Welcome to my quick guide on the Patch 8.18 Vel'Koz build, as seen by TSM Bjergsen during the end of the 2018 NALCS Summer Split.
Play Video
While Vel'Koz isn't necessarily popular, this build introduces a very unique and fun playstyle to him that will leave your solo queue teammates in awe at how strong it is.

Glacial Augment isn't a rune you see everyday, but Vel'koz can work with it quite well. The slows help him land his kit of skillshots, and he has a good auto attack range to apply it.

But the key here... is the rune's interaction with active items. That slow is really powerful, and as you can see in this core build, Vel'Koz builds both GLP-800 and Twin Shadows to take use of it.



So if active items proc Glacial Augment's op ability, what better than to reduce active item CDR as much as we can! And we're gonna do it a ton... At max Ingenius Hunter stacks, you can have 40% active item CDR with this rune setup, which is absolutely bonkers.

Zhonya's Hourglass CD drops from 1̶2̶0̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶o̶n̶d̶s̶ to just 72 seconds

Hextech GLP-800's CD drops from 4̶0̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶o̶n̶d̶s̶ to just 24 seconds

Twin Shadows CD drops from 9̶0̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶o̶n̶d̶s̶ to just 54 seconds

Pros of this Build

- It is one of the most fun builds in the game right now that is simultaneously really strong and ranked worthy.
- It has a good mix of resources. A high damage output is there, but it also has a lot of useful utility to your team with slows.
- The skill gap to play it isn't very high.
- The champion isn't very popular, so he is likely to not be picked or banned.

Cons of this Build

- This build lacks a lot of AP found in Vel'Koz's standard build, so expect him to fall off later.
- He isn't necessarily the easiest champ to play, with very tough and unique skillshots.
- Your teammates might spam ping your runes and items.