Hi, I'm farfecnugen, and this is my first build for one of my absolute favorite champs, Kassadin. He's one of the most underrated champs because most people can't play him effectively, but in this guide I hope to teach you his niche as an anticarry/assassin. He tears squishies apart before they can get to your team, and gets away to keep putting out damage throughout the duration of the game.

I take flash ignite on kassadin, Flash for its universal capabilities as an escape tool, an initiator, or a way to secure early kills before you learn Riftwalk (However, I don't recommend much early agression Pre-6 as you're weak and likely to be set back on levels/XP.) Ignite is mainly to secure kills or finish a combo, (Ex: Riftwalk followed by Null Sphere and a Force Pulse into another Null Sphere and ignite for the finish.

Other summoner spells:



I rarely take this because QSS is a core part of my build and if played right its very difficult for you to be focused, but if you're playing draft mode and you feel theres a chance of being permaslowed or stunned, take it by all means, just make sure it replaces Ignite as flash is important in case you run out of mana or just can't riftwalk into position in time.



Honestly, take this if no-one else on your team does, but steer clear of it if you can, as you really should not be going toe to toe with anyone who needs to be exhausted.

My runes are fairly typical for a caster, MPEN reds, mana regen yellows, scaling MR blues for that extra defense vs other casters, and flat AP quints for a bit extra ap as well as the 30% extra on your Rabadon's Deathcap

My masteries are a bit different however, as I get less mana regen, but more neutral buff duration, as Kassadin is an extremely potent blue buff holder, and your jungler should be giving you blue buff WHENEVER possible, the CDR is fantastic for more riftwalks in shorter time, and the mana costs for the multiple riftwalks is hardly noticeable. With both a catalyst and blue buff you can rift all the live-long day.

For skills I max Null Sphere as soon as possible, as it is his most reliable damage spell with a hella long silence of up to 2.6 seconds at level 5, is enough to take most casters out of the fight for long enough to nuke them down and get out. I max force pulse afterwards as the sooner you can get the heavy slow and damage maxed the better. I take a point in nether blade at level 4, but leave it there until the end of the game as it is only really good for charging your slow and regenerating a bit of mana while last hitting.

In depth on skills:



Kass's basic skill. Harass, last hit,or put on major targets in fights like Annie or Brand to keep them from turning the tides on your team.




I won't lie to you, this doesn't fit Kassadin's kit well as a burster as you really should not be auto attacking all that much and the bonus damage isn't enough to really give a reason to use this skill unless YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO. Good for charging your slow, and making last hitting a bit easier under the tower/ getting mana back, but that's about it.




Kassadin's hardest hitting spell when maxed, with a strong ratio, AoE slow, and good synchronization with his other spells to give him time for cooldowns. I love this spell and the charging component, and I think it is vital for a stronger CC than just his silence in his kit.




Kassadin's signature move, my beloved riftwalk. Oh how many times we've won fights by having squishies annihilated by the burst. It is also #1 escape tool, rift over a wall, watch them flash to follow, rift again! (trollface.jpg) Not much to say, the increased mana and damage costs are not that impressive either, as neither are substantial unless you have a shallow mana pool from a bad build. Good for chasing, and being chased.



Basically: > > >

Laning with kassadin is tricky, as evaluation of your target is key. Learning your q first lets you last hit if necessary, (I don't recommend it as the mana cost is way too high to last hit more than a couple times per wave, unlike Lay Waste or Mark of the Assassin )

You should be last hitting as well as you can, occasionally hitting with a null sphere when your opponent comes a bit too close for comfort.

By now you're level 6: and you hopefully have farmed your way to at least Boots and a catalyst the protector now you evaluate whether or not a kill is possible. If you're versus a tanky champ mid, like Mordekaiser or Garen you're wasting your time trying to kill them, and should push your lane and gank bot or top, whichever has the squishiest champs.

Once the laning phase ends, and you can start ganking, kassadin's ability truly shines. As you've hopefully taken mid lane, you should be ganking WHENEVER the time arises to top or bot lane. Relieve some pressure or help kill a champ or two, kassadin ganks are among the best from mid lane champs.

It's now 15 minutes in and you should have a Rod of Ages and Sorcerer's Shoes if you've kept up with farm. At this point you can begin to team fight and do your job of peeling people off with two long CC skills with fairly short cooldowns.

The most effective way to play kassadin is a way that most assassins should play, but that Kassadin excels in, and that's being in a fight for no more than 2 seconds before using Riftwalk to get the hell out of there, because you are squishy and there is no way around that without losing the purpose of Kassadin, which is to pump out some MAD DEEPS.

In a losing team fight, where the enemy initiates and puts you on your heels, you should try to focus the one who has the most potential to hurt your team and silence/slow them.

(ex: If it's a fed Tryndamere use your slow to keep him at bay for awhile, if it's a scary looking Annie silence that little girl, burst, and run like hell because she'll probably focus you after you take a huge chunk of her health


#1 TIP: SUPER IMPORTANT. Kassadin is a run and gun champion. Pop in, hurt em, pop out, badda bing badda boom. And choose your target carefully, an 8-0 Malzahar is more important to silence than their 1/4 Dr. Mundo or their Amumu Is more important to silence than the near-dead Master Yi

Start with a

Good AP, health, and some mana regen to boot, never a bad start on kassadin.

Next time I go back, I like to be able to get:

and a second

After this, you really need a catalyst the protector

(Health and Mana, builds into RoA, fantastic laning item with sustain upon leveling.)


Next you should finish your sorcerer shoes and your

Hopefully not long after that you've farmed your way to a

Now you've got most of your damage and nuking ability, and you should slide your way into the

rest of your build in comfort, getting either a or perhaps a

if you need more damage (QSS is PURELY defense, so if you are looking for survivability, it is a better bet than a zhonya's.


The game should be over by now, but if it isn't, pick yourself up a

and a blue pot, and you should just nuke your way to victory!



Other possible items:



Not a bad item, another catalyst is helpful if you can't get blue often and desperately need more mana and a shield from initiates like Enchanted Crystal Arrow (This would be built last normally, and would replace a void staff)




A good item vs a heavy CHAIN cc team, where a QSS just isn't enough and you need a bit of tenacity.




I don't like this item personally, as I don't think kassadin should be autoattacking in this type of play, however I see it working with a rylai's, although I personally dont think this has much point as the only 2 spells that don't slow already have their own use, and don't need the proc IMO.

Kassadin is a straight up bad-*** anti-carry and assassin, he is unchaseable, and there is no way to escape him. With the right positioning and from what I hope you've learned from my guide, you'll be a master of the purple mist in no time.

Don't save your flash, with kassadin around, it won't make a difference.