Corki is a champion who had a long reign over the mid-lane, however, the recent changes and nerfs have pushed down his win rate significantly. We will try to mitigate some of this damage by playing with the most optimized build. The build will be a scaling crit built, the one used by the most highly ranked Corki players.
Best Corki Items
Trinity Force
Despite being an extremely expensive item for the early game, Trinity Force is still a must-buy for Corki. It will give us all the stats we need and can imagine, ability haste, attack speed, health, damage, etc. It also has a great passive which will enhance our auto-attack after casting an ability.
Manamune
Manamune is a super powerful item for mid to late-game scaling. To start stacking its passive early, we will want to buy its component “tear” early in the game. After the item transforms, you will see a really great spike in your damage, which will allow you to challenge enemies more.
Rapid Firecanon
Our first crit item will be Rapid Firecanon. The item will periodically increase our auto attack range, which will enable us to poke enemies before fights, and just do a lot more damage overall.
Lord Dominik’s Regards
The second crit item will be the one and only, Lord Dominik’s. The item will give us an insane 45% armor penetration, which will do quite a lot to increase the damage of the build we have already crafted. Having it built will enable you to look for more fights, and win fights more easily.
Infinity Edge or Blood Thirster
For our last pick, we can choose between Infinity Edge or Blood Thirster. Infinity Edge is definitely a more aggressive option, but I also find it a better option for more skilled Corki players. If you want to stay on the safer side, however, it’s completely fine to take Blood Thirster as well.
Boots
Our boot options are the following, Plated Steelcaps, Mercury Treads, Berserker Greaves, Sorcerer’s Shoes. It’s quite a long list. The resistance boots are good for dealing with their respective issues, the Steelcaps are great for reducing damage from basic attacks, and the Mercury Treads are great for reducing CC duration.
For the more aggressive options, we have Berserker Greaves and Sorcerer’s Shoes. The Berserker Greaves are my favorite when ahead, as I can also spend some extra gold to upgrade them to Zephyr.
Runes for Corki
- Fleet Footwork
- Absorb Life
- Legend: Alacrity
- Cut Down
- Biscuit Delivery
- Jack of All Trades
The best keystone for Corki is Fleet Footwork, it’s great for sustain, which will help you win the lane phase. Absorb life is the best rune in its branch, and it too will be helpful for sustaining in the lane.
We also take Legend: Alacrity, as the stats of other runes from the branch are just not that great. Next up is Cut Down, a great rune for Corki since he is a champ with low base HP, and the rune enhances damage against opponents with greater HP. Lastly, we take Biscuit Delivery and Jack of All Trades for sustain and utility.
Final Thoughts
Corki is a champion who was not treated kindly in preparation for the Worlds. He was significantly nerfed as he would be too strong for the tournament, which left him quite weak for us average players. To make him work optimally, though, we must focus on building the best build. The best build would be a mix of damage and critical strike!