Ziggs is one of the safest and most efficient mid laners at the moment. Ziggs has great poke, zoning ability, wave clear, and burst. Ziggs is always a safe pick when played correctly and is one of my favorite champions. Ziggs can win almost any match up if he lands skill shots and knows how to kite/zone the enemy. His insane staling ability makes it very difficult to end games when vs him and he has the potential to wave clear opponents baron pushes.

Pros -

+Great wave clear
+AOE Ultimate
+Strong laning
+Scales well into late game
+Amazing Dragon Control/Zoning
+Low cool downs
+Great at Stalling Games

Cons -

-Squishy
-Needs proper positioning
-Lacks dash/jump escape
-Ultimate weak early

Potential Starting Items
The standard Doran's Ring start is the almost always the way to go. It gives you 60 health, 15 ability power, 50% mana regeneration, and 4 mana for every minion kill.

Core Items
Morellonomicon is a valuable choice as a mana item. After you buy Morellonomicon you will be able to spam abilities with out going out of mana and you will have 100 ability power on top of that to increase your spell damage and 20% cooldown reduction too! Buying Sorcerer's Shoes next gives you an important 15 magic penetration, which will allow you to shred through your opponents magic resist. Rabadon's Deathcap is the most important item on Ziggs. It gives you 120 ability power and the unique passive gives a 35% increase on your total ability power. This increases your damage by a ton and grants a huge power spike when it is completed.

Offensive Items
Luden's Tempest is a good item choice for Ziggs because of his low cooldowns. This item is best picked up mid game if you are ahead and can afford to not purchase defensive items. Void Staff is the next important item. This lets you ignore 35% of the enemies magic resist and gives you an additional 80 ability power. Buy this if most of the enemy team is stacking magic resist.


Defensive Items
Zhonya's Hourglass is a good item to buy if the opposing teams assassin or tank is killing you early before you get any off your abilities. The active can keep you alive and protect you from the enemy engage. Rylai's Crystal Scepter is good for kiting the enemy front line and chasing down enemies after a team fight. This is a good buy if you are having trouble escaping a slow front line. Banshee's Veil will give you the magic resist and to survive ability power opponents and the active will nullify the other teams initiation along with added ap to do extra damage while staying safe.

Trinkets
Stealth Ward is good early game for protecting yourself before you can buy real wards. When you actually start buying wards switch. Switch to either Sweeping Lens or Farsight Alteration depending on what your team needs at the time.

Situational Items -

Lich Bane is an item that i used to not like, but i now think it can work. This item should either be rushed to use as a tower shredder/harass in lane or later in the game as an extra damage source to go along with your passive and finish off those low enemies when your regular abilities aren't doing enough.

Mejai's Soulstealer - Only buy this if you are super fed and won't die much throughout the rest of the game. Mejai's is a stacking item based on kills and assists.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity - These boots are great for the cool down reduction and are a good option if you haven't built any other cdr items or would like 40%.

Barrier is the new go to item for passive mid laners. Heal is no longer as viable in mid lane and barrier with its potential 455 damage shield more than makes up for Heal. Take this spell if you wish to deal damage from a distance and/or are vs a difficult match up.


Exhaust is a strong summoner spell to counter assassins. It reduces all damage from the selected target by 50% and slows their movement speed by 30% for 2.5 seconds. This spell is good against champions like Zed, LeBlanc, or Syndra, who all have very strong burst.


Ignite is a high risk high reward summoner spell. Getting behind in a lane when you have Ignite can be very hard to comeback from. On the contrary, having Ignite gives you high kill potential in lane and can get you an early kill if your lane opponent doesn't respect your damage.


Teleport can be used as a spell if you wish to have an added global presence in addition to your Mega Inferno Bomb.


Ghost is not a bad choice for Ziggs after the buffs. Although it is mainly used by midlanes such as Twisted Fate and Vladimir, Ziggs can utilize it to run away and for extra kiting in team fights. If you plan on taking Ghost I would still recommend Flash to go along with it.


Flash is the one summoner spell that should be taken in every single game played on Ziggs. It allows you to reposition in team fights, escape a gank, or secure a kill.

Short Fuse - Ziggs passive is Short Fuse. Short Fuse makes your basic attack do a significant amount of damage. This is an important part of your lane dominance and should be used on the enemy laner when possible.

Bouncing Bomb - Ziggs "q" is Bouncing Bomb. This is your main poke tool and damage spell. Use your Bouncing Bomb to harass the opposition and clear the minion waves later in the game.

Satchel Charge - Ziggs "w" is Satchel Charge. This ability allows you to knock people away or towards you. This is your only escape ability and you should play cautious when it is on cool down. If Satchel Charge is placed correctly you can knock the other team member and your self in opposite directions. If needed you can use Satchel Charge to knock the enemy closer to you to finish him off with your auto attacks and your other spells. Max this ability last. This ability can now be used to execute towers too! Use your W on towers when they are low to execute them and explode them like the maniac Ziggs is.

Hexplosive Minefield - Hexplosive Minefield is Ziggs 'e'. This ability can allow you to wave clear early and should be maxed second. Use this ability to kite.

Mega Inferno Bomb - Mega Inferno Bomb is Ziggs ultimate. This ability is aoe and can deal tons of damage to the entire enemy team. Some uses also include stealing dragons or stopping a push by using it to clear the wave. Max this ability when possible.

The runes I run on Ziggs are the standard runes you will see on any ap caster. I prefer to take the standard Sorcery with Arcane Comet for increased poke damage. Everything else is pretty standard and should be self explanatory. Inspiration tree for the secondary with Stopwatch for the safety and to easily build Zhonya's Hourglass if needed.

Green - Any Champion in the Green area is a match up you will generally win if you take favorable trades and farm well.

Yellow - Any Champion in the Yellow area is a skill match up and you need to dodge skill shots and play passive unless a good opportunity opens up.

Red - Any Champion in the Red area is a lane that is near impossible to win. Play extremely passive and try to farm until mid game.

Warding!!

Warding is the most important and underestimated part of this game. Knowing where to ward and when to ward can save your life and or get you kills.

This video will show you the spots to ward and tell you the ups and downs to each position. Play Video

Ziggs is one of the strongest champions throughout all parts of the game. His long range poke and high damage can help you win any game with ease. If this guide helped you remember to up vote and favorite and if you need any additional information I will respond to private messages. Thanks!!

Guide Log -

5-12-14 - Improved guide as a whole.
5-18-14 - Fixed minor errors and typos.
11-15-14 - Updated guide including match ups, runes, masteries, and descriptions. Added Champion difficulty rating
11-28-14 - Changed the title
2-28-15 - Updated guide to 5.4 and changed the build path and runes
3-7-15 - Updated the lane match ups
3-18-15 - Updated vs. Champion section
4-8-15 - Updated to 5.7
5-1-15 - Updated to 5.8, updated champion match ups
7-2-15 - updated to 5.13
9-14-15 - updated to 5.17
12-28-15 - updated to pre-season 6
5-24-16 - updated to 6.10 Mid Season Update
6-5-16 - updated to 6.11 small changes
6-15-16 - updated to 6.12
6-22-16 - added cdr boots
7-14-16 - updated to 6.14
1-15-17 - updated to 7.1
1-15-18 - Updated to 8.1