Itemization & Teamfighting Fundamentals

What Itemization Is Actually Deciding

Itemization is the process of converting gold into the specific tools your champion needs for the situation in front of you — not just building a fixed list in a fixed order. The best itemization plan responds to what the enemy team can do to you and what your team needs from you in a fight.

Core Items vs Situational Items

A core build is the small set of items that make a champion function as intended, regardless of the game state — the tools central to that champion's win condition. Situational items are chosen in response to the specific game: extra defense against a threat that's punishing you, or a tool that answers something the enemy comp is doing that your core build doesn't already handle. Treating every item as fixed and non-negotiable ignores half of what itemization is for.

Damage Type Itemization

Defensive stats are split by damage type. Building resistance against a damage type the enemy comp isn't using wastes the gold; building it against the damage type actually threatening you is what keeps you alive in a fight. Before finalising a defensive item, identify which damage type is actually killing you or your teammates, not just which item is popular.

Itemizing for Your Role in the Fight

What you buy should reflect what your champion is meant to do inside the fight, not just how to survive alone. A champion meant to deal sustained damage across a fight benefits from survivability that keeps them alive long enough to deal that damage. A champion meant to burst a single target benefits from tools that let them reach and remove that target quickly. Itemizing generically, without reference to your role in the fight, produces a build that doesn't actually support your team's plan.

Reading a Teamfight Before It Starts

Before a fight begins, identify: who the priority target is on the enemy team (usually their biggest damage threat), who on your team needs to reach or avoid that target, and which of your team's tools are available right now versus on cooldown. A fight that starts with this information already understood is being fought with a plan; a fight that starts without it is being fought reactively.

Target Priority in the Fight Itself

Once a fight starts, damage should generally go toward whichever enemy is easiest to remove without dying in the attempt, prioritising real threats over convenient ones. Chasing a low-priority target across the map while your team fights a full battle elsewhere usually costs more than it gains. Itemization and target priority work together — the tools you bought should inform who you can safely reach and remove.