About me

Hello, I'm Ryecheria and I main the support role. Even though I started playing in season 8, I achieved Diamond my second season of playing and have been Masters+ every season after and basically solely played Karma to reach Masters+ in Season 11. Now I play League competitively for a university team while completing my Masters of Education.

Find me on my other platforms !
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ryecheria/about
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Why I play Karma

I originally was a Vel'koz one trick that dabbled in the enchanter pool. I really enjoyed watching my friends play Karma and hard stomp laning phase and thought to myself that I would enjoy playing her since she plays like a mage and an enchanter. I enjoy her playstyle and the feeling that I can carry the lane and therefore the game. I get to dictate the pace of the lane as Karma.

Coming Sooon:

✦ Playlist of all Karma games, both wins and losses.
✦ More Karma gameplay on my Twitch

You would enjoy Karma if one of these apply to you:

✦ Enjoy destroying lane
✦ Like poking or have experience with mages
✦ Enjoy making plays
✦ Having control of the lane and the game
✦ Like the flexibility of playing different styles or (enchanter, poke, mage, utility)

Pros and Cons

This guide was written for Karma for patch 12.4, however, everything in this guide is still good knowledge and viable in the current meta. There are no changes to the information below as the patches have not presented massive changes to Karma and her playstyle.

Patch 12.7

✦ Karma reduces Mantra's current cooldown by 5 seconds for every enemy champion she damages with an ability.
✦ Karma's passive was changed on patch 11.16 and auto attacks no longer grant cooldown reduction on her Mantra.
✦ Hitting multiple enemies with Inner Flame will grant more cooldown. For example, if you hit 2 enemies, you will reduce the remaining Mantra cooldown by 10 seconds (2 champions hit x 5 seconds refund per champion = 10 seconds).


✦ I will refer to Mantra Inner Flame as Soulflare
✦ Many people forget that this ability does splash damage when hit onto a target or in an area with the empowered Inner Flame. Inner Flame's effect radius is centered around the location of the missile as it collides.
✦ Inner Flame will always travel to the farthest destination if it doesn't collide with anything along the way.
✦ Typically you want to put 3 points into it early for lane domination. If you are uber ahead, put more points into Inner Flame as you deem fit.
✦ In the early game, try to use your Mantra Inner Flame a lot and off cooldown if possible on enemy champions and if necessary, on the wave.
✦ Inner Flame has a cast time of 0.25 seconds and will always cast from the location at the end of the cast animation so you can cast Inner Flame then Flash to make a path, extend the range, or shorten time that enemies can react (by buffering the ability) so that the ability hits.

✦ I will refer to Mantra Focused Resolve as Renewal
✦ I believe the usage of this skill differentiates a meh Karma from a great Karma and a Godlike Karma.
✦ Is not a projectile. It is point and click.
✦ You can cast Renewal on all monster camps including dragon and baron to heal off them.
✦ As long as the tether remains active, enemies are revealed or given true sight of, meaning, it reveals units through fog of war, brush, and stealth, but not nearsighted effects.
✦ You can buffer Focused Resolve. This means that you can tether enemies while they are still out of range and the instant you become in range, the tether will initiate.

✦ I will refer to Mantra Inspire as Defiance
✦ The ability grants movespeed to target(s). ✦ Use your Mantra in the mid to late game primarily on Defiance
✦ Try to use Defiance on a target that will give you the most value. For example, a member in the middle of the team so that the shield and move speed applies to everyone.

✦ Karma empowers her next basic ability within 8 seconds for an additional effect. The cooldown of Mantra starts on the initial cast. Foe example, if you have Mantra available and all other skills are not, you can use your Mantra and wait for your skills to start the cooldown of Mantra so it comes back faster.
✦ Mantra can be used while affected by cast-inhibiting crowd control.

✦ Always put a point into Mantra when you can.
✦ Take at least 3 points into Inner Flame (more when you are winning the lane), then fully max Inspire before going back to max Inner Flame (if not already maxed). ✦ If you are losing, consider maxing Inspire earlier instead of putting more points into Inner Flame.

As Karma is a really strong early game champion that should primarily focus on winning lane, I will mostly talk about synergies of Karma and your duo laner in this section. This section is primarily based on my experience and synergies and counters are subjective to the player, but the tables below provide guidance.

Caitlyn has the longest attack range in the game and has good poke with her Q ( Piltover Peacemaker). Since the Teleport changes in 12.1, you are able to consistently crash waves under the enemy turret and poke and punish them for trying to CS. Both laners are able to set each other up to crowd control enemies.
Draven has insane early game pressure because of his damage and kill potential. Play up in the lane with him and constantly look for potential kill angles.
Ezreal has great poke and can self peel with Arcane Shift. When playing with an Ezreal, don't clump so you gain the most area of influence. This way enemies are pressured and have little room to protect themselves from poke and are easily punished for CS. For example, Ezreal stands by the bushes and Karma stands close to the river.
Jhin has a root and decent damage with his Dancing Grenade. If you land good poke and Jhin lands Deadly Flourish to root a target, you potentially score a kill by following up with Focused Resolve
Jinx is a really strong carry presently and has decent laning. Karma provides pressure so Jinx scales easily and buffing her with shields and movespeed later in the game will allow her to run over team fights.
Zeri has decent mobility and Karma provides early kill pressure to get Zeri charged up and snowball the game. In the mid to late game, Zeri will move at the speed of light with Inspire.
Ziggs has heavy poke. Put a few points into Inner Flame early in the lane. In the later game you can look to aid other members in team fights as Ziggs has long range, is self sufficient, and can peel himself.

Aphelios doesn't really do anything level 1 as he has no skills available and primarily relies on scaling to carry games. However, Karma and Aphelios can set each other up to root when he has Binding Eclipse. Play to neutralize the lane, but if you can get him going, he'll run over the game.
Ashe slows with her autos and allows for early picks. Ashe doesn't really do damage later in the game and is mostly here for utility.
Kai'Sa has pretty good burst and rooting others grants her stacks of her plasma. Later in the game and during team fights, you can give Kai'Sa shield and movespeed as she dives the back line and assassinate carries.
Kalista is a champ that relies heavily on securing an advantage early game or is useless and can never do anything later in the game. Both Kalista and Karma being lane bullies, if played well, will run over the enemy botlane and the game before enemies have a chance to play the game. That being said, other carries outscale her so games need to be finished quickly.
Kog'Maw is a scaling champ that has no self peel. Giving him shields and movespeed will allow him to carry a game. Play to neutralize the lane.
Lucian is strong early game and shielding him stacks his passive to do more damage. Play to get him an early advantage. Lucian can also follow up with his dash when you go to root a target.
Miss Fortune has okay poke and a slow to set you up to hit Soulflare or Focused Resolve.
Play standard double enchanter bot style. Seraphine can also root/ stun off your slow. Play team fights and late game to buff a carry.
Sivir has great poke, provides utility with her ultimate On The Hunt, and can block abilities with Spell Shield. Play the lane to poke with her and play for utility later in the game.
Tristana has a jump and can self peel or jump in to engage with you on poke or root. Play up and aggressive in the lane so you enable and are prepared to follow up with Tristana if she jumps in
Play to neutralize the lane and look for advantages on twitch stealth and slow. If Twitch is going AP, build Staff of Flowing Water when you can.
Varus has great poke and utility with slows and roots regardless of his build. He sets Karma up to crowd control chain enemies for kills. Play for poke and unitilty late game if the Varus is going a poke build, but you can play more agressive extended trades if the Varus is going on-hit or something similar.
Vayne's early game weaknesses are neutralized with Karma's early game pressure. Play to neutralize the lane, and look for all-ins when Vayne has ultimate. Mid to late game shields and utility will enable Vayne to pop off.
Play to poke and enable Xayah to land feathers easily with your slow. Xayah can dodge and peel herself with her ult, but it has a long cooldown. Play around it.
Play back levels 1-2 and then look for an all-in with Yasuo at lv 3 (potentially can all-in) at level 2.

Samira is better paired with an all-in engage support but you can punish when enemies make a mistake or play off your root.
Senna is a champion that is looking to scale so she doesn't pair well with Karma's playstyle. You could also play fasting Senna where the Karma is farming.

As Karma is a really strong early game champion that should primarily focus on winning lane, I will mostly talk about Karma's support matchups. I won't go too in-depth about how opposing carries will affect the lane as the support should be the one to decide how the lane plays. This section is primarily based on my experience and synergies and counters are subjective to the player, but the tables below provide guidance.

The Bard matchup should be free. Your poke will bully Bard of out lane and during midgame and team fights, your shields will make it so that Bard will not be able to land his ultimate. You may choose to follow his roams, but its better to stay in lane and dive enemy carry over and over again. If you do roam, you have to be certain that it will give you more advantage than your carry possibly dying.
You can poke out Braum in lane and in general Braum loses to most enchanters and also gets outscaled.
You have longer range and can poke out Lulu. You cannot let Lulu get ahead early as Lulu scales better and has better utility with Whimsy and her Wild Growth. If you can stay ahead of her in lane, you will always have a fighting chance to win, but if she gets ahead, you pretty much stay in the gutter.
In this lane, Morgana can Black Shield your root, but you can break it easily with Inner Flame. In this lane, put in multiple points in your q to negate her shield. Punish her hard when she uses Dark Binding or Black Shield. Dark Binding is the slowest projectile in the game and so you are able to bait it out and dodge it easily and her shield has a long cooldown early in the game.
Renata Glasc Has very long cooldowns. Punish when she uses any ability. It is also super easy to outrun Hostile Takeover. Even if you are hooked, you can look to turn it with Renewal.
You can poke out taric and your shield gives move speed to dodge his stun. during team fights, use your Defiance to disengage from the all in of taric ult or to bait it out in a faux engage.
Be aware of Zilean Time Warp range, dodge zilean Time Bombs and as long as you keep him in lane and stay even or ahead, you will always be able to help your team disengage or engage with Defiance in team fights. Almost always use Defiance in team fights and you can root and poke targets coming out of Chronoshift

Poke out Alistar early in lane so that he has no opportunity to engage. He does sustain well so keep him either low HP or stay out of range of his w. DO NOT EVER stack on top of your carry.
Watch out for lv 1 invade. Poke out Blitzcrank early and punish him really hard when he misses his hook. You could look to deny the enemy carry CS for him missing hook. Care for his flash combos.
Be respectful of Galio flash taunt combo. You can poke him out of lane so he is unable to engage. Let the rest of your team know when and possible where he is going on his roam timers.
You have better poke than Seraphine and her cooldowns are a little bit long and dodgeable. As long as you dodge her double root or if she does not have it, you can look to engage on her with your carry.

MAGES Typically mage supports have more range and better poke, but you could shield damages from abilities. Make sure to dodge crowd control abilities. If they miss abilities (especially crowd control abilities), look to punish or all-in.
Janna moves fast and has great roaming potential. Try to keep Janna in the lane as her roams are better than yours. When she does roam, tell your team in advance and choose which roams you will follow carefully. Don't follow it if it's not worth your time as you could be denying or diving enemy carry.
Poke out Leona early so she can't engage. When she goes in, look to root her or root enemy carry if they are too close. You could look to Renewal to heal and not get one shot. Utilize your shields for your team to dodge her abilities and cc her when she goes in.
Nami's threat level is determined on the carry she is in lane with. She has sustain with Ebb and Flow so make sure you are landing meaningful poke and forcing her to use her mana to heal up instead of doing damage to you. Play early levels slow and careful when she is paired with a Lucian or Draven.

ALL-IN/ ENGAGE In these matchups, look to poke if you can, but prioritize not dying and staying out of lethal range and ranges for critical abilities. If you can cheese them and poke them so that they are unable to engage then the match up is playable and possibly free. Karma outscales Pantheon and in the Pyke, Rakan, Rell matchup, play to enable the team as disengage, or avoid their engage by running away faster than they can run at you.
HEAVY OUTSCALES YOU These champions can decide to not engage with you whatsoever in the lane and will outscale you. Ask for help to gank or dive them. If they do engage with you, they will be able to heal up all the poke you do to them anyways. Build Chemtech Putrifier first against Soraka and possibly Sona.

Yuumi can play however she wants and not be punished whatsoever. When using Focused Resolve, you must use it on the enemy carry and not on Yuumi as you are not able to root her. Build Chemtech Putrifier first item.

		ALWAYS BUILD Spellthief's Edge. Karma is an early game champ that has great poke.
		Ionian Boots of Lucidity Build this early in the game (first item if possible) as it allows you to rotate around the map fast and gives you ability haste to allow you to ast more spells. If enemies are targeting you and you are getting one shot, build Plated Steelcaps or Mercury's Treads.
		Buy Health Potions or a Refillable Potion on first back especially when you are running Time Warp Tonic

		Chemtech Putrifier Great synergy with Defiance. If you are playing vs a team comp that heals a lot (ex. Soraka, Yuumi, sylas, etc.), it is worth considering building this item before your mythic, but definitely build it second at the latest. Make it aware to your team that you are building heal reduction, but if multiple people build heal cut before you can finish yours, just skip it.
		Staff of Flowing Water Great synergy with Defiance. This item gives you and the target of your shield AP and Ability Haste which is huge for AP champions and champions who cast a lot of spells.
		Ardent Censer Great synergy with Defiance. Build this item if your team has at least 3 auto attacking champions. This item isn't in a good spot right now.
		Situational Item. Mikael's Blessing Build this item if your carry will not be building a Quicksilver Sash or has no way to cleanse themselves against critical crowd control ability. Cleansing them at the right time will enable them to win the fight. This item gives magic resist and it is often forgotten that this item also heals when activated. It is perfectly ok to build this item first or second.
		Vigilant Wardstone When it is later in the game and you foresee that the game will end soon but you don't and will not get enough gold for another full item, instead of buying half an item, build Vigilant Wardstone. This item counts as a legendary and gives lots of stats for a low price as well as letting you place an extra Stealth Ward and Control Ward

BEFORE THE START OF GAME

✦ Take a look at your team composition and enemy team composition and ask: ✦ Do I need to build Chemtech Putrifier or Staff of Flowing Water as my first item? ✦ Will Moonstone Renewer be a better item than Shurelya's Battlesong this game? ✦ Do I need to rush tier 2 boots?

START OF GAME

1^ST BASE IN ORDER OF COST/ IMPORTANCE

Notes: ✦ If you are planning to build Chemtech Putrifier first, go: Refillable Potion > Boots > Control Ward > Amplifying Tome > Oblivion Orb. ✦ If you can afford Oblivion Orb off the bat, buy it instead of following the order. ✦ If you are planning to build Staff of Flowing Water or Ardent Censer first go: Refillable Potion > Boots > Control Ward > Amplifying Tome > Forbidden Idol. ✦ If you can afford Forbidden Idol off the bat, buy it instead of following the order.

1^ST COMPLETED ITEM IN ORDER OF COST/ IMPORTANCE

✦ Prioritize building Kindlegem over Bandleglass Mirror because Kindlegem gives you better value per gold. Purchase tier 2 boots as soon as you can

2^nd COMPLETED ITEM

✦ There is no necessarily correct answer for the best second item, Karma is versatile. Build items for her that best enables her team. DO NOT LOSE TO THE SHOPKEEPER :)

Karma Is an insane early game champion that has the potential of winning the entire laning phase at level 1. She needs to find an early advantage or stay even at the minimum to be useful.


✦ The game starts BEFORE you load into game. I cannot emphasize this enough.

There are a bunch of different things you could do at lv 1 to secure and advantage. I will list some examples in order of how frequently I do them and what I recommend. In no way is this the bible of how to play lane as Karma.

✦ In champ select or the moment game starts, ask your jungler (if you don't know the champion's pref clear and start, ask) if it is OK for bot not to leash. ✦ If enemy bot laners aren't ones to cheese a bush lv 1, Look for early cheese poke if possible. If you are on the red side, you can enter the dragon pit and cheese Inner Flame into the tri-bush and or the bush nearest the pit by the red buff.

IF YOU, AS A SUPPORT, ARE NOT REQUIRED TO LEASH (carry can still leash if jg requires)

✦ Run to the bush in the lane that is nearest to enemy tower and sit there. Look for a Soulflare on both enemy bot laners to get the most value.

IF YOU ARE REQUIRED TO LEASH

✦ Better safe than sorry to leash your jungler when you have a gut feeling that they refuse to play the game if you don't leash.
✦ If you are playing in a lane where it is good to deny enemy laners bush and vision control (vs enchanter + mage lanes, occasional engage) or you feel that enemy laners will cheese in a bust lv 1,

✦ If you are not against a jungler that ganks early at lv 2 or 3, you want to be pushing the wave. You ideally want to hit Inner Flame on the wave and enemy champions.
✦ Auto attack the wave to secure lv 2 advantage. Depending on the situation, you can level Focused Resolve for an all-in to kill or Inspire if there is no kill angle.
✦ It is easy to hit Inner Flame off minions so the splash also hits enemies.


✦ It is easy to poke when enemies are under tower. If you are playing on red side, you have a huge poke advantage.




✦ Warding and roaming as Karma in general is no different than any other support. See the guides below if you need a refresher as I will not be talking in depth about general support concepts.


✦ Stay in the backline and use Defiance and Shurelya's Battlesong wisely to engage or disengage.
✦ Set up vision with your team in advance (ballpark of 1 min in advance) do you aren't solo dying and your team won't die from flanks or facechecking.
✦ Walk through wide areas like river if you don't have vision control.
✦ You are useless when you are dead so prioritize staying alive, but there are situations in which you dying will be of more benefit.

I hope you enjoyed this guide and found it helpful. It would be huge if you left a like so I can continue to grow and make content. Just a reminder that this is a guide and by no means the absolute way to play Karma. This is a compilation of how I have played the champion and my experiences. Play how you're comfortable and have fun!

Drop a follow on my Twitch and stop by my stream to say hi sometime!

Find me on my other platforms !
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ryecheria/about
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