Neeko is one of LoL’s newest and most versatile champions. She has two forms of crowd control, abilities that are situationally empowered, a wombo combo of an ultimate, invisibility, the opportunity to disguise herself as fellow teammates, and the privilege of deciding whether to build on-hit or AP damage. When utilized correctly she can be one of the most dangerous champions in the game. Let’s get down to her abilities.





Abilities

Her passive is Inherent Glamour, which allows her to transform into the exact character model of any of her teammates. This is exactly as tricky as it sounds and can lead to lots of clever plays. In addition, only casting Blooming Burst and Tangle-Barbs will take her out the disguise. This means she use Shapesplitter and the first half of Pop Blossom while still imitating another champion. This ability has many good uses for warding and positioning in teamfights. It is important when creating pressure where there otherwise should be none.

Her Q is Blooming Burst, a skill shot with the potential to deal tons of surprise damage even at level one. As AP Neeko, more often than not, you will be starting and maxing this ability first. It is your main form of wave clear and damage, especially when you hit your Tangle-Barbs. At rank 3, champion level 5, three blooms of your Blooming Burst will kill a caster minion at full health. This means at level 5, you can use one empowered auto on caster minion A and one regular auto on caster minion B (ensuring your Q gets three blooms) before you Q on three or more caster minions to kill them all. You get the point. This ability is capable of huge damage and should be regularly used to either poke opponents or push the minion wave.

Her W is Shapesplitter, the ability that enhances Neeko’s deception capabilities. The passive is vital for her burst damage and is a standard auto attack steroid. If building on-hit Neeko, you should be starting with this ability and maxing it first. Otherwise, max it last.

The active on the other hand is worth testing out on your own. It is a great ability for face checking brushes, soaking key abilities, escaping ganks or getting to the enemy teams backline. It is crucial to understand how this ability works as Neeko and as her opponents to know when and how to properly use it.

Her E is Tangle-Barbs. As Neeko’s most reliable form of crowd control, this ability often sets up the rest of her damage. When you E through at least two enemies all subsequent foes will be rooted for 1.8 seconds, which is enough for your Q to pop all three times. This means you should always be attempting to hit your Q on a champion afflicted by your root. In addition, your Ultimate can sometimes be difficult to land unless, of course, you were to land the empowered root from your E beforehand. Finally, it is never a bad idea to play extra defensive when Tangle-Barbs is on cooldown. Max this ability second in all builds.

Last but certainly not least is Neeko’s R, Pop Blossom. This ability can be devastating in teamfights with damage, crowd control, zoning capabilities or even all three. The key is to understand how most effectively to use it. If the enemy team has tons of engage (such as Lissandra, Jarvan IV, Kled, etc.), this ability should be saved defensively waiting for the enemy team to overstep. If the enemy team is full of poke or immobile carries (such as Xerath, Kog’Maw, Varus, Viktor, etc.), this ability should be used in conjunction with your W’s invisibility, Flash, and other movement speed to get onto the enemy team’s vulnerable backline.





AP Build

When it comes to building with Neeko, you have three main options. AP Neeko, On-hit Neeko, or Utility Neeko. AP Neeko has the most flexibility and devastating burst. When building AP Neeko: Arcane Comet, Manaflow Band, Transcendence and Gathering Storm is one option for a more traditional mage rune page. Topped off by Cheap Shot and Ravenous Hunter with CDR, Adaptive Force and Health runes. On the other hand -- you can build Electrocute, Cheap Shot, Eyeball Collection, and Ravenous Hunter for far more devastating burst damage. This build is finished by Manaflow Band, Scorch, Adaptive Force x2 and Health.

Now, builds should vary based on your playstyle and what you prefer so, as a disclaimer, I’d recommend you try each build to find what works best for you. Personally, I like to build Luden’s Echo first, unless the enemy team has an exorbitant amount of engage/damage, in which case I opt for Hextech Protobelt-01 for the health. This is usually followed by Sorcerer’s Boots and Zhonya’s Hourglass/Banshee’s Veil depending on the type of damage the enemy team primarily puts out.

When building Luden’s first, I prefer to follow with more damage, committing to a squishy, explosive build. Spellbinder and Rabadon’s Deathcap both make great third and fourth item purchases. While Void Staff, Morellonomicon, and Rylai’s Crystal Scepter all make solid final items.

When opting for the more defensive Hextech Protobelt-01 first item, I like to immediately build more health in order to make your existing armor/magic resist more effective. This means building Morellonomicon third, Liandry’s Torment fourth, and Rylai’s Crystal Scepter fifth. In some scenarios (i.e. against multiple assassins of magic and physical damage), it’s a good idea to replace the Rylai’s Crystal Scepter with the alternative defensive item you didn’t buy second (Zhonya’s Hourglass or Banshee’s Veil). With this build, I almost always prefer to buy MR or Armor boots.





On-Hit Build

On-hit Neeko should be taking the Precision tree with Domination secondary. Topped off by Attack speed, Adaptive Force, and Health. All Keystone masteries are viable. However, I would recommend Press the Attack. Follow this with Triumph/Presence of Mind, Legend: Alacrity, and Coup De Grace. Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter are best for the Domination tree.

Itemization is similar to that of Vayne’s. Your core items are Blade of the Ruined King followed by Guinsoo’s Rageblade. Berserker Greaves are the optimal boot purchase, but MR and Armor boots can be situationally purchased against heavy magic damage or heavy attack damage compositions respectively. The build should be topped off with an Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, and Guardian’s Angel. In addition, Lord Dominik’s can be substituted for Phantom Dancer against teams with significant amounts of armor. Items such as Nashor’s Tooth and Wit’s End are also viable if you choose to run a more hybrid type of On-hit build.





Utility Neeko

Finally, a build that has recently popped up in high level and competitive play is Glacial Augment Neeko. She runs Glacial Augment, Perfect Timing, Minion Dematerializer, and Cosmic Insight. Follow this up with Cheat Shot and Ingenious Hunter, 2x Adaptive Force and Health.

The core items on this variant of Neeko are Hextech GLP-800, Twin Shadows, and Zhonya’s Hourglass. With options for your final two items usually coming down to specific game dynamics. Rabadon’s Deathcap and Spellbinder if you are snowballing a lead. Void Staff and Morellonomicon versus heavy MR opponents. Even Liandry’s Torment works great in extended fights. Sorcerer’s Boots are often the preferred boot purchase.





Early Game

Depending on the matchup, you should be going in with a specific game plan. Either constantly push the lane and look to roam/consistently ward while utilizing your passive for deception, or you can allow the wave to push to you, setting up jungler ganks and solo kills.

Shoving the wave is great against Neeko’s toughest opponents. For example, Xerath can outrange you and get more free damage off the longer you are in lane. This strategy will keep you healthy while tricking the enemy team into thinking your jungler is somewhere he/she is not. In addition, you can help track the enemy jungler and better prevent your teammates from dying to ganks. Finally, it allows you the best chance to impact other lanes with game changing roams at key moments. All of the above, without missing significant creep score.

Another strategy, best against melee opponents, short range mages and immobile champions, is to let the wave push towards your tower. Then freeze while looking for opportunities to kill your opponent. Using Electrocute damage plus Ignite you can often kill any mid lane champion from 50% health with one full combo. This includes your empowered E root, full Q damage and empowered auto from your W. After level 6 this becomes even easier with your ultimate.





Mid Game

When teamfighting, it is very important to keep your build and enemy team in mind as it should influence your playstyle greatly.

As AP Neeko, it is important to recognize if you’re going to reliably get onto their backline or not. As mentioned earlier, against immobile carries you’re going to want to dive the backline and try to wreak havoc there. If playing against an Ezreal, LeBlanc, Tahm Kench, or other defensive champion it is important to be patient with your ultimate waiting out important cooldowns from the enemy before committing yourself to a fight. Often it will be better to use your ultimate defensively against these tough to catch opponents.

As on-hit Neeko, it is important to position as you would an ADC. Utilizing your ultimate purely for defensive purposes, peeling either yourself or your team’s other carries. In addition, stay far enough behind your frontline that the enemy is unable to reach you. Always be anticipating the most harmful cooldowns ready to flash away at any moment. And never forget your power spike comes late in the game.

As Utility Neeko, still remain in your backline while throwing out the most amount of damage and slows possible. Always be using your Twin Shadows and Hextech-GLP 800 liberally, almost on cooldown. Looking for picks and damage that is difficult for the enemy team to return. This Neeko variant power spikes hardest after two or three items.

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