Overview
Horses are known for being very fast animals, but what about centaurs? Do they also have a reputation for being able to speed across a field? Thanks to Hecarim, maybe they do -- he’s one of the fastest champions in the game and can go from point A to point B in a second. He’s a champion with a lot of carry potential from the jungle, and in the hands of a seasoned player, he can easily snowball your team to victory. Click here for the latest data on his best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Hecarim
Hecarim wants to snowball the game and win it early or in the mid game, so be sure to play aggressively early. You should be able to get kills or force summoner spells every time your Onslaught of Shadows [R] is up.
If your team is lacking in CC early, it may be easier to just rush level 6 so that you can have more success in ganks. Hecarim has very good clear speed and is less reliable in fights before his ultimate. It won't be too late to start the snowball after it is online.
Strengths
Hecarim is one of the best champions in the game when it comes to just running someone down thanks to his build almost always taking Ghost and his Devastating Charge [E]. This means if someone steps too forward in lane where they can’t easily Flash back to their tower, you can just run them down. This becomes doubly true once you get your Onslaught of Shadows [R] online, which makes him one of the scariest champions to deal with in the mid game especially. He brings a lot of damage to the table while still being relatively tanky. You can snowball the game after just a couple of successful games as you can then bully the enemy jungler off of their own camps.
Weaknesses
Because he often builds to carry the mid game (more damage than tank), that can leave him vulnerable in fights late game once enemy carries approach their capped build. This becomes even more true if they’re able to dodge away from Onslaught of Shadows [R], as that will put him in the thick of enemy lines without an easy way out. It just takes one or two rounds of CC to lock him in place and die to the combined damage of enemy carries (even if you build more towards tank). Hecarim also benefits greatly from finding flanks or angles from the side (ulting over a small wall, for example), so if the enemy team keeps track of him and spreads out on his engages, it’s going to greatly limit his effectiveness.
Game Plan
Early Game: Once you hit level 3, you can look to see if any laners have started pushing up too far -- you should be looking to build a good lead early so you can snowball into mid game.
Mid Game: If your early game went well, you should be one of the strongest (if not outright strongest) champion in the game -- this will give you great objective control and you can also look to assassinate isolated players with your ultimate.
Late Game: The most value on your ult will be using it generate picks on stragglers or isolated players, otherwise you can look to use it on a clump of champions to maximize the CC. Be careful diving too deep if the enemy team is starting to peel back to deal with you.