Runes

Before we get into the rune pages, I will explain what the difference between PTA and Conqeueror, as this is a very common question. If you don't want to read, I do have a video below to help visualise the main core differences between each rune, so make sure to check that out if you're interested!

PTA And Conqueror both offer different playstyles, allowing Renekton to enhance his overall trading and damage ability, items spikes and builds synergises, and his overall skirmishing and teamfighting ability. While both runes are great in many different match ups, Renekton can simply run either rune into most of his match ups, as it entirely depends on the players personal preferences in what they prefer. There is simply no playstyle to rule them all, as each playstyle has its own strengths and weaknesses. With that said though, I’ll now list both Rune’s ideologies, strengths and weaknesses.

PTA focuses on Renekton’s fast and high burst damage, allowing him to quickly apply PTA through his combos, empowering the rest of his auto attacks and abilities while he is in combat. PTA can be quickly applied using an auto attack then W, or Renekton can use a single empowered W, allowing him to instantly apply the bonus damage activation, while also providing the rest of his abilities additional damage with PTA’s 8% exposure damage. When fighting throughout PTA’s exposure damage, you can reapply PTA’s activation damage after 6 seconds in combat, allowing you to also increase the damage by 8%. Overall, this rune allows Renekton to burst squishy or beefy targets without tanking much damage in the process, while also synergising with his crazy one shot animation cancel combos, allowing him to utilise PTA’s exposure damage throughout the entire combo.

1: Synergises with Renekton’s high damage builds and playstyles.

2: Increases all of Renekton’s damage by 8%, including each Renekton R tick damage.

3: Provides High Burst Damage Trading Patterns, Preventing Enemies From Returning Damage Back.

4: Renekton Can Quickly Apply PTA With Ease, with AA W or an empowered W.

5: PTA’s exposure damage increases summoners, runes and items such as: Ignite, Coup De Grace, Cut Down, Last Stand, Blade of The Ruined King, Spear of Shojin, Hydra Item’s, Sunfire Etc…

6: PTA is very flexible, allowing you to take it into every match up, providing you value within all stages of the game.

1: PTA is very combo reliant, requiring you to have all your abilities up to fully make use of it, providing downtime from trading against your opponents.

2: PTA when behind loses a lot of value, as you rely on reaching giant power spike items to help snowball the rune and your overall damage.

3: Renekton struggles to utilise PTA into hard counter match ups, as his ability to get in and stay in range can be difficult (Syndra, Ahri, Azir, Varus), taking away his ability to use PTA.

4: Renekton’s extended trading ability is a lot weaker with PTA, as most of his opponents with conqueror or grasp simply out damage him in these situations.

Renekton’s Conqueror playstyle provides Renekton with higher brute force power, allowing him to gain additional AD to help utilise his damage earlier on, while providing additional sustain and damage in longer fights. Conqueror is typically great into fighters, bruisers and tanks, providing him additional AD power with his AA Q trades, and his ability to trade heavier into match ups he normally wouldn’t be able to with PTA. Conqueror’s overall identity hones into his bruiser playstyle, allowing him to have heavy early damage, allowing him to later build tankier and front line for his team. Conqueror’s overall effectiveness through the game drastically lowers in comparison with PTA’s, however it provides Renekton advantages from the get go, allowing Renekton to stat check his opponents a lot easier to accelerate his overall role as a being a raid boss mid game monster.

1: Provides Renekton with more stat checking power, allowing him to take heavier trades with his auto attacks and abilities up close.

2: Allows Renekton to become a giant front lining raid boss, synergising with his heavy bruiser items and overall playstyle.

3: Strengthen’s Renekton’s Q poke and short ability trades, providing more power within the laning phase.

4: Conqueror provides more consistency into harder melee match ups, allowing him to have the stat power to trade back and overpower his opponents by his level 6 powerspike.

5: Conqueror can be stacked pretty quickly through Renekton’s entire combo, allowing him to easily gain max stacks.

1: Renekton’s overall burst damage trades and combos don’t reliably one shot targets in comparison to PTA.

2: Conqueror is pretty linear compared to PTA’s overall versatility, as Conqueror doesn’t have the potential ceiling as PTA does. Conqueror usually works best into melee targets, while ranged targets provide more difficulty in being able to use Conqueror.

3: While Conqueror improves Renekton’s extended trading ability, it isn’t as vastly improved as without it, still making it one of Renekton’s general weaknesses without having a giant lead over his opponent.

4: Conqueror’s general scaling isn’t as great as PTA, due to the rune requiring Renekton to always be in range to keep it stacked. While with PTA, Renekton only needs to proc it with W then look to disengage after his target is dead. PTA also scales with Renekton’s total damage, providing way more value than Conqueror’s max stacked 30 AD late game.

Overall both runes have their own ideologies and playstyles, providing the abilities for players to go either rune depending on the match up. Within my match up sheet, I cover the potential keystones that you can take into each match up, providing you a way to test and see what you prefer the most. For myself, I really just play what rune I find is best for the general game, whether Conqueror helps me statcheck and play towards playing a bruiser playstyle, or taking PTA to help hard snowball squishy match ups, or match ups where I will utilise short trades and all in combos vs specific bruiser match ups or ranged champions. With all that said, play whatever you prefer and make sure to try to keep open minded when you’re potentially mental blocked, as this can potentially help you figure out a new strategy or plan into them.

Below is all my rune setups I use within the following circumstances.

This is my normal setup with Renekton, as this allows me to easily play into most match ups where I want to play off short and fast trades, utilising my PTA to help out trade my opponents before they can trade back. I also take Second Wind to help me sustain against poke style champions, or simply play it if I want to have a sustain advantage with Doran's Shield and Unflinching. I take attack speed through runes, to help me utilise faster animation cancel combos and fury management, allowing me to quickly burst my targets with my overall high DPS. Overall this setup is really great into bruisers, mages and marksmen style champions, also leaning more towards damage focused playstyles.

I take Conqueror into match ups that I'm able to take extended trades into, allowing me to make use of my all in my power towards these targets. Typically I like taking this setup into tanks, bruisers or low range compositions. I will take demolish secondary if I'm against any match ups that are hard to kill, allowing me to easily obtain gold and funnel a lead through the match up. I take haste with conqueror to utilise my low CDs and consistent access with Conqeuror within fights. I Also use Second Wind to help me sustain back my HP from long form trades, or champion's with DoT or ranged attack damage. I also take unfliching or Demolish depending on the match up, as demolish can be great to funnel additional gold vs tanks or low impact lanes, while unflinching is better vs champions that use CC when trying to trade (Aatrox Q/W, Darius W/E, Trundle Q etc..).

I Take this rune page when I'm able to hard snowball my match ups, utilising runes such as Triple Tonic, JOAT and Cosmic Insight. Usually I like taking these runes into melee match ups where I can max W, allowing me to get maxed out W by level 9, allowing me to completely dominate all skirmishes and duels vs short range compositions. I also take attack speed in legend to help me have scaling attack speed, allowing me to build my fury faster for 1v1's, while having 2 adapative to play around my abilites more rather than auto attacking. I usually prefer Cosmic insight than JOAT, but that depends on your preference. But having Cosmic Insight to help me lower my flash by 45 seconds, as well as having CDR boots to lower it down to 65 seconds allows me to have even more playability within mid to late game fights, perfect for full damage playstyles.

Similar playstyle to the PTA page, however instead of focusing on heavy burst trades and one shot playstyles, I'm using Conqueror to help me benefit my extended trading adavatages to help me snowball harder with inspiration secondary. Same secondary runes apply with Cosmic Insight, Triple Tonic and JOAT, however it depends on my overall build and intentions.

This page is more towards match ups that Renekton will struggle getting consistent trades against, disallowing him to fully utilise runes such as PTA to help him get through the lane. Instead of having to rely on Auto Attacks, Electrocute allows you to pack more punch out of your short ability focused trades, allowing you to chunk down you ranged match ups a lot easier. The purpose of Electrocute isn't always to kill, but it provides a setup to get your laner low while using resolve secondary to help get you through the laning phase. Electrocute's natural damage isn't bad, however when compared to PTA it does fall off in comparison. Electrocute can allow you to burst down your opponent, forcing them to recall or set up kills easier by using less in the lead up towards it. This page is more experimental, but it has felt decent so far since I've used it, so let me know how you feel about it!

This page is another experimental page I use sometimes into tanks such as K'sante, Ornn, Malphite and Shen, providing me additional stat checking power and better early lane resistance against their aggressive playstyles. This page can work well early, while providing you still a decent mid to late game, however when playing this rune you shouldn't focus on the Rune's damage rather than it's overall utility from the HP stacking proc and the sustain, synergising even more with Renekton's sustain runes from Second Wind, Overgrowth and D Shield.If you're bored of tanks and just want to try something different, this rune page can be good, however losing out on Conq or PTA can feel noticeable in moments.