Rolling Some Teemo

So I roll Teemo.  He’s a yordle from Bandle City who plays as a ranged, stealth, support, and sometimes carry champion in the League of Legends.  I like him because he just fits my play style – high survivability, ranged, but still packs a punch.  Plus, he can strategically stealth in the bushes and distribute his network of Mushrooms in key locations to reveal the map and turn the tide of war.

It’s taken me a while to find a build that I like, but here’s a summary for patch 1.61:

Itemization

• Berserker’s Greaves
• Madred’s Bloodrazor
• Frozen Mallet
• Malady
• Wit’s End
• The Bloodthirster

Runes

• Armor Penetration (red) x9
• Flat Defense (yellow) x4
• Defense per Level (yellow) x5
• Magic Resist per Level (blue) x9
• Lifesteal Quintessences

Masteries 22-6-2

• Offense – 15 for the AD basics, 4 in 4% cooldown reduction, 1 in 10% magic penetration, 1 in +10 turret damage, 1 in improved ignite
• Defense – 3 armor, 3 magic resist
• Support – 2 in time spent dead reduction

Summoner Spells

• Teleport
• Ignite

I realize that this is a bit out of the ordinary for Teemo, but hear me out.  The mix of flat armor and per level armor runes helps maintain survivability early on with the flat armor, while not giving up the longevity of the per level armor mid-late game.  I prefer more armor early on and more MR late game, so this is the perfect combination.

I just recently picked up the 2% Lifesteal Quintessences, replacing my Gold per 5 (GP5) and I haven’t missed the gold.  The lifesteal gives me much better sustainability in a lane so I can farm longer before returning to base, thus mitigating, if not improving upon the 3 GP5.

As for masteries, the core AD build is common, but then I add the 4 points for CDR (Sorcery), 1 point for magic penetration (Arcane Knowledge), 10 bonus turret damage (Demolitionist), and improved ignight (Summoner’s Wrath) in the Offense tree.  I opt to not include the attack damage per level (Deadliness) and 10% critical strike damage (Lethality) because Teemo doesn’t rely on crits, but on-hit items.  For the Defense tree, I can rarely justify the small health benefit for 5  points in the defense tree (Durability and Veteran’s Scars) so I opt for the flat armor (Resistance) and magic resist (Hardiness).  Instead, upped my damage output for early kills and first blood using both magic penetration (Arcane Knowledge) and armor penetration (Weapon Expertise) to help me hit hard early on and, depending how I farm and the build order I choose, maintain a steady lead in damage output throughout a match when compared to other AD and AP carry champions.

Lastly, the item selection does vary by match; but my core items are Berserker’s Greaves, Frozen Mallet, and Malady.  If laning against AP champs, I’ll substitute Wit’s End for Malady, but my build usually consists of both unless the other team leans heavy AD or AP.  With my farm, I can generally purchase about 10-15 wards throughout the match.  If a Blitzcrank, Fiddle, Lee Sin, or other threatening jungle is on the opposing team, I’ll probably bump that up to 15-25 per match.  That’s a lot of gold, but vision truly turns the tide of battle.  Between Teemo’s Mushrooms and wards, the enemy team will find it difficult to invade your jungle undetected.  I’ll also spring for an Oracle’s Elixir if the enemy team is warding often or has another Teemo, but this comes at least 15-20 minutes into the match and depends on if I’m being focused first in team fights.

Well, there you have it.  I’m always on the lookout for comments and suggestions.  I’ll eventually get this build and strategy posted on Mobafire.com, but I’m just too lazy right now.

Until next time; GLHF!