Veigar/Strategy

Skill usage

 * Consistent use of to last-hit minions is key in amassing ability power, but make sure you have enough mana regen to maintain it. Because of the last-hits needed to make this possible,  is a good choice for a solo lane.
 * Be firm about getting . Having the extra CDR on will let you hit every minion with it, and have the mana to sustain farming and harrassing.
 * Early ranks of have a higher cooldown, so remember to also use your auto-attack to get last hits.
 * An easy way to last hit with is to let the tower hit melee minions twice then follow it with a . Let the tower hit caster minions once along with one auto attack and a.
 * Starting from rank 3 becomes a mana-efficient harassment tool.
 * If possible, try to finish off enemy champions with . It'll give you 2 more AP, in addition to the passive AP gain after killing an enemy champion.
 * is one of the strongest stuns in the game - it stuns for 2.5 seconds at max rank and is AoE. With practice, it's easy to stun or cage at least 2 or 3 players.
 * While being chased through the jungle can be used to block off a choke point for a successful escape.
 * Aiming so that enemies are on the edge and thus immediately stunned is vital in trapping champions with escape mechanisms or.
 * You can use impact animation to cordon off your foes; place the spell near the champion but angled towards the direction in which he is most likely to retreat.
 * Starting from level 4 of you can use it for killing half or whole minion waves, as it instantly kills minions by then.
 * Placing a ward at the enemy wraith camp means you can use and  to clear it whenever it spawns, for easy gold and XP that the enemy jungler is denied. Care should be taken as to missing opponents and the location of the jungler when attempting this, however.
 * Using your against enemy champions with high ability power can have devastating effects, due to its scaling off your target's AP as well as yours. As such, prioritize mages with your ult.
 * Using with  can crush an AP carry before their team can react.
 * Use to increase success rates in landing . Remember, enemies in the center can move into the stun-ring just to avoid your.
 * When shoving the lane so you can recall or leave the lane, consider using on the enemy minion line as it approaches, concentrating the minions to an area and landing.
 * Also, using his nuke combo of, , and then , in that order, will allow you an easier hit with . Due to being targeted, it should be used third so that it is ensured to hit.
 * One idea is to use your Dark Matter, then stun immediately after. This is harder to master, but your chances of hitting the enemy champion go up

Build usage

 * Getting mana regen items such as a or  early game allows  to stay in lane as long as possible to farm.
 * is a natural upgrade to benefit from a larger mana pool at the same time. A charged is also beneficial as its potential to grant AP is matched only by.
 * If you've decided to build, it's worth considering building as well, since it provides a substantial increase to your max mana which in turn increases your ability power due to the passive on.
 * With the changes to mana consumption a few patches ago, the  is not as useful early game anymore.
 * The active effect of synergizes very well with  kit. Make sure it is the first to deal damage in your combo as it will increase your damage for 4 seconds.
 * In addition, combined with and, it gives you the possibility to nuke even tanks or characters with about 150 magic resist from full to zero in less than 2 seconds. Building  right after completing the boots is therefore never a bad choice.
 * Be sure to cast before  as the delay time is long enough to cast and hit  before  lands, therefore increasing your burst speed while maintaining the maximum damage on . This also helps to ensure  will hit before the stun from  runs out.
 * is a prime offensive item on, since it amplifies the ability power gained from.
 * benefits all AP casters, but is only recommended if you are doing well and can continue that gameplay.
 * A gives  some much needed health and mana for a good early game. It also opens him up to upgrading to a  for extra health.
 * Spell vamp and magic penetration items will greatly improve survivability in most builds.
 * However, since relies heavily on burst damage, spell vamp would be less effective than straight ability power items.
 * is a good item to invest with and syngerizes well with his innate ability, . It can later be upgraded into  for more cooldown reduction.

Countering

 * Zoning during the laning phase will deny him from farming ability power from last-hitting minions with his  as he is fairly squishy and weak at early game.
 * Although deals massive damage, it has a considerable delay before it lands. Use this to avoid the spell.
 * If the wall of misses you during placement, avoid walking into the wall as it will still stun you for the full duration.
 * Forcing to use  leaves him vulnerable for its long cooldown afterwards, which can be an opportunity to go on the offensive.
 * If you are playing a mage, avoid approaching until his  has been used as it can spell instant death or bring you close to it.
 * As a purely combo based mage buying a is an excellent way to counter him as it essentially negates one of his spells, making him unable to initially unleash a full combo upon you.
 * A is a cheaper but no less useful alternative, primarily since you can negate the stun from  at will and thus avoid the standard follow-up.
 * Majority of damage output are magic damage, hence items such as  will mitigate his damage output by a large margin.  is a good choices of boots, partly due to the magic resist, and mainly due to the tenacity that reduces the stun duration of.
 * If is giving you a hard time in early game try rushing a  and build it into an  as he will no longer be able to successfully harrass you until he has his . Champions like  with a naturally high magic resist have the advantage over.
 * Because is dependent on target's current ability power, champions who mainly benefit from AD items such as , , ,  and  are effective counters against.