Gunslinger Ziggs

I've found the most badass build known to man this preseason. It's janky early but safe, incredible for the rest of the game and enables Ziggs to practically single-handedly carry objectives and teamfights.

I call it: Gunslinger Ziggs.

Runes:

Glacial Augment

The cornerstone of the build. Ziggs will want to try and stick around awhile in teamfights and his kit is a constant threat to everyone nearby, doubly so when he has free slows with this. It also helps him line up his skillshots after autoattacking which is extremely relevant alongside Rapid Firecannon which is the first item of this build, and every one of his spells is a skillshot.

Hexflash

It probably won't be used very often but the other two options aren't what this build wants. Biscuits are negligible and overkill on an already solid defensive early game. The build offers nothing for the free stopwatch to build into - Ziggs wants to exist and be active as often as possible with this build so it's fairly useless in mid-lategame teamfights. Both of them take up precious inventory space as well but I can see one getting mileage from a well-timed stopwatch active early on.

Magical Footwear

Free booties! With +10 movespeed 'to boot'. At 10 minutes or sooner it's a great powerspike alongside a jungler gank. It also makes the newly buffed Sorceror's Shoes 50 gold cheaper to purchase, huzzah.

Cosmic Insight

A great rune overall as the build always involves at least one active item and will reach the 45% CDR cap eventually. Approach Velocity can be useful as well but getting too close to champions too quickly can be a very bad thing for Ziggs.

Secondary tree: Resolve

I know it sounds far-fetched, but the Resolve tree is completely and entirely justified by one rune: Font of Life. Glacial Augment with Font of Life on a ranged champion that already has a gigantic ranged AoE slow zone is nuts. If Ziggs' fantastic CC paired with Glacial Augment and item actives won't win teamfights, Font of Life will!

Iron Skin

With all the health and sustain this tree gives as Inspiration's secondary it'd be a shame to start the game with less than 25 armor. The build involves at least one armor item as well so the 5% scaling will eventually get a bit of mileage.

Font of Life

The Big Kahuna.

The best rune on this list, second only to the one that helps activate it. Everyone else heals by hitting the guys that Ziggs slows. This build goes for RFC as the first item giving his first auto a whopping 700 range which also procs his passive and - you guessed it - Glacial Augment, which triggers Font of Life.

It doesn't heal Ziggs. It doesn't need to. At least one person on Ziggs' team will be a marksman and everyone on his team can autoattack. This rune is sleeper OP!

Items:

The build starts with Doran's Ring and 2 pots. It's hilariously safe alongside the bonus 145 health and potion duration the runes give. Last-hitting can be tough early on but his Q and passive ensure that he'll nab a good amount of minions easily enough. I honestly haven't tried starting with Corrupting Potion with this build as the 20% additional potion duration is relevant but can't recommend it as his abilities would deal laughable damage to minions (although Minion Dematerializers could help make it work).

For the first back, Ziggs will always want a Corrupting Potion or a second ring and more potions, refillable or otherwise. Corrupting Potion is a fantastic early purchase but encourages a more aggressive playstyle in lane; consider what you might be able to get away with versus the other mid laner. He'll also want a an Amplifying Tome and a dagger if he can afford it as it gets him closer to finishing his first two big itens and helps him last-hit and push waves; Ziggs has a pretty decent autoattack range and AS ratio.

The time between the first dagger bought and RFC is where the build gets funky: Kircheis Shard is pretty good for pushing and trading but close-range trades around level 6 aren't very safe for Ziggs in general, Resolve Tree or no. Zeal offers 20% of raw unwanted stats (lol) but some AS and 5% of what matters a lot to a midlaner post-6: more mobility. It can be the difference between Ziggs waddling out of harm's way and a flash-or-die situation. He can have all the health in the world but midlaners will be popping off the moment they hit 6 in this meta, best believe!

Once Ziggs has RFC and finishes Sorc's Shoes, he's in the money! He'll probably eat a spell or a ranged auto whenever he slings a 700-ranged bomb but it comes with a slow and a BUNCH of on-hit magic damage, including Ziggs' passive. Oh, plus Glacial Augment! Forget W, forget the minefield, heck, forget his ult: one autoattack from Ziggs at this point enables the easiest ganks of all time. If your jungler, top or botlane can't make anything happen off of this, better luck next game; your team is awful! No amount of peeling, healing or magic damage is gonna pull you out of that one! Well, it might; who knows. This build is really good!

After finishing RFC Ziggs will want his second gun: Hextech Revolver. It procs from those 700-range autos he now has. Then he'll have his first big choice: a hard-carry kite/sustain item or an AoE slow active for Font of Life that also comes with a bit of health, sustain, CDR and plenty of mana: Hextech Gunblade or Hextech GLP-800. If his team has tanks, Ziggs will want Gunblade. The item shoots the moon paired with RFC and turns Ziggs into a nasty hybrid damage dealer out of nowhere. Omnivore procs off of both Zigg's passive and RFC for giant swings in health as if Ziggs were Draven for a moment but with 700 range. And Galcial Augment. And Font of Life. If his team is squishy, however, GLP-800 helps Ziggs last a long time away from base and it's active can save his whole team's skin coupled with Glacial Augment's item active effect. By the way, it's a SECOND giant AoE slow for Font of Life!

After that, it's on to resistances. Or the game is over and Ziggs and pals are dancing over the enemy Nexus. Did I mention this build is good? It's not falling off any time soon, by the way!

Banshee's is the go-to pick for midgame mages in general but doesn't necessarily make Ziggs harder to kill for every team which is what he's aiming for. Against AD-heavy teams, however, FH will DEFINITELY make Ziggs harder to kill and will help him come close to maxing out his CDR as well! Omen won't provide any CDR but does come with plenty of health for Font of Life (and staying alive), some crit resistance AND a third giant AoE slow for Font of Life! Gauntet is hilariously overkill on slows and auto procs but Sheen has a nasty synergy with Omnivore from Gunblade. Rylai's is another hard-carry item that makes Zigg's whole kit proc Font of Life. While Abyssal Mask's Eternity effect is useless alongside GLP-800, the 10% magic damage zone is at a convenient 700 range, exactly his autoattack range with RFC! If Ziggs' team has lots of magic damage or he's up against a lot of melees, Abyssal Mask is never a bad purchase on Ziggs for this build in particular.

Finally, a bit of pen. If the enemy team is tanky, Ziggs will want Void Staff; otherwise he'll want Liandry's Torment. Or, he can get even tankier! So long as it's situationally viable and Ziggs' CDR is maxed out, any of the above items make for a solid 6th item but will turn him into less of a carry and more of a hard-utility mage which can help make up for the fact that the goober support bought nothing but raw damage.

That's it! I know it's a long read but thanks for reading all of it! I'm actually a toplane Renekton main but I've tested this build out more than once and it just works together like clockwork; I couldn't help but share it. Best of luck on the Rift and with this build!