Lane Viego? in 2023?

Hi, I started runing Viego mid about a month ago and have found huge success!(I sadly do not know how to embed images but I have a 59% win rate with 150 games played. 63% wr against Ahri, 57% against Veigar, 83% against Qiyana, 66% against Yone and Zed).Heres a link to the screenshot I think

theres a ton of genuine reasons to running Viego mid and here are mine.

jungle meta beats viego up

Viego currently is very weak in the jungle, not because hes necessarily bad but because the JG meta is broken. he has a solid 15+ +3% wr counters against him, and theres several champs that out farm him, out scale him, out dmg him and out gank him, making it very hard to play him jg unless hes very fed. The matchups in mid are much easier because he can use his abilities to win rather just to do dmg, and his already good versatility for builds and outplays are even higher in mid.

early game and power spikes

His early game is very often stronger than most of the champs hes up against, and his lvl 6 powerspike as well. the damage and range on his Q are insane, and his W is an excellent form of CC with his AA comboing on w and q that can out dmg most champs early game. His E has great gank setups, as well as mind****ing the enemy.
Viego has really good early game (in comparison to mid laners lol) as well as a very strong lategame making him a really good pick that is also surpringly hard to counter in game. With the meta being more currently focused on tanks and ADC, having a variable mid laner instead of a generic pick that fiddles around mid all game can help win games.

menacing roaming

He also has phenomenal roam potential. More on this later but you can feasibly leave lane in mid to late game and act as a second jungler almost constantly to add more pressure on lanes, objectives, as well as prevent champs from scaling to late game all while retaining your own power. Viego doesnt need to sit in lane constantly to hit full power. Contesting objectives also becomes very easy, even solo later on.

great teamfighting and unexpected split pushing

Finally, his teamfighting abilities has the potential to turn the game around at any point with his reset mechanisms because he has better chances to sustain himself in them. When taking high stakes objectives from the enemy (like baron where you can go in do dmg ult then keep going), this is useful and less dangerous than it is for everyone else. His split push potential is also decent because late game viego does good damage to turrets, and its both unexpected and safer to do (hide and escape in E). Most people would question this and point out a bunch of downfalls to running Viego mid. "he cant compete against mages!!! he cant escape!!! hes squishy!!" all valid concerns and all with solutions that help him stay extremely powerful. I have a 54% overall winrate on Viego mid, and its super fun and rewarding, especially when you carry a team. Into the how!

This guide will go in this order.

1) Laning
2) Roaming and Objectives
3) Ganks/Jungling
4) Vision
5) Powerspikes
6)Items
7) Late game
8) ****ty matchups
9) Last thoughts

OVERVIEW AND TIPS

Laning is arguably the most difficult and important phase for lane Viego. While other mid champs have easier clears almost all of the time, you have to put a bit more consious effort to lane successfully. You also level slightly slower even when ahead in CS compared to some, which is why its even more important for you to lane most efficiently. For the first wave, dont forget your wards, and dont push up. playing aggro without your lvl 2 powerspike and ability to stun someone is dangerous and asking for an early gank. You should aim to get every minion on the first wave.

Also keep in mind, enemy jg may or may not camp your lane because people do that to off meta picks (aphelios mid player here), but preventing being ganked is really easy and I have the ungankable title on porofessor for a reason. Having map awareness and keeping vision up is important as it is for any mid laner, but so is knowing the type of jungler the enemy has. Even aggro or gank centric junglers will likely be behind a level or two compared to you in lane, meaning youre actually more powerful than the enemy jungler at this point. Engaging in a 2v2 with your jg early game is almost always favored to your side and if you can get your jg to go in on it with you (which is likley to happen because many laners aggress lane viego and push up making it optimal for a gank) you can snowball early 9/10 games. Putting pressure on the enemy jg will be covered more in depth later on.

Using Q

Viego Q has insane range for a melee (?) weapon, one of the longest ones IIRC, and therefore you should use this to poke minions that are low and further away. His Q also hits anything behind minions so you can also use it as a poke tool against any laner thats pushing up your wave a little too close. it also does a decent amount of damage, keep this in mind for champs that are damaged by minions early on (I cant remember who but there are some champs who are much softer early game), because this is a scenario where you can either poke to make them need to play passive/recall or go aggro to score an early kill. The trade potential is super high with the range and often when csing, you can poke the enemy and do some dmg while also farming esp with the AA comboing after using q.

The most important mechanism to take advantage of is the AA comboing that comes with his Q and W. Mostly for Q because W is only used to farm in emergency situations. Using your Q on a wave of minions to get them decently low and then AAing the lowest one is an extremely efficient way of getting in minions and quickly last hitting when you need to. Its important to be mindful of how you farm without your Q up because just your aa is not efficient at all, and can also result in your minions killing the wave. i wouldnt reccomend AA farming minions until your minions do the work and then doing so, but at this point you should be able to have Q up again and clear an entire wave with it (once again, the range is insane). Never save your Q for potential skirmishes during laning. your farm is EXTREMELY inefficient compared to multiple laners and you almost always will be behind in CS unless youre really good or theyre really bad. Your wave management needs to be good so you can stay in the game.

The offset for Viegos slow laning is that his powerspikes are generally better than the laners for the same one. His level 4 is better than most LVL 4s imo, and the same can be said for 5 and 6. your LVL 2 is very powerful because of the 2 extra quick AA potential if you go in on an enemy while theyre restricted to their 2 spells and AAing after. Once you start leveling Q again (Which should be your lvl 4 and 5 unless you intend on playing more aggro and take W instead) your ability to clear waves gets much better. same as well as you get your first item (BORK) and boots but thats past the laning phase so more on that later.

Despite your weakness in CSing, its still important to back as soon as you can to get VAMPIRIC SCEPTER to build into BORK. When you back isnt super important unless theres a low wave near you, but whenever youre ahead of your enemy in CS, theres minions that are pre 1st turret on your side. back. Rushing BORK is more important than getting a few CS in the long run because at this point objective contestion is coming up soon and youll want to have BORK at that point. Your time to get BORK should be around 13 minutes, unless youre fed and you can get it at 10. Unless your JG is actively preparing for an objective (or you have vision on them and the enemy isnt there), continue laning. Though roaming is super important on lane viego, you dont need to do it early unless you have a very difficult lane matchup

USING W

Using Viegos W during laning is arguably his most important mechanism. Viego doesnt have the escapability of an assassin but also doesnt have the sustain of a fighter, so you have to get creative with disengaging quickly after getting a risky CS/poke harass. This is where you use W as a quick dash because its range is good enough to get away from any ability. You might want to practice this mechanism because you have to do it quickly instead of charging. You either dash backwards or forwards depending on the matchup but you dash to the side almost everytime.

Example, dash out of lux Q, veigar bubble magic thing (not the cage), dash to the side from varus Q or R, and dash backward against akali or yone knife/slashes.

A good rule honestly if theyre ranged or CC based, dash to the side or "outward" and if theyre an assassin/AD like irelia, yas yone amd kat (idc if shes ap), dash backward to avoid their melee abilities. The enemy never expects this and you can dodge almost every single skill shot thats thrown at you, leaving you able to stay safely away or go back and engage with q now that theyve wasted some ability.

The W is also very good for escaping ganks when youre pushing turret when your enemy laner is dead/recalling. The enemy junlger will take you under tower and when you dash away it gives you more time to run away (LOL).

W also synergizes best with flash, defensively and offensively as with jungle Viego. you can either aggress by fully charging W at a running enemy then flashing into them, or you can W dash then flash away from say, the enemy jungler in the turret scenario. Use flash defensively with W anytime you are in a slightly stickier situation, you should aim to have one or less death before taking an objective. Flash is there to keep you safe, and you should use it accordingly. dont be hesitant to use your W whenevr youre in danger, and you can play more aggrow when its up (shoving a wave, getting a risky canon minion, etc) because its a very reliable escape method comparable to Ahri dash. The dash almost always moves you out of range before the utility they throw at you hits/damages you with some exception so you do have some leeway.

It is important to know when to use dash because while you should be liberal in using it to escape scenarios, you also shouldnt use it randomly. A good rule of thumb when to use it is
-when you dont have wards for some reason, the enemy is missing and youre getting minions, dash back
-when youre last hitting turret right after your minion dies, w escape
-when youre hitting turret and you are worried about a gank
- when you want to hit a minion/canon thats further out hit then dash back
-when enemy laner is throwing util at you, dash away or dash out

when NOT to use w
-when you know the enemy laner recalled and youre taking wave
-when your vision is good around you, only w if the jungler is approaching in sight
-just because
-when the enemy laner hasnt been aggressing you

use your common sense and observe the enemy laners habits. I have an app that also tells me more about their playstyle, but its important to observe how they take minons, their positioning and how much pressure it takes to make them fall back. More on that later.

In the end, its important to use game sense when using W. Your W is an incredibly versatile tool both to dash away and use against your enemies, and the versatility is surprising to your enemy and will give you an edge. practicing this mechanic, and then learning to use E with W will allow you to survive almost every laning encounter.

How to use E

E is more versatile in lane than it is in jg. instead of being used to primarily gank and sometimes escape, your E has several uses in lane including

-getting minions quicker during farming
- going invisible to set up a gank or a 1v1
- escape by going invisible (they almost always miss their random skillshots that they hope will hit you or youre relatively safe and invisible whilst stunned etc
-psychologically tricking your enemy and sneaking off to do drag/gank/etc so they cant see you leave in the jg.
-reposition yourself to better optimize surviving situations
-very good for attack speed on the turrets when you quickly need to get plating off a turret.

So obviously E isnt as important for early game escapability than W but its pretty good because you can CS much safer and if your opponent is preventing your farm, its a good fix. When using E to reposition, keep it variable (back, side, into jg) so they cant prefire you. The psychology behind playing Viego mid is something Ill cover more in depth later on.

Use E to CS quicker, but take time to get used to the extra attack speed. This is really good for when there is a low HP wave but its risky to all in, putting down E, grabbing CS, then backing away and going invis is super efficient with little risk that can be further mitigated by using W if needed. Remember that the enemy cannot see you when youre in the smoke, and you can take advantage of their confusion to aggress if theyre low as well (even if they nerfed the w>e hide trick, try to think about where the enemy expects you to come from vs where you can. using flash to further spice up surprise also works if you want to take a more aggresive laning stance).

Setting up a gank is self explanatory, using E to keep the enemy guessing on where youre at (usually they wont back off from E, and if they do you dont even need to assist a gank because youll snowball quicker than your enemy will) and you can both jump out.

Using E as an escape method combined with W is also good in clutch situations, like when youre being ganked. W into E immediatley and going invis is failsafe most of the time, as most cannot compare to the extra movement speed you gain in addition to the gap closed by your dash (and flash if necessary). overall your escapability options are great, and function similarly to a werid combo of a worse ahri dash and a better akali smoke.

Once again, E can be used to psch out the enemy as well. Mid roamers can be really important to taking objectives (in my opinion, better than the bot to leave and help), but the biggest problem with the length of the mid lane is that the enemy laner can just see and follow you, and often when you leave they will too. I find that when I E into the river entrance (like I normally do when I use E to CS) and leave, the enemy laner assumes I recalled or something, and is much less likely to follow up to check if objectives are taken. I am unsure how this will function in higher elo where people are actually smart about warding and such, but it still works in some higher levels because people dont expect viego mid, thus dont expect this trick. More on this in the roaming chapter, but Viego E is very good for quickly taking and contesting objectives because of the invis and the movement speed, and less expected because youre not the jungler.

Repositioning is a given but the ability to go invis then reappear whenever you want is pretty op and will lead you to survive situations that most normal champs wouldnt be able to (once again with the speed stats as well), and you can outtrade most opponents if you play your positioning smart enough with the E.

The turret is a given and ties in with escapability, your AA is faster which means more dmg to turrets which means more plating. Its up to you to choose your playstyle of pushing lane vs wandering (I have abmyssal damage to turrets but my KP and TF participation is obscenely high) but whenever you have the chance to take plating, you can do so quicker than most and have the benefit of being able to invis and rush away when the enemy jg comes to gank you when they see you eating turret plates. This especially matters when its late game if you split push because stacked damage on Viego combined with the upgraded E and the attack speed helps you melt through turrets at a surprisingly high rate that again, most people wont expect. (this also makes him an alright niche top pick but still not as good as mid imo0. THIS also applies to quickly contesting and or stealing objectives.

Overall E has most of its usage in survivability and laning situations rather than roaming otherwise, but is extremely versatile and unexpected when used and you should take full advantage of it and the element of surprise you gain when using it.

How to use R

Honestly mostly self explanatory, with the exception that your ult can more often be used to escape fights. since R can go over walls, if youre being chased down by someone whose trying to get fed, use your ult to escape over a wall. its worth the cooldown if they dont get the kill, even better if either a turret or a teammate shuts them down after they wander too deep in. Rest of ult usage is standard, try to use it as a finishing move to execute last enemies because it synergizes with last stand runes, unless youre poessing a ****ty/squishy character (im thinking healing supports), then just ult into the lowest enemy and pray you can out sustain the team fight when you focus them and then keep going. play selfishly, playing passiver until you know you can get a reset before dying. Id say an important thing to note is that on mid viego you WILl stack ***sists more often than kills, 20+ range because you get ksed often if your ult is timed slightly too early or too late but it doesnt matter a ton because every assist is another ult and health portioned gained. I also think your lvl 6 powerspike is alot better than most mid laners (think like lux) so if you arent actively roaming and teamfighting at this point you can attempt to aggress lane with ult.

final thoughts

Just remember to CS and to practice doing it. csing on lane viego is HARD and you have to time it correctly and fully make use of the AA combos to do so efficiently. you can CS perfectly and youll still likely be outcsed by your enemy unless they suck really bad, and thats ok. you still are extremely powerful mid and late game if you play it right, ive had games where I go 16/1/14 with 100 or less CS in a 30 minute game. unless your laner is a farming scaling champ, it is okay to be behind in CS. use your spells and their unpredictability to your advantage, and remember what buffs they give you.

The important part

if not the biggest positive of mid Viego is his roaming potential. because he is primarily a jungler, his kit allows for very good gank potential mid game. he snowballs extremely hard, eats ADCs alive, and his lvl 6 powerspike is perfect for taking objective based team fights. his E gives decent movespeed. Hes not talon levels of good roaming but easily top 5 in my opinion. During ganks his W can now be used offensively, as well as his E to dive enemies that are running away, and then his reset mechanic is perfect for transitioning into teamfights as well.

roaming (and some objectives)

Roaming on Viego really depends on how you play laning phase and personal preference. Those with better farm can rush BORK faster and go into dueling quicker if they wish, or you can choose to hold lane and keep battling minions to get another item powerspike (BORK SB powerspike is decent). The biggest key to understanding when to roam is understanding Viegos powerspikes in lane in comparison to the enemy laner and jungler.

In lane, you get your Lvl 6 later than your enemy laner but much quicker than the enemy jungler. At lvl 6 you should be close to completeing BORK rush, and it should be done if you scored a kill (especially on your laner because you gain CS and maybe plating because of it). At this point, you are at one of the strongest points of your early game, and first drag should be available to take and you should do so. Viego clears the enemy jungler with his ult and first item spike because hes ahead on them and not competing as a jungler, meaning you win almost every matchup with some exceptions. With your jungler and possibly a supp there, it should be an easy contestion/taken dragon. Even with just you and the jg there, you should have an edge (taking out the jg, reset then get the laner). This first contestion marks the beginning of roaming and yoru snowball. After this you have the option to gank or double gank bot lane and get some picks, or CS a little more to get your second item/ take plating. I personally have a bad habit of completely abandoning lane by 15 min on viego, because low elo is braindead and wont take advantage of me not being there to eat turrets. SIde note, if your laner does have brains and tries to take turret while youre roaming, you can punish them pretty easily as they push up, scoring another frag. As you keep CSing, you can pretty much hit bot/ double gank with wherever the JG is whenever you feel like it. This adds EXTREME lane pressure on the enemy, makes it riskier for the enemy jg (all out teamfights where you HAVE to go in are inherently risky for the team not initiating), and keeps the most inflating and op lane in check (ADC lol). Using this to prevent snowballing, prevent turret pushes, and keep the enemy jg vigilant gives you map control, and therefore an advantage. I would say keep away from top in solo ganking because most top laners will out heal, out sustain, out dmg you and you will not win that matchup unless your top laner helps you a lot (which they never do). You can generally always gank bot solo unless theres a Morgana in which case you might have some trouble but still should win, but never gank top without coordination and/or your jungler in tandem.

At this point, depending on the ratio of farming vs roaming, you can also place deep wards and raid enemy jg camps to help your jungler by preventing the enemies farms while giving yourself money. As your build progresses, if you notice there is more teamfighting, try to pick up on csing. if you get your second item before everyone else, youre ahead and can win most teamfights and even carry them. if youre even, you should be wary and act with the same mindset as jg viego- youre squishy, so you go in after everyone else does and get your reset. This is why snowballing early even if its just by a little will help you later on, because you will be able to collect gold off teamfights and get even more ahead, cycling away

By mid to late game, you can either all out in teamfights ot get resets and get to full build or roam self servingly (enemy jg camps, turrets, etc). You should aim to get full build quicker than everyone else, thats the point of roaming is to encourage your snowball faster than theirs and then using that advantage to keep them shut down durnig teamfights and larger objectives like baron.

In mid to late game, you can also start soloing objectives. without smite its risky, but the enemy is much less likely to assume someone is soloing drag if they see your jg on the map. I wouldnt solo baron but duoing it relatively quickly is possible. You should aim to do as much damage and add overall pressure to the game, whether it be by split pushing turrets, taking objectives, denying farm or taking over teamfights because youre very likely to win if you control all areas of the game.

Overall, roaming has two purposes. adding pressure to the enemy, and getting you ahead as early as possible. securing one or two kills during laning gets you BORK at 10-12 minutes, which means you immediatley take ganks and duels as well as objectives. Ive MVPed with perfect games and had like cs of 120 at 30 min games so you dont need to be fully present in lane late game to be useful/do dmg (i do not suggest not farming though). You outscale most mid lane champions, all you need to do is survive lane phase and play teamfights well and you easily become a late game teamfighting menace.

early game

coordiniating with your jungler to get a gank, and later on to get objectives and roam/gank lanes/ general map pressure. hopefully if your jungler is smart, theyll ping that they are on their way, but theres a few things to keep in mind while you set up. Getting early kills and assists is extremely optimal for you and your jungler, so coordinating is ideal. you should aim to be 1/0/1 or 2/0/0 if possible early game so you can rush BORK. remember if youre rushing BORk which is alway, and you get ahead, you need to aggress to make full use of getting your item quicker, since it will eat away most opponents (especially adcs, mid laners and double especially most junglers at this time). good vision is very important for you because if your jungler has the ability to camp bushes to jump in the moment you aggress its better.

early game ganks

your W, as with most forms of CC can help set up good ganks for your jungler. honestly not super reliable. issue is that your charge is visible (BRING BACK HIDING W IN E), but ideally you use your full stun, which means some early game out play potential is needed. Stun then gank is incredibly quick (iirc stun lasts only 1.5 s max), so ideally you catch them mid lane, stun, and have your jungler attack from behind (near their turret) if theyre movement based so you can both attack and prevent them escaping. using flash then full W is still a very reliable way of catching the enemy off guard.

If your jungler has some form of CC you can also have them stun, you q+aa, you stun and aa, they do dmg and you try to steal the kill however you can (push them under turret and ignite)

You also can use your E as a more reliable bush and do the reverse. You sit in the mist, have your jungler go in, then you full W stun as the enemy tries to escape and proceed from there, which is more unexpected and likely to succeed in the long run, but has all or nothing potential. remember that in your mist, you can sit there for a good while and you are not visible.. i tend to forget that i can see them but they have to guess where I am at. Its very versatile and absolutely can be used to gain an advantage in a skirmish or gank. Another long running strat is to get the laner to waste their flash early. testing the waters to see how afraid or not the enemy laner is early by pushing up a wave is a good strat. if they back off, you can try to directly aggress them with q poke and maybe a w to scare and theyll flash out. Do this in preparation (like if youre planning a gank w jg within 2 minutes of this)

vs mages

against CC/mage laners, an early gank will most likely look like this
stay visible in lane, csing, and getting slightly close. opt to save your w so if youre hit with some util its not a huge problem because you out dmg them early game. Practicing/ predicting movement (ex: moving back from an Ahri charm becuase theyre predictable, moving out of range of a zed clone) will help you have a spell advantage. Because they can be bursted down easily, mages without movement/escapability means will be very vulnerable after exhausting all their CC and damage sources, and you easily out trade them with your Q/aa alone, especially if. Most mages are clunky and are already susceptible to ganks (think like annie, syndra), but especially so when their dmg has been exhausted and you have YOUR cc up

vs movement assassins

I think escapability assassins are always ****ing annoying, which is why theyre almost always a permaban option. think fizz (if you play fizz youre not human), katarina, akali, talon, etc. Getting a succesful gank is difficult, and honestly you could consider taking exhaust ignite here. youre going to need to work extra hard to CC/lock down them so that they cant use their escape mechanism, so doing this is best with unpredictable engage, as well as CC/gap closing junglers to assist you. If you can get them early on though it pays off, because out scaling them will likely win you the game. Try to study katarina, zed, neeko movements and common moves because especially in low elo, they are all very repetitive and predictable and thus can be shut down

tank

i do not reccomend solo aggressing to start, rather have your jungler go in first then you stun and use aa q aa combos to do dmg. youre too squishy and theyll just out sustain you if you aggress first, then theyll focus you in the fight all the way to the death. not ideal. I honestly think the best strat against them is to out farm and take fights with them later, early skirmishes arent a great idea because youre soft. theres a reason topviego doesnt work as well as mid viego imo.
This is where you find out why you almost always take ignite because some

Mid to Late Game

This ties into roaming as well, but you can coordinate with your jungler to double gank and focus fed enemies, as well as taking objectives. depending on how good your team is at comms, you can execute very quick and deliberate ganks and targeting. As said earlier, this is important in games to shut down potential late game carreis. Double ganking top to prevent Kayle, Illaoi, Morde or Vayne from getting ahead consistently is safer than if the jg goes alone. Camping bot to shut down fed enemy adcs and push turret together is also important. You can eat almost any ADC regardless of how fed they are (watch out for fortune ult, varus r/q combo fed jhin ult) as long as you play positioning and teamfighting correctly.

Taking jungle camps from the enemy is a good way to get cs and prevent them from catching up if theyre behind, especially with farm based junglers like karthus etc

Finally, you can gank lanes to push lane towers. Particularly on losing lanes, teaming up to take a turret and gain some map control (or alternatively hold your turret and play off a pick in a teamfight). This plays into the split push section of roaming, but can happen mid game as well where you coordinate with the jungler and laner to push.


To summarize, you have two jobs for your jungler, coordinate early game ganks in your lane correctly, and then helping them in mid to late game, which can be done by ganks, objectives, teamfighting and turret plays. You can almost always abandon lane if you wish (so long as the mid laner isnt pushing, which is surprisngly often) for lane pressure. similar to roaming.

Vision for lane Viego is pretty standard, depending on if youre soloq/what your jungler is doing, you can ward buffs or save your ward for river bushes.

general/standard vision patterns during laning

generally, if your jungler is planning on an invade and the top laner hasnt already done so, you should ward the opposite side buff of where the invade is a little before it spawns, then sit mid. you may or may not join the invade, matchup dependent (careful of blitz, lux, etc comboed with any jungler that can take you 1v1 but probably go in against jg you out dmg. careful of CC). Another option is to lurk bushes/river/mid then go in after skirmishing starts, as it gives them a false sense of security in the start and you bring extra power if you join after. Do not be afraid to play selfishly, its better if you dont die at all during laning and giving enemy mid or jg in particular first pick is very bad for you to say the least (especially into hard scaling matchups, since you depend on scaling quicker then harder). Come up if youre winnning, and POSSIBLY if its mid AND enemy jg bot, otherwise if its just jg bot no mid, you can push up if its going well (or if you think you can carry and save, team comp dependent). You ward your bush as the standard place, usually early game ganks arent a problem unless you push up super far (even then the jungler is usually more concerned with clearing camps. if you are being ganked, ping or tell your jungler to go invade their camps while theyre skirmishing. in this scenario its better if you live, but taking a death with the trade of your jungler gaining cs and preventing enemy farm is very worth it in the end,especially since your lvl ups come faster).

During laning you can keep warding your bushes or alternatively put them in the river (especially if your jungler couldnt get scuttle crab and they have a vision advantage). try to ward down from the pathing the enemy jg takes (if your against the blue side, they almost always start bot and might gank mid before going to top side, so you ward bot river and after the next ward comes, ward top.

First back

First back is obviously game dependent. if your bot lane is competent they should be warding dragon, but if they arent doing their job dragon is likely the first contestion. on your first back if you have an extra 75, you can and should pick up a control ward. if your bot is doing its job, you can ward rift (depending how early you get your first item gold). if theyre not doing their job, ward drag fully with stealth and control, ideally a deeper (think bushes near their entry into river) but standard mid bush and inner wall bush is a good combo (or inside the pit itself if you have ZERO vision and dont know if theyre contesting). as a mid laner you have more flexibility to ward, so even if it is bot lanes job to ward drag, you still can and should be useful to ward as much as you can to get an up on your oppponents.

defensive warding

warding closer to your side of the entrance (think intersection between the junglers entry to river, your path into it and next to the wall of the river) if the enemy has pressure on you (minion wave and hp advantage) to prevent being dove ganked

offensive warding

if youre aggresively laning (do NOT reccomend on Viego mid), you can prevent ganks by warding the same spot closer to the enemy turret (assuming your jungler got scuttle, if not then ward mid river or the bushes near the enemy side of the entrance). I would reccomend saving your first ward and stack two charges so you can control both sides, because youre not going to be playing aggresively enough in early laning phase for the enemy jungler to come gank you after first clear. So if you save during that time for a second charge, you can play more aggresive and be safer. Also, keep in mind common pathing for junglers on the enemy side; almost always its the same (start red on blue side and vice) unless its shaco or someone who specifically calls for a non standard path. Predicting pathing (especially if you see them on the map/in your lane) can help you keep safer and coordinate when to push up


After laning, again you should save your wards for objectives like herald and drag if the bot isnt doing their job. you should be buying control wards, and Viego is also a good pick to place deep wards over a supp because of his abilities to skirmish/duel, camo in smoke and general roaming. Another option is to take farsight alteration, particularly if youre down on turrets/being pushed and you suspect baron or drags are being taken, without the risk of being ambushed. Remember that farsight is visible when you place it BUT very useful to get a quick ward on those areas of contestion. The other option is sweeper, pretty standard and a good pick if nobody else has taken it. clearing wards and denying enemy vision (especially if once again, youre losing lanes, you can keep the enemy from having vision in your jg which is crucial), etc. In a good game, you situationally switch between the two based on when objectives are spawning, and what your team is doing (split pushing lanes, preping for objectives, etc)

13.10 UPDATE
I think the farsight alteration buff has potential for it to be the best ward in game for midlaners. Obviously going control when needed is great, and sweeper if your jungler/supp is braindead and wont take it but farsight is really good now

X-Ray Vision: Farsight will now provide vision over walls within 500 units.
NEWHEY LISTEN: Farsight will now ping enemy champions revealed on the mini map.
NEWINTRUDER ALERT: Upon detecting an enemy champion for the first time, Farsight will ping the enemy champion on the minimap, expand its vision radius to 800 units, and then self-destruct. (Note: There will still be enough time for the enemy to destroy the ward for 15 gold.)

This is great for objectives, spamming the enemy jungle to see where it is, and using it for far map control because it not only pings enemies but isnt obstructed by walls is really good. Id take this in almost every game for mid to late game, and use control wards early. Still occasionally swap for sweeper because that got buffed as well.

overview

Powerspikes and having a general sense of when youre powerful vs when youre not is really important when taking a fight, or considering being an aggressive laner. as a jungler, you get your lvl ups quicker than if you were actually in the jungle, meaning youre much more powerful quicker. Depending on the matchup, you can very easily melt through your laner at different points of the game, and your power compared to the enemy jungler puts your team at a distinct advantage.

Laning

Lvl 1

Your Lvl 1 dmg is strong, stronger than most mages and some assassins. However at LVL1, engaging isnt the smartest idea because you lack self peel and escapability, so your lvl 1 is relatively weak despite this. Any skirmishes vs assassins becomes a battle of AA, who can outsustain and spamming ignite, and battles vs mages usually ends in them running away and you tanking health for no reason.

Lvl 2

Your lvl2 is also strong, now with your stun/dash being up. You can do a reliably large amount of dmg with both, but the matchup is still even since most mages will gain their CC ability and assassins get their movement abilities. Powerful on paper, in practice extremely risky

Lvl3

matchup dependent, but lvl 3 is likely the first serious "powerspike" due to outplay potential. Having your E up and being unseen is really good for aggressing, especially if the enemy laner wastes their utility on guessing where youre at/minions where you can fully charge W in and do a ton of combo dmg. Paired with your jungler, can often result in an early kill. Against CC mages? your dmg is better overall, and you can likely get the pick if theyve exhausted their utility. CC and magic dmg can stack deceptively high, so its important to try to out maneuver their spells and then aggress with W aa Q aa

Lvl 4

honestly standard and pretty even/skill or matchup based. at this point the dmg increase in your Q isnt super impactful, and its best to just lane at this point and use the dmg to kill minions.

Lvl 5

Similar to lvl 4, depending if you put your level into your Q or your W (Q is better because doing more dmg is better on Q than on W), unless you got vampiric scepter early. If so, you win most matchups in lane, even if they have their first item as well. Vampiric scepter is absurdly strong compared to standard AP or AD/AS items that are typically built, and the lifesteal/sustain is phenomenal because it comes from autoattacks, aka your comboing. Your AA being higher power than theirs is extremely powerful, especially if you can use it when dodging their initial utility. With scepter you win almost any matchup in lane and also against enemy jg. Note that against movement based assassins (katarina, zed, TALON, fizz), they likely will be able to get away from your attacks and you wont get it unless they screw up, but against others like yone, yas etc, you win if they cant get away. Against characters like Ahri, you win if you avoid their dmg then stun them with W because they cant out sustain nor out dmg you. At this point, full W aa Q aa + ignite + AA whenever you can will likely get you kills. Overall, at this point you can likely aggress whether it be helping your jungler when theyre contesting scuttle, taking your laner (with or without help, depending) and get an early pick, which will help you snowball. If played right, one of the second strongest early game points for you

Lvl 6

This is the big one. because you get lvl 6 earlier than you would in jungler, youre extremely powerful, and your ult is more powerful than most other laners lvl 6. You can solo kill enemy jungler, you can liekly get a kill on your laner (especially if ignite is up), and in team fights you should have ult up because you will almost always outsustain, get kills and resets to further snowball. TLDR, you basically win almost every matchup, espeically if you dodge enemy CC and abilities and have a health adv. Even without items, going into teamfights (correctly, not running in solo), you should be able to out dmg and get resets to keep going. If you got an early kill or two, you should have bork or have it near completion at this point, which if so, you can likely safely shut down any contestion (particularly against junglers, who are likely only lvl 4-5 at this point), out dmg your enemy before they can get away. Because of this, you can also start roaming and look for picks from ganking bot after drag contestion. Overall, this is one of the strongest points for you in the game regardless of item status, and you should be taking this opportunity to get kills to snowball and get ahead on items to continue having that power advantage over your enemy laner, because it does fall off.

Lvl 7+

as laning phase falls off, your powerspikes start plateuing and start depending not on lvls but on items. In fact, youre likely weaker than most lane opponents if youre not ahead. Especially since CSING on Viego is inherently weaker (especially if youre roaming), you need to snowball earlier in game so you can compensate for that loss and be able to continue dominate/ be a threat in lane. If youre up in items, csing will be easier so you can stay in lane to maintain that advantage as you start building your next item. Basically, Lvl 7+ is matchup and skill match dependent, as well as your items vs the enemy item. If youre ahead on items, even if its just by a bit, continue trying to snow ball (lane bullying, cs advantage, contestions and teamfighting) because you should win the matchup. If youre even on items, you need to hyperfocus on CSing well to try to gain an edge, or you need to go into fights and get shutdown money. you should play more safe, but not passively. if youre behind, your options are to take down your laner with your jungler, get the wave and get turret plating so you can go even, or you leave lane and get shutdown money from other lanes to try to catchup. I dont think youre extrodinarily weak if youre evem, or even behind, its just it requires more thinking, positioning and outplay/planning. basically you need to be more mechanical with it, but youre not WEAK against your laner perse, you just need to put more effort into trying to get a kill vs if youre up on an item, you can be more nonchalant and go in do dmg and likely win anyway.

Item powerspikes will be covered under the items champter

please be sure to check item notes. I have decently in depth descriptions of each item in the notes and why theyre good/when, and I dont want to cover every single situational item here. If something becomes standard I will update accordingly

Ok so I am aware that items are changing drastically next patch, however the core ideas of the build stay the same, just with a new mythic and slightly crazier combos. Currently, I dont believe full crit nor full bruiser are the way to go on lane Viego. A hybrid mix of both is better, especially late game and the crit dmg paired with durability keeps you relevant late game, and absolutely broken if you get it ahead. COMBINING critical strike and durability and pure dmg is really good, and you really shouldnt be leaning fully either way unless the situation teamcomp calls for it. (ex full crit against squishies, full tank / sustain bruiser agaisnt tanks) Items will be in order I purchase them/ alternatives. NEW ITEMS WILL BE PUT BEFORE THE OLD ITEM WRITE UP, BECAUSE I THINK CONTEXTUAL CHANGE IS IMPORTANT! THE REASONING for picking items is more or less the same

also this outlines common items, not rare situationals. the reasoning for picking situational items and when is under item notes

BORK

I think this still applies so no change

OLD

as I said in builds, in lane I rush BORK everytime, as it synergizes really well with your auto attack comboing. Looking from a statistical perspective, "Basic attacks deal bonus physical damage on-hit equal to 12% / 9%) of the target's current health, with a minimum of 15 against all units and a maximum of 60 against minions and monsters." The on hit statistic means you get bonus DMG every time you use an ability, because of the comboing, meaning it stacks quicker and you out dmg because of your aa abiltiy interaction. in addition, it gives you combat advantage because of Basic attacks on-hit against enemy champions apply a stack for 6 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. The third stack consumes them all to deal 40 − 103 (based on level) bonus magic damage on-hit and Slow icon.png slow the target by 25% for 2 seconds, while also granting you 25% bonus movement speed for the same duration (30 second cooldown).. Basically, your BORK rush is a huge powerspike because you can quickly and easily win trades , while preventing their escape all while doing MORE DMG than your opponent. BORK is already good as a first item when you go even, its even better when youre ahead because you shouldnt lose any skirmish unless you misplay. The sustain is also perfect with the lifesteal because it comes from autoing and once again you get more AA/s than the opponent. Overall a VERY strong early game item, and perfect for taking skirmishes around objectives. your goal should be to get BORK as fast as possible, and quicker than the enemy laner can get their items because it will lead to extremely quick snowballing to get even more ahead.

Boots

standard and matchup dependent. merc treads against cc mages, beserkers to enhance yoruself/vs ad assassins, swiftness if you need to abandon lane and dedicate completely to roaming. if youre ahead later, sell em as you can amp up your dmg and just use E for speed.

TRINITY FORCE

NEW

40 Attack Damage
35% Attack Speed
300 Health
20 Ability Haste
Threefold Strike: Attacks grant 20 Move Speed for 5 seconds. If the target is a champion or structure gain % base Attack damage for 5 seconds, stacking up to 5 times
Spellblade: After using an Ability your next Attack is enhanced with additional phyiscal damage

this is your new main mythic. Based on the sunderer nerfs, and the other mythics not being mythics, I think this will be what you run most of the time for a crit dmg hybrid build. I think between sunderer and triforce, the difference legit is just teamcomps but also the price. sunderer is slightly more expensive, and the sustain isnt really needed into every single comp when you can just buy shieldbow and bloodthirster if you really need defense. the buffs to Triforce are insane, and you deal 200% ON HIT after an ability (triforce passive) which will be insane on Viego in ADDITION to the attack speed and stacks it gives. best overall mythic UNLESS you plan to go crit mythic into dmg /survive items, but i go survive mythic into crit items. EVEN WITH THE 13.14 CHANGES, SMALL NERF ON AS AND STACKS, its still mostly the same for him

I hear that guinsoos does not count with Viego passive on hit abilities and wont stack it, making it not worth building at all. It was already super situational and just not as good as other items, but now I dont think its worth building at all unless this is changed

Navori Quickblades

UPDATE
I think this is one of the best options for a crit mythic.
Attack Damage: 60 (Note: Unchanged)
Critical Strike Chance: 20% (Note: Unchanged)
Ability Haste: 20 (Note: Unchanged)
Unique Passive - Transcendence: Attacks reduce non-Ultimate Ability cooldowns by 12% of their remaining cooldown
Unique Passive - Impermanence: Your abilities deal up to 20% increased damage based on Critical Strike Chance
Attack damage increased from 60 to 65.
Ability hasted reduced from to 20 to 15.
Mythic passive now gives five attack damage instead of five ability haste.

I think even with the loss of the raw cd stat the AD increase makes it much more well rounded and useful on Viego as a mythic, because it gives you some offense rather than pure CD reliance and weaker early game AD buffs. This is now better than Galeforce, the other crit mythic, because its AD was nerfed pretty bad and its dash is situational and much less good when on CD. Navori is the best crit mythic on Viego

The extra dmg based on crit strike chance scales into late game and having your abilities come up quicker is really really helpful because it allows for so much more DPS (with w and q combo). If youre going crit mythic, this is a better early mid game item than IE, but the IE late game is better because of the crit addition. The buffed AD is insane early game, and the extra crit strike dmg scales late game with crit building. This is an AMAZING third item and the powerspike is almost unmatched. If you arent going triforce or sunderer, this is your best alternative option. Its really good for getting omcbo damage, so when youre playing as a crit assassin, this is what you want, its really good for that

Infinity Edge NEW

13.14 changes
This was a really good last item on Viego because it amped your crit, but I dont think its good as a second item\. Its still really good late game, and honestly I can see you selling whatever mythic you have for IE (if ots crit) later in game, but going crit mythic that barely has an additional passive and doesnt really compare to the pros of other mythics and then into something like SB is questionable and leaves you decently vulnerable. Not bad, but if you go IE i think you go BORK>DD>IE>SB>SITUATIONAL

WITH the buff to the crit damage and the 65 AD, I think its in a much better spot in terms of relevancy and damage and now is very viable as a third item in the same way Navori is. If you want your autos to pack a punch as well, this is a better item.

Shieldbow

NEW

Even with the attack speed nerf, you still get 30% attack speed during the shield period in which you took lethal damage, so its really strong for teamfighting and less for early game dueling protection. Still really good items. The same reasoning for old shieldbow more or less applies here, and you can read it below. I think this is a really good 3rd item, the lifesteal stack is great, shield is great for mid game powerspike champs, and overall the best multiuse defensive option.

OLD

I think shieldbow is better than kraken and sunderer MOST OF THE TIME. not to say either of those items are bad, in fact theyre good in some situations, but shieldbow offers the most benefits most of the time. This is because "LIFELINE: If you would take damage that would reduce you below 30% of your maximum health, you first gain a Hybrid resistances shield that absorbs 250 − 630 (based on level) damage for 3 seconds and 15 − 35 (based on level) bonus attack damage for 8 seconds (90 second cooldown) and empowers each of your other Legendary items with 5 bonus attack damage and 70 bonus health.". Since lane Viego is focused on teamfighting during roaming, surviving skirmishes does better for you than raw damage, especially into softer (by soft, any non tank composition) team comps. absorbing that much damage and being able to continue to deal damage will get you the reset you need, and you will outsustain any champ that isnt sustain based. Paired especially with Viego passive (heal for resets), as well as BORK (on hit lifesteal), you sustain is pretty insane with this item, and if that isnt good enough it still gives you and stacks a decent amount of AD AND it critically strikes. This item is the best well rounded item for lane Viego because his primary focus is taking roaming fights and skirmishing all while also being able to get use in duels. It is the best overall item into almost any standard team comp. Yes you get less AD and AS from SB than other items, but also the additional lifesteal means the sustain is even better, and once again, it synergizes with Viegos AA reset mechanic better than it does for any other champ.
In terms of powerspike, its decent compared to if you vs your laner get second item at the same time (depending on the matchup). If you can get shieldbow ahead of your enemy (theyre at 1.5 items say), you can play downright recklessly and likely still survive and get kills. If you both have 2 items, its more skill matchup based but you still outsustain most enemy laners because of your insane lifesteal + decent amounts of damage you dish out. You should always rush to get shieldbow quicker than your enemy (which should be easier because BORK does extra dmg to minions, so your farm is now better) so you can aggresss without consequences for the most part.

KRAKEN

\UPDATE

NEW

65 ⇒ 40 Attack Damage
25 ⇒ 30% Attack Speed
20% Critical Strike Chance
Bring it Down: Every third attack applies bonus magic damage. Additional triggers on the same target within 6s increase this damage by 50%
NEWUnique Passive - Bring It Down: Every third Attack applies 20 + 60% Total AD + 45% AP bonus magic damage. Subsequent triggers on the same target within 6 seconds increases this damage by 50% (Up to a maximum of 100% increased damage).

Damage type changed from magic to physical.
20 plus 60 percent total attack damage plus 45 percent ability power changed to 35-85 plus 65 percent total attack damage plus 60 percent ability power.

I think this is now much better than old Kraken. I hated building it, DS and SB did their jobs better, and there was just better builds without it. I think this is now a great legendary into tank comps because now you can build it alongside sunderer, shieldbow and triforce, and therefore the dmg and sustain can synergize. I think compared with other legendary crit items, its just a matter of personal preference and what the situation calls for. Id go the Collector over Kraken if i had no item space and had to choose, unless the situation called for it. Overall, one of the stronger item changes for Viego, and can get a lot of use in multiple builds. Again, the AD nerf is pretty bad, but the new passive is really good )100% dmg plus base) and the extra AP dmg is good for adding some punch to your W. THIS IS NOW REALLY GOOD! instead of being magic dmg its physical so now it practically is designed for you. The AD buff as well as the passive eprcentage buffs means this is very well rounded and now should be a standard item. the AP scales your W dmg as well as Q a little so overall the Kraken buff will make this a very very good item on Viego, especially early game rather than the mid to late game item it was earlier.

Divine Sunderer?

Despite nerfs, I still think this is the best full sustain option because it dishes a decent amount of DMG while healing. this will be really excellent into tankier comps or anywhere you need sustain, but I think because of Triforce buffs, its a better more wellrounded option because it gives you that 30 base hp AND it has good dmg output on the trade off that it doesnt heal you like Sunderer does. If you want to play your mythic safer, then opt for more DMG legendaries (like skipping bloodthirster), thats very viable in a build like BORK>DS>SB>KRAKEN>COLLECTOR>LDR where you dont really necessarily need deaths dance, spirit visage or bloodthirster for sustain

OLD

A lot of hate for DS lately, but I think situationally its better than Kraken, and even Shieldbow at times. Its reallllyy good into armored and more bruiser/tankier comps, and does a good amount of dmg and also gives you health. for reference, the stats "After using an ability, your next basic attack within 10 seconds deals 125% base AD (+ (6% / 3%) of target's maximum health) as bonus physical damage on-hit, for a minimum of 150% base AD and a maximum of 250% base AD against monsters. If the target is a champion, heal for 68.75% base AD (+ 3.3% / 1.65%) of target's maximum health) (1.5 (begins after using the empowered attack) second cooldown). Empowers each of your other Legendary items with 3% armor penetration and 3% magic penetration.. This synergizes better with Viego than KS in my opinion, just because its based on the opponents health AND BONUS BASE AD, and its specifically every auto after an ability, which is is your AA. so you dish out a ton of dmg very quickly because of his auto mechanism and how fast it is, AND you heal while doing so which is decent sustain (and also pairs decently with lifesteal from BORK). the armor pen is decent as well and can give you an edge against people who build armor (garen, rammus etc etc) which makes DS slightly better against tanks than KS in my opinion. Sunderer is a valid alternative to Shieldbow because it gives some of the sustain you need, while still getting the DMG to have an impact. The downside is that DS doesnt critically strike, meaning building something like Infinity Edge or The Collector for stacking critical strike DMG. Overall, against tanks and armored opponents, this is a better overall option over Kraken UNLESS youre super ahead and want to stack crit, which you can go Kraken.

DMG items-mostly hasnt changed with 13.10

Deaths Dance/Wits End/Black Cleaver

Honest standard and situational. Not going to paste the stats but to summarize, you can situaionally build any as your next item, then do the remaining one(s) depending on the teamcomp and how ahead you are.

Deaths Dance

I think this is better than Black Cleaver, the storage damage and healing if you use it right is good for your 3rd item and synergizes well with DS/SB while also dishing a decent amount of DMG. it also gives you armor, which into certain comps is much better than building health from Cleaver first. Also a very "bruiser" item because you deal back damage you took, making it better for fights as opposed to a tankier Cleaver. Anyway, overall a great item to take and I only take Cleaver first if I need armor penetration specifically. I also think in terms of powerspike, this is one of the better ones because youre dealing out a really good amount of damage now, and healing at the same time, making you a threat all around the map in comparison to some standard build paths (think pure ap builds by their third item, just alright in comparison (unless its varus) but less heal)

Wits End

Team comp dependent, I honestly am not a fan of Wits End before Deaths Dance. The damage output is so much more worth it compared to the small amounts of magic resist and attack speed wits end gives you, but its better as a 4th item even into AP heavy comps. most AP champs are relatively squishy (with exceptions), and your DMG usually does them in first before you really need the magic resistance. if theyre ahead, it doesnt feel strong enough to give you back that edge you need. Unless youre going into AP bruisers like morde, then go Wits first but otherwise, just a mid option that gives you cushioning you need late game, mid game still not super relevant. in terms of powerspike, doesnt matter a ton. I also think Maw of Malmortius is legit better in everyway, and Ill move onto that next

maw is no longer good lifeline item

NEW

they nerfed the **** out of this.
Passive - Lifeline Cooldown: 75 seconds ⇒ 90 seconds
Passive - Lifeline Shield Duration: 5 seconds ⇒ 2.5 seconds
Basically, not as useful as shieldbow. i think its good against mostly AP comps, but if there is only 2-3, I think its more worth to build shieldbow and magic res for crit and the lifeline. TLDR, situational and now worse than Wits End

OLD

this is the one where i do paste stats, LIFELINE: If you would take magic damage that would reduce you below 30% of your maximum health, you first gain a shield that absorbs ( 200 / 150) (+ (225% / 168.75%) bonus AD) magic damage for 5 seconds (75 second cooldown).
UNIQUE: Triggering Lifeline also grants 12% life steal for 5 seconds. After 2 seconds into the duration, taking or dealing damage refreshes this effect to 3 seconds.. It gives you more AD, more magic resist, it negates damage taken similar to shieldbow, which is also the only issue. You cant build Shieldbow AND Maw, so if the team is AP heavy build Sunderer and then rush Maw after BORK. Maw also comes with lifesteal which once again, synergizes well with BORK and your AA mechanism. Wits End is a better choice when theres 2 minor threat AP Mages, and Maw if theres more serious AP tanks + Karthus. You will want to replace the crit lost due to Maw, esp if you go Sunderer with it though. Strong powerspike in terms of items here because of lifeline, and your sustain will be absolutely insane at this point

Black Cleaver

standard bruiser item. good later item just to boost health, etc. the AD boost and the armor pen is just a helpful little add on for late game. Not much else to say, in terms of powerspike not huge

Crit Items

(updated)
So as you can see, I usually build a mix of crit bruiser to maintain both insane sustain/AD but also getting that extra critical strike in. The collector is an excellent item, gives crit and lethality which will help any armor built. Riot buffed it in the new patch, increasing its lethality, meaning its a great synergy with bork and the rest of your crit. The execution and extra gold can also be the difference between living and dying in a late game skirmish, and therefore is better to build first. A great build is BORK>Trforce>SB>Collector>DD>Kraken If youre even half an item ahead, this build is the way to go (depending on team comp obviously)because youll stay relevant and dominate late game. It does a TON of dmg, and has decent sustain as well. This powerspike is huge and can go head to head to most other full builds (obviously some exception, like AP Varus or huge tanks)

some really good items on Viego besides SB AND KS that are crit are BT, RFC and phantom depending on your build

Other situational tank items

So full tank isnt really meta, and I still think crit hybrid is better. If you really want to go full traditional bruiser tanky build, you can situationally build these items. Steraks Gage gives you health, as well as a shield similar to shieldbow and the extra AD in addition to 400 HP can make you menacing/ hard to kill, turning you from a squishier high dmg crit assassin.
Bloodthirster gives you the shield, crit, lifesteal, i can see it synergizing well with BORK and Shieldbow. Honestly a decent defensive option for when youre behind and need survivability so you can get shutdown money in teamfights. Spirit Visage gives you a ton of HP, magic resist and it also synergizes with your passive (I assume, never ran this build in game) because its passive increases all healing and shielding, so presumably your reset healing as well. An alright option if you decide to go tanky into AP, I can see it doing well with Maw and antiheal against tanky AP healer fighters.

Anti Heal

Counter literally any healing champ (mundo, ww, morde) as well as anyone who builds omnivamp or lifesteal (think every adc that goes bloodthirster), and you can fit this into both crit and bruiser builds depending on the item. Mortal remainder, which is great because it gives armor pen, 40% grievous wounds and 20% critstrike meaning if you want to stack crit later on you can. Also great against people who build armor. Chempunk Steamsword is better if you want grievous wounds but want to give yourself more health and become tankier (more in line with Sunderer as your mythic).

Full Crit

this would be like BORK>Navori or IE> Kraken>Collector>LDr> SB. Honestly unless youre super super ahead and the team is mostly squishies, this is a risky build even with blooodthirster as your defensive item. Full crit is no longer the meta imo, no matter how hard Riot wants it, and theres just better options overall in hybrid builds. If youre super ahead (think two items or more) go for it. its great against squishies, but you really are squishy and vulnerable

Overall, as you can see, Viego has a TON of options for builds, all depending on your playstyle, enemy comp, how far ahead you are, and just how you feel. A lot of the items are interchangable, and the build can stay the same (see 99.9% of the time build) but if you like being experimental or want to try out different play styles, Viego is one of the best champs to do so on. Sadly, this version of Viego is coming to an end potentially with the new item changes coming literally next week. I will test and update accordingly, but SB will likely be a later item due to lifeline nerf, BORK still first, and possibly more crit centric builds coming. I dont know what his new mythic will be, but theres likely going to be even more variation in builds for him after patch 13.10. Stay tuned for the update!

BUILDS

Late game can be super powerful or super underwhelming and you need to play Viego right to be able to have late game impact. almost every website says that Viego is average late game, I dont actually think this is true, and its very build and team comp dependent. I find that Viego generally outperforms fed ADCs, assassins, but struggles a little more against tanks and champs that out dmg him more late game. When considering late game, you need to factor in how hard each champ scales (you can get away with not building magic resistance mid game in favor of damage, but once veigar or varus hit certain builds/stacks, late game Viego might need to adjust to stay in game). He remains most relevant mid game, and more thinking is required late game. Late game really depends on how fed the enemy is, if youve been preventing them from items and your team is ahead, such caution isnt really as necessary, but if youve been even most of the game (or are even mid game), consider your end build very early and try to think of scenarios in which the enemy is ahead late game, and counter that.

Against AP

obviously depends how fed and how aggro you have been in lane. In terms of mid laners, you should be able to prevent most AP mages from getting super powerful. Veigar, Annie, Vlad, Velkoz all have potential to be late game menaces with one shot potential, and you should bully them as much as possible mid game at your peak (and early game, you should be able to prevent their farm while dodging skillshots) to prevent them from becoming more powerful than you. Obviously, mistakes happen and sometimes the enemy is just better, or theres just a lot of AP, in which you just build a ton of resistance instead of focusing on DMG (if theres >3 and youre ahead build dmg, mid game bully then build resistance) to stay relevant. Again, if youve been bullying in lane and preventing their build, you can continue your aggressive stance and build dmg, but its important to know when to build/play safe because of a late game comparison.

against healing AP/ AP bruisers, you want to build greivous wounds earlier so you can out dmg them/ they cant just out sustain you later on, and you have to either consider going for DMG build or a survivabulity build depending how fed the enemy mundo/warwick/sylas/etc is.

Against AP assassins like Katarina or Fizz, its heavily item dependent and also will depend on outplaying them. If they get fed by roaming, building defensive into dmg builds will do well for you because youre both assassins, and both have the same weaknesses (but if theyre fed they likely are building DMG oriented with some defense, so if you build better sustain youll do good), and if youre ahead and the team is mostly squishies, you can continue with a dmg oriented aggro build

Against AD

AD is such a large category, and obviously very situational. Your biggest threats are champs that can outsustain (making you build anti heal), but dont out dmg you (where you can build more dmg oreinted), champs that out sustain and out dmg you (build anti heal and health to try to match tankiness), champs that do a lot of dmg but not a lot of health (build defense then go into offense). theres a lot of variation in the AD category, especially because theres a ton of different kinds in different lanes, but generally speaking, look at the most ahead AD enemy and build off of that. If you are ahead of the enemy, once again a dmg based build for you will do well to continue oppressing them because they wont have the proper build to defend against it, and wont be able to out dmg you.

Objectives/Map presence

Its important to remember that you can take duels and skirmishes easily when ahead/mid game (because youre usually stronger), but its just a bit more difficult later, and you need to revert to the early game mentality of going in second to get a reset then continuing, rather than all inning on your own. coordinate with your team at this point for optimal results. Late game Viego can be a menace, but its really dependent on the champs youre up against, how ahead youve been and your impact/presence on the map. Once again because of Viegos build variation, you can adjust to most sitations even if you are behind.

Theres multiple ways to be useful late game, one example being contesting an early game baron (where it still damages the enemy champs), allowing you to go in, ult, secure reset and hopefully steal (with your team behind you). Viego also has good split push potential because certain items will do damage to turrets with his auto, which also is empowered by E, allowing you to eat through them quicker than many other late game champs, and almost all late game mid and bot laners.

Your teamfight potential has fallen off a little, no matter how good the build is unless the enemy is super behind, but still very strong. As mentioned earlier, just play a little safer and youre still a menace.

You can also solo objectives for the same reason you can split push, item stats for example even just on BORK do dmg to minions and monsters (iirc), and if you cannot take a teamfight (multiple tanks), an option is to solo sneak a dragon instead so you can still be useful on the map.

In terms of losing game waveclear, unfortunatlely Viego isnt as good as many other champs, but at full build his minion clear is still decent. His ability to solo protect Nexus is not good, especially because his posession causes him to gain the stats of whoever he got, meaning if he targets a soft adc he becomes the soft ADC, and outplaying is required

Overall, I think Viego is stronger in late game than most people believe, especially if hes even a littl ahead and the enemy comp is right, but you just have to consider multiple paths and angles to approaching the late game enemy counter, and potentially build forward for it. It changes from match to match, but you can almost always dominate if you snowball early and hard. If youre an item up, the hybrid bruiser crit build is lethal and will melt through most champions, and if youre behind, youll be able to survive a decent amount of dmg with survivability builds. This is why his mid game presence and pressure is really important, because snowballing on Viego is how you win on him.

There are few matchups where Viego genuinley struggles in, most mages rely on skill shots to do dmg which he can dodge, most assassins are very weak to his W. Here are a few champs Ive played against and genuinley have an issue with. Note that going into these doesnt mean you lose, depending on the champ you can roam and get ahead that way, especially if they arent a late game champ. These are champs I have less than a 55% wr against.

Teemo

his blind makes it so that you literally cannot do dmg against him. Your AA, Q etc are all wortheless, and his mushrooms make ganking him extremely annoying and difficult mid. I dont see him often played mid, but when I have its nearly impossible to lane against him without getting behind.
The way to deal with this is try to suffer through and get lvl 6, try to get a kill around objectives then kind of roam and get shutdowns and turret plating. Maybe invade JG and get some of their camps. If your bot is fed, lane swap for a bit. The best you can do is avoid Teemo until you can surprise him with a flash + W aa+ ignite +ult + Q aa, then repeat this. (ult first to do dmg and not miss every ability, ignite for extra dmg and then you go Q aa for dmg after). If you can get your JG to help you out by ganking, Teemo has subpar mobility and self peel, just have them take sweeper to clear shrooms, have them take the blind hit and then both go in after stunning him. He does poke you to death during laning, so you will be spending a lot of time under turret. Not the worst matchup, but extremely difficult and you likely wont be carrying the game. 8/10 bad

Anivia

legit one of the worst matchups. She can block most attempts at aggressing, her stun and slow is one of the worst forms of CC against you, especially since dmg from her E is doubled if it hits you when youre stunned. To top it all off, her revive means if you screw up in the slightest, she gets to come back and kill you off after you tank a ton of dmg from fighting her. I currently permaban Anivia, as she has a 52% wr mid lane right now and its just extremely difficult laning against her and out playing her, even with the help of a jungler. 11/10 hell

Zoe
biggest issue is that her skillshots are surprisingly difficult to dodge because of the way they work, and the fact she can steal your spells can quickly turn fights against you. Her drowsy is also really annoying and harder to dodge than Lilias, and can also prevent you from escaping and gives her an easy kill. a ton of dmg done by her, hard to counter with your kit, overall can be oppressive to you specifically in lane. 9/10 I used to permaban her. However, if you can get your jungler to help, her dmg and ability to out play lessens because of the angling of her dmg abilities. Also, flash is useless against her because she can just steal it, flash away and then do dmg as well. fun!

Talon
the biggest issue is that hes better at roaming, which can and will prevent your snowball, and he can literally just get out of your engages by going over walls, meaning you cant reliably do dmg. Since you dont have a ton of CC, you likely wont be able to solo kill him if he has the ability to escape. His damage abilities dont really threaten you a ton, its just you have to play passive in lane and have to play really aggro when you roam because he will likely escape teamfights with little consequences unless you get a CC heavy ally to lock him down for you. 6/10 annoying

Velkoz

His ult is very threatening because the size of it makes it really hard to W out of, but his other abilities are very dodgeable and you can easily beat him Pre LVL 6 or if you just get another person to take him while hes ulting. 8/10 very annoying if fed

Sylas

His abilities have sneaky range, and I think he out Dmgs you. Laning against Sylas is harder than jungling against him, and he can easily get you if he lands his chains and steals your ults. You need to learn to use W to escape his dash and his chains, and analyze his aggress style so you can dodge it easier. Also not fun to farm against during laning. 7/10 annoying

Irelia

A good irelia will diff you in lane quickly. Her stun, quick dmg and escape makes a really good counter. However, your W works well against her and if you can catch her, you will easily beat her. I reccomend ignite and exhaust into Irelia, because youll prevent her from easily escaping and punish her by doing dmg, then backing off after you ignite her to death. 9/10

Everyone else is a matter of learning to utilize E and W, skill matchup and just farming around them. Most skillshot based mages have very easy abilities to avoid (like Ahri, dodge to the side for charm and walk backwards for her Q), and assassins are fragile enough that you can either aggress solo and get a kill, and most certainly can with a jungler present.

Overall, Viego mid is a really great choice, and even counters some of those nasty mages you keep seeing mid because his early dmg is so good. Though he has his weaknesses, he excels in a ton of other categories and has hard carry potential, especially in comparison to other AD and AP assassins because of his build variability and the fact that he is supposed to be a Jungler. He also stays fresh with build variety, and can adapt to almost every single situation the game calls for, offering flexibility that other assassins just do not have because of the way his passive works.


Hes a really fun and relatively safe pick that I have been enjoying and want yall to as well. If you have any questions, message me on discord! operatoronly#0832