Talk:Vel'Koz/@comment-26001789-20150221060119/@comment-26090928-20150225031412

Here's the problem though, heavy poke champions like Xerath and Lux absolutely tear Vel'koz apart because of his limited range and poor ratios. He's very squishy and prone to zoning, and has poorer waveclear than them as well (though it's still strong, however you typically want to save your abilities for harassment).

Vel'koz excels against immobile burst champions with roughly equal range to him, especially champions with colliding skill shots that can't hit him inside his minion wave. Champions like Annie, Veigar, Ryze, Twisted Fate, and Swain. Xerath absolutely destroys him because of Vel's inability to engage him, same thing goes for Lux. He's also not a strictly poke champion, since a lot of damage comes from his passive which you can't reliably proc by poking. Vel'koz is doing most of his lane phase damage with his E>W combo, doing roughly 215~ damage at level 2 assuming you proc the passive and have AP runes and doran's ring. That's often a third to 2 fifth's of a mage's life bar. he's much more a burst mage than a poke mage, you can just level your skills and play him as a poker if you have a tough lane you need to play passively against like Le Blanc. He's just stronger in lane than most other burst mages because you powerspike at level 2 assuming you can reliable land your Es.