Teemo Attacking
A easy-tier problem at 57% community acceptance, tagged with Array, Simulation. Reported in interviews at Riot Games and 0 others.
Teemo Attacking is an array simulation problem that Riot Games actually asks. You're given timestamps of when Teemo attacks and a fixed poisoning duration, then you calculate total time the target stays poisoned. It sounds trivial, but the trick is in overlap handling. If attacks happen within the poison window of the previous hit, they don't add time linearly. You either nail the merging logic or you overcount. This problem sits at 57% acceptance, meaning half the engineers who see it skip it or fail on edge cases.
Companies that ask "Teemo Attacking"
Teemo Attacking is the kind of problem that decides whether you pass. StealthCoder reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Invisible to screen share. The proctor sees nothing. Built by an engineer at a top-10 tech company who can solve these problems cold but didn't want to trust himself in a 90-minute screen share.
Get StealthCoderThe straightforward approach iterates through attacks and simulates poison duration, but you'll miscalculate overlaps if you're not careful. The real pattern is thinking in intervals. Each attack extends the poison timer by the full duration, unless the next attack happens before the current poison wears off, in which case the poison just extends forward by the gap. Most candidates either forget to handle the overlap at all, or they handle it once then stop checking subsequent attacks. The solution is clean: track when poison ends, iterate through timestamps, and extend or reset based on whether each new attack lands inside or outside the active window. If this hits your live OA and the overlap logic slips your mind, StealthCoder surfaces the working interval-merge pattern in seconds, invisible to the proctor.
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Teemo Attacking recycles across companies for a reason. It's easy-tier, and most candidates blank under the timer. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay invisible during screen share. It reads the problem and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Built by an engineer at a top-10 tech company who can solve these problems cold but didn't want to trust himself in a 90-minute screen share. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Teemo Attacking interview FAQ
Is Teemo Attacking actually asked in real interviews?+
Yes, Riot Games lists it in interview reports. But it's lower frequency than heap or graph problems at other FAANG shops. It's a solid warm-up or final problem in a loop, rarely a blocker question.
What's the trick people miss?+
Overlap handling. If a new attack lands while poison is still active, poison doesn't add a full duration, it just extends the end time. Most candidates add duration blindly without checking if attacks cluster.
How does this relate to interval merging?+
Teemo is a simplified interval merge. Each attack creates a poison interval. If intervals overlap, you merge them into one. You're not storing intervals, just tracking the end time of the current poisoned window.
Can I solve this without tracking intervals?+
Yes. Loop through attacks and keep one variable for when poison ends. If the next attack is inside that window, extend the window. If it's outside, add the previous window's duration to total and start a new one.
Is this problem a blocker if I don't know it?+
No, it's marked easy and has 57% acceptance. It's more about clean simulation and edge-case handling than a hidden algorithmic insight. Missing it won't tank your loop, but nailing it fast builds momentum.
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