Hello LOL-Community!

First of all the Description of Poppy:


I tested A LOT around and to summarize my experiences and cognitions:

There is no better way to play Poppy in a classic game:

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AD mixed with some Magic Penetration!

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Pros:

+ Poppy is one of the best late game champs out there!
+ Poppy kills the enemy ADC in one second and after that everyone else!!!!!!
+ Diplomatic Immunity is one of the best ultimates in the game!
+ Players often underestimate Poppy. Gonna pown them to show them some true power!
+ Poppy runs alone into 5, then kills 1 or 2 and after that runs away with full health xD
+ It is fun to play Poppy

Cons:

- Weak Early Game
- No Farm = Dead Poppy
- Poppy is very weak against heavy cc team compositions => especially slows :(
- Players often underestimate Poppy and say that she is useless etc...
- Needs a lot practice

- Riot wants to rework her ;( JUST leave her alone! You already destroyed my lovely Evelynn with the rework. She was fine, though people considered her weak.

VS AD top:

VS AP top:

Marks:

9x

Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration

8.1 Armor Penetration + 5.5 Magic Penetration: I really recommend you these, because we deal much Magic Damage with our Q & E and we have Bonus AD with our W. Also the fact that we play AD Poppy supports this choice.

Alternatives:

9x

Greater Mark of Armor Penetration

~12 Armor Penetration: Missing Magic Penetration hurts a bit...

9x

8.5 Attack damage: Maybe if you really have problems with last hitting, then this could help you.

9x

15% Attack Speed: If you need to push etc. a good choice.

Do NOT use at all:

9x

7.8 Magic Penetration: Missing Armor Penetration hurts much more.

9x

8.4% Crit Chance: 8.4% is like having to hit 11 times until you land possibly a critical hit. It is almost like you have no marks at all.

Seals:

9x

13 Armor: Sometimes more Armor (additionally to our W Ability and to the fact that poppy has the highest base armor of all champs at level 18) is great, but unfortunately it won't help you much against champions like Darius or Cho'Gath.

9x

175 Health at level 18: This helps us to be more tanky late game! Generally the best choice for Poppy, but especially when we face AP Champs Top (or Darius-.-).

Alternative:

9x

~ 18 Health Regeneration at level 18: I like these a lot additionally to Philosopher's Stone... The problem is that these runes are very special and that you should use them only if you can rely on your team... (Note: It is worth it in combination with 2.7 health regen/5 sec. Quints and starting with a Rejuvenation Bead. Very nice against Champions, which counter Poppy.)

Glyphs:

9x

24.3 Magic Resistance at level 18: After the season 3 patch this is the strongest choice you can make: Magic Resistance!

9x

~12 Magic Resistance: When in need vs an AP Champ/Team early game.

Alternative:

5x SPA

+ SP

4x

6.7 Magic Resistance + 10.8 Magic Resistance at level 18: (In Normal Queue) There is always the possibility that you face an Ap Champ Solo Top and for that reason this combination is just great.

Quints:

3x

4.5% Movement Speed: We need that mobility to survive early game!

Alternatives:

3x

78 Health: This helps also surviving early game, but I prefer Bonus Movement Speed which will help us through the whole game!

3x

6.75 Attack Damage: This helps with last hitting and trading early game.

I hope you understand my choices ;)

General Mastery Page:

14 Offense:

1x Summoner's Wrath : Improved Ignite and Ghost!

3x Sorcery: I like that CDR.

4x Blast : More Damage and needed for Arcane Knowledge .

1x Arcane Knowledge : Perfect for increased damage on Devastating Blow and Heroic Charge.

4x Deadliness : More Damage and needed for Weapon Expertise .

1x Weapon Expertise : Great and fitting for my runes and items.

Note: You can decide whether you take 3 points in Fury instead of Sorcery. It depends on your playstyle.

16 Defense:

4x Durability : Having more Health is always nice.

1x Veteran's Scars : More Health!

3x Hardiness : Nice vs AD Champs.

1x Resistance : Nice vs AP Champs. Note: If you know that your enemy is 100% AP take here 3 points and only 1 in Hardiness . You could also take equal points in both if you prefer.

2x Unyielding : This helps against much Harass.

1x Block : This helps against much Attack-Harass. A good choice against any top champ.

1x Relentless : Great new mastery which helps against a weakness of Poppy!

3x Tenacious : 15% CCR for 3 mastery points is so... IMBA!!!

Note: Tough Skin doesnt work against Yorick anymore. His ghouls are minions, not monsters.

0 Utility

Recommended Item Build:

Starting Items:

Boots and 3x Health Potion, then Sheen and 1 or 2 Gp10 Items.( Philosopher's Stone, Avarice Blade)
If you do well, dont buy any gold item! It is very important that you use your advantages, always. If you are forced out of your lane before you have enough money for Sheen, you should think about buying Philosopher's Stone.

Main Items:

Perfect when they have much CC. Generally a good choice. Oherwise take Ninja Tabi. Viable alternatives are Ionian Boots of Lucidity and Berserker's Greaves.

A must have on AD Poppy.

Whenever you need Lifesteal and much AD. A really OP item on Poppy. You will be able to almost one hit the enemy AD carry!

Why is Statikk Shiv a good item for poppy? Before the Season3 patch I always used PD on Poppy, but now that new item is better because of following: 1. It helps you to burst the enemy carry because the passive can critically strike! 2. We take some magic penetration (runes & masteries) so that you deal additional damage at all. 3. You will deal more damage with this than with a PD because it fits Poppy's playstyle more. 4. It helps in mid-late game to clear your lane very fast! 5. You run 1% faster than with a PD. xD You should buy a PD in combination with IE because this would deal more damage than with a Statikk Shiv. The problem is, it takes more money/time to build Phantom Dancer & Infinity Edge than Statikk Shiv & Blade of the Ruined King. So i am quite happy that there are finally cheaper options for Poppy in this season which are almost as good as the old ones.

I love this item. Makes running away from you or stopping you almost impossible!

But if they dont have good escape methods or if they lack cc, then I recommend to build Frozen Heart which will save you from the enemy ad carry and even increase your CDR.

Very nice utility and some extra Health which will let us fight longer and deal more damage. The best about this is that we will be able to engage for the whole team less riskier!

The same here when they dont have good escape methods or if they lack cc, then I recommend to take Hexdrinker which builds into Maw of Malmortius for pure domination.

After you finished Trinity Force and after you have Vampiric Scepter it is very important to think about your situation and about your teams situation and then to decide whether you buy more offensive items. Sometimes it can be fatal to continue with offensive items at this point and that is the reason I am warning you. Only if the situation looks "ok" then go more offensive.

Update (1st March 2013): Before the 3.03 patch I always finished Statikk Shiv before Blade of the Ruined King. But now in case your enemy is stacking health you can rush Blade of the Ruined King without losing essential damage and even gaining excellent survivability. That new Blade of the Ruined King is so freaking OP that it is gonna be nerfed for sure in the next time. Otherwise Poppy will get nerfed.

Update 2: Of course Blade of the Ruined King got nerfed with a hotfix. But it is still viable and more rewarding finishing it before Statikk Shiv tho.

Do not forget to use my Anti AP rune page vs AP Champs.
As well, it depends on the build of the opponents: The more sustain they have/build the worse it gets for Poppy. Means when they buy strong Life Steal/ Spell Vamp/ Magic Resistance Items Poppy will have problems beating them in the laning phase.
That means the best item vs Poppy is Spirit Visage. :(
In that case Poppy should concentrate on farming and get a Vampiric Scepter after Sheen. Or you could get a Catalyst the Protector after Sheen for more mana and health to be able to harass more frequent. Depending what playstyle you prefer.

Other Options:

Different options for the offensive items:

For Imba Dmg, I would buy this when I already have 2 defensive Items/ when I am very fed.

If you want to be super fast and you want them to go crazy, take this!

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Seems to work well on Poppy (still need more testing to be 100% sure).

Whenever you need speelvamp, lifesteal, ap and ad. It is a very good item on poppy, which will help you in a balanced match.

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No Need for two Offensive Items? Get a third defensive one!

Then you should decide between one of these items:

A dead Poppy that will stand up after death is a deadly Poppy!

Your life is hell? Then the problem is likely the huge amount of CC which the enemy team has. You know what to do now. In case you did not know, you can upgrade this item later to Mercurial Scimitar.

Recommended Spells:

I take Ghost because I love the huge +35% MovementSpeed Bonus which lasts 10 seconds. First of all that means when someone exhausts me for 2.5 seconds, I will still have a +5% MovementSpeed Bonus while exhaust is active and there are still 7.5 seconds of that huge bonus. That means also that lots of Skill Slows won't slow me down essentially (Much Hard CC still remains a problem but the masteries and boots should help here). The funny thing is I didn't consider Paragon of Demacia in these calculations (which adds up to 25% MovementSpeed Bonus). Then there is something else I want to clear up: If you are sure you are going to kill your target but you took only Flash, there is a much bigger possibility that your target escapes. So you can imagine why I prefer Ghost over Flash.

I take Ignite because it deals much additional damage when combinated with Poppy's ultimate Diplomatic Immunity. You will deal 204(+20%) from 170 true damage at level 6, 351(+30%) from 270 true damage at level 11 and 518(+40%) from 370 true damage at level 16. The maximum damage with that combination is 574(+40%) from 410 true damage at level 18.

Recommended but not optimal:

If they have 3-5 AD champions then I always consider taking exhaust because it is a very strong spell against such teams. Especially when they dont have much Health Regen/ Heals.

If you absolutely hate Ghost and dont see much advantage over Flash on Poppy, then this spell is your choice.

Conditionally recommended:

Cleanse helps against one of Poppy's weaknesses. That means you will want this against heavy CC team compositions.

You want to power farm? You are new with Poppy? You want to split push? You have a plan/strategy? Then take Teleport.

Skills:

On of the strongest passives which makes it difficult for people to execute you. If you buy Health on Poppy, the passive wont be more efficient nor less efficient, because the passive works per percentages and the damage dealt to you scales as well. True damage is not affected by this and that is why Poppy has some problems against champions like Darius, Olaf, Irelia... An example: Poppy has 1000/2000 health and is being hit by a 400 damage nuke (after resistances). The 10% of 1000 is 100. The 400 damage nuke exceeds 10% of current hp (100) by 300. The exceeding 300 damage will be reduced by 50% to 150 by passive. This means you will be dealt 250 damage instead of 400 because 150 was reduced by passive. The Formula : ( [damage received] - ([current health] x 0.1) ) x 0.5 = actual damage reduced.

1. Tons of Damage. 2. This is a reason why Poppy is much stronger in the third season. The "X% of the targets max health" Skills are very strong because people stack health like crazy and the jungle camps also have more health than before.

The active is very good for escaping or chasing. You should avoid using the active too often in the laning phase because of the high mana costs. The passive is generally good vs Harrass or for Harrass!

This is very useful for escaping or chasing and if you stun your target you will deal some nice bonus damage. You can interrupt channeled Skills e.g. Fiddlesticks', Katarina's, Karthus's, ultimates or Master Yi's Meditation or Fiddlesticks' Drain etc.

This is one of the best ultimates in the game. You can use it defensively or offensively. You can decide whether you target the enemy AD Carry for extra Damage on him or the smallest thread to you (like the support/ a target that cannot attack you soon/ a target that has no CC), so that you can deal more damage to different targets without being in real danger. Never use it on a target who has an active Spell Shield!! This combinated with Ignite is very strong. You will deal 204(+20%) from 170 true damage at level 6, 351(+30%) from 270 true damage at level 11 and 518(+40%) from 370 true damage at level 16. The maximum damage with that combination is 574(+40%) from 410 true damage at level 18.

I added some information to the Explanations of the Skills from: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Poppy/Ability_Details

Skill Order:

Devastating Blow

Level 1: Devastating Blow because we are able to trade well with this at level 1.
Level 2: Paragon of Demacia because we will need some defense now.
Level 3: Heroic Charge/ Devastating Blow but Heroic Charge most of the time because we will be able to stun our opponent and this coordinated with our jungler is more worth than extra damage on Devastating Blow that early.

Then max Devastating Blow first for tons of damage. (means Devastating Blow has 5 points at level 9)
After level 7 one point in Paragon of Demacia.
After that we max Paragon of Demacia for more consistent defense and offense. (means Paragon of Demacia has 5 points at level 13)

Of course we take points in Diplomatic Immunity at level 6, 11 and 16.

The newest jungle changes in the new patch (www.leagueoflegends.com/news/preseason-balance-update-2-patch-notes) made Poppy even a viable Jungler! Now you can play her in every role/position.

Summonder Spells:

Why Ghost? Because for good and still better ganks than with Flash.

Why Smite? Because we are Jungling.

Runes:

Just changing the marks by 9x Greater Mark of Attack Speed = 15% Attack Speed. We need this to maximize the use of the new Jungle item, which we are going to use.

Item Core:

Skill Order:

Still maxing Devastating Blow first, but starting with Paragon of Demacia at level 1 and taking a second point at level 3.

Mastery Page:

If you are 99% sure that you wont buy more AP than Trinity Force has, then you should change your points in the offense tree. That means you can put 1 point in Fury instead of Spellsword . Or you take 1 point out of Fury as well and put 2 points in Butcher which helps your early jungle camp clearing. In the defense tree you could think more late game oriented and taking the 4 Durability and 1 Veteran's Scars instead of 3 Perseverance and 2 Hardiness points.
That would look like this:

Clear Order:

1. Wolves, 2. Blue, 3. Wraiths, 4. Wolves, 5. Red, ...
Or with some help:
1. Wolves 2. Smiteless Blue, 3. Red, ...

My Success with Jungle Poppy:

In the case your opponent is a ranged champion or Yorick you should use the bushes to avoid huge attack harassment or the ghouls. If his answer are wards, then your answer should be vision wards. If your opponent dares to face check the bush, then you Q in his face.

You do not want to lane against these Champs:

After level 6 it is over for you.

Very difficult to beat. It is almost impossible without help from your jungle. I recommend starting with a Rejuvenation Bead, 4x Health Potion, 2x Mana Potion and a sight ward and hope for the best.

You could beat him Early Game. But if you can't make it, you lost your lane totally.

Ranged -> often a dead Poppy. Even if you do well, she will win because she counters you! Ganks should help you then. I recommend starting with a Rejuvenation Bead, 5x Health Potion, 1x Mana Potion and a sight ward and hope for the best.

Same as Kayle here...

AP np for you, but AD is a *****. It is still possible to beat her but its no fun. I recommend starting with a Rejuvenation Bead, 4/5x Health Potion, 2/1x Mana Potion and a sight ward and hope for the best.

Just very difficult to beat.

The new Udyr is OP. His Tiger Stance makes your passive useless. Best is to start with a Cloth Armor and 5x Health Potion.

Against hard matchups you could also think about playing total passively by farming under tower and starting with 2x Rejuvenation Bead and 3x Health Potion. But I do not recommend this when you feel saver with Poppy...

These Champs are easy to beat(in the normal case):

After your first back get a vision ward, place it and she is dead. She cannot win against Poppy because she is the typical burst champ.

He scales as well as you do into late game. BUT his early game is so weak that you are able to outfarm, zone and kill him. Just be sure not to be ganked while doing so. If you cant do it he will be a problem for you and your whole team later.

He is easy food and you outdamage him.

Its very funny when he tries to trade with you: He will jump on you with his Q E combo and jump back to a minion. While he does so, the only thing you need to do is to use your Q on him to outdamage him.

He has worse mana problems than you, he cannot kill you, he wants to build health and armor and you are able to farm easily. gg

Most of the time you will win in a straight 1on1 because your passive is OP.

He is so weak! You outdamage him at all.

You just need to know how Shen works and then you are going to pown him. When I see them picking Shen I counter Shen with Poppy.

His damage is lower and he is very squishy, means for you an easy lane.

He is all about bursting someone to finish him off. He will have problems against Poppy!

Do not forget to use my Anti AP rune page vs AP Champs.
As well, it depends on the build of the opponents: The more sustain they have/build the worse it gets for Poppy. Means when they buy strong Life Steal/ Spell Vamp/ Magic Resistance Items Poppy will have problems beating them in the laning phase.
That means the best item vs Poppy is Spirit Visage. :(
In that case Poppy should concentrate on farming and get a Vampiric Scepter after Sheen. Or you could get a Catalyst the Protector after Sheen for more mana and health to be able to harass more frequent. It is up to your playstyle.

Starting Items:

Boots and 3x Health Potion, then Sheen and 1 or 2 Gp10 Items.( Philosopher's Stone, Avarice Blade)
If you do well, dont buy any gold item! It is very important that you use your advantages, always. If you are forced out of your lane before you have enough money for Sheen, you should think about buying Philosopher's Stone.

Laning Phase:

Farm under Tower most of the time.

Buy wards, ward, dont abuse your jungler too often, means dont make him babysit you.

If you are a good Poppy player you will be able to play aggressively, not abusing your jungler and to push. You need to play like this sometimes. E.g. Your enemy went back, you should push the current minion wave as fast as possible (while being aware of the map) to the enemy tower and after that you port back and shop yourself. Always coordinate with your mates, use pings, write "mia's". If you decide to push, then do that with wards.

Dont let the enemy roam. Means follow him if he wants to gank.

You can gank yourself. Especially when you cant beat your opponent, you should roam.

Dont ever cry for you jungler when you lose your lane totally. That would be the end for him as well.

Never let the enemy harrass you for free, payback always. The best way to do this is your Devastating Blow.

In the case your opponent is a ranged champion or Yorick you should use the bushes to avoid huge attack harassment or the ghouls. If his answer are wards, then your answer should be vision wards. If your opponent dares to face check the bush, then you Q in his face.

The most important rule is Survive the early game and dont die. Just dont die.

Pay attention to what happens at other lanes and continue farming. When needed go help your team.

Tell them to split push, to ward and not to engage.

Be ready to help your team at dragon.

Put your wards further away from your lane because the jungler will be very fast at this point so that he can catch you easily when you warded wrong. Coordinate your ward spots with your mid player.

Items:

In this Phase you are going to finish your Trinity Force. After that it is very important to think about your situation and about your teams situation and then to decide whether you buy more offensive items. Sometimes it can be fatal to continue with offensive items at this point. You need to predict the events in the mid-late game. That is why I am warning you. Only if the situation looks "ok" then go more offensive.

The more time you have spent with LoL the more experience you will have and you will have a better idea how to guide your team to victory.

If a lane is getting pushed by their minions, you will need to push that lane back as fast as possible over the mid of that lane to avoid losing too much gold and to avoid your tower being damaged. If you are pushing a lane back, so that your minions continue pushing in your favor you have to pay attention to the enemies actions. While doing that map awareness is very important. That means wards, wards and wards. You have to know what the enemy team is doing. If you still have free slots, don't spend them for pots anymore. That is odd long ago. The only thing you are going to buy are wards. If you have a full build or if you prepare for a formative teamfight you should buy elixirs and/or oracles.

Your team has to stay together to achieve objectives, like destroying their inhibitors or slaying Baron Nashor or defending the base. The Baron buff will help you win teamfights and pushing to their Nexus. If you destroy the Nexus, you will win. But before you get to that point you will have to fight for the Baron. Make sure the Baron is warded. If your team is stronger but the enemy team is hiding at their tower, you should bait them by starting to fight the baron. If they react, there will be situations where your team can disengage quickly to catch someone out of position. Means an easy kill for your team and probably an unchallenged Baron buff after that.

In your role as Poppy either you stand back out of sight and wait for a possibility to assassinate someone or you go to the front and engage for your team.
Being near your team is very important.

TL;DR:

Farm and ignore team fights xD

Ok, Jokes aside:

Now just pown them in teamfights. Take the baron and end it. At this point you are probably the strongest champ in game and they will fear you.

No Joke.

1.
Just pown them! You are able to engage for your whole team with your ultimate. Concentrate on taking out the ADC first. Dont fight when some of your teammembers are out of position, means when they are seperated or too far away from you. Dont let the enemy choose the terrain for the fight, when you see someone out of position you can assassinate him quickly. You will be still alive and your team will join you to push or join you for an ace.

2.
Abuse bugs like using your E on Shen in the right moment when he is using his ultimate.
Or bug out of Anivia's wall, Jarvan's ultimate etc.
They flash? They port back? No Problem :)

Just have FUN playing Poppy, the best champion in LoL!

That's it!
I hope you like my guide and I hope that you are as successful as I am.

P.S.
If you have some time, then see this funny (older)video: Play Video They failed quite a lot^^