Light buff but highly significant
In the latest patch, Vel’Koz received a slight buff as the maximum energy decreased from 80 to 70. Although this change seems minor, it means a lot for this champion. The characteristic of Wizard units in general and Vel’Koz in particular is their very “sluggish” attack speed and animation, making energy accumulation through auto attacks extremely slow. With the reduction of 10 energy for using skills, this unit will save one auto attack, saving quite a bit of time to cast spells.
The buff to Vel’Koz has drawn attention to the Void team from Teamfight Tactics players. The ability to deal true damage is truly overwhelming; it bypasses all defensive stats and directly hits health, allowing Vel’Koz and Cho’Gath’s skill casts to potentially wipe out the entire enemy team.
What is the optimal team composition?
True to its name – Fighter – Void, this composition features 6 essential units consisting of 4 Fighters (Malphite, Blitzcrank, Cho’Gath, Vi) and 2 Void units, Kha’Zix and Vel’Koz, to activate Void synergy with Cho’Gath. Of course, you won’t be able to win with just these 6 units; the maximum strength of the team will be realized at level 8.
Why do you need level 8 when you only need 6 core units? The answer lies in the fact that even with that true damage, without additional sources of damage, it’s very hard to take down opponents in the later stages. Moreover, the range of Vel’Koz’s skill usage is still limited; if the opponent positions their team cleverly to avoid the damage range, the risk of your team losing is very high, not to mention that sometimes this octopus has some “missed” skill casts.
Therefore, to best supplement damage, the 2 units you need to add are Twisted Fate (you can use Lux if you want additional control) to get the 2 Wizard combo. The 8th unit is usually an Assassin, with the best choice being Fizz since Shaco and Kai’Sa are too low-cost and lack items to be strong, while Ekko sometimes disrupts Vel’Koz’s “damage over time” skill.
Tips for itemization and team arrangement
The 2 units that will hold items for you are Cho’Gath and Vel’Koz, who are also the main damage dealers of this composition. For Vel’Koz, the optimal setup is 1 energy item, 1 AP item, and 1 situational item depending on the match situation. Typically, the 3 items for this champion will be Archangel’s Staff, Sorcerer’s Hat, and Rylai’s Crystal Scepter. The third defensive item is to counter single-target crowd control champions like Vi and Blitzcrank to ensure he can cast spells freely.
Cho’Gath needs to be frontline and take a lot of damage, so he doesn’t require energy items; the optimal setup is 2 defensive items and 1 item for debuff effects on the enemy team. The optimal combo will be Guardian Angel, Dragon Claw, and Morellonomicon. In case you are below level 6 and do not have Vel’Koz, you can use any Wizard unit to hold these items, ensuring the team is not too weak and not wasting items.
The optimal team arrangement would be to place Vel’Koz in a corner to minimize the “blind” skill casts of this unit, then the Fighter units will stand around to protect and attract enemy champions while casting spells. The 2 Assassin units can be placed freely on the board depending on where the opponent’s main damage dealer is so they can sneak into the backline and take down the ranged units that Vel’Koz cannot reach.