To preface, Fizz has been one of my favorite champions for a long time and, though I have taken breaks from playing him from time to time, I always seem to come back to this amphibian tilt-inducing yordle champion. Having accumulated a little over 250k mastery points and 200+ ranked games (High Silver to Mid Gold ELO, EUW: aryz x ) over the years, I would consider myself able to know the ins-and-outs of this champion sufficiently. So with that out of the way, let's get to the point of this blog, to teach you, the reader, the ways of the Fish.

Abilities

Passive - Nimble Fighter

Fizz's passive 'Nimble Fighter' is not particularly bad per se, but it's one of the least noticeable passives in the whole game. It gives him the ability to move through units and he receives a little bit less damage from basic attacks. There is not really much to talk about here. If you play Fizz, you will probably forget that you even have a passive.

Q - Urchin Strike

Moving on to Fizz's Q, 'Urchin Strike'. The usage of this ability is crucial to correctly playing Fizz. To players of other champs it may just seem like a little dash, but there is a lot more than meets eye to this ability. This ability, like most dashes, can be used offensively and defensively. This allows the better Fizz players to pull off some neat shenanigans, or as the cool kids call it, outplays. One trick I like to do with this ability is to escape a gank or an engage from a champion by moving just a little bit in front of the enemy and then use your Q to dash through them and end up a lot farther away from them since Fizz's Q always travels a fixed distance. While this ability is very useful, it is typically maxed last, since the other abilities deal more damage at earlier levels. One final note is that this ability applies on-hit effects, which makes a on-hit AP items like Lich Bane or Hextech Revolver extremely good on Fizz.

W - Seastone Trident

Fizz's W 'Seastone Trident' has a passive and active component. The passive part applies a on-hit effect on enemies and leaves a mark that lasts for 6 seconds. The active part is linked with the mark. When Fizz activates his W, the mark will be consumed and deal bonus damage based on how long the mark was applied. If the mark has been applied for 2 seconds or more, you will see a visual indicating this and when you activate W at this point, the bonus damage will be tripled. It seems evident from this that you should always try to wait for the 2 seconds, since it increases Fizz's damage significantly. Additionally, Seastone Trident serves as a auto-attack reset. If a target is killed the cooldown will also be reduced by 1 second and restore about 70% of the mana cast. W is normally maxed either first or second, depending on personal preference and playstyle.

E - Playful / Trickster

Fizz's E is probably his most infamous ability. It is effectively a mini-version of Zhonya's Hourglass, except it also deals a lot of damage and it even slows in some circumstances. The ability actually has two versions, called Playful and Trickster. Playful is the single-cast version and Trickster the double-cast version. If Playful is cast, Fizz hops on his trident and becomes untargetable for 0.75 seconds, afterwards he lands on the ground where he deals damage and applies a 2 second slow in a radius around him.

If Fizz uses his E a second time while in the air, Trickster is cast, allowing him to jump one extra time, however this time the damage radius is smaller and the slow is removed when he lands. This means that in practice, most of the time it is better to only use Trickster when you need to escape or chase an enemy. Fizz can move over some small walls with his E, it is best to practice this in the sandbox mode to get a feel for it. E is normally maxed either first or second, depending on personal preference and playstyle. This ability can dodge a lot of important abilities from enemies when timed correctly, but if you mess it up you are probably in trouble since the cooldown is relatively long.

R - Chum the Waters

Fizz's Ultimate ability consists of him throwing a lure forward in a line, after 2 seconds a shark emerges from the location, dealing damage to enemies in addition to slowing them for 1.5 seconds and knocking them back. There are three different versions of the shark, dependent on the distance the lure is hurled.

The smallest shark, 'Guppy', slows for only 40% and deals the least damage, making it is the worst version of the shark. Most of the times it is only hit by accident, or when the enemy is so low that it's better to hit them no matter what, instead of risking it to miss a longer range ult. The medium shark, 'Chomper', slows for 60%, and deals quite a bit more damage than Guppy. However the best version of the shark is the max range version, 'Gigalodon'.

Gigalodon slows enemies for a huge 80% in addition to dealing the most damage, and having the largest knockback of all the sharks. You should aim to hit this shark most of the time. If it hits it's a near guaranteed kill, provided you can follow up with your abilities. Since the range of this ability is quite high, you can catch enemies off-guard by throwing it from areas where they don't have vision, such as the bushes. Chum the Waters can be dodged with Zhonya's Hourglass or the Stopwatch item, so keep that in mind.

Summoner Spells

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Always take Flash, no exceptions. Even though you can play Fizz pretty well without Flash due to your Q and E escape, it is not recommended since Fizz can utilize lots of combos using flash. For example, Eing once followed by a Flash immediately afterwards can catch enemies by surprise and guarantee a kill you otherwise wouldn't have gotten. Another example would be to Flash > Q on to an enemy minion in order to escape enemies. Without the Flash you might not have been in range for the minion on time.

For the second summoner spell, Ignite or Teleport are the best options. This depends a lot on your playstyle and the matchup. If you like to play Fizz very aggressive and snowball that way (which is my preferred playstyle for Fizz), Ignite is your best bet. Teleport is better if you are in a hard matchup or if you just prefer to play it safe and farm up efficiently. In the hardest matchups or if you're not confident enough with Fizz yet, Barrier or Exhaust can be considered. This will also be useful if you just need to survive the laning phase when playing against a early game focused high-burst champ like LeBlanc.

Starting Items

You should start Corrupting Potion 99% of the time. I have tried Doran's Ring, Dark Seal and Corrupting Potion as starting items, and overall Corrupting Potion just performs the best. This is because of the extra burn dmg from the active which synergizes very well with Fizz's all-in combo at Lvl 3. If you really need the extra health you can go for Doran's Ring, or if you are absolutely sure you can snowball your lane, then the Dark Seal is a good choice. Then again you can always choose to buy these items later on, which I tend to do. If I have mana problems I'll go for Doran's Ring and If I have gotten a couple kills I like to buy the Dark Seal.

Boots

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Sorcerer's Shoes are generally the best choice. You need the extra magic penetration, since enemies like to build a lot of Magic Resist against a (fed) Fizz and Fizz is benefits a lot from extra damage against tanks. Boots of Lucidity can also be considered, but if you follow this build you will normally reach 40% cooldown reduction by your third item.

Core Items Vs. AP

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Your first full item is always matchup dependent. Against AP champs, Hextech Protobelt-01 is a very good best choice. The build path is really flexible, the cost is fairly low, and it gives a little bit of health which always helps. The active from Protobelt gives you additional damage and extra waveclear. Some Fizz players like to go for Hextech's Gunblade as first item, which is also pretty good, but the item is a lot more expensive so it is not always the best option. You can try it out and see if you like it better than Protobelt. The key thing to remember here is to buy the component Hextech Revolver first, since the active bonus damage provides a lot of extra burst in the early game.

Core Items Vs. AD

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Against AD champs rushing Zhonya's Hourglass is the best option since it gives a lot of armor and the active is very useful for dodging their burst, especially against Zed. (If you time your Zhonya or E at just the right time, which takes a lot of practice, you can dodge all of his ult damage). The second item would be the one you didn't choose as your first item, so a Hextech-item for AD matchups and Zhonya's for AP matchups. Lich Bane can also be chosen as second item if you are really ahead already and want to close out the game quickly.

The third item is always Lich Bane unless you and/or your team has a lot of trouble killing tanks. In that situation, Void Staff would be the better choice. It's better to buy Lich Bane after the other core items, because it isn't as effective in the early game (the bonus damage scales with your AP).

Final Item

Your final item is very situational, below the most common ones are listed. Mejai's Soulstealer allows you to snowball out of control, but beware that it is a risky item since you will lose 10 stacks upon death. If you are fed but want less risk, you can buy Rabadon's Deathcap. If the enemy team has a lot of tanks, then Liandry's Torment would be a good choice here. Guardian Angel is useful if the enemies focus you in every team fight and/or if you die too quickly. If you have enough spare gold you can sell Guardian Angel for another item while it is on cooldown. Finally don't forget to buy the Elixir of Sorcery when your build is complete. It is a consumable, so you can buy it even if you already have 6 items.

Runes: Domination and Sorcery

Domination

• Electrocute - More burst damage, which is the most important thing for Fizz. It also gets triggered by your powerful Q>AA>W combo.
• Sudden Impact - Pretty self-explanatory. It gives you a burst of magic penetration after using your Q or E.
• Eyeball Collection - Works similar to Mejai's Soulstealer, but better because you don't lose Eyeball stacks on death, allows you to snowball quicker.
• Ingenious Hunter - Allows you to use your great item actives from Zhonya's and Hextech Gunblade/Protobelt more often.

Sorcery

• Nullifying Orb vs AP/Gathering Storm vs AD - Nullifying Orb grants you a magic shield which can mean the difference between dying or staying alive in a close fight. However since it is a magic shield, it will be useless the entire laning phase if you play against an AD champion. In that case Gathering Storm is the best choice, as extra AP is never bad.
• Transcendence - With this keystone you get 10% cooldown reduction at level 10. Combine this with the 10% cooldown reduction from Protobelt, Zhonya's and Lich Bane and you have reached the cooldown cap already.

Matchups

Zed

In Zed's favor until you acquire Zhonya's Hourglass. Once you get Zhonya's, it is in your favor as long as you dodge his ult correctly and consistently. The key here is to play very safe until you get Zhonya's. If you both have your ultimates ready, always let Zed use his ult first, that way you can easily dodge it with your E and possibly hit him with your ult afterwards.

Ahri

It's a skill matchup, but it is hard to get a snowball going against this lane because it is difficult to kill Ahri. After level 6, Ahri can dodge your ult easily with her ult. Try to set up ganks with your jungler before 6, when she is weakest. Make sure you save your E to dodge Ahri's charm. If she hits it, she can deal a lot of damage very quickly to you.

Yasuo

In your favor if you know how to play the matchup. The key is to let the Yasuo player outplay himself. You need to let Yasuo push your lane a lot, even if this causes you to miss farm and experience. Dodge his tornado with your E. Don't try to all-in him without jungle help until you are level 6, as he is stronger than you before then. If he uses his Wind Wall, you can try to move around it and ult him or wait till the Wind Wall disappears and then ult him immediately. Without his Wind Wall you should be able to win the fight under normal circumstances.

Twisted Fate / Veigar

The easiest matchups for Fizz, as they are basically helpless against a good Fizz. However don't counterpick this immediately in ranked without having played this matchup prior. You need to play the matchups a few times to know how you can win it. A tip versus Twisted Fate - Dodge his Gold Card with your E. He has no mobility so it should be easy to kill him after level 6. A tip against Veigar - You can jump over his stun cage with your E and you can dodge his ult with your E or Zhonya's.

Laning

Lvl 1-2 - Pick W>E or E>W. Play safe and try to get as much CS as possible while dodging important abilities with your E. Use your W auto-reset to farm for now. When you have enough mana you can also use your E to farm and waveclear.
Lvl 3 - Trade with your Q>W>E combo. Activate Corrupting Potion, Q to the enemy, AA them, after 2 seconds press W for the bonus damage from the mark and if they are very low you can go for the kill with Ignite and/or your E.
Lvl 4-5 - Trade with the enemy and/or CS safely depending on how the matchup goes. Consider recalling to buy a little bit extra AP for your level 6 power spike.
Lvl 6 - Make sure the enemy jungler isn't around and try to hit your ult. Try to let them push the wave a bit so you don't need to tower dive. If you miss the ult, you can still go in and do some damage and hope they stay in lane until your ult is off cooldown again.

Early/Mid Game

Roam, Roam, Roam. It is best to roam bot lane, since the AD Carry is an easy target most of the time and sometimes the enemy has a squishy support too. You can tower dive them if it is needed and if you can coordinate it well with your team. However, keep in mind that this also takes quite some practice. Try to get bot tower or mid tower early on and help your jungler with Drake or Rift Herald. Most games you should play like the second jungler, but don't leave your lane too long or else you will miss too much CS and experience and the enemy can take your tower easily.

Late Game

Initiate with your ult or let the fight break out and jump in later to focus a priority target (most of the time this will be the AD Carry, but it can also be the most fed enemy on the enemy team). Chase enemies whenever possible, this is one of your biggest strengths as Fizz, however don't do silly things like trying to 1v3/4/5. (I'm guilty of doing that sometimes though).

Conclusion

Fizz is a very fun to play and highly mobile AP Assassin midlaner. His laning phase can be quite difficult, but if he manages to get ahead he can take over the entire game. Even though he might look like an easy champion, it takes some time to get used to every little part of his kit, but when you do play him well it can be very rewarding.

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