Probably one of the toughest matchups for Kai’Sa. First off, Kog’Maw’s range is a real issue. It’s hard to go for defensive items against him in the late game, and he’s often paired with an enchanter, which makes the AP/poke build nearly impossible to use effectively. I recommend focusing on roaming—look to play side lanes in the midgame to apply pressure across the map. You’ll never be able to teamfight against him head-on.
Caitlyn
Caitlyn’s range, her objective to push for plates, and the presence of a CC support make the game very difficult. You’ll need to accept that you’ll have to give up some things. Don’t hesitate to recall more often than usual, and be willing to take a few autos in the early game just to secure CS.
My little tip for farming against her: be okay with taking one auto if it means getting two minions—auto + Q on two separate targets. Check the guide for more details.
Draven
Draven is an absolute nightmare. He has so much early damage that you won’t be able to play against him properly. A good Draven will always find a way to win trades no matter the situation. He can quickly build lifesteal, but if he goes full AD, don’t hesitate to play around poke—the AP build becomes a viable option. Don’t be shy about pinging your jungler; with one or two early ganks, the game can become very difficult for him.
Nilah
Nilah is a recent problem for Kai’Sa, mainly due to how strong she is in the current meta. Her W has a long cooldown, and so do her dashes. Don’t hesitate to back off when she uses a cooldown, then look to re-engage afterward.
Trading Kai’Sa’s E for Nilah’s E—if the trade is even—is often very worth it. Never ult into Nilah. Always save your ult to escape her ultimate and reset an auto at the same time.
Miss Fortune
MF is a matchup I personally find hard to manage. If you can avoid her Q poke and short trades in the early game, you’ll come out with a much stronger midgame. However, she becomes a real problem in the late game.
I really like building a Randuin’s as a last item or going for the Terminus + Jak’Sho build to avoid getting one-shot by this frustrating champion in late-game teamfights.
Xayah
Xayah’s ultimate is a direct counter to Kai’Sa’s, so never dive into her head-on if her ult is up. I really like taking short trades until she’s forced to use her ultimate prematurely—once that’s down, you’ve got full control.
Let her back off lane after that and play around the tempo advantage you’ve created. Your Q evolve spike is insanely strong against Xayah—make sure to capitalize on it.
Lucian
This matchup is very support-dependent in my opinion. If Lucian is paired with an enchanter like Nami or Milio, it’s really tough—he becomes the engage, and his boosted damage is just illegal. But if he’s with a support like Nautilus or Blitzcrank, his early is slower and he can run into mana issues due to reduced damage—the mana-to-damage ratio becomes much less favorable.
His Serrated Dirk spike is strong, but you’ll have enough time to start scaling. Focus on playing around your Q evolve—E evolve isn’t particularly effective against him.
Ashe
Ashe is once again a tough matchup due to her range. However, you now have faster wave clear and a way to match her poke. Once you hit level 6, it’s all about dodging her arrow—if you do, you can definitely win.
You can absolutely fight her in all-ins, but if you see she’s in a good position to kite you (better range and spacing), know when to back off.
This is also a matchup where taking Cleanse is definitely viable.
Kalista
Kalista is tough early due to her mobility and strong level 2. Avoid extended trades and don’t fight before your power spikes. Focus on farming and poking with Q. Once you get Q evolve, you can burst her down—she’s very fragile if caught. Be patient and punish her when she overextends.
Jinx
Jinx is a very straightforward matchup: if you’re in melee range, you win; if you’re far away, you lose. Nothing more to it.
Twitch
Twitch is a tricky matchup for Kai’Sa, mostly because of how explosive and sneaky he can be. In lane, he's generally weaker unless paired with an aggressive support. Try to punish him early—he’s very vulnerable before getting a few items.
The real threat starts midgame when he can go invisible and look for flanks. Always be mindful of his position once he disappears—buy Control Wards and hug vision. If you catch him before he gets to open up, you can burst him down easily. But if he gets the jump on you, especially with a support or from fog of war, it gets rough fast.
Your best tools are reaction time and positioning. Save your ultimate to dodge his burst or reposition when he opens up with Spray and Pray. If you're going full AP or poke build, landing your W first can let you delete him before he even gets to fight. It's a high-risk, high-reward matchup—but one you can definitely win with smart play.
Tristana
Tristana is a volatile matchup for Kai’Sa. Early on, her all-in potential is scary—her level 2 spike is one of the strongest in the game, so be very careful not to give her that window. If she jumps on you with E stacked and Ignite, it can snowball fast.
However, Tristana’s strength lies in early-mid snowballing. If you manage to survive the early game without falling behind, you’ll start outscaling her hard. Your poke, especially with W evolve, becomes much more impactful than her short-range burst.
In fights, never ult aggressively into her unless you’re sure she can’t burst you or reset her jump. Always try to bait out her W or punish it if she uses it offensively. A lot of Tristana players overcommit—use that to turn trades around.
Respect her early game, play for scaling, and once you get a couple of items, the matchup shifts heavily in your favor.
Just take care about he very late game, she has too much range for you.
Samira
Samira is a relatively weak champion in the early game, so don’t hesitate to go for short trades using autos and Qs. She relies heavily on her support’s engage, so keep your eyes more on the support than on her. Overall, you’ll be able to win pretty easily if you play it slow and controlled.
Be very careful with her W—when it’s down, she becomes an easy target. In pure 1v1s, aside from late game where she can one-shot you, you can take almost any fight you want.
Ezreal
Ezreal’s early game is really strong—his poke is a solid threat—but you can outscale him pretty quickly. Once you evolve your E, the invisibility makes you very powerful against him. His dash is weak since you can follow it with your ultimate.
Honestly, once you get past the very early game, the matchup becomes very enjoyable—especially if you manage to stay even in CS.
Varus
Varus is a fairly manageable matchup. He might push you out of lane early, but you’ll outscale him quickly. The lethality build doesn’t scare me in solo queue—it’s honestly pretty bad in my opinion, and once you can burst him, he has no answer.
The on-hit version has a bit more staying power, but let’s be real—it’s still quite weak. His ultimate is a root, not a hard CC, so I recommend using your ult to reposition for his charged W arrow rather than for his ultimate. This is also a matchup where taking Cleanse is definitely viable.
Aphelios
Aphelios is a scaling champ, but his early can still hurt depending on his guns. Play carefully around his Severum (lifesteal) and Infernum (AOE poke). Don’t force trades unless you have a clear advantage. Once you hit Q evolve, you can pressure him hard—he lacks mobility and can’t escape all-ins easily. Just respect his power spikes and don’t get greedy.
Vayne
Vayne is honestly a pleasure to play against. Not only is she weak in the current meta, but she gets completely obliterated by Kai’Sa. She pokes with Q? You can do the same. She goes invisible? So can you. Your Q reveals her, and your ultimate? It’s simply better. She’ll never be able to lock you down—you completely outclass her.
Jhin
In my opinion, Jhin is not a problem at all for Kai’Sa. Sure, he has decent range and his early poke with Q is strong, but aside from that, you can farm quite easily compared to other ADCs. You outscale him quickly, and the ease of 1v1’ing him—especially if you land your W—makes the matchup very manageable.
Zeri
Zeri is annoying but manageable. Her poke and mobility can be frustrating, but she lacks real burst early. Play short trades and avoid extended fights. Once you get Q evolve, you can outdamage her easily. Save your ult to follow her dash or escape her engage. Don’t let her scale for free.
Smolder
Smolder is weak early—take advantage of that with poke and short trades. Don’t let him stack freely. Once he hits 125 stacks, his damage ramps up fast, so play more carefully past that point. Your Q evolve spike hits earlier and harder, so use it to pressure him before he scales. In late game, avoid clumping to reduce his AOE impact.
Sivir
Sivir is a pretty safe laner thanks to her spell shield and waveclear. Don’t waste key abilities into her E—try to bait it first. She struggles in all-ins, so once it’s down, you can go aggressive. Your Q evolve spike gives you much more kill pressure. Just don’t let her perma-shove for free—match her tempo and look for windows to punish.
Nautilus
Strong engage and chain CC. His hook and ultimate let Kai’Sa follow up easily with her own ult. Great for forcing all-ins and snowballing lane.
Lulu
Excellent buffing and protection. Her W and R help Kai’Sa survive dives and deal more damage. Very strong in scaling comps.
Soraka
Sustain queen. She keeps Kai’Sa healthy in tough lanes and long fights. Good with poke builds or when facing high poke enemies.
Rell
Massive AOE engage and armor shred. Her W + R combo sets up perfect teamfights, and Kai’Sa can dive in safely behind her. They scale well together in skirmishes.
Thresh
Versatile: he can engage, peel, and reposition Kai’Sa with Lantern. His CC lets Kai’Sa land skillshots or ult safely. Strong synergy overall.
Blitzcrank
High-impact hooks that lead to quick kills. When he lands one, Kai’Sa can immediately follow with a full combo. Lane dominance potential is huge.
Alistar
Tanky frontline with great peel and combo potential. He can protect Kai’Sa or engage fights with Q + W, giving her a clear moment to jump in.
Hard Lane in early
Pyke
Extremely aggressive. Great for snowballing kills. His hook and dash create picks, and Kai’Sa can follow with her ult for quick cleanups.
He maybe gonna roam too much or int
Zyra
Strong poke and zone control. Her plants and snares help Kai’Sa win lane slowly and safely, especially when going poke/AP build.
HELP A LOT FOR LANE IN EARLY
Xerath
Heavy poke support. Controls lane from afar, lets Kai’Sa farm safely. Works great with AP Kai’Sa builds to burst enemies from range.
HELP A LOT FOR LANE IN EARLY
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Nautilus
Strong engage and chain CC. His hook and ultimate let Kai’Sa follow up easily with her own ult. Great for forcing all-ins and snowballing lane.
Lulu
Excellent buffing and protection. Her W and R help Kai’Sa survive dives and deal more damage. Very strong in scaling comps.
Soraka
Sustain queen. She keeps Kai’Sa healthy in tough lanes and long fights. Good with poke builds or when facing high poke enemies.
Rell
Massive AOE engage and armor shred. Her W + R combo sets up perfect teamfights, and Kai’Sa can dive in safely behind her. They scale well together in skirmishes.
Thresh
Versatile: he can engage, peel, and reposition Kai’Sa with Lantern. His CC lets Kai’Sa land skillshots or ult safely. Strong synergy overall.
Blitzcrank
High-impact hooks that lead to quick kills. When he lands one, Kai’Sa can immediately follow with a full combo. Lane dominance potential is huge.
Alistar
Tanky frontline with great peel and combo potential. He can protect Kai’Sa or engage fights with Q + W, giving her a clear moment to jump in.
Hard Lane in early
Pyke
Extremely aggressive. Great for snowballing kills. His hook and dash create picks, and Kai’Sa can follow with her ult for quick cleanups.
He maybe gonna roam too much or int
Zyra
Strong poke and zone control. Her plants and snares help Kai’Sa win lane slowly and safely, especially when going poke/AP build.
HELP A LOT FOR LANE IN EARLY
Xerath
Heavy poke support. Controls lane from afar, lets Kai’Sa farm safely. Works great with AP Kai’Sa builds to burst enemies from range.
HELP A LOT FOR LANE IN EARLY
My name is Wendy, and I’ve been a League of Legends player for over 10 years. I’ve had a passion for Kai’Sa ever since her release, and over time, I developed a love for crafting unique and creative builds around her.
I’ve always approached the champion like a scientist—experimenting, optimizing, and pushing the limits. I’ve done a lot of boosting with Kai’Sa, and she’s the only ADC that helped me reach and sell Challenger ADC accounts in solo queue.
This guide is a bit special because it’s based entirely on my personal experience, how I love to play the champion, and how I view the game. It might not be for everyone—but it works!
The guide is still in progress. Eventually, I’d like to go in-depth into Kai’Sa’s matchups against all 169 champions in the game, breaking everything down thoroughly. Consider this the Version 1 of the guide, and don’t hesitate to leave feedback or suggestions!
Kai'sa Guide
Build Guide By Wendy_Fairy
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