Hello guys! My name's Sanyol. I'm 20 years old and I was TOP 3 CHALLENGER in Season 10. Daily, I am studying at the University and stream on Twitch.tv/sanyol667 my mid gameplay (link on the bottom). I mainly climbed top 3 playing Kassadin, Orianna and Twisted Fate. In this guide, I would like to introduce you my point of view of Kassadin in current season. I think it executes main aspects of Kassadin's Gameplay. If you would like to add a comment, bring something different or extend, go ahead. I can't be more happier if I could dispel your doubts.

Most things in that guide will be explained more in details right below that introduction, so... Let's get to it. Enjoy :)

[NOTE] If you want to get information about MANAMUNE KASSADIN, please proceed with reading and look for that specific title of the guide, there you'll be able to find everything you need, it's definetely worth it!

[NOTE] I plan on doing the guides for the other champions I play, so keep an eye on following uploads ^^

IGNITE + FLASH

This is a rare spell combination. You need to measure whether you're capable of snowballing the early game with ignite or better with teleport. you rather play safe pre lvl 3 with those summoners, because If you're running out of hp you're not able to quickly go back to base and teleport. With ignite you're able to trade people and all in them at 4 (most cases ad melee match ups).

TELEPORT + FLASH

These summoners are best in my opinion. They give you permanent map pressure and possibility to snowball out of dropping behind in the early game (f.ex. teleport on botlane). You can pretty much trade pre lvl 4, leaving an enemy on low hp and quickly recall and tp to later on, during lvl 6 pick up a kill.

BARRIER + FLASH

Bait Summoners, I call'em that way. Why is that? Because in most cases, people forget that Kassadin could possibly run barrier which causes enemy to overextend in decisions such as tower diving or fighting lvl 1/2. By experience from Tank Kassadin, i can clearly say, that those summoners can make enemy tilt over "being lucky" and give you ability to pick up risky kills that influence the win condition.

[NOTE]

It is essential to know that barrier enables you to trade with most champs, it is a perfect tool to bait up summoner's while diving or to make enemy overextend with false hopes of winning 1v1. Especially great set up of summoner's when you're going conqueror Manamune.

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START-UP

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|| DARK SEAL

Viable in most match-ups. Doran Ring isn't that beneficial for Kassadin as the Dark Seal is. The Ability Power stats per stack are so huge, they make you win most of the trades simply by getting assists in the game. You can later upgrade it to Mejai's. Refillable potion is perfect here, because as you're weak in early game, you can pretty much abuse it by recalling to base and teleporting to lane. Also, you can upgrade it to corrupting which is also very good option. Really recommend you this START when you're facing mages or [melee] Attack Damage dealers.

You need to remember, that Dark Seal DOES NOT increase your healing from potions anymore, so do not make it into a count whether you choose dark seal or not.

|| TEAR OF THE GODDESS

The item you will practicly build in every situation. If there's possibility to stack the tear on enemy by throwing constantly q at the, go tear FIRST. In that case you can go for a seraph's rush and have it stacked at the very early phase of the game. F.ex. If we compare the ap with the mage, that rushes Liandry's Torment straight away, he will lose around 100 AP comparing to us with stacked seraphin.

|| DORAN'S SHIELD

This item is essential when it comes to lane against AD Range match-up. Champions like Tristana, AD TF, Lucian, Varus, Gangplank (pretty much spams q) are most common here. Their purpose it to F*ck you up in the laning phase, you want to make most of it not to make it happen. The sustain that Doran's Shield has is great, in combination with resolve, they make you very hard to kill.

|| CORRUPTING POTION OR CLOTH ARMOR

Extreme AD match-up is for example Irelia/Talon/Yone. During that match up you need to play it extremely safe. If you're not confident with your abilities and playstyle, go for Cloth armor and potions. If you're more than that, choose Corrupting.

Of course, if you're very confident with your skill, just go with dark seal, but be careful during the trades, because you might fell off with the scaling.

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FIRST BACK

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|| BLASTING WAND

This is an item for your Everfrost. Why you buy blastic wand over 2 Amplifying Tomes? Because in most cases you want to purchase more expensive items in case of potential early death after that ( If you went for tome's, you might have not enough gold to buy anything else ).

|| SEEKER'S ARMGUARD

10/10 Core Item against AD. This item is hands-down the best you can possibly buy as first against ad match-ups. Give you lots of ap and armor than you can practically start trading seriously after 6. Also, if you're not so agressive, it helps you survive the laning phase. Very solid item to save money for.

( You can arrange your *Start-up* items around seeker's so you can get them earlier )

|| LOST CHAPTER 1300g

for 1300g recall, Lost chapter is the best, it is a base item for Everfrost, gives you mana, ability power and Ability Haste and also, Provides mana regen after each level-up. The only exception is AD match-up, in that case you go just Seeker's + Boots or Amplifying Tome.

|| SEEKER'S ARMGUARD + BOOTS 1300g

Against AD you're going Seeker's of course, but after that you might choose which item is best for you. If you're more into mobility to dodge some skillshots like Zed Q's, go for Boots. If you're fine on lane and need some dmg, go for Sapphire Crystal for Lost Chapter. Potions are always addition.

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BOOTS

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|| MERCURY'S TREADS

Match ups such as Galio/Malzahar/Fiddle in jg/Nautilus/Lissandra. You're main reason to choose mercury's over anything else is the fact, that you can't clearly one shot that target, but they can put during fight a huge amount of cc. you can combine those boots with precision rune page ( LEGEND: TENACITY ), which will make you a very hard target to take down.

PLATED STEELCAPS

If you have in enemy many champions that rely on their auto attacks, apply on-hit effects such as Katarina, Twitch, Lucian, Irelia, Yone, Yasuo etc.. Main measurement here is that you search through heroes in the enemy team that deal dmg from ad and base that dmg on their BASIC ATTACKS. It is essential, because if they don't base their dmg on basic attacks, you skip Steelcaps, you can focus on other boots (depends on match up).

SORCERER'S SHOES or IONIAN BOOTS OF LUCIDITY

Basically in short I would say, you build those when you're ahead. But sometimes you're forced to go Mercury's to keep the lead on you. It is only your choice what you want to build, Sorcerer's or Lucidity Boots. Personally, I more prefer Lucidity, because since latest buffs enable you to reach 30 Ability Haste ( with Lost Chapter ), you can pretty much abuse low cooldowns on your spells which increase your snowball throughout the game. Sorcerer's in my opinion are rather "safer" option.

MEJAI'S SOULSTEALER

[NOTE] If you have at least 15 STACKS on Mejai's, don't hesitate and go for Rabadon's Deathcap. Otherwise, go Zhonya's and then Rabadon.

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MANAMUNE

Since 11.6 there's a glitch on Kassadin, which applies on w both, basic attack and spell. In the end, it enables you to procc electro cute with auto attack + w on LVL 1 or give you 6 stacks on conqueror, which is actually crazy.

In addition, MURAMANA also PROCCS TWICE, that's why it is so essential to abuse it, since it gives you (MIXED DMG) on your spells. Just imagine being able to one shot enemy frontlane with 200 mr just because you went for manamune.

Manamune itself gives you a lot of more benefits than seraphin, it gives you additional ability haste and ad to trade early on, if you manage your stacks on tear wisely, you might reach powerspike before 10 min!!!

[NOTE] There's one thing that you have to take into a count. If you are heading to more than 4 items, you might need to exchange MANAMUNE to SERAPHIN'S EMBRACE, because manamune itself gives you huge spike during the mid game, but loses its tempo in the late game. Also, you need to consider, that Manamune build should be considered building when you have lots of ap in team, because It makes a huge difference when you are dealing ad damage while the enemy builds magic resistance. HUGE PLUS!

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CASUAL

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If your snowball with Mejai's fails or it is not worth to upgrade it, simply go the safe option. (Lucidity Boots -> Seraphin's Embrace -> Everfrost -> Zhonya's -> Rabadon's -> Lich Bane)

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SITUATIONAL

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STOPWATCH for double zhonya in teamfights.
BANSHEE'S when the enemy has lots of ap but doesn't have much poke to procc it off.
MORELLOS is common here, because many champions have lots of healing now.
RIFTMAKER you're building only when you're running Conqueror Rune, you're usually playing it when enemy don't have much burst and you will have possibility to stack it off ( melee match ups DPS ). LIANDRY'S specifically into tanks, many tanks.
LUDEN'S very rare and you need to be like 5/0 at 5 to rush it.
COSMIC might work fine as a 3rd item but it depends on your playstyle.
SHURELYA'S is a test item that could be replaced with everfrost, but I am not yet concerned whether it should be built.

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SANYOL MANAMUNE

you start with a tear and you make most of it to spam it at your enemy, it is important to do that, because it brings you closer to stack it up in the early manamune rush. Remember, that manamune itself is pointless to build when tear is not stacked, when you're heading close to stack it, go ahead and rush it otherwise, don't do it.

When you play barrier + flash remember to do early rush Boots of Lucidity. It decreases cooldown on your summoner spells and on your Everfrost, CORE ITEM.

Once you get everfrost + Muramana the game is practicly over. Then you build situationally depends on match up, sometimes you're going to be forced to rush zhonya's as the 3rd item, do not worry about it. zhonya's isn't a bad item either, it's just about that it decreases your snowball. Even tho, if you're cocky enough, you can go stopwatch and go with rushing rabadon, works pretty fine to me.

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vs AD/AP

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When your enemy really relies on many low dmg pokes, you can swap BONE PLATING with SECOND WIND. In case of HUNTER, you can go either Ultimate or Ravenous, depends on your playstyle. I prefer Ultimate.

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LOW ELO

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Same here with HUNTER, depends on playstyle. In case of Triumph, I would rather concern replace it with OVERHEAL but only in match ups, where you have possibility to stay longer with full hp on. COUP DE GRACE could be replaced with LEGEND:TENACITY when you face many cc.

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vs AD RANGE

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It is usually ran when your enemy relies on huge amount of low dmg poke. Depends on whether its ad or ap, you can run armor or magic resist. Main goal of these runes is to help you survive on lane.
ON THE LONGER TERM, that +8 ability haste pays off, that’s why it is our choice as a primary rune in adaptive runes.

BARRIER + FLASH SANYOL MANAMUNE

Barrier suits you pretty well especially, when you're playing aggro. Since the changes on kassadin's W (glitch) you are able to play so aggro since lvl 1! If you're falling behind with trade, you can rely on your barrier and use it as your advantage.

With combination of boots of lucidity and cosmic insight, the cooldown on your barrier decreases to 2 MINUTES 20 SECONDS! It IS SO OP!!!

That's the part when some things might get messy, this is the part when your important mission is to stay alive as much as you can. People when facing you will be like: "What I can possibly do, to keep you falling behind more and more". You need to start thinking that way before you even try to play this champion into harder match ups, and that's the thing I would like to focus on most of the time.

If you're able to play around a safe ap match up, you're almost set. Why? Because most of the times you are just aware about possible dives done by enemy support (f.ex. Alistar or Rell) or jungler (Elise, Pantheon). If you're facing ad mid, it is most likely you will be dived pre-6, that's why it is so important to know where enemy and YOUR jungler is.

Following-up

Please, follow up only if that guarantees you a free kill or objective. It is so easy to punish Kassadin for meaningless roams that do not benefit him at any point. During the time of your gameplay, you should focus directly on YOURSELF. You're gonna be the carry and you should think that nobody is gonna make you strong this game like you do.

SANYOL MANAMUNE

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This build requires a lot of your attention during the laning phase, your dmg is so high, that basically you forget about something called "scaling", your main goal here is to stack tear as quick as possible and then to upgrade it to manamune. Remember, that the tear stacks twice when applied on enemy champions, use it to your advantage.

To be honest, mid game could start from many different perspectives, it could happen once you get lead at level 10, or it might happen when your turret gets destroyed. If you're ahead, you should look up for roams, if you're able to buy early EVERFROST you should try to make a scenario, where one of side laners is left completely alone. You use that advantage to catch people and get fed on them. Since Everfrost got buffed, most of the kills made by Kassadin are made by early Everfrost purchase. If you're ahead, you could aswell go for stopwatch mejai's to look-up for potential snowball and quickly close the game.

REMEMBER!

It is so easy to lose tempo when you get distracted by your lead. When you catch up on enemy, do not go for pointless chase, focus on objectives (drakes, Nashor, Herald or just turrets) later on, those things won't matter but now, it is important for you to make till that point... and chasing down risking a potential loss of shutdown does not make it easier.

If you're playing from behind you do exactly reverse. Try to move with your item once you get your everfrost and use the fact that one person is splitting side-lane. Your possibility to catch people is so strong early on, that from side lane teleport might be way too late to react to anything, that way you might comeback, get even and then start snowball.

SANYOL MANAMUNE

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When it comes to mid game, and you have 2 core items (everfrost + manamune) you can practically contest any fight on side lane, make pressure and contest 1v1. ( you have barrier !!!)

During the late game it kinda gets more easy, once you get your 16 it's just the matter of flanking people in proper moments, where they can't really react to anything. Oracle Lens is the item you need here. It prevents any missplay during that action, if you look up for the flank you surely risk something, that you might get spotted, catched or anything. Oracle Lens prevents that from happening.

Find good place to flank and go in (R+Flash will do the work ;) )

SANYOL MANAMUNE

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Unfortunately, in the late game that build might fall behind, so if you are confident enough, that you can stuck your tear up AGAIN to 360 stacks, you can change manamune into seraphin's embrace. That's why I am saying it requires a lot of attention during the early game. This build pops off during the early game, during the games that don't last more than 30 minutes. Remember, that we're adapting to changes. Since that glitch has appeared it is important to abuse it as we can, before it gets nerfed!!!

In case of moving with the team, you can follow up someone's engage or simply be the one that starts the teamfight. How you do that? Simply flash r to any possible squishy target (YOU NEED TO KNOW WHETHER YOUR TEAM CAN FOLLOW UP, OTHERWISE IT'S INT), try to take him out and insta zhonya. In most cases, that way you can dodge some key spells that are turning teamfight around. During that time your team has time to react and joins the fight with huge lead on hand (low hp or killed an ally which creates a scenario of 4v5).

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In the late game, you can exchange manamune into seraphin's embrace, because in the late game seraph's is much better ( DON'T NEED TO STACK )

Well, this is my guide to Kassadin in Season 11. If you enjoy it, please rate it and recommend to people to follow up. Also, if you're interested more in my person, you can follow my socials:

SANYOL MANAMUNE

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If you would like to ask any question related to that build, I recommend you messaging me on my socials. Soon there is going to appear a youtube video, a tutorial how to properly play this kassadin. ENJOY! ^^

TWITCH.TV

https://www.twitch.tv/sanyol667

Reminder, I stream in Polish ^^

DISCORD

https://discord.gg/tcpgSdZRZz

YOUTUBE

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEXbs04l0cX4ihqwBcbQZ8g

I hope it has proven usefull for you ^^