As requested, this is a post specifically highlighting mid lane Wukong, a champion that's classified somewhere between a Bruiser and an Assassin, or simply both combined. With his strong AOE damage and all-in abilities, Wukong is an excellent choice when it comes to early game cheesing on squishy mid laners.
Introduction
As requested, this is a post specifically highlighting mid lane Wukong, a champion that's classified somewhere between a Bruiser and an Assassin, or simply both combined.With his strong AOE damage and all-in abilities, Wukong is an excellent choice when it comes to early game cheesing on squishy mid laners.
Strategy
Wukong mid plays as your standard 21-9-0 AD bruiser. However, his early level 2 powerspike is probably the highest in the game, second only to a Lucian that's kiting very well.
Ideally, Wukong will want to play extremely aggressive level 1 with his E, and aim to get a kill level 2 before the jungler comes to gank. Against mid laners not running sustain outside of their two pots, this tends to be a very easy strategy.
Against champions running cloth + 5 pots against Wu, you'll want to make sure your trades are a little more thoughtful, but he can still bully very hard. Just don't blow your ignite too early.
Ideally, Wukong will want to play extremely aggressive level 1 with his E, and aim to get a kill level 2 before the jungler comes to gank. Against mid laners not running sustain outside of their two pots, this tends to be a very easy strategy.
Against champions running cloth + 5 pots against Wu, you'll want to make sure your trades are a little more thoughtful, but he can still bully very hard. Just don't blow your ignite too early.
Viability
Strengths:
- Extremely strong early/mid game;
- Excellent all-in AOE and single target damage at all stages of the game;
- Invisibility is a good initiation tactic at most divisions;
- Roaming power is very high; and
- Insane level 6 CC.
Weaknesses
- No poke damage in team fights;
- Difficulty sustaining if playing passively;
- Open to getting camped due to his aggressive playstyle;
- Needs to have an AP on the team somewhere to itemize well against enemy team;
- Has trouble against high waveclear champions mid-game.
Why Wukong's All-In Works
Level 1: Wukong's attack speed bonus that Nimbus Strike provides lets him sneak in a few autos before the enemy can get out of range.
Level 2: Wukong's Q gives him the ability to follow up with even more burst damage at an increased range that's basically impossible to avoid if he uses it after closing the gap.
In a nutshell: Autos early in the game provide a massive damage boost compared to spells. This allows him to out-trade almost every single spellcaster in the game when they're trying to CS due to his enhanced range and gap closer.
Level 2: Wukong's Q gives him the ability to follow up with even more burst damage at an increased range that's basically impossible to avoid if he uses it after closing the gap.
In a nutshell: Autos early in the game provide a massive damage boost compared to spells. This allows him to out-trade almost every single spellcaster in the game when they're trying to CS due to his enhanced range and gap closer.
One-Trick Pony?
Some of you might be wondering: if Wukong fails his early game all-in, does that mean he's useless for the rest of the game?
Luckily, as a bruiser with a massive AOE knock-up, even if he fails his early game and ends up under his turret, he's still massively useful 2v2 in any gank situation, and can roam extremely well too.
At the moment he's still somewhat of an obscure pick mid though, so definitely take advantage of his surprisingly high burst.
Yup, not played that much, obscure. Great article/post and I love wukong... havent played him much at all in middle yet but i am SURE that he is sick.
ReplyDeleteAll hail wukong only....
ay man, consider the mid lane xin zhao
ReplyDeletei'd honestly say his level 2 burst is higher than wukong, especially against squishies
if you rush a youmuu's ghostblade on him the attack speed bonus + his w makes for some insane burst around level 6, and the speed boost also gives him some roam potential
he's especially good against low-medium mobility AD champions such as zed and katarina, who get absolutely melted by him in the early game
i'd say its at least worth considering :)
Don't tell them SSJ! C'mon man!
ReplyDeleteWhat would you/other wukong players recommend to build on wukong mid? I've always been running a pretty standard build as I do playing him top (rushing cleaver and hydra into full tank) simply due to the fact that he's extremely vulnerable to CC while ulting and without another initiation source I'd simply get bursted down almost instantly.
ReplyDeleteYou've summoned the almighty Wukong Only. Now just to wait until he shows up with 10 paragraphs of comments on your article lol.
ReplyDeleteWhere is he??? This is his dream.
ReplyDeleteWukong Only, Wukong Only, Wukong Only... that is the trick right? say his name three times?
ReplyDeleteI have like 500 wukong ranked games since S3 when I started maining assassin wukong.
ReplyDeleteif you know how to play him correctly, he's simply a monster.
I'm Diamond 4 and still climbing with him (though I go top mostly)
the real trick is using his clone trying to bait your lane opponents CC
ReplyDeletef.e.
Ahri Charm
LB Chain
Xerath Stun
Also he is incredible effective against Zed, just make sure his shadow is on CD and you can easily all in him at 6.
I cannot even begin to think about zed wukong matchup would be scary and stressful as fock :D
ReplyDeleteGenerally I recommend rushing Hydra first then LW (when rushing hydra it's better to get pick axe than vamp scepter cause you want as much AD as possible). I follow Allorim for wukong tips cause he's challenger wukong in NA, but he plays assassin wukong and doesn't particularly like jungle wukong even tho he admits it's not bad. That being said he usually goes Hydra, LW, Swifty or mobi boots, Cleaver/Ghostblade, Maw if they have AP. You want early tiamats cause it'll help you wave clear and E procs tiamats a lot. Plus tiamats can help you escape jump walls if you dont have ward or flash
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the article. I'd have to say I like the pros and cons you and also how you nailed the explanation on how wukong is played as an assassin and bruiser combined due to free tank stats, cc, and incredibly high burst damage. Once again ssj, thank you for listening to my request. <3
ReplyDeleteI personally rush hydra on wukong as soon as possible. I'd say that hydra is unquestionably the best item for wukong in the laning phase due to giving a very high amount of ad, sustain, waveclear, and better trading potential with the active, before you get hydra you do e-aa-q, and after you do e-aa-q-hydra and it will chunk them hard enough to likely send them back. My second core item is always Youmuu's ghostblade. While hydra offers the most during laning phase, ghostblade offers the most for assassinating and teamfighting, and combined with hydra can even make you an excellent splitpusher and duelist. The active is gamechanging when combined with his invisibility and ult. For boots I usually get mobis since they also synergize well with your decoy invis, however swifties, merc, and tabis are great choices as well. Third core item for me is last whisper, this is fairly obvious why but it increases your aoe damage a lot. After that it is situational but I like black cleaver. After getting those damage items Ga can be an excellent choice but if you're snowballing get maw.
ReplyDeleteThat last thing you said about him getting bursted is usually a result of bad playing. Instead of trying to make some flashy initiation which generally won't work since in solo queu noone will follow up and anywhere higher than bronze/silver you will get instantly cced and burst. Usually you wait until the fight starts and see the adc out of position then go assassinate him while trying to knockup and do as much damage to as many people as possible. If you still think assassin wukong will just get cced every time I suggest you watch Allorim, he plays at a challenger level and you almost never see him build a tank item lately, and still rarely falls into the insta-cc-and-death problem.
http://prntscr.com/6or9wg
ReplyDeletewat
What runes are the best for mid wu?
ReplyDeleteI go ad quints, ad marks, armor seals, and mr glyphs.
ReplyDeletei take cdr blues and arpen reds.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else said, Hydra is almost always a must as your first item.
ReplyDeleteThe item after that however, is more situational and prefrences.
As a mid wukong, or even top kong, your next item can be based on 4 different items.
Black Clever, Maw of Malthorous (Or however you spell it), Last whisper, or Youmuu Ghost Blade
You want the BC if the enemy team is really tanky or you aren't dominating lane/losing (Meaning if you're not fed and just average, be more of a team player by shredding the enemies armor for your teammate)
You want the Maw if their team if heavy AP and you NEED the ap, a bit more unconventional 2nd item pick but sometimes required if you're just getting shut down due to all the ap. Typically however, i would build a Hexdrinker -> Than into one of the other items listed -> finish building
Last Whisper is more of a You item. It's focus more on demolishing an enemy for yourself and helps you snowball even harder because of obvious reasons. However, it isn't like the BC which helps your teammates.
And Youmuu is for the amazing actives, a decoy -> youmuu active helps close gap and gank lane easier including all-in your enemy lane and also is a great escape because of the movement boost as well.
Typically I build LW over everything else as my 2nd item choice simply because I enjoy snowballing and taking control. Third item is also one of the choices above. Even though I include the 4 choices, I almost never build Maw or BC as my 2nd item now a days unless I really need to. Like everyone else mention- Allorim is a great player to look to and has 130 videoes of specifically wukong videos to learn from.
I almost never go tank unless the enemy team is tanky + No one is tanky on my team. Wukong big weakness is that he loses horribly against tanks. (Sion, Cho Gath, Garen) I'll typically have 1 or 2 tank item by end game (Randuin Omen/Banshee Veil + GA)
I like going hydra into brutailzer, but after that things get situational. If they start building armor, I'll get a black cleaver or a last whisperer. If not, I'll get either bloodthirster, triforce, or maw.If i'm behind, I'll buy tank items.
ReplyDeletestart items?
ReplyDeleteEither long sword and 3 pots or flask and 3
ReplyDeleteYou could really pick anything and win. I played lee sin mid,top and jungle every game and climbed from silver v to gold 1 in 1,5 weeks after getting lol builder. Alot of good insight on champion mastering you should check it out. http://www.gamersoftwares.com/2015/04/lol-builder-package-review/
ReplyDeletearmor penetration are the best ones, but take attack damage because doran shields screws over you armor penetration
ReplyDeleteNice. I always want to get good with Wukong but never could get the feel for him. What runes masteries do you use and what is good combo to poke with him and level order. I know Q is good if you want to push towers but dont know if you should go E Q since its better in a certain way. Hope you can help. really want to expand my champion pool.
ReplyDeleteStandard AD rune page is good enough for Wukong,
ReplyDeleteMax E over Q because it's better for dueling because gap closer + attack speed bonus + higher damage
Good combo:
Q -> Auto attack - E -> auto attack, only use decoy if you need to get out really since heavy mp consumption
Typically though
E -> AA -> Q -> AA, because you won't be in the range for Q in laning phase typically. Just ALWAYS have auto attacks inbetween. The simple E-Q is a weak combo by itself
Runes I take standard AD marks, quints; armor seals; 6CDR+3MR glyphs; you can basicly take anything you want imo. Masteries are also quite standard 21/9/0. Skill order EQW->Max R>E>Q>W. (never max Q). Start flask + pots, Build Hydra -> LW -> Boots of mobility -> Youmus' -> tank items. You can pick up brutalizer early if you're really ahead, or hexdrinker if you're really having trouble, otherwise it's very very important to get your tiamat, and equally important to upgrade it to hydra (it's a great power spike).
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind though, runes/masteries only affect around 5% of the game as long as you don't bring anything crazy, and skill order/build order affect another 20~30%, the rest is all about in-game decision making, and that is obtained mainly by playing more games.
I am more than happy to give you tips though. normally you can win all early trades in mid, so you should be constantly jumping on them with your E and then healing back up with your potions. Beware of ganks and watch the enemy's minion damage.
May I recommend this guide from a challenger Wukong main http://www.solomid.net/guide/view/119570-wukong-build-guide-apc-fighter-by-allorim , and feel free to ask me any questions since I'm very interested in helping newer players.
sweet thanks. Ill test this out and see how it goes for awhile. Thank you so much ^_^
ReplyDeleteOkays sounds good ^_^. Thanks for the tips/information. I appreciate it a lot. Always want to get good with him but felt like I just didn't use him correct. I will put all of it to training right away
ReplyDeleteHe's a really good champ, just note that he is a rather situational champ though as he can easily be counterpicked in draft mode, so try not to choose him if you're picking first.
ReplyDeleteHe's my favorite champ with over a thousand matches and I've been using him when I first started around lvl 3ish to level 30 to plat rank last season doing pure pvp.
If you have any other questions or tips about him feel free to ask
Would you say this is better than Talon in Silver? I'm looking for an AD mid and I'm choosing between these two.
ReplyDeleteWukong is definetly better than talon in silver imo, mainly because he is easier to pick up so you don't need much practice at all, you can almost go straight to ranked and dominate. Your early game is also a lot stronger as you can outtrade and even kill most mids pre 6. Post 6 you have an aoe knockup and talon doesn't and you have a clone which can tank skillshots. Imo wukong has better assassination because you can just decoy, pop youmuu's, then kill them while they are knocked up so they can't retaliate. With talon you can do a similar move but they have a better chance to react since you don't have the knockup, and no more silence. Without the silence talon has a few advantages, but they are all small things and just don't add up to him being as good as wukong.
ReplyDeleteKk ty
ReplyDeleteJust wondering, why was rengar moved up to tier 1? Is it because of the fact that his armor pen build with youmuu,lw and black cleaver can still instagib tanks?
ReplyDeleteOne of my preferate players is wukong , and i play mid since last summer, being in season 4. People blamed me a lot at start of the game. I am glad now when I see a wukong piking mid, is realy big.
ReplyDeleteI tried this vsing a mordekaiser mid got wrecked then flamed
ReplyDeleteMake sure you're super aggressive level 1~3, and never approach directly at him from where your minions are, come in from the side so he doesn't get an extra shield boost.
ReplyDelete