Author x About me x Why Cass x Socials Champion x Pros / Cons x Abilities x Tips & Tricks

Pre-Game x Summoners x Runes x Team Comp In-Game x Items x Gameplay x Strategy

About me!
Sup friends, My names Ambitieux, or Chantz. I'm a High Diamond / Low Masters Ahri player. And before you ask why you're making a cass guide. I've been known to play a pretty mean cass and even have hit 70% winrate playing in mid-high Diamond with it. I've been playing since season 2, and usually obtain Diamond every season. I've peaked out at around 50 LP Masters in NA. I'm also a Twitch streamer and do that on the daily, showing my adventures in ranked while having a good time. If you guys want to catch me or ask any questions, don't be afraid to do so in any form below.

If you are seeing this guide from my page for my more well known Ahri Guide then you should be wondering why I'm making a Cassiopeia guide. Well fun fact I do actually play more champions then her. It all started in season 9 when I hit a slump in one tricking my girl Ahri I decided at this time it was probably better for me to branch out and learn more champions then the only one champion I use to hit Diamond. After all everyone has bad days with certain champions why shouldn't I branch out? That's when I picked up Cassiopeia. I've been pretty known for having higher APM then most players but I'm limited to a lower APM champ like Ahri. But with Cassiopeia this allowed me to be free. I quickly climbed and had an average of 55% wr out of 200-300 games her in diamond 1. Ever since then I use her as a secondary for any lane. Some even say she is better than my main Ahri.

SUMMONER SPELLS - FLASH: Flash is the most standard and safest rune to date in League. You will need this for either offensive or defensive purposes. Can also make flashy plays with it, I don't suggest not using it. IGNITE: Teleport is a pretty standard but essential summoner for Cassiopeia. She needs it for just easy scaling ability and due to her need of backing on essential times. But for the most part it's just for the easy access of scaling into the late game and being able to split with your strong dueling potential. CLEANSE: Cleanse is truly only needed in defensive matchups against heavy CC laners. like Twisted Fate accompanied by Elise Jungle, or of the works. For more info check back up at the top and under the notes for summoner spells. Also big names like Ahri too. EXHAUST: Exhaust is a preference. I only personal use it against matchups that I know I can outplay. For example Talon with some sort of Hecarim jungle. In a way were I know that scaling is important, but the need for surviving these all ins would be more worth it.

The reason I pick Phase Rush over Conqueror is due to the fact that Conqueror got nerfed and is harder to proc. Phase Rush also is just better for kiting and survivability. I only ever really suggest the other for tank busters. But even then I don't personally think its that great. Overall Phase Rush allows you to survive early ganks, before your movement speed is scaled. And overall fits in Cassiopeia style of gameplay. The ability to maneuver around your opponent and single in on them.

The reason for picking this rune is simply due to you needing survivability. It allows you to have crazy heal back from your spells. Which weaves perfectly into your kit from the healing off of Twin Fang when they are Poisoned.

Swap out Tenacity and Slow Resist for Shield in the matchups that are needed. Aka if ur like top lane or adc. Or against heavy ad matchups like Zed.

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This rune is really strong against tanks. It is harder to proc then other survivable runes but. It is known as a tank buster. I would only suggest this when going top lane against champions like Malphite and such. But even then Phase Rush Might be better. In the end its all due down to preference. The healing does help a lot though.

Due to the lack of mana issues you have when running these runes. And the new nerf of Presence of Mind. These runes will help sustain you in lane. And Transcendence never hurts when it comes to the CD for Noxious Blast

Swap out Tenacity and Slow Resist for Shield in the matchups that are needed. Aka if ur like top lane or adc. Or against heavy ad matchups like Talon.

Jungle Synergy Very ideal. Nice lockdown with good diving position not only in your lane but others. Very nice with counter ganking and staying relevant. If she lands her Cocoon. Then Miasma should be able to lock them down into any death.

Top Synergy Able to be a very strong front liner, while still having the CC capabilities of a support, able to lock down and make picks and play exactly how Cassiopeia wants to play. Plus also the scaling potential with his passive Living Forge Allows for insane scaling late game.

Support Synergy Very strong front liner, with very easy to land CC. Allowing your job to be A LOT easier. Also has some pretty good damage. Very easy to peel you also. Nautilus passive Staggering Blow allows for Cassiopeia Miasma to automatically hit allowing easy kills.

Why are these champions good?
-Any champion on the team that is either A. A good front liner. Or B. Can peel very well or have abilities to scale Cassiopeia into late game. For example Lulu or even Nami for her extra damage and slow with her Tidecaller's Blessing. Any of these type of champions allow Cassiopeia to scale to her best potential.

Pros

+ Very good Scaling pick. + High kill options + Can clear jungle camps easily. + Good flex pick + Very snowbally + Has good amount of self peel + Free 6th Item Slot

Cassiopeia has some very unique and well known positives. She can be a very hard scaling hyper carry late game. A monster that can eat objectives as fast as junglers. While still being able to hold her own in vert tight situations. The ability to out maneuver the enemy while being able to kite even faster than most ADCs. While getting an earlier spike and scaling almost as well as them is a very dangerous combination. Plus her unique ability to Ground enemy units with her Miasma is a very good utility skill that when used correctly can be a tide turner in a fight.

Cons

- Not too many GREAT matchups. - Weak very early. - low mana pool. - is bad from behind - short ranged - Can't get boots early. (Has to scale for MS) - bad defensive stats.

Although Cassiopeia is very well known and balanced for being the late game montage maker that she is. To get there is almost everyone's journey of pain, she can scale very well but her slow mobility early game due to her inability to buy boots is a genuine concern before your first item. Although you put out crazy amounts of damage early game, it all means nothing if you are burning through your mana pool and forcing yourself out of lane. And combine this all with if you are playing from behind she does not feel good at all. Unlike other mages who can Crowd Control from a far. Cassiopeia is a short ranged mage that need to be up in the faces of these front liners who can lock her down at any moment. This is still a problem even if she is fed, it's all about the positioning and decision making of the player during these situations that separates the good Cassiopeia from the great ones.

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Serpentine Grace (Passive)

INNATE: Cassiopeia cannot purchase boots and instead gains 4 − 72 (based on level) bonus Movement Speed for a total of 332 − 400 (based on level) Movement Speed

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Noxious Blast (Q) RANGE: 850 EFFECT RADIUS: 75 COST: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 MANA COOLDOWN: 3.5

ACTIVE: After a 0.4-second delay, Cassiopeia blasts the target area with Poison, dealing magic damage every second for 3 seconds to all enemies it hits. Cassiopeia gains bonus Movement Speed that decays over 3 seconds if Noxious Blast hits an enemy Champion champion.

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Miasma (W) RANGE: 700 CAST TIME: 0.25s EFFECT RADIUS: 160 COST: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 MANA COOLDOWN: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16

ACTIVE: Cassiopeia spits forth eight bolts of venom in an arc at the target area, leaving toxic clouds of Poison where they hit the ground for 5 seconds. Miasma deals magic damage to enemies within the area every second, also Grounding them and applying a Slow that decays over the area's duration. Miasma will cast at max range if cast beyond that.

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Twin Fang (E) RANGE: 700 CAST TIME: 0.125s COST: 50 MANA COOLDOWN: 0.75

ACTIVE: Cassiopeia launches her fangs at the target enemy, dealing 52 − 120 (based on level) (+ 10% AP) magic damage. If Twin Fang kills its target, or the target is killed mid-flight, its Mana cost is refunded. If the target is Poisoned, Twin Fang deals bonus magic damage and Heals Cassiopeia The heal is only 25% as effective against Minions and small monsters.

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Petrifying Gaze (R) EFFECT RADIUS: 825 ANGLE: 80° CAST TIME: 0.50 COST: 100 mana COOLDOWN: 120 / 100 / 80

ACTIVE: Cassiopeia blasts enemies in a cone in the target direction, dealing magic damage to all enemies hit. Enemies facing Cassiopeia are Stun for 2 seconds upon being hit by Petrifying Gaze, and all other affected enemies are instead Slow slowed by 40% for the same duration.

Some tips and tricks you can use on Cassiopeia is actually a built in mechanic with her E Twin Fang. When using this ability it DOESN'T cancel movement commands. meaning that if you are moving in a straight line and are using your Twin Fang you will never stop moving. This technique will allow you to bob and weave in fights while not having to worry about constantly clicking movement options. Forcing you to have high APM. This can also kill you if you are say clicking into the enemy team. Also another quick tip. Using your Auto Attack plus Twin Fang to last hit minions, it's a very easy thing to do but the timing can be a little off so wait until your auto attack is flying in the air before you cast your Twin Fang to get the mana back.

and one more important tip that you can use for the most success is just like any other buffering ability. You can always use Petrifying Gaze with Flash and catch an enemy off guard as you stun them. This is best used when they are walking up for a minion. Or if they want to take a fight on you badly.

Some other good ways to sneakily get this ability out with having to flash is turn around a lot. You will be kiting a lot as Cassiopeia so every time you turn back to ur enemy to cast another Noxious Blast you can surprise them with Petrifying Gaze instead. This doesn't work all the time but it doesn't have a terrible success rate.

Liandry's Anguish

The reasoning for taking Liandry's Torment over other mythics like Luden's Tempest or even Riftmaker is due to 1. The mana difference. If you choose other mythic's like Riftmaker you won't be able to get the 600 mana, allowing your Seraph's Embrace to scale as well. And ontop of the item being wove into your kit VERY well. Allowing your Noxious Blast to tic 3 times over 3 seconds. Allowing Liandry's Torment to burn for (15 + 1.5% AP) + 1% of there maximum HP AND they lose 5% of there Tenacity and Slow Resist Magic resist per second. capping at 15% MR reduction.

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Seraph's Embrace

The reason we go Seraph's Embrace as a 2nd item. Is due to its extreme power spike that synergies so well with Cassiopeia It has everything she would want. Plus it's one of the best scaling items in the game, giving sometimes over 120 AP in the late game. The only controversy of running this item as a common place. For this reason and for the nature of Cassiopeia I think it's always safer to run Seraph's Embrace because if you do get into the late game. You will scale much better.

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Cosmic Drive

Cosmic Drive is a very underrated item when it comes to the mage builds. Although it has been tried to get utilized for heavy Ability Haste builds. After the uncapping of CDR, but through trial and error its usually better to just run damage items regardless. For Cassiopeia I think this is a different story. This item has unique properties that give Movement Speed per ability hit. This in combination with her Noxious Blast allows for a deadly combination of kiting once this item is picked up. Plus the CD never hurts for any mage. Ontop of the fact if you run Phase Rush with this build. You don't feel as much of a slug after you already popped your Phase Rush. Overall I think this is a much safer pick and if you were to choose between another item, it would be either Demonic Embrace or Rylai's Crystal Scepter due to the extra defensive properties they provide. ALONG with good amounts of damage. Rylai's Crystal Scepter applies the same concept as Cosmic Drive but I feel as Cosmic is just a better pick overall.

Your only gameplay for Cassiopeia is usually the same as most scaling mages. You scale, but this doesn't mean that you shouldn't take trades you don't think you could not win. Cassiopeia is very special amongst mages, she is known as being able to produce as much DPS as any other ADC like Vayne or Kai'Sa. Just the fact she is able to get her damage out so fast and constant due to her Twin Fang makes her a very big threat as a close range mage. Her only downside is the fact her mana pool is quite weak. Which is why you usually want to start with Tear of the Goddess or able to back and get it earlier than most. Your hardest spike is with your Lost Chapter allowing you to bully the enemy laner with ease. Some very easy techniques to incorporate into Cassiopeia is just playing until around level 5 where you can back with around 900-1300 gold, to start buying your first real items that you need. Use your Teleport with care, although it gives you 1 free back. It can also be a very powerful tool to look around them map to help a counter gank, or even pick up a few kills. But for the must part you are just playing for power farm early game, her low mobility due to her Movement Speed not being scaled is a downside that will be abused early. Once you have your Liandry's Torment this is when you get most of your kill power. At this point in the game you might be able to even have 1v2 outplay potential if you land a good Petrifying Gaze. Also one last tip, Don't be afraid to take your jungler's camps if they are roaming on the opposite side of the map and you have down time. For example if you are mid lane cass and you see Kayn on enemy's top side, its safe to say you can take chickens. Or if you have ur Olaf ganking there bot side. I wouldn't be upset If I saw you taking his gromp and or top scuttle, or wolves.

The strategy to Cassiopeia and her overall gameplay may it be early or late game. Is to be able to outplay your enemies through sheer out maneuvering. You want to be able to abuse Cassiopeia abilities and her scaling to its fullest. Meaning scaling is always the best option. Although it is the best and safest option. You can't deny that for the most impact on the game what you want Is to be able to lay low until you have around your first item. Aka you can defend youself and have strong dueling potential. Cassiopeia although she wants to scale, is still one of the greatest 1v1 fighters of all the mages. This is due to her high damage but her mobility only comes out after hitting abilities. This being said you are at a point that you are strong enough to take control of the map in a solo side lane. Free farm and levels are the fastest way into ur strongest portion of the game when Seraph's Embrace is completed and you are good enough to team fight and wipe fights easily. Looking for bush cheeses or abusing where vision is unseen is a great way to pick up some easy kills.

Keeping up Teleport allows you to act like a top laner, giving you free farming privileges while still being able to pressure the fight with said Teleport is a strong strategy that will net you a good amount of time to push ahead in the game. After you have your core items in the build you want to try to group up and force a win as soon as you can. Although you do better later in the game, due to your inability to play from far away because you are a close ranged mage. As the game goes into late late game it only becomes harder for you because you are a priority target to kill. I suggest grouping up for objectives like Baron Nashor and drakes to force fights are strong game changers. Comboing alongside your ADC you should be able to melt down these objectives to try to finish the game safely in the 3 item mark which should be your goal.

You're gameplay Late game is to play with your team. Although Cassiopeia can do very well on her own, she is the best when she has front liners to back her up and cover for the enemies you are dodging and weaving on the front line. This is to ensure that you are getting major objectives as stated before. Although you can use flashy plays like being able to Petrifying Gaze with Flash to get a huge 5 man ult outplay and win the game. Its a very unlikely thing to happen, I suggest using Flash and your ult Petrifying Gaze in a defensive manner, to ensure you get the most out of the self peel that is designed into her kit.

As much as it sucks not being the guy that single handedly one the fight in one moment, you will be the slithering snake that took down the enemy in a long fight as they try to dive onto you while you are being unpredictable. This being said grouping for Baron Nashor or Elder Drake is the most common play to win the game.

In conclusion this all sounds like it contradicts itself and that Cassiopeia is a very confused champion. But in the end it's all up to what the player wants to do. You can play her like a hyper aggressive snake that wants to try to 1v9 carry the game. Or sit back and scale while being able to pick off champions. Group up and win the game by out macroing. Just like in league nothing is going to happen the same and everything is a learning experience. So I hope this guide helped you in any way possibly. And while ur at it, another thing that is never the same and wacky. Is my stream! Come check me out, I play Cassiopeia and many other champions while goofing off and having a good time. I stream everyday at 8PM PST. Except for Thursdays. At Twitch.tv/Ambitieux. if you have any more questions or concerns you can find me there.