Hello fellow summoners and welcome to my Viktor Guide.
In the following chapters I will deal with the Machine Herald, his Up's and Down's and why he is a very viable pick for your mid lane.

To make this clear: This is a guide and not an order. So you don't have to follow everything I said, you better try to adapt some things to find your own way of playing Viktor.
That said I'm just here to help you and not to order you!

So why would you play Viktor instead of other more popular champs like Brand, Morgana or Ahri?


You heard he is sooooooooooo UP, nobody plays him and your favorite streamer compares him to a caster minion Why would you risk your elo/why would you risk a ban to play this champ? (I seriously was about to get reported by a teammate when I picked him in champ select until he changed his mind when I was destroying the enemy team)

There are many answers on this:
- Viktor is maybe the best burst champion in the league, his best combo deals ridicolous damage and melts enemies in like 2 seconds
- People underestimate this champ, they laugh about the pick and switch into WTFBBQNERFPLS mode as soon as they get zoned and wrecked in midlane
- You like to burst down people with 2 Spells on a low cooldown? Like to see Vayne 2 hitted by your combo? That's Viktor for you!
- It should be motivating to learn a champ that is considered to be UP (HE ISN'T!!)

Pros:
- Incredible burst with E, Q and R
- Ult deals insane damage AND silences which is critical for casters
- W is great for escaping and ok for ganking because of it's double effect and AoE
- Can win teamfights easily with his ult and E poking
- Easy to zone, hard to get zoned
- High skill cap, very high rewarding champ
- Freaking shuffles and giggles when shooting laser


Cons:
- Easily ganked when W and ult are on CD
- Augment blocks 1 item slot
- Laser is buggy atm, can be invisible at some times
- Q missile speed is a bit slow

Runes are pretty much the general caster runes, except that I prefer to take MR per lvl glyphs for some resistance. (You can of course switch them with Ap glyphs if you prefer them)

Armor Seals are also possible for Viktor if you lane against a ranged AD champ or the new AD Bruiser/Assassin mid lane.

I also play with the standard caster masteries and a point into the buff utility to use blue longer. Blue on Viktor just rocks \m/

Manareg is important to be able to keep harasssing, while the CDR on Flash can save lives.

The new mastery Spellsword helps you to last-hit by giving you bonus damge with Autoattacks based on your AP, full Ap runes are saying thanks.

Spells for Viktor are easy to select:

You want to take and

You take Flash because it's the best spell in the meta and you benefit from it the most.
A flash into Hextech Ray combo can get you a kill from much afar while a flash and Arcane Storm or Gravity Field combo can change teamfights when you were late for the party.
Escapeability should be obvious.

You take Ignite because the damage will be very handy to win a trade or finishing off opponents that flashed away from you.
Late game it's also useful vs champs like Vladimir or Sion, or even against the Heal meta.

Skill Sequence

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This should be the skill sequence for all of your Viktor games.

Your ult should be maxed first. Insane damage on cast, frequent damage that goes where you please(!) and a critical silence should be convincing enough for you to give Arcane Storm a superior role in your sequence.

You want to max Hextech Ray afterwards because of it's INSANE damage, especially from level 5-9.
It's very easy to hit, has a fairly low cooldown, an awesome range and will allow you to zone your enemy with ease while they can't poke back in most cases. It also has it's uses as a farming tool but shouldn't be used too often because of the mana drain.

Next on the list is your Power Transfer which can be used offensively and defensively.
It's a nice addition if you can land it with your E and deals some pretty nice damage.
In fact it's THE trading tool for Viktor since it gives him a shield after hitting the enemy (Beware of the missile speed!)

Your Gravity Field should be maxed last as it's an utility spell you will only need for escaping, chasing or an effective CC in a teamfight.

Since Viktor is such a good burst caster my build contains items that give him much raw AP and MPen.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

This is a handy item you want to purchase if you have a hard time in lane or just need some more sustain. HP, AP and Manreg are more than welcome to assist you in harrassing and zoning.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Boots should be your sirst item that you want to get since it gives you the mobility to dodge skillshots and hit your own.
They will also be very helpful to esacpe ganks and assist your teammates e.g. for an early Drake fight.
Afterwards you evolve them into Sorcerer's Shoes asap.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Thank you, thank you, thank you Riot Games for releasing this item!
This item is probably the best one available for Viktor at the moment, since it synergises so well with Viktor. You get health, MPen and AP for obvious reasons, but the most remarkable effect is it's passive which provides Viktor an awesome DoT. In combination with the Augment: Death you can burn people for a whole lot of health! Since it's stats are also incredible for laning I tend to get this item prior to the Deathcap at the moment.


Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

The Deathcap will be the sceond "big" item you want to get. Viktor is one of the few champs that can utilize raw AP items more than sustain items like Rod of Ages.
Because we build Viktor as an AP burst champion you will love a Deathcap.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Next on your list is the Scepter which will do the deal as your only sustain item throughout the game (except you built a GA, BV or QS; see bottom of the chapter).
All of it's stats synergise so well with Viktor's kit.
The HP will be helpful for not getting facerolled while the AP will do it's job in giving you more burst potential.
The slow is the cheeky thing about it: Your W will slow even harder, you can slow with your E from a long distance and with your Arcane Storm -in combination with Rylai's- you get a moving slow, burst and silence that you can command.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Afterwards you want to grab a Void Staff so that you can shred the eventually built magic resistance of your enemies. With the MPen and AP it's a raw damage item for Viktor that supports his purpose of bursting very well. If getting focussed a lot by CC and attacks I tend to switch this item out for one of the items mentioned below.

Other viable choices!

vs vs vs



If the game is going pretty well for your team I would recommend buying Lich Bane for a hard burst with one of your autoattacks that can also be very useful to push towers.
It's also a good choice for some MS and additional Mres.

If you are getting focussed a lot and their team is more AD based (e.g. Brand, Graves, Gangplank, Olaf, Taric) you should build a Guardian Angel

If you are getting focussed a lot by spells and their team is full of AP champs (e.g Veigar, Maokai, Ezreal, Sona, Rumble) Banshee's Veil is the right item for you.

Zhonya's offers you sustain, tons of AP and a passive that can save lives.
If you are focussed first just pop the acitve to distract the enemy, survive their CC and counterattack afterwards.
This isn't only essential for your survival, it can also turn around teamfights by forcing the enemy to drain their CC/Ults since they want to pin you down quickly.

With the recent Season 3 update Riot also gave the players Upgrades for the Boots

However, for Viktor there are only two useful choices in my opinion:

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp


The Alacrity Enchantment gives Viktor additional Movement Speed which is very welcome due to his overall low MS.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp


The Homeguard Enchantment on the other hand transforms Viktor into the Human Torch for about the area in around your base. I find myself to buy this in close games where the speed to defend base towers or inhibitors fast enough is very important.

How to act in lane:

So there you go, you purchased your first item and pulled the blue buff if necessary, whats the next step?

Viktor is a champion who gains his strength from lane dominance--> You want to harrass and distract you renemy with your spells frequently since your combos hurt enemies very hard even in early levels.
If you do so you should be aware of the fact that Death Ray gets an optimal damage output after it's second level while Power Transfer hurts hard at level 1.


When you get your ult you want to keep up the poking strategy and maybe even bait them into a close range fight.
When they come close drop your ult and pwn them hard.
If you timed it well they won't even get off their spells due to your silence.

More information on specific laning can be found in the "know your enemy","comboing" and "zoning" chapters.


What your job is during teamfights:

During teamfights you want to stay back and poke the enemies with your Hextech Ray to avoid getting caught and still deal damage.
This works perfectly during "tower sieges" were you want to push an enemy tower while their team camps it.
After an initiation like an Ashe Enchanted Crystal Arrow or a Galio Idol of Durand you want to drop your ult and W immediately to prevent your team from countermeasures and deal a very high burst. Faceroll your keyboard afterwards.

Comboing with Viktor is one of the easiest aspects of playing him.

His combos are fairly easy to land, deal tons of damage and provide nice utility for either yourself and/or or your team:


+

Your Bread and Butter (BnB) will be your Hextech Ray + Power Transfer Combo.
You perform this combo at medium or long range by hitting Hextech Ray first while moving towards your enemy and hitting Power Transfer afterwards during your chase. After landing this combo you most likely want to retreat to refresh your cooldowns.
Repeat this when you get the chance, you will maybe even zone your enemy from early on with
it.
It's also possible to hit your Q first and hit E afterwards if you are at close range so that you can block probably incoming trading damage with the shield you gain.





+ +

This is your Advanced Combo that will kill enemies with 1%-60% percent HP in most of the cases. As in your BnB the sequence of the spells you hit can differ depending on the situation and range.

Tipp: If you drop your ult first you will silence your enemy, preventing him from using his own spells or flash for escaping or counterattacking!




+ + + +

Your overkill combo!
Formidable to burst down nearly any opponent in the midlane.
After landing your Hextech Ray you want to chase your opponent and maybe bait them into a close range fight. If they retreat to their tower, leave them and continue farming.
Poke in with your Hextech Ray again if you get the chance and if u are close enough this time, drop down your Gravity Field and immediately afterwards your Arcane Storm and Power Transfer.
If everything was well timed they will be stuck in your W and frequently get hit by your Ult. Also put Ignite on them if necessary to grab the kill.

Tipp: If your timing on the ult is very well they won't have the chance of flashing out of your Gravity Field before the stun hits them which will make it an almost guaranteed kiil. If they flash out and you can react fast enough, don't waste your ult and better keep it for the next attempt.

Zoning is a very important aspect of playing with Viktor.
If you are able to zone an enemy he won't be able to farm minions and therefore will lack game presence later on due to his bad itembuild.

More information on that is in this video (All rights go to it's creator) :
Play Video


Viktor seems to be made for the purpose of zoning as all of his skills provide a dangerous zone for your enemy.


Your Q is more like a psychological zone ability. Enemies will think twice of it before trying to trade with you, because they know that your shield is able to soak up an amount of damage they are about to deal. This is an easy way to scare opponents away and keeping them "psychological zoned"



Your W opens an AoE zone in which enemies can get slowed and stunned. This also works perfectly as a "psychological zone" since they will be very careful in closing the gap between you, because you could stun them and burst them afterwards.
This is even more cirtical if your jungler currently isn't visible for your enemy, as he might jump out of the dark every second. ( Nocturne, get it? :>)



Death Ray is your primary zoning tool. It offers a great range for constant poking by having a fair cooldown. Whenever you hit one of these, enemies will get more careful. Since of the superb damage you will be able to scare them away from farming and win your lane.



Your ult is of course the most feared zone you have to offer. Insane damage and an instant silence are in most cases enough to keep any caster on a distance.

Although Viktor is a pretty save laner he has some champions that will get him into trouble.

Champions that are missing in this list most likely didn't face me with Viktor so far, so that I can't tell anything about behavior. I will update it as soon as I encounter them.

In the following part I will explain you how to lane vs common midlane champions.
I will mark the champions Green for being an easy lane, Yellow for being a challenging lane and Red for being an unfavorable lane for Viktor




Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacesp Difficulty: Challenging

Spacespacespace Space Ahri vs Viktor is an even lane where both have a chance to win.
Space Your poking is definetely stronger than hers but as soon as she gets her Revolver it will be very hard Spacespacespace Spacespacespace to force her out of the lane with poking.
Space An early kill pre-Revolver, a full burst combo or an early gank by your jungler should win you the lane.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Tricks:
Spacespacespace - Force her to farm with her Q by harrassing her when she attempts to farm

Spacespacespace - Try to have some minions between you and her to avoid getting hit by Charm

Spacespacespace - Don't chase her when her ulti is up

Spacespacespace - If her Q isn't up or is missed you can easily trade with her with by using your BnB








Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace SpacespDifficulty: Assumingly Easy

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Didn't meet many decent Anivia players yet.
Space So far it worked for me to buy Boots first to dodge her stun and poke her frequently with your Death Space Ray pre 6. I suggest not to use your BnB here because her Combo hurts you pretty hard.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Tricks:

Spacespacespace - Don't get to close since her spells can make you very vulnerable to ganks

Spacespacespace - Drop Gravity Field on her Egg at the right time if you know you can't burst her down Spacespacespacesp before she is reincarnating

Spacespacespace - Definetely avoid standing between your minions, especially post 6

Spacespacespace - Check if her passive is up if you want to towerdive to avoid possibly dying for nothing






Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacesp Difficulty: Very easy

Space Spacespace Spacespacespace Very easy lane if you aren't getting too close.
Space Space She can do nothing against your poking and will b very often or eventually die in lane.
Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacesp Space Beware of ganks!

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Tricks:

Spacespacespace - Annie has nothing in her kit to counter your long range. Abuse that!

Spacespacespace - Avoid standing close to your minions to not get hit by an Incinerate

Spacespacespace - Don't engage on her if her stun is up. If there are rings around her, it is up!

Spacespacespace - Tibbers is similar to your ult, tell your team to spread out in teamfights to avoid taking an Spacespacespaces AoE stun and damage.

Spacespacespace - If you stay out of her range, she will have to use the stun in order to farm with her Q , or Spacespacespaces keep it and eventually lose cs.





Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacesp Difficulty: Challenging

Space Space Space Space A lane that is very dependent of your opponents skill level.
Space Space A decent Brand can get you in trouble while a not-so-decent is easy feed for you.
Space Definetely start with boots to dodge his Pillar and keep away from Minions that suffer under Brands Spacespacespacespacspace Passive as he might E them and deal damage to you.
Space Poke him with your combos whenever you can while not directly trading with him. If his passive procs Spacespacespacespacespace on you once you will always lose the trade.

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Tricks:

Spacespacespace - Use Power Transfer on minions to shield the DoT from his passive

Spacespacespace - Spread out if he uses his ultimate to avoid taking too much damage

Spacespacespace - Brand is a very skillshot-dependend champion, keep moving to reduce his damage output!





Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacesp Difficulty: Challenging


Spacespacesp Spacesp Spacespacespace Similar to the Brand matchup.
Spacespace Cassiopeia is an excellent harras and burst champion with incredibly strong DoT's
Space Spacespacespace In order to win your lane you have to buy Boots and keep moving Space Space Spacespacespacespacespacespaceto dodge her Q's that are spammable.
Space Don't trade with her too often, you might burst harder than she does, but she will outsustain you Spacespacespacespacespacesooner or later if you can't burst her down effectively

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Tricks:


Spacespacespace - Use your Q on minions to shield her posion


Spacespacespace - Counterharrass her pre-Revolver


Spacespacespace - If she Q'S you, you can harras with your laser while moving backwards




Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespace Difficulty: Hard



Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Sp The first very hard matchup for you.


Spacespacespace SpacespHe WILL come close to you there aren't many ways to deny that.
Space His E will allow him to dodge your skills with ease and he bursts higher than you if he hits enough W's.


Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Tricks:

Spacespacespace - Don't try to trade with him and get a point in Gravity Field at level 2 if necessary.

Spacespacespace - Do also Start with a Ring and try to put him under pressure with your E to scare him away Spacespacespaces from using his advantage.

Spacespacespace - You should also watch out for a hint that he's about to stomp you: As soon as he spacespacespaces activates his W (his rod will glow) you should back off and wait for it to go on cooldown.

Spacespacespace - If his attempts suceed you should always hit him with your Q first and maybe even max it Spacespacespaces first to shield his harrass and be even at close range





Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespace Difficulty: Hard


SpacespacespacespacespacespaceProbably the worst matchup you can get.
SpacespacespaceGalio stacks resistance to deal damage, an ability that is very bad for you.
Spacespacespacespace You won't likely be able to burst him down after he got his Chalice of Harmony.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Concentrate on farming, if you can get free damage it'S fine but don't waste your mana Spacespacespaces on senseless harassment.

Spacespacespace - Stay away from your minions to make him decide between harrass and farm

Spacespacespace - Don't trust your burst if he has got his Bulwark up

Spacespacespace - Stay at mid/long range, especially post 6!



Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespace Difficulty: Easy


Spacespacespacespacespacespacespacespace Very easy lane.
Spacespacespacespace Karthus lives by abusing his spamable Lay Waste to harrass or farm.

Space This shouldn't harm you too much if you keep moving and pressure him with your E as his health pool is Space very low.
Space But you shouldn't try to trade with him at close range since all his spells combined with his Wall will Space hurt you harder than you can hurt him.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Buy boots first and keep moving to avoid taking Q harrass

Spacespacespace - Stay away from your minions to make him decide between harrass and farm.

Spacespacespace - Don't close range trade since he will deal more damage due to his spammable spells

Spacespacespace - You can survive many of Karthus spells including Requiem
Spacespacespaces by using your Q shield on creeps

Spacespacespace - Don't stay in your lane when on low health to avoid being surprised by his Requiem





Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Space Difficulty: Challenging

Spacespacespacespace Probably the most popular AP Carry at the moment.
Space Katarina excels at harrassing and finishing off opponents due to her passive and non-cost spells.

Space Most likely she will throw a knife at you or your minions whenever possible.
Space If the knife hits you she will try to jump on you triggering it's passive mark and faceroll her keyboard Space before she retreats.
Space The lane is not that easy for you, because she can avoid your Death Ray harrass by simply jumping to Space a minion or even onto you, denying an effective use of your BnB (depends on the skill-level tho).
Space You can get the upper hand by hitting Death Rays out of her jump range or when it is is on cooldown Space to get her low. Once she is low she will think twice about whether to jump on you or not.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Retreat out of her range if a knife mark is cast on you

Spacespacespace - Try to hit your BnB when her jump has been used.

Spacespacespace - Don't think your shield can block katas damage effectively!

Spacespacespace - Your ult and W are formidable to interrupt her ult. Abuse them for easy kills when she Spacespacespace jumps you!

Spacespacespace - Tell your team to spread out in fights to prevent kata from dealing too much dmg with her Spacespacespace ult and to avoid her "cd-hopping" (passive cooldown refresh)




Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacesp Difficulty: Challenging


Spacespacespacespacespacespacespacesp Not your most favorable lane.

Space Kennen excels at sutaining and harrassing likewise and can be very hard to force out of the lane.
Space His Q and W hit you very hard and his ult is usually a guaranteed kill if you don't use Flash.
Spacespacespacespace Your goal should be to kill him pre-6 and pre-Revolver with your BnB.
Space Do at any cost not feed kennen, he is one of a few champs that can turn any teamfight around with Space their kit (like you) and he snowballs pretty hard.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Stay behind your minions to avoid taking too many Thundering Shuriken

Spacespacespace - Get out of Kennen's autoattack range if his W is charged

Spacespacespace - If he E's towards you post-6 it's a sign for either Q harrass or his ult. Drop your own ult in Spacespacespaces his tracks to grab a surprising and easy kill.

Spacespacespace - While he can't hit his skillshot through minions you are able to. Hextech Ray harass him Spacespacespaces to death!




Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespace Difficulty: Hard



Spacespacespacespace Spacespace Another offspring of the current meta.


Space Kha'Zix is comparable to the Talon matchup since his kit is pretty similar damage-wise.
Space He got a jump, a wave-clearing/healing-spell and of course his annoying single-target burst Q.
Space Kha'Zix mid became pretty popular recently and is a very strong counterpick to any champ, due to his Spacespacespacespacespace mobility and high single-target damage output.
Space His jump easily conquers Viktor's Death Ray range and own zone to render that type of gameplay Space utterly useless.
Space This is probably one of the few match-ups where Augment: Power has it's uses for more Spacespacespacespacespacespace surviveability against heavy burst.




Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Tricks:

Spacespacespace - Always stay close to a minion to avoid getting extra damage from being isolated

Spacespacespace - Poke with Rays from afar, very afar

Spacespacespace - Kha'zix's combo can get you killed at lvl 1-6 pretty easily

Spacespacespace - He hasn't got a silence so you can still react on his threats

Spacespacespace - Better waste the cd on Gravity Field if he jumps you instead of dying

Spacespacespace - Probably max Q first for more surviveability

Spacespacespace - An unfed Kha'Zix will counter himself, keep that in mind!






Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacesp Difficulty: Hard

Space A lane where you definetely shouldn't overextend, she will always burst harder than you.
Space Leblanc will use her Q into W combo at mid/close range for very high damage or W into Q for Spacespacespacespacespacespace medium damage at long range.
Spacespacespacespacespace Post-6 her combos will most likely get you killed instantly
Space However, Leblanc has big problems to scale into lategame without feed or a snowball item.
Spacespacespacespacespace Survive your lane and she will counter herself soon!

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Stay at long range and poke with your E

Spacespacespace - Better miss some cs than getting burst down by her Q+W combo

Spacespacespace - Probably go for an early Negatron Cloak

Spacespacespace - All in all you want to play pretty passive, but feel free to combo her if you get the chance




Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Sp Difficulty: Challenging/Special


Spacespacespacespace Not a hard lane but a lane where you can't play out your strenghts.
Space On the one hand Malzahar doesn't have much tools to harm you if you are smart enough to dodge his skillshots and stay away from creeps that suffer under Malefic Visions, on the other hand you won't be able to harrass him well enough post 5, because he can afk farm at that point with his E and Q.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Stay away from minions that suffer under Malefic Visions

Spacespacespace - Harrass him after Malefic Visions has been used and chase him with your E and Q

Spacespacespace - Farm as much as possible, while poking with your Death Ray

Spacespacespace - Call ss/mia asap if he is missing

Spacespacespace - Always move away from his Null Zone since it opens a space for Malza combos.



Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp Difficulty: Hard

Spacespacespacespacespacespacespacespace Hard lane for you.
Spacespacespace His shield will block your harrass and his pushing will hinder your farming.
Spacespace Try to avoid a confrontation when his shield is charged and focus on farming/call for a gank.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Stay at long range to farm and harrass safely

Spacespacespace - You can maybe catch him out of poistion when he's farming your/his wraiths

Spacespacespace - Without his shield he's squishy, with your ult used first you can burst him down, since he Spacespacespaces can't build up a shield due to the silence



Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp Difficulty: Challenging

Spacespacespace Morgana can easily outsustain most mids and excels at farming with her W
Space Her Shield is also able to counter all your CC and soak up damage like your Q is doing.
Space In the most cases she will try to bind you and put her W below you asap, maybe even ult+ignite you to Space finish you off.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Stay behind a minion to avoid getting binded while dodging her pool that is most likely Spacespacespaces used onto the caster minions

Spacespacespace - Don't use your ult or W when her shield is active

Spacespacespace - Shield yourself by hitting a creep if you are standing in her pool while walking out of it

Spacespacespace - You can easily beat her at close range if she misses her binding and doesn't have her ult Spacespacespaces up, feel free to chase her



Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Difficulty: Easy


Spacespacespacespacespacespacespacespace My favorite lane.
Space Ryze is a short-range caster with a weak early game and his Q as his longest ranged spell.
Spacespacespacespacespace Your kit practically utilizes all of ryze's weaknesses.
Space If he gets farm and kills he might buy an early Banshee's, completely wrecking your advantage.
Space Ryze is more like a lategame monster, don't give him too much space earlygame and you should be Space able to win in midgame before he gets scary.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Ryze can't do anything vs long range harrass

Spacespacespace - In early levels you can trade with your BnB due to his low damage output

Spacespacespace - Bait a close-range fight post-6 to kill him with your Overkill combo

Spacespacespace - Ward your lane, the jungler might camp you

Spacespacespace - Crush Ryze in early/midgame to give yourself an advantage, Ryze's mechanics will carry Spacespacespaces the Ryze player, regardless of how bad he is





Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespace Difficulty: Hard



Spacespacespacespace Spacespacespace Ouch..Talon hurts you...hard.


Spacespacespacespace SpacespTalon is basically THE counter for every Ap Carry.
Spacespacespacespacespace He got a silence/jump to prevent you from comboing and
Spacespacespacespacespace strong single target burst/wave-clearing spells.


Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Tricks:

Spacespacespace - Do at any cost stay out of Talon's Cutthroat range!

Spacespacespace - You can hit Death Rays out of his jump range


Spacespacespace - You can't trade with him at close range due to the silence, don't get fooled

Spacespacespace - If his attempts suceeded you can combo him while he is retreating (beware of his stealth- Spacespacespaces ultimate!)

Spacespacespace - Early ganking might give you the upper hand

Spacespacespace - You are at least equal in farming abilites, try to farm passively to become a threat later on

Spacespacespace - If you don't feed Talon you will ruin his purpose for being in this matchup, that should be Spacespacespaces your goal.








Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp Difficulty: Challenging

Space Veigar is a typical burst caster with the purpose to farm early game and very strong mid/late game.
Space He gets additional AP based on his Farm with his Baleful Strike, similar to Nasus Siphoning Strike.
SpaceThis is why you have to deny Veigars farm to shut his damage potential down and lower his Q stacks.
Space Fortunately Veigar isn't very good in trading damage or taking harrass, he lacks damage pre 6 and can't Spacespacespace harrass back effectively due to a low damage output and mana drain.
Space However, post-6 he has the abitlity to burst down nearly any caster except Galio and Ryze Spacespacespacespacespace with a full combo, while his AoE Stun can turn around teamfights.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - He needs to farm with his Q, by forcing him to trade with it, he will either lose mana or get Spacespacespaces zoned

Spacespacespace - Veigar lacks the damage to really hurt you pre-6, feel free to trade and harrass him Spacespacespaces frequently

Spacespacespace - Definetely keep him under pressure by zoning him (which is pretty easy) to shut his Spacespacespaces damage potential down

Spacespacespace - Post-6 you should just using your ray while comboing only when he is on low health

Spacespacespace - Definetely don't engage a close-range fight on your own, he will stun you and burst you in Spacespacespaces the matter of seconds


Spacespacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp

Spacespace Spacespacespace Spacespacesp Difficulty: Challenging

Spacespacespacespacespacespace A lane with some slight advantages for Viktor.

Space Vladimir has the ability to heal himself very quickly and has amazing sustain, especially as soon as he Space gets his revolver.
Space His pool can dodge all of your abilities and should be baited first before engaging on him.
Space Although Vlad's sustain is amzing it isn't going to win him the lane: since he can't do much against your Space BnB or E harrass, he will have to heal up on minions very often, leaving you undamaged.

Spacespacespace SpacespacespacespacespacespaceTricks:

Spacespacespace - Vlad's sustain isn't that remarkable pre-Revolver; an early kill on your own or with an Spacespacespaces early gank will win you the lane

Spacespacespace - Don't get too close! You might be able to outdamage and outsustain his Q with your BnB Spacespacespaces but if he lands an E you will lose the trade.

Spacespacespace - Don't towerdive a Vlad who has his pool up!!!

Spacespacespace - Back off if his ult is casted onto you, it won't just damage you, it will increase the damage Spacespacespaces that the whole enemy team will deal to you!

Many people who play Viktor aren't sure about the Augment they want to build and when you actually want to upgrade.

There are in fact 3 possible upgrades you can pick up for Viktor:



Augment: Power has the purpose to give Viktor additional tankiness and reminds me of a Catalyst the protector.
It's special effect offers Viktor a temporary speed boost after hitting an enemy with your Q.
I consider power to be the weakest augment you can get since the bonus stats are something AP Viktor doesnt benefit from too much.
The special effect might be handy to escape during ganks or chasing (e.g hitting Q on a minion to close some distance), but as your laning should be very safe you won't get into situations like this very often

Conclusion: Only worth buying when getting focussed by a ton of CC or when you aren't playing full AP Viktor
Can be viable against the AD Bruiser mid meta.



Augment: Gravity is a more viable option than power. It is THE laning item for Viktor since it provides CDR, Mana and Manreg.
It's special effect increases your cast range of Gravity Field which will make it much easier to land it as chasing tool. It can also be helpful to pressure enemies with CC over a wall or something similar to that. Although the stats may be nice and helpful for your laning I rarely build this item, because it's like a lantern for casters. It just keeps you in lane for a longer time and makes you able to come back after you fed your enemy.
Since I never really been in a situation like this with Viktor, this upgrade hasn't been used that often.

Conclusion:Viable option if the laning phase takes a major part in the game or if you fell behind in farm and/or kills. Not that useful for your mid/lategame damage tho.



In my opinion there isn't a better choice than Augment: Death. It offers decent AP and a pssive effect which will make your E like 30% more effective. This DoT can kill enemies like a free ignite and will make your pre-teamfight poking an outstanding damage tool. Since Viktor does his job best when building raw AP and MPen like a burst caster should do, you will find yourself in a good spot with this upgrade

Conclusion: Out of all augments Augment: Death prepares Viktor best for the mid and lategame and is a remarkable investment


So now you know what you want to build, when will you go for it?

I don't always upgrade it at the same point. In most of the cases it will be after my Crystal Scepter, because you will need survivability first before getting a second raw damage item.
If you are really fed and have a 80% chance that your enemy will feed you even more, you may want to get this after your Deathcap, because of the potential to wreck other lanes with some ganks.


You can sing this song all day long while playing him if you want ;) : Play Video All rights belong to it's owner

Probably my best Viktor game ever lol, i literally melted their squishies with 2 spells and their tanks too if one of those was my ult.


Even Ashe admits it :D (screenshot during the game from above.

Just a normal game i played recently

Feel free to send me your screenshots, I will publish them here!

Here is the place for people I want to thank for their help.

I want to thank FalseoGod for his advice and the first upvote this guide got. :)

Thanks to IceCreamy for reviewing my guide :)

Also a big thx to jhoijhoi for the Getting started guide that helped me a lot with formatting this guide and the line dividers I used here :)

But the biggest thanks go to you guys for all the upvotes this guide got so far! You are awesome! <3

31/05/2012 Corrected some spelling mistakes that I found, added Malzahar to the "knowing your enemy" chapter.
01/06/2012 Added Ryze to the "knowing your enemy" chapter. Added 2 new screenshots of my games.
03/06/2012 Guide hits 4th place out of all Viktor guides. Added the comboing chapter to the guide.
08/06/2012 Guide hits 3rd place woopwoop. Updating the laning section soon to make it more in-depth.
10/06/2012 Disabled comment to vote function since the guide is pretty much stuck at the moment
13/06/2012 Changed the build, I tested it quite often now and I agree that boots are a better start vs most casters. Finally finished the new laning against section!!! Also formatted some stuff and uploaded a new screenshot.
15/07/2012 Changed the name of the guide to make it fit better to the Burst Viktor theme my guide has. Corrected some minor spelling mistakes and other things.
11/09/2012 Huh, it's been a while, tweaked some things
30/12/2012 Finally finished the Season 3 update!!
Space - Added new items to the itembuild and explanation.
Space - Added Katarina, Talon and Kha'Zix to the laning section.
Space - Fixed spelling and causality mistakes I found.

Viktor is a hell of a carry in the right hands, high skill cap, but sooooo rewarding
Viktor definetely isn't UP, but don't spread the word so that Viktor can be enjoyed by a few mass of players instead of being FoTM
You can't play Viktor in the jungle with a Trinity Force to deal


Thx for reading my Guide, I would be be really happy about Upvotes, comments and constructive critizism. Please also keep in mind that I'm not a native English speaker and I tried hard to keep the Guide clean of mistakes.

Best Regards

Summert1me