Every take the time to thank Rudolph for some of the information here. Check out his mid lane guide! its great, and well thought out! Thanks Rudolph.

Vel'koz has some great potential in mid lane, although he dominates the jungle. I am currently Plat 4 on NA and still working out the kinks with him. I hope you enjoy my guide! This still works! and its patch 4.8!

Thanks! - 503

Pros
~~~~
+ Really good ganks
+ Great CC
+ Massive DMG spike
+ Post 7 fast clear time
+ Scales extremely well
+ Strong poke late game
+ High burst with his passive
+ Great AP ratios.
+ High risk, High reward
+ YOU CAN SHOOT LASERS, DUH!
Cons
~~~~
- Easily counter jungled
- Hard to master
- Slow clear time pre 7
- Considered a troll pick :(
- Very slow MMS
- Long cooldowns
- Easily killed with gap closers

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: Having 9 of these will give you a total of +7.8 flat magic penetration. This increases your early game damage while ganking by a large margin, also these will help a ton late game.
Greater Seal of Armor: Vel'koz is extremely Squishy, and these allow you to take a few more hits while in the jungle, increasing your sustain and survivability.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: These scaling runes will benefit you by giving you great scaling till the end of the game, rather then using flat AP runes.
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: Just these runes alone give 15+ AP at the start. These runes help A LOT during the early game. Always take them.

1. Machete, 5 HP Pots, Warding Trinket
(Goal is to rush Spectral wraith.)
2. Boots
(The added MMS helps Vel'koz a TON.)
3. Athens
(This allows him to farm jungle with out blue.)
4. Rabadons
(Adds huge DMG.)
5. Void Staff
(Allows you to hit through MR.)
6. Liandry's Torment
(Lets you easily kill those HP tanks.)

Your main goal is to make it to level 7 ASAP. After that its easy mode in the jungle.

JUNGLE PATH
~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Blue buff
2. Gank top (Optional)
3. Red buff
4. Go back and buy Spirt Stone (Optional, But will help with early clearing)
5. Wraiths
6. Wolves
7. Wright Wraith
8. Gank any lane with an over extended player
9. Repeat

Your team plays a big part on jungle Vel. Starting the game out: You have to make it clear to you team members that you need people to watch for an invade. If you were to be invaded, head straight to their Blue/Red with bot lane.

1. Machete, Pot 5, Yellow Trinket
(Goal is to rush Spectral wraith.)
2. Boots
(The added MMS helps Vel'koz a TON.)
3. Athens
(This allows him to farm jungle with out blue.)
4. Rabadons
(Adds huge DMG.)
5. Void Staff
(Allows you to hit through MR.)
6. Liandry's Torment
(Lets you easily kill those HP tanks.)

More In depth on those games

Xin Zhao - 8
The only thing you can do is farm, and ward your jungle. He will counter jungle you
nearly every game. Give your mid laner a heads up before the game starts and hope he
helps you. DO NOT FIGHT HIM 1V1 WITHOUT BEING FED!

I've found that ranking up W(Void Rift) second allows Vel'koz to effectively clear camps with the AOE and true damage stacks. Not to mention it decreases the cooldown rate of the stacking charges, allowing better clear. If hit by both instances of damage, Void Rift applies 2 stacks of Vel'koz's passive(Organic Deconstruction.)

Maxing out Q(Plasma Fission) first is ideal because of the really strong slow, as well as its high damage output while ganking into a lane. It has a decent cooldown time that becomes incredibly short once some cooldown reduction is added. Plasma Fission is also able to be shot around minions if aimed properly allowing for some high skill plays. I choose to max out E(Tectonic Disruption) last because the only difference between levels is a minor increase in damage and reduction in cooldown.

Any time you are able to put a point into your R(Life Form Disintegration Ray). Over the full duration it can apply 5 stacks of Organic Deconstruction. Knocking them up with Tectonic Disruption and then using Life Form Disintegration Ray is enough to activate Organic Deconstruction twice, causing devastating damage.

The early game is the overall weakness of Vel'Koz in the jungle. If he gets denied his first blue, he has a hard time getting rolling. Getting the Red buff stolen is not a real problem for you, but still not what you want to happen. Ask your teammates to cover your buffs ( with trinket).

Your main goal is to put out the pressure early on the laners. Trying to obtain as much gold for the Spectral, so your clear is very strong. Once you got Spectral, never let it stack on 80 gold, this is a huge problem. Conservation is one of the most op things about Spectral, other then the scaling ap.

Once you got Spectral, never let it stack on 80 gold, this is a huge problem. Conservation is one of the most op things about Spectral, other then the scaling ap.

Focus on objectives, pushing enemies out of lane, to ensure you don't get picked off too often and give the enemy team an unnecessary advantage. Try to transition your early advantage, you hopefully got, into an mid game lead.

In late game your damage spikes best. Learn how to position in team fights as a AP carry and BURN ALL WITH YOUR LASERS!