Best First Strike Champions to Abuse in LoL

Ezreal

Let's be honest, we all saw this one coming since the day that the First Strike rune was announced. Ezreal was, by far, the biggest user of Kleptomancy back in the day, and he has continued that trend with First Strike.

However, using the First Strike rune on Ezreal optimally is restricted to his AP build! This is due to the fact that his burst damage is far greater when building AP items, unlike the AD continuous poke.

With his ultimate, which has a lower cooldown and higher damage when building AP, and overall better burst, Ezreal can get quite a lot more gold than his enemies by doing what he does best, especially with a good support for Ezreal like Nami, which is dealing damage from a distance.

Xerath

One of the biggest issues an AP mage support has is becoming relevant in a game, with a support's income, which relies exclusively on the support item, instead of  farming minions.

Instead of improving LoL farming, however, the First Strike Rune changes it all, and all Xerath support players have to do, is play the game as they've always done. Poke down the enemy ADC, and combo their abilities for maximum damage.

After the first back, any Xerath player will double the usual gold income they'd have from only their support item if their poke doesn't miss that is. And since you're playing support and don't have to focus on farming, it's not that difficult to accomplish!

Rengar

An assassin's job is o snowball the game as quickly as possible, before they fall off in the late game. And the jungle assassins have the entire map at their disposal, due to not being tied to a lane.

Enter Rengar, one of the best LoL assassins in the game, who can deal massive amounts of damage to an enemy within far less than three seconds the First Strike rune lasts.

After getting some item components under his belt, Rengar can visit the bot lane and one-shot the enemy ADC, getting both the gold from the kill, and at the very least enough gold from First Strike to equal the assist gold as well. This way, a Rengar at 20 minutes, with 3 kills, is effectively as fed as any champion with at least double that!

Kha'Zix

Kha'Zix does the same thing Rengar does, just more straightforward. Unlike Rengar who needs time to ramp up his damage with some item components, and really cash on the First Strike rune, all Kha'Zix has to do is find an isolated target.

With his passive granting extra isolated damage that counts towards First Strike bonus gold, a Kha'Zix needs only one kill, due to his nature as a dominant LoL champion, to snowball the game out of proportion.

Syndra

Solo lane mages need their First Strike rune to pay off far more than their support counterparts do, due to their gold income from farming. With Syndra's burst potential, it's more than enough!

Syndra's entire kit can one-shot an enemy champion much the same a Rengar does, only safer. Add to that her splinters and execution range and a good Syndra player can, at maximum damage, almost double their gold income from kills!

Gangplank

Finally, this list would not be complete without the Reaver King of Runeterra. After all, who is better interested in making money from attacking enemies than a pirate?

For Gangplank, the choice is even easier. He scales heavily off of items, and usually lanes into the usual list of the best LoL top laners, which is filled with melee champions. That means he can proc his First Strike far more easily than any other champion on our list.

His Parrrley alone is enough to annoy all enemy top laners, as the best ranged LoL top laners often do. It gets even worse when you know he's getting additional gold from it.

And, due to the nature of the First Strike buff not being restricted to just one marked champion, if Gangplank hits multiple enemies with his Barrels, they will all proc his First Strike Rune, and give him the gold, much like Ezreal, only far better.

Karthus

When played in any lane other than jungle, as one of the pocket pick best jungle champions, First Strike works incredibly well on Karthus. Especially once he hits level six, as First Strike will give him the gold based on the damage he does with his ultimate on all 5 players of the enemy team.

This way, Karthus can scale quickly with his gold income going through the roof from the extra gold, carrying fights even in the early to mid game, rather than late game.

Ziggs

His constant poke is a source of incredible annoyance. Especially when he also deals bonus true damage, and gets god in the process from First Strike.

Ziggs is one of the best First Strike champions LoL has to offer that is often slept on, due to the gameplay forcing you to poke and harass for the gold, then take turrets once the enemy is forced out of lane. If played well though, he becomes an unstoppable menace.