The Mouth of the Abyss, Kog'Maw, has been one of the most versatile champions to be used in competitive League of Legends. With options as both a marksman and a long-range poke midlaner, the character scales particularly well into the mid-to-late game with both Attack Damage and Ability Power builds. Despite remaining relatively viable for a long period of time, his AP build has gained recent popularity due to recent changes to the champion and the release of Luden's Echo. Why is AP Kog'Maw so strong, and why has he become a power pick in the current meta?

While many use Kog'Maw as a marksman in the bottom lane, his abilities primarily scale off of Ability Power.

Passive: Icathian Surprise

"Upon dying, Kog'Maw starts a chain reaction in his body which causes him to gain up to 40% movement speed gradually over the duration of 4 seconds and detonate; dealing「 100 + (25 × Kog'Maw's level) 」true damage to surrounding enemies."

While Kog'Maw's passive isn't crucial to his viability as a midlaner, it's a useful tool that can be used to trade kills in lane or kill off low-health enemies at the end of a teamfight. Dealing 450 true damage at level 18, his passive can be a substantial area of effect damage source in the lategame.

Q: Caustic Spittle

"PASSIVE: Increases Kog'Maw's attack speed.

ACTIVE: Kog'Maw launches a corrosive projectile forward in a line, dealing magic damage to the first enemy it hits and reducing their armor and magic resistance by a percentage for 4 seconds.

MAGIC DAMAGE: 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+ 50% AP)"

Kog'Maw's Caustic Spittle is a mid range skillshot that deals a substantial amount of magic damage while also shredding the opponent's armor and magic resist. On only an 8 second cooldown, this should ideally be used on enemy tanks at the beginning of the fight before reusing it for it's damage during the later parts of the battle. In trades or duels, Kog'Maw's Q should be used to lead off the trade with initial damage and resist shred. After this, you can finish the trade with autos, Void Ooze, and Living Artillery before backing away or going in to finish a kill.

W: Bio-Arcane Barrage

"ACTIVE: For 8 seconds, Kog'Maw's attacks gain range and deal a percentage of the target's maximum health as additional magic damage (caps at 100 against minions and monsters).

MAGIC DAMAGE: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6% (+ 1% per 100 AP) of target's maximum health"

Bio-Arcane Barrage is the signature ability in the classic AD Carry Kog'Maw build, however it is less useful when poking from afar in conjunction with a magic-based build. That being said, Bio-Arcane Barrage's AP scalings can become useful when peeling off health-based tanks when going for a pick or kiting out of a fight.

E: Void Ooze

"ACTIVE: Kog'Maw launches a ball of ooze that deals magic damage and slows all enemies in a line for 1 second. The ooze lingers for 4 seconds, slowing enemies who stand on it for 0.25 seconds."

With a range of 1280, Void Ooze can deal substantial damage while slowing enemies. This is a crucial part of Kog'Maw's kit, setting up his Living Artillery to clean up opponents while making it difficult for enemies to dive back in. Additionally, Void Ooze's 70% AP scalings create potential for massive upfront damage in the later stages of the game when used in conjunction with Caustic Spittle.

R: Living Artillery

"ACTIVE: Kog'Maw launches a ball of acid into the air that drops after 0.6 seconds at target 100-radius area, damaging and granting sight of enemies hit for 4 seconds (100% extra base damage to Champions). Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 6 seconds after a cast will cost 40 additional mana, capping at 400 per cast."

Living Artillery is AP Kog'Maw's bread-and-butter ability. Scaling off of both AD and AP, the skill gains 300 range per rank. This gives Kog'Maw's Living Artillery a range of 1800, dealing 320 damage (+30% AP) to enemy champions on a 1 second cooldown at level 16. The utility of this ability allows AP Kog to poke down enemies before a fight, siege turrets, deal AOE teamfight damage, or win trades in lane. Although it's mana cost increases after being used within a 6 second window, Kog'Maw's ultimate creates potential for massive amounts of damage over a short duration of time.

Building for Consistent Damage

Kog'Maw requires the user to maintain a large mana pool while also building up Ability Power for his power spikes at levels 11 and 16. Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten of Europe's Fnatic will usually start his build with a Tear of the Goddess before building directly into a Luden's Echo. This early item build enhances Kog'Maw's waveclear while also building up the champion's mana pool for his Living Artillery. The Tear of the Goddess will eventually build into a Seraph's Embrace, followed by the addition of resistances (Zhonya’s vs AD or Abyssal vs AP) or damage (Rabadons and Void Staff) depending on the enemy team's composition.

Pros such as Diepstraten often opt to use Ghost and Flash as their summoner spells in order to add some mobility to a champion who usually has trouble escaping from high-CC opponents. Kog players will also often choose to use Cleanse or Heal in specific situations where they either need extra HP to escape high-damage burst or if the player is against compositions featuring multiple stuns.

Competitive Strength

AP Kog's recent popularity in competitive play stems from his kit's strategical versatility and his overall late game strength in using Living Artillery. Professional players can opt to use the Kog'Maw in different ways as a tool to orchestrate the opponent's location on the map. The champion's long-range abilities can be used to siege enemy turrets, dissuade opponent's from contesting neutral objectives (Baron, Dragon, etc.), or he can be used defensively by clearing waves or peeling away from unfavorable fights.

Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage would use AP Kog'Maw against SK Gaming in Game 1 of their semifinal matchup in the EULCS 2015 Spring Playoffs. Finishing with the most kills in the game at 11, Schrage used Kog's utility to deal immense damage during teamfights while also creating picks on low-health enemies. PowerOfEvil would also build into Liandry's Torment, an item that would create a damage-over-time effect when Living Artillery would hit.

Although AP Kog'Maw's late game damage is enormous, his lack of an innate escape can be scary when put up against compositions featuring high-damage assassins or teams with strong dive. Smart Kog'Maw players will usually opt to position themselves behind walls or far away from a fight to prevent getting in range of enemy threats. Mobility and aggressive vision control could also allow teams to win fights by killing the Kog'Maw quickly.

Playstyle & SoloQ Viability

Kog'Maw plays similarly in SoloQ to his playstyle in competitive play. Laning phase should be played safely, as solo-kill potential around the champion's early levels is incredibly low. Especially when taking Ghost as Kog'Maw's second summoner spell, it's important to stay safe from ganks or enemy champions during lane phase: focus on farming. By sacrificing his ability to consistently solo-kill enemies in lane, AP Kog team fights very well. Play around your power spikes! Attempt to coordinate teamfights in ideal locations once you gain your core items or hit levels 11 or 16. Additionally, don't be afraid to collapse during teamfights once enemy threats are deleted. Move into range so that you can reliably hit your Caustic Spittle and Void Ooze in addition to the spam of Living Artillery.

AP Kog'Maw's strengths revolve around his ability to deal high amounts of damage while remaining in a safe position during teamfights. However, falling behind as a team, getting caught out, or failing to stall out the game towards Kog'Maw's powerspikes could result in defeat.

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