Champion Guide

Neeko Guide

By LoLSuggest

Support

Neeko is a playmaking mage support built around deception. Inherent Glamour disguises her as an ally, a minion or a jungle camp, Blooming Burst throws a seed that blooms for damage and blooms again when it hits champions, Shapesplitter empowers every third attack and lets her turn invisible while sending out a clone, Tangle-Barbs roots every enemy it passes through, and Pop Blossom leaps into the air before slamming down to knock up and stun nearby enemies. She fights for lane control, makes creative roams in disguise and wins teamfights with a well-placed ultimate.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Neeko build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start World Atlas and a Health Potion, and buy boots on your first back if you can afford them. The usual path is Celestial Opposition, which reduces damage when you engage with your ultimate, Ionian Boots of Lucidity and Hextech Rocketbelt, then Imperial Mandate and Zhonya's Hourglass. Solstice Sleigh helps you and your ADC catch rooted targets, Zaz'Zak's Realmspike is only for when you are fed or the only AP champion, and Dream Maker is useless since you give no heals or shields. Situational picks include Shurelya's Battlesong against fast teams, Knight's Vow or Locket of the Iron Solari against heavy engage, Zeke's Convergence for a tank build, Redemption, Mikael's Blessing, and Frozen Heart against a fed auto-attacker; take Mercury's Treads or Plated Steelcaps as needed. Run Arcane Comet with Axiom Arcanist, Transcendence and Scorch, plus Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight, in most games; Aftershock with Font of Life, Bone Plating and Unflinching makes a tank page, and Glacial Augment suits engage ADCs who follow your roots. Take Flash with Heal, Exhaust against heavy engage, or Ignite against healers.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Strengths

Synergy with almost every ADC, as a poke, tank or utility support.
Roams and ganks easily thanks to her disguise and Shapesplitter.
Reliable engage and crowd control, so she stays useful even when behind.

Weaknesses

Squishy unless she goes tank, and she lacks the base stats of a true tank.
Provides no heals or shields to sustain her ADC, and can struggle against enchanters.
Struggles into heavy sustain lanes and very mobile teams.

Laning Phase

Neeko wants to fight for lane control rather than sit back. Use your attacks and the empowered Shapesplitter hit to harass the enemy whenever they walk up for minions, and when someone mispositions, throw Tangle-Barbs into Blooming Burst; an empowered root through minions usually wins the trade. Play in and out of lane brushes so the enemy cannot react to your roots, and hit level 2 first for an aggressive trade; from level 6 every root can become a kill with Pop Blossom. Use Shapesplitter's clone to check brush and to block hooks such as Thresh's or Nautilus's. Before roaming, make sure your ADC can farm safely, then go disguised as the first melee minion of the mid wave rather than as Neeko. Swap to Oracle Lens once your support item is around 350 gold, and buy a Control Ward every recall.

Mid & Late Game

Later in the game, play around vision, stay grouped and look for picks and flank angles with Pop Blossom instead of wandering alone or dueling. Hidden in a disguise or behind cleared vision, your roots and ultimate are much harder to react to. Use your ultimate to engage on the enemy carry or grouped enemies, or to peel your ADC; against Janna, wait for her Monsoon before you jump in.

Key Tips

Disguise as a minion, your jungler or a jungle camp when roaming; on the minimap you look harmless.
Shapesplitter's clone can block skillshots like hooks.
Tangle-Barbs roots longer after passing through enemies, so aim it through the minion wave.
Against Leona, swap into a minion with your passive to dodge Zenith Blade.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.