I'm assuming this is for top lane right? You really should mention that. If mid, please don't ever max Q. Or get Gunblade.

 

Q for burst, W for sustain. At level ten tour base AD is about 86 damage.

Assuming just gunblade and sorc shoes (which add no AP) with my runes (also no AP) and masteries (which add a little AD and AP) you have an AD of 131 and an AP of 78. Which means your burst is (with a slow)

300 magic nuke
E for 296
Q for 597

Total:1195.

Pre-mitigation, not including any autoattacks or any W damage, or your ultimate. You also have a slow now, and can't be pushed out of lane ever because you heal from your AA and your spells. If you think that isn't enough burst potential to take out a squishy you can go for a DFG also.

All builds are situational, just like all lanes. As mid it depends if I am winning lane and want to gank -go Q E max- or want to push -go WE max-. In general, if the lane is even, max W before Q so that you don't die, and can farm jungle and waves faster.

 

I simply find getting gunblade first to be terrible to your potential output, and minimizes Mordekaiser's strongest period (mid game). Going Revolver>Lucky Pick>Death cap is in general much more bursty and stronger. Gunblade, while it has nice stats, is far too expensive and isn't worth it early game. It's quite rare that I actually upgrade the revolver into anything until end game, unless there's a double ap wanting to stack WOTAs. (Getting quick DFG after DCAP lets you almost instant gib anyone, and sometimes lets you kill them before they can even QSS)

 

All y'all are bad. DFG FTW when it comes to bursting.

 

Psh, DFG first only for slowpoke farmers that isn't ahead enough to burst down people without DFG

 

Tank insta-gibs = better farming.

 

I actually find it quite difficult to instant gib tanks with Deathfire grasp, if you just got that first and not deathcap. You can instant gib enemy squishy mids though, but that can be done with just a deathcap just as well. (Or just a needlessly large rod).

 

On the subject of DFG, when is the best time to use it? It seems like it'd be best used as an initation tool, since it removes 30% of current HP, as I recall.

 

You just answered your own question.

 

Something I learned playing Vs. a Yorick. If you ward the bush the opponent is running into, his ghosts will not de-aggro.

This is what I was talking about with J4 (image shamelessly stolen).

 

Applies to lots of champions. Lots of people have the ranged jump needed to completely avoid walls or just the raw speed to blitz past a ward.

It's why I find it stupid when certain junglers bitch about wards not letting them gank. Unless the river is completely and totally covered, along with the lane bushes, there is always a way.

 

Serious question, how can I win a CC-heavy mid?

Diana (me) mid vs a Veig and an Amumu thats just camping my bushes. If I play passive Veig wins because of Ap from minion kills. I try playing aggressive but the second I initiate there's a bandage to the face. Ward one bush he just walks around to the other, ward both he comes in from behind. In most games I'd just call in my jungler but our Olaf was so outclassed it wasn't even funny. There anything I can do hear that doesn't require my jungler?

 

Warding brush is something you shouldn't really do unless you use them to escape with like katarina. It just doesn't give much coverage compared to warding near the wraiths jungle entrance and the brush by blue buff wall.

With two properly placed wards you should be 100% covered from approaches unless they sneak in through your jungle near bot/top lane or come in straight through river on red buff side of the jungle, which also shouldn't be a problem if your top/bot warded their lanes.

If you need an in-depth tutorial on where to put the wards, there should be some somewhere usin the googles, or feel free to add me in game/pm me and I'll show you.

As for dealing with a heavy cc team like that, normally for melee champs like fizz/diana I seriously consider grabbing merc treads over sorcs. With decent farm, you should be able to pick up a QSS early instead of rushing damage if you want. Another thing that does work well on Diana/Fizz is 'rushing' a lichbane so that you complete it around the time you're at 200ish ap. You can do this normally with a dorans/kages/runes/masteries. The mr between lichbane and mercs will be enough to survive most burst and the damage output is very high 1v1. The MS is just great in general.

But in that situation, proper wards let you just bait the amumu. Don't bait them into actually attempting it, but you can generally waste a huge amount of the jungler's time by pretending you don't see him and staying just out of his engage range. It eats up his time and lets your other lanes go unhindered.

 

Yeah I see what you mean. I was just so paranoid about going anywhere near brush because of how often he was just sitting there.

 

Mid being camped? Playing Diana? Roam like a boss. Lose your t1? Okay. I just secured 5 kills top and bottom. I think some people get obsessed with keeping their t1 up even when it is a disadvantage. As Kassadin, for instance, if I am losing lane due to harass post 6, I will group up with my jungle and counter jungle the opponent, or gank the other lanes. If they extend past the t1, your opponent should be getting yanked by you and your jungle. If they don't, then you can safely farm on your side of the river and you may be ahead from snowballing your teammates and you. Especially on a burst caster.

 

You have to be careful with this "roaming" though. It's generally backfires if you don't end up getting a kill. Only do so if you know your damage output, know their ward locations, and confident that you can kill enemy in other lanes. Worse case scenario is you losing the tower, not getting a gank in, and now 2 levels behind enemy mid. Of course, roaming works out better for fast clearers too. People like TF, for example, can clear wave, gank, and come back into lane for the second wave.

For wards, usually areas in bushes that can cover jungle entrances are the best. Like Churchy said, look up a guide for the exact points if needed. The advantage in doing so, is that those wards would not only benefit yourself, but also the other lanes. E.g, if you have one of the jungle entrances warded, the other lane can put one ward at Tri and be pretty safe from ganks.

 

^ What all three above said.

Also, the thing is, as Diana, you shouldn't have any real worries about Veigar or Amumu gank.

You have a ridiculously long range on Q. stack some AP and one-shot waves to keep Veigar pinned then roam. Drop wards around and maybe a vision ward tr two to counter the enemy.

You have the power and push capabilities to shit on Veigar. Keep him pinned under tower wiht Q pushes and his farming ability drops like a rock until he gets a lot of AP and several W levels.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. Thinking back on previous games I really do get too attached to that 'stay in your lane T1 must stay up' mentality which is a crime with a champ like Diana. Playstyle review ftw.

 

An excellent way to keep pressure in any lane is always pushing your lane.

If you can do autoattacks here and there and keep farming definitely try to push to their tower. They'll be forced to stay near for that gold and exp or the tower will take it.

Howver, you have to balance pushing too far and getting ganked. Experience and Map Awareness will help here.

 

I don't recommend this unless three criterion are met.

1) You have everything warded
2) Your champion has an escape mechanism
3) Enemy jungler's doesn't have super strong cc/mobility to catch up to you

Pushing lanes is just innately dangerous, and asks for ganks. However, if you find yourself pushing the lane, it is usually advantageous to just go in your own jungle and takes some camps (provided your jungler is not nearby/early level/want the camp). Most junglers usually does not mind their wraith camps taken, e.g, after they hit level 6. Those that do are usually pretty rubbish junglers.