League of Legends - Viktor
In the current meta, Viktor has become a tried and true pick in both competitive and nearly all levels of solo queue. His burst is absolutely bonkers and though he’s a relatively immobile champion, his abilities allow for escape, follow up and self peel. With the right setup like runes and masteries, items and abilities, you can become a horror in the mid lane.
Runes
Your Quints will be full ability power, glyphs should be scaling cooldown deduction, but you can substitute in a couple scaling ability power glyphs in there as-well if desired. Seals will be scaling health and your marks will be magic penetration. Viktor is all about the burst damage, so we trade some defense for greater offensive strength.
Masteries
With Viktor in the midlane I take 12 points in Ferocity and 18 in Cunning, finishing it out with the keystone mastery Thunderlord’s Decree. Over in Ferocity I prefer Oppressor over Bounty Hunter because while the latter is good if you’re getting kills, the amount of extra damage you get once you have a Rylai’s completely outweighs it. Then in the Cunning tree there’s a small choice between Precision and Intelligence, basically magic penetration or cooldown reduction. I prefer the extra magic pen, but it’s also influenced by your runes and what you’re looking to build in the game.
Summoner Spells
Flash is the staple for nearly every champion and Viktor is no exception. It’s too useful to have, especially when it can help you take a lane opponent by surprise the moment you hit level six.
Ignite
Following the ideal burst build, Ignite is a great choice for Viktor in the mid lane. It helps finish off kills and chunk down particularly healthy targets in later game team fights.
Ghost/Exhaust/Teleport
These three other spells are other options, but come down to personal preference. At the very least, you need to have Ghost or Flash, but the Exhaust is a good option against an AD heavy team or lane like Yasuo or Zed. It’ll reduce their damage and make them easier targets for your counter burst. Teleport isn’t a bad choice if you’re looking to have a greater presence throughout the rest of the map. It’ll make it easier to farm in lane because you can just TP back in or roam around and help feed yourself or your teammates, though at the cost of a bit of damage.
Items
Perfect Hex Core
Each piece of the Hex Core costs 1000 gold so it’ll create a bit of a pause in the rest of your item build each time you upgrade it, but it’s quite worth it. Mark 1 and 2 should be a priority in your build, but the final form can wait until you have a couple other items or if it’s convenient gold wise.
Lucidity Boots
Rather than pick up Sorcerer’s Shoes you’ll want Lucidity here. The rest of your build will provide you with an ample amount of burst but one of the tradeoffs with the current list of available items is cooldown reduction for burst. Viktor has enough power built in to his kit that it’s more beneficial to pick up some CDR.
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter
Though Viktor’s only form of CC is his W (and a very soft CC at that) Rylai’s Crystal Scepter can help turn all of your spells into a place your opponents do NOT want to be. The long range poke you get out of your E, coupled with a slow from Rylai’s can catch an unsuspecting opponent unawares and suddenly caught out of position.
Zhonya’s Hourglass/Athene’s Unholy Grail
Here’s where I choose a little bit of defense in my build, depending on my opponents. Of course if you find yourself against an AD heavy comp, Zhonya’s is an efficient item, but if they’re sporting more AP than usual, Athene’s is good for both the AP, magic resist and a little extra CDR.
Rabadon’s Deathcap
More POWER!!!
Void Staff/Luden’s Echo
Finishing out the build with either Void Staff or Luden’s Echo will cement your place in the game as a bursting powerhouse. They’ll both help punch through any resistances your opponents have and absolutely delete any squishy carries you set your sights on.
Abilities
Your ability order throughout the match will be E>Q>W and it’s also the same order as your first three levels, but feel free to skimp on the W for a level or two if you feel safe from ganks or lane pressure. When you get to upgrading your Hex Core the order is the same. Your upgraded E allows fantastic wave clear and a ridiculous amount of poke. Then, the movement speed from an upgraded Q (coupled with Rylai’s) will allow you to self peel in team fights. Finally, upgrading your W is nice, but really provides nothing special and is left for last. Cast similarly to Rumble’s ultimate, Viktor’s E can be a little wonky in inexperienced hands, but it can be grasped quite quickly.
Need more proof of Viktor’s insane power? Check out this Viktor in the LCS claim a double kill after being behind in farm.