EXTREMELY IN-DEPTH VEL'KOZ MID/SUPPORT GUIDE [WIP] (2024)

In order to play Vel'Koz well, you also need to know how to counter Vel'Koz.

As mentioned before, Vel’Koz is one of the squishest, most immobile, vulnerable mages in the game. With that being said, Vel’Koz is really, really vulnerable to Assassins.

UNDERSTAND HIS KILL POTENTIAL:

To play around Vel’Koz, you have to understand his kill potential. To really understand his damage, you have to know how his passive works.

The general gist of it is that everytime he lands an ability, he applies one stack of his passive. You can see his passive as a section of a purple triangle under your champ.

When this hits 3 stacks, he applies a small burst of true damage. This is why stacking MR against him isn’t too effective.

If you see him have 2 stacks under you, you can tell he will be looking for a Q to hit to apply that juicy true damage. Play safe and behind minions until the passive wears off (only a few seconds). Note that his auto attacks do not proc his passive, BUT they reset passive timer so the passive stacks will stay on for longer. To fully understand, his passive is around ⅓ of the damage from his kit.

HOW TO COUNTER PICK VEL'KOZ:

If you are counter picking a support against him, I would recommended a hard engage, all in champion. A champ like Leona or Nautilus is an amazing counter against Vel’Koz. If you reduce the poke damage you take during early laning phase, you should be able to easily all in without worrying about your HP. Keep in mind (let’s use Leona for example), NEVER ENGAGE WITH ALL YOUR ABILITIES. You always have to save at least one CC for his ult animation. Something like Leona Solar Flare or nautilus R would completely deny his damage combo and you can watch as he tickles you with his tentacles as you slaughter his ADC.

Champs with lots of mobility and CC are amazing against Vel’Koz as support Vel’Koz relies on his poke and burst combo to do well. If he can’t land his Tectonic Disruption, he can’t really land a good combo. Save CC for his R and dodge E and Vel’Koz is practically useless.

IF YOU CAN'T PLAY HARD ENGAGE SUPPORTS:

This is for you Wicked Cherry!

Not being able to counterpick Vel'Koz is fine, as I know many support players who only play utility supports. If you play champs like Lulu, Yuumi, Nami, Soraka, Janna, you have to know how to manage cooldowns. The thing is that you can't really use your abilities to poke, since Vel'Koz will most likely outtrade you 90% of the time. You have to save your abilities/mana unless you are sure Vel'Koz doesn't have mana. Things like Janna tornado, Lulu polymorph, nami bubble and ult, Soraka silence all cancel his ultimate. Without Vel'Koz ult, he can't really burst you down. Save your CDs to deny his combo and you should be golden. Read the rest of this chapter for more information.

If you are duo with your jungler, the most efficient way to counter the matchup would be to freeze the lane, force them to go up, and literally camp the Vel’Koz and make his life a living hell. He has basically no mobility and CC so ganks would easily be a double kill for your team if they are mispositioned. If a Vel’Koz cannot snowball, it will take a very long time for him to actually do damage.

If he is smart and plays safe, you can either try to cheese him in a bush, or you can roam. If Vel’Koz stays in lane, this means he won’t have vision control. If you keep pressure on him and keep him in lane, dragons and other objectives would be very easy to take for your team. If he chooses to risk it and place vision, Vel’Koz is an easy target in the river without protection from his allies. This should lead to easy kills on him if your mid/jungler has even a little bit of map awareness. Buy Control Ward/ Oracle Lens to deny vision which forces them to face check bushes in the river. This can lead to easy picks. You can also roam to other lanes. Vel’Koz is very vulnerable when rotating, so he will likely not move. This would mean an easy 2 v 1 in the midlane which will help your mid out a lot, or Vel’Koz risking himself to try and follow.

TL;DR: Vel’Koz is a really vulnerable roaming champ and as long as you are aware of his kill potential you should have a larger impact on the rest of the map.