Overdrive) comes in handy in a lot of situations. The extra speeed boost can help you get close to enemies to power fist.
Or to chase, and run away.

Items :

1) 1 Sapphire Crystal, 2 health pots.
2) Sapphire Crystal turns to Sheen
3) Boots of swiftness

This will be your cookie cutter build. A Blitzcrank with sheen is extremely effective. Once you have your sheen you should be trying to gank enemies.
Boots of swiftness is highly effective with Blitz as well. Topped off with his Overdrive skill, you can escape most situations. From here on, there
are a few ways to build a Blitz. But he should ALWAYS be built as a Tank/Support.

So take a look at your enemies champions. Your worst enemy is probably Veigar due to the rune build. If this is the case, try to get a Banshees Veil
asap. If the enemies teams' dps is mainly casters. Get magic resist. Banshees veil, Aegis, and Guardian Angel. However, if your enemies team is physical.
I'd suggest, Frozen heart, Aegis, and Guardian Angel.

My favorite item on Blitz is Frozen heart. It's cheap and effective and allows your Power Fist cooldown to be imba.

Keep in mind, mana is your friend!


How to play :

During the early game, I try my hardest to farm as fast as I can for the sheen. However, if your laning partner wants to be aggressive, then support him with your
grabs and your power fists. If not, then continue farming. Remember to use Blitzcranks power fist to farm mobs. You will deal double damage, so if you're having trouble last hitting, use this skill.

Concealing yourself in brush is a good strategy for Blitz. Grabbing people from brush so that you and your partner can jump on them gives you a huge advantage
early game. Also, try to use brush to your advantage. If you have a hero chasing you, run into some brush. Wait for them. When they get to you, power fist them in the air. And then resume
running. Continue to do this until you get away.

I don't think mindlessly rocket grabbing is a good idea. It has a pretty long cooldown for a regular skill, so I try to use my best judgement as to when would be
a good time to grab. Such as, when they are getting near your tower. Grabbing them to your allies. And most importantly grabbing when the enemy is running away.
Do not rush yourself when they are running away. Take your time. Most players will try to juke you out for the first few seconds, and then they'll walk a straight line. This will be your
opportunity.

Blitzcranks role is to support. Hopefully you are not forced to be the main tank. He can most definitely play the main tank role though if need be. When there is a group fight I will always try to run into the center and use his ult. And I try to stick onto the DPSer with Blitzcranks power fist.

It'll take some time to practice his play style and push his limits.

A good tip to keep in mind is to spam his E about halfway through the cooldown. You'll see the cooldown bar resetting but you can actually cast his E about
1 second faster than the cooldown bar actually shows. When I am chasing someone, I will constantly spam E with my left finger while right clicking on the enemy.

Karthus Guide by Reginald

Karthus- The Deathsinger




Summoner Spells:
Teleport
Flash

Rune book:
Nine Greater Marks of Resilience
Nine Greater Seals of Evasion
Nine Greater Glyphs of Insight
Three Quintessence of Fortitude

Masteries:

Offensive Tree:
3 points into Archmage's Savvy
1 point into Deadliness
4 points into sorcery
1 point into Archaic Knowledge

Defensive Tree: None

Utility Tree:
1 point into Spatial Accuracy
3 points into Perserverance
4 points into Expanded mind
2 points into Utility mastery
3 points into Meditation
3 points into Movement
1 point into Blink of an Eye
3 points into Intelligence
1 point into Presence of the Master

The Beginning:
1x Sapphire Crystal
2x Health Potion

Skill Build
Level 1: Lay Waste
Level 2: Defile
Level 3: Lay Waste
Level 4: Wall of Pain
Level 5: Lay Waste
Level 6: Requiem
Level 7: Lay Waste
Level 8: Defile
Level 9: Lay Waste
Level 10: Defile
Level 11: Requiem
Level 12: Defile
Level 13: Defile
Level 14: Wall of Pain
Level 15: Wall of Pain
Level 16: Requiem
Level 17: Wall of Pain
Level 18: Wall of Pain

How to use Lay Waste: Usually when lay wasting an opponent you must decide whether they are going to be offensive ( attack you) or defensive ( run away). After deciding whether they are running or not, you lay waste them depending on their course of action. The next thing a good karthus must know is the map and its surroundings. Try to imagine the pathing and the quickest way of escaping as if you were the one being focused by a Karthus. Never laywaste on top of an opponent, unless they are stunned. Always time 1 second ahead of their pathing and cast Lay waste at that point. Also when last hitting creeps, try to aim the Lay Waste at the side of a creep where your Lay Waste would only hit 1 creep. Doing so will make your damage do twice as much, making it very easy to last hit. Not only will it be easy to last hit, the lane will not be pushed as much. Keeping the lane on your side will make it harder for enemy champions to gank you and easier for your team to gank them.


Wall of Pain: Wall of Pain is a very good spell in all circumstances, offensively and defensively. This spell helps your magical damage take much more due to the reduction of magic resist. When using Wall of pain, try to use it in positions where your opponent does not see the wall. Doing so will increase your chances of killing an opponent. When an unexpected attack happens to an enemy champion, they would have a slower reaction than when they know it is coming. This spell is usually used for karthus to stand around a range of 200-300 (about half of max range) from their enemies. At that range it is perfect because ; Melees must take time to turn around and focus karthus, Karthus's Defile is also hitting his enemies aswell as lay wastes.


Defile: This spell is a very good AoE, but very mana inefficient. Usually this spell is used later in the game, or when Karthus gets the Ancient Golem buff. In many cases Karthus players usually forget to turn off defile, always keep an eye on your defile and toggle it off as soon as the enemy champion is out of range. In my experiences, i have seen many karthus's forget to turn defile off, therefore making them unable to kill their opponents due to lack of mana. Getting golem for Karthus's defile is a must. Always have a lookout for when Ancient golem is up. Keep track of the respawning time of the Ancient and kill it when it respawns. The respawn time is 5 minutes. With the Ancient Golem Buff, Karthus is very strong. The buff increases his farming ability, ganking ability and reduces his Requiem drastically.


Requiem: This spell is very straight forward, it deals a certain amount of damage per its level to all enemy champions on the map. However I see Karthus's miss kills daily, due to them not factoring in magic resist. Always expect Karthus's ultimate to take around 4/5's of the spells full damage or even less. Using this spell to its fullest potential, the Karthus must know how much magic resist the enemy champions have and estimate how much the requiem is going to deal. Magic resist has the same effect as armor, so if calculated briefly, it will be very easy to know when to cast Requiem for it to kill an opponent.


Builds on Karthus:

Tank Build-
Items to get in this order:
Tears of Godess
Ninja Tabi
Catalyst the protector
Rylai's Scepter
Turn Catalyst into Rod of Ages
Tears into Arcangel's Staff
Guardians Angel
Zhonya's Ring

End game items: Ninja Tabi, Arcangel's Staff, Rods of Ages, Guardian's Angel, Zhonya's Ring, Rylais Scepter.


Recommended Build
Ganking/ All out Damage build:
Items in this order:
Tears of Godess
Boots of Swiftness
Mejai's Soulstealer
Catalyst the protector
Turn Catalyst into Rod of Ages
Tears into Arcangels Staff
Guardians Angel
Zhonya's Ring
End Game items: Boots of Swiftness, Arcangel's Staff, Mejai's Soulstealer, Rod of Ages, Guardian's Angel, Zhonya's Ring

Tips:
Always look out for Ancient Golem Buff.
During team fights, be the second person to initiate after the tank.
Dont be scared to die.
When you are killed, Turn on your defile.
Don't cancel your ultimate on accident.
After getting Guardian's Angel, play really aggresive when its up. Sometimes even initiate. Use your flash to initiate and use wall of pain to slow them.

League of Legends Guide - Annie by Reginald

Annie- The Dark Child
Also available at http://www.solomid.net/news and http://www.solomid.net/strategies.htm


Runes:
Nine Marks of Greater Resilience
Nine Seals of Greater Evasion
Nine Glyphs of Insight
Three Quintessence of Fortitude

Masteries:

Offensive Tree:
3 points into Archmage's Savvy
1 point into Cripple
4 points into Sorcery
1 point into Archaic Knowledge

Defensive Tree: None

Utility Tree:

1 point into Spatial Accuracy
3 points into Perseverance
4 points into Expanded mind
2 points into Utility mastery
3 points into Meditation
3 points into Movement
1 point into Blink of an Eye
3 points into Intelligence
1 point into Presence of the Master

Pregame Items:
Sapphire Crystal
Health Potion x 2

Leveling Skills:
Level 1: Incinerate
Level 2: Disintegrate
Level 3: Incinerate
Level 4: Disintegrate
Level 5: Disintegrate
Level 6: Summon: Tibbers
Level 7: Disintegrate
Level 8: Incinerate
Level 9: Disintegrate
Level 10: Incinerate
Level 11: Summon: Tibbers
Level 12: Incinerate
Level 13: Molten Shield
Level 14: Molten Shield
Level 15: Molten Shield
Level 16: Summon: Tibbers
Level 17: Molten Shiled
Level 18: Molten Shiled


Level 1: Incinerate
Adding a skill point into incinerate is very useful to the team because it is the deciding factor of an early team battle.

Tip: At level one add a skill into incinerate, and energize pyromani at the Reviving point. Doing so, you will acquire an AoE stun for 1.75 seconds by the 30 seconds mark. This very useful because in upper-level play, there will always be an early battle at dragon, Ancient Golem, or Ancient Lizard. Take advantage of Annie's AoE stun and grab First-blood. First blood at level 1 is very advantageous because the bonus 400 gold from that kill is equal to 20 creep kills and will help you outlane the enemy with the extra items bought.

Annie's Specialty: Annie is the type of hero that does massive burst damage and can easily kill an enemy champion within seconds of combat. Taking the Solo lane for Annie is the best decision in most cases. She is a very good ganker early and middle game. If she had farmed correctly she can be very powerful late game as well. Annie is the type of hero that is useful all-game, and especially devastating early game.

How to Lane: To dominate with Annie early game, it takes a very aggressive play-style but at the same time very passive. When Annie is Energized, play aggressive. When Annie is not Energize stay back to charge her stun. By level 2 you should take advantage of her Disintegrate. Constantly last hit creeps with Disintegrate to Energize yourself. When Energize is up Stun the opponent with Disintegrate and then Incinerate them (Offensive). Afterwards resume your passive play, back up and last hit creeps with Disintegrate to charge up your stun. (passive). When your Energize is up, follow up with another Disintegrate and Incinerate. Repeat the process until you think the hero is killable. Harass them until they are low enough to be killed. If you think you're able to kill them, charge up a stun and use your summoner spells(Exhaust and Flash) to go for the kill. . The trick to Annie is to lower the enemy champions health points enough for the opponent to think they are able to lane without dying, but not lower it enough for them to go back and heal. It is important to remember the opponents summoner’s spells at the preloading screen to gauge what they're capable of, when you are able to do so -- killing an opponent will be easy.

Disintegrate:
This spell is Annie's spammable spell that is mainly used to charge up Annie's stun (early game). It is very good in team fights and does massive overtime as well. In team fights, it is important to focus a target. Some examples of good targets to spam spells on in team fights are ; Ashe, Veigar, Tristana, mainly the paperweight/glass cannon heroes that are not very tanky.

Incinerate:
This spell is very tough to use. I see other Annies miss in battles far too often. Always position yourself behind heroes and cast it from far away. Make sure to always hit 2 or more heroes with your Incinerate.
Tip: When Energize is up, try to use Incinerate to AoE stun their whole team (when you are not Tibbers stunning)

Molten Shield:
Make sure to always use this spell during battle. Not only does it help Annie from taking less damage, but it helps Annie charge up her Energize. Doing this will lower the duration of how long it takes to charge up a stun. During a team fight, an Annie should beable to stun their team 2-3 times.

Summon Tibbers: Not only does this spell do burst spell damage, but Tibbers is very strong as well. The damage Tibbers does is similar to a sunfire cape. A good way to use Tibbers is to use it with Energized. When you are Energized, wait for the enemy team to group up before initiating with Tibbers+Energized. It usually requires flash to hit a good Tibbers stun/ that stuns the majority of the champions on the opposing side. Most Annies forget to use the Tibbers to do damage, however it is very useful. Tibbers can be used for; Tanking towers(while diving), blocking skill shots, and you can even chase with the Tibbers to kill someone that is low( dies to the 40 hp per second burn). To use Tibbers correctly, press Alt then click to move to the desired area. To micro both Annie and Tibbers, press Alt and clicking to move to a target area then letting go and click to move to the target area again. This will make Annie and Tibbers go to the same place. If you are able to follow an Enemy champion while doing that spamming Annie's Incinerate and Disintegrate, the enemy champion is sure to die.

Initiation: There are mainly two ways to initiate with Annie.
1. Wait for your tank to initiate first and wait for their team to gather up. Then initiate with a Tibbers stun. Afterwards, stay back and continue to nuke.
2. Flash on to their carry (ashe, tristana, the hero that does the most damage) Tibber stun, incinerate, disintegrate). With this situation, you need your team to follow up and disable the rest of their team. If not done correctly you will just die.

Option 1 is usually the best, however there are situations where their carry does massive damage and needs to be killed in order to win a team battle. This option allows you to output the most damage through time and constantly disable their opponents if your team is positioned correctly.

Option 2 is very good with a Guardians Angel because, not only does their team waste all of their nukes to kill you, their carry hero is most likely dead due to the massive burst damage Annie causes.

Item builds on Annie:

Cookie Cutter Build (burst damage)
First item: Sapphire Crystal to Tears of Goddess
Second item: Sorcerer's Shoes
Third item: Mejai's SoulStealer
Fourth item: Rods of Ages
Fifth item: Guardian Angel's
Sixth item: Zhonya's Ring

Next, turn your Tears of Goddess into Archangels Staff


Tank/Survivalbility (disable/dps through time)
First item: Tears of Godess
Second item: Ninja Tabi
Third item: Rods of Ages (get Catalyst first)
Fourth item: Guardian's Angel
Fifth item: Banshee's Veil
Sixth item: Zhonya's Ring

Next, turn Tears of Goddess into Archangels Staff

Uncommon Exploit - Dragon Level 1, Take no Damage

I recently had a game with some of the other pros against some other pros to scout out what the competition was like. In that game, my buddy Jackalope specifically choose Blitzcrank to show me something cool. At the 1 minute 36seconds mark we reached the wall behind the dragon and created a box at the kink (corner) where the wall of the dragons den meets the border of the river.

Blitzcrank proceeded to pull the dragon across the wall and then we downed it. When Blitzcrank pulls the Dragon across the wall, it will want to run back [and won't attack you] because League of Legends AI tells all neutral creeps to return to its passive position when it gets a certain distance away from its original spot to prevent it from chasing a hero across the map.

Important things to note:
1. Try this in a practice game first because you will fail the first time.
2. Box the dragon.
3. Leave enough space between Blitz and the wall so the Dragon can actually be pulled across.
4. It can be done with 2 man but the positioning has to be perfect.
5. You have to have a Blitzcrank.
6. You're not the only one who knows about it (whenever I see a blitzcrank I gank their dragon/steal their lizard).

How to play against unbalanced teams

A lot of times when you solo queue or play in a premade you would often see a team with 4 magic based damage and 1 physical or 4 physical based 1 magic based damaged champions. What should you do in this case?

In any case you should make a well balanced team of casters, tanks, and dps. Any of the following combination usually works.

3 casters, 1 tank, 1 dps
2 casters, 2 tanks, 1 dps
2 casters, 1 tank, 2 dps

The first important thing is to look at their team composition. Its very intuitive. If you see a team with too much physical damage you get a lot of armor and HP. If you see a team with too much magic resist you get a lot of magic resist and HP.

The next important point is how to build your tank. I generally like to get improved heal as a summoner's spell on all my tanks. In any case you want to get an aegis of legion on your teams tank as an early item. Right after your upgrade boots or even after your level 1 boots.

If you are playing against a team with too many physical dps, I suggest either 1 of the casters or the tank to get a frozen heart. If you have 1 or two in either cases they should both get a sunfire's cape then a guardian's angel or vice versa.

With just the Aegis/FrozenHeart/Sunfire/Guardians, you should be able to piss off any physical damage dependant team.


Next is against a team with too much magic damage. One of the thing that I have and is by far the most underrated tank book among the mid and lower tier levels and more exploited among the high teir level is the +75 magic resist book. I use this book in all cases when I am tanking. Because even physical damage heros have spell damage. Unlike armor, magic resist does not scale like armor as you level.

The first Item I get on my tank is an Aegis of Legion. Again, this Item adds both armor and magic resist to the entire team! The second item should either be a banshees viel or a guardian angel.

Try some of these things out and let me know what you think. Apparently the new hot build is armor and magic resist stacking and HP comes secondary.

Introduction

Hi,

My name is Dan Dinh. That is also my ingame name for League of Legends. The purpose for creating this blog is to post strategies and give cookie cutter builds for the champions in League of Legends. What I hope to do is to exchange Ideas to create a guide for new players to use to improve their game play. What I will be doing frequently is post skill/item build on this blog. I will appreciate if other people would challenge my ideas and offer a new perspective.