Welcome to the Kog’Maw Sneak Peek Champion Spotlight presented by Riot Games.
Kog’Maw is hybrid ranged DPS champion. He has very strong long-range spells
and a few great attack abilitiesaimed specifically at destroying enemy tanks.
His first ability is Caustic Spittle, giving him armor penetration,
and activates to deal damage to a single enemy while doubling that penetration.
Second comes Bio-Arcane Barrage, which modifies Kog’Maw’s attack to significantly
increase his increase range and deal bonus damage based on the enemy’s maximum health.
Kog’Maw may also cast Void Ooze, which is a long range damage ability, leaving a trail of ooze that slows enemies who stand on it.
His ultimate is Living Artillery, which is an extremely long-range mortar-type attack.
It has a low cooldown, but the mana cost increases very quickly if you cast the spell again within 6 seconds. Think of it like Kassadin’s Rift Walk.
Lastly his passive, Icathian Surprise, turns you into a living bomb after you die.
You retain control for a few seconds and then blow up for some pretty significant damage.
My Runes are set up as a caster: Magic Penetration, Mana Regeneration per level, Cooldown Reduction, and Health.
My Masteries follow a standard 9/0/21 build, making sure to take Improved Exhaust and Improved Ghost.
These Summoner Spells allow me to kite my enemies very effectively. I can Ghost around the back lines, and if someone tries to kill me, I can Exhaust him to keep him far away.
Kog’Maw is extremely item dependent. Thankfully, he’s also a very competent farmer. Starting at level 6 you want to employ a combination of Void Ooze and Living Artillery.
Hit the ranged minions with your ultimate as soon as you can. Then, once you’ve waited 6 seconds, hit the same wave again,
adding in Void Ooze. Thanks to your runes, masteries, and Chalice of Harmony, the mana cost should be no problem.
You can also easily farm nearby monster camps. All but the hardiest of wraiths will fall to the same combo, and a little extra
effort will result in a lot of bonus gold. Remember to cast the ultimate first so that the wraiths don’t evade the area of effect.
Sion and I head top to gank. Always be sure to come in behind your tank, and allow your teammates’ crowd control spells to land easy Artillery shots.
As Kayle turns invulnerable, remember you can always slow targets with Void Ooze, even if you can’t kill them.
Kog’Maw also has the benefit of having two skill-shots that hit invisible champions. While I miss Akali with my first few spells, Living Artillery is extremely potent at chopping down Akali here.
I believe Kog’Maw should be played as a hybrid for a couple of reasons: His cooldowns are a little too long to be played as a more standard caster like Annie.
Also, his range is so short on his basic attacks that I feel very unsafe as a standard physical DPS. But if you play as a hybrid, you get a lot of attack speed
from Guinsoo's Rageblade and Nashor's Tooth, which makes Bio-Arcane Barrage extremely potent, while cooldown reduction and ability power make Living Artillery extremely deadly.
Living Artillery is one of Kog’Maw’s most interesting abilities. Because it has such a long range and because it reveals the area it targets,
you should always try to scout or harass jungling enemies. As part of this video, I wanted to show you some safe scouting locations for Summoner’s Rift.
Note that a very tiny area in the center is revealed right when you cast the spell, and once the Artillery lands,
everything struck is revealed for a few seconds. From either team in mid, a quick stroll to the right lets you spot Purple Team’s Golem
Next, Purple Team’s Lizard. This should be a pretty safe location to shoot from.
Down from there, you can hide in the brush to shoot Blue Team’s Golem
Right at the connection to the river, Blue’s Lizard is an easy shot.
The Dragon on Summoner’s Rift is an extremely important objective. Shooting here as Blue Team will wake up and reveal the Dragon.
Alternatively, or as Purple Team, this brush provides some cover to scout Dragon as well.
Finally, there are a few key locations for scouting Baron Nashor. Scouting him properly is extremely important. Baron Nashor is immune to debuffs,
so you can only reveal him with the tiny reveal on the beginning of the spell. Here’s a safe location for Purple Team or generally from mid.
Another approach is this extremely safe brush above Baron. Again, you must hit him exactly or you won’t learn any information at all.
Finally we have a somewhat unsafe but convenient brush in front of Baron, if you and your team are rushing forward and aren’t sure about his status.
Here’s a mistake no one should ever make, especially Kog’Maw because he has no escape mechanism. I’ve pushed all the way down mid to
the second turret without a single enemy champion accounted for. If you are ever out of position, Void Ooze can be your friend and maybe
save you by slowing enemies, but generally you should realize that positioning is your greatest ally as Kog’Maw.
One of Kog’Maw’s greatest strengths is in his synergy between Void Ooze and Living Artillery. Here I know that I can keep Akali pinned to one location and kill her.
Using Bio-Arcane Barrage and Living Artillery, I can also make short work of Gragas. Again I’m sure to stay far behind my tanks and use range to my advantage.
I chase Janna and Gragas out of mid. However, due to the extremely long range of Living Artillery, Janna’s not safe yet. I force her to turn around with one shot,
but once she realizes she can’t win a fight against me, Void Ooze, Living Artillery, and Bio-Arcane Barrage break through her shield and over 900 health.
Afterwards, their Gragas gets clumsy, and succumbs to Caustic Spittle. Normally I don’t get to use
the ability because I love abusing Kog’Maw’s long range, but in this case, I clearly have no choice.
Once again I want to show the virtues of Living Artillery. Because of its short 1-second delay and extreme range, your opponents will often have to juke the shot
before they even see it. Kayle didn’t have a choice, as she could only juke up and into our Gragas. I think Akali just didn’t realize how far I could really shoot her.
Thanks for tuning into the Kog’Maw Champion Spotlight. Get out there and get hungry, because it’s feeding time!