Overview
WTF 2 Shens? Neeko is a champion that can consistently confuse enemy teams thanks to her ability to shapeshift into not just champions but minions. Some great swaperoos have been recorded thanks to this, and enemy teams will always have to be on the lookout for an imposter on the rift. All of the trickery allows her to use her big CC abilities to create havoc on enemy lines when they least suspect it. Click here for the latest data on her best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Neeko
Well, it's actually more important for the enemy team to remember that there's a Neeko on the rift. The Neeko player just needs to use lulls in attention to their advantage -- by swapping to an enemy champion or a minion, you can sneak up on enemies and try to catch them off guard with a well timed root or ultimate.
Being able to hide her ultimate animation is one of the best ways for Neeko to land a huge ultimate on enemies -- as long as it's not too obvious that you are Neeko, you can bait enemies into jumping on you and then turn around on them with big Pop Blossom [R].
Strengths
Between Pop Blossom [R] and Tangle-Barbs [E], Neeko can bring some good CC and multi-target abilities to the table. When it’s combined with her ability to hide her ultimate when she’s disguised, that means she can easily catch enemy teams off guard and land huge mult-target ults throughout the game. This ability is especially deadly when enemies are chasing after her or are forced to fight in tight corridors. In lane phase, Blooming Burst [Q] gives her some good damage potential from afar, especially if she’s able to first root them with her E. But it’s still her team fighting prowess that makes her a deadly pick for all teams in need of more engage tools.
Weaknesses
She’s a squishy champion that wants to get into the thick of the action to get value on her abilities, especially her Pop Blossom [E]. This means that teams who are waiting for her to come in and CC her and blow her up before she’s able to reach them, which means she can sometimes be quite reliant on her Flash cooldown to get anything done. And once Pop Blossom [R] is down, her fighting impact will be greatly reduced (if she managed to stay alive during the engage in the first place).
Game Plan
Early Game: Harass enemies with your Bloom Burst [Q] and Tangle-Barbs [E] -- any time you land a root, you can follow it up instantly for huge damage
Mid Game: At this point, Neeko can roam around the map to try to make plays thanks to her disguise. You can catch a lot of enemies off guard and hit them with a big Pop Blossom [R].
Late Game: At this phase, you should aim to group as much as possible with your team. You can either play to deny their engage or to look for your own -- it depends on whether the enemy is trying to dive your carries or not.
