Welcome to my Katarina guide. My in-game name is Sinisteel. This is my very first guide on Solomid, and I hope you all will find it very helpful and informative.

I am VERY obsessed with Katarina's under-appreciated overpoweredness. Many people disregard her as a viable champion because her ultimate can be disrupted, but I am here to prove those people wrong. Katarina has a GREAT laning phase after 6, especially with the new remake, as well as amazing team fight presence if you know how to use her properly, which I will explain later.

Pros

• Extremely fun to play
• Nearly ungankable with
• Very strong after level 6
• Great farming potential/pushing with the new remake
• Destructive ultimate that will make your enemies cry
• Low CD abilities
• One of the most powerful passives in the game
• No mana
• RED HAIR IS SEXY

Cons

• Crowd Control destroys her if not played properly
• Weak early game
• Easy to use, difficult to master
• can be your saving grace or your bane in team fights

Statistics

HEALTH 395 (+83)
HEALTH REGEN. 6.95 (+0.55)
MANA N/A
ARMOR 14.75 (+4)
MAGIC RES. 30 (+1.25)
ATTACK DAMAGE 53 (+3.2)
ATTACK SPEED 0.658 (+2.74%)
RANGE 125
MOV. SPEED 345

4/22/13:

• Reworked masteries a bit to better reflect what I currently find to be most efficient.
• Organized the guide a little bit.
• Tidied up Runes Chapter.

3/28/13:

• Took a break from League but I'm back now. Did some minor editing to the guide.

2/8/13:

• Added Mercury's Treads to Item Builds chapter as a potential option.

2/1/13:

• Added Elise to Match-ups

1/20/13:

• Added Barrier to Summoner Spells, removed Promote and Surge.

1/19/13:

• Added AD Casters and Bruisers to the Mid Lane Match-ups chapter.
• Added Sightstone as an optional item to build.
• Slight textual revisions.

1/13/13:

• More variety and insight on Item Builds

1/12/13:

• Major update to the entire guide. (sorry I haven't updated in a while)

12/9/12:

• Major rework to Item Builds chapter because of the December Preseason 3 patch.

11/24/12:

• Added "Alternate Runes" to Runes chapter.

11/23/12:

• Completely revamped guide. (sorry for not updating in a while)
• Removed When to Rush DFG and When Not to Rush DFG chapter.
• Removed Abyssal Scepter or Zhonya's Hourglass? chapter.
• Added much more detail to Lane Match-ups chapter.
• Changed recommended runes.
• Haunting Guise is now a core item.
• Redid Item Builds based on the DFG nerf a while back.
• Updated guide to better suit the new, upcoming S3 mastery page.

10/24/12:

• Added many pictures to Skills chapter.

10/23/12:

• Slight fix to Item Builds chapter. (Haunting Guise classified as optional)
• Added a new chapter, When to Rush DFG and When Not to Rush DFG

10/21/12:

• Added to Lane Match-ups.
• Minor fixes.
• Added an informative paragraph to the end of Lane Match-ups.

10/20/12:

• Minor textual fix to make the guide appear more appealing.

10/19/12:

• Rewrote Late Game chapter.
• Slight fix to Vladimir lane match-up to be more consistent with the rest of the guide.

10/18/12:

• Slight Change to Masteries with reasons.
• Added Katarina's Base Stats to Introduction.
• Added Scaling/Damage to Skills.
• Added an About the Author chapter.
• Remade the Early Game and Mid Game chapters.

10/6/12:

• Made some changes to the Lane Match-ups Chapter.
• Made Item Builds Chapter a bit more clear with more detailed explanations.

10/3/12:

• Slight fix to text to remove ambiguity.

10/2/12:

• Minor fix to Shunpo ability description.

10/1/12:

• Added Mid Game and Late Game chapters.
• Added more detail to several chapters.

9/30/12:

• Added arguments for/against certain popular AP Caster items.
• Tidied up the guide a bit, made it an easier and more organized read.
• Added two new chapters to the guide: Argument Against Gunblade and Abyssal Scepter or Zhonya's Hourglass?

9/29/12:

• Completely revamped item build based on a month of experimenting.
• Touched up upon explanations and made them more clear.

I am a platinum NA player. My favorite role is mid, but I can play other roles quite effectively as well. I am 18 years old, and am currently a senior in high school. I've been playing Katarina since I started playing League of Legends and I have a very deep understanding of her mechanics and play style.

I usually run two different mastery pages on Katarina. One is offensively driven, the second is defensive. These are just my personal preferences. Feel free to adjust/modify according to your play style.







Summoner's Wrath

Great for when your Ignite is on cooldown. You get an extra 5 AD and AP, which suits Katarina nicely since and scale off of AD and AP

Sorcery

I take 4 points in Sorcery to move up higher into the Offense Tree. 4% CDR helps more than you'd think.

Butcher

Take 2 points in this. It's hard enough to farm as an AP carry, let alone a melee one. It really helps with last hitting in general, especially under tower.

Blast

Take 4 points in Blast. With 4 points, you get 1 AP per level, resulting in a free 18 AP at level 18.

Arcane Knowledge

Take a point in this regardless. 8% Magic Penetration is just too good to pass up as a champion who relies on magic.

Mental Force

3 points in this = 6 AP. Not bad.

Spellsword

Basic attacks deal 5% of your AP. This actually helps with last hitting, as well as harassing your opponent. It's worth taking a point in this.

Archmage

Take 4 points in this for a free 5% AP multiplier. This adds up fairly significantly as you accumulate more Ability Power.

Executioner

5% extra damage to enemies under 50% health. Since Katarina's a clean-up champion, this is a must-have if you plan on taking an offensive mastery route.



Durability

Taking 4 points in Durability means you'll get 6 health per level, which ultimately means you'll have an extra 108 health at level 18. Really useful since you will most likely end up in between the whole enemy team when team fighting starts.

Hardiness

Take 1 point in this to reduce auto attack damage. If against an AD mid, take 3 points in this.

Resistance

Take 3 points in Resistance to minimize the damage enemy spells will do to you. If against an AD mid, take 1 or 0 points in this depending on the rest of their team composition.

Veteran's Scars

30 extra health at the start makes you a lot less squishy and means a lot more in early game than you'd think. Very helpful for surviving early ganks or making "the plays" early on in the game.






Sorcery

I take 3 points in Sorcery to move up higher into the Offense Tree. 4% CDR helps more than you'd think.

Butcher

Take 1 point in Butcher. It's hard enough to farm as an AP carry, let alone a melee one. It really helps with last hitting in general, especially under tower.

Blast

Take 4 points in Blast. With 4 points, you get 1 AP per level, resulting in a free 18 AP at level 18.

Arcane Knowledge

Take a point in this regardless. 8% Magic Penetration is just too good to pass up as a champion who relies on magic.



Durability

Taking 4 points in Durability means you'll get 6 health per level, which ultimately means you'll have an extra 108 health at level 18. Really useful since you will most likely end up in between the whole enemy team when team fighting starts.

Hardiness

Take 1 point in this to reduce auto attack damage. If against an AD mid, take 3 points in this.

Resistance

Take 3 points in Resistance to minimize the damage enemy spells will do to you. If against an AD mid, take 1 or 0 points in this depending on the rest of their team composition.

Veteran's Scars

30 extra health at the start makes you a lot less squishy and means a lot more in early game than you'd think. Very helpful for surviving early ganks or making "the plays" early on in the game.

Unyielding

Helps for trading with your lane opponent. Take 2 points in this.

Block

Helps with trading again. Take a point in this.

Relentless

15% reduction for slows is really nice, especially when your Shunpo is on cooldown and you need that reset badly. 2 points in this.

Safeguard

Good for tower diving. Take a point in this.

Tenacious

2 points in this = 10% Tenacity. This helps much more than you'd think.



Summoner's Insight

Helps with both Flash AND Teleport. This reduces Flash's cooldown by 15 seconds and Teleport's cast time by 0.5 seconds. Now why wouldn't you want that? 1 point in this.

Wanderer

2% increased movement speed helps tremendously when roaming/teleporting. Definitely take 3 points in this.

My Runes are self-explanatory as well.





I take Magic Penetration Marks since Katarina is an AP oriented champion. Reducing magic resist is crucial if you want to amplify your damage.

Alternate Marks:

• Marks of Hybrid Penetration

Seals of Armor are my seals of choice. As a melee mid, a ranged mid will take advantage of every opportunity to attack you when you farm, so these seals really help with negating a lot of this damage.

Alternate Seals:

• Seal of Scaling Health: These seals scale nicely into late game. I would only take these if you know your lane is going to be really easy, such as .

Glyphs of Magic Resist are probably my favorite glyphs on Katarina. Since Kat is melee, you need to get close in order to farm. This will allow your enemies to land abilities on you. The extra 12 MR really helps in negating a lot of this damage, this allowing you to live longer and have a stronger early laning phase.

Alternate Glyphs:

• Glyphs of Cooldown Reduction

I like running AP Quints. These allow you to have a much stronger early game with +15 AP and make you out to be a much bigger threat than if you ran MS Quints.

I really like Movement speed quints as well because they allow you to keep up with your enemies and escape more easily. With added movement speed, you just have better presence overall and pose a bigger threat to the enemy team.

These quints are basically interchangeable; I think they're both equally as useful in terms of setting yourself up for success.

is just too useful to pass up. Great for chasing or escaping. Works beautifully with your Shunpo. Don't take anything else. If you get caught out of position, or you just need to get into position for your ult, Flash will definitely help you accomplish that. It's an all around great utility spell that you should always use on Katarina.

is one of my favorite summoner spells for Katarina. There's pretty much no way anyone can live when you use your full combo along with Ignite. The +5 AP and AD from the Summoner's Wrath mastery allows you to do even more damage with your combo, provided that you ignite early. When taking , try to ignite your foe before you ult AT THE LATEST so you can ensure maximum effectiveness from the AD and AP boost.
If your team needs it, you can use instead. The only time I would really find suitable is against or , but unless your team ABSOLUTELY needs it, just take Ignite.

gives you some global presence. Only take this if you are absolutely sure there's no way you can kill your lane opponent without jungle presence. You can definitely make some plays at bottom lane with teleport, and you can also make the difference between whether the enemy team gets baron or not. You can split push like and still get the satisfaction of teleporting into a fight and acing their team. Teleport is the best late game summoner spell in my opinion, but you probably want Ignite instead 90% of the time.



is alright if you're afraid of getting bursted down. I still prefer to secure kills in all phases of the game.

if their team is CC Heavy or has a silence mid like or . I'd still rather take or , but it all comes down to what you need most in a given situation.

works if you think you might die in lane. It can save your life many times, but with the nerfs to it, I just don't find it one of the best spells to use on Katarina. If you feel as if you absolutely need heal, consider putting a mastery point into Summoner's Resolve for a 10% healing increase. can be very useful in team fights, as it gives you that extra amount of health that you'd need to last a few more seconds in a fight. Very great for healbaiting, one of the most fun strategies in the game! ;)

if you are having trouble with chasing. I find Flash to be a much more viable late game spell, however, as it's so much more versatile than Ghost. Plus, your W is a 1 second in its own way, and it's much more spammable than the 3 minute cooldown summoner spell. It all comes down to whatever suits your play style best.


Only a support should take CV, and even then, CV just isn't viable.
You don't have mana, silly!
You'll get flamed for taking this, + you should be able to wait out your death timer. Every death timer is a reminder to not make the same mistake again!
You're not the jungler.

Scoring a kill or assist will reduce the cooldowns of Katarina's abilities by 15 seconds.



This is why Katarina is borderline OP. Instant CD Refreshes for your basic abilities and a 15 second reduction for your ultimate allows you to be a deadly threat in team fights. You kill one target, Shunpo to the next one and assassinate him, and so on. You can ult more than once in the same team fight because of Voracity. It's also great for tower diving, as you can Shunpo out of the tower range as fast as you got into tower range. Most of Katarina's burst lies within her Q-E-W combo, so getting a reset is critical in team fights.


Active: Katarina throws a dagger that bounces quickly from enemy to enemy, damaging and marking them. Each subsequent hit deals 10% less damage. Bouncing Blades hits a total of 5 unique targets (4 bounces), each striking the closest next target.
Striking a marked target with an ability or basic attack will consume the mark to deal additional damage.

Cooldown 10 / 9.5 / 9 / 8.5 / 8 seconds

Range 675

DAGGER MAGIC DAMAGE: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+ 45% AP)
ON-HIT MAGIC DAMAGE: 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 (+ 15% AP)
TOTAL DAMAGE: 75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+ 60% AP)



Your main poke in lane. Max this 2nd. Though it gives some nice ranged harass damage, it's not good enough to max first because of its cooldown. Really good for zoning because nobody wants to take a knife to the face every few seconds.

Use:

In lane, you should be using Q for 3 reasons:

• Harassing
• Pushing the lane *constantly push mid after your Sorc Shoes and Guise so you can roam.
• Last hitting

In team fights, make sure your enemies are close together before using Q. If they aren't try to Q the highest value target, such as the AD Carry, to ensure maximum burst potential from your full combo.

This is Bouncing Blade's range in game:





Active: Katarina damages all enemies in range. If she damages an enemy champion, she gains movement speed for 1 second.

Cooldown: 4 seconds

Range 187.5

MAGIC DAMAGE: 40 / 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 (+ 25% AP) (+ 60% bonus AD)
MOVEMENT SPEED: 12% / 20% / 28% / 36% / 44%




With Kat's recent remake, this makes Katarina an amazing farmer. Q W clears 5 creeps instantly at level 10 (depending on your items) because W procs her Q's mark as well as dealing massive AOE damage. Really good for chasing as well, as it gives you a movement speed buff for a second. Definitely max this first.

Use:

In lane: use W to clear waves or to harass. You may use W alone in order to get that last hit that you would have missed. It has a 4 second cooldown, so abuse it however you feel necessary.

In team fights: you can use W after Q E'ing in order to do massive AOE damage to all enemies and proc your Q's mark. W also makes for a great chase, since you'll be able to keep up with your enemy with no problem at all.

This is Sinister Steel's range in game:




Active: Katarina teleports to target unit and gains 15% damage reduction for 3 seconds. If the target is an enemy, the target takes damage.

Cooldown 12 / 10.5 / 9 / 7.5 / 6 seconds

Range 700

MAGIC DAMAGE: 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+ 40% AP)




Really more of a gap closer or escape tool. I usually use Shunpo to jump to my prey before I shred him to bits with my ult. I max this last for that reason alone. Don't feel like you need to max it second if you're getting camped mid. In the situation of getting camped, just don't Shunpo offensively.

Use:

In lane: Shunpo to your enemy when you know you can kill him. If you know where the enemy jungler is, you can Shunpo more offensively, such as simple harass or last hitting. However, do this ONLY IF you are absolutely 100% sure their jungler is nowhere near you.

In team fights: Use your Q, then Shunpo to WHOEVER IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ENEMY TEAM. If the enemy AD Carry is within range of your Shunpo, definitely focus him first. Remember, you're not the initiator, so don't be the first to jump in and expect to win the fight.

This is Shunpo's range in game:




These are some walls you can Shunpo over: (you can actually Shunpo over every wall if you get the right spot, but not every spot on every wall)















Active: Katarina throws up to 30 daggers at the closest 3 enemy champions within range during the 2 second channel, damaging them and applying Grievous Wounds. Grievous wound reduces incoming healing by 50%.
Death Lotus can hit a single enemy champion no more than 10 times.

Cooldown 60 / 55 / 50 seconds

Range 275

MAGIC DAMAGE PER DAGGER: 40 / 50 / 60 (+ 17.5% AP) (+ 30% bonus AD)
MAXIMUM DAMAGE TO EACH ENEMY: 400 / 500 / 600 (+ 175% AP) (+ 300% bonus AD)




Probably the strongest ultimate in the game if uninterrupted. 2 seconds of AOE massacre. You will tear apart any high value targets with this. However, this is what makes Katarina such a difficult champion to master. You cannot just Shunpo and ult in the middle of the fight. You should never initiate as Katarina. You should always wait for the enemy team to use their CC before ulting in for maximum potential. Even if you do not get a full duration ult, you still apply Grievous Wounds to your enemies, cutting their healing by 50%. That's HUGE and it's not something you should look past, so don't feel bad if you don't channel fully.

Use:

In lane: Use your ultimate to finish off your enemy. Once your lane opponent is 50% health, you have an extremely high chance of making him burn or even killing him. Either way, you'll be put ahead of your enemy when you make him leave lane. Don't ult stupidly though. Only tower dive with your full combo when you're 100% sure you can wipe that health bar clean.

In team fights: Wait until all of the enemy CC is gone before ulting in to the fight. You don't want to ult too early, but you don't want to ult too late either. All I can say is, in time you will begin to learn exactly when you should ult.

This is Death Lotus' range in game:

• Simple Pushing Combo: QW (in melee range of the creeps)
• Simple Harass: Q / QW (If you know you're safe enough to get into melee range)
• More Advanced Harass: QEW (Wait a bit after throwing the Q so you can finish off with EW and proc your Q's mark.
• Lane Kill/Team Fight Kill: Q(dfg)EW(ignite)R **keybind all of your items to number keys, it'll help a lot.
• Escape: (ward)E (Place a sight ward and quickly Shunpo to it. **Works with literally any wall.)

OR OR



High Mobility early on in the game. The health potions are nice to keep you alive early on, since Katarina is pretty weak until around level 4 or 5. You can start 9 health pots and 2 wards for ridiculous early sustain if you're against someone with a lot of harass. Start Cloth 5 against early game lane bullies like .


OR (OPTIONAL)



Take these because you're an AP Caster. NEVER BUILD ANY OTHER BOOTS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Even if you're losing lane badly, the beauty of Katarina is how easily she can come back. Gank bot lane once, and you're already caught up/ahead.

Magic Pen, AP, and Health. What else could you possibly ask for on a melee assassin?

A great item to buy on Katarina. It gives you MR, AP, and a MR reducing aura. I wouldn't recommend rushing it unless you're against an AP top like .

I'm so glad Riot finally made an item like this. This is a fantastic early rush against AD tops and compensates immensely for Katarina's early game weakness. For only 1160 gold, you get 30 (+15) armor and 25 (+15) Ability power. Hold onto this until late game where you can upgrade it to a .

Make sure you pick up on every recall (at least 2), so you can keep the enemy wraiths/your wraiths warded, as well as an escape ward to which you can if you get ganked. If you have 700 gold and nothing to spend it on, it may be a good idea to invest in a . It pays itself off in ~10 wards, as well as giving you some early health. You should not upgrade it to a , but rather, sell it when you're building your last item. The only downside to buying a sightstone is you're basically buying 9.3 wards at one time. Early on, this can be very detrimental to your laning phase, so I wouldn't pick this up until you have your magic penetration items.






gives you an AP Multiplier, as well as 120 AP. Essential on any AP Caster, and Katarina is no exception.

is wonderful on Katarina. Since she's an AP melee assassin, she will be in the middle of all the enemies. Therefore, as dictated by its passive, all enemies within a certain radius will lose 20 MR. This allows you to do even more damage while attaining 70 AP and 57 MR.

is absolutely essential, especially towards the very end of the game. Without it, you pretty much fall off entirely, assuming your team has around the same amount of gold as the enemy team. 40% Magic Pen is too much to pass up, especially when your goal is to kill people as fast as possible. As Katarina, you're not a utility mage like Ahri or Morgana. You're purely a DPS caster, so your goal is to rend useless as much of the enemy's MR as possible. When you start seeing the entering your enemies' builds, it's time to build .

is a beautiful addition to the game. Its passive helps you melt those tanks, and it builds out of Haunting Guise. You should only pick this up after the enemies acquire a lot of health. You should build this item around level 16ish, but you can buy it earlier if you're against a tanky mid laner ().

offers 100 AP and 15% CDR, as well as a 15% nuke to the enemy's hp AND a damage amplifier. It's a pretty good item for Katarina. I would recommend this if you're entirely stomping your lane and you want to shut it down even more, but I find that its effectiveness falls off as the game progresses.






if the enemy team has a lot of CC (stuns, silences, etc). Not much else to say about these.

lets you stay in the fight a little longer, and its passive can make the difference between your team winning or losing. It's a nice buy, but it's fairly useless after you proc its passive. Consider selling it if its passive is down if you have 6 items.

I never used to like Zhonya's. In fact, there was a point in time of about 3 months where I did not even build it because I didn't think it was worth it. With the new S3 changes and the nerf to , Zhonya's is a nice item to purchase after . There's a really high chance that you will get focused down instantly because no competent enemy would ever want you to get a reset, as that would be devastating to their team. If you use Zhonya's active, you're invulnerable for 2 seconds. This ultimately leads to a better team fight overall because your chances of dying are significantly less.

gives you 80 AP, 500 HP, and slows anyone you cast a spell on. Since it slows, it double the passive damage from . Rylai's is a pretty good buy if you're looking for something defensive, but don't sacrifice early damage to pick this up. Buy it in mid/late game.

Sunfire Cape is actually pretty good on Katarina, especially if your lane is an AD caster/bruiser, since those seem to be very popular in the current meta. It provides you with health, armor, and AOE magic damage-over-time.

1000 health and some really nice health regen. I don't see what isn't to like about this item if you're being focused/the enemy team has some pretty significant poke.

Only build this if the enemy team has a suppression. Don't ever build it for any other reason.

Katarina's early game is VERY weak. Don't make the mistake of playing ultra-aggressive early on. You're not or . I'll break early game down into sections.



At level 1 and 2, you should be playing extremely safely. Make sure you're not missing farm. You should be using to last hit if you are being zoned/harassed.
At level 2, you now have your , making it easier to pick up a minion kill and Shunpo away to avoid harass.



When you are level 3-5, you should be harassing with whenever it is up. Do not make the mistake of farming with because it will only push your lane and allow your enemy to get free harass on you. Your goal during these levels is to prove to your enemy that you are a threat, rather than someone that can be easily stomped.



You should be looking for kills now. You should have and . At this point you should be pushing mid with while harassing your lane opponent as often as possible. When your creeps are at the enemy tower, begin to roam to other lanes. (90% of the time, I like to roam to bottom lane simply because your prey at bottom lane are much squishier than that top lane bruiser.) Continue going about in this manner and you will have had a successful early game!

You should have a and maybe a now, depending on what you wanted to purchase first. Mid game is all about Dragon and Towers. You should be visiting mid to ensure you are not missing any farm, but your primary focus in mid game is global objectives. Team fights will start to happen at this point. You should be roaming in mid game more than ever because scoring kills at bottom/top will result in towers for your team.

A quick tip for mid game: try to force team fights as much as possible. Katarina is extremely strong in the mid game. Abuse this knowledge as much as you can. If you follow my guide, you will most likely be ahead due to roaming.

If your team has the opportunity to kill Baron Nashor, please take that opportunity. If your team is not 100% incompetent, Baron Nashor + a fed Katarina should ensure a victory for your team.

Late game is the phase where everyone hangs out around mid lane trying to bait out Baron fights or take Baron. Late game is all about getting Baron and taking structures. However, at this point, none of this can be accomplished without a team fight. You play a very significant role of a clean-up assassin. The only unfortunate thing about late game is provides no utility at all. She has no form of CC and she does nothing to buff/shield a teammate, etc. So your goal is to do as much damage as possible. However, this is very challenging for an AP caster in the late game because all of your enemies have already stacked a decent amount of MR.

This is where knowledge of your position is critical. As mentioned above, you have no utility, so you want to do as much damage as you possibly can. If you do not have a and , late game will be very brutal for you and your team, and that's not an exaggeration. If you have those items, late game should be relatively easy, but don't get too confident. The moment you personally initiate a fight is the moment you lose. I don't care how fed you are, does not initiate fights in late game. Yes, throw to harass the enemy team before a fight starts. That is perfectly acceptable, but don't go all in until the fight breaks out.

Follow my advice and your team should win the game unless someone on your team makes a stupid mistake which throws the game.

I already talked about this briefly, but the key to acing the enemy team is your own personal judgment. Your ultimate is still your strongest damage output, but one tiny mistake or misjudgment can render your ult worthless. You can't jump in and start spinning too early because you'll just get CC'd. However, you can't jump in too late when everyone else on your team is dying/has died. Throw / Use your until the time is right for you to . You still deal considerable amounts of damage with your basic abilities, but your ultimate is what truly decides a team fight. If you get a full duration ult, you will almost never lose the fight. It might take a few games, but you will most likely understand what I'm saying when you get put into that situation soon enough.

In regards to your team, WAIT FOR THEM TO INITIATE. As stated before, you should never be the one starting any fights. Period. Also stated before, pay close attention to that or . Make sure their CC is down before going in. The worst feeling EVER when playing Katarina is going in to ult and getting a fraction of a second worth of channeling, then getting CC'd and losing the fight. It happens to all of us, and it's horrible. I've encountered that feeling multiple times, but after playing Katarina for a really long time, it happens considerably less often now. Keep all of these things in mind when you're team fighting.

ROAM, ROAM, AND ROAM SOME MORE. If you aren't roaming, you're not playing Katarina properly. Don't always expect your mid lane opponent to be a complete idiot who'll let you nuke him down every 3 minutes. As you get higher and higher into the elo ladder, people gradually become smarter (surprisingly). At 1600 elo, it can be quite challenging to kill someone in mid unless they make some huge mistake. As Katarina, I generally push the wave out, then make my way down to bot lane. Most of the time, you'll get your team at least one kill, provided that you have your MPen items. I never roam until I have at least my . Never roam for too long, or you'll fall behind and/or lose your mid tower. Make sure you ask your team if the enemy has warded before going to another lane, or you'll be wasting your time.

In simpler terms, push mid and roam. You'll win games. Remember, this is a TEAM game, so if you have the opportunity to put your TEAM ahead of their TEAM, take that opportunity without hesitating.

Difficulty: 5/10

Ahri shouldn't be too difficult of a matchup since you have and a relatively high movement speed. Push hard early because Ahri's horrible at farming under tower. Poke her down because she's really squishy and avoid getting charmed at all costs.


Difficulty: 9/10

Her single target damage is ridiculously high and her strong early game poses a pretty big threat to your weak early game. Try not to let her poke you down with her Qs. Definitely rush and you should be fine.


Difficulty: 6/10

The only problem with Anivia is that you need to out-push her without getting hit by her Q-E or standing in her ultimate. Keep the harassment on her with your Q while pushing your lane. It's really hard to kill her in lane since she has her passive up every 5 minutes. Just push and roam. is your best friend in this matchup.


Difficulty: 6/10

Not too challenging of a lane, just try to get some early MR and don't let her stun you. Make sure she has no stun proc (keep track of how many abilities she's used) before going all in on her. The key to winning this lane, aside from pushing, is always exchanging, as in, don't let her use an ability on you without using at least one on her. The good thing about this exchange is eventually she will run OOM in early laning, whereas you have no mana.


Difficulty: 3/10

Don't let him land his pillar or stun. Try to bait those two abilities before going in on him. Harass as usual with Q and W. He's not a good farmer and relies heavily on skill shots. Katarina thrives against skill shot enemies, so this one won't be hard at all.


Difficulty: 5/10

You're her older sister, so you tell her what to do. Make sure you don't get poisoned at all. With your track-star movement speed, that shouldn't be too difficult. If she does happen to poison you, out of there before she can Twin Fang you to death.


Difficulty: 6/10

He can't really kill you and you can't really kill him. This is probably one of those lanes I'd take teleport in because his sustain is ridiculous. Don't try to fight him without your jungler. Don't let him push you under your tower.


Difficulty: 8/10

Darius is pretty hard if you don't play the lane right. You should start Cloth 5 and poke him down with Q in early levels. At level 4 or 5, start coming up to him and using W. Make sure not to take too much damage, as you WILL take damage doing this. If you choose to play safer, go ahead, but any competent Darius will take advantage of your passive play easily.


Difficulty: 8/10

Diana's really strong at the moment. It will be a challenging lane, but it's not impossible. Use your W whenever she goes up to farm, as well as throwing your Q whenever it's up. As long as you poke her down pre-6, you should have a great chance to win this lane.


Difficulty: 9/10

Elise has insane poke and can 100-0 you easily if you commit to fighting her. She builds very tanky and can dish out tons of damage (sounds familiar?). Keep your distance and try keeping up in cs. Roaming is really your only saving grace in this match-up. If you plan on fighting her, make sure it's very early in the game and you have your jungler helping you. Consider rushing a to keep yourself alive in lane.


Difficulty: 5/10

Be ultra-aggressive and push your lane. Keep throwing Qs at her and make sure her creeps are never at your tower. The key to winning this match-up is not allowing her to roam, so if that means you must stay mid longer than you'd like, make sure you're doing so. Always remember, a tower > a kill, so if she decides to roam even though you're pushing mid, that's a free tower for your team.


Difficulty: 8/10

He has two abilities to stop your ultimate. My suggestion: just don't ult until both of these are on cooldown or your jungler is there. It's not an impossible lane. It's kind of like laning against a ranged. All you need to do is play carefully until he makes a mistake. He's really squishy, so poke him down as much as you can. If he decides to drain a creep, punish him for it. Push as hard as you can because he can't farm under tower for sh*t.


Difficulty: 6/10

This lane can go either way, depending on skill or jungle interference. W whenever he comes up to last hit since he's melee. When you see his trident change color, just stay back until it goes back to normal. His ult has a 1.5s delay before it knocks you up, so you should be able to get at least 3/4 of your full channel before getting knocked up, provided he hits his ult. It should be relatively easy to kill him post-6.


Difficulty: 6/10

He builds MR so you'll pretty much do no damage. This is basically a farm lane since you won't be killing him and he won't be killing you. Ask the jungler to gank early, otherwise just hang in there and buy MR and keep up in CS.


Difficulty: 3/10

Just play your game. You can zone him easily since Gangplank has to play pretty passively early on.


Difficulty: 6/10

Make sure you Shunpo away from his spinning or you'll be in for some trouble. Start Cloth 5 in this lane for sure.


Difficulty: 7/10

His ultimate cancels yours. He can just E out of your ult. You're melee, he's melee, but his burst damage is a lot more than yours. Poke with Q and W whenever he comes up to last hit, just like laning against any other melee champion.


Difficulty: 6/10

If you get close to him, his turrets will go ham on you. His grenade can stun you, so be VERY CAREFUL when engaging on him.


Difficulty: 5/10

If she jumps to you, you can just Shunpo away. Abuse the fact that she has very little presence level 1-5.


Difficulty: 5/10

Harass as usual with W. You can get out of his ultimate extremely easily with Shunpo. Keep that in mind before you burn your flash.


Difficulty: 6/10

Jax is pretty annoying. Poke him down with W and don't ever fight him toe to toe unless you're certain you can kill him.


Difficulty: 8/10

He just pokes you down in ranged form and if you get close, he'll just switch to melee and do even more damage. Standard harass, but you should probably ask your jungler for help in this lane. Start Cloth 5.


Difficulty: 9/10

Take teleport. You won't be able to kill a good Kayle. She has insane harass and poke, and her ult makes her immune to damage. You'll basically never kill her without your jungler.


Difficulty: 2/10

Very easy lane for you. You can jump in on him and he can't do anything about it. When you're done killing him, you can just out of his AOE. If he decides to desperation ult you, wait until it's about to strike before using to take 20% reduced damage from it.


Difficulty: 9/10

Everyone says Kassadin is Katarina's hardest lane. I agree entirely with these people, but that doesn't mean you can't win. Your W does so much damage to him and his creeps. Having said this, make sure you're harassing AND pushing. Don't let him hit you with his Q without punishing him for it. This is a huge snowball lane. Whoever gets the first kill wins the lane, so play smart. Don't be too aggressive because if his jungler ganks and you die, you're screwed.


Difficulty: 6/10

The thing about ranged champions is they're very weak up close. What this means is that you should Shunpo to Kennen whenever you can in early levels and auto attack him a few times. Be careful of his stuns, and don't dive him post 6 unless you're 110% sure he'll die before his ult can hit you 3 times.


Difficulty: 7/10

Kha'Zix is a very tricky lane. The key to winning lane is harassing him early. You can kite him very successfully with your Q and W. Don't full on engage on him until you're 100% sure you can kill him, as he is a very strong duelist. After a certain point, you won't be able to kill him anymore in lane (/). After level 7 or so, make sure your is always available when you are near Kha'Zix because if he fully engages on you, there's a very slim chance of survival.


Difficulty: 7/10

She can burst you down and blink away before you know it. This isn't a hard lane though. Luckily for you, you have MR runes (what a relief). She's absolute trash at farming. Push your lane and harass whenever possible. When you're sure the enemy jungler is nowhere near, QEW her and chunk out half of her health.


Difficulty: 9/10

Lee Sin is an extremely difficult lane for Katarina. He out-damages you at every level and can kill you very easily after level 6. Your best hope in this lane is to farm as much as you can, roam as much as you can, and avoid dueling him. Ask your jungler to gank early. If you blow your offensively without having a clear advantage, you will most likely die or be forced to .


Difficulty: 3/10

She can't do anything to stop your ult. You just do more damage than her in general and can push so much harder than her. One of the easiest lanes for a Katarina in my opinion.


Difficulty: 2/10

Malphite has literally no lane presence. Zone him from creeps and harass him as much as possible.


Difficulty: 8/10

This is like laning against a ranged Kassadin, with one exception. He pushes like a god. If you try to jump in and ult, it's an easy kill for him. He can just drop his pool on you and face-laser you to death. Don't go balls deep against this guy unless you want to buy a . Ask your jungler for early help and harass him as much as possible from levels 1-5.


Difficulty: 7/10

Mordekaiser pushes extremely hard. You can win exchanges, but don't sit in your creep waves. If he gets too many E's or Q's on you, you'll be too weak to go up against him. and him as much as you can. At level 6, you can definitely kill him. Just don't let him push you to your tower.


Difficulty: 6/10

Shouldn't be difficult, just dodge Q and match her pushing. Harass her as much as possible. Remember, you have if she ults you or if a Q gets dangerously close to you.


Difficulty: 2/10

Nasus is pretty weak in the laning phase. Try shutting him down in lane and preventing him from farming up his Q. You should be able to win any engage except when he ults.


Difficulty: 5/10

Start Cloth 5 and Nidalee shouldn't be a problem for you.


Difficulty: 5/10

He can't do much to you, but you can't really do much to him either. This will be a farm lane, so you could consider taking Teleport. I wouldn't recommend trying to trade with him after level 5 or so unless you're going in for the kill.


Difficulty: 7/10

She HURTS. Her auto attacks deal an insane amount of damage. Her Q W combo is very annoying, and she can just E most of your harass. Not the hardest lane, but any small mistakes can make you lose this lane. Play it safe, and definitely abuse your . It truly is your best friend in this lane. After 6, this should be a significantly easier lane.


Difficulty: 9/10

Pantheon is kind of like Lee Sin. You can't really duel him because you'll lose, but Pantheon doesn't have built in sustain like Lee Sin does. Pantheon has a very limited mana pool early on, and has no natural escape. You can harass him fairly successfully in the entirety of the laning phase. An early is highly recommended.


Difficulty: 8/10

Renekton is a huge lane bully. Start Cloth 5 and avoid getting close to him at all costs. Ask your jungler to gank top early before he snowballs out of control.


Difficulty: 5/10

Rengar is pretty weak currently. Harass as usual and don't let him abuse the plants.


Difficulty: 7/10

It's very easy to read Riven's actions. She's very weak defensively, so abuse this weakness. The trick to winning this match-up is harassing her with without letting her stun you. To do this successfully, you absolutely MUST have your up. As always, don't go all in unless you know for sure that you can kill her.


Difficulty: 5/10

Rumble isn't a challenging lane. Your goal is to harass him when his Q (the DoT fire) is on cooldown. Eventually you should be able to zone him out.


Difficulty: 6/10

Play safely until level 6. Don't let him land Rune Prison or Overload. Once you get level 6, you can kill him without any problem. Just don't let him get a kill on you pre-6, or this'll be a pretty difficult lane. Don't underestimate his damage. Even though he can't cancel your ult, he definitely does a lot of damage.


Difficulty: 6/10

He pushes lane extremely hard. He can just stun you when you go in to ult and he can shield your harass. W whenever it's up and try breaking his shield before he can explode it. Don't let him roam. Call your mias whenever he leaves the lane because you don't want him to come back to lane with a .


Difficulty: 5/10

Shen is very weak early on, so poke him down and zone him out before he gets all of his health and becomes unkillable.


Difficulty: 4/10

Singed can't really do anything to you other than cancel your ult with his flip. You can W him and run off before he can flip you because of the movement speed burst you get from hitting a champion with it. Keep doing this until he's low enough to kill.


Difficulty: 4/10

Don't get snared and this is one of the easiest lanes you will ever play. He can't cancel your ult and he has no escapes, so he's pretty much screwed post-6. If he ults, you can ult and cut his spell vamp in half. Harass as usual and don't do anything stupid.


Difficulty: 6/10

Talon isn't challenging if you play it right. Yeah, you're a mage, but he's melee and you're melee. Talon blows all of his cooldowns and walks away. However, you have and close-quarters abilities. When Talon blinks to you, follow him while basic attacking and when the silence wears off, punish him with your abilities. With armor runes, his early damage shouldn't be significant at all. After level 6 is when it becomes tricky. Unless you have a clear advantage, you shouldn't be trying to initiate on him. Wait for him to jump onto you before you go all in.


Difficulty: 3/10

Rush and there's no way you can lose this lane.


Difficulty: 6/10

No one really plays this guy anymore, but he can stun you if you try to get close, as well as silencing you with his ultimate. Don't try exchanging with him because you'll probably lose. Just farm your lane and avoid any conflict at all costs.


Difficulty: 5/10

He can avoid your ult with his Sanguine Pool. You should be able to out-harass him early on before he gets his . Make sure you're damaging him more than he heals or this lane will be hell for him. You both have weak early games, but I feel like his is weaker.


Difficulty: 5/10

Bait out his stun then go balls deep on him. Don't get hit by his Arcanopulses and you should be fine. Q him as much as possible because your Q is target-able and his is a skillshot that you can dodge fairly easily with your 395/413 Movement Speed and .


Difficulty: 5/10

Should be an extremely easy lane if you kite him with your W.


Difficulty: 9/10

Might as well take teleport because you're never gonna kill this guy. His sustain is way too ridiculous and his poke and harass make him a top of the line lane bully. Ask your jungler to gank early, but other than that just try to keep up in cs.


Difficulty: 8/10

Ranged harass and a built in escape. Lovely. Zed excels at harassing pre-6, not dueling. For this reason, you should be playing very aggressively early on, provided you know where the enemy jungler is. Force him to use his abilities to farm. If he's farming with basic attacks, punish him with and some basic attacks. If the lane is still even, wait for him to initiate post-6. If his W is still up and you ult, he can just blink out of it.

That's just about everyone you'll see in mid lane. It all comes down to player skill, as it always does. These are just generalizations based on how other Katarina players and I play against specific champions in mid lane. Just because I rated Ziggs/Lux a 1, that doesn't mean you should be playing hyper aggressive and diving towers at level 1. Always play smart and assume your enemy has an equal skill level as you. If you maintain this mindset, no match-up should be difficult.


Difficulty: 1/10

One of the easiest lanes for Katarina. There's literally nothing else to this lane other than dodging abilities and shredding him to pieces once you hit 6.


Difficulty: 5/10

As long as you don't get rooted, this should be a very easy lane, especially after Riot nerfed her abilities' ranges. DO NOT GET ROOTED. I don't feel like she has the damage output to 100-0 you with 1 combo, but she can certainly make you recall if she does get a combo off on you.

Some people love smart casting, some people hate it. I am here to tell you: PLEASE SMART CAST IF YOU WANT TO MASTER . I cannot stress this enough. Smart casting is optional on many other champions, but please smart cast when playing Katarina. It really makes a huge difference. If you don't know how to smart cast, open up the in-game menu, click on Key Bindings, find smart casting, and bind the keys to whatever you want. Katarina is an assassin. You want to kill your enemy as fast as possible. Therefore, the split second you would eliminate via smart casting could determine whether you get the kill or let your enemy escape. Also, key bind your items for faster combos, as well as placing a quick to which you can if you need an escape. These split seconds that you save yourself by smart casting really set apart the elite Katarina players from the rest of the Katarina players.

Thanks for taking the time to read my guide! If you would like to discuss any of my motives/decisions within the context of this guide, or you would like to ask me a question, feel free to leave a comment. I look forward to making more of these in-depth champion analyses. Goodbye!