Teemo is a counter-pick specialist — he destroys melee champions who can't answer his range advantage and Q blind. Place mushrooms in high-traffic areas throughout the game for constant vision and free damage. His Q blind makes Jax and Tryndamere completely irrelevant.
Abilities
Skills Overview
P
Guerrilla Warfare
Passive
If Teemo stands still and takes no actions for a short duration, he becomes Invisible indefinitely. If he's in brush, Teemo can enter and maintain his Invisibility while moving. After leaving Invisibility, Teemo gains the Element of Surprise, increasing his Attack Speed for a few seconds.
Q
Blinding Dart
Blinding Shot — Blind that causes basic attacks to miss for 1.5-2.5 seconds
Obscures an enemy's vision with a powerful venom, dealing damage to the target unit and blinding it for the duration.
CD: 7 · Cost: 70/75/80/85/90
Q blinds before the enemy can auto-attack — use Q when melee champions walk up for trades.
W
Move Quick
Move Quick — Move speed passive; active doubles for a short duration
Teemo scampers around, passively increasing his Move Speed until he is struck by an enemy champion or turret. Teemo can sprint to gain bonus Move Speed that isn't stopped by being struck for a short time.
CD: 14 · Cost: 40
Activate W to kite melee champions who are trying to close the gap. The move speed is significant.
E
Toxic Shot
Toxic Shot — Passive poison on all Teemo autos and abilities
Each of Teemo's attacks will poison the target, dealing damage on impact and each second after for 4 seconds.
CD: 0 · Cost: 0
All of Teemo's attacks apply poison automatically — just attack-move and E does the work.
R
Noxious Trap
Noxious Trap — Place invisible mushrooms that explode to slow, poison, and reveal areas
Teemo throws an explosive poisonous trap using one of the mushrooms stored in his pack. If an enemy steps on the trap, it will release a poisonous cloud, slowing enemies and damaging them over time. If Teemo throws a mushroom onto another mushroom it will bounce, gaining additional range.
CD: 0.25 · Cost: 75/55/35
Place mushrooms in dragon and baron pits before objectives — the vision denies enemy stealth approaches.
Skill Leveling Order — Max Q for maximum blind duration and damage. Then E for poison damage, last W.
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Itemization
Recommended Builds
Starter
Doran's Shield
HP sustain since Teemo is very squishy at low levels.
450g
Core
Nashor's Tooth
AP and attack speed — E poison and Q blind scale with AP. Attack speed amplifies poison application rate.
3000g
Guinsoo's Rageblade
On-hit amplification — every E poison auto procs Rageblade for additional on-hit magic damage.
3000g
Rabadon's Deathcap
Massive AP amplifier for Q damage, E poison DoT, and R mushroom burst.
3800g
Situational
Void Staff
Percent magic pen vs MR-stacking enemies.
2800g
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Slow on every E poison auto — enemies can't kite Teemo's range advantage while slowed.
2600g
Liandry's Anguish
Burn damage synergizes with E poison and mushroom DoT for stacking damage per second.
3200g
Nashor's Tooth + Rageblade is your core — the on-hit synergy makes every E poison auto proc massive magic damage simultaneously.
Runes
Precision Primary
Lethal Tempo
Attack speed stacks rapidly with Teemo's passive E poison autos — Lethal Tempo pushes maximum DPS.
Triumph
Kill heals during fights — sustain between the kiting and chasing phase.
Legend: Alacrity
Attack speed scaling amplifies Rageblade phantom hit frequency and E poison application rate.
Cut Down
Teemo targets tanks sometimes — Cut Down amplifies damage vs high HP enemies significantly.
Sorcery Secondary
Manaflow Band
Q and R cost mana — Manaflow solves the laning phase mana constraint during constant Q blind harassment.
Gathering Storm
Late-game AP scaling amplifies Q, E poison, and mushroom burst damage significantly.
Shards
Attack Speed · Health · Health
Gameplay
How to Play Teemo
01
Early Game
Early Phase
- Q when any melee champion walks up — their autos miss during 1.5-2.5 seconds of blind.
- W for move speed to kite them.
- E poison on every auto deals sustained damage.
- Place mushrooms in the river bush for gank detection.
02
Mid Game
Mid Phase
- Cover dragon and baron pit with mushrooms before objectives — the vision and slow deny stealth approaches.
- Continue Q harass in sidelane.
- Your splitpush is excellent with the mushroom vision coverage.
03
Late Game
Late Phase
- Mushroom-cover the entire map — baron, dragon, jungle entrances, lane bushes.
- In teamfights, kite from maximum range with E poison autos and Q blind any melee diver.
- Your attack speed with full build is extremely high.
Teamfighting
How to Teamfight as Teemo
Teemo in teamfights is a backline DPS with Q blind utility. Kite from max range, Q any melee diver, and pre-place mushrooms in the fight area for automatic slow and damage.
1
Pre-Fight — Mushroom the Area
Setup
01
Pre-place mushrooms in the expected fight area before the teamfight starts.
02
Position at maximum auto range behind your frontline — Teemo deals damage from safety.
03
Q the melee diver immediately when they try to reach your backline.
Teemo is extremely squishy — never stand in front of your frontline. If gap-closed, you die instantly. Always position behind tanks.
2
Mid-Fight — Kite and Poison
DPS phase
01
E poison autos on the carry at maximum range — sustained poison DoT plus Rageblade on-hit.
02
W activate when a diver gets close — move speed creates separation for more safe DPS.
03
Mushrooms in the carry escape path slow them for auto follow-up.
3
Cleanup — Mushroom Blocker
Chase or escape
01
R mushroom the escape route of fleeing enemies — the slow lets your team catch them.
02
Q blind any melee chaser trying to reach you during the cleanup chase.
03
W for extra speed to maintain maximum auto range on fleeing enemies.
Place mushrooms in the bottom of the dragon and baron pits BEFORE the objective fight — enemies who rush in to contest walk directly into them.
Tips & Tricks
Advanced Mechanics & Hidden Tech
Advanced mechanics for Teemo.
Basic
Q blind before melee champions can auto-attack
use Q when they walk up, not during their animation.
Intermediate
Place mushrooms in dragon and baron pits before objective...
vision and free damage.
Intermediate
W activate when melee champions close the gap
move speed creates safe range for continued DPS.
Advanced
E poison is passive
just auto-attack and every hit applies poison automatically.
Basic
Lethal Tempo + Rageblade at full stacks deal on-hit magic...
stay in range.
Intermediate
Mushrooms reveal stealth
Lee Sin ward jumps and Rengar leaps are revealed by mushroom vision.
Advanced
Rylai's Crystal Scepter slow on every E auto makes kiting...
enemies can't reach you.
Advanced
Your blind counters Jax E (dodges autos but Q make
Your blind counters Jax E (dodges autos but Q makes his autos miss first), Tryndamere, and Master Yi.
Matchups
Counters & Matchups
Teemo is countered by mobile champions who can close the gap before Q blind lands and AP or true damage champions who ignore his ranged poke advantage.
Click any matchup to expand tips & how to play against them
Loses Against
Garen's silence stops Teemo's Q blind cast. His passive regen sustains through E poison. His run speed and Decisive Strike close the gap.
Q before Garen's Q silence reaches you. His silence is telegraphed — Q immediately when he walks up.
Irelia's Q dashes through minion waves to close the gap before Q blind can interrupt. Her E stun prevents kiting.
Mushroom the path between minions — Irelia must Q through minions to reach you and will trigger mushrooms.
Yorick's ghoul army walks through Teemo's mushrooms, wasting them. His Maiden applies AI damage that tracks Teemo regardless of position.
Place mushrooms in Yorick's direct path, not spread. Focus Yorick while maidens are occupied.
Wins Against
Q blind completely negates Darius's auto-attack stacking. He cannot stack Hemorrhage during blind duration.
Q when Darius walks up — 2.5 seconds of blind negates all his autos. His only melee kit cannot touch you.
Jax's E Counter Strike dodge doesn't help against Teemo's Q blind — blind makes his autos miss, dodge makes him dodge. Double protection for Teemo.
Q blind immediately when Jax E activates. His dodge doesn't matter — your Q makes HIS autos miss.
Q blind makes all of Tryndamere's autos miss for 2.5 seconds — his entire damage source. His Undying Rage is countered by poison DoT continuing through the invulnerability.
Q when Tryndamere walks up. All his autos miss during blind. Poison DoT continues during his R invulnerability.