Kog'Maw

Kog'Maw is the most punishing marksman on the roster and the easiest one to kill. His base attack range is short for the role, which makes his early game uncomfortable. All of that changes the moment he turns on Bio-Arcane Barrage: his range extends and every auto attack carries away a share of the target's maximum health as magic damage. At that point no tank on the roster is comfortable standing in front of him.

In exchange he has nothing. No dash, no shield, no way to cleanse crowd control, and a movement speed that will never drag him out of a bad position. Icathian Surprise detonates him after he dies, which is the only thing he can do without being alive. You do not pick Kog'Maw to survive, you pick him because your team has agreed to carry him on its shoulders.

Caustic Spittle chews through both armor and magic resist on its target, which amplifies everything he lands afterward and everything his allies land at the same time. His ultimate, Living Artillery, is its own category of weapon: it fires from far beyond any marksman ability, reveals whatever it hits, and comes back quickly as long as the mana holds. It closes out kills through a wall and gives vision on an objective without exposing him at all.

The holes are enormous. He has no disengage of any kind, so the first champion who reaches him kills him. His ultimate costs more and more the longer he chains shots, which punishes anyone who shells the map without counting. And before his item spike, he deals mediocre damage from short range, which makes him an easy target through the whole laning phase.

The first habit to unlearn is treating Kog'Maw like a normal marksman. Your base attack range puts you inside the danger zone, so step up only for the last hit and step straight back out. Void Ooze is your main laning tool: it hits a full line and leaves a slowing trail that covers your retreat as much as it sets up your support's engage.

Turn on Bio-Arcane Barrage when you know the trade is going to last, not the moment it comes off cooldown. It has a limited duration, and once it runs out you are the shortest-ranged champion in the lane again. The trade that wins is Caustic Spittle to strip armor, then auto attacks while the ooze trail keeps your opponent from walking out. Stay on your tower side and ward deep into the river: without vision, a jungler collects you on the first approach.

The first real spike is your ultimate, though not for the reason people assume. Its value in lane is not the damage, it is the ability to finish an opponent running for his tower and to reveal a jungler lurking nearby. Do not burn it on minions, you would pay the escalating cost for nothing.

The spike that decides your game is your first genuine attack speed item alongside Barrage. Kog'Maw does not exist as a champion until he attacks fast: his damage formula is a share of health per hit, so every point of attack speed is worth more than the last. From two offensive items onward you melt tanks and become the number one threat on the map, which also means the enemy team will build its entire game plan around killing you.

Your position in a fight is further back than any other marksman, and it does not move. Stay behind your front line, wait for the enemy crowd control to be spent, and only turn on Barrage once the fight is genuinely committed. A Kog'Maw who opens the fight, even from range, dies in the first few seconds.

Around a siege or an objective, Living Artillery does everything your body cannot. It pokes over the baron wall, reveals an opponent waiting in ambush, and stops the enemy team from healing up in peace before the fight. Watch your mana bar, because the cost climbs with every chained shot and finishing a fight out of mana means contributing nothing at all.