This guide assumes you have read it or at least understand how Twisted Treeline plays.
Twisted Teemo - A guide for scouting in the treelines
With the release of the new map, a new kind of LoL has been made for the normal players like me. Hit fast, hit hard, hit early is the name of the game here. A lot of players in my ranking area (which granted, likely isn't that high) are used to holding a lane, farming, beefing up, wait until they're strong and then hit the enemy. Twisted Treeline mixes that up. Teamfights start at level 1, and they don't stop. Its made the game a lot more fun for the high action junkies like me, but its made many people have to completely change how they play. My AP Teemo for an example. Summoner's Rift, I always took Toxic Shot and Regrowth Pendent first, because the better and longer you farm early, the better you do later. In Twisted Treeline however, I start with Blinding Dart, Amplifying Tome and an HP pot, because fights start at level one.
This is just how I play Teemo, and some of the items I get are more of a best situation sort of case, so feel free to mix it up each game depending on the enemies. I know I do.
Runes and Masteries I haven't really tested much since the wipe, but I imagine HP, Mana Regen, and -CD (in that order) would help cover my weaknesses best, and thats what I would go.
Skills:
Look elsewhere for skill descriptions. Others do it better than I could.
Early on I prefer to run high DPS and map control. This makes Blinding Dart and Move Quick my optimum. Gimping Toxic Shot almost seems like blasphemy on an AP Teemo to me, but I've found that it doesn't help me nearly as much as the other 2. As a result, my skill order usually ends up like this:
1: Blinding Dart (1)
2: Toxic Shot (1) - You're stacking AP, so level 1 early
3: Move Quick (1) - Speed is KEY here
4: Blinding Dart (2) - Take at level 3 if your feeling safe
5: Blinding Dart (3)
6: Noxious Trap (1)
7: Blinding Dart (4)
8: Move Quick (2)
9: Blinding Dart (5)
10: Move Quick (3)
11: Noxious Trap (2)
12: Toxic Shot (2)
13: Toxic Shot (3)
14: Move Quick (4)
15: Move Quick (5)
16: Noxious Trap (3)
17: Toxic Shot (4)
18: Toxic Shot (5)
This build is all about Bursting Damage, keeping the blind up as long as you can, moving in and out quick, and Controlling the map. I catch Toxic Shot up a bit before I max Move Quick usually, but if your going up against some really speedy champs, finish it up first.
However, if you go BoM over sorc boots, You can let Move Quick fall behind a little and beef up Toxic Shot more.
Items:
Remember, this is the IDEAL build. It will change OFTEN depending on your opponents.
1st: Amplifying Tome, 1 HP Pot. Maybe boots and some extra pots if team is rushing mid early together, but I prefer AP > speed at level 1.
2nd: Fiendish Codex and Boots. Sorcerer's Shoes for damage or Boots of Mobility for map control rivaled only by Twisted Fate.
3rd: An Elixir of Brilliance and: a Nashors Tooth or Mejai's Soulstealer, depending on how my farming is going. Tooth for better map control (more Mana Regen and -CD means more shrooms)
4th: Whichever one I missed last. Remember to keep Elixir of Brilliance up.
5th: Depends on what I need, but Magic Resist has a high priority. Dart covers you on the Melee DPS, so you can slack a bit there, but magic HURTS, and we need some mitigation there. If I need more burst damage, I work on a Lich Bane. Movement Speed and Magic Resist covers survivability a bit, and AP with another burst damage shot after your dart that applies a now very high damage poison makes you a force to be feared.
6th: Banshee's Veil. Our DPS is high enough, and at this point casters that are fed are a serious counter to our poor Teemo. If your finding things troublesome, by all means, get this item early. Banshee's Veil is a BEAUTIFUL thing on Teemo. It makes him almost immune to high burst damage champs like Ryze and Vieger, helps with Stuns from champs like Sion and Taric, on top of his Dart locking down champs like Yi, Trist, and Ashe. The only reason its 6th and not 3rd or 4th is because I tend to be a bit balls the the walls high risk when I play.
There are other good options as well. Doran's Ring is a great first choice, but lack of evolving into anything makes me pass over it. Chalice of Harmony is GREAT for Mushroom spamming and the added MR is very nice, but I find that I don't like dropping anything else for it and make up for it in MP pots along the way. Archangel's Staff is another good choice instead of Nashors Tooth, but until people can make up for -CD on runes and masteries, it falls behind. Zhonya's Ring and Deathfire Grasp seem to have some potential instead of Soulstealer, but fit my playstyle less. Rod of Ages isn't such a good idea, because by the time you've farmed it, AND waited for it to fully charge, you could have been getting something else, not to mention that some games don't even last long enough for it to even make max charge.
Defense-wise Rylai's Scepter helps keep enemies in range for a second burst of damage and Soul Shroud is nice and helps your mushroom spam. Aegis of the Legion is also a good choice, since you WILL be near a teammate 75~90% of the game.
Gold Items like Heart of Gold, Kage's Lucky Pick, or Philosopher's Stone are tempting, but help more if your dying a lot, and again, dying is what we're trying to avoid. Not to mention that a well place mushroom can melt down even the largest of creep waves, so I've NEVER had gold trouble on Teemo.
Spells:
Thanks to our wonderful, wonderful movement speed via early Move Quick and/or Boots of Mobility, we can almost completely ignore teleport and most survivability spells and concentrate on other things. I'll list them in order of my priority but it really depends on how you play.
Good choices:
Ignite: Makes up for the loss of early toxic shot, and stacks really well with it later. I find that a Dart, Lich Bane proc, toxic shot and ignite is enough to kill anyone who doesn't hit survivability early and hard.
Smite: Lets face it, Jungling is a huge part of this map from the very start to the very end. This lets you take the Lizard solo at level 1 (though you'll loose the HP pot) if need be, which combined with ignite does scary things early on. Less important later, but still allows you to grab any buff with almost no fear of damage, allowing you to deny them to the enemy even when low on health.
Heal: Always nice to have an 'oh crap' button, and helps you support your team in hairy situations early on.
Exhaust: A snare, Armor and MR debuff, and another blind. Whats not to love? You'll have Physical DPSers in tears by the end of the game.
Clense: With map awareness, you should always know where the enemy is and keeping away from stuns. They hurt most champs, but they are squishy AP Teemo's bane. You'll find that 80~90% of the times that you die, a stun was involved.
OK Choices:
Clarity: Mana is a pricey commodity on my Teemo build, and this spell has tempted me quite a bit. Its not a bad choice, but there are so many better ones.
Flash: Another 'oh crap' button, but high CD and lack of offensive options with it on Teemo make it inferior to other choices.
Revive: Spending time dead on this map is spending time loosing. Not making Gold and Exp hurts a LOT more in 3v3 when you're a third of your team than in 5v5 when you're a lesser impact on the team as a whole and can make up for it later. That being said, bringing Revive screams "I'm planning on dying". Much, much better to bring something that will help you AVOID death all together, like Heal or Exhaust.
Listing Promote, Rally, and Fortify as OK as well. Can be good, can be bad, just depends on how you're working with your team. All three help a team far more than an individual person.
Bad choices:
Ghost: Pure overkill. I could understand bringing it for defensive purposes (since damage knock out MQ and BoM), but again, MUCH better options for that. I love ghost, don't get me wrong. I take it on every other champ I play, but on Teemo? Not needed for chasing and map awareness goes a lot farther for defense than a burst of speed.
Teleport: A small map and one of the highest movement speeds? Not really needed at all. A possible good choice for slower teammates, however, as there'll always be mushrooms to port to after level 6.
Clairvoyance: You have mushrooms. Thats part of their job. You'd think, maybe good for early game, but useless after level 6. Avoid at all costs.
Strategy:
Map knowledge, map control, and burst damage are the name of the game here.
Your lack of mushrooms early on really hurts, and thus your team controlling the Lizard buff (middle of the map sight) is REQUIRED. A LOT of level one fights happen in the grass just north of the Lizard, so Blinding Dart at level one for a really nice burst and blind is key here. Move in with your team together if you didn't all buy boots and control mid.
Back out if things get hairy, and if you brought smite, hide in the grass below and smite-steal the buff from the enemies, even it means dying. Just MAKE SURE YOU GET THE BUFF. Seeing ganks coming early game is KEY to avoiding the 'early snowball' effect this map is famous for. Even if you all wipe, gank detection will help you stay in the game.
From here, this is where it gets really fun. If you're uncontested at mid (or you win the fight) and your team is kind enough to let you (or another ranged champ) have the buff, its time for the first gank. Pick the lane that has one champ and drop him. Remember, teamwork is key. 3v1 with a lizard buff WILL net you a kill. If the enemy team is smart enough to stick together, don't be afraid to hit them anyway. You blinding dart takes any melee champ out of the fight for the first clash. If you brought Exhaust and the enemy team has 2 melees, blind one, exhaust the other, and have your team concentrate on the exhausted one or the third (whichever is the larger threat). With the Lizard buff, the fight starts in your favor.
If you loose the fight at mid, play heavily defensively until you hit level 6. Then its time to shine again. Also, remember, your BIGGEST threat is enemy casters until your get MR stacked up, so avoid them solo and concentrate them down first in teamfights if possible.
Once you hit Level 6, all the fun begins. make sure you keep the grass in the 4 corners of the middle area 'shroomed. From there, any patch of grass is a likely place for your mushrooms. Bring some Mana Regen and -CD (Fiendish Codex works beautifully here, as well as an Elixir of Brilliance) and some MP pots, and plop one down whenever the cooldown is up. You want to know where everyone is. You want to keep the enemy scared of the bushes. You want to control the jungle. Punish people for switching lanes and hiding. Make sure to let your teammates know to use them if they need to escape.
Teleport spots, mind games, map control, map awareness, high damage, escape paths, snares, farming, these babies do it ALL! Many, many, MANY times I have gotten kills and haven't even noticed them just through enemies trying to get to another lane or my teammates using them to get away. Mushrooms, Mushrooms, EVERYWHERE!
At this point, just keep your mushrooms up, burst some damage on some Blinding Dart/Lich Bane hit and runs, and WORK WITH YOUR TEAM. Your blind and burst damage makes you an AMAZING ganker AND good in teamfights. Much more so in TT than in SR. Bursting down a champ in a 5v5 leaves you open after to concentrated fire, but in 3v3 bursting down a third of their team (ideally, the biggest threat), making a quick retreat behind your allies, and bursting back in again quickly (thanks to -35% CD, no runes included), stacking poisons along the way make you a wonderful asset in fights. Combined with everything else he brings to the table, he can be a HUGE asset to any team.
He who controls the map, controls the game.
