Hi,I'm jon678910, a top main who'll play mid from time to time. I like tanks. I also tend to gravitate towards late game picks, especially champs who are good in teamfights. I reached plat 5 last season, as well as gold in flex and 3 v 3.

This build came about around the time when duskblade was meta, and as a result, AD assassins were popular. The ability to cage meant that champs like Lee Sin and Yasuo could be kept at bay, and the premise of being a damage stacking tank, like Nasus, appealed to me.

As a general note, this build is pretty bad against most assassins, and most of the matchups cover how hard laning will be. Furthermore, this build is oriented towards very late game, with the premise being that it will be able to come out on top in situations where full AP will just get bursted. This means that is better at lower elos, as players will usually be punished less in lane, while games also tend to last longer on average. Nevertheless, the match that got me into plat was with tank Veigar, if that's of any relevance.

This build has been tested in top lane, but the fact that there are usually tanks there means that you have very little kill pressure. In mid lane, stacking well can lead to a kill, as the damage on dark matter is significant.

One of the few games I've played with Veigar in preseason. Decided to clip it down because nobody wants to watch a 40 minute video of plat 5 garbage. Now you'll just be disappointed for 12 and a half. Play Video

Pros

Cons

[*]Decent burst late game [*]Extremely good AOE lockdown in the form of Event Horizon [*]Quite tanky mid-late game [*]Solid wave clear mid game with Dark Matter [*]Great Zoning

[*]Extremely reliant on stacking passive [*]Low range [*]Limited mobility without items [*]Unreliable stun [*]Dark Matter easy to dodge without stun [*]Squishy early

Early Game

• Spend most of early game farming
• Unless you have blue buff, stick solely to using Baleful Strike for the most part
• Try to avoid using Event Horizon offensively unless you can get a kill, it is your only form of CC
• Try to poke enemy laners with Baleful Strike or Grasp of the Undying
• Teleport to lane to minimise lost cs and stacks

Mid Game

• Can begin trading effectively when you pick up your resistance item
• If you're ahead, you can use teleport to gank other lanes
• W can be used to start clearing waves once mana items have been picked up
• Try to take (or zone while your team takes) any objectives

Late Game

• Prioritise movement items so you can better position to lock down enemies
• Try to use Event Horizon on as many enemies as possible, taking a guaranteed zone over a possible stun in most cases
• Group often, as you won't be able to kill tanks in many cases
• Use Baleful Strike to poke while frontlining

Doran's Ring and 2 Health Potions – Pretty much the standard Veigar build. Have considered running Corrupting Potion, but usually prefer to have the added health from Doran’s.

Rod of Ages – The only AP item that is run in this build. The main reason this is important is because it provides a much needed mana source, especially against AP laners. Also, extremely gold efficient when fully stacked.

Abyssal Mask and Adaptive Helm – Staple MR items which are run in different situations. Also provide a small amount of cooldown reduction. The former is the default for most situations, but the latter can help win lanes into spammers like Cassiopeia and Karthus. Spirit Visage is not run as the increased health regen from ROA is generally not enough to overcome the value obtained from these 2 items.

Frozen Heart – Very important on a Tank Veigar build, as it provides 20% cooldown reduction. Also provides mana and the highest amount of armour from a single item (as of the writing of this guide). Can be picked up directly after ROA in an AD matchup.

Boots of Swiftness, Dead Man's Plate and Zz'Rot Portal – As Veigar does not have a gap closer, and this build is centred around setting up with Event Horizon, these 3 movement items provide ways to get closer to enemies. Besides the boots, they also provide some useful defensive stats.

Warmog's Armor - Can be subbed out for either Dead Man's or Zz'rot, but is by no means a staple.

The listing above prioritises Primordial Burst > Baleful Strike > Dark Matter > Event Horizon.
Many regular Veigar builds will put points into Event Horizon before Dark Matter. This is less reliable here as the base damage is needed here, whereas the AP can cover it on a regular build.
As for the first 3 levels, the listed options aren't always optimal, they're just the best for stacking against an easy lane. The standard Baleful Strike> Dark Matter> Event Horizon or Baleful Strike> Event Horizon> Dark Matter can be used if there is heavy jungler pressure or a particularly difficult matchup. Most of early game, you'll generally only be using W as wave clear and E to escape or punish misplays.

Primarily, the Resolve line is only run for the flat health it gives. Though some keystones from other lines are strong, they leave Veigar too vulnerable early game, which means stacking is even more difficult.

Grasp of the Undying or Aftershock – Both decent options, Grasp definitely being better value if you can proc it. Aftershock provides a decent buff to resistances which could end up saving you.

Demolish or Unflinching – Demolish can help significantly while pushing, while unflinching makes you harder to stop. Unflinching has the added advantage of being solid against champs like Anivia. Both good for different situations.

Conditioning – Best option out of the 3 for late game, and without a reliable heal outside of Grasp, is the least risky to use.

Overgrowth or Second Wind – Overgrowth scales very well, and requires less attention, while Second Wind offers better sustain. Overgrowth synergises quite well with Grasp, and is recommended should you be running it. Second Wind is more advantageous into poke matchups, and can be used if running something outside Conditioning in the second line.

Either Sorcery or Inspiration should be run in this slot, as they both provide cooldown reduction, albeit in very different forms. Furthermore, they also offer some good safety options, which should also be considered. Here, I will compare the 2 lines, so you can pick the more suitable option for yourself.

Transcendence vs Cosmic Insight – Transcendence offers 10% cooldown reduction at level 10, as well as bonus AP as you go above cap. The second part of this rune is irrelevant for most builds, so can be ignored in this case. Cosmic Insight, on the other hand, gives 5% cooldown reduction for both abilities and summoner spells, increases the CDR cap by 5% and gives 5% CDR for actives. The active CDR is not too relevant, as there is only one active in this build, and it is bought quite late in the game. Overall, Cosmic Insight is best for early, when Transcendence has no effect, and late, when you can go over the cooldown cap slightly. Transcendence is best in the mid game.

Manaflow Band vs Biscuit Delivery – The 2 main options for sustain, with Manaflow Band providing more mana and biscuit delivery providing more health. Take whichever is needed.

Nullifying Orb – Good defensive option when against an AP lane, ends up being like a mini Hexdrinker passive.

The Ultimate Hat - Very strong option for fights. Will overshoot cap with blue buff and get ult to a very low cooldown.

Gathering Storm – Offers a very large amount of ability power in the late game, meaning it synergises very well with this build. Very good into an easier lane, where sustain and safety are less important.

Alternatively, Sorcery can be run in primary, with either Inspiration or Resolve as secondary. This is significantly riskier, but should be fine into many mage matchups. The main advantage here is being able to drop the comparatively weaker Demolish or Unflinching and instead getting another pick from the sorcery line.

Arcane Comet - After the Aery nerf, probably the better option of the two. Can miss, but does also help to zone, which is a large part of Veigar's kit.

Tank Veigar is particularly potent when placed in a team with powerful AOE damage. For example, Miss Fortune’s Bullet Time pairs very well with Event Horizon. Having more than one damage dealer is also quite important, as though tank Veigar’s damage can match that of other utility mages, he simply can’t do as much damage as AP Veigar.

In terms of enemies, tank Veigar is pretty good into a team of squishies. In many cases, AP Veigar’s damage is wasted in these cases (due to overkill), but running tank Veigar ensures they will have a harder time killing you. Certain champions with dashes or leaps, such as the popular Tristana, can be easily zoned with Event Horizon, removing a large degree of their safety. Veigar is also able to peel off many melee junglers by denying their gap closers, while being harder to dive than his AP counterpart through his sheer number of defensive stats. Lee Sin is probably the most obvious one, as putting up Event Horizon around yourself can deny a hit Sonic Wave.

Overall, Tank Veigar, while lacking the burst of AP Veigar, is a decent mid laner into teams where AP Veigar just can't survive. While this is the build I like to run, you may find more success with a build that runs more AP. Just remember, cooldown reduction is key in most Veigar builds, and stacking will be what gives you the edge over other mid laners.

Anyway, that's pretty much it. Thanks for reading this guide, and if you have any suggestions just put them in the comments. I will be adding to the matchups charts as time goes by, as well as maybe posting highlights from some games. Furthermore, as this is still early in the season, this build (particularly the runes), might be tweaked to be more viable for the current meta.