Your life tick-ticks away... (AP Zilean)

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS HOW I PLAY ZILEAN, HOW I FEEL IS BEST FOR HIM TO PLAYED, MY OPINION OF HOW YOU SHOULD PLAY HIM. DON'T FLAME JUST BECAUSE YOU BEG TO DIFFER. Oh and adjust the guide according to your playstyle.

I've only recently started playing Zilean, and I found him to be quite an underrated ap carry. However, if played well, Zilean can devastate teams and save lives.

Here are some of the games I've had with him, it shows that Zilean has the potential to excel as an AP carry.



PS:Ignore the Vlad one

Masteries



For this guide Zilean is to be played fully offensive and aggresively, mainly because he HAS the capability to do so. For my masteries I take 22/0/8 to maximise damage output.
I won't consider the standard 9/0/21 for ap carries because it doesn't have as much firepower as 22/0/8, and if you're gonna play aggresively, you need all the damage you can get.

Runes



I get the standard set for most damage output to harrass and kill more efficiently.

Summoner Spells
For spells, I take

because it serves me best. Flash is the best spell for surprise bursts and ignite for an extra nuke with degeneration to finish off low hp opponents.

Alternatives:


is also viable for Zilean, with clarity you can spam bombs without worrying about your mana as Zilean is super mana hungry.


is also good for Zilean, E + Ghost = imba ms, definitely being able to outrun almost ALL champions in the game to place your finishing bomb.


Spells and its Descriptions


Heightened Learning - Increases experience gain of all allied champions by 8%.

- Needless to say, teammates will love you for your passive, and your team can gain an exp advantage over the enemy.


Time Bomb - Places a bomb on any unit, allied or enemy, which detonates after 4 seconds, dealing area of effect damage.


- This is what makes Zilean a monster. Not only is it extremely painful due to its extremely high AP scaling (1Ap : 0.9Dmg) , it also damages all the enemies around the target for the same amount of damage.


Rewind - Zilean can prepare himself for future confrontations, reducing the cooldowns of all of his other abilities.

- is what makes Zilean versatile and able to escape death in the most treacherous of situations, being able to cast the same spell twice. The combo QWQ is good enough to cut half of most opponents' hps. At max level, it also allows you to be on Time warp almost forever by EWEWEW. However, as good as the CDR may seem on leveling this skill up, the time bonus for Time Warp is definitely better.


Time Warp - Zilean bends time around any unit, decreasing an enemy's Movement Speed or increasing an ally's Movement Speed for a short time.

- is what helps Zilean to pick off enemies with low hp, getting just into range to plant your combo, then immediately retreating and watch the helpless enemy champion die. It also works as a super-exhaust, 55% ms reduction for 5.5 secs at max level? There ain't any skill like it!


Chronoshift - Zilean places a protective time rune on an allied champion, teleporting the champion back in time if they take lethal damage.

- His ult. A free GA with very little CD due to Rewind. Not only that, if you're following this guide, his ult will restore you to almost full health as it scales with ap. How's that for an OP ulti?

Item Build

This is really all about preference, but a guideline is always good.
There are 2 main possible routes going about your core items.

1) In the scenario where you dominate your opponents and your farm is much better, so is your level higher.
Doran's Ring > Boots Of Speed > Mejai's Soulstealer > Sorcerer's Shoes > Rabadon's Deathcap > Depending on Situation

2) In the scenario where you're losing lane and you need to make a comeback
Doran's Ring > Boots of Speed > Catalyst > Sorcerer's Shoes > RoA > Rabadon's Deathcap > Depending on Situation

So basically the difference is that in route 1, you ignore sustainability and survival, rush straight for maximum offense to snowball even harder. In route 2, you build more tanky whilst still retaining offense, playing more passively and defensively.

If you're following route 1, during late game when your snowballing comes to a halt, and if Mejai's stacks < 10, sell it for a Rylai's Crystal Scepter. If Mejai's stacks >10, substitute any one of your later items for Rylai's. You need either Rylai's or RoA for its substantial HP.

Rationale behind Items



Sorcerer's Shoes
This is for utmost damage on top of your already painful Q by penetrating through the opponents base MR.



Mejai's Soulstealer
This is to snowball even harder if you're already snowballing. However, its risky as it backfires if the situation is unfavorable.



Rod of Ages
Zilean has severe mana and hp problems, ROA helps with sustainability and provides a nice bit of offense as well. Get it early.



Rabadon's Deathcap
Must I explain this? Its a must for most AP carries, your AP will soar after getting this, and so will your damage.



Void Staff
This helps to set your damage from your AP in place, cutting through any remaining MR they might have, after already being cut by Sorcerer's Shoes.



Will of the Ancients
You need Spell vamp, but there is no other item which has it other than Hextech Gunblade which you obviously, shouldn't take. It also provides a bit of support to your teammates through its aura. You never know when that bit of spell vamp could save your life.



Abyssal Scepter
Take this if your opponents' mages are the prevalent ones, it not only has more offense which you certainly want, it also has MR that you may need. Its passive, combined with Void Staff and Sorcerer's Shoes, is an awesome combo against tanky opponents.



Zhonya's Hourglass
Take this if your opponents' DPS carries are the dominating ones. It has 100 AP, which is more than the usual 70, which adds to your already strong offense, and gets some armor which really helps against Hardcore DPS carries like Vayne or Tryndamere. Apart from that, it also has this awesome passive which renders you invulnerable for 2 secs. 2 secs from this + another 2 secs from R should be enough time for your teammates to come to aid, not to mention the time you spend running.

Laning

Take mid. There's no other lane like it.

Early game laning should be pie. At low levels Q should already be quite painful for the squishies in mid. Try to spam Q on opponent whenever he gets into range, they probably won't be able to counter nuke as casting Q is almost instant, and the range is bigger than most nukes. Plant it and run away. Make sure you conserve at least half of your max mana for the finishing combo. Unless your opponent is playing very safe, his health should burn in no time. Harrass with normal attacks if mana proves to be a problem. Once he reaches low HP (>3-4 bars of hp), you can kill him with this combo.
E and dash towards him, then Q, W and Q again, then Ignite and auto attack. If he's not in range for Ignite, the W from earlier should already have reset E's CD. Just activate it again and cast Ignite. The second Q should probably kill him.

His early game is extremely strong, the only worries are ganks and mana problems. He's weak against champions that have shield abilities like Sion and Lux as they can easily cast their shield just when Q is about to explode. Champions like Soraka and Nidalee that have a lot of sustain are also bad opponents for Zilean.

For Mid-Late game, just keep farming by using the Q W Q combo on the center creep, and gank when an opportunity arises. E should get you to the side lanes quite quickly. Get blue as often as possible.

For teamfights, pick off the champions with low HP, on E and dash into range of them, Q W Q and run back. The explosion also damages his nearby allies for the same damage. If there aren't champions with low HP, just Q W Q on the nearest champion and retreat until his CDs reset.

Things to note

E can be used to exhaust enemies or to negate Ghost if opponents use it to escape.

Zilean is prone to a lot of ks as his Q only detonates after 4 secs. To kill champions, cast Q and W, wait for your teammates to lower his hp, just when the opponent is about to die, Q again. This immediately explodes the previous Q while planting a new one which will also explode as he dies, damaging all enemies around him for the damage of 2 Qs.

His ulti can be used to trick opponents into diving towers or to fight him head-on thinking they can win. Obviously not applicable for decent players.

If you've reached here, I greatly thank that you bothered to read through that massive wall of text. Of course, constructive critism is welcome, but this is only how I play him, feel free to adjust accordingly.