Cassiopeia Build Guide by thekatalist

Hey guys!

Thanks for checking out my guide!
Currently a work in progress!
Will continue to fill it out as time goes by!



Much do:
Much strats
So tips and tricks
How such cheese
VERY WOW

Update 12/17
Added Mid Game and Late game, along with first couple match ups, will be doing one for most champions that you will see mid lane.

About the Author

I'm insomniac and I would like to bring you my thoughts and build on Cassiopeia!
I feel like I am able to make the greatest contributions to the team from mid lane, which is probably why I like playing it so much!

My favorite champions are currently Cassiopeia, Diana, Syndra and Gragas.
I have a 60% win rate in ranked with all of them except for Syndra, who I haven't really had the chance to play yet

Pros/Cons

Pros!
+ Has a lot of kill potential
+ High snowball potential
+ AOE stun/slow ult can win entire games
+ Farms easily
+ Built in slow
+ Highest level 2 damage potential in the game, dat cheese


Cons
- Higher learning curve than most champions
- Not noob friendly
- Ultimate stun unreliable
- Will take time to master

Introduction

Cassiopeia is a sustained damage mage, who excels at harassing and bullying in lane. Her damage potential is absolutely through the roof!
Although she requires a couple games to get used to her playstyle and time for you to master her, I believe that Cassiopeia has the highest reward out of all the champions if mastered.

She has a built in slow ( Miasma, and a ridiculous AOE stun as her ult ( Petrifying Gaze) that will easily win you a teamfight, even if your team is behind.

If you get the hang of Cassiopeia, climbing in ranked should be extremely easy!

Here are my stats with Cassiopeia:
This is what happens when you work with your team, paying attention to what happens in your jungle and press your advantage!

Please remember that my way of playing Cassiopeia may not be the best way for YOU to play Cassiopeia! Please do not take this guide as the law! If the other team has a triple AP comp, BUY MAGIC RESIST! Every item should be bought situationally, I only wish to share this guide because it is the build that works for ME.

Summoner Spells

Flash is an absolute must on Cassiopeia. Whenever you get ganked post 6, flash to position yourself where your ult will stun both the jungler and their mid lane. Turn on them, poison and spam Twin Fang! Turning on them with flash usually surprises them enough for you to get an easy double kill! Flash can also be used to position yourself to get the perfect ult in teamfights or a get out of jail free card!

Ignite gives Cassiopeia a lot of kill potential in lane, will almost guarantee a kill level 2 if played right!

Barrier can replace Ignite, it is up to the individual player and depending on their playstyle, can set up some really sick baits!

Champion Abilities

Deadly Cadence: After casting a spell, any subsequent spell-casts will cost 10% less for 5 seconds. This ability stacks up to 5 times.

This is an extremely important part of Cassiopeia's kit, if she did not have this passive, her mana costs would be too high to spam Twin Fang constantly. If you buy a Tear of the Goddess, make sure you guys keep the passive at the maximum amount of stacks! (5)

Noxious Blast: After channeling for 0.6 seconds, Cassiopeia blasts an area with a delayed high damage poison, granting her movement speed if she hits a champion. (80% AP ratio)

This is your wave clear, along with Miasma. Since this is a DoT, most players you play against wont be able to predict the amount of damage it will do. Very often people will Flash too late with the poison on them + Ignite expecting to get away free. Thankfully most of the time they also die : D This is the ability you will be using to constantly keep the other team poisoned so you can Twin Fang them.

Miasma: Cassiopeia releases a cloud of poison (more like she spits a puddle of poison), lightly damaging any enemy that happens to pass through it. (15% AP ratio)

An under appreciated spell, Miasma will grow in size over time dealing "tons of damage" I find this skill extremely useful when I play against assassins like Kha'Zix and Zed. When they dodge Noxious Blast and try to go all in for the kill, drop Miasma right under them and spam Twin Fang! The built in slow is also extremely useful when you need to kite multiple opponents. Try to force them to walk through the entire length, much like Viktor's Gravity Field.

Twin Fang: Cassiopeia lets loose a damaging attack at her target. If the target is poisoned the cooldown of this spell is refreshed (to a 0.5 second cooldown). (55% AP ratio)

This ability is pretty straight up, I do not think much explanation is needed for this beautiful skill. A single target nuke that does massive damage that can be spammed if you hit a poisoned target. Keep in mind this will refresh when you hit someone poisoned by Singed, Teemo and Twitch. The closer you are to the target, the faster Twin Fang will hit them, which means the closer you are to the target, the higher the dps. This ability is where most of Cassiopeia's damage will be coming from.

Petrifying Gaze: Cassiopeia releases a swirl of magical energy from her eyes, stunning any enemies who are facing her and slowing any others with their backs turned. (60% AP ratio, 2 second stun or 60% slow)

Land a perfect Petrifying Gaze in a teamfight and you will almost always win that fight. A 2 second AOE stun + nuke with massive amounts of damage and a decent AP ratio can turn the tide of any battle. This ult will take some time getting used to, the range will feel awkward for the first couple times you use it, if you have to wonder if you are close enough to use it, you probably aren't! Don't be afraid to flash to hit a point blank ult.

Runes

The runes for my mid lane champions are usually the same! So this is what I usually use across all my champs.

These are the runes that I use the most. The scaling health seals are just preference, flat magic resist runes can be used to replace it, however, 12MR gives you an extra 3% less magic damage taken, really not that much at low levels!

Runes
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration 9	Greater Seal of Scaling Health 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power 9	Greater Quintessence of Ability Power 3

Runes
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power 9	Greater Quintessence of Ability Power 3	Greater Seal of Armor 9

Runes
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power 9	Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed 3	Greater Seal of Scaling Health 9

Skill Sequence & Combo

Harass Combo:


Farming:

On the caster minions and cannon minion. Be sure to try and last hit the ones in the front + get the cannon minion. If you aren't sure if you will be able to last hit the cannon minion, do not be afraid to Twin Fang it! Now doing this will push lane, so make sure you stay aware of where the enemy jungler is so you don't get caught out!

Teamfights:

Whenever you see an opportunity to throw down your ult, and hit more than one person, do it!
If you can only land Petrifying Gaze on their fed AD carry, do it!
Obviously it is not a good idea to be wasting this impactful ultimate on an 0/20 support.
You can also use this to disengage any teamfight your team does not want to fight (4v5 top lane while your wonderful AD carry is farming wolves? Ult to disengage!)
For a two second stun, Petrifying Gaze is also amazing when you want to peel for your AD carry!

Starting Items + Early Game

I always go Doran's Ring with two Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation. Some people might think its a good idea to start Cloth Armor with five Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation against AD mids, I feel that a lot of my kill potential is loss without that Doran's Ring.

My entire strategy is to cheese the enemy laner level two by pushing lane and harrasing level one to get level two before them and go all in and cloth just doesn't fit that playstyle.
Double Doran's Ring's should be able to keep your mana high as long as you last hit properly.

If you play Cassiopeia right the first few levels, you can quickly expect the enemy mid laner to be crying for a gank really quickly. Make sure you always use your trinket ward near the other teams wraiths. This will help you and your team keep track of where the enemy jungler is and help you avoid dying! This becomes more and more important the more fed you are, since the other team will be trying to shut you down.

Go gank bot once you get level 6, if you get a double kill, it will put your team ahead, however, if you don't, it's alright! Next time you gank, their mid laner will almost always try to follow you down. Make it seem like you are going bot lane for a gank, hide in a bush, Petrifying Gaze into the face when he walks by and kill him. This works ALL THE TIME. Unfortunately it won't work multiple times per game : C

Mid Game

At this point, if you played early game correctly, you should have a decent amount of gold. Get your Sorcerer's Shoes and Rod of Ages. Start looking for opportunities to roam and gank. You should time their blue/red buff and try to put pressure on the map and deprive them of any jungle gold.

Buy a Stealth Ward and ward their blue bush so your jungler can smite it to deprive their midlane of blue buff. A good place for you to place a Vision Ward is in the bush across the wall from your teams Elder lizard . I always try to keep a ward there whenever I have an extra 100 gold to spare. Most of the time, will stay in the bush for almost the entire game before the other team destroys it. It provides so much vision and will win you teamfights.

Once you team decides to start having some small scrims, make sure you always are aware of where the rest of the team is. If you are chasing someone into a bush, throw a trinket ward or Miasma before walking in. If a kill feels too easy to be true, it probably is.

Also, do not forget to time dragon ! That global gold will really help when your team is behind. If you know other team is stronger than your own, timing dragon and being there 5-10 seconds BEFORE it spawns will almost guarantee the dragon. You will also be in a better position to fight for dragon. If the enemy jungler Flashs over the wall to try and Smite, make sure you Petrifying Gaze him right away!

Late game

This is where you shine. Well, if you think about it, Cassiopeia kinda shine throughout the entire game. But late game, with your items, you basically become an offtank that deals more damage than most AP mages.

One of Cassiopeia's many strengths is her ability to siege turrets. She is able to block off certain areas under the enemy turret effectively zoning them with Miasma and quickly clear waves with Noxious Blast spam. Tell your AD Carry to constantly poke at the turret to take it down. Cassiopeia is better than other AP mages at sieging turrets since she is able to easily disengage with her ult and sometimes even tower dive when the other team is stunned. There is just so much versatility in her kit.

Cassiopeia is also able to deal tons of sustained damage as long as she has enough mana. Grab blue buff and clear Baron nashor of any Stealth Wards.
Tell your team to distract the other team mid lane (but not engage) and you can easily duo a quick Baron with your jungler's help. Do not be stupid about this, if you have a jungle teemo that's building full AP, do not do it.

Items

I have been asked by many people who wonder why I would get Rod of Ages over the more commonly bought Tear of the Goddess I have played countless games with Cassiopeia and rarely do I ever see Tear of the Goddess get turned into an Archangel's Staff. Stacking the Tear of the Goddess is not really the issue, as many people assume. Another benefit to Rod of Ages is that it gives you quite a bit of tankyness. This is extremely important and will make the enemy team think twice before diving/engaging on you. Very mixed feeling's about this item. Liandry's Torment used to be a ridiculously strong item (preseason 3 madness), it's in a decent spot right now and it give good magic pen and damage based on current health of the target. I usually get this only if I need the health shred. An amazing item of Cassiopeia. She is able to constantly reapply the slow with her E and keep up with whoever she wishes to delete thanks to Noxious Blast. Rylai's Crystal Scepter give's Cassiopeia a lot of kiting power. You will be able to kite most champions without any issues! Abyssal Mask itself give's really good starts, even without the unique passive. There are better items that suit Cassiopeia, however, I do recommend getting this item if you are getting bursted really hard (most of the time your Rod of Ages and Rylai's Crystal Scepter will prevent you from getting instagibbed) or if they have two or more heavy magic dealers. If I had to, I would replace Liandry's Torment for this item.

Match Ups!

note: I was extremely tempted to tell you guys extremely obvious tips. (i.e. Dodge the Charm However, I honestly don't think that you guys would purposely get hit by dangerous skillshots.

Ahri

This is extremely easy lane for you before level 6, the difficulty spikes right away once she gets Spirit Rush. Try to bait out her ult and backing out right away. Stay behind minions and harass whenever possible with Noxious Blast. Another thing you can do is to ult her the second she Spirit Rushs, before she is able to throw out her Charm this should give you enough time to spam spells and ignite for the kill.

Akali

Try to abuse Akali before she hits level 6. I mean ABUSE her. Do not let her cs, do not let her get exp. Zone her as much as you can as safely as you can. Once she gets Shadow Dance, you might have some trouble. However, ask the jungle for some ganks and buy a Vision Ward for your all ins so she can't hide in her Twilight Shroud.

Anivia

Do not underestimate da ice bird like I did. Perhaps that one Anivia I played against was god, perhaps ranked games at 4am in the morning just isn't a good idea or maybe I just suck. Dodging the Flash Frost will make the lane a lot easier, unfortunately, laning isn't exactly the problem with Anivia. Once late game happens she will outscale and out damage you in teamfights. Try to gank other lanes and roam as much as possible to prevent late game from even happening, or get your jungler to camp mid to keep yourself ahead! Do not make the same foolish mistake I did and try to outfarm and outscale her late game. Not. Happening.