Kassadin: The Badass Ninja of The Rift

So, somehow or another in your LoL career you've stumbled upon Kassadin, the big blueish/purple abs/metal tentacle face guy and you're wondering, "hey, is he as badass as he looks??"

The answer my friends is: YES.


Kassadin is one of the most powerful heroes in LoL and is one that is often overlooked.


UPDATE 10/30/11 -- Sorry I haven't got around to this sooner, but I am officially updating this guide! Kassadin is still AMAZINGLY strong as a solomidapcarryz (maybe even more so than he was when I first wrote this guide). He gets banned a lot in ranked and I feel like he is definitely a "Tier One" ap carry.

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So, Why play Kassadin?

Well, play him if:

You want to be a hero who is capable of killing any other hero at mid/late game
You want to be a hero that can kill squishies in literally 2 seconds
You want to be able to tower dive like no other hero can
You want to be able to jump around a team battle damaging (and killing) opposing support/dpsers
You want to be a hero who can escape even the deadliest ganks
You want to be a deadly, silent, teleporting assassin who can pop up anywhere
You want to be a hero that can carry you out of ELO HELL (believe in it or not...)
You want to be a hero that basically counters all other apmid heros
Or (and most importantly) you want to be a hero who is an all around MEGA badass

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Kassadin's Pros:

Super strong mid to late game
Deals insane amounts of damage
Teleports at will
Awesome silencer
Can escape easily
Great solo mid
GREAT way to carry yourself in soloq
FUN to play

Kassadin's Cons:

Very weak early game
Low Hp (a somewhat glass cannon)
Skill intensive (harder to master than say... Ryze)
Will be focused down in fights (as any good ap carry will be and should be)

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Kassadin is one of my favorite heroes because he is just really fun to play and he gets really strong by late game if you play him right (even if you're team sucks -which is cool).

I'm writing this guide because although the other Kassadin guides are good (especially Hell_Pet's) there are just some tweaks that are important enough to warrant another guide.

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Summoner Skills:

: Flash is a must. It should be basically used on every hero in every game (in the current meta.) It can be used both offensively and defensively and it is just all around amazing. Using flash and Rift-Walk, Kassadin can pretty much escape anything or close the gap to any hero to be killed.


: Ignite is pretty much also a must on apmidcarrys in the current meta. It is so helpful early (and late!) with finishing off kills and getting that edge in the lane. I do love teleport (see below) but it's so hard to justify not getting ignite because it can get you kills that you wouldn't have got without it (and this can change the course of your lane, and then the game).


-Higherbrow's Tip: "Mid to end game it doesn't do much for you, but using Ignite has allowed me to start killing in solo lane at level 6. Using a Null Sphere or two for harassment during level 5 can bring an opponent down to 3/4, and comboing them out when you hit 6 with Ignite is almost a guaranteed kill, often first blood. I usually start roaming at 7 rather than waiting for 9 simply because Ignite gives me that last bit of damage I need to finish them off. Cleanse and Exhaust are both extremely useful, but I usually net 2-3 kills per game on early Ignites. And Kassadin needs the help early. Late game, it sucks not having Exhaust/Cleanse, but if you had a really strong early game and kept your power going late, following your initiator in usually lets me straight up kill one person and put two or three others in a fleeing kind of mood." -Words of wisdom!

-killerkuiken's tip: "The reason why I use this spell [ignite] is because most suppport chars are healers and it has a 50% reduced heal debuff. It makes me extra capable of kiling their most valualbe units." -Another great tip, something that is easily ignored (and if you happen to lane against a swain or something, YOU NEED THIS SPELL).


: My third favorite summoner skill with Kassadin is teleport because it just allows Kassadin to literally fly around the map defending and ganking at will. I use it in these situations:

Quick going back to the battle after recall/shopping (all phases, but especially early game)
Quick gank strikes at other lanes (early/mid game)
Defending towers (all phases)
Farming huge creep mobs (mid/late)
Pushing undefended lanes (mid/late)

I don't think, in the current meta, that teleport is as good as flash/ignite. It is a good spell by all means, but it is not ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY like the other two.

Alternatives:

: EDIT - EXHAUST IS THE NEW FLAVOR OF THE MONTH ON APZ! Why some of the "pros" are using exhaust now is because it effectively takes out 1/3 of an enemy ap's burst. So in theory, you jump on an ap, exhaust them, blow all of your spells, and they won't be able to counter you because their damage is so limited. Try it out. It's good. flash/exhaust, exhaust/ignite, exhaust/cleanse.

-killerkuiken's tip: "Once [you] warp in you're going to be [the baddies] main focus, so 1 exhaust will save your day since banshees will block spells and exhaust will prevent the heavy dpsers from doing damage. Now you've got all the time to take out their most valuable units." -good tip

-Tinaby's tip: "I do agree with killerkuiken, an exhaust is really worth it. The only weak point of Kassadin is high melee dps heroes (particularly Trynda, ****in' ult LOL). An exhaust allows you to get enough time for your "dps cycle" (with the 2 Spheres and Rift) which will kill most heroes. Don't forget that a crit from Trynda or Yi end game does about 800 damages (not talking about double shot for the second one), and they are Attack Speed based, so you can die just as fast as the poor squishy Ashe you jumped on 2 minutes before." -Thanks Tinaby, great imput!

: EDIT - CLEANSE IS GOOD NOW!!!!! Yay, I'm so happy!! While I still like flash/ignite the best, try cleanse/ignite too and see if you like it. The only think about those summoners is that you have to be much more careful because you don't have that extra flash to bail yourself out. Cleanse is now definitely good on Kass now though, try it out.

What I would suggest in the flash/ignite/teleport/exhuast/cleanse debacle is to just try all five (miss and match) and find the combination you like. Tinaby says, "If you play in a ranked (draft) game, chose your skills when the 5 opponents are done with their picking and [choose your summoner skills] depending on their team. Cleanse/flash if massive CC's, ignite/cleanse if heavy carries and less CC's." This is great advice!


IN SUMMARY, ALL OF THESE ARE VIABLE CHOICES ON KASS DEPENDING ON PLAYSTYLE

FLASH/IGNITE - PROBABLY THE OVERALL BEST AND MY RECOMMENDATION (VERY "COMMON")
FLASH/CLEANSE - VERY VERY "SAFE" - MAYBE TOO MUCH SO..
FLASH/EXHAUST - ANOTHER VERY GOOD CHOICE IN THE CURRENT META (MY 2ND RECOMMENDATION)
IGNITE/EXHAUST - VERY AGGRESSIVE SUMMONER CHOICES - ONLY USE IF YOU ARE VERY GOOD WITH KASS AND ARE CONFIDENT AND DON'T MAKE ANY MISTAKES
IGNITE/CLEANSE AND EXHAUST/CLEANSE - GOOD COMBINATIONS TOO BUT I STILL LIKE FLASH MORE THAN CLEANSE BECAUSE FLASH GIVES YOU FREEDOM TO POSITION, TRY IT OUT THOUGH.

Summoner Spells NOT to get:

: Leave this for your supports!!!! Great, VERY important spell, but you as the apmidcarry should not be getting it. You need firepower to get buff and win the game.
: Just bad news for everyone involved. Heal is horrible on Kassadin (and on everyone furthermore). If Kassadin is in a place where he really needs the Heal spell, then he's probably already dead and Heal won't even save him. But maybe if he had cleanse or flash....?

: I totally agree with Hell_Pet's assessment of this spell. It looks like it would be great on Kassadin, but it's not very good. Kassadin, by mid/late game, has so much mana and mana regen that clarity won't really matter. And if Kassadin does get really low, just 'port back to base and recharge in like 2 seconds.

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RUNES ---


I have done A LOT of experimenting with runes and this is what I've come up with for Kassadin:

GREATER MARK OF INSIGHT/FLAT MAGIC PEN: Great runes in generally and basically a must have for apcarryzz.

GREATER SEAL OF CLARITY/MANA PER 5: These really help keep your mana pool healthy in the lane phase. If you're using spells to farm creeps, you really need this extra mana regen boost. And the scaling mana regen overtakes the flat mana regen at about level 4.... worth it.

GREATER GLYPH OF FOCUS/COOLDOWN REDUCTION: Again, another great rune set for ap carrys. Cooldowns are so important to get that good burst damage. I like the cooldown more than ability power scaling, but it's your personal preference (see below)

GREATER QUINT OF FORTITUDE/FLAT HEALTH: While some may consider flat health quints "nooby," I most certainly do not. They are very very good on Kass, because they give his early game some sort of stability. it's approximation an extra 100 (!) health and that's quite a lot pre-level 6 (when Kass is still weak). If these runes help you stay alive and get some farm before you get strong with Rift-Walk then they'll have done their job. (many people will argue that GREATER QUINT OF INSIGHT/FLAT MAGIC PEN or GREATER QUINT OF POTENCY/FLAT AP are better, but just try them all and see what you like.)



These are just what I use! Obviously, if you want to go the traditional AP build, that looks like this:

GREATER MARK OF INSIGHT/FLAT MAGIC PEN

GREATER SEAL OF CLARITY/MANA PER 5

GREATER GLYPH OF FORCE/SCALING AP

GREATER QUINT OF POTENCY/FLAT AP

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Kassadin's Abilities:

: This is Kassadin's passive and pretty much what it does is exactly what it says, "K-Dog takes 15% less damage from abilities and makes that into attack speed for 6 seconds." Not super useful, but at least you get the damage reduction.

: Null Sphere is your bread and butter skill (if bread and butter dealt 500+ damage and silenced for 2.6 seconds). Use it early game to get last hits while staying far away from danger and use it mid/late game as a silencing nuke. I really love this spell because it just gets SO strong by the end of the game. It's the same spell but just way more badass. Just always remember that it does have a silencing component, because that is really useful against casters and runners. In the 2.6 seconds Null Sphere silences, Kassadin can deal probably close to 1300 damage (late game).

: Kind of a throw-away skill for Kassadin (EXCEPT THAT IT CHARGES YOUR FORCE PULSE). It gives (active) Kassadin a bonus in armor penetrating for a short duration and (passive) Kassadin's attacks steal mana. I just get it as my 4 last slots (with one early to charge with). I've seen some people use it heavily in their Kassadin builds, but for me personally, I don't really use my regular melee attack on heroes so I find the armor penetration to usually get wasted (although the mana back is kind of nice.) One reason to get this skill earlier is because it is useful in charging up your Force Pulse, because it is basically free stacks because the mana cost is so low. I don't ever get this skill before I have to because I feel like mid-end game, I am in enough big fights that my Force Pulse is pretty much always charged anyway, but if you like it, get it a bit earlier!
UPDATE - GET THIS AT LEVEL 7, IT'LL HELP ALWAYS KEEPING YOUR FP CHARGED

: Force Pulse is a great skill. It deals high AoE damage and it has a mega slow. The trick with FP is making sure you always have at least 4 stacks of it on. This is probably the most challenging early game when mana is limited, but it's something you should always keep track of. If you are going in to attack, make sure you have 4 stacks -otherwise you are too weak. With 4 stacks, you Rift in (+1), you Null Sphere (+1), and then you have 6 to Force Pulse (and then Null again and Rift again). This is a good spell to use late game on huge creep mobs easily getting you like 300 gold.

: And finally, Kassadin's show stopper, The Rift Walk. This ability is so strong. it has a 6/5/4 cooldown, which is ridiculous considering it is a blink AND has tons of damage. One thing people forget though is the damage multiplying. The more you RW in 6-7 seconds, the more damage it deals. It has a 60/90/120 scaling, so on RW #2 you get 60 extra damage, RW #3 90 extra and so on (with each one after 4 giving 120 extra). Use this skill in these situations:

Jumping into an attack/gank/battle in progress
Fleeing from a gank/battle (be sure to blink over barriers when trying to escape)
Jumping around in a team fight to avoid melee fighters and to deal damage.
Chasing down a fleeing opponent
Jumping into bushes where you suspect there are baddies
(last but not least) Tower Diving

The 1-2-3(4-5) Combo:

This is how you can get 1v1 kills: Rift in (1), Null Sphere (2), Force Pulse (3). If they're not dead then: Rift at them (4), Null Sphere (5). If they are STILL not dead, keep following them and smacking them and Null Sphering/Rift Walking/Force Pulsing them until they die!!!

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Core Items:

What the Items Do:


Catalyst: Bulk Health/Mana and on every level up get health/mana back
Rod of Ages: Bulk Health/Mana/AP grows over time (Keeps the Catalyst passive)
Banshee's Veil: Blocks one negative spell every 30 seconds + Health/Mana
THE DEATHCAP: MASSIVE ABILITY POWERRRRRR
Sorcerer's Shoes: Speed and Magic Penetration
Void Staff: Ability Power + Magic Pen
Abyssal Scepter: Ability Power and a Magic Pen Aura around you




: Start with Boots and 3 health pots. This is standard for apmidcarryz for a reason (because it's the best start). It gives you mobility and it gives you that health regen (from the pots) for early skirmishes and lane-staying power.

: Great item for survivability and lane-staying power. You get health, you get mana, you get the level up bonus. You will want to try and grab Catalyst as early as you can so you can get the most out of the leveling up bonus (and the safety of the extra health).

Now you're got some choices.

Either go:
Or go:

Go Path #1 if: You are doing really well early game (maybe got a kill/lots of farming) and feel confident that you are winning your lane and on a good track to get strong by level 6-8. Rod of Ages needs to be completed by minute 18 to be useful (if you're dominating get it by minute 13-14).


Go Path #2 if: You are not doing to hot (died once or twice), having trouble with your mid 1v1 opponent, getting ganked, not getting farm ect. You might want to start getting Doran's Rings just because you need to get yourself back on "track" and Doran's rings are great, relitively cheap ways to get health and ability power. They don't advance your build order, per se, but they are good if you are starting to lose your lane and need some extra help.

Next (after rod of ages, or if you skipped it)

: Gotta get the CAP!!!!!! It is the best item for ap carrys and once you get it, you'll be able to start bursting down pretty much whoever you want.


---WHAT IF I'M HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE 1600 COST NEEDLESSLY LARGE ROD---

This is a good question. You need to get the ability power from deathcap or you will start falling behind (i.e. not being able to burst down whoever you want). If you are doing poorly, you've bought some Doran's (they aren't helping), you might want to just keep buying Blasting Wands (you're going to need at least three for the build). It is really hard to save up 1600 for the NLR if you're aren't doing well, so my advice is that you need to spend that money and not save it up because it could help you turn your game around.

NEXT GET EITHER -

OR



get Banshee's Veil if you need the survivability first (they are focusing you or you are dying a lot) or get the Void Staff if you are dominating and just want to keep the train rollin'.

Then get the other of the two!



FOR THE FINAL ITEM SLOT - YOU HAVE CHOICES


I think Abyssal Scepter is a great choice for Kass because it gives you ap and magic resist and you get that extra magic pen aura when you port in and do all your spells.


but other good choices are -


: Quicksilver sash is a great item. It should only be gotten as your final item (or switched into your build) if you are getting MAD focused and CC'd and you NEED it to stay alive. It will definitely help you to stay alive (remember to use it...)

: Another good item. It gives armor and ability power and the invulnerability active (which is sometimes useful). I just think abyssal is a better item (UNLESS YOU ARE FIGHTING A HEAVY AD TEAM) because I don't use the active very much on Kassadin because I like bouncing around with Rift Walk.

Why These Items?

Sorc Shoes are my favorite just because I like having all the extra firepower I can have. (I DO ALSO ENDORSE IONIAN COOLDOWN BOOTS - SEE BELOW)

I love the Rod of Ages start because it really gives you a great basis of Mana/Health/Ability Power. You get really strong with a fully powered RoA because you have a lot of health and you are actually dangerous!

DeathCap is really a must. It makes you a killer and without it, you are so so wimpy... AND it makes every other AP item you buy or have better because of the passive AP boost.

Void Staff is an amazing item because probably if you are destroying, the other team is going to wise up and start getting MR, and when that happens you need this bad boy to start ripping that apart. (and also the DEATHCAP/VOID STAFF AP will let you kill literally whoever you want).

Banshee's Veil is needed, in my humble opinion, because, as Kassadin, you WILL be a target of focus and you NEED the spell shield to stay alive in the fights and not get CC'd down. If you are pubstomping and going 12312-0 then by all means leave BV out of your build - but if you are in ranked and you are playing hard, long, tough matches (that's what she said) then you need Banshee's Veil to survive.


<---- Your 5th Item of Choice Here



Why not ______________???? RAGE RAGE RAGE?????


: A lot of people swear by Deathfire Grasp. People seem to love it's nuking ability. I am not one of them. I feel like Kassadin has more than enough punch to kill whoever he wants without spending the 2600 gold on Deathfire. If you really want another nuke, then be my guest, but I would advise that Kassadin really doesn't need it.

: Again, if you are in a pubstomp situation, by all means get Mejai's. But let's be clear... it really is not a viable item for Ranked/Team Play because it is way too fickle. Yes you can get strong with it. Yes you can get 20 stacks and be godlike. BUT --- If you die all that can go away fast. In ranked and team play you want a build that is stable and reliable that doesn't rely on luck (which I think Mejai's kind of does.) You don't want to be strong one minute and useless the next.

: Don't need it. You have enough mana from RoA and BV. You do not need the pure mana here. It is a good item, don't get me wrong, and if you like it by all means get it, I just don't think you need ALL the mana that it gives you (which is basically all this item is).

: THIS IS NOT A AD/ON HIT KASSADIN BUILD. With this build you SHOULD NOT BE PUNCHING DUDES. You should be using your spells to kill the people you need to kill. You do not need the on hit affect of Lich Bane. It's a great item, but you do not need it. I'd much rather have a void staff or a abyssal scepter than this because those items let you do your job that much better, whereas Lich Bane gives you another job to do (hitting the baddies with your little sword).

: Do not need this. Don't need the slow since force pulse does already. Do not need the health (RoA and BV). And if you are just buying Crystal Scepter for the AP, you should be buying something else!


: A really good underrated item. The spell vamp is what gives this item it's kick, although you might not need it since you have RoA. I would suggest trying it in a build. (maybe after void staff if you're killing and don't need the survivability from Banshee's Veil?) It just doesn't feel AS strong as any of my main core items.. it's strong no doubt, but all the items in my core 6 are really really good for Kassadin.


: Never been a huge fan of this item. The sticking point is the extra cooldowns and I really don't think you need it. YOU LITERALLY JUST NEED MORE AP, which the evil tomb doesn't give you (like a comparable item would).


: Great boots. I usually like them a lot. With this particular build, i don't think you need them if you have CDR runes. But if you have AP runes and no other cooldown reduction, you might want to try these boots.

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Early Game (Solo):

Grab Boots and your potzz, Go to lane.
Be really careful early game! Kassadin is very weak and squishy. Try to stay back and get last hits using Null Sphere when you can. Just play it safe, you'll have plenty of time to kick *** in mid/late game.


Once you get 1325 gold, give the lane a little push and port back to base and grab Catalyst and then run like the wind back to your lane!!

If a jungle comes to your lane and wants to gank for you at levels 2-5 you can try, BUT DO NOT JEOPARDIZE YOURSELF. You are weak at this point and you would not want to give your enemy a kill on a failed gank!

FARM FARM FARM!!!!!!
-smack the minions with your sword, null sphere them. Do whatever it takes to get Creep Kills because if you stay with your opponent in CS (creep score) then you WILL, by nature of the champion, have a stronger mid game then them and you can put the pressure on then.

WATCH OUT FOR GANKS
-try and save your flash for a time when you are getting ganked and you really need it to survive. if you see a scary jungle appear out of the side brush, silence them and flash away and you should be safe. PLAY CONSERVATIVELY AND FARM!!!!!!!


ONCE MORE FOR GOOD MEASURE --- FARM!!!!!!!

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Mid Game:

ONCE YOU HIT 6---

Go for a kill right away. The prime situation is you just hitting level 6 (they are still level 5) and you Rift Walk on them and do your combo and kill them before they know what happened. Kassadin gets SO strong at level 6. Use that to your advantage.


Generally though, once you hit level 7-9, mid game begins. Try to get Rod of Ages as soon as possible (minute 13-17) so you can start getting the time stacks on it. Keep farming, but try and get kills now (call for jungle ganks) and if you see a lane really pushed, maybe go and gank for them and try to get a kill. Push that tower if you can and then go back to mid. Be on the lookout for enemy stragglers. You can start to be more and more aggressive as you get higher level.

KEEP FARMING!!! CREEP SCORE LITERALLY WIN GAMES IN LEAGUE OF LEGENDS!!!

by this time, you should be dominating your lane and scaring your opponent away from last hitting your creeps. If this is happening, good. If this isn't happening, call for the jungle to come help you or start playing more aggressively and harass your opponent.

KILL TOWERSSS
If you can push to the tower and kill it, THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. But remember, the more pushed your lane is the more vulnerable you are to enemy jungle ganks. The best time to kill the mid tower is if you kill your opponent (maybe with the jungle's help) then clear the waves quick and get some hits on the tower,

GET DRAGONS... NUFF SAID

HAVE YOUR JUNGLE GET YOU THE BLUE BUFF
-blue buff Kass = .... unstoppable

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Late Game:

During late game you are probably the strongest hero on your team. Fight in team battles, protect your turrets, destroy the enemy turrets, GET BARON. Constantly be on the lookout for squishy mages and dpsers that you can kill with a 1-2-3(-4-5) combo (Rift Walk, Null Sphere, Force Pulse, Rift Walk, Null Sphere).

This is all team strategy stuff, but stay with your team, roam as 5, get baron/dragons, push lanes, catch people off guard, ward their jungle and all the good strategies that you can see in professional/tournament matches!


Eventually you want to push the inhibitor and kill it. Kill baron and then basically end the game. You should be really really strong by end game and you need to stay alive and make good decisions in order for you team to be successful.

What to do in Mid/Late Team Battles:

To start, stay behind your tanks and buff guys. Don't let yourself be CC'd and focused. What Kassadin does SO well is that he can literally jump over the wall of enemy tanks, get to the enemy carries, kill them, and escape without dying. Rift Walk into the battle (outskirts if you can) and Null Sphere/Force Pulse the squishy mages/dpsers. DO NOT use Null Sphere on the tanks (unless you really need to silence one of them.) Try to split off a squishy and kill him with your spells and if one of their tank/fighters comes up to you to smack you, Rift Walk back behind your tanks. Do NOT let yourself get sucked into the fray. Kassadin works above the battle. He assassinates the dspers that would kill his allies. If you can kill a mage/dpser carry in a team battle, you'll have done your part. If you can get two, you've just single handily won that team fight.

To recap/sum up:

WAIT UNTIL THE BATTLE STARTS AND THE TEAMS FACE EACH OTHER AND THEN RIFT WALK ACROSS THE ENEMY TANKS AND FOCUS DOWN THE ENEMY CARRIES. IF YOU START GETTING FOCUSED, RIFT WALK AWAY (BEHIND YOUR TANKS/PROTECTORS).

you are an carry assassin. you need to get to those carries before they do too much damage to your allies. (on the other hand, you cannot let yourself be focused and killed too early in the fight, you might want to wait until all the enemies' CC is on cooldown to start your rift-walk attack).

A Note About Tower Diving:

Tower diving is good for Kassadin. It's great! So many people, when they get low health, go and park themselves by the tower, thinking that the tower will protect them. True. Mostly. Not with Kassadin. Kassadin should always (if he has resonable health and mana) charge a tower to get a kill. Rift in, Null Sphere, Force Pulse, Rift out. That combo does like 1000 damage at late levels. More than enough to kill any Tower Hugging Gangplank and the tower will probably only hit you 1 or 2 times.

A Note About Bravery

Kassadin has to be brave. He cannot fear death. He has to be willing to jump into a pile of enemy heroes, Null Sphere the hurt squishy, Force Pulse, flash, Rift out. That is where Kassadin earns his keep. He has to be willing to jump into a tower. He has to be willing to, with only 100 health, jump at a mage with full mana, Null him, Force Pulse him, and smack him and kill him before the 2.6 second silence wears off. Point is: Don't be afraid of death with Kassadin. Kassadin is above death.

The Super Feint

This is a really good technique that I've used a lot recently: if you engage an enemy champion and you injure him a good bit, BUT you are also quite low health, start running away like a little baby and he/she will start to chase you (and they most likely will because they think they are the greatest thing ever since they just "bested" you in a fight). Wait until your cool-downs are reset and then rift walk back at the enemy and null him (and pulse him if you have it) and then smack him. This hopefully is enough damage to kill this weakened but overconfident enemy. People underestimate how strong Kassadin is even when his health is low. Use that to your advantage!

A Note About Wards:

Wards are Kassadin's good friend. Just plant some in the opposing team's jungle and see if you can't find some unsuspecting hero trying to get golem/lizard. Like I said before, 1v1 Kassadin is unbeatable. Use that to your advantage.

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A Couple Things To Watch Out For:

Be

CAREFUL when flash is on cooldown, even at late game you don't have a lot of HP. If you get stunned and you can't rift away, you are dead.
WATCH your mana levels. If they get too low, go back! Because without mana, Kassadin is a nice little snack for someone to munch on.
WATCH out for ignite! Kassadin makes a living escaping from battles with 2 HP left. Ignite isn't wiped away by cleanse! So, watch out for heroes with ignite.

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Skills to Hone:

The 1-2-3(-4-5) Combo
Extreme Tower Diving
The Art of the flash/Rift Walk Escape
Being Brave
Ganking the enemies Golem/Lizard
Teleport Ganking
Targeting Squishies in Team Battles and Not Getting Killed Yourself
Laning Pre-level 6 when Kassadin is still very weak
Getting the advantage in lane Post-level 6

Thanks for reading this guide, I hope it gave a little insight on how to play Badass Kassadin. I hope he brings you as many kills and good times as he has me (and some o' dat ELO)! I'd love to see some comments and suggestions!

A note about me if you're interested: I am a gold season 1 player and I'm currently on team WEN (I jungle primarily). I love ap carrys and I think they are literally THE BEST WAY to pull yourself out of "ELO HELL." Kassadin was my favorite character when I started playing LoL and he still is.


-killraven