I have always wanted to become a player that did not have to depend on my team to win games and be able to impact the game even in 4v5 situations where a team mate is trolling or AFK. Kassadin is the perfect choice. Playing him forces me to go through a flawless early game in order to make an impact in the game. I always used to say my champion counts as Two at Level 16.



Please remember that a guide can only help you understand Kassadin and give you a nudge towards achieving your goals but the final decisions you make, your playstyle and what you like the most from runes and items is up to you! To become the best you try everything here, test it and then try to see what feels the best for you. That’s how you can become a complete Kassadin player with good game sense. Good Luck!

PROS +Amazing Scaling, Power Spikes Pre 16 +Insanely High Mobile Mage-Assasin +Great against Heavy Ap Team-comps +Good Splitpush, Insane Map Pressure +Huge Carry Potential +Forces you to play better +Flexible with many builds Currently, Kassadin allows you to get your power spikes way earlier and snowball through the game. You don’t have to necessarily go for Tear of the Goddess and scale until level 16. You can survive most of the matchups without a problem by utilizing Second Wind, Doran's Shield, and Cloth Armor. You can start getting an advantage in some matchups starting from level 1 with your Nether Blade trades. The game starts quite early thanks to all of that. In Mid-game you always have a chance of pressuring the sidelines and crossing the map if team fights 5 vs 5 are hard.

CONS -Easly Punished early, divable -Weak early game pressure -Squishy -Hard to play without frontlane -1 mistake and might be GG for you -Unplayable against some team comps -Lack of CC As you probably know, one of the biggest problems is early game. Making just one mistake can cost you the game. The biggest problem for your jungler is usually your lack of priority for the river fights and scuttler → always make your jungler aware of the midlane standing otherwise you might end up getting blamed for playing your champ. Since Rod of Ages is gone and Luden's Tempest is one of the highest winrates items for Kassadin, you will be a glass cannon most of the time, which requires insanely good game sense.

Flash is one of the best summoners spells in the game and Kassadin’s interactions with it are amazing. You can increase your Riftwalk range by using Flash right after it which can land you a kill. You can use your Force Pulse and Flash right after to finish your opponent. It's a core summoner spell to help you survive the early laning phase, get a chance for an outplay possibility and game-changer plays.

Teleport is going to help you go through the early game, allowing you to fix your laning mistakes since you can Teleport back to lane. You will also be able to match the enemy roam with your Teleport if necessary to save the game. In midgame or late will allow you to stay on sidelane being ready to get back to your teammates whenever.



Why? Kassadin has many matchups where starting Nether Blade works insanely well, and can help you snowball pre-6; same with connecting it with Resolve for the best early game potential and Dark Seal with 3 Health Potion's for early sustain. Ignite counts as 1 stack for Electrocute which makes it easier to proc it in combat.

Ignite helps your jungler get early priority and offers the both of you a stronger 2 vs 2 potential. Moreover, in some hard matchups like Lucian, Tristana etc. if they were about to dive you with your Fleet Footwork they would do that without a problem. However, they would probably be more careful about diving you if you had Electrocute + Ignite. Keep in mind that the higher the rank tier, the better the players are at punishing you, that’s why you won’t see Ignite that often in higher divisions compared to Teleport.

Sometimes running Barrier with Conqueror and Last Stand will allow you to playmore aggressively and even 1v2 at times. People don’t expect this summoner spell much and I would only play it if you are worried about getting one-shotted and planning on going a tanky build like Frozen Heart, Riftmaker etc.
I hate Zed so some juicy Cloth Armor, 4 Health Potion's with Conqueror and Barrier would make me unkillable.

Void Stone is Kassadin’s passive, which allows him to take 15% reduced magic damage and ignore unit collision.

This is one of the reasons why the enemy team would dodge when they have double/triple magic damage in their team against Kassadin. Avoiding unit collision means you can walk through your enemies, minions, and allies → that means excuses like “Oh, I was creep blocked” is something you cannot use anymore.



Null Sphere shouldn’t be considered as a poke ability in the beginning of the game. It’s Kassadin’s main ability to survive through the early game. You will use it in order to last hit minions at times. You can also utilize it when you walk in to get a minion and use it against the opponent to reduce damage from their abilities as it provides a small shield magic damage.

As Kassadin, you can’t really walk in near the enemy whenever you please when farming, because he is vulnerable to being punished and receiving a lot of poke, which is why Null Sphere is an essential ability to use at the right time. In the early game, it’s more efficient to use this ability to farm rather than poking the enemy with it.

Remember that Taste of Blood in Domination works with Null Sphere perfectly so when you use it against the enemy, it will heal you as well. The only problem is that it is a targeted spell which means you won’t be able to cast it if the opponent enters the fog of war.

The most broken thing about Null Sphere is that it can cancel the channeling of opponents’ abilities like that of Katarina Death Lotus, Fiddlesticks Crowstorm, etc. Because of that, make sure to use it wisely and save it for game-changing situations as a clutch to prevent enemies from casting their core abilities.


Nether Blade in the early game will help you last hit minions in the lane, under the tower, and give you mana sustain.

Nether Blade gives you a longer range of attack and resets your auto-attack, which means if timed correctly after an attack, it can offer you more damage at the same time. Sometimes it’s impossible to last hit a minion if you don’t fluidly auto attack into Nether Blade.

Since it offers abnormal amounts of damage early game, there are instances when you should start this ability at Level 1 (in some melee matchups) in order to out-trade your opponent using the Auto Attack → Nether Blade Combo.

Kassadin with Nether Blade isn’t as weak an early game champion if you are able to utilize it depending on the matchup.

Most importantly, it is a nice finisher. You can Flash → Nether Blade when the opponent Flashes away because it will end up applying the damage anyway. You can cast your W while in stasis using Zhonya’s, which goes to show how unstoppable Kassadin can be when it comes to securing kills. Moreover, Nether Blade counts as 1 stack for Electrocute so by pressing Autoattack → Nether Blade, you will need only 1 more Ability or Attack to proc Electrocute.


Force Pulse is one of Kassadin’s main abilities which will help you wave clear since it has an AOE (Area of effect) damage in the early game. Without this ability, the game would be too hard for Kassadin. Thanks to this ability, wave management is a bit easier which allows you to set up timely recalls and roam around the map.


During the laning phase, if the opponent’s positioning is suboptimal, look for a chance to poke them with this ability → slow from Force Pulse allows you to reach him right after

It gives you possibilities of engaging or disengaging against opponents, peeling for your teammates since you can slow down the ones that chase them. Moreover, in terms of teamfights it offers you so much of value due to its Area of Effect.
You can cast Force Pulse → Flash to surprise your opponent as a finisher, since it works faster way than Flash → Force Pulse

Always count the numbers above your HP bar, since most of the time you can go in on the opponent without having it loaded, since getting 2 more missing stacks is not a problem. You can load it during your rotation of the spells, opponent’s spells count too.


Riftwalk An ability that gives Kassadin so much mobility in the game! It allows you to teleport through walls, roam the map way faster and secure kills. If used wisely, you will be mostly ungankable. It allows you to dodge many abilities and survive most situations on the map. It offers you an amazing advantage in terms of avoiding enemy vision, since you can bypass warded areas by jumping from bush to bush without being seen by your opponents.

Riftwalk can be used with Flash which will result in increasing its range. I recommend trying this maneuver out in the Practice Tool in order to get used to it. Moreover, there is one thing that many players are not aware of and that is by casting Riftwalk, you can cancel the CC of certain opponents’ like Blitzcrank’s Rocket Grab, Poppy Keeper's Verdict , Qiyana Supreme Display of Talent. It will only take a matter of time until you get used to it and then you can even help peel for your team by catching for example blitz grab.


Here I will explain some fundamental combos starting from the laning phase to teamfights.
Everything is going to be on the video below the description of combinations.

A.) Your first basic combo is Auto Attack (AA) → Nether Blade. This is used the most in the early game and whenever you have time to execute it with other spells.


B.) Force Pulse → AA → Nether Blade → Null Sphere. You can use this combo prior to Level 6 if the enemies have already used their crucial spells and they are out of position. Usually, when the enemy laner is attempting to siege under my tower, it gives me an opening to use this combo. Try to be mindful and have an end-goal when using this. For example, Lux win condition is her Light Binding and the chance of making this combo worth executing is basically impossible unless she wastes it. However, if Tristana used her Explosive Charge on the turret instead of me then, I would use that as a chance to harass her. After level 6, you can combine it with Riftwalk to disengage in the end.

C.) Riftwalk → Force Pulse → AA → Nether Blade. This is Kassadin’s full engage combo if you are concerned about winning the trade and not getting one-shotted. Sometimes, even just an equal trade might benefit you if your jungler is coming or if the enemy laner is about to roam which knocking off some HP from their health bar is essential.

Null Sphere is the ability you usually would use in the beginning of a combo before fully committing in a fight. You could also opt to use it in certain scenarios like when you are recalling and want to reduce incoming magic damage from the enemy.

While in combat, you should know your burst potential. Most of the time, I “dance” with the opponents slowly while preparing to combo them to death. I never fully commit to a fight unless I’m sure that I can kill the enemy. Kassadin is combo-dependent so that means if you can’t one-shot the enemy, you have to wait for another set of cooldowns on your abilities. Take it easy, generate pressure and slowly stalk your prey. A good Kassadin player is defined by how well he can sense what he can and cannot do in those terms--knowing your potential as well as your limits.

A.) Fastest and highest damage combo is:
Riftwalk → Flash → Nether Blade → Null Sphere → Force Pulse
If you are able too, add an AA before Nether Blade.
Towards late game, consider using Zhonya's Hourglass if there are powerful enemies while waiting for cooldowns like
Riftwalk to escape or turning around and killing the enemy
Kassadin doesn’t have many combos and most of them should be thought out well depending on the state of the game, how powerful you are and what your opponents will allow you to do. What I wrote above is a fundamental base that you could try to memorize but most importantly feel because once you get used to it, then it’s over for the enemy.

Currently, Kassadin offers a few options and I will do my best to explain them in the easiest way possible!

Most of the time you want to max Force Pulse for the fastest cooldown and good AOE wave clear and damage. However, in some matchups where the opponent is often walking up to poke and you can’t really trade with them, get 3 points on Null Sphere. First, it will help you generate some early pressure and give you a stronger magic shield, which is good against some matchups like Vladimir against his Transfusion

I wouldn’t really max Null Sphere fully due to the high cooldown and lack of waveclear and is also weaker against 2 vs 2 fights.

It’s okay to max Null Sphere second but in my personal experience, maxing Nether Blade second is more advantageous since it doesn’t have a cast time, has a faster cooldown and scales better with 80% AP compared to the 70% AP with Null Sphere.
In some situations you need to save your Null Sphere in order to stop an opponent's ability like Katarina’s Death Lotus etc. so you can't really waste it to poke.

Even matchups would be against Veigar, Vladimir, Annie, Malzahar
What do I mean by even? Matchup where I can stay as much efficient as possible, having free farm since usually their champions can't punish me that well. They don’t have huge kill potential early if you play well enough, additionally there is always an option for more sustain thanks to Resolve and Second Wind + Doran's Shield if needed.

Basically, those matchups simply focus on getting your items as soon as possible, don’t force too much. Starting from Level 6 you can do more aggressive trades.
Be rational, if you are Kassadin Level 3 who can’t really kill opponent champion, then be happy with getting the cs, time is ticking for them not for you.
Play around their bad lane positioning and mistakes!

Passive lane in my eyes is, where you can’t really contest all minions, you have to be especially careful while your opponent is getting Level 2 and that’s happening after the first minion of the Second wave they kill. Respect opponent’s damage, don’t greed for all minions, be rational once again. Survive, and find your strong advantage points against them. Examples would be Tristana, Lucian, Talon. Orianna, Azir.

Basically, the lane with way too much poke and sustain against you, or insane physical damage with easier punishments which usually costs you half of your hp once you walk up for a minion. What to do? Do I need jungle pressure to win? For sure you can easily abuse Resolve considering between Bone Plating and Second Wind , itemization abuse against heavy ad champion Cloth Armor, rushing Frozen Heart if you have to become independent then going full Ap against some Ad Ranged champions is impossible unless there is a good early game jungler for you. Against Orianna, Azir etc. it’s enough to just get Doran's Shield and survive till 6, then your game gets better and better.


In melee matchups, don’t hesitate to try Nether Blade level 1 when trading with the opponent. You will notice how powerful your champion can be. However, it always depends on the matchup and your items. If you have Cloth Armor with 4 Health Potion, it’s good against champions like Yasuo, Qiyana, Talon, Irelia but doesn’t happen to be as effective against Fizz, Galio etc. Against AP opponents, feel free to go with Dark Seal + 3 Health Potion or Doran's Shield instead.
Always compare enemy sustain to yours before making the decision of what spell to level up at level 1. This is your personal decision if you want to feel like an early game champion or you would rather stick to just getting minions with Null Sphere.
This is just face-punching gameplay.


The worst thing you can do is to force too much, because your champion is way too weak to contest most of the early fights together. Especially on the river around the 3:15 timer which is scuttler spawn and that’s usually the time your jungler would like to contest it. Your champion is not meant to be kind-hearted in the early game, your goal is to survive while avoiding too many forced situations. If laning is going well, nothing bad is happening then you should be the happiest person → often times I even ping my jungler to avoid ganking for me if I’m doing well or when I’m worried about enemy jungler countering the gank and making us lose the 2 vs 2 fight,

Since the enemy team knows and loves to punish Kassadin early game, developing tracking skills for the enemy jungler is the key for wave management. Connecting the knowledge and awareness of these two and adapting properly will save you from many deaths.
How to? Check who is helping the jungler with the first buff, either enemy top or botlane is going to be late on the lane due to the leash. Jungler is gonna end-up being at river of the opposite side he started around 3:15 because that’s when scuttler spawns.

Whenever you want to walk up for a minion, try to use Null Sphere against the opponent’s ability damage to prevent receiving too much poke. In early game, you can use it to last hit minions or to prevent additional damage when it’s needed when walking up to last hit.

The hardest Kassadin burden is to crash the wave and finally recall for the first time. You can always ask your jungler to help you if you are worried about getting ganked while doing so. Don’t hesitate to use your Teleport to go back to the lane with items in order to fix the wave. It’s okay if you have to Teleport back to lane before Level 6 since the important part of the game usually starts once you get Riftwalk.

Level 6 finally allows you to initiate trades to your advantage. There are 2 ways of doing that--reaching your opponent by using Force Pulse in melee range and doing your damage and then jumping away with Riftwalk (if you are worried about getting out-damaged or ganked in a prolonged trade). Another way is to simply jump in on the opponent while making sure to know your limits. Sometimes there won't be any trades and the lane will become “Stay Efficient” State where you want to get as much as possible while playing for your teammates around Teleport and objectives.

Starting at this point, you should be looking for chances around the map taking into consideration your roam timers and trying to pressure other lanes/jungle if your opponent is playing too defensively. If possible, try to keep your teleport for more game-impacting situations or to match an enemy roam that you couldn’t follow. Moreover since you are Assasin your champion works great with Oracle Lens in terms of invading and looking for kills.

Starting from midgame, you’d want to implement pressure on the side lanes while keeping your Teleport up. You are one of the most mobile champions in the game capable of generating amazing pressure and crossing the map right after.

Once Tier 1 Turret on bot lane is taken, consider swapping with your bot laners. They will be more impactful in terms of sieging and pressuring mid-lane closer to the jungle than staying and overextending in bot lane. Since you will be rotating to bot lane, it’s easier for you to look for picks and punish your opponents’ mistakes. Moreover, you will be able to cover map and objectives with Teleport if you find it will change the course of the game. This is basically you consuming as many resources as possible to scale and add pressure.

Think about yourself like about the Hunter, looking for prey and enemy openings. You are a mastermind of abusing fog of war, flanks etc. Don’t forget about Oracle Lens in order to become complete abuser.

Generate Pressure on the side lane → Rotate, look for the chances or flanks. If nothing happens then stay and keep track of the enemy.

Obviously, I do group with the team for the dragon fights, baron fights, mostly looking for the best flank. You need to analyze if it’s worth grouping with the team before making a decision because here we are already implementing a lot of macro game and every game is different.

That’s why I highly recommend watching the video at the Top of Guide of how I played and adapted to the game.


When you reach late-game, it’s when Kassadin Fullest Potential comes to shine because of Riftwalk’s damage and cooldown. During this time, you will be able to almost one-shot enemy carries using Riftwalk → Flash Combo.

At this point of the game, you’re still like a Predator looking for prey around the map, but the game is way more dynamic compared to the mid-game.

Starting from now, one wrong decision might cost you the game; being on the other side of the map at the wrong time, rotating somewhere on your own without Teleport to cover for your team or objectives, forcing etc,

During this game phase don’t forget about the strong sides of your champion like;
insane mobility thanks to Riftwalk, ability to avoid enemy vision in order to set up good flanks, amazing performance on the side lanes and instane damage.


Ones where you can impact 5 vs 5 fights and actually carry them with your burst.
When I can’t impact those fights?

When opponents have a lot of crowd control, for example; Malzahar Nether Grasp, Leona Shield of Daybreak, Morgana Dark Binding and way more! We are struggling a lot against tanky bruiser champions like Camille, Olaf, Lee Sin since they are hard to kill and usually can outsustain your damage. A combination of off-tanky champions with a lot of damage and crowd control is the biggest struggle for us, much more if they are overfed. Your champion is burst dependent, if they survive it might be a problem, especially if you don’t have your Zhonya's Hourglass to wait for your next spell rotation. An important factor is to keep track of what’s happening around you - checking who’s having an advantage at the moment, because if you and the others are winning from the beginning its gonna be way easier, as opposed to when the game is even or enemies are in the lead then you will need to do your best to win.

Kassadin feels comfortable against more squishy team-comps due to his heavy burst and having a lot of opportunities to catch them around the map. You are able to kill them, before they kill you! Your champion can surprise them, do a sudden ambush, and before they react everyone is dead. If you fail, they gonna simply kill you because you are a glass cannon too! There are going to be situations when you can just use Riftwalk followed by the rest of your spells and they die, but the better the opponents you face against, the harder it might be. In most of the teamfights im not the first one to jump into the fray, I’m waiting for my teammates to engage, playing around opponents’ mistakes and bad positioning in team fights, waiting for their spells to go on a cooldown.
Finding the best momentum to shine!

The other type of game is

When once you group with your teammates, there’s no chance of winning and you need to consider split-pushing for an increased chance of the enemy making mistakes and giving your teammates space to breathe and progress in the game.
Split-pushing is basically pushing side lanes on your own, where opponents need to split themselves in order to outpush the lane you are pushing. It opens way more opportunities for your team, they can look for opponents’ mistakes while they are re-grouping between lanes, opponents’ pressure is becoming worse due to your impact on the map.

This kind of game is usually forcing you to do sacrifices, where you need to be rational and really analyze if you were about to join your team then would it change something? That’s why split push, splitting the map and allowing yourself to find a chance to win is important. However, please don’t overdo it - if you are strong enough with your team to finish the game, go ahead and close it together. They are human as well and everyone can make mistakes, so whenever you leave them they might commit one and die by mistake while you are away doing your thing.

In terms of team-fighting, one good Riftwalk → Flash Combo into opponents followed by Zhonya's Hourglass might change the game for your team.

I sometimes engage as a first-person in if I can land a good Riftwalk / Flash combo on opponents, lets say 4 or 5 of their team. Meanwhile killing 1 or 2 squishies and going into Zhonya's Hourglass will do a lot in even games. The chance of you surviving is low, but the final result might result in a won game, free objective(baron, soul or elder dragon) and the like. As I mentioned previously in different situations I’m always waiting for opponents to use their spells first, to deliver final combination of the insane burst. If the enemy back lane is too far, im trying to help my team kill the enemy tank in front first.

In terms of split-pushing I usually get free kills, because they can’t expect you from everywhere, but they should! That’s why I use the word “Hunter”

Thank you for taking the time to read my guide. I believe all of you can achieve what you want if you stay truly dedicated to the knowledge from the guide. Believe in yourself, don’t give up, and always push! Remember that growing as a better player is a marathon not a sprint. It takes time and practice.

If you would like to see me playing Kassadin or want to learn useful game tips, feel free to follow me on Twitch Channel and join my Discord Server !
Big thanks to the Maniouz for the amazing graphics and VOD edits!