Hello! I am Brad Jr. and this is my guide on Viego Jungle. Keep in my mind that I am by no means a master of this champion, but I do have some knowledge of him, as I achieved Gold 4 on the EUNE server, with a relatively high win rate. I have been playing Viego since season 12, I picked him up because he was cool and edgy and had a Pentakill skin (that I now own thanks to the Mobafire giveaways <3)

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With this guide, I aim to explain the playstyle of Viego in a way that most people can understand.

Why Viego? Viego is one of the most skilled champions, because of his passive, Sovereign's Domination , which allows him to take hold of an enemy champion and use their abilities for a short duration. The outplay potential of this champion is unlimited for this reason. If you are a confident player looking for a champion to carry games with, this is a great choice.

Viego is a hypercarry. That means he is equipped to handle the game on his own, no matter the situation, if you are skilled enough. Being mechanically skilled and having a good understanding of the game and its champions is essential to playing Viego well.

It's important to learn the ropes of this champion before hopping on ranked. Don't be discouraged if you are not very good mechanically, as you can still outplay opponents through good macro, especially in low ELO. With time, you will be able to combo well enough to carry games just through mechanics.

Viego is really good even when behind, unlike most other champions. Due to his outplay potential and high burst, you can turn around teamfights if you play correctly. Try not to tilt if you get invaded and lose the early game, as you can out-scale most of the time.

You can only really gank lanes if the enemy is on your side of the map (past the halfway point/in your tower) because of this, full-clearing is your best option in low ELO.

You should save your E and not use it on camps too often. With its long cooldown, your E is a bit wasted when using it on camps, as you can't do two at a time anymore, due to the Season 13 Jungle changes. The only time you should use it is when you want to recall immediately after.

Vision is very important when playing Viego. Denying vision from common E spots with Red Trinket is vital to securing kills and objectives. Don't be afraid to ask your teammates for wards, especially your support! Most low ELO supports are auto-filled, and will forget that they have wards available on their support item.

I will be using different shades of colors to help you differentiate between the level sections and improve your memory.

Viego's level 1 is quite unique because he does have some damage because of his Q, which has a 5-second cooldown while also providing Viego with some on-hit damage. Not only that, but he can take enemy clones to take their ability. Because of this, invading or preparing for invades as Viego takes a lot of strategic planning to execute correctly. You have to think about enemy CC, how long you can last with Conqueror+Q healing, how good enemy clones are and what they would do for your team and so much more.

As soon as you get to level 3, you have 2 options:
1)Put another point in Q and full clear (safe option). Putting a point in Q allows you to clear faster than taking E. This is a great choice when you either can't counter gank or your nearby teammate pushed the wave (mid or lane you are pathing to). If you are unsure whether a gank would work or not, it's usually safer to just full clear.
2)Take E if you are planning to gank (riskier option). Taking E will slow down your clear speed, but The movement and attack speed it provides when ganking/fighting is insane in the early game. When ganking, use it on a wall as soon as you think the enemy is able to see you (keep in mind that you could be out of vision when facing a wall they can't see). From there, think about your W. Does the enemy have a dash? How do we counter it? Can they react fast enough to dodge the stun?

At these levels, Viego is weaker compared to other champions, as his cooldowns are a little too high to fight consistently. Most of the time, you will want to farm until level 6, unless safe gank opportunities pop up. If a teamfight is ever forced, never be the one to engage first. Wait for a tank or CC to go in. Only contest Drake if the enemy jungle is topside and no one can come to stop you easily.

Level 6 is a huge power spike for Viego, as he obtains his ultimate, Heartbreaker. Because his ultimate gets a free reset for every kill, it is essential to start ganking and contesting objectives as soon as possible. Taking clones for the ultimate reset is absolutely essential to playing this champion. Focusing the lowest health target is usually the way you will play teamfights, especially earlier in the game.

Levels 6-11 (mid-game)

Viego's mid-game is slightly better than average in most games while being very strong in others. This is because the enemy can easily mess up and allow Viego to kill and clone targets one by one. Most people in low ELO think they are invincible if they are fed, so if someone ever engages when they shouldn't (ex. when low or squishy) feel free to punish them. Concentrating in teamfights and identifying good clone targets is essential to winning the mid-game. For example, a fed Pantheon might try to go first in a teamfight, thinking the can save himself using E. If you ever kill him, it is very easy to get to his team and ace them quickly.

Viego's late-game is usually strong, but it depends heavily on both allied and enemy team comps. As he is very vulnerable to CC, he wants someone else to engage for him most of the time, that person usually being a tank. In teamfights, you should be behind your tank/engage, but still at least a little ahead of the rest of the team (except maybe bruisers who will push with the engage). If your tank ever engages, engage with them (assuming it's a fair fight). Usually, you want to focus whoever your team focuses (preferably ADCs) but if they don't play the fight right or focus incorrectly you can try to one-shot a priority target, as that's the only way you can really turn the fight around.

Viego's end-game is interesting, as he practically has infinite power due to Sovereign's Domination . Getting a clone in the late-game can be hit or miss, but if you ever get someone with powerful scaling (Kassadin, Kayle, Veigar) you are able to carry the game all by yourself. You need to be very careful in teamfights, as you will usually be the carry. Make use of the invincibility on your passive to stall teamfights. Buy tenacity/guardian angel if you need it, even if you sacrifice damage. Don't be scared to use your ultimate to push targets away, especially if you can get a reset off easily. Use your E as often as you can, and don't hold it for the attack speed unless you need to kill tanks.

Viego's ganking power comes from his high burst combo and his incredible sustain in extended fights. His Harrowed Path allows him to stay hidden and confuse enemies whenever he is about to engage. Ganking as Viego usually follows a simple pattern, you E in, get closer, charge W, hit it, auto>Q>auto, and maybe ult. This pattern will be good for most of your ganks, but make sure to not use it all the time (don't use it against high armor tanks, burst mages with CC, or anyone tanky and mobile enough to escape the ultimate). Think before you gank!

When it comes to your first clear, you generally want to path towards the lane you want to gank first, starting bot lane for a gank top and vice-versa. If you are unsure what lane you want to gank first, you should think about movement. Which lane has the most allied CC and the least enemy mobility? Even if the enemy has a lot of damage, it is quite hard for you to die on an early gank even if it's a 2v1 or 3v2.

If you can't gank early, or you're not confident that it will work out, you can put another point into Q, as this will allow for a faster full clear. Otherwise, take E.

When ganking, you should be first looking at what the enemy is doing and then what your teammate is doing. If the enemy uses important cooldowns/is immobile, you should try to E closer to their tower. Otherwise, E closest to their current position. Be patient about using your W, if the enemy has any way to stop it (excluding flash) then you shouldn't use it as soon as you get out of E. If your ally has better CC, you should wait for them to use it first.

Viego's teamfight power is immensely underrated, as his passive and his ultimate resets are way more devastating than people think no matter the circumstances. In 95% of teamfights, you should fall into three categories:

Hard carry: As a hard carry, your job is to literally 1v5 the teamfight. You will fall into this role if your team can hardly deal damage and doesn't have much utility to give you. If your team comp is made up of mostly mages, assassins, and ADCs, with none of them fed, you will usually be here. As a hard carry, you should build only as much damage as you need and any defensive items that will help you. In teamfights, position yourself out of reach from the enemy, and wait for an enemy to be low. When they are low push in with your entire team and take clones as soon as you get them. This will allow you to get a chain of healing and invulnerability that will help you win against the odds.

Damage carry: Playing teamfights as the damage carry is pretty straightforward: deal as much damage as possible while staying alive. Given Viego's nature of getting a lot of sustain when fighting, it is pretty easy to stay alive, but your damage might be limited if you don't build correctly. In teamfights, you should wait for your team to engage, especially if they have hard CC, and engage only after them.

Fighter: As a fighter, you want to play every fight reactively. Based on multiple circumstances, like enemy HP, enemy items and level, CC, and mobility, you will have to either engage first or alongside your tank. Your priority is not necessarily to stay alive, but to ensure the teamfight is won, no matter the cost.

Debatable, but this is generally the placement for most champs, assuming you are decently skilled on all of them.

Thank you very much for reading this guide! I hope you learned something new from this, or at least confirmed and set some information about Viego.

I might start a Twitch channel sometime this summer, so stay tuned for that ;)

Peace out!