SKT T1 won the championship at the 2017 Mid Season Invitational. There were many notable changes in the picks and bans for MSI, and the most significant ones were Ivern and Galio as Jungle and Top. Ivern became the key champion in the mindgame surrounding the Jungle and Galio has been carrying in the Top lane after his rework.

Galio achieved both a high ban rate and win rate this season, and probably will do the same in the 2017 LCK Summer. Galio can follow Shen with Hero’s Entrance to quickly re-engage in team fights and also win the laning phase with his passive skills and Q skill. Galio can effectively fight against strong AP champions like Rumble, and his CC skills will definitely assist allies.

A lot of pros have been experimenting and practicing with Galio recently. Let us check out SKT T1 Huni’s build for Galio this time around.

The Mastery that goes with Galio’s CC skills is - Courage of the Colossus

There’s no big difference in Galio’s mastery compared to the other top lane champions’ masteries. Galio has 3 CC skills including his ult. Taunt is at the core of Galio’s mastery and it can be affected by Courage of the Colossus. Using Flash and Shield of Durand can taunt the enemies in a wide range. The pros who played in the MSI actually did this a lot.

Insight is another mastery that the top laners prefer and also the one that Huni chose. For Resolve mastery, Huni usually chooses between Explorer and Tough Skin depending on the enemy champions. When he’s against champions like Shen, he chooses Explorer to roam more effectively, and chooses Tough Skin to increase defense when he’s against champions like Kennen or Gangplank.

Huni also spent 12 points on the Ferocity masteries. The core masteries are Feast and Battle Trance. Feast can work with Doran’s Ring to add to Galio’s survivability in lanes, and Battle Trance can strengthen Galio in drawn-out fights.

For Runes, Huni usually chooses AP in Quintessence, magic penetration in Marks, health per level in Seals, and AP in Glyphs. However, Huni chose armor and magic resist instead of health per level and AP when he thought he might be struggling in lanes.

As you can see, Huni changes Galio’s build depending on who he is playing against. The key point here is that Huni focuses on defense against the champions who can be threatening in lanes and focuses on roaming and scaling against the champions whom he can kill easily.

Start with Doran’s Ring - Three mandatory items Huni’s Galio always uses

Huni’s Galio had a 66.7% win rate with 4 wins and 2 losses in MSI this season. Huni always uses Doran’s Ring, Spirit Visage, and Iceborn Gauntlet as part of his mandatory composition of items for every game. He always chose Doran’s Ring as a starter in all 6 games with Galio, with Spirit Visage as the first core item and Iceborn Gauntlet as the second core item.

Firstly, Huni chose Doran’s Ring and potions in the beginning of the game. The item provides HP, AP, and lane maintenance for AP-based champions like Nautilus, so it makes sense why Huni often uses it.

You can then see that he purchases two more rings after the laning phase. This is considered a good choice as the multiple rings provide lane control and more AP damage. The cost is also more affordable than purchasing other items.

After 3 rings, Huni purchased Spectre’s Cowl and Kindlegem, the lower-tier items of Spirit Visage. Also, he chose Spirit Visage even though the opponent champion in the lane is an AD champion like Shen. This is because the pressure of attack damage that Shen gives is not too severe, so choosing Spirit Visage for magic resist and health regen can be a reasonably good choice. However, note that the effects of health regen and magic resist that the item offers have been nerfed since the patch 7.10, therefore players often choose Abyssal Scepter, which provides more magic resist and additional AP.

Furthermore, he chose Ninja Tabi in order to hold up against the damage from the opponent ADC.

After that, he completed the first two core items with Iceborn Gauntlet. This item provides good effects for Galio in various aspects. When Shield of Durand - the core skill of Galio - is used, his movement speed decreases, and the item can overcome this disadvantage to some extent. Moreover, it also helps with clearing the lane with the use of his passive skill in the late split push.

In terms of the skill tree, mastering the Q skill first has not really changed. The only difference is when the champion reaches level 3 and needs to decide between Q level 2 or W. The core effect of W, Shield of Durand, is a taunt, and it is better to level up Q in order to poke the opponent during the laning phase if you do not intend to respond to the jungler’s gank.

It seems that Galio will become a most-picked champion in the 2017 LCK Summer Season. As various studies are being conducted about this champion, much is expected to be revealed and shown in this season.

The summary of Huni’s Galio Build

▶ Link : SKT T1 Huni's Probuild page

▷ Mastery

▷ Rune

Marks: +4.95 AP
Glyphs: +0.87 magic penetration
Seals: +1.34 health per level, or +1 armor
Quintessences: +1.19 AP, or +1.34 magic resist

▷ Summoner Spells

Teleport, Flash

▷ Skill Tree in the early-mid game

Level 1: Winds of War (Q)
Level 2: Justice Punch (E)
Level 3
- If you respond to the jungler’s gank: Shield of Durand (W)
- If you focus on the laning phase: Winds of War (Q)
At level 4, choose the skill that you did not pick at level 3, and master the ultimate followed by Winds of War (Q), Shield of Durand (W), and Justice Punch (E) respectively.

▷ Item Build

- Starters: Doran’s Ring, health potions × 2, Ward Totem
- Early: Doran’s Ring × 3, Ninja Tabi, Spectre’s Cowl
- Selective items: Sunfire Cape, Sheen
- Core items: Spirit Visage, Iceborn Gauntlet
- Late-game items: Guardian Angel, Randuin’s Omen, Thornmail