Guide details x Part 1 - Introduction x Thank you for reading! x Changelog Champion x Part 2 - Pros / Cons x Part 3 - General Tips & Tricks

Pre-Game Choices x Part 4 - Runes In-Game x Part 5 - Matchups x Part 6 Under construction - Items x Part 7 - Under construction Strategy

Welcome to my first guide! Since you've clicked on this guide the first question in your mind must be, "How do you play Veigar and what type of champion is he?"

Veigar is a late game, hyper carry, burst mage. He has the potential to "grow" into an unstoppable force if left to his own devices. In the late game he can solo turrets, 1 shot fighters and steal wins from the brink of defeat. He is, however, a burst mage. Items such as Zhonya's Hourglass can often cause a lot of problems for Veigar as often if his Q+W+R doesn't kill his target, he's done for. He fits quite happily into most champion pools due to being AP, having stuns and basically just being a nice control mage. I would advise that you add him to your champion pool if you need a late-game champion or a burst mage. If you already have one of these two things Veigar might not be the best compliment to your champion pool, and it might be better to find another champion.

Playing Veigar is all about his passive. You are looking to make sure that you get as many stacks as fast as you can. There are a lot of ways you can do this. You can farm minions with your Q, you can hit the enemy with one of your spells or you can get a kill/assist. Often, you're going to want to try and maximise this. Why just get 1 stack from killing that minion, when you can aim to hit both the minion and the enemy laner to get 2 stacks! Why go into the jungle to save your doomed Master Yi who decided to invade a Kha'Zix when you could get 3 stacks off of the cannon minion in your lane! Why sit in lane and get a tiny 60 gold when you could save your ally Master Yi from the Kha'Zix who decided to invade your jungle using a simple Q+R combo, get 300 gold AND a juicy 7 stacks!

Overall Veigar is going to teach you to think about what's going on. If you decide to try and perform ganks every 10 seconds, you're going to lose. If you decide to stay in lane and do nothing but farm, you're not going to get as many takedown stacks and you're going to lose. Veigar is also going to teach you that life isn't all about the early game. That enemy Zoe who just got a kill on you? In about 10 minutes time you'll 1 shot her and forget all about that death.

If you're looking for a champion that can scale, that can work in the late game, that will reward you for being patient, Veigar is for you. If you're looking for roams, or for early fights Veigar is not for you.

PROS -Low Skill floor -Amazing Scaling -Access to CC -High damage output -Point and click ultimate -Works well into a variety of matchups and teams Veigar has a relatively low skill floor. You can pick him up and have the general idea within the first game or two. He scales fantastically and with his access to cc, it's very rare for there to be a team that he can't fit onto. Overall he's a nice "little" champion to pick up for the midlane if you're a beginner or advanced! Veigar allows you to learn the midlane either by learning what midlane champions can do, or by allowing you to adapt to face lanes. He's able to take tanky items because of his passive and still be able to do damage (albe it at a reduced amount).

CONS -Low skill floor -Weak Early game -3 relatively easy to dodge skills -Can take a long time to come online Sometimes having a low skill floor is a good thing, other times it's not so much. People can often feel like he's just a "press R to win" champion once he's in the late game. In the early game it's only too easy to forget how little damage you have and miss cs and give away kills. His skills all require the enemy to basically be still and nearby and are fairly easy to miss. There's also the chance that the game will be over before he will even come online to prevent the loss...

Throughout a lot of this game I've given the impression that if you just get stacks, scale and wait for the late game, you'll win. It's true in many cases that is enough, but it's important to realise that Veigar can come online rather fast once you get used to him. A lot of the time using your Q to hit both the enemy minion (for cs) and the enemy laner will do a reasonable chunk of damage, so you should look to do this where ever possible. In many cases a Q onto the enemy laner and a minion is far more valuable than just 2 minions.

A lot of people will level their skills with Q level 1, W level 2 and E level 3. Your E costs a lot of mana and going out of mana (oom) can be a huge problem if you're not careful. Think very carefully before you put a level in E at level 3. If the enemy is a Zed and your jungler is currently ganking botlane it is incredibly unlikely that you need your E. Zed will happily dodge it, and your jungler probably won't be ganking before level 4.

A lot of Veigars will sit in the lane all game and farm. Remember, kills and assists will give you a lot more stacks than a minion wave. If your jungler and the enemy jungler are fighting over a scuttle crab, I strongly urge you to consider helping (especially if your enemy laner isn't an assassin). At worst you'll get no stacks put get gold onto your jungler, at best you might get 5 stacks from a kill/assist, 1 or 2 from your skills hitting the enemy jungler and gold for both you and your jungler.

Your Q can hit, at most, two enemy targets (a bit like a Lux Q). The number of stacks that you gain is not the same for every unit killed. Large monsters (blue buff and cannon minions for example) count as 2 on their death with your Q. Regular minions and Heimerdingers turrets count as 1 stack on their death. An enemy champion (if killed with your Q) will give 6 stacks and 1 stack if they're just hit by the Q. Therefore, don't blindly use your Q, think about how you can get the most stacks and consider saving it to get a larger stack combo.

You'll notice that I've put quite a few rune selections for you to choose from. This is because Veigar scales very well with his passive and as a result can make great use of many of the runes. You'll want to analyse what your lane opponent will be and use that in order to pick your prefered rune. I've explained why I take a few of them below, but if you feel like you can make another rune work please let me know and I'll be happy to try it out/add it in!

KEYSTONE Electrocute: Bluntly, I don't like this rune choice. I already feel like the late game he pumps out enough damage, and I don't think I've ever wanted an additional 100 or so damage in a fight. I either tend to destroy the enemy point-blank, or I don't. I'd consider this rune path if you're like too, but honestly, I just have never thought that it fits my style of play. Ironically this rune works well with Veigar because he has a lot of burst. Often you're going to be doing damage by landing your E stun, then dropping a W and Q to get the enemy to low and finishing them with an R (or an auto) which would prock the electrocute. This would usually be an additional 100 or so damage, which at the start of the game is something but by 30 minutes in that very little to a veigar. I would recommend you to consider a different Keystone at least.

KEYSTONE Glacial Augment: This is a rune that you're going to want to pick into melee matchups which you feel that you can get a number of free Auto attacks on. This rune will alter your prefered build path to have more items with active abilities. Do not pick this into Zed or Fizz, however. Their high mobility will prove to make sure that you lose the trade as they immediately dash to you and chunk out half your health. Unsealed Spellbook: Another Inspiration rune, which I tend to think of as my go-to rune. Unsealed Spellbook means that during the cooldown of teleport you can switch it out to another spell which will help you continue to scale through the lane. It's equally as helpful in the late game because cleanses and heals are all fantastic. I've even had the odd game or two where I'll take smite and help make sure we get Baron or Dragon. Sometimes even a sneaky ghost can be nice to get you back to lane quicker, but in general, it just gives you more options to be able to make the most out of any situation. MAJOR RUNE Magical Footwear/ Perfect Timing: Both boots and stopwatch are great items and they'll all help you scale just that little bit faster. You generally want to pick the rune that will give you the most benefit. If you're having to dodge skill shots, boots it is, if you're going to be 1 shot, a stopwatch is your go-to! MINOR RUNE Biscuit Delivery: Basically a free potion. Really good considering how weak you are early and it even gives back mana, which helps you to stay in lane that little bit longer MINOR RUNE Time Warp Tonic: This is purely to keep your potions going a bit longer. Sometimes this can be the difference between a game ruining back and being able to last it out to the lost chapter!

KEYSTONE Arcane Comet: At first glance, this is a wonderful Keystone to take. You can take it, but I'd personally not recommend you get too comfortable with it. This is because, in reality, it's rarely very good because Veigar doesn't really poke all that often. Instead, you're normally more bothered about getting stacks than trying to use an ability on just an enemy. MAJOR RUNE Nullifying Orb: This is a must-have if you're laning against a fizz. It is usually the difference between life and death with him. Manaflow Band: This is purely to help Veigar have enough mana to be the unstoppable beast that he is! MINOR RUNE Gathering Storm: This rune is fantastic because it basically just scales with you into the late game. It's almost the Veigar of runes. Resolve MAJOR RUNE Demolish: This is something I take as something of a disrespect rune. I tend to build tanky against a Zed, usually causing them to get bored and travel to another lane. Demolish helps me to use this to take the Zeds turret as punishment for his roams. MINOR RUNE Overgrowth/ Bone Plating: Zed is what makes Veigar appreciate having the option to take this tree as a secondary. Bone Plating and Overgrowth really help to keep you alive. When fighting a Zed I would highly recommend you take either one or both of these.

Now that you have a vague idea of what you're going to be taking for runes, let's look at a few more classic matchups and how I'd play them.




As an immobile mage, fighting an assassin is never the most fun thing to do in the entire world. Usually, when they're level 1, they tend not to have too much strength. This allows you to try and do a few Autoattacks and get a little poke off with your Q. I usually try and stand with my caster minions and try and hit them as I cs with my Q. How I play the rest of the lane depends on how they act in the level 1. You can generally get an idea of just how comfortable and skilful they are by watching their behaviour. If they're just ignoring your poke and getting low, you can attempt to bully them a bit more as you level. The most important part of this lane, however, is not giving away kills. Let your team know when they roam, look and see what they have purchased on their backs and most importantly, respect their burst.
It's important to remember that you as a Veigar will outscale, but if you're 0/8/3 by the 15-minute mark it's just not going to happen fast enough. Take your time, play it safe and look for quick little pokes and only go for a kill if your sure they either 1) Can't respond (they have no mana or energy) or 2) Will be dead before they can respond (They got hit by your E and you can Q>W>R them).

You'll notice that in my item section I have items specifically for Zed and Fizz. This is because, in my opinion, they are possibly the hardest matchups for Veigar. Their whole kit is based around getting super fed early and then turning a won lane into a won game. My theory on beating them is quite simple. People who play Zed and Fizz are looking to do cool outplays and get tonnes of kills (not always but usually). When you build armour against Zed or magic resist against Fizz you are preventing them from getting what they want because it prevents their whole combo from killing you. The items I have chosen in that section both give you the armour or magic resist AND do not set you too far back. This often causes the Fizz/Zed to become frustrated and misplay, or makes them roam in search of kills elsewhere. Both of these situations allow you to continue to get stacks, and usually take the enemy tower. The huge setback, however, is that you are greatly delaying your power spike with this method. Do not expect to take this and 1 shot people and do not expect to be able to tank like an Ornn. The whole idea is to be able to survive the initial burst, not be the front line for your team.




Playing against a mage as Veigar is not that hard. You need to focus on stacks and avoiding whatever their crowd control is. Be it a Zoe E or a Syndra stun, just focus on avoiding it. These are much easy to get kills off of as well as they tend to be immobile and so ganks or even E stuns are usually the kiss of death for them. If you're struggling, play safe and ping for your jungler to gank. When he ganks move to the opposite side of the lane to the jungler so that your lane opponent moves towards your jungler. Then, move up and drop your cage with the intention not to cause a stun, but to just keep them in place. This should allow your jungler to come in and together you can put and end to your struggles.
By the late game, you should easily outscale most, if not all, of the enemy mages. If you're struggling to land any Es just relax, get your stacks and wait for a gank or the late game.


Playing against one of these is unpredictable and varies greatly depending on the skill of the person who is controlling them. At the first level or two, you'll want to play it as if it were an assassin. However, against one of these, you'll want to keep in mind if the enemy is a full AD comp. If they are you're going to remember that not only can you outscale, but in the late game they might be unable to damage your tanks. Be careful not to let them get a cs lead or kills and you should easily be able to take over the lane. Unfortunately, these are often flex picks and often you won't have the correct resistances against them.



Veigar, as I have repeatedly mentioned, is not a particularly strong early game champion. He suffers from needing to use mana from his primordially small mana pool, little to no cc and little to no wave clear. Champions like Aurelion Sol which have very strong waveclear or Xerath with amazing poke are therefore a struggle as a Veigar. Often, there is very little you can do in these matchups but accept that you will be on the backfoot. That doesn't mean however that you should do nothing but afk under the tower. Instead, you need to work very hard to ward your lane to make sure you can tell where the enemy is roaming to when they leave your lane so you can not only ping the mia but also ping a warning to the lane they've gone to. This can often waste their time and make them fall behind. It also means that you'll be able to push until they get back and possibly get tower plates. Overall, play these lanes understanding that you will miss the occasional cs and that you might have to back more than once to prevent giving away kills.
Heimerdinger in a weird way fits into this group but he is also a very easy lane. Focus on destroying his turrets with a W > Q combo to get stacks. Don't worry about trying to push out from your turret and always danger ping ganks. Just sit back, learn to farm under the tower and let him feed you into an unstoppable machine. (Just make sure that you dodge his stun!)

Items on Veigar are very very simple. You start with a Doran's Ring. It gives you additional damage against creeps, gives you mana regen, gives you additional health and overall is just a great item for Veigar to start with.

On your first back, you have to look at who your lane opponent is, and change your items to fit that champion and your rune set. I'll start by explaining items for General Use, then I'll explain Glacial Augments build and then finally explain builds for Zed and Fizz.
First back
On your first back, you're going to look to solve the problem of mana worries. You can do this by buying either a Lost Chapter which is standard OR you'll get a Tear of the Goddess. Lost Chapter goes into Luden's Tempest which provides you with faster scaling, wave clear and AP. Tear of the Goddess goes into Archangel's Staff which scales slower (but scales higher), lacks waveclear and AP on the first back, BUT gives you a lot more mana AND a shield. I tend to go with Tear of the Goddess whenever I require huge amounts of sustain (such as against Heimerdinger) otherwise I always build Lost Chapter.

Thank you very much for reading! If you have any questions please feel free to ask them! I hope that this has helped you if you're looking to pick up Veigar.

I'll be continuing to edit this over the next few weeks as there's a lot more I want to put into the Pros and Cons section and the Runes and Matchups section. If you have any thoughts or Questions I'll consider making a FAQ section and happily add things in as needed.

17/12/19 - Updated a few of the Threats including the mini rework to Diana that came out in 9.24. Also changed the contents page and added the Changelog.
09/01/20 - Updated a few of the Threats due to the release of 10.1, also added in Chapter 6 Items - Under construction.