When a new Champion is released, many people are eager to try them out as soon as possible and Neeko is no different! Neeko is an extremely strong Champion with the potential to essentially solo win teamfights when used correctly. She has a fair amount of CC built into her kit along with very high damaging abilities and the power to deceive the enemy team. When a Champion has this much power loaded into their kit, it can be difficult to manage all of it properly and maximize your damage output. To start understanding Neeko, you will want to first understand all of her abilities, what Summoner Spells are good on her, and what Runes work best. After this, we will look at how to play the laning phase and teamfights with this Champion, and then look at builds work best with her. So, let’s check out her abilities!

ABILITIES

Neeko’s Passive, Inherent Glamour, is relatively simple but can be very effective. This Passive allows Neeko to transform her appearance into that of any ally Champion. If you have a Lee Sin on your team, now you have two! Not actually though… just the appearance. Neeko’s Passive gets cancelled out when taking damage or casting either Blooming Burst, her Q, or Tangle-Barbs, her E. This can be very effective to psych out the enemy team. If you decide to roam bot, disguise yourself as your team’s Jungler for that split second of confusion.

It is also important to note that you gain the appearance of their health and mana as well. So, if your Jungler has really low health and you have full health, then you can bait the enemy into attacking you and turn the tables.

Neeko’s Q is Blooming Burst. Neeko throws a seed to a target area that detonates dealing Magic Damage. If this ability kills an enemy or hits a Champion or Large Monster, then this seed will burst again, up to a maximum of three total bursts. This is a powerful ability that allows Neeko to shove minion waves relatively quickly and is her main source of poke damage. To try to hit an enemy Champion with more than one burst, it is helpful to snare them with your E first, but we will get to that ability in a bit.

Neeko’s W is Shapesplitter. Shapesplitter allows Neeko to go invisible for a short time and send a clone of her current form in a target direction. Neeko also gains movement speed after casting this ability. If you are currently transformed with Inherent Glamour, then your clone will be of the Champion you are currently disguised as. This ability also has a passive empowering every third basic attack Neeko uses. After the empowered basic attack, Neeko will also gain a burst of movement speed.

Tangle-Barbs is Neeko’s E ability. Tangle-Barbs is a skill-shot slung in a target direction dealing Magic Damage and Rooting all enemies struck by the ability. If this ability passes through two enemies, the size of the skillshot, the speed at which it travels, and the duration of the root will all be increased. This means that if your lane opponent is hiding behind minions, then you can punish them with Tangle-Barbs and follow up with Blooming Burst.

Finally, Neeko’s Ultimate or R ability is Pop Blossom. Casting this ability charges up Neeko and after charging up she gains a shield, slows the enemies caught in the area of effect, then deals a massive amount of Magic Damage and stuns all enemies hit by the ability. You can also move while casting this ability, as well as cast it with Shapesplitter. This means you can cast Shapesplitter and then cast Pop Blossom while you are invisible and appear in the middle of the enemy team to deal a ton of damage and stun the enemy team.

This ability alone makes Neeko a monster in teamfights and allows you to take control of a fight pretty quickly. When it comes to maxing your abilities, you will want to max your Blooming Burst first, then Tangle-Barbs, then Shapesplitter. Next, we will want to take a look at Summoner Spells to take with Neeko into your game.

SUMMONER SPELLS

For Summoner Spells you will want to take Flash and Ignite. Flash is just a Summoner Spell that you will pretty much always use and take into your games. Flash has many uses from helping you to secure kills in game or dodging skillshots or helping you to evade danger altogether. Ignite will be your secondary Summoner Spell as it gives you a lot of kill pressure in your lane. Ignite allows you to take fights with your opposing laner to either get an early kill or to force them out of lane. If they see you have Ignite up and they are low, they will likely not attempt to fight you. This pressure gives you more control over the lane, giving you a better chance to get ahead. Next, let’s take a look at what Runes you will want to bring with you out onto Summoner’s Rift with Neeko.

RUNES

For Runes you should look to take the Domination Tree first and the Sorcery Tree Secondary. With the large amount of potential burst damage that Neeko has, the Domination Tree synergizes really well with her. Electrocute should be the Keystone that you take as this will proc off of your Tangle-Barbs, when followed by Blooming Burst and a basic attack.

Next you should take Taste of Blood. Taste of Blood will help you sustain a bit in fights as you damage enemy Champions. This heal combined with your heavy burst damage will also lead to a fairly large amount of healing being done to you as well. Next, you will want to take Eyeball Collection. This will allow you to increase damage throughout the game as get Champion Takedowns, as well as destroying enemy Wards.

For your final rune in the Domination Tree you will want Relentless Hunter. Relentless Hunter will grant you out of combat movement speed for Takedowns on enemy Champions. This speed bonus can assist you by making it easier to get into the middle of a team to engage with your Ultimate, so long as you are not already in combat. Now for the Sorcery Tree.

Neeko benefits from having a lot of Ability Power, so using the Runes to get as much ability power as you can is the way to go. You will want to utilize Absolute Focus, as well as Gathering Storm in the Sorcery Tree. These two Runes combined will give you quite a large amount of Ability Power as the game goes on.

The longer the game, the more Ability Power you will have. This idea also applies to Rune Stats. You will want to take the 2 +10 Adaptive Force Stats to maximize the amount of Ability Power you will have going into your game. The third Rune Stat you should take would be the bonus health. The resistance stats are not quite enough to warrant taking on Neeko. Now that we know how Neeko works and what Runes work best with her, let’s move on to how to play her in the laning phase of the game.

LANING PHASE

As previously stated, Neeko has a lot of pushing potential. In the laning phase, Neeko should look to shove the minion wave under the enemy Turret when she can as well as looking for opportunities to trade with the opposing laner. Neeko’s kit is useful for this, as she is able to poke the opposing laner while shoving the wave at the same time. If the opposing laner is standing in the minion wave, then they become easier for you to root with your Tangle-Barbs and then follow up with your Blooming Burst. This will deal out a lot of damage to the opponent as well as shoving the wave.

When the wave is shoved, do not be afraid to roam. Looking to roam to get other lanes, as well as yourself, ahead is the key to victory. When you decide to roam, you can use your Passive to disguise yourself as someone else and confuse the enemies. This will allow you to make plays using the element of surprise to trick the enemy and win the fight. Speaking of winning the fight, knowing how to play in teamfights with Neeko is equally as important as the laning phase.

TEAMFIGHTS

Neeko is extremely powerful in teamfight situations and can turn the tides of battle in your team's favor very quickly. Think about how powerful an Amumu’s Ultimate ability is in a teamfight. Now add a ton of Magic Damage to that and boom! You now have Neeko’s Ultimate, Pop Blossom. Neeko can use this ability to engage fights or wait until a fight has started, go invisible with her Shapesplitter, and walk into the enemy team and get off a ton of damage and stun the enemy team. This time will allow your team to go heavily on the offensive to eliminate the enemy team.

If Pop Blossom is on cooldown, Neeko can kite away from the enemy rooting them with Tangle-Barbs and poking them down with Blooming Burst. These are also equally as effective in teamfights as they have the potential to hit more than one target. This means that even when your Ultimate Ability is unavailable, you can still deal massive amounts of AoE Magic Damage. However, to deal this large amount of damage it is important to itemize in your games properly.

ITEMS

Starting items for Neeko will usually be the classic Doran’s Ring and 2 Health Potions. However, if you feel like you will be able to get some early kills, then you can grab yourself a Dark Seal and Refillable Potion. On your first back from lane you should look to get a Lost Chapter, but if you do not have enough for this then you can grab the components that will build into it. This Lost Chapter will build into a Luden’s Echo, one of Neeko’s 2 core items.

The other core item is a Zhonya’s Hourglass. Since you will often be running into the enemy team to get the most out of your Pop Blossom, having a Zhonya’s Hourglass is a good idea to protect you from them. After you have your Zhonya’s, it is good to get some items with Magic Penetration, especially if they are building Magic Resist. If they are not building any Magic Resist, then you can look to build into a Rabadon’s Deathcap. After a Rabadon’s Deathcap, a Morellonomicon is a strong item for Neeko, and if you already grabbed this as your third item for Magic Penetration, then grab a Rabadon’s Deathcap.

Lastly, a Void Staff will be what you want. Even if the enemy team is not really building any Magic Resist, reducing their base Magic Resist will help you to deal even more damage. With your high base damage and incredible scaling with Ability Power, Neeko benefits amazingly well from Magic Penetration. Going along with this theme of Magic Penetration you will want to grab Sorcerer’s Shoes. This will aid in your damage-dealing endeavors with Neeko.

If you are a bit behind, then getting Boots with defensive stats is not a bad choice either. Hopefully you get out there to try Neeko for yourself! She is a very fun to play mage that will help you in your journey to dominate Summoner’s Rift! Hopefully this guide helps you get the hang of Neeko and good look in your coming games Summoner!

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