Though designed as a bot laner, Smolder might not have what it takes to compete in the same way against his fellow carries—this build looks to change that.

Joining the roster as the first creature marksman since Kog’Maw in 2010, League’s newest dragon champion Smolder has become quite the hot topic. The Fiery Fledgling’s cute aesthetic, simple kit, and infinite late-game scaling has garnered a high pick rate in the bottom lane as players are eager to breath fire onto their opponents.

Image Credit: Riot Games

But like with all champion releases, Smolder’s strengths and weaknesses have been made clear with time. Though he may have a powerful late-game, Smolder’s poor early-game often sees him getting pushed out of lane before he has the chance to come online.

The Power of Sniffles

What’s more, typical ADC rune pages like Precision—as well as starter items like Doran’s Blade—have low synergy with the little lizard. Smolder’s relatively short attack range and reliance on passive stacking means that he can’t fully capitalize on the aggressive trading encouraged by boosts to AD, attack speed, and lifesteal.

Quickly realizing that the traditional ADC playstyle might not gel with the dragon, players have discovered that the key to Smolder instead lies in his sneezes. Despite Super Scorcher Breath (Q) seeming like the obvious first ability choice, an initial leveling of Smolder’s Achooo! (W) has elevated the champion’s global win rate to 49%.

As it turns out, a primary rune page of Arcane Comet/Manaflow Band/Absolute Focus/Scorch, a secondary page of Magical Footwear/Biscuit Delivery, two adaptive shards, and a starting Doran’s Ring transforms Smolder into quite the spell caster. Leveraging the generous range, hitbox, and waveclear of W, this build allows Smolder to pressure the lane from afar while granting himself opportunities to safely farm.

In lane, this build sees players using Achooo! to hit both enemies and minions. Because stacks can be earned through landing spells and Achoo! can halve the health of caster minions, Smolder can use his W to harass, shove, and scale simultaneously. By reserving Q for last-hitting and putting 3 points into W by level 5, Smolder can consistently poke his opponents out of lane while rapidly empowering his abilities.

Once R is learned, players then fully max Q, building into Essence Reaver and Navori Quickblades. With a lane won and a gold lead secured, Smolder can now smoothly reach the final upgrade of his Super Scorcher Breath—belching AoE burns and executes on a 3-second cooldown, he truly becomes a late-game monster.

Smolder, Solved?

Despite Achooo! taking the backseat by this point, it’s no overstatement to say that W is Smolder’s strongest early-game win condition. The ability’s access to safe laning, damage, and scaling contributes heavily to reaching the dragon’s late-game that much sooner.

Though new champion releases typically undergo lots of trial-and-error before the right build and playstyle are identified, it seems Smolder players may have already found their fire.

Read next: Exclusive Interview with Elisa Giorgio – Behind the Fiery Voice of Smolder