I just want to shortly introduce myself.
Hi, my name is Chimes. I am hardstuck Gold 5 player who probably doesn't even deserve it (aka Filthy Casual). This is my first ever guide on Mobafire. I will be updating this guide along with my knowledge of her. I'd like to see your feedback after you read it.

Flash

- I mean do I really need to say anything about flash. It really goes without saying that this is a must have summoner spell on Kai'Sa since the other movement spell Ghost doesn't really go well on Kai'Sa.

Ignite

- Unless you are laning against someone that could potentially 100 to 0 and you need
some protection you should be taking Ignite since it can help you win the lane more
easily.

Exhaust

- Really only time you should be even considering this spell is if you are playing against a lot of assassin. Since ignite doesn't help you much in the late game, this spell can help you a lot in those team fights. But in this patch games are not lasting as much as they used to so you really won't be getting almost any help from this spell.

Teleport

- If you know that you can be lane dominant, you could take Teleport since it grants you ability to come back to lane really fast. You can also try to use it to gank, but I wouldn't recommend doing that.

Heal

- If you are actually laning against someone that can burst you down in lane, and you are
really not sure if you can stay away from them then you should take Heal or
Barrier.

Barrier

- Unless that champion is someone that can apply Grievous Wounds you should always be
taking much better Heal

Smite

- Since jungle has been kinda stabilized it really serves no purpose in the midlane anymore.

Press The Attack

- As an autoattack oriented champion there should be no surprise that it would blend in good with her kit. Amplifies her passive damage by a lot.

Fleet Footwork

- Fleet Work is also viable on Kai'Sa. Bonus movement speed and that little bit of
healing can sometimes win you the fight.

Conqueror

- Since you build her like a bruiser, you could take Conqueror if you are expecting to
have prolonged fights. It really does make her deal a lot of damage, especially if you
time your passive in its proc window.

Lethal Tempo

- After it got buffs, it is probably Kai'Sa's 2nd choice of keystone. Makes you proc your passive a lot quicker and a lot more times.

First row:

After Presence of Mind got reworked its not that viable anymore on Kai'Sa. You should consider only Overheal and Triumph. Take Overheal if you want to go in for that early trades, otherwise I would recommend taking Triumph.

Second row:

In the most cases taking Legend: Alacrity would be the way to go, but Legend: Tenacity and Legend: Bloodline are pretty viable too. You should take Legend: Bloodline if you need life steal and Legend: Tenacity if you need tenacity. The choice is yours.

Third row:

Your choices for the third row should be Coup de Grace and Cut Down, as Last Stand isn't something that will help Kai'Sa. Usually Coup de Grace is the rune you need, but, again, if you really hate Cho'Gath you can also take Cut Down.

Domination:

Gives you access to more damage/mobility. Sudden Impact is giving Kai'Sa the most damage out of domination tree. Viable combo with Sudden Impact would be Ravenous Hunter because it heals you for a LOT. Besides Ravenous Hunter, Relentless Hunter and Zombie Ward are ok too.

Inspiration:

As you probably know Stopwatch is one of the best runes for Inspiraton path, and you can use it on Kai'Sa too. Future's Market and Cosmic Insight are also pretty good to go along Stopwatch. It is viable but Domination is much better path in this patch.

Sorcery:

I honestly dislike this path because it doesn't offer as much as other paths do. If you really want some extra movement speed you could take Nimbus Cloak+ Celerity or Celerity+ Waterwalking.

For Kai'Sa this is pretty straight forward. Take attack speed rune + both armor runes if you are playing against AD heavy comp or if you are playing against an aggressive AD champion, or attack speed rune + both magic resist runes against AP heavy comp. If the enemy team has mixed AD and AP damage you can optimize your resistances against your lane opponent.

P Second Skin :

Her first part of the passive (Innate) is basically on-hit ap damage.
Second part of her passive (Caustic Wounds) make her auto-attacks apply plasma stacks to her target, which then Kai'Sa could use to rupture her enemies by auto-attacking the enemy with 4 stacks. Allied crowd-control also apply plasma stack to enemies.
Third part of her passive (Living Weapon) is evolution mechanic similar to Kha'Zix's evolution mechanic. More on that on Evolutions.

Q Icathian Rain :

Most of your burst (besides your passive proc) comes from this ability. You should always be maxing it first. In the laning phase try not to use it too frequently since it really does eat a lot of mana. It can also clear waves pretty fast.

W Void Seeker :

At the later stages of the game, when you get some AP, will be dealing quite some damage. All around good poke damage, plus also you can chain it with your ult (since it applies plasma stacks) and basically insta-kill someone. Just because this spell doesn't get much better as you level it you should be maxing it last.

E Supercharge :

Usually you should be using this ability to reposition yourself, tho you can use it sometimes to engage on someone but you have to be careful. It grants a good amount of attack speed so you can chuck down your enemies faster.

R Killer Instinct :

This ability has many usages and is really useful. Upon casting it you receive a shield which as the game progresses gets larger and larger. You can use it to catch someone or to reposition and get a shield while in combat. All around great spell.

You can mostly see everything you need to know in the header.
This is bruisery like build, with a lot of sustain and damage against squishy and tanky champions.
You should build tier 1 Boots as soon as possible, and tier 2 Boots after your first item. If you really need some help against AD champions early you can take Ninja Tabi before your first item.
Try not to overcap the CDR.

Laning phase:

You should focus on farming and taking as least damage as possible. Before first item you should only fight your opponent if your jungler ganks you or if he is really low on mana and health (tho you should still watch out for his jungler). You can try to poke him but be cautious. You must manage minion waves. Minions must not hit your nor his tower, because Kai'Sa can't farm under her tower properly, and she is also really vulnerable to ganks. At level 6 you should try to roam only if opponents are pushing the wave. Try to hit your Void Seeker so you can rush in with your Killer Instinct and deal as much damage as you can. You should ping that lane so if they stun the target you should be able to hit your Void Seeker more easily. When you hit your one item( Nashor's Tooth) power spike, you should try to kill your mid lane opponent since it gives you a lot of burst.

Mid game:

Secure objectives. Group up with your team or push on your own. You should be constantly pushing and keeping pressure and your Guinsoo's Rageblade stacks up. Buy control wards, ward jungle and keep looking at the map since they will try to stop you from pushing and kill you. You excel better at skirmishes than at team fights.

Late game:

Your only objectives of the game are Nexus, Baron Nashor and Elder Dragon. Always be near your teammates and wait for the perfect moment to attack. Since you will mostly team fight in this stage of the game, try not to me on the front line since the enemy team can easily pick you off.

E into W into Q

E evolution:

To get this evolution you will need 100% bonus attack speed.
You should be able to get it around level 9-10. It grants you invisibility while charging your Supercharge. That can be really useful since you can reposition yourself without them even seeing you. Can be used to juke people.

W evolution:

This will be your first available evolution, with you only needing to complete Nashor's Tooth and Guinsoo's Rageblade. Tho, try not to evolve it till level 11, in case you get access to evolve your E first. Instead of giving off 2 plasma stacks upon hitting an enemy champion it applies 3 plasma stacks, and also has a shorter CD if you hit an enemy champion. It makes you proc your passive faster. Yup. That's all it does.

Q evolution:

You will unlock this evolution about the time you complete your Blade of the Ruined King + any AD part of an item from the build. Instead of 6 you fire off 10 missiles. It really makes you sting them hard.

Pros:
• High damage
• Good wave clear
• Mobile
• Can snowball other lanes
• Very fun

Cons:
• Not a pick and play champion
• No escape tools
• If you fall behind it is hard to catch up
• Hard to play in team fights
• Can't secure objectives such as drakes or baron

Well, I hope you liked this guide. I would appreciate if you can leave a feedback on it.
I will be expanding it and making it a more in-depth guide.
Hope you have a fun time adapting ;).

I'm not responsible for any LP loss. Shameless promotion: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZi_scYUc_p2BslqWwhVsNg

Bye