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Kai'Sa Build Guide by FunkyBeagle

ADC [13.9] Beagle's ULTIMATE Diamond Kai'Sa Guide [IN-DEPTH]

ADC [13.9] Beagle's ULTIMATE Diamond Kai'Sa Guide [IN-DEPTH]

Updated on May 4, 2023
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League of Legends Build Guide Author FunkyBeagle Build Guide By FunkyBeagle 1477 72 3,405,880 Views 43 Comments
1477 72 3,405,880 Views 43 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author FunkyBeagle Kai'Sa Build Guide By FunkyBeagle Updated on May 4, 2023
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Runes: Go-To Runes

1 2 3 4
Precision
Lethal Tempo
Presence of Mind
Legend: Bloodline
Cut Down

Sorcery
Transcendence
Gathering Storm
Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor

Spells:

1 2
Go-To Summoners
LoL Summoner Spell: Exhaust

Exhaust

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

Items

Starting Items (Farm Lane)
Early Q Evolve (Navori 2nd Build)

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Champion Build Guide

[13.9] Beagle's ULTIMATE Diamond Kai'Sa Guide [IN-DEPTH]

By FunkyBeagle
Introduction
Hey guys. Im Beagle, Beags, whatever floats your boat. Im a current High Diamond ADC main. Kai'Sa has been one of my personal favorites since her release in Season 8. She's one of the champs im most comfortable on, alongside Lucian and Vayne.

I overall fell in love with Kai'Sa because of her high skill ceiling and overall great carry potential in all elos. Especially in Season 11. She also plays best with some of my favorite supports. Combine her aggressive playstyle with her high DPS output and you have yourself one hell of a carry.

If by any chance you guys have any questions, i'd love to answer them all, do OP.GG reviews and even VOD reviews to help you guys out. Please, check out my STREAM! I try to be as informative as i can and I'm trying to grow and help out all of you along the way: https://www.twitch.tv/beagleadc





Runes Explained
Hail of Blades is an amazing aggressive rune for trading with Kai'Sa. Pair this quick trading pattern with Icathian Rain as well as applying 3 quick stacks of Plasma, it sets Kai'Sa up to throw in a Void Seeker for maximum damage output, using her Second Skin. Hail of Blades makes Kai'Sa's weak trading potential into something worth while, there's really no other rune that compliments her better in this current point in time.


Taste of Blood is a great rune for sustain, which Kai'Sa wants plenty of due to her weak early game. Providing early lifesteal to our kit without the need of stacking bloodline yet is a great way to survive laning phase. Besides, there's no other rune in the row that's worth taking over Taste of Blood.


Eyeball Collection is a rune purely for the raw adaptive stats that it gives per champion take down, it stacks up to 10 times with 1.2 ad per stack. Allowing Kai'Sa to scale even harder than she already does.


Ultimate Hunter s now taken with the removal of Ravenous Hunter. This is easily her best now, Kai'Sa has a pretty high ultimate cooldown nowadays, ever since they nerfed it way back then. This rune makes it so its not as long at all stages of the game, making the assassin playstyle a lot more accessible considering your Killer Instinct is up more often! Combine that with the stacks of Eyeball Collection and you're on your way to becoming and mid-to-late game monster.


Cosmic Insight is an awesome rune for Kai'Sa considering she loves to duel. Not only does this rune lower summoner spell cooldowns, like Exhaust and Flash by a minute, meaning you look around the map for fights more often. But, it also lowers cooldown of Galeforce if you're going one of the Galeforce Builds listed below in your games.


Biscuit Delivery is another rune that provides us with a little bit of early game help, which is exactly where Kai'Sa struggles the most! Not only does it help us sustain through HP regeneration, but it also recovers A LOT of mana, which means you can opt to sling out spells more often to shove the wave and trade more often. Biscuit Delivery against poke lanes is a STAPLE in my personal opinion.

NOTE: Keep stat shards the same every game (Attack Speed, Adaptive) and only change from Armor to Magic Resist depending on that specific lane matchup.


VS.

Lethal Tempo vs. Hail of Blades


When it comes down to Lethal Tempo vs. Hail of Blades, its all about what the enemy team comp looks like for the most part. Are you against hard tank champs like Zac, Darius and Leona, thats where Lethal Tempo comes in clutch. All of those champions i just listed take a while to cut down and kill, which means its really easy to stack up Lethal Tempo and keep it stacked which means more overall attack speed which also means MORE OVERALL DAMAGE. Lethal Tempo's fullest potental comes out when you have an enchanter support such as Lulu or Nami, champs that enhance your auto attack damage. Remember, Lethal Tempo is a very hard rune to get the hang of when playing it with a low range champion like Kai'Sa.

As for Hail of Blades, you can genuinely get away with taking it every game as Lethal Tempo is a VERY hard rune to get the hang of, especially on a low range ADC like Kai'Sa. If they arent overly super tanky, take Hail of Blades, trust me, it makes your laning phase WAY more tolerable.

For a more In-Depth rundown, please watch my video below. I go over the best scenarios of when to take the two runes!

In-Depth Video Explanation:

Hail of Blades Laning Showcase:
Items Explained


Season 13 Spell-Slinger Build Rundown:




This is a brand NEW premier build for Kai'Sa. It's currently her #1 GO-TO build and for good reason! With this build, its all about constantly autoing to keep your abilities off cooldown, most notably Supercharge, as it always keep your attack speed high and you can constantly reposition with the invisibility that Supercharge provides. Most people you see will go Navori Quickblades as a 2nd item, but thats WRONG. Going Phantom Dancer as a second item provides you with 2 Evolves instead of just ONE. You trade out slightly more damage and Q evolve for attack speed, kiting potential, Q Evolve AND E evolve. With that being said, I personally think going Navori Quickblades as your THIRD item is your best bet as the Phantom Dancer spike is much MUCH better.

When do I use this build?
You can use this build LITERALLY every single game, it's carry potential as of NOW is unmatched. Having all of your abilities off cooldown constantly as well as high attack speed to shred through people will make even lesser Kai'Sa players feel like a monster. This is the GO-TO build as of right now. It could change in the future but this is a fantastic build for her.

Watch the example video below to see how fantastic this build is and watch me take over a game in a mere 20 minutes.

EXAMPLE:

Season 13 Navori Hybrid Rundown:




Just like the build above, this one is the same general consensus. High attack speed, your abilities are always up, blah blah blah. BUT, with this build, You have all 3 of your evolves. Your Q, W and E evolves all work in tandem to produce this crazy outrageous hybrid hyper carry monster version of Kai'Sa! This build is centered around autoing and constantly using Void Seeker as it's on a WAY lower cooldown with her evolve if you land it. Combine this with constantly auto attacking and you'll be spamming 2-3 Void Seekers per fight at a minimum!

When do I use this build?
Same as the previous build, you can get away with this pretty much every game. Although it truly shines when your team lacks some AP and the enemy team is stacking armor. This one does take a bit of practice and awareness, getting used to knowing your W is always up and weaving it in between autos is CRUCIAL.

EXAMPLE:

Beagle's On-Hit Hybrid Rundown:




So this build is from season 12. This is a build I created a while back. I hopped on PBE and tested this out immediately the second I heard of AP/Passive scaling Kai'Sa buffs back in Season 12 and this build has been used to be my GO TO BUILD since then.From the survivability with Wit's End and Zhonya's Hourglass, the kiting potential, attack speed and on-hit from Nashor's Tooth paired with Wit's End makes this build a GREAT option for Kai'Sa. Though this build has lost some traction because of the recent crit changes ( Navori Quickblades and Infinity Edge), I still think it has a place in some of your games!

When do I use this build?
This build truly gets its MOST VALUE when you need to kite a LOT and need some extra magic damage. But as i stated, you can go this build in all of your games if you truly want to! The MR from Wit's End helps you sustain from AP mages and Zhonya's Hourglass saves you from annoying assassins like Zed and Talon.

Use the video below to see me literally take inting teammates and PUT THEM ON MY BACK and completely 1v9 the game using this build.

EXAMPLE:

Full AP Assassin Rundown:




This build is on par with my On-Hit Hybrid build listed above when it comes to CARRY POTENTIAL. This build you're going a FULL AP route, not prioritizing ANY AD physical damage. Remember, this is important:WITH THIS BUILD, ALWAYS PUT 3 POINTS INTO YOUR Q AND THEN MAX YOUR W FOR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL. Its extremely important to get your max order correct as it defines this build, getting your Void Seeker to level 5 as quick as possible out of laning phase is important to minimize your Void Seeker cooldown and maximize its damage. This build is all about hitting your Void Seeker constantly from range for poke and then using Killer Instinct + Void Seeker combo to finish them off and completely one shot them. Figure out how to do/pull off the R+W combo in the "Combos" section of the guide.

When do I use this build?
This build is FANTASTIC against ranged squishies when you have little to NO AP damage on your team. Take note that this build loses value if they have healing champs like Soraka or Senna. Or you're up against a spell shield champion like Galio. Its not UNBUILDABLE, but it's a little bit harder to pull off than typical.
Remember hitting your Void Seeker is absolutely MANDATORY. Its all of your damage.

In the example below, i showcase full gameplay of the AP Assassin build and show its raw potential in a high elo Diamond 1 game. Please feel free to check it out to adapt your playstyle!

EXAMPLE:

Phantom Dancer Kite Build:




Ok so, this build is centered around Kai'Sa's great DPS potential. With this build instead of prioritizing your early Q evolve like you would with the majority of Kai'Sa's builds. You prioritize full buying Kraken Slayer. For the earliest Q evolve in this build, you need Kraken Slayer and 2 Long Swords. Once you get to your Phantom Dancer, this build really starts to power on. Phantom Dancer is such a fantastic item for Kai'Sa. It gives movement speed from attacks, it ghosts you, allowing you to move through units and most importantly, you get an insane amount of attack speed on max stacks of its passive.

When do I use this build?
To start off, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BUILD FOR NEWER Kai'Sa PLAYERS AS ITS BY FAR THE EASIEST TO UNDERSTAND AND USE. Now, you typically want to prioritize this Kai'Sa build when you're against a lot of tanks/melee champs that you need to kite and dish out tons of DPS, hence why most of the time I'm going this build, im building Lord Dominik's Regards as a third item and then an Infinity Edge, most tanks and bruisers love armor, and the innate shredding potential with this build mixed with Kai'Sa passive makes for an insane damage dealer.

Feel free to give my video below a watch on where I make a HUGE comeback with the build I just talked about! Not to mention, Star Guardian Kai'Sa!

EXAMPLE:

Snowballing Galeforce AD Rundown:




This build is great for SNOWBALLING your lead against RANGED SQUISHIES. Galeforce to finish off kills and combo with Killer Instinct, Rapid Firecannon for easy access to your Killer Instinct reposition and for assassination capabilities. And adding Navori Quickblades and Bloodthirster for repositioning and survivability.

When do I use this build?
So this build is great for a decent number of scenarios. Up against Caitlyn and Xerath? Maybe Ezreal and Lux? Galeforce is GREAT here as long as there's 1 tank or less on the enemy team. Using Galeforce to get into range of those champs and then ulting to them is a great way to deal with them during laning phase. Once you walk out of laning phase into the midlane, you switch up your playstyle to more of a pick/assassin type and look for Void Seeker snipes into a fast Killer Instinct > Icathian Rain > Galeforce combo for a quick kill. This build is all about snowballing and punishing those squishies for being out of position, so play to that!

In the example below, it's a full gameplay video of how to ACTUALLY play the build out of laning phase and punish people for making positional mistakes. Please take a look!

EXAMPLE:

I know I didnt explain every build, but i want to say that, Kai'Sa has so many different builds for certain situations. Feel free to experiment with the rest of the builds to find which you like best for what situations!

Kai'Sa's Gameplan

EARLY GAME:


Figuring out your game plan during the loading screen or champ select is crucial. Knowing Kai'Sa's matchups will help you in this department, but understanding what to do in specific lanes is essential.

Support picks matter most in bot lane, its just how it is. The support matchup can make or break laning phase, turning your worst matchups into more tolerable ones. For example, pit a Leona/ Kai'Sa together against a Miss Fortune/ Soraka. Because the support matchup is more favorable towards the Kai'Sa, Miss Fortune cant abuse the good matchup as well as she would typically be able to. Contrary to popular belief, Kai'Sa has an INSANE Level 1 with her Second Skin passive. Meaning you can force early fights IF you have an aggressive style support that also has a great level 1 like Pantheon.

If you aren't looking to fight at Level 1, Kai'Sa has exceptional lane shove with Icathian Rain as it does double the damage to minions BELOW 35% HP. Making it very easy to out shove the enemy laner and hit your level 2 before them. All inning at level 2 when the opponent is still level 1 is CRUCIAL! It could win you the lane altogether. Don't hesitate to punish them for being overextended and not respecting your level 2.

Kai'Sa's trades are short, consisting of a quick flurry of Hail of Blades autos cancelled into Icathian Rain. Remember, Un-Evolved Void Seeker adds TWO stacks to your Plasma passive, therefore, if you stack your passive 3 times with 3 quick Hail of Blades autos, and you use Void Seeker directly after, it will proc your Second Skin passive. Keep in mind, if you wait till the 4th and final stack before using Void Seeker, it does even MORE damage. Do keep in mind though, it's ill advised to take use Kai'Sa's short trading patterns against characters ive put in the "EXTREME" threat category, as they have really good short trading patterns that Kai'Sa simply has no chance of beating. Lucian also falls into this category.

Remember, your plan changes when it comes to playing with a caster support like Nami. Though these champion do allow you to dish more DPS come mid game, your laning phase isn't nearly as good as it would be with a tank/engage support. The initial idea is still the same, look to use Icathian Rain to shove for Level 2, punish them for disrespecting it. If not, farm it out, play safe and wait till you hit Level 6 power-spike, adding Killer Instinct into your arsenal.

Using Void Seeker for poke isn't necessarily bad in lane, especially with caster support. But i would recommend using it scarcely when laning with an engage support like Leona or Pantheon or something similar, as Void Seeker is a lot of burst damage you're missing out on. Considering the cooldown in it's Un-Evolved state, it could potentially WIN or LOSE you the fight.

Rundown:


Take quick, shorty, worthy trades. Look to fight at Level 1 if the matchup at Level 1 favors you. (e.g. Kai'Sa+ Pantheon vs. Vayne+ Nami) Use Icathian Rain to shove for level 2 power spike and look to punish over extending lane opponents. Focus on farming and hitting Level 6 for even better follow up, survivability and KILL POTENTIAL with Killer Instinct. Remember, Kai'Sa's laning phase is not that great, but a good support can MAKE IT something worth while.

Below, I show how effective using Level 2 to your advantage can be. I knew I was going to hit level 2 first, therefore, i pinged my Blitz in and got both of Miss Fortune's summoners out.


MID GAME:



Certain things change if you win or lose lane, yes. But overall, the most important thing is getting your EVOLVES for Icathian Rain and Supercharge. In all builds listed above, you get both evolves by 3 items at most.

Winning lane is obviously the goal, right? But sometimes just winning lane isn't enough, being able to snowball your lead after conquering your lane is just as important and it'll help you 1v9 your games. After winning lane, you and your support should look to help with objectives in any way, that means Rift Herald , Dragon , etc. With your presence, if strong enough, you'll help secure those objectives for your team. Your support should be looking to help other around the map as you farm more and more to your 3 item spike. Or you could roam together and help kill the enemy top laner and siege top tower. It's all about hitting your power spike as fast as possible and helping your team along the way.

Rundown:


After sieging bot tower, continue farming (Taking enemy/allied jungle camps, lane farm, etc.) while helping with team centered neutral objectives like Dragon and looking for any overextended laners that you and your support can take down safely WITHOUT giving out your shutdown gold. You making yourself stronger can overall help make YOUR team stronger.

LATE GAME:


Once you're in the final stretch in an attempt to close out the game. Some certain things come in to play when you're playing Kai'Sa or any ADC at that matter. Take ADVANTAGEOUS fights with your team. That means, taking 4v2s, 5v3s, 3v1s, etc.

Alternatively, something Kai'Sa oriented. Your late game damage is CRAZY. Simply put. That being said, you can search for SAFE picks around the map, throwing a Void Seeker at an unsuspecting farming ADC and using Killer Instinct to close the gap, as Kai'Sa's late game ultimate has really good range. In doing so and succeeding, you set your team up in a great situation, you're able to force objectives like Baron or Elder Dragon . Setting them up in an ADVANTAGEOUS position, considering it's now a 5vs4 and the enemy team are the ones who have to make a move. Further increasing your chances of coming out on top by sieging Inhibitors and eventually the Nexus.
Combos


R+W Combo:


In my personal opinion, I believe, this is ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT things to master on Kai'Sa. It surprised your opponent with burst and kills in situations you typically wouldnt be able to. Its basically a guaranteed way to land your Void Seeker for surprise burst and finishing power. To do it, you press W mid Killer Instinct animation and flick your mouse cursor to the direction you'd like your Void Seeker to go.

EXAMPLE 1:


EXAMPLE 2:


EXAMPLE 3:


R Auto Attack Reset:



This one should be like bread and butter for you, I use it all the time. Its practically muscle memory for me and can make or break a fight for you. Dishing out damage as fast as possible is important. You're using Killer Instinct as an auto attack reset.

I could probably find far more examples, but they're all over the place in my replays, so i found one that you may like and provided a quick presentation!

EXAMPLE 1:

EXAMPLE 2:


Fast Full Combo:



There are plenty of other things i could show, but i feel like this is the best to get started with! So this will be the last combo I show!

This is the most advanced one in the pack I've provided so far. Using all of your abilities for MAXIMUM damage output and BURST potential.

AA x3 ( Hail of Blades) > R AA Reset > W > Q

Presentation Below.

EXAMPLE:

The HIGHER your ATTACK SPEED the faster this combo comes out! Play around with what you like and master it.

Quick Final Tips
  • When by herself with one singular enemy, Kai'Sa's Icathian Rain does more damage as it doesn't spread around to multiple enemies, instead, focusing all the little rockets on one singular target. AVOID FIGHTING IN MINIONS WHEN POSSIBLE. Try to fight isolated as often as possible.
  • Much like Jinx's Zap!, Kai'Sa's Void Seeker comes out even when CC'd. Use it before hand!
  • Use Killer Instinct to escape over walls, doing so could save your life and not force you to use valuable summoners like Flash. Here's an EXAMPLE
  • Despite it being common knowledge, you can cancel evolves with Recall by timing it correctly. But did you know you could cancel it with Void Seeker and Supercharge as well? :D Come by my stream and ill teach you sometime!
  • Remember, Kai'Sa's level 1 is really strong. Dont forget to look to fight if the matchup favors your level 1.
  • Your Supercharge ghosts you. Meaning, you can walk through creeps without getting creepblocked.
Conclusion
Kai'Sa overall is an extremely fun and rewarding champ to play (most of the time). Her skill ceiling can is high and her more in depth stuff is harder to learn but I can in all honesty say it's worth the journey!

THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart if you took the time out of your day to read even some of this. I put my heart into this guide to try and help you guys get started with my favorite Void Daughter.

If you have ANY QUESTIONS regarding Kai'Sa or any ADC, please stop by my stream, the support means the WORLD to me.

Also, i do have a YOUTUBE channel as well, if you'd be willing to check out that, i have more Kai'Sa content on there as well! My peak rank is Master 20 lp and RANK 11 Kai'Sa in North America, both stats not the best, but at least its some credibility!

If anyone asks how to play Kai'Sa or something, i'd appreciate it if you shared this to them and asked them to give it an upvote!

Find my social links below and once again, THANK YOU!


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League of Legends Build Guide Author FunkyBeagle
FunkyBeagle Kai'Sa Guide
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[13.9] Beagle's ULTIMATE Diamond Kai'Sa Guide [IN-DEPTH]

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