League of Legends Teemo Guide: How To Master The Top Lane Champion!

League of Legend has a lot of champions, but one of the most notorious ones is Teemo! The little Yordle scout is being loved, feared and hated at the same time. If you want to make life hell for your top lane opponent, this is the perfect guide for you!

Lol teemo guide header
League of Legends: Mastering Teemo! | © EarlyGame / Riot Games

There are currently over 160 Champions in League of Legends, and each of them is unique. One of the most cunning champions is undoubtedly Teemo, the swift scout from the dense forests around Bandle City.

In this guide, we'll take a closer look at Teemo's abilities and his playstyle. We'll also provide you with tips on how to use him as effectively as possible to increase your chances of victory. If you want to frustrate your opponents to no end, then Teemo is the perfect choice!

League of Legends Champion Teemo: Abilities

To play Teemo successfully, it's important to understand his abilities and how to use them. Here's an overview of what he is able to do:

  • Passive: Guerrilla Warfare – Teemo becomes stealthed if he doesn't move for a few seconds. When revealed, he gains extra attack speed for a few seconds. In bushes, stealth activates and stays active even while moving.
  • Q – Blinding Dart – Teemo fires a poisoned dart, dealing damage and causing the target's next attacks to miss.
  • W – Move Quick – Teemo gains temporary bonus movement speed after being out of combat for 5 seconds or upon activation of the ability.
  • E – Toxic Shot – Teemo's basic attacks cause additional on-hit damage and poison damage over time.
  • R – Noxious Trap – Teemo throws mushrooms that explode, causing damage and slowing enemies. These mushrooms also provide vision over an area. If Teemo throws a mushroom onto an existing one, the new mushroom bounces forward.

Item and Rune Recommendations for Teemo

Lol teemo item build
Teemo Core Items: Nashor's Tooth - Sorcerer's Shoes - Liandry's Anguish - Rabadon's Deathcap - Demonic Embrace | © Riot Games

Teemo is a top-lane champion who benefits from ability power and poison damage. Here are some recommended items for Teemo:

  • Nashor's Tooth – Although Teemo's abilities scale with AP, his auto-attacks are crucial. Nashor's Tooth gives you AP, on-hit damage and a lot of attack speed.
  • Liandry's Anguish – Great against tanks, and the damage over time is a great addition, especially in combination with Teemo's mushrooms.
  • Demonic Embrace – More HP and a passive similar to Liandry's Anguish, albeit calculated differently. But it also amplifies your damage over time.

For your primary runes, choose the Precision-Tree. A keystone is particularly useful for Teemo. As for secondary runes, the Resolve-Tree is a good choice.

  • Press the Attack – Hit an enemy three times in a row with your auto-attacks to deal additional damage and make them more vulnerable to your attacks for a few seconds.
  • Triumph – Particularly good for solo laners, but Triumph can decide between life or death even in team fights.
  • Legend: Alacrity – More attack speed. Teemo loves attack speed. Need I say more?
  • Last Stand – More damage, the lower your health is. Can make the difference in fierce 1v1 fights on the top lane!

Remember that the selection of items and runes can vary from game to game. Adapt your selection to your team's needs, your matchup, and the game conditions.

Teemo - Playstyle

Cottontail Teemo
Check out this cute bunny! It could never harm a fly! ...or could it? | © Riot Games

Teemo's playstyle is based on his ability to deal poison damage and utilize stealth. Teemo is usually played as an annoying but effective top lane champion and excels in using stealth to escape tricky situations throughout the game.

His main task is to annoy his opponents and control them through his poison damage and stealth. Stealth gives Teemo the ability to retreat from dangerous situations while hindering his opponents. Using bushes in the top lane is crucial, as no other champ than Teemo can utilize them as good as he does!

Use his abilities Blinding Dart and Toxic Shot to deal damage and hinder opponents in fights. His ultimate ability, Noxious Trap, allows him to monitor areas and protect himself. No matter how many sweepers and control wards the enemies use – a mushroom will always be their downfall!

Tips and Tricks for Teemo

Here are some final tips to effectively play Teemo:

  1. Utilize Teemo's passive ability, Guerrilla Warfare, to stealth yourself and gain advantages in combat.
  2. Use Move Quick to temporarily speed yourself up and escape from dangerous situations.
  3. Strategically place your Noxious Trap mushrooms to monitor areas and slow down opponents at critical points.

Teemo is a top-lane champion who relies on his stealth and poison damage to influence the game. With the right items, runes, and intelligent gameplay, you can lead your team to victory with Teemo.

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Lasse Lindner

Lasse is one of EarlyGame's leading experts on League of Legends, covering the game for this website as well as Riftfeed. Playing LoL since 2015, he covers everything from patch notes to esports news for both the English and German sites....