Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void, revealed

The Void is preparing to spill forth its latest monstrosity: Vel’Koz. A terrifying being created for the sole purpose of learning, Vel’Koz absorbs knowledge and accrues understanding through a multitude of tests and scans. Unfortunately, those very tests, while extremely productive for Vel’Koz, have a tendency to utterly destroy his subjects.

Vel’Koz is a ranged mage born to blast out overwhelming damage over sustained fights. With long-range harass available from the start of the game, Vel’Koz is a fragile but threatening early presence who relies on his teammates’ protection to bring his full force to bear come late game.

Vel’Koz is a creature of raw power, not speed, and as such carries out his finest research on the mid lane of Summoner’s Rift. The towers here are placed closer together, giving the Eye of the Void less distance to travel when enemy junglers dare get between him and his research subjects. A short autoattack range means Vel’Koz is often in the thick of the fighting, but he has the necessary tools in his abilities to dissuade his lane opponent from engaging. Enemy midlaners within their own minion waves are vulnerable to poke through Void Rift, while opponents caught in the open make easy targets for Plasma Fission. Using abilities frequently benefits Vel’Koz: fully stacking Organic Deconstruction against his opposing laner deals substantial true damage, forcing his counterpart to choose between moving in to secure minion gold or retreating until their Deconstruction stacks have dissipated. Aggressive enemies risk a quick death once Vel’Koz catches them with further rounds of Void Rift followed by Tectonic Disruption, while those that flee are still subject to considerable ranged harass. With clever aiming and timing of Plasma Fission’s second cast, Vel’Koz can both steer his ability around enemy minions and gain additional range through geometric finesse.

Vel’Koz becomes an entirely different beast once he gains access to Life Form Disintegration Ray. His ult deals devastating amounts of damage to all enemies caught, but its long channel time and slow turn speed makes initial positioning absolutely paramount. Because of this, Vel’Koz does best bringing his ult to bear following a few successful rounds of poke, after his opponents are sufficiently researched with Organic Deconstruction and wounded enough to keep their distance. Even the minion cover often granted by distance is ignored by Life Form Disintegration Ray’s absolute power, which fully affects all enemies within its substantial range.

As teams start skirmishing around Summoner’s Rift, Vel’Koz is safest positioning himself within or behind his allies, harassing his enemies with repeated casts of Plasma Fission and Tectonic Disruption. When caught in unfavorable positions, Vel’Koz fires off Plasma Fission while retreating to kite his pursuers and positions Void Rift in choke points to dissuade enemies from following further. In favorable situations, Vel’Koz uses the same ability to separate his subject from its pack before unleashing Tectonic Disruption and Plasma Fission to quickly catch and dispatch them.

In full-scale teamfights, Vel’Koz again works best from the back line, tossing out damage and crowd control with Plasma Fission as he builds Deconstruction stacks on his enemies. Allied protection is key here as enemy bruisers, once they get to Vel’Koz, make short work of the tentacled glass cannon. Still, Vel’Koz has a few tricks of his own to ensure his safety: Plasma Fission makes for an excellent kiting tool, while the combined knock back and knock up from Tectonic Disruption allows Vel’Koz to reposition away from danger. Finally, once enough enemies are primed from his harass, once his team has set up a safe area for Vel’Koz to channel in, the Eye of the Void unleashes Life Form Disintegration Ray to melt through the massed enemy ranks and leave his foes staggering under sheer, overwhelming damage.