Here is the full guide on how to play Viktor in League of Legends season 13 like the 2020 world champion mid laner Showmaker.
Image Credits | LCK
Viktor mid Guide – Everything you need to know
Viktor has been a major presence in the last few years in both professional play and solo queue. Just like Syndra, he perfectly embodies the characteristics of a control mage and mid lane carry. That said, the champion is not easy to master and only a few people are able to use his full potential.
While mastering Viktor takes time and dedication, understanding his rune and item builds are going to make the learning process significantly easier. To help you out, we’ve compiled the best current builds and runes setups used by one of the best Korean mid laners in the world: DK Showmaker.
Viktor mid Build
Viktor has two main item builds: one is for higher burst damage, while the other one works best against tankier and more durable team compositions. We’re going to dive deeper into both, and explain each build’s strengths.
The most common Viktor build has Luden’s Echo as the main Mythic item. The item grants magic penetration and some AoE damage on the passive, making it perfect when you want to land significant damage onto the enemies. If you’re prioritizing this build, you want to burst down a squishy target as quickly as possible.
Therefore, the core items are Luden’s Echo, Sorcerer’s Shoes, and Shadowflame. This trio of items will grant enough magic penetration to shred through any target. To round off the build, the best items are Zhonya’s Hourglass, Rabadon’s Deathcap, and Lich Bane or Void Staff.
In professional play, however, Showmaker goes for the alternative build, which has Liandry’s Anguish as the Mythic item. This item works best against champions with high max HP, as it applies damage over time (DoT). While it sacrifices quick damage output, it’s best for extended teamfights and skirmishes.
Image Credits | Riot Games
In this build, Sorcerer’s Shoes are also not mandatory. He either prefers Mercury’s Treads for the extra tenacity (to lower crowd control durations), or Ionian for the higher ability haste. To compensate for the loss of magic penetration, compared to the Luden’s Echo build, he rushes Void Staff so he can take advantage of the 40% magic penetration. Against tanky champions, the cost efficiency is much higher.
With the Liandry Viktor build, you are going to be spamming spells a lot more often to apply the item’s passive on multiple champions. By doing so, the mana pool will be depleted very quickly. For this reason, Showmaker usually builds Archangel Staff to gain more mana, and close off the build with Rabadon’s Deathcap and Zhonya’s Hourglass for extra ability power.
Overall, this is the usual build seen in most Viktor games:
- Luden’s Echo/Liandry’s Anguish
- Sorcerer’s Shoes/Mercury’s Treads/Ionian boots of Lucidity
- Shadowflame/Void Staff
- Radabon’s Deathcap/Archangel Staff
- Archangel Staff/Rabadon’s Deathcap
- Zhonya’s Hourglass
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Viktor’s Runes
There are two main rune setups for Viktor. Most people prefer going with First Strike to generate extra gold and accelerate his item purchases. That said, if you’re not able to proc the rune consistently, you can opt for Summon Aery instead. Decide based on the lane matchup and whether you want to go for aggressive trading. Try out both to see which one you’re most comfortable on.
By going Summon Aery, you usually want to pick the following minor runes:
- Manaflow Band to avoid spending 300 gold to get boots;
- Transcendence for extra ability haste;
- Scorch or Gathering Storm depending on if you want better early game trading or late game scaling.
Image Credits | Riot Games
For the secondary tree, go for Inspiration and get Cosmic Insight and Biscuit Delivery.
Otherwise, if you go for First Strike, these are the minor runes to pair it up with:
- Magical Footwear to get boots for free;
- Biscuit Delivery for extra mana;
- Cosmic Insight for lower summoner spells cooldown.
Image Credits | Riot Games
Image Credits | Riot Games
The secondary rune tree is Sorcery, with Manaflow Band and Trascendence as the two choices. Regardless of the keystone rune, the minor runes are fairly similar in both setups.
If you want to play Viktor like Showmaker, sticking to this guide will allow you to get the most out of the Machine Herald.
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