Keep track of how many minions he can E onto, try to fight Yasuo when there are no minions around for him to dash to so he can't dodge your spin damage on daggers. If he windwalls correctly, shunpo back. Setup Q dagger on minions and shunpo in, W for the full refund pre level 6, then go back out by shunpoing on your minions. Mainly a farm lane, call for ganks as he is very vulnerable to getting ganked since he lacks mobility. sync your Q when W lands, it animation cancels.
Anivia
Dodge her Q stun and if it's on cooldown, play aggressive. Don't get frosted by her Q or Ulti because you will eat her buffed E. After level 6, it's pretty much a farm lane, she will push out waves like no tomorrow with R. Don't get baited by her egg, always left click her to check if she has it. Ignite her BEFORE egg is down if it kills. Her passive lasts 4 minutes, your ignite is 3 minutes.
Viktor
It's okay to get hit by his Q, just don't get hit by his buffed auto attack. afterwards. Dodge his lasers, becareful as it out-ranges your shunpo. Take advantage of his cooldowns, he is vulnerable without his Q shield. When he drops his W Gravity field, make sure you have your E reset/refunded so you can jump in or out depending on the situation. Viktor R will cancel your channeled abilities, this means your R. watch for that.
Malzahar
Take advantage of him if he uses his E on minions. Try to get rid of his spell shield passive and keep it down to prepare yourself for an all-in. Don't get E'd or you'll get poked down hard. Start Doran shield as it's good vs Damage over time. Purchase QSS sometime after gunblade if your team isn't that ahead. His ult will make him vulnerable while standing still, take advantage of this if he ults one of your allies. Dump on him in teamfights.
Zed
Dodge his shurikens. Careful with his level 2 WQ poke. Start Dark seal for aggression, all in when he uses WQ on minions to wave clear. All in him when he has 0 energy. Careful level 6. Don't stay low health under turret when he has ult.
Azir
Play around his soldiers' range and keep an eye out for that when trying to last hit minions. If he Qs his soldier in aggressively, go in if you didn't get hit by his Q as he will lack a great portion of his damage. You can also dodge his Q by Shunpoing in and it will catch him off-guard. He's vulnerable after using Q, take advantage. At level 6, you can outplay his ulti with shunpo if done right and with correct dagger placements.
Aurelion Sol
Farm for first few waves if he is shoving. If not, play aggressive. Setup your Q dagger and poke in and out. Go for aggressive trades if his Q stun is down. Fairly one of the easier matchups, just be sure to keep track of his roaming as he can fly towards other lanes. Dodge his Ulti by shunpoing behind him, it doesn't do that much damage early on.
Brand
Learn to avoid his abilities. Dodge his W and you will be alright as this is his highest damaging spell and it is what he will max. Starting boots here helps to avoid his skillshots. Careful when getting hit by his E engulf. He can set ablaze minions to poke this way, don't get too close. Get aggressive if his abilities are on CD. The most important ability to avoid is his Q as it stuns when you're ablaze. He's very squishy and immobile, take advantage.
Cassiopeia
Dodge her Q's, if it lands immediately fall back as she will follow with continous twin fangs. Careful for level 1 harass when you are farming. Passive farm early by Qing minions or Auto attacking at a safe distance from cass and get aggressive at lvl 3-5. Take advantage if she overextends or when her Q is on CD, she won't be able to trade well at 6, if she has no MR, you can burst her down as long as you outplay her ulti by showing your back to her.
Diana
Take advantage of her shield cooldown, she won't be able to defend off your damage. Setup Q dagger while she's farming. Know the pattern of dodging Diana's Q. Don't go for extended trades, know when to back out as her auto attacks will out trade you because of her passive. After she hits level 6, don't get hit by Q or she'll simply out-damage you hard. Don't use ult until she uses her E.
Fizz
Don't let him proc his W mark. Dodge his E with your Shunpo. Take advantage of his E being on CD. Don't get hit by his ult or this will be his cue to all in, try not to let him long range his ult either. Q him when he's trying to farm, max Q. Setup Q daggers on minions because he can dodge your Q with E.
Veigar
Play aggressive pre level 6. If he uses his Q to farm, play aggressive as he walks up to last hit CS. Juke his other abilities if he cages you in. He's very squishy so punish his weak early, he will most of the time over-extend for CS to stack his Q.
Syndra
Dodge her Qs, she'll poke you when you are walking up to last hit minions so keep an eye out for that. If she misses stun, take advantage of it. After 6, don't get stunned. Farm safely and make her use crucial spells such as W and mainly E, then you can all in. Merc treads and hexdrinker are both great items against her.
Talon
Trade when his W rake is on CD. Don't let him proc passive on you, it takes 3 abilities to land for him to proc it and he has to auto attack. Setup with Q daggers and poke in and out. Setting up with E-W means you'll take his full burst damage unless his abilities are on CD. Watch for his melee range Q as it crits. At level 6, your ult overpowers his ult.
Ryze
Keep an eye out for the splash damage on the minions. Don't get into his snare range, it gets ugly. You can setup Q dagger on minions and go in and out but expect to take damage back or get rooted, not reliable method unless he burns his cooldowns. At level 6, you can all-in if you are even with him or ahead. Combo against ryze - E-W-R. Once he walks out of range of ult, Q-E. Merc treads is a great purchase VS ryze.
Lux
Stay away from minions, she will E. If she hits E, walk away from her as she wants to land an auto attack to proc her blight passive. Setup Q dagger on her when she's going to last hit a minion. Trade if her Shield is on CD since it is her strongest ability. Get aggressive if her Q is down because she can't stop you from full comboing. You have to learn to be elusive in this matchup by avoiding her key abilities. Don't get baited by her shield. Kill her when you have items.
LeBlanc
Don't let her proc her Q mark. Dodge chain by staying behind minions or side stepping when no ally minions are around. Take advantage of her if she uses her W as she won't have an escape/gap closer. Play patiently in lane, don't use EW combo if she has W as she will dodge the spin damage. Merc Treads is good vs her chain.
Xerath
Dodge his Qs, careful when you walk up to farm as he can Q or W, use shunpo to avoid skill shots if needed. When you go in on him with EW be sure you try to juke his E afterwards as most xerath players will immediately try to throw it out, use W's decay movespeed to avoid his E when all-ining.
Ekko
Don't allow Ekko to proc his 3rd attack on passive, walk away to avoid this or shunpo out. It's his major tool to out-trade you. Take advantage when his Q is on cooldown. Setup Q dagger on him when he tries to go for CS. After hitting 6, try to force him to use ult by playing aggressive, it's okay to burn your own ulti for his. He'll be far more open for ganks and left far more vulnerable than you without ult.
Lissandra
Stay away from the minion wave so she doesn't land her Q on you and the minions. If you setup Q dagger on her, go in and trade, she will use her W root but it does low damage. After 6, you can try to out-trade her because she usually can't one shot you if she isn't already ahead. Never use your ulti when she has hers up. QSS and Merc treads are both solid purchases VS her but I would not suggest buying both as that's far too much defensive items.
Heimerdinger
Setup Q daggers on him and poke in/out - After Shunpoing on Q, immediately use W to get a full refund on Shunpo and use that to shunpo back out on minions. Careful when he has too many turrets next to him if you attempt an all-in. Start Doran shield. You will be pushed in this laning phase most of the time, last hit under turret, careful for his rocket poke under turret. Don't need to win lane as his strength comes within being a bully in lane.
Annie
ALWAYS watch her stun bar, avoid all-ining when she has it up at level 6, you can ignore her stun before lv 6 as your EW will still land and you can continue your combo, be sure you are healthy for this trade. Poke her when she's going for CS. Setup Q daggers and poke in/out when given the chance. Merc treads are great here. After 6, becareful for her flash ult. If you are ahead however, she can't one shot you.
Vel'Koz
Play aggressive when his Q is on CD. Setup Q daggers when he's going for CS. He's VERY squishy and can be out-traded. If he misses knock up, he's open. Careful when he's level 6 because his ult does PLENTY of damage and if you don't have E ready you'd eat a lot of the damage. His ult makes him stationary, take advantage of this. You can all in with EW, but as soon as you do, walk to the side to avoid his knock up, you should anticipate this.
Kassadin
Go for a trade when his Q magic shield is down. You can get out-traded if he hits all his spells. Setup Q dagger on him directly or on minions, he is a melee champion so take advantage of this. Don't Q him when his Q is up, he'll simply get magic shield from you with a Q and you'd get out-poked. After hitting 6, if he ults in and uses Q, be aggressive and all in with your own ult.
Taliyah
Trade against Taliyah when her W is on CD, she tends to be squishy, just like vel'koz or ziggs. Her strong strait is pushing in waves so try your best to push against the wave and keep pressure on her, don't let her push waves for free, punish her for shoving in. She uses a bunch of ability to do-so so she won't have a strong retaliation when you jump her besides her rock knockback which can be avoided if you anticipate it.
Vladimir
Don't go for poke trades with him, his Q sustains him and he can crimson rush to get back a lot of health. Make him burn his pool because it costs health and allows you to fight him. Don't get hit by his Crimson Rush Q, as soon as you see the bar fill up immediately step back. It does more damage + gives more HP back. After 6, don't all in him and focus on farming unless you are ahead of him.
Ziggs
Dodge his Q bombs. Go aggressive if his abilities are on CD. Ziggs is a mana user and has to use up a lot of mana to poke, go in when he has none. He's Squishy and not really one of the hardest matchup, if Ziggs overextends go aggressive. Watch for his satchel when going for an all-in. Start Doran shield against him or boots to avoid his Q bombs, both good options.
Ahri
Careful when you CS because she will Q you, she will try to go for pokes. Use Shunpo if you need to avoid skillshots or step back. Dodge her E and Q and try to take as little poke in lane as possible. You can play aggressive when her charm is on CD. She's open to an all-in when her E is on CD, she's vulnerable without it. She can kite you at 6 and avoid daggers, becareful when you're low HP because she'll have 3 dashes and she could kill you.
Orianna
Lane tends to be difficult vs a good orianna with barrier/exhaust, farm it out. Take advantage of her CDS because that's when she is vulnerable. Safely setup Q dagger, E > W then shunpo out back to your minions. This way you won't get out-traded. Don't go for extended trades, quick in/out. It can also bait her ultimate if she's a bad player. Don't force plays unless you are confident that you can kill her. You can outplay by going in on her after she uses Q on the wave but be ready to take a lot in return if you fail the trade.
Kennen
Always keep in mind how many stack marks he has on you so you know when you will get stunned. Don't get hit by his empowered auto attack on his W passive and avoid his Qs. Trade when his E is down. Avoid his ultimate in big teamfights, be sure to go zhonya to avoid this. Wait it out then try to go for an all-in with Q then EWR. Farm it out safely after level 6 in lane. Go aggressive if you know you can kill him with the damage you have.
Corki
Setup Q daggers, go in/out, use W after landing on Q dagger for a full shunpo refund, this is especially important pre lv 6. You can setup Q dagger on a minion or on the enemy champion directly. Avoid his bomb, walk back and forth then all-in when his Q is on CD. His E procs electrocute easily. Force him to use Valkyrie so he burns a lot of mana.
Zoe
Avoid her sleep by staying behind minions, this is the most crucial part because it sets up her Q extremely well and you eat far too much damage. If she's strong, she easily forces you out of lane if enough of her Q's land, sometimes even just two Q's is enough to force you to back. Grabbing merc treads is really good here. EW behind her and move to the side to avoid her sleep, then go back into your W. You can also Setup Q dagger on minions and proc your electrocute, move to the side for her sleep after doing that. Avoid getting slept as much as you can, you beat her in a straight up 1v1 once you have gunblade.
Riven
Avoid an auto attack battle early on, she wins every time. Go for quick pokes to proc electrocute by setting up Q dagger on a minion. Don't do damage through her shield, let it finish so you don't waste your cooldowns on nothing. If she ults, shunpo away immediately. If you don't have Shunpo in this scenario, you're fu****. Never fight riven when she has a big sword. Avoid all-ining when she has 3rd Q ready to go. Go in/out - you don't have to keep fighting her, especially in lane.
Wukong
Beware of his level 2 all-in - his E-AA-Q with electrocute can put you on half health. Setup Q dagger on minions and proc electrocute is a good way to pressure him - W after, and E back to your minions. Don't fight him with auto attacks, you lose every time. If Wukong is missing in your lane, immediately back off for few seconds - chances are he is setting up an all-in on you with his decoy. You beat him when you have Gunblade. Watch out for his ulti and get ready to zhonya in mid/late game fights. Every time he's missing, stay alert.
Galio
Close to an unplayable lane but managable. He has no serious kill pressure unless you mess up somewhere, other than that you both just sit back and farm. If he gets a gank, immediately try to shunpo away. Ganks are you worst enemy in this matchup because Galio is a great setup for a gank with his taunt. He has a free magic shield, don't hard poke him. Focus on farming and being in a safe distance. You CAN kill him early on if he takes too much minion aggro because galio mains get cocky and play very aggressive against a Katarina. Fight him with Q dagger setup on minion, then EW, E out. Do this when he just used taunt or just used his passive auto attack so he doesn't trade back for a lot.
Fiddlesticks
An absurd lane for Katarina but there are ways around it. You should HEAVILY consider Legend Tenacity rune in precision. Buy Merc treads even if he's the only one with CC, his late game fear/silence takes way too long. When he hits 6 in lane, he will try to ult over the mid wall. If he's missing, don't hard commit for minions, chances are you will die. Full ult and combo will kill you without any time for you to react most of the time - react before he unloads. Wards hard counter fiddle so you can see him over walls getting ready to ult. Pre lv 6, wait till he uses fear and silence before all-in or he will win the trade.
Karthus
He has nothing to counter your ult. His power is lane control/poking and he scales into late game - use your early aggression by punishing him when he over extends. A matchup Kat wins most of the time unless you don't do anything in lane and he recalls with HP/AP. Stopwatch is wise vs his ult after gunblade.
Lulu
Unplayable lane if Lulu saves her polymorphs. Go Legend Tenacity and merc treads. She has all point and click abilities that all counter Katarina hard. She has shield/Poly/hugify - Eat a polymorph early on when you all in her at lv 3, pay attention if she uses her E on a minion to poke you with Q. All in a Lulu when her E is on CD, it's her free shield. dodge her Q slow so you can catch up with auto attacks.
Jarvan IV
His EQ is a great early gank setup and his Ultimate is great to keep people in one place, allowing Katarina to setup a dagger and kill them all.
Warwick
His speed, fear and his ultimate suppression shouldn't be ignored - Ideal jungler for Katarina because the fear and his ultimate are fantastic ability to keep someone locked down for Katarina to kill.
Zilean
His ultimate is far too good on Katarina. You go in and do your thing, and he'll pop his ult on you allowing you to be more aggressive. It's the most ideal ultimate for Katarina.
Leona
Leona's passive and Crowd control is always welcome in a team - it is especially good with Katarina. A perfect Leona setup with her ultimate along with the passive proc really adds a lot to your damage.
Lulu
Lee Sin
A great jungler with great setups, kicking someone back into Katarina in the laning phase is really great - the synergy can fail though if two of the players don't know what they're doing - for example, lee sin kicks the person back but Katarina already setup a dagger infront, or lee sin kicks the person away from Katarina and the dagger setup isn't on the enemy anymore.
Shen
Shen's ultimate allows you to be very aggressive and can potentially save you from death. His taunt is also a great engage and can set you up with dagger setups really easily.
Morgana
Her black shield will allow you to not take CC during your ultimate channel, her binding also takes REALLY long allowing you to very easily setup a double dagger on your enemy.
Kha'Zix
His damage is great, his ganks are great but he isn't really one of the top tier synergies you can hope for in a jungler, but it's still something. It also means there will be 2 assassins in the team which can still work, but it is ideal to have a different jungler for Katarina.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Jarvan IV
His EQ is a great early gank setup and his Ultimate is great to keep people in one place, allowing Katarina to setup a dagger and kill them all.
Warwick
His speed, fear and his ultimate suppression shouldn't be ignored - Ideal jungler for Katarina because the fear and his ultimate are fantastic ability to keep someone locked down for Katarina to kill.
Zilean
His ultimate is far too good on Katarina. You go in and do your thing, and he'll pop his ult on you allowing you to be more aggressive. It's the most ideal ultimate for Katarina.
Leona
Leona's passive and Crowd control is always welcome in a team - it is especially good with Katarina. A perfect Leona setup with her ultimate along with the passive proc really adds a lot to your damage.
Lulu
Lee Sin
A great jungler with great setups, kicking someone back into Katarina in the laning phase is really great - the synergy can fail though if two of the players don't know what they're doing - for example, lee sin kicks the person back but Katarina already setup a dagger infront, or lee sin kicks the person away from Katarina and the dagger setup isn't on the enemy anymore.
Shen
Shen's ultimate allows you to be very aggressive and can potentially save you from death. His taunt is also a great engage and can set you up with dagger setups really easily.
Morgana
Her black shield will allow you to not take CC during your ultimate channel, her binding also takes REALLY long allowing you to very easily setup a double dagger on your enemy.
Kha'Zix
His damage is great, his ganks are great but he isn't really one of the top tier synergies you can hope for in a jungler, but it's still something. It also means there will be 2 assassins in the team which can still work, but it is ideal to have a different jungler for Katarina.
Hey! I am a Katarina Main Twitch Streamer since 2013 and I have continously updated my Katarina guide since season 3, if you have any questions about Katarina, feel free to stop by and ask me questions live!
This guide will constantly be updated for every Patch/every change that happens to Katarina - The most recent update to the guide and Katarina will be included in this section.
This Guide is now Up To date for Season 12.
Easiest method to reach out to me is through my Discord server if you have any questions regarding Katarina changes or if you are seeking simple advice, You can join our discord server here, which currently has over 300+ members:
She's still great. She is still the reset snowball assassin and the new mythic items compliment a lot of her playstyle, she also has A LOT of health with how the new itemization and runes work, allowing her to be a bit more beefy while dishing out a lot of damage.
Video Format of The Katarina Guide
Catch Up On Katarina
Catch Up On Katarina
I'd like to keep the changes to Katarina here incase you haven't caught up with the assassin rework.
Remains the same with her resets on assists/kills.
Her spin damage on Voracity is one of the most important things in her kit as it adds a lot to your damage, try not to miss it.
Spin damage scales up per champion level.
Now bounces few units behind the enemy target/minion, dagger lands exact same time even if it doesn't bounce on 3 targets.
The dagger bounces 3 times instead of 5.
You can Shunpo on Bouncing Blades before it lands on the ground.
AD % gone down from 65% to 55%, she still remains very solid with her early damage.
Can Shunpo directionally on daggers/enemies.
Shunpo is refunded a certain amount of %CD when she uses Shunpo on a dagger on these levels: 1/6/11/16
Still had AD/AP scalings.
Daggers thrown per second is noticeably faster.
Introduction
Introduction
I have been playing Katarina for well over 7 years and have played her throughout many games. Her rework redefines her in many ways and so a new era arises for her. I started streaming Katarina games in 2013 and grew a fan base ever since.
You can look at my OPGG profile here to see how much experience I've had with Katarina over the years, this guide is purely from within learning from my own mistakes and improving as a player both mechanically and decision making wise.
Here is everything you need to know about Katarina - I hope this guide helps you out!
Why Katarina?
Why Katarina?
Here are the 6 reasons why you should play Katarina, a video that helps you see what makes Katarina a blade-wielding beast and why you should play her.
Skills
Skills
Voracity | Passive
Whenever an enemy champion dies within 3 seconds of Katarina damaging them, her cooldowns are reduced by 15 seconds.
DAGGERS: Whenever Katarina touches a Dagger on the ground, she uses it to slash through all nearby enemies, dealing 75 - 285 (Based on levels 1/6/11/16) (+ 100% bonus AD)(+ 55 / 70 / 85 / 100% AP) magic damage and consuming the Dagger.
Daggers last 4 seconds before disappearing.
Bouncing Blades (Q)
Katarina throws a Dagger to the target enemy that bounces to up to 2 nearby unaffected enemies, dealing magic damage to each target.
After bouncing to its targets, the Dagger then lands on the ground opposite from where it struck the first target. The Dagger always takes the same amount of time to land from the time it was cast.
Katarina tosses a Dagger into the air at her current location, which lands after 1.5 seconds, and gains bonus movement speed that decays over 1.25 seconds.
Katarina blinks to the target location around the target unit or Dagger. If the target is an enemy, Katarina deals them magic damage. Otherwise, she deals the same magic damage to the nearest enemy in range.
Picking up a Dagger reduces Shunpo cooldown by 78 / 84 / 90 / 96%.
Katarina rapidly spins in place and channels for 2.5 seconds, throwing a dagger every 0.166 seconds to each nearby enemy champion, up to a maximum of 3 at a time, dealing them magic damage and applying Grievous Wounds icon Grievous Wounds for 3 seconds.
Moving or reactivating Death Lotus immediately ends its effects.
- Can escape scary situations with shunpo, can be used on minions or allies
- Has the most amazing skins<3
- Snowballs hard
- Lots of AoE damage
- High mobility
- Healing/Damage reduction ability
- An aggresive laning phase.
Cons
- Countered by CC, Tanky Champions, and Champions with high mobility
- Needs time to master.
- Brings nothing to the team aside from damage
- Melee attack range
What Every Mid Laner Needs To Know
What Every Mid Laner Needs To Know
Mechanics are one thing - knowledge is another.
Hey folks.
Here are some tips to help you win mid lane, mechanics are a big part of the game surely but I've never really digged deep into what makes YOU a good mid laner in my videos as I mostly focus on the mechanical aspects of Katarina during both the laning phase and in teamfights, and pretty much every stage of the game and in this video I explain exactly just that.
I think it's important to take a step back and understand what makes you a good mid laner in every context rather than simply your ability to play Katarina, instead of focusing on your mechanical aspect of your playstyle, we focus on a wider range as it should be for all mid laners. The Video will help you see the full puzzle rather than the 3/4 of it.
In this video, I explain STEP by STEP how to all-in your enemy pre level 6 properly in the most consistent way possible. Shunpo has a bad refund % pre level 6, so utilizing this technique will allow it so that your enemies can't dodge your Bouncing Blades dagger on the ground by moving left or right.
keep in mind this applies ONLY when you are pre level 6 as the Shunpo refund is attrocious early on and the refund is further improved at level 6, and more so at 11 and 16 where using both Preparation and Bouncing Blades together would be more ideal rather than delaying your Bouncing Blades after Preparation.
In this video, I showcase Directional Shunpo and how to fully utilize it during all stages of the game. Directional Shunpo and how you use it means all the difference in the world and mastering this takes time and effort.
In this Video, I explain how to deal with displacements such as Jayce who can knock you away from your daggers denying you a refund on Shunpo. Here is how to properly deal with that situation.
For this one, I showcase the basic fundamental concept of Clearing jungle camps and waves.
In this video, I showcase how you should work around Hextech Gunblade and explain certain combos with the item. It's a very important item on Katarina and I consider it to be of utmost importance.
This video will explain Bouncing Blades and Preparation technique you can use during the lane or outside of lane, it is more of a patient waiting game but pays off when the enemy is away from your Bouncing Blades on the ground.
Warding Guide
Warding Guide
If you are a ranked Solo queue player, this is by far the most important thing to keep in mind. EVERY League Of Legends player needs to know this, period. If you want to have better vision control overall, you need to understand how every lane manages their wards. Learning Katarina is not just understanding her mechanically, but understanding the entire game as a whole is truly mastering the game and allows you to perform at an extreme rate with Katarina as you begin to understand ward patterns and many other things such as the enemy player's behaviour, etc etc.
Mid Lane Warding
Mid Lane Warding
Here are my preffered warding spots when playing mid lane for both control wards and totems. It's a video showing the indepth precision with the warding and how it should be done inside bushes, even the placement of it matters and determines how much it actually reveals.
My Katarina Montages
My Katarina Montages
I will post my latest Katarina Montage here when I do make them.
1/2/2017 - Katarina Montage #17 - 'If you don't fight, you die.'
Just message me through facebook fan page or on twitter.
Thank you - Comment & Rate!
Thank you - Comment & Rate!
Hope you guys found this helpful.
Thanks for reading!
Check me out on twitch livestream if you are interested in seeing more of me playing as Katarina, I can give you advice LIVE. All viewers can chat with me.
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