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Foreword

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Hello, and welcome to my Katarina build (Also my first build).
This build will cover summoner spells, item explanations, pros and cons, and early, mid, and late game. Please rate and any feedback and criticism is welcome. If you vote down this build, at least say why in the comments. I can't fix it unless you tell me. Also thanks to HeAt for the AP masteries, I just didn't see anything more beneficial for this champ.

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Abbreviations

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AP = Ability Power
AD = Attack Damage
AS = Attack Speed
MagicPen = Magic Penetration
ArP = Armor Penetration
HP = Hit Points
MP = Mana Points
BB = Bouncing Blade
KI = Killer Instincts
Ult = Death Lotus
OP = Over Powered
IMHO = In My Honest Opinion
FB = First Blood
MR = Magic Resist
KS = Kill Steal
AOE = Area Of Effect
CD = Cooldown
CDR = Cooldown Reduction

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Summoner Spells

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NOTE: This covers the spells for both builds, and these will not be covered again later, so weather you are here for the AP build or the AD build, read these now.

My Recommended Spells:

This spell is used for chasing, escaping, and making champions like Master Yi angry that they can't hit you. XD
For those times when they have a little health left but chasing just isn't an option, Ignite is the solution.

Optional Spells:

Great for getting in position to use your ult or to simply GTFO when you know you can't win, very possible replacement.
Ever had a time when someone is running away and they are just out of range of that final Shunpo? Ghost can handle that.
Tell them CC's to f**k off, cleanse, and GTFO. Very good spell and should not be under-estimated.
Fanatstic for lane control and teleporting to wards or Teemo mushrooms for easy ganks.
This can save you from ganks and even set them up, good for assassins.
Can be useful in teamfights and completely depends on if you're feeling like a team player. Completely up to you.

Spells I Don't Recommend:

No reason to take this, you shouldn't die enough to need it anyways.
Leave this one to the tanks and supports, you need killing power.
Do I even need to say it? (If you really need to know, read the Pros & Cons section).
As much as I love this spell, Katarina shouldn't be in a position to need it.

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Pros

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Cons

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NOTE: These Pros and Cons go for both builds.
Pros:
-Great Ganker
-Good at 1v1
-Very high burst damage
-One of the most powerful champions in the game IMHO
-Her bouncing Blade scales with AD AND AP instead of just AD
-Her Death lotus now scales with AD AND AP, instead of one or the other
-She doesn't rely on mana, energy, or HP




Cons:
-Often focused first
-While she is durable to a certain extent, she still goes down relatively easy
-Since last patch, she scales less with Ability Power

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Abilities

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The extra 25 gold per kill and the 15 second CDR makes it easier to farm from kills/assists, and makes it easier to pick up double kills because it brings all of your abilities (except for your Ult) off of their CD. Great passive.
Great for applying the slow from Rylai's and harassing/farming. Plus since the recent patch, it scales with AP and AD, making it good for both builds.
The extra AD is good for the AD build and the bonus it gives for BB and Shunpo makes it great to have even just one level in.
If you are going with the AP build, this is your main nuke ability, harass (if done right), and good for escaping and getting around, weather you're AD or AP.
Your ultimate, and overall one of the best AOE nukes I have ever seen (If you have good AD/AP). Great for multi-target encounters, and can change the tides of a teamfight. Overall, great ability for an assassin.

Ability Power Build

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Items

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The beginning speed boost help you get to your lane faster, and allows you to chase and escape better.
When you are getting low (after that FB hopefully), these keep you in the lane.
Gives you a nice 70 AP + MR + less MR for nearby enemies is pretty nice.
Great for any AP assassin, as long as they do good.
The slow from ALL of your abilities is great. Add some survivability and 80 AP, why pass this up?
The first thing that you may notice is that this gives mana and Magic Resist. Useless, I know, but that is not why I chose it. I decided to take this for the movement speed and the effects of Sheen(You may want to take Zhonya's before you take Lich Bane because if you don't have a lot of AP, the effects of Sheen won't be very helpful).
155 AP plus 30% is great. Too bad they removed the passive and gave it to Zhonya's Hourglass, but feel free to grab that also.

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Possible Items:

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Extra MagicPen is great.
Spell vamp and the active is pretty nice.

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Early Game

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Buy your boots and Potions and try to get mid. If people wanna troll you for it then what ever they don't matter right now. If you can, find out who you are up against. If it is an Ashe then you already win if you know what you're doing. Any squishy will work fine but ALWAYS hope for an Ashe, makes your life easier. Also hope you don't get Anivia, as her passive is quite OP. If you really don't want mid or if someone pulls that double mid **** because they want it, be the bigger man and go to the lane, even though it will be quite harder to get started on your build. I don't recommend laning as most tanks and tough carries lane, while the squishy ranged get mid, making it an easy start for Katarina, unless you're against an Anivia. As soon as you hit level 6, start the ganking phase and continue this and your farming until mid game.

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Mid Game

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By now, if you went mid and didn't face Anivia and started ganking at level 6, you should have your boots, Mejai's with some stacks, and maybe even your Abyssal Scepter if you got fed. By now, group ganks start, and teamfights are happening scarcely. by now when there is one person, they usually have a friend with them, so partner up with a carry or another assassin and keep on ganking, even farm occasionally. As long as you and your team stick together and you and/or your team didn't fail early game, you should rack up the Mejai's stacks from kills or assists. Also, as noobish as it seems, DON'T be afraid to KS for your Mejai's stacks, your team will thank you later (Or continue to mindlessly rage out of stupidity).

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Late Game

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By now you have a majority of your build complete (hopefully), and teamfights are breaking out all over. If you have a tank with a taunt (i.e. Rammus) then don't be afraid to dive into a fight by using KI then Shunpo and then using your Ult. If you succeeded on maxing out Mejai's and keeping your deaths minimal, your Ult will decimate the 3 targets you are closest to, and easily win teamfights. By now if you have had success, then they will have surrendered or you have won. Regardless of if your team did better or their team did, games rarely last much longer, and I hope this AP build brought you success.

Attack Damage Build

While this build doesn't do as much damage as it is possible to, I feel that the slow from Frozen Mallet, bonus damage from Madred's and Sword of the Occult, lifesteal from Bloodthirster, and the bonus critical strike damage from Infinity Edge are good enough for me, and if you don't like this build, I HIGHLY recommend you check out the AP build.

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Items

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I feel no need to mention the Boots of Speed, Health Potions, and Sorcerer's Shoes, as they were mentioned earlier.
The AD equivalent of Mejai's, why not grab it?
Lifesteal and plenty of damage. Once again, why not?
I feel that the dealing 4% of your targets maximum HP helps compensate for the lack of damage that could be acquired from other items.
75 damage (Nerfed from 80 damage) plus cranking your critical strike damage up to 250% from 200% is a pretty good deal.
Extra HP and a nice slow.

Possible Items:

Extra lifesteal and some spell vamp, plus the active is there in case you decide to go with Frozen Mallet instead of Rylai's, you have a mini exhaust that lets you get in close, and with Frozen Mallet they can't get away without disabling you. Feel free to replace anything with this.

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Early Game

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Once again, rush mid (or lane if you don't want mid) and hope for a squishy. Since you are AD, facing an Anivia is slightly easier later on because you have a lot more AD, but facing her still sucks and should try to be avoided. As usual, farm and get kills off of your laning enemy and get level 6 and let the ganking phase begin.

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Mid Game

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This is where being alone is fatal, most people are in groups so you should be also. The chances of seeing an easy gank that doesn't have some form of back-up nearby means one of 3 things:
1. You are lucky
2. They are new to the game or are having an attention failure
3.They have no team coordination
This is also where your Sword of the Occult will start to stack up. Weather it's assists or straight up kills, you will get stacks as long as you are always active and helping a teammate in some way. I've said it before and I'll say it one last time, DON'T BE AFRAID TO KS FOR STACKS (on Mejai's or Sword of the Occult). No matter how much of a noob it makes you feel like, if no one else is getting stacks, then you need kill priority. Your team might rage but they will get over it once you start owning thanks to your stacks (unless you are having a bad game).

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Late Game

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This is where you will decimate, doing over 1k damage (If you got your farm) with your Ult. If the team has many tanks and really tough champions, DO NOT rush in unless you have a tank with a reliable CC ability (i.e. Rammus' taunt). You will get focused if you are doing really good, so let your team go in and take focus first. By this time, the game is pretty much over. Weather they surrendered or got their base destroyed, or even if you lost, games don't usually last to much longer.

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Afterword

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Well, this was my first build, and their was quite a bit of reading, but I hope it brings you success and you enjoyed it. Remember to rate and leave your comments. All comments and criticism are accepted.

NOTE: Since the recent patch, Katarina is a good hybrid. Feel free to mix these builds in a way you see fit and go hybrid, be sure to grab a Hextech Gunblade though, it is quickly becoming a favorite for Katarina players due to hybrid playstyle.