Hi guys I'm FC Hatred and I write guides on some of the champions I like to play. Currently Katarina is very strong and possibly the strongest and safest mid to pick. With this guide you will be able to dominate your lane and hopefully the game.

Updated for season 3: 12/19/2012

I take 21 points in offense because Kat has such a high potential to snowball and the more points in it, the stronger she'll be. Take the 3 points in resist because more than likely you'll be going against an AP champ and 1 point in hardiness incase they are ranged ap mid and can easily harass you.

Magic Pen reds for the early pen against their MR, so you can do some extra damage.

Armor yellows so you can resist harass from some ranged ap mids auto attacks and you can soak up some creep damage when fighting.

Magic Resist blues to give you some extra beefyness against the enemy mid.

MS Quints because it synergizes with your W and can help you get away from ganks or catch up to people easier.

Optional Runes:

Health Per level yellows allow you to be harder to take down if going against a burst team.

Scaling Ability Power Blues for when you hit 6 and want some nice damage.

Ability Power Quints if you can easily win your lane early and don't need the extra Movement Speed.

Flash is great because it's a second gap closer for katarina. If your shunpo is down this will help you get out of sticky situations. You can also use this spell offensively to help you chase or get you in range to shunpo to the enemy. When your Flash is down always see where the jungler and other lanes are before using shunpo.



Ignite is great for helping finish off close to dead enemies and getting you the reset. This is what is going to get you a kill until you get your Death Fire Grasp or Hextech Gunblade. While it's on cooldown you also get a bonus +5 AP and +5 AD allowing you to do a little bit more damage.

Champion kills or assists reduce Katarina's cooldowns by 15 seconds.


This passive is amazing. It's what makes you the biggest snowball champ in the game. Team fight and someones low? Shunpo in and then get ready to steam roll the rest of their team.






Katarina throws a dagger that bounces from enemy to enemy, dealing magic damage and marking them. Her next spell or basic attack against a marked target will consume the mark and deal additional magic damage.




This spell isn't as good as your others, however it can offer okay harass and seeing it puts a mark on people it sets up for some easy damage. The only reason you should take this over W is if you can't farm and there is no way for you to kill the enemy mid.





Katarina whirls her daggers around her, dealing magic damage to all enemies in the area. If she hits an enemy Champion, Katarina gains a burst of speed for a short duration.


This should be your main spell. It has great damage, good utility, and a very short cd allowing you to use it a lot. Max this first





Katarina instantly moves to her target's location and takes reduced damage from enemies for a few seconds. If the target is an enemy, she deals damage.


Shunpo is what enables kat to tower dive. This spell lets you take 15% reduced damage over a few seconds, allowing you tank hits and pick up the kill. You can shunpo to teammates, minions your wards and even enemy wards if you see them. This skill also places you behind the enemy so make sure to use it to your advantage.





Katarina becomes a flurry of blades, throwing daggers with unrivaled speed at up to three nearby Champions. Daggers deal magic damage and reduce incoming healing on targets hit.


This ability is what allows you to jump in team fights and tear the enemy apart. You're ultimate can only be used when enemies are nearby so it even reveals stealthed enemies. Using this and then getting reset can let you win fights easily.

R,W,E,Q should be the order you max your skills in.

If you're really behind in lane and just need to farm max, R,Q,W,E.

These boots are a must if they're not using CC on you. Early game with a haunting guise you'll be hitting them as if they had no MR.

I don't rush this anymore due to DFG being back. This is still a great item if you want extra sustain.

This is obviously a core item on anyone who scales with AP. This will up your damage output by a considerable amount.

You can get this instead of haunting guise if the enemy AP is really strong.

Guardian Angel gives good stats and an amazing passive. It can make or break a team fight. If you're really fed try to rush this after 1 or 2 damage items that way the enemy team won't try to focus you and hopefully allow you to snowball in a teamfight.

Rylais gives an amazing amount of health and damage making it harder for the enemy team to kill you. It is also good for chasing people as all your spells proc the slow.

WotA gives off an amazing aura and gives a lot of damage. It's a very good item if you have an AP top or jungle. It's also a good upgrade if you don't need gunblade.

Amazing early game item giving you AP, Health and Magic Pen. Getting this early will allow you to kill squishy champs really fast early on.

This item is good if you build a Rylais. The passive is amazing

Void Staff is usually a 6th slot item and is generally not needed unless the enemy is stacking magic resist pretty heavily.

Great item if you need Armor + Ability Power. When you jump into a team fight and start getting focused down, try using this just to allow your shunpo to come off cooldown.

With the new black cleaver AD mids are even more common then before, so you may find yourself buying one of these early.

With the new DFG I think this is worth it as you can 1 shot the enemy AD Carry.

You can get this if the enemy team doesn't have a late game team comp and they're feeding and you're like 7-0 and they have no CC.

Kat is strong in every phase of the game which makes her a really strong pick. Once you have 2-3 levels in sinister steel you should be fine to harass and even kill the enemy. Around level 4-6 you can start warding enemy wraiths for free kills if you see they're low. Once you're 6 you should be roaming as much as you can and help your other lanes.

In lane when you want to harass lead off with a Q so they have a mark on them and then you can shunpo then use sinister steel to get out of there without taking too much damage.

When you hit late game you should be pretty close to having your full build. With this build you should be able to instagib the enemies ad carry or even anyone out of position. If you catch someone out of position make sure to Q,E,W, Hextech Gunblade Active, R. This will slow them and keep them in your ult for that extra second.

Team fights can either go extremely good for kat or extremely bad. You should wait for either team to initiate and wait for everyones cooldowns to be used and someone is low before jumping in. If you see someone low you can instantly kill, shunpo in, then use your ult. Keep in mind you can use ignite and hextech gunblade while you're ulting if you need that extra damage for the reset. You should look for squishy targets such as the AD carry then move onto whoever else you can kill pretty fast. If they start building GA's then be careful when you jump in because you won't be able to get your reset when GA pops.

You should be able to win this lane pretty easily. Just E in then W and she'll miss her skillshots due to your MS boost. MAX W

This lane is an easy lane and you could probably get fed. While she's in shroud you can use your W and R and it will still hit her. Just play it safe at 6 in case she has 3 stacks on her R. MAX W

Annie has good burst at 6 but other than that she is really squishy and you just do more damage. Just make sure not to harass her while her stun is up. MAX W

You should win this lane, especially if she doesn't roam as much. When she comes into range just E,W for some free harass and then kill her when her ulti is down. MAX W

She can harass when her Q is up but that's about it. She's just way to weak to fight you at any point of the game. MAX W


He has nothing to stop your damage. Even if he has defile on you can kill him and shunpo to a minion. This lane should be very easy. MAX W

His snare doesn't stop your ulti. You can just harass him to half health and then go all in for the kill. MAX W

Easy lane once you have 2-3 points into W. The only way he could ever kill you is if he gets loads of free harass and then you follow him into his mushrooms. MAX W

This lane is pretty easy. Most morgana's blow all of their mana on tormented soil allowing you to get free harass. If morgana doesn't use all her mana,it could be a little harder but still a win. MAX W







Depending on how good the brand is he could come out even on this lane. His burst potential is pretty good once he hits 6. If you can dodge his skill shots and jump on him when he can't stun you, this lane will be yours. MAX W


If you don't dodge her Q's you could lose this lane. However if you do dodge them she really shouldn't give you too much trouble especially if her ulti is down. MAX W


This lane can go either way. A good Gragas won't let you kill him, but a bad Gragas you can't die to as long as you abuse your Movement Speed boost from your W. When he's 6 and has ulti up try saving shunpo in case he tries to knock you under tower or into his jungler. MAX W


Ziggs is good early game against you because of his long attack range. Even with armor seals he can still harass you quite a bit. Once you hit 6 though you should be able to kill him. Just make sure not to die early game to him. MAX W





Now many people don't run fiddle mid however, if you come across a mid fid as katarina, you can't win this match up. You get in range he can just fear you and drain. Try to avoid this matchup. MAX Q

This lane you more than likely cannot win unless you are better. She has better wave clearing than you, she has a stun and she has double damage. Try avoiding this lane.MAX Q

Thanks for reading my guide and hopefully you can be successful with it. I'll continue to update everything especially with the season 3 item changes. I'll add more matchups when I play against some of the champs i don't have on there. Please give me some constructive criticism so I can make my guide better! If you have any questions feel free to add me on the NA server FC Hatred.