Level 9 GGEZ: How to go Fast 9 the Right Way

Currently, the meta is super focused on hitting a capped level 9 board. This is due to the ease of going 9 with the new XP changes as well as the strength of hitting a 2* 5 cost from headliner.

This is the strongest early game board in the game. If you have a chosen superfan unit, always aim for this board, hold Sennas incredibly highly; Senna 2 can likely push you to level 8, sometimes even 9.

This board is easy to play. What's important, though, is knowing how to play other strong openers when you don't hit this board. For example:

This is another very strong early board. If you just hard force Superfan every game, you will low roll sometimes. But opening yourself to other openers like this will allow you to always have a relatively strong board early.

A bit obvious, but a 2-1 econ augment enables fast 9 very easily. This can mean level 9 as 5-2 with as much as 50 gold or more if played correctly. Augments like Spoils of War and Escort Quest are only good from winstreak positions, but if you know how to play around what you can hit, you can very often win streak.

You can also just take a combat augment and then use that to winstreak, which will also give you a huge econ advantage.

These are the S tier items for this playstyle. Guinsoo and Shojin are broken on Ziggs and Sona. Shojin (or Blue Buff if you have it) is necessary for Jhin carry. Tank items flex on everyone. Lucian items are a bit different, but Guinsoo + GS or Red Buff is fine and then pick up a Last Whisper or Infinity Edge on late game carousel.

FAST 9 IN A POSITION LIKE THIS IS ALMOST ALWAYS A BAIT.

To build a strong board on 9 here, we need a TON of gold. This is because all of our carries are 1* and we are playing a ton of low value units (Kaisa, Tahm Kench). To go 9, instead we should have rolled more gold on 8 in order to stabilize better. Then, you can go 9 with Ezreal 2 TF 2 and potentially Thresh 2, and then you need way less gold to stabilize. Only go 9 here with at least 40-50 gold to roll.