He's kuku for cocoa puffs (S7 Mid)

After nearly 5 years this guy is still Kuku for Cocoa Puffs. Who knows just how long this guy will continue in his search for the chocolate spheres. My guess is as good as yours, but I'd say it'll either be until he finds them or the mayans go back and rename him.

Enough about the Cocoa Puffs though. What about the snake how thirsts for them? Well, he is a floating noodle that does a lot of damage, perhaps even too much. That's about it, all you need to know.

Pros:
Does slightly more than a little bit of damage
Super fast with Slipstream
Good tower push
Has a fantastic ultimate, for many reasons
Passive gives an extra item's worth of power


Cons:
Squishy
No real escape. Just speed and damage
Susceptible to Shield of Thorns
No hard CC

Itemization for Kuku can be really simple or a little more complex, depending on how you want to play or what you need. Generally speaking, the example builds cover all the items I buy, but there are cases where other items will help you out more. So on to the items!

Core Items

Book of Thoth is your best friend on Kukulkan for a couple of reasons. First off, when fully stacked, it gives you 1000 mana as a singular item. While that is impressive in and of itself, there are two key factors that make this item so fantastic on Kuku. Namely, it is Kuku's passive, Power of the Wind Jewel in conjunction with the secondary passive on Book of Thoth. With both of these combined, 14% of your maximum mana is converted into power. Considering Book of thoth by itself it grants 80 flat power along with 1000 mana and 9% mana conversion when fully stacked. That means you are getting a total of 170 power from this item without considering you natural mana or any other mana built into other items. This is the single highest power item you can get on any mage, and it is even better on Kuku due to his passive.

Polynomicon is definitely not as important as Book of Thoth, but cannot be slept on. The damage you can get out of this is pretty crazy when if follows through after your zehpyr. This will bring most squishy gods down to very low health if not dead. It is also important to note that it can be used on towers to get some quick damage there and it can also turn your slipstream into a 'damaging ability' for something like a fire-giant or a gold fury.

Raw Power

Rod of Tahuti helps you do some pretty crazy damage when it comes to finishing off enemies. While providing a lot of power and an extra 25% power when enemies are below half health, it is a simple item.

Doom Orb is a little more complex. It still provides a lot of power, but on top of that you get extra mana to work with Book of Thoth as well as your passive and it stacks bonus move-speed and power passively as you kill minions.

Spear of Desolation is a pretty good item to have, especially if you are getting a lot of kills. It is unique for a couple of reasons because its one of the few items that has flat CDR rather than percentage as well as being one of the few items that still has flat penetration on it. The power, CDR, and penetration on this item make up for the fact that you won't make great use of its passive all the time.

Soul Reaver. I'd be lying if I said I build this much anymore. It's probably has its merits and with recently receiving 10% penetration might be a really great pick up, but I just haven't played around with it too much.

Penetration

Charon's Coin is an intersting one. It has a decent amount of power on it, but it also stacks bonus Hp5 and movement speed as you get kills and assists. In totality it gives 80 power, 20% penetration, 20 Mp5, 28 Hp5, and 8% movemement speed. It is better to get it early due to the nature of stacking based on god kills and assists. IF you get it too late in the game, you won't have time to get the stacks and would probably be better off with Obsidian Shard.

Obsidian Shard is your quintessential percentage penetration item. At least, that is what it always has been in the past. These days it is still better than any other single item with the potential to ignore 30% of enemy protections as well as going over the 40% cap. It is important to note that the extra 10% penetration that can go over the cap has an internal cooldown of 10 seconds so it isn't exactly foolproof and has its drawbacks. Overall, I find myself going for Charon's coin more, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't build Obsidian Shard against really tanky teams.

Utility

Chronos' Pendant is one that honestly, I forget has so much power on it. Generally speaking I think of Chronos' Pendant as the major CDR item for mages, which by all means it is, but it also has 100 power and 20 Mp5 attached to it. These are both very appealing factors, but the CDR is really what makes Chronos' Pendant valuable to build.

Soul Gem is nice to pick up for a few reasons. On top of its respectable power and 10% CDR, it also gives you 150 health and 12% lifesteal. The health benefits aren't really anything to write home about, but with Polynomicon as well you are up to 24% which isn't bad. That being said, the main reason I buy soul gem, outside of the 10% CDR which is nice, is its passive that makes every 5th ability deal an extra 30% of your magical power as damage. It can help out a lot and if used on a zephyr followed by poly proc, you can easily 1-shot squishy characters.

Divine Ruin is honestly better than I give it credit. It's fairly cheap, has respectable power and 15 flat penetration on it, so it's not bad. that being said, the reason you buy this item is for the powerful anti-heal effect, which is invaluable in many situations.

Ethereal Staff is an interesting one and can give you a lot of power in actuality. The reason for this being that you steal max mana from your target. On top of the defensive stats of the item you get 90 base power and by stealing max mana from enemies the power increasing effects from book of Thoth and your passive will be charged even further.

Gem of Isolation is something that I feel works better in theory than in practice. Ever since it was nerfed a while ago, it really doesn't help much when used in conjunction with zephyr anymore, and I think there are just better options despite it working well with Whirlwind. You could do it as a sort of bruiser-ish item, but I wouldn't really recommend that unless you also have invested in Ethereal Staff.

Here's the thing with Kuku, you don't really have an escape outside of being fast and immune to slows for a second. That means things like Ares, Cerberus, or Da Ji for example are really scary. Beads is a necessity as it will get you out of many situations. That being said, there are many other scenarios that beads can help you out such as laning against a mage with a hard CC. Even into Poseidon, using beads on his ultimate can save your life.

Generally speaking, I am not a huge fan of aegis. It can get you out of certain situations, but in my experience it usually isn't enough. Once you are out of the laning phase you are probably still dead. I will admit, it is great at saving your life from something like an Ah Puch, but that safety is fleeting in most situations. On that note I Introduce to you...

Blink! Though it isn't as good as it once was with its cooldown of like, 45 seconds or whatever it was (R.I.P. Greater Blink), Blink is a versatile relic that can get you in or out of a fight. Important note: You cannot blink within 3 seconds of being in combat, so you'll have to use your slippery speed to avoid damage if you're trying to get out of a fight. Placing a tornado at your feet would also be a bad idea in this instance as it would cancel your blink for a relatively long time. On the other hand it is fun to blink on a low health enemy and absolutely obliterate them with a power sneeze.

I have mentioned a few times that your only escape is being fast. Should you choose to get sprint as a relic, I would say make sure it accompanies purification beads. This will allow you to outrun nearly any god as well as help your team do the same as you get back to a comfortable spot.

Under no circumstances do I believe it should be your job to grab a phantom veil. That being said, sometimes Nobody else does and they have a Yemoja, Odin, Cabrakan, etc. In this situation, it may be worth taking up your own relic slot with a phantom veil to make sure you can get out of those sticky situations. Additionally, I believe it also works towards getting you out of Persephone's ult, but I would have to test and confirm that. I also wouldn't recommend buying this for Persephone if it does work. It's just not worth it.

Kuku's passive is a very simple, yet very potent. Conveniently the game tells you exactly how much power you gain from this passive, and with my usual build it settles somewhere around 123. I recall testing this with Ethereal Staff against a bunch of Kuku bots and I got it up to 149 extra power

Realistically, this is a very simple ability. It is a line attack that does a lot of damage. Aside from that, it is important to note that it does a small aoe around the enemy hit with the ability which helps deal with jungle camps or a clump of minions. That being said, this is also your main set-up ability with the 50% slow (it is being nerfed down to 40% in the near future, but it'll still be good.) It doesn't just set you up for your whirlwind and ultimate though, it sets you up for an easy hit from the polynomicon passive creating a quick 1-2 combo that deals some major damage.

Obviously, being a noodle, you are pretty fit to fly through the air with little resistance. Being a noodle with the power of the wind though, you can make slipping through the air even easier for you. This ability is a surprisingly good escape and it definitely deserves credit for what it does. It's no dash or jump, but there aren't many gods that are going to be able to keep up with you once you're moving 80% faster, especially since you are immune to slows for a second after using this ability. Once you get more confident with Kuku, you can also use this ability to run an enemy down which is also nice because activating it will trigger polynomicon so you dont even need Zephyr to take out an enemy.

This is Kuku's best, most versatile ability in my opinion. Should you hit every tick of this ability, it will do 540+180% of your magical power. In other words a lot of damage. Even if they only touch the tornado once they'll still take 225+75%, which is still going to be a lot of damage. Aside from the crazy damage numbers, this is also a pretty decent escape ability for you. If you ever find yourself running away from someone, you can place this at your feet and force them to either take a lot of damage or change their path to go around the circle. Alternatively, you can use it in a situation where you know you are being dove under tower by something like a Thanatos or a Thor with their ultimate. Basically place it at your feet and take them out with you. Believe it or not, this ability isn't even your best counter to being dove by an assassin.

The "Oh Sh*t Button" This is your best counter to being dove by an assassin for a few reasons. First, it does extreme damage and is capable of 1-shotting squishier enemies, like assassins. Second, it is a really wide line and it spawns slightly behind you so it's fairly hard to miss if the enemy is right on top of you, especially if you get jumped in the jungle. I'd be lying if I said this ultimate was only good as a defensive tool. Should the enemy decide to group up nicely for you, let it rip. You'll likely kill any of their damage dealers caught in the blast and certainly knock their tanks down a few pegs of health. It can also be used defensivly for your allies. Perhaps someone is having issues and running towards you through a jungle path. You just line your ult up with that path and generally get some kills unless they peel off last second.

Early game: In season 7 you have enough time to comfortably kill the speed buff and still get to the first wave in time to hit level 2 after finishing it, especially with an ability like Whirlwind. It is also important to note that with the minions standing closer together makes it even easier for you to clear waves. That being said, great wave-clear comes with great mana costs. Continues wave-clear as normal with some added things here and there.

Ah, yes, the other things you need to keep in mind. First off one of the best things you can do in my experience is to not be excessive with your mana usage until you get the extra 15 Mp5 from Book of Thoth. That said, Whirlwind is a necessity for clearing waves, the fire-giant side mid-harpies, and the red buff and should be used freely as such. It would be overkill to use Whirlwind on the Fold Fury side harpies which can easily be dealt with using a Zephyr and a few basics. While you might be able to get a kill over time, you should be careful using your abilities as a means of fighting your opponent until you get items online. After you get a little bit of Mp5, you can go all out poking at the enemy with Zephyr and Whirlwind so long as you can still wave-clear.
Second is wards. From the second you load into the game, you have a half ward in your relic slot. I cannot stress this enough: USE IT! Wards are such a powerful thing, especially one that is fee and disposable. I have taken a liking to using it to scout out when the enemy jungler first gets to my lane putting it down near the enemy tower on Fire-giant side. It can help you tell when you need to back up so you don't get blinked on and die.

As far as your ultimate goes early on, with 400 base damage at level 1, you will likely do half or more of the health of anyone you encounter, outside of the stray support, so it can be used to get kills. I find that it is really easy to dodge in lane unless there is the chaos of a gank, so I like to wait to use it for when I get jumped by the enemy jungler or the passing hard CC comes into my lane. I generally can't tell you how you should use your ult though.

Mid-Game: Going into the mid-game it is basically the same. Keep on farming, but know that you will get ganked and you will start doing a lot of damage. For me, if I've been doing well it either keeps going well or its a 4v1 in my lane at all times. Be careful with that and keep farming along. Know that Fire-giant side mid harpies can be risky but the gold fury side small ones are really easy for you to do. Additionally, I'm assuming this is around the time that you'll be pushing their tier 1 tower, or at the very least trying to and you should keep up with wards closer to whichever tower you think you are going to get ganked from.

Ganking. As someone who has played more support than anything, the most annoying thing is when the enemy mid-laner will not leave you alone. Kuku is fairly fast and can hit from a distance with his ultimate. Surprise ults from the jungle are very effective when aimed properly, and Whirlwinds in lane, especially when they overlap with walls, make for fantastic kill zones that the enemy has to walk through and die, or walk around and, hopefully, also die. As for ganking solo, I can't say I ever really do, but sometimes they might need the help and it might be worth your time to show your face.

Late game: The end of the game is a scary place, for both you and those that would oppose you. Kuku does absurd amounts of damage late game, and can easily drop 75% or more of an enemies health without even using Whirlwind or Spirit of the Nine Winds. He can also have the same done to him by basically anything outside of a guardian with 0 power. It is important to take refuge behind your own brick wall of damage as well as your brick walls of solo laners and supports.

One more thing that you should be aware of is being dove constantly to the point where you can't do anything. If it is the jungler who is diving you, you'll be able to make it a 1 for 1 trade with Whirlwind and and ultimate. If it is the solo laner or the support, though... may the gods smile upon you and your team is able to help you out enough.

As far as what goes on if sh*t isn't hitting the fan, you should know that Kuku is very powerful in the jungle due to the tight corridors and how easy that makes it to hit your abilities. That isn't to say kuku doesn't dish out the same amount of damage in a lane, it's just a lot easier to hit in the jungle. Generally if you see a good shot with your abilities, take it. Just remember that a good looking use of an aggressive ult can backfire and you lose your greatest defensive asset

This is my short crash course on Kuku so far. It'll be updated further with gamplay in the near future, but for now we at least have a build and ability descriptions.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated and I hope you liked it!