1 ratings
1 total votes
Overview
Cyclops is my one-trick champion, and as a purely solo queue player with consistent high winrates of above 65-70% in ranked and can reach mythic solo easily in around 45-55 matches with over 80% winrate, this champion is actually more difficult to play the higher you climb in rank, so pick meta heroes like meta slaves if you want to have less stress in rank, but if you want to suffer with me, then read the rest of the guide. Also, drop a like on the guide, you won't find a guide in this website as good and detailed as this guide.
Strengths
- fast skill cooldown and consistent magic damage, cannot really burst but have more damage to offer than other meta mages during teamfights. -very fast ult cooldown, if you see anyone step up too close to you, especially tanks and fighters in lord dance don't be afraid to use ult on them and poke their health down so they are forced to teamfight with reduced health. -surprisingly tanky for a mage with consistent spellvamp heal with concentrated energy very well, once you get the item you don't need to recall for health. -can win those risky 1v1s with fighters, assassins and marksmans (with the right items, vengeance spell up and micro)
Weaknesses
-no dash or escape skill, movement bonus in s2 is not enough to escape danger so good positioning is a must -you are just a big minion until you get enchanted talisman, so play very safe early game and focus on getting lvl 4. -super weak early, loses to most meta mages in lane and may cause you to get zoned out of your minions and get gapped in xp and gold. -cannot really assist with early invades as you have low damage and very long cooldowns early game. -very mana-hungry early game and may need to recall just to get health and mana up while your enemy midlaner rotates to sidelanes or jungle. -short-range skills, needs to get closer to enemy than most mages to deal damage and be at risk of getting collapsed on and bursted down. -cannot build glowing wand as 1st item, so sustain, strong in early game champions can snowball the game and end before you can get online
Full Damage
ALWAYS BUY 1 MAGIC NECKLACE AS 1ST ITEM, THEN RUSH BOOTS AND TALISMAN. If the enemy tank builds Radiant Armor early then buy Divine Glaive first before buying Wishing Lantern.
Vs Heal
ALWAYS BUY 1 MAGIC NECKLACE AS 1ST ITEM, THEN RUSH BOOTS AND TALISMAN. After buying Concentrated Energy, if the enemy tank already has Radiant Armor then buy Divine Glaive first before buying Wishing Lantern.
Defensive Build
Empty item slot is for a defense item vs the enemy with most threat to you, or if the enemy has multiple heroes with the same type of damage (e.g. vs Karina, Pharsa, Natan - Athena; Lance, YZ and Brody - Cuirass). If your team is leading, you can buy the defense item earlier to avoid getting shutdown, if your team is behind in gold build your damage items first as you will need all the damage you can have to match the enemy damage. Swap Glowing Wand for Divine Glaive if there is no strong sustain (heal, spellvamp or shield) heroes in the enemy team
Emblem - Mage
- best emblem for Cyclops imo. provides big boost to your magic damage in the early game, where you are at your weakest. - you can go for other emblems like basic emblem, assasin emblem or even fighter emblem but the mage emblem gives you the best distribution of stats and without it you won't deal as much damage as possible early.
Sustain Emblem
Use if you want sustain early game and heal damage taken in lane. Lesser damage potential for extra tankiness and sustain.
Mana Regen
For players who are new to playing Cyclops and can't manage his mana properly. Lesser damage potential but safer lane and can help you rotate to other lanes instead of recalling for mana.
Battle Spell
Why Vengeance? Helps you tank and survive burst from main threats, and win 1v1s or even 1v2s and 1v3s when well fed. You can argue that Flicker or Purify is better, but as long as your positioning is good and you have good awareness of your main threats, you'll be alright without Flicker.
EARLY GAME - Game start to 4 mins
- always take skill 1 at the start of the game, throw 1 skill at jungler's start buff and go to lane. -play safe, if needed just go for last hits and let enemy midlaner clear first then clear under tower. -your priority is to get level 4, if enemy is already done clearing mid and is now missing warn and ping your side laners of the missing mid (and roam) -recall around 1:30 and return to lane before 1:45 so that you have full hp and mana and return to clear mid and get lvl 4 for the 1st turtle. -once you are lvl 4 you can fast clear and rotate.
MID GAME - 4mins to 10mins
-once you get Talisman and Concentrated, you are now strong at this stage and can win most 1v1s with anyone (but don't fight enemies with more gold and items than you) -help take objectives, fast clear mid and rotate to sidelanes or jungle -if you are ahead, group with roam and rotate together, and look for objectives and fight weaker enemies to increase gold lead. -if you are behind, focus farming, catch side waves and recall to base if enemies are missing on the map. -be there when your team is taking lord and use your ult on either the tank, the jungler, or anyone from the enemy team that steps too close to your team and focus them with your skills and kill them quickly.
LATE GAME - 10mins+
-same as midgame, but you become stronger and tankier the more you get items. - be very careful as death timers are long and if you die before lord respawn the enemy can take lord easily with numbers advantage. -cyclops is actually a carry, not an initiator or a crowd control hero, so play safe and stay behind your tank and let your tank enter bush first. -remember, your only contribution to teamfights is your damage, so staying alive is the most important in the late game. you need to learn to space well between enemies so that you can deal damage but not so close that you get collapsed and picked off.
Best With Franco
80% co-op win rate
you ult, franco hooks enemy hit by your ult then uses ult, free kill. 4 stars only because franco is a weak, soft tank and is useless if the player can't hit his hooks.
Watch Out For Zetian
20% counter win rate
This phoenix mommy can easily outrange you with her skills and can easily fast clear mid and rotate before you. Stay away from your minions, let her choose between hitting you or the minions with her skills. she will also be a lot more useful than you during teamfights with her ult.