Note: this guide is very new, so it's pretty much made of only strings of text. I will edit everything out and make it look better in the future.

Renekton is currently a very powerful bruiser with a little bit of everything in his kit; a heal, a slow (from Stridebreaker or Blade of the Ruined King), a stun, armor penetration (from empowered E and Black Cleaver), as well as great wave clear, great sustain and two dashes that are often enough to catch even the most mobile champions in the game. Renekton's base damage and AD scalings make him a great pick for beginners and his Fury bar makes him difficult to master at the highest of levels.

I have started maining Renekton in season 6 and have been mainly only playing him until today, amassing over 2M on my two main accounts (EUNE:MusicCroc, EUW:MusicCroc) alone, reaching Master tier on both of them. I have utilised several different builds, but started mainly playing the Stridebreaker build mid in season 12. Over the course of thousands of games played, I have learned several interesting tricks; some of them will be discussed in this guide, but to fully grasp the power of the crocodile, feel free to join in my streams on Twitch.

Why Renekton mid? Because I win almost every matchup, have awesome waveclear that allows me to permaroam and I get much more influence on the game's outcome than on top. It's literally just better than Renekton top (in soloQ), if you ask me.

Renekton has 5 viable summoner spells on midlane:

1. Flash is a must-take in every game, especially for its kill pressure. There are several combos (such as flash -> empowered W) that allow the crocodile to glue to any enemy carries and hunt them down with ease, which makes Renekton a good teamfighter.

2. Ignite is the only other spell that I take on midlane. I really like the extra kill pressure that it gives. Renekton's normal full combo at level 3 can get squishy enemy midlaners from 100 to almost 0, with ignite offering just enough extra damage to secure kills in the early stages of the laning phase. If you however think you won't be able to kill the enemy midlaner no matter what, taking another summoner spell wouldn't be a bad idea.

3. Teleport is the best second summoner spell, assuming the enemy midlaner plays optimally (which noone does). Before 8min, you should feel free to teleport back to lane to catch one wave after recalling or being killed, but afterwards, it's best to save it for more important instances.

4. Cleanse is a very dubious choise for Renekton, as in most cases, a bruiser should be able to outlive any instance of crowd control. If you want to be an agressive laner into matchups such as Zoe and Lissandra, who rely on their own crowd controls, picking Cleanse would be a viable choice. I don't recommend it though.

5. Ghost is a good choice that allows you to stick to enemy champions better, especially after the changes that make you faster for entire 15 seconds. It's been consistently picked by several decent Renekton players over the last few years, but I would recommend it on toplane more than on mid, because the lane is so short that you will hardly manage to cheese anyone. I have not tested it much though.

Keystones:

Press the Attack or Conqueror? I used to take Press the Attack almost every game a year ago, until I realised that I can't 1v1 anyone with it, whereas Conqueror simply does more damage in extended fights. The only situation where Press the Attack would work better are early level cheeses, but even there, we're talking about a difference of tens of damage (within a full combo), that fall off as early as level 6.

Are there any other viable Keystones (in ranked)? No. I've been trying to make Electrocute work back when Yoummu's Ghostblade was overpowered earlier in season 2023, but Conqueror simply offers the same amount of damage that scales better over time. Lethal Tempo doesn't work because Renekton doesn't use enough basic attacks and Grasp of the Undying does way too little damage for its small healing.

The following runes:

Triumph, clearly the best choice.

Legend: Alacrity is just as viable as Legend: Tenacity, but I really like the DPS that it offers. Once can take down objectives much more easily with it. Perhaps it would be better to take Legend: Tenacity into teams that have a large number of crowd control abilities. Don't take Legend: Bloodline though, it doesn't heal enough to make it worth it.

Last Stand does statistically more damage than Coup de Grace, so it's the best choice. You will most likely be poked a lot in lane before getting a kill, so it will almost always give you some kind of a damage boost when going all-in. The only situation where Coup de Grace would be better is whether enemies have an execute that will get you from 30% health straight to 0 (e.g. Garen, Darius, Veigar).

Second Category:

In Ranked, I would only recommend taking the Resolve rune page. Picking up Second Wind into matchups with a lot of poke or Bone plating into heavy burst champions will give you a lot of sustain that no other rune offers. The other rune should be Unfliching but if you really don't want it (let's say the opponents magically don't have crowd control), Overgrowth and Demolish are the other best options. I take unflinching every game though.

Domination also looks very promising, but lacks sustain. Know that Sudden Impact deals more damage than Cheap Shot into every matchup that doesn't stack armor by default and that Treasure Hunter is awesome, because of how early it allows you to afford a mythic item.

Sorcery has Trascendence with much needed Ability Haste. Other runes in this category are pretty useless. When I used to take Sorcery second, I took Scorch second for extra early game burst that the opponents wouldn't expect. Nimbus Cloak also has some cheese potential and Nullifying Orb looks great into heavy burst, but as far as my experience goes, they're all simply worse than what Resolve offers.

Inspiration has a bunch of weird possibilities that I never managed to utilize. Most of the category's runes work decently, but none matches Resolve. Boots come too late, Future's market has a debt which is too small to be useful, Biscuit Delivery heals less than Second Wind, etc. The only rune that I like in this category is Cosmic Insight which allows you to Flash more often.

Flat Stats:

I always take double adaptive force + the resistance that will help me win the lane (armor into AD enemy laner, magic resist into AP). You might argue that flat health scales better, but I often manage to win the lane before level 6, where resistances have more power, which is why I prefer taking them instead. Also keep in mind that midlane has less extended fights than top, so I usually sneak in less auto attacks in my combos. That's why I usually profit from adaptive force more than attack speed which I could've taken as well. On toplane however, I find attack speed just as powerful as adaptive force.

I've written a lot about items under items' notes, but I'll go through the essential knowledge once more.

I always take Stridebreaker for its slow which can be very useful on midlane but I believe that Goredrinker can be just as useful (there's a lot of Korean players taking it along with midlane Renekton). I never take Blade of the Ruined King or Black Cleaver first.

Second and third items should be Black Cleaver -> Sterak's Gage most of the games, but sneaking in Blade of the Ruined king as a second full item isn't a bad idea, if you are ahead and think you need damage to carry your team. Maw of Malmortius can also be taken instead of Sterak's Gage, if enemy AP damage is making your life miserable.

Try to take Gargoyle Stoneplate at some point of the game (4th or 5th full item). I like it a lot because Renekton has a ton of health that synergize with the item's active, it gives Ablity Haste and Armor + Magic Resist that you will most likely lack beforehand, since none of the items mentioned above give adequate resistances.

Other items are up to you. Always ask yourself, what you will achieve by buying a certain item. E.g. "Aha, enemy Yasuo and Vayne are 2v8 winning the game, so I will take Randuin's Omen to slow them down and vastly reduce damage taken from them!" (Thronmail is also a good pick in that scenario). Don't buy an item just because you like its picture.

Here's the item set that I regularly use:

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Ablities' Basics

Never use your W at a random time, it should be used right after AA to reset the animation. You should do something similar with Q and E, so that you don't lose DPS for no reason. When attacking something like Baron Nashor, you should do a combo, such as AA E1 Q AA E2 AA W, where you don't lose any time for wasteful ability and AA animations.

R should be used as early in a fight as possible, unless you are trying to bait (often done in practice). After the buffs from earlier this season, Renekton's R also scales from bonus Attack Damage, which results in a lot of extra damage. You can also use R a few seconds before dashing in a fight, with a philosophy of obtaining more fury before diving in, however you should do that more rarely.

General Fury Usage

When you only have enough fury to empower one of the three abilities in longer trades, W is the right answer in most of the situations. Only empower Q if you need that healing no matter what (for instance if you would have died otherwise) and only empower E if playing against a tank with 150+ armor stacked on top of him. The thing is that a 1.5s stun will let you disengage without a problem or give you a free extra auto attack in the combo, before the opponent will have time to react, as the stun ends. In most all-ins however, you will get to use two empowered ablities. In that case, using both Q and W is usually the best choice.

Renekton is a very strong fighter when the fury meter is high. Most champions will not dare come near you, which is a great tool to manipulate the state of the wave. Unfortunately these scenarios most often end in a boring hard-shove, as to gain your fury, you had to actively AA and consequently push the enemy wave in the first place.

Some notable combos

Panther Combo: E1 Q E2
I'm a little inconsistent with this combo, sometimes the game doesn't allow me to E2 immediatelly after Q, but it's a good way of healing yourself, poking the enemy laner and taking a few lane minions at the same time. Preferably have 50 fury for empowered Q which heals 3x as much as unempowered Q. This combo would also be doable with an extra AA before Q, but only do that if you believe you're safe from the enemy burst.

Basic trade combo: E1 AA W Q E2
This combo is used for most of the trades where you're afraid of being punished after your W stun ends. If possible, try to sneak in extra AAs. When dashing in, you should have adequate fury to empower your W. If going for an all-in, use R right after W to skip the ultimate's cast time.

My own recipe: R flash W sequence
This sequence can be used at any point of the combo, either at the beginning (for instance from a bush so as to engage a skirmish in the jungle) or later on, after dashing twice towards your target. This sequence is especially unpredictable if you have had something like 30 fury before engaging, since R gives you 20 extra fury, just enough to empower the W to stun for the full 1.5s afterwards.

The reality about Renekton's combos is that the only important thing is knowing, what ability you are going to empower. You can't just use both E1 and E2 and waste all your 50 fury on a useless dash before using your W which will now barely stun at all, you have to first use the ability that you wish to have empowered or save it until you get 50 fury to use it right after.

Before minions:

Sit in a bush, not under turret, to give your team important imformation that can save you from an enemy invade. Warding the enemy raptors at 1:15-1:25 is also a good idea that can give you important information that can often make you ungankable for the first four minutes of the game.

After first wave crashes:

First of all, look at what champion you're up against. The important thing to consider is what kind of a wave benefits you the most. If the enemy can set up ganks very well (for instance Lissandra), the wave shouldn't be pushed too often. If the enemy has a hard time clearing waves early on (Twisted Fate, Akali), try to push it under the turret. In a large number of scenarios, however, the enemy can poke you well if you touch the wave, in which case you have to give away CS to not take too much damage. Into such scenarios, taking Second Wind + Doran's Shield will grant you a lot of sustain.

Further wave management:

The reality of midlane is that wave management is rarely important. It's good to assimilate yourself with the concept of slowpushes and freezes, however most often you will be either last-hitting, matching the enemy push or hardshoving. The first one is the safest option, done into champions that would punish you for doing anything else. The second should be done so that the enemy can't roam without your presence as well (if they go bot, you can go right after them). The third is done when you believe that the enemy will miss CS due to poor waveclear in their champion's kit (as described in the previous segment), or because you want to roam. The latter is most often done for vision (warding important parts of the jungle) or to roam top/bot for a kill or for an objective, such as a dragon. Constantly hardshoving is a bad idea though, because even though you're taking all the minions, so is your lane opponent, who will likely outscale you.

About Creep Score:

I've seen both extremes in enemy midlaners, from 3CS/min, up to over 10. The reality is that if you manage to put the rest of the team very ahead, it doesn't matter how much Creep Score you have. You should never miss freely available minions and reviewing your VODs for potential lost CS is always a good idea (either from failed last-hit, dying from an avoidable gank or from managing your wave improperly), as 15 minions' gold equals a kill. If you look at my games, I will usually have something between 6-9 a minute, depends on how much I've been able to roam.

Be there for every Dragon (and herald) if possible. Renekton's early game strength usually allows him to always shove the wave and help out his team before the enemy. Especially in low elo, Heralds can even be taken solo, since they don't deal too much damage and because noone expects them.

After the first mid or bot turret is destroyed (usually between 12-16 minutes into the game), it's best to swap with the enemy botlane. You will both have an easier time farming, but no matter what lane you are on, try taking down the enemy's outer turret as soon as possible, so that you can roam and control the entire map as much as possible (especially with vision and ganks).

In the lategame, you will be a three-shottable tank that can three-shot the enemy carry. Save your Flash for important fights (rather die than waste it if no objectives are up), such as Baron Nashor, Dragon Soul or Elder Dragon. Flash can literally win you the game at any point, if you use it proprely, since you can "Flash -> W stun" almost any carry and proceed to one-shot them, either on your own or with the help of your team, making most of the teamfights a 4v5 almost immediatelly (except if your team has a high-damage carry that can delete the enemy team in a matter of seconds, then it might be better to peel for that person and save your W stun for an assassin that can potentially one-shot them).