Hi everyone! Sorry for the late post on this week's top 10, there are some...celebrations going on this week. Anyway, the topic of this week's post is fairly simple. Often, people message me asking which runes they should buy, and what to focus on.Although it's easy enough to look up a guide on a specific champion, there are definitely some universal runes that are extremely versatile and can be used in 95~99% of scenarios. Check out the details below!
Introduction
Hi everyone! Sorry for the late post on this week's top 10, there are some...celebrations going on this week. Anyway, the topic of this week's post is fairly simple. Often, people message me asking which runes they should buy, and what to focus on.
Although it's easy enough to look up a guide on a specific champion, there are definitely some universal runes that are extremely versatile and can be used in 95~99% of scenarios. Check out the details below!
1. Flat Armor (Yellow)
These were my first purchase and likely the easiest ones you'll ever make. At a mere 205 gold a piece, you can literally use it on every single champion in the game and not be any worse off. On certain support champions who stack armor on other runes it's more effective to use flat health yellows, but they're much more expensive.
2. Attack Damage (Quint/Red)
Although some of the other runes below are more effective than these or a matter of personal preference, pretty much every AD based champion can use these and not feel much of a difference. Certain champions will find attack speed more useful, but can make due with attack damage if need be,
3. Attack Speed (Red/Quints)
Generally, the only people that run excessive attack speed are junglers or certain marksmen. However, having a set of attack speed runes is always handy. Just don't get the yellow attack speed runes, armor and/or health is just too good to pass up.
4. Hybrid Penetration (Red)
These tend to be a little more unique, as they're really only effective on ranged AP champions, especially ones like Lux, Orianna, and Sona, who amplify their auto-attacks via magic damage. They're very expensive, but very nice to have. If you don't feel like auto-ing or are short on IP, magic penetration runes work just fine.
5. Ability Power (Quints/Blue)
Quints are definitely the better buy here, especially since most of the time you'll want to reserve your blue runes for some sort of magic resist. However, blue AP runes are still nice if you're playing a heavy poke champion who isn't really in danger of getting chipped.
6. Movement Speed (Quints)
These used to be much more potent prior to overall movement speed decreases a few seasons ago. However, they're still very helpful on short range champions like Ryze as well as junglers like Volibear, Udyr, and Nautilus.
7. Flat Health (Yellow)
The "new" go-to in terms of yellow runes, Flat Health currently gives you the most effective bang for your slot. However, running 820 IP vs flat armor's 205 IP is quite a jump.
8. Flat Magic Resist (Blue)
When it comes to magic resist blues, there are two schools of thought:
- You're fighting against a heavy early game poke champion - Get flat magic resist
- You're fighting against a low damage or AD champion, but will probably fight some magic damage later - Get scaling magic resist
9. Scaling Magic Resist (Blue)
See above.
9. Time Spent Dead (Quints)
Just kidding, that was super lazy. Anyway, time spent dead quints are interesting, since you would NEVER buy them for use in a game on Summoner's Rift. However, they're super valuable on ARAM or dominion, since as everyone knows, a few seconds on ARAM is the crucial turning point between victory and defeat. Be sure to invest in a few of these (3?) if you happen to be an aram aficionado.
10. Flat Cooldown (Blue)
These runes are awesome when you happen to be top lane Riven or Tryndamere fighting against an AD champion. If you already know exactly who you're fighting and just want an in-lane edge, these are awesome since you won't really use the magic resist if you end up as a split pusher.