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Teemo Strategy?

AstroStallion··2 votes·3,821 views

So I'm quite new to this game, and I like playing as Teemo. But I'm SO bad at it Ive lost the ability to even. Now, I know how to use the abilities and stuff but does anyone have any other strategies (eg. which lane to play on, which items to buy, etc) that would work? Also if you're feeling extra helpful why don't you suggest other champions that are easy to play as? I'm trying to expand my roster. Thanks

31 Comments

Leti the Yeti1 votes

teemo, my style atleast, picks fights and picks location you need alot of foreplanning such as placing mushrooms in certain places ahead of time...

  • i pretty much shroom their entire jungle and I can split push with ease cuz its impossible to sneak up on me
  • or using your passive, position yourself where you know they will pass by and shoot them when they pass by, they wont see it coming i guarantee you
  • set up a minefield and bait enemy to fight you in it
  • camouflage and place mushrooms to seal off enemy escape routes ahead of time easy clean up
  • be sure to put shrooms in or around where most of the action tends to happen
  • yup, alot of what teemo does is setting up everything ahead of the time... so you wont be with your team much

its a really interesting play style imo

finally, alot of 450 ip champs are pretty easy to play most but not all champs tend to be more difficult, the more they cost.... someones gonna correct me on this im sure

AstroStallion1 votes

Thanks, I'll try playing with this style and see how it goes =D

disregardable1 votes

The thing about Teemo is that he's a speciality pick. You cannot pick him first, you are too easy to counter. Teemo is very good against your "typical" top laners: Singed, Tryndamere, Garen, Nasus. Melee champs you can just poke the heck out of while taking little damage back. But he is bad against champions with gap closers, hard CC, and wave clear.

Also, I recommend starting Doran's blade if you don't already. You don't really need to follow up with a botrk (you can if you feel like you'll be top through mid lane), but the little bit of life steal is a must.

TheFallenShaw1 votes

The thing about Teemo is that he's a speciality pick. You cannot pick him first, you are too easy to counter. Teemo is very good against your "typical" top laners: Singed, Tryndamere, Garen, Nasus. Melee champs you can just poke the heck out of while taking little damage back. But he is bad against champions with gap closers, hard CC, and wave clear.

Also, I recommend starting Doran's blade if you don't already. You don't really need to follow up with a botrk (you can if you feel like you'll be top through mid lane), but the little bit of life steal is a must.

ADC teemo is a terible Idea, don't listen to him the best teemo's go AP, maybe with a nashor's tooth. Start with Doron's ring as the mana regen on it will help you keep useing your Q nuke.

disregardable1 votes

Uh, no? You don't go ADC teemo, you pick up doran's and botrk for the added utility. He's a squishy, auto-attack reliant champion. It makes sense to start life steal, the ring doesn't give any real utility if you rush Sheen, which as Teemo it should be your second or first item.

YoungMoneyZeus1 votes

The thing about Teemo is that he's a speciality pick. You cannot pick him first, you are too easy to counter. Teemo is very good against your "typical" top laners: Singed, Tryndamere, Garen, Nasus. Melee champs you can just poke the heck out of while taking little damage back. But he is bad against champions with gap closers, hard CC, and wave clear.

Also, I recommend starting Doran's blade if you don't already. You don't really need to follow up with a botrk (you can if you feel like you'll be top through mid lane), but the little bit of life steal is a must.

ADC teemo is a terible Idea, don't listen to him the best teemo's go AP, maybe with a nashor's tooth. Start with Doron's ring as the mana regen on it will help you keep useing your Q nuke.

100% correct do not follow misleading advice from others start dorans ring and 2 hp pots do not pick teemo into any matchup he is very powerful vs bruisers and should only be played top lane. Max q and everytime you see them come in for a cs q them and auto then run away to avoid minion dmg or their return spells. Come back and cs until Q off CD and continue the poke harass as often as possible. Use shrooms to ward out the river and top side jg if your shrooms pop the jungler is coming dipset with the quickness thats what your W is for.

Raotrux1 votes

Teemo is Satan. I don't recommend being affiliated with that.

But I'm SO bad at it Ive lost the ability to even.

But yeah.. On a scale of 1-Even... You can't.

AstroStallion1 votes

Well aren't you helpful. get off my wall.

Raotrux1 votes

Im just trying to save you. Have you met our lord and savior Draven? Just give yourself up and be blessed by his light.

AstroStallion1 votes

Please no more Draven XD

ShyGuySpirit1 votes

Teemo scales off Magic Penetration - item 3020 item 3151 item 3135

Also - item 3100 For added damage and it activates off everything, even shrooms. (So you can use speed boost > lichbane proc > blind > lichbane proc> shroom > lichbane proc > shroom > lichbane proc (how many times you got shrooms in store)

Cooldown - item 3128 is great for cooldown and burst

item 3165 situational or cooldown.

During laning phase you need to try to blind poke to prevent cs. (Nasus trying to stack? Blind him before his attack goes off. Somebody going for a siege minion? Blind them so they can miss.)

You can try the item 1055 thing, but if you want to continue to poke you'll need item 1056.

Places shrooms in movement path. Run away in a path to make them think there are shrooms.

AstroStallion1 votes

I'll try it. I seen to be on the right path in terms of buying things, so that's good. But really the hard thing is being able to afford those things.

Xx420n0sc0p3sxX1 votes

These items aren't super expensive, except DFG which is definitely on the expensive side, try to practice last hitting minions, 20-30 minions equals a kill!

YoungMoneyZeus1 votes

Add me if you need more advice I can guide you on other champions. To be good at this game you need to understand there are right ways and wrong ways to play it ADC teemo top lane can be viable if your diamond 1 and know exactly what your doing otherwise axe that strat forever. Also Nasars, Liandris, Rylais, Void, Sorc boots, Rabbadons is what your full build looks like.

iJedi1 votes

Full Build (in roughly this order): Sorceror's Shoes, Nashor's Tooth, Liandry's Torment, Rabadon's Deathcap, Runaan's Hurricane, Void Staff item 3020 item 3115 item 3151 item 3089 item 3085 item 3135

Now I know that a lot of people are going to say, "NO, NEVER EVER GET A RUNAAN'S!!!111!!11!!!" To them I say, "nyeh." Runaan's is quite possibly the most effective on-hit item in this game, and Teemo has an incredible on-hit ability. With his Toxic Shot (E), I can apply heavy DoT to three targets at once, which makes for quick waveclears (even when two or three waves have built up) and makes me able to 1v2 or 1v3. Sometimes I'll hold off on turning item 3101 into item 3115 or my item 3136 into item 3151 while I get item 3089.

The main reason I don't have a item 3128 is that I always forget to use its active. It does provide a lot of AP, but I feel that the more frequent auto-attack hits in my build balances it out. I also do not build attack damage or life-steal on him. He does plenty of magic damage on hit, and you should be hiding behind minions or running away (to flank them from the jungle) to avoid taking damage. I also avoid item 3100 because my AP items provide more AP, and Teemo needs lots of attack speed to use his E well.

A note on clearing waves: When you have a few levels in E, be sure to switch targets with each auto-attack. Poisoning several targets will clear the wave faster than attacking only one minion at a time.

For abilities, I start with a couple levels in Q for poking. Then I max out E, then Q, and W last. R>E>Q>W Q is very useful when going against AD champions because the blind nullifies their main method of dealing damage, and then I can get a few shots off to apply tons of poison damage, which usually kills squishies or leaves tanks at low health and much easier to kill.

A key note on your mushroom traps: Always set them out/keep R on cooldown. If you have more than one in your inventory, you're throwing away potential damage and map vision. Use 'shrooms to keep sight in bushes, watch jungle lanes, provide escape paths for yourself, and provide a damaging buffer for those who try to get close.

I usually play Teemo in bot lane as either AP marksman or support (AP and AD damage-dealers!), though he should work fine in top or mid.

Edit: I just crunched some numbers, and if I did it right, Teemo with item 3151 does ~26.48% damage on just the %HP DoT from Liandry's stacked from the DoT on Toxic Shot (E). Add in item 3116 , and it jumps to ~46.84% damage, again, just the DoT. Based on this, I may trade out either item 3115 or item 3135 to get item 3116 .

Edit 2: I just saw some other threads that discuss stacking DoT. It seems that Liandry's might just reset its DoT timer on each tick from Toxic Shot. In this case, the damage is ~13% without Rylai's and ~24% with.

AstroStallion1 votes

I'll try it :D but i have to afford all that stuff...

iJedi1 votes

Affording all of it does take a fair amount of gold, so you won't get everything very quickly. The biggest tip here is to practice last-hitting minions. A lot. Teemo is an AP marksman carry, so he should get most of his lane's minions. A few kills also helps in acquiring cash. Just don't let your opponent feed off of you. If you see enemies coming to gank, you should run back (or into the jungle) to avoid dying, even if you lose some creep score. Try to play without ever dying. Teemo (and other late-game carries) has to focus on playing defensively until he comes into his power, which is about item 4 or 5. The rest of the build just amplifies his pwning power. It's really kinda awesome when you take a tower or get a kill or two, and someone else who was coming to help figures they can take you, cause hey, your hurt and they're not, but then you wipe the floor with them, too.

There's a reason Teemo has an undocumented global taunt. :D

Simbafluff1 votes

I don't really play Teemo. I'm not entirely sure why people absolutely love OR hate him either. Teemo's abilities are quite annoying when I play against one (stupid mushrooms!) but in general I feel like I can beat an "average" Teemo pretty easily.

Another champ you can consider is Annie. She is pretty straightforward to play and can be extremely powerful if you learn to use her Q to farm and most importantly, manage her stun. Plus, she's only 450 IP to buy :)

Sachabot1 votes

Teemo has no interactivity, doesn't reward or require skill, and is occasionally incredibly frustrating to play against. That's why people hate him. It's occasionally funny as hell, which is why people love him.

Cornerstone11 votes

{quoted}

Teemo has no interactivity, doesn't reward or require skill, and is occasionally incredibly frustrating to play against. That's why people hate him. It's occasionally funny as hell, which is why people love him.

No interactivity? That makes no sense. He functions just like any other marksman. I can't count the number of times Teemo's blind has changed the tide of a battle from a 1v1 to any team fight. Just because his mechanics are simple, doesn't mean he requires no skill. Just like any other champion, position, last hitting, when to engage, and when to run, when and what order do you use abilities and passive. I would argue he is more difficult to play properly because his mechanics are simple and limiting.

Sachabot1 votes

That's basic mechanical play, what you're listing. A point and click blind is not "interactive," nor is his MS steroid, though his shrooms are okay. Don't even start on his DoT, there are so many better ways to give a champion damage. Teemo boasts the lowest interactivity of any champion, and that's not good for the rest of the game, even considering he's pretty well-balanced on it. I will add that point and click skills are why Ryze is getting a rework, because there's no interactivity in them, and Riot doesn't believe you should be able to dominate at the push of a button.

Sachabot1 votes

I should clarify that "interactivity" as I use it implies that it requires more than a button push from you and there's something that can be done by the enemy about you attempting to use it as far as counterplay goes. You can't really punish Teemo for blinding you, because he's away by the time it lands. You can't avoid it unless you're Fizz or something. You see? That's not interactive. Interactive requires decision-making.

Faith Breaker1 votes

I thought champs used to be able to use abilities while blinded? Riot must have changed that.

Cornerstone12 votes

[{quoted}](name=Faith Breaker,realm=NA,application-id=WEuoGbmp,discussion-id=E16bF3qY,comment-id=000600000000000000000000,timestamp=2015-01-09T06:27:52.009+0000)

I thought champs used to be able to use abilities while blinded? Riot must have changed that.

You are correct, you can use abilities while blinded.

Faith Breaker2 votes

So Teemo does have alot of Interactivity? I thought so. Wondered why I was able to kill Teemo while blinded as Annie. I thought I was surely gonna lose.

Cornerstone11 votes

[{quoted}](name=Faith Breaker,realm=NA,application-id=WEuoGbmp,discussion-id=E16bF3qY,comment-id=00060000000000000000000000000000,timestamp=2015-01-11T07:00:30.294+0000)

So Teemo does have alot of Interactivity? I thought so. Wondered why I was able to kill Teemo while blinded as Annie. I thought I was surely gonna lose.

Annie is a good counter to Teemo. Stun, burst, dead.

Ryvaku1 votes

Well I play Teemo when I can during ranked. Just careful in lanes against people that have gap closing abilities or long range attacks, but you should be able to hurt all melee and ADC champs.

For Teemo, I always play safe until I get level 2 for my Q and that's when I play bully. A very small, but big bully in lane. Pushing your opponent out of lane is good and forcing a gank on you is also good for other lanes.

As for Builds/Roles. When I got Top or Mid (Yes I go Mid Teemo depending on champ picked) I go with Smite/Tele summoners and get item 3115, item 3718, item 3020, item 3089, item 3157, item 3085 That build as weird as it is. It really works well for me for Teemo's on-hit basic attacks. Smiting to take 20% less damage is helpful.

For Support. I just go pure AP and plant shrooms at the river's entrance and bushes and keep the enemy from farming at bot lane. Same for shrooms at top lane including mid lane I like to litter shrooms up the hill near the bushes instead of the bush.

Xx420n0sc0p3sxX1 votes

One more satan player out there....but in all serious-ness, I don't play him, but it seems liandras and tooth are core on him. Placing shrooms at potential ganking spots (Tri-bush) is also very beneficial, but you probs know that.

Xtremey1 votes

The best tip i can give you is make sure you run past your shrooms when running away.

Cornerstone11 votes

Thanks for clarifying “interactivity”, but I don’t think it is a problem on Teemo anymore than other champions. Jax, Yi, Vladamir, Nasus, to name a few – I don’t think they have even one? (Teemo’s blind on Nasus Q, lol, now that I think of it.) Ashe, Talon, Rammus, Teemo, Katarina, only have one interactive ability I can think of. Lots of champions only have one “interactive”, and some of those are just stay the heck out of range.

Seems like champions with high interactivity are often the problem op champion of the moment... Zed, Lee.

Teemo’s blind is easily countered by burster ability casters – squishy and dead.

I see no problems with DoT’s, ignite being the most prevalent.

I understand people either love or hate a particular champ’s kit, but that doesn’t mean they need changing. I think Teemo’s kit is just fine.

Sachabot1 votes

It's not the DoT, it's that his has no cost. It's a lot of free power, and there are much healthier ways to give that level of power instead of a passive. Not to mention it's taking an active slot up for nothing.

And yeah, a lot of older champions have this same issue. I'm really looking forward to the day they get reworks.

Lee is a problem because his kit does too much, there is a balance point. Zed needs some QOL changes to bring him in line (if his ult didn't increase BoRK damage, for instance), but his kit isn't super loaded.

I don't think that Teemo's in a game-breaking place - I don't have trouble against him, and he usually doesn't carry, not to mention he's not played a whole lot. But his kit is seriously outdated and unhealthy, and also pretty poorly designed. The difference between him and Yorick or Urgot or Poppy is that he can afford to wait in line, because he's not quite as rage-inducing for it.

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