INTRODUCTION

Anyway let's get right into it!

PROS/CONS

PROS

CONS

+Fun to play

-Squishy

+Great harass

-Skillshot dependant

+Game changing ultimate

-Difficult to master

+DAT damage

-Dosen't fit current meta

RUNES

First of all before we get into diffrent rune setups i'd recommend you to get a minimum of two diffrent rune pages depending of what you're up against in your mid lane. This is gold worth for your early/laning game. This is mostly for draft pick, where you most of the time can see what champion you're up against. But they are still decent for blind pick games though myself use a third rune page mostly for blind pick.



Note: This page really shines s3 due to the incrase of bruisers in the mid lane. Usually when against AD heavy bruiser in lane they build The Brutalizer fast and the armor you get from runes will be pretty much a waste. I usually get some fast early HP if im having a hard time against bruisers.



Note: Pretty much the most used page, it gives you everything you need as a AP carry.


Note: The standard page, mostly used in blind pick. It's not that great due to lack of survivability. Though this page is not situational, it works for all setups/matchups/maps. This is somewhat an "allround" page.

Final note

When getting your first tier3 runepage you have to expect a really high cost of your runes. I don't have the exact numbers but be prepared to spend atleast 15k Influence Points. If you just started to work on your rune pages for your AP carry i'd strongly suggest you to get Greater Mark of Magic Penetration and Greater Quintessence of Ability Power first since they are core runes to all the rune pages above.

BUILDS

In this section i won't give you full builds, since they vary alot depending on diffrent factors such as what champion im against, do i get alot of early gold(Kills, good farm etc). Here i will list the diffrent items i usually buy and explain when and why i buy them. Let's go!


Great for Cassiopeia. Can be used defensively so escape those ganks fast and also aggresively to pull of game changing ultimates without sacrificing a deadly ammount of positioning.

True damage dot ontop of your poisons, great for getting easy kills.

No that great, though it can be considered sometimes! It provides presence in another lanes. Teleporting can sometimes secure double kills if teleported behind enemy botlane. And fast traveling to help your team to get objectives etc.
Though since your mid lane, you have easy time helping your lanes and helping your team with objectives. Come on, lazy..

I would not consider this. Though if it makes you comfortable while learning Cassiopeia you can take it. You won't need it when your played her alot.




I start with this item about 50% of the time. Usually when im against laners with avoidable pokes such as Javelin Toss and Thundering Shuriken.


Great pair of Nike's! Gives magic penetration and with you almost get true damage early and mid-game everytime. This item is core.



Very situational! If your against heavy CC teams such as Amumu etc, these are great and can be a matter of life and death. Basically, if you die before getting your spells off, this is the solution.




This item is great, i find myself using this more more lately even though the recent nerfs it's still decent. This item shines when against champions who's expected to harass you alot such as Elise who can use Neurotoxin for some quick harass. I also recommend starting this if you're new to Cassiopeia since it gives you alot more sustain which let's you stay in lane alot longer which leads to you getting more CS (Creep Score aka Last hits).




Basically my second item all the time, it gives you very good sustain along with Deadly Cadence and Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration mana won't be a problem. But the best thing about this item it's the upgrade, which ill talk about later.



This item i don't usually get so much. The only times i get this item is when im having a hard time in my lane. Though this item is actually really good, it gives you that extra survivability in fights and also let's you overextend abit more than usual. Also i recommend getting this if you're new to Cassiopeia since it will increase your learning rate alot by giving you that extra confidence. And the upgrade Will of the Ancients makes it even better.


Catalyst the Protector
Great item if getting bullied in your lane! Getting this item after Hextech Revolver gives even more sustain and survivability. Getting this item after Hextech Revolver and upgrading it as soon as possible to Rod of Ages is optimal especially when learning Cassiopeia.



This item is gold! I always get this item. I can't stress how good this item is. This item is alot better than Rabadon's Deathcap early->mid-game. It gives all the aggressive stats that you need and also most of the time makes you do true damage to squishy carries during mid-game. And you get some HP. This item is core. GGriot



Basic AP carry item. A must have for that late mid-game and late game damage. I try to get this right after Liandry's Torment to maximize my damage. This item combined with Seraph's Embrace gives you a great portion ability power and is the best item late-game. NOTE: always get this item. Regardless if you decide to go Seraph's Embrace or not! This item is core.



Great late-game item. Along with Liandry's Torment it makes you do even more damage to tanky targets. I usually get this item all the time. If you're against a tanky team this is is core. Though, this item can be swapped for some survivability items instead.



Great late-game item. It let's you get those clean-ups in team fights when you're getting focused. Also gives abit of survivabilty to survive initial burst. I usually get this item last if im getting focused. If you feel you're safe with out it, get more damage instead.



Very situational item. It gives some decent aggressive stats along with some HP and a slow. The slow is not that great for Cassiopeia since you have your Miasma. Sometimes though i get this item just for the survivability and ability power. It makes it easier hitting those precious Noxious Blast but it's not that great. Use your intelligence and decide as always when itemizing.




I almost never get this item. Though it is pretty decent if you're against AP heavy teams and Cassiopeia's range isn't that impressive but i feel Hextech Revolver and Rod of Ages is enough most of the times. Very situational item.




Great item! This item semi-core. My last item if i don't need Guardian Angel. Provides survivabilty, damage and great active.



Never actually get this item. You don't need the cooldown reduction and Tear of the Goddess helps you with your mana and also gives you great upgrade later.


I do not recommend this one on Cassiopeia. Your auto-attacks is only used for Last hitting and you get a great deal if movement speed from your Noxious Blast.



No. You already have amazing damage and you should spend your hard earned gold on the items above always before considering this item.



I don't even know why i have this one in my guide. Just NO.

Abilities

First of all, always start with Noxious Blast on level 1. With this you will be able to harass in the lane and help your jungler alot easier than going Miasma or Twin Fang first.
When you hit level 2 it really doesn't matter if you get Miasma or Twin Fang. If you sense you're getting early ganks Miasma is the way to go. Otherwise myself usually get Twin Fang on level for great damage and harass.
And level 3, you get Twin Fang if you got Miasma on level 2. Otherway around if you got Twin Fang you get Miasma on level 3. Standard.
Now, you have all your three skills which is a must when your level 3. ALWAYS get Q-W-E the first 3 levels.


From now on you you have 2 diffrent ways to go:

Max this for great harass! The ticks from Noxious Blast does great damage over time and also gives you bonus movement speed for 3 seconds if it hits an enemie.
On top of that you get more movement speed when you level it up. I get this when im having a hard time in my lane. But thats just me, you can still get this and be a bully15% / 17.5% / 20% / 22.5% / 25%



Max this for max burst damage! Only use this on poisoned targets! Thats why you need Noxious Blast before Twin Fang. When you hit a poisoned target with Twin Fang the cooldown resets which is crucial for your damage. Here is where skill shot "skills" matter. If you can't hit your poison before unloading your Twin Fang your damage will be terrible.



Get this last. The slow is good but Noxious Blast and Twin Fang is alot better.



The gold! Always skill this up when you can! It provides a stun if your enemy is facing you. You can slow your enemies if you hit them from behind which makes it alot easier to hit your Noxious Blast and does alot of damage regardless of enemies facing you or not!

IMPORTANT TIPS:
­-If you hit an enemy that is affected by Teemo or Singed poisons you can use your Twin Fang and get the cooldown reset without using your own poisons, use this to your advantage!
-When your target is poisoned and you use your Twin Fang you get a 0.5second cooldown on your Twin Fang depend how faraway you are from your target, try to be as close as possible when spamming your deadly Twin Fang this shortens the cooldown. This is great for killing objectives fast such as Baron Nashor and The Drake. Be smart though, Baron and the Drake will hit the closest target. Also in fights, when using this, make sure you can handle the distance before moving in.
-Standing in a bush and using your Petrifying Gaze almost always lets you hit your enemies from behind getting that 2 second stun for an easy kill.
-Don't be afraid to use Petrifying Gaze! If you can avoid a gank, save a team mate or mabe just slow your enemies. The cooldown is pretty long by it shouldn't be a excuse why you didn't use it.
- Flash ultimate can turn teamfight to your favour. If you get 3 enemies stunned with your ult magic happens.
-When you stun someone with your ult, make sure they are poisoned by your Miasma or Noxious Blast. If your unsecure if they are poisned or not, its worth waiting 0.3seconds to unload your Twin Fang to make sure you get the reset.
-Always try to move in between your cast.
-Use the slowing pool of your Miasma to deny you enemies diffrent paths, this makes it easier to predict your enemies movement.
-Train alot, sometimes 50games isn't enough, this goes for all champions (except Annie)
-One Noxious Blast will reset your Twin Fangs 3 times before it fades. ( Noxious Blast -> Twin Fang -> Twin Fang -> Twin Fang then you need to reapply your poisons.

General

Hopefully you've learned alot so far! This is the last part at the moment and will be about general laning stuff. This part will hopefully increase you mid lane game alot! It will be about....Warding and positioning! Though i won't go really deep with this since there's other guides for this but i give you the most important stuff.

Now, minions reaced the lane and its game on. And you should be last hitting minions to get gold. Easy right? But thats not all.
Since your in the middle your extremely precious prey for the enemy jungler. This is how you solve that problem:

The following pictures is take from blue team perspective (Left side of mini-map).

The red dot = Sight ward

This ward is the most important not just for you in mid-lane but for everyone in your team, why? This ward provides you vision of your enemies wraiths, and since the wraiths are easy to kill and has a short respawn time they are very feasty for junglers. When the wraiths are dead, it shows that the enemy jungler is close to that area, which let's both you and you're toplane keep track of enemy jungler. Also you can sneak fast dragons and such sometimes. Overall, this ward is a must during lane phase.
This ward is the second most important ward for you to keep up. It will almost spot enemy jungler when hes comming for a gank especially if you ward their wraiths (see above) and this at the same time.



Now you probably thinking, what if the jungle comes from the otherside of the mid-lane?
Simple, MAKE IT A RULE to always ward in these two spots. And always position yourself close to the upper-side without going in the bushes. If you do this with these two wards, you will see the enemy jungle if he comes from the upper-side, since you have wards. And you will be able to react before he even get close to hit a spell on you. And he comes from the otherside (The one you didn't ward aka bottom side of mid-lane.) You will have plenty of time to react since you positioned yourself so far up in the mid-lane.


As always , try to look at the mini map as much as possible. Wards are useless if you don't look and the spots they give sight of.


Hope you enjoyed the guide and learned something usefull. And feel free to share your thoughts.