Hello guys, this is my first guide in general. Katarina is one of the best assasins in game and very funny to play with. Please, don't give a -1 vote without saying why. I'm open to hear any of your opinions and if you are right i'll edit my guide :) Don't forget, it's is a Dominion ONLY guide. Enough said, let's start.

Pros
No Mana - it's really important
Low Cooldowns - Vital for the dominion playstyle, cause a champion without abilities is useless
An adorable ultimate: Death Lotus

Cons
Gets focused a lot
Gets CCed a lot

*NEW*

A new 9/21/0. A deep deff buld to cover the disadvantages kata has. Focused on cdr again and of course now you can use the Summoner's Wrath that is very useful when you have Exhaust and Ignite as spells. Pretty not much to say about that change.

Also, runes are very vital in dominion. These items may do the big difference in-game before you even start it.

Recommented:
Exhaust
A must for katarina. It can be be used to save you from an ambush, from 1v1 fight or when the opponent dives to kill you and capture the point you deffend (you can exhaust & get the kill with the help of your "capture point"). Remember: if you are in low hp Exhaust-> Shunpo to a near ally or minion, can save you!

Ignite
Ignite is your best tool to finish of enemies. Also the 50% reduce of regeneration/healing is a very good tool for you. A nice way to get your very first kill.

Other useful Spells:
Ghost
Extra speed with the speed buff you can get from the map & Shunpo will give you a great mobility. Nice for escaping but if you get CCed chances to escape are against you cause dont forget, opps can take the speed buff too!

Flash
An extra shunpo without needing minions or Champs around to use. Can be used offensively to reach an opponent or defensively to escape. It's a good choice if it is close to your playstyle.

Don't Get:
Everything else. You won't have any advantage with Katarina.

Skills

Voracity
That passive Rocks! "After a kill or assist, Katarina gains 25 gold and her cooldowns are reduced by 15 seconds." - and guess what, katarina in dominion does a lot of assists & kills! Is anybody that doesnt like to have his/her ulti loaded after some seconds?

Bouncing Blades
These blades can be very useful if you want to harass your enemy from some range & interupt them from capturing a point. Combining that with your "W" will deal full damage & reduce the healing recieved.

Preparation
I prefer to use this with Shunpo. 35% damage reduction for 3 Seconds with the help of Tenacity at late game. Isn't that enough? (remember you are being focused in team-fights)

Shunpo
Entering fights with it & escaping from them. What else would you want? Great damage if you have some items & of course if you get an assist or a kill after using it, you will have it recharged to catch up an escaping opponent!

Death Lotus
It's clearly deadly (if you won't get inerrupted- that's what you should watch out) & it can hit up to 3 champions. If you get some assists/kills you will have a new ulti ready, in a few seconds!

Skill Sequence

W->E->R and you are safely in the center of a teamfight doing tons of damage!
W->E-> Exhaust a target->R 99% for your opponent to be dead. E then to escape.

Dont Forget! Death Lotus does apply a 35% slow with Rylai's Crystal Scepter, even though it is a multi target spell! Use it for your own advantage!

The basic Sequence is: W->E->Q->E->and so on!

In dominion you have a good amount of gold to start. Making the right choice of what you should get (from many options) will give you an extra advantage.

Starting with Boots and Blasting Wand. 40 ability power & some speed isn't bad at all. Of course these items will help you to build your main boots & your crystal which fits excellent with your ultimate ability.

After that, you will notice that you will have enough gold to get your boots, Sorcerer's Shoes. Great magic penetration!

*Before them i suggested to get Ionian Boots of Lucidity BUT after many tests i found out that is better to have them cause that magic penetration will give a great boost against opponents and it will be better if they build some Magic Resist against you. You can "get" some Cooldown Reduction from your passive! :D*

Then your aim is to build Rylai's Crystal Scepter because you would have probably been 6 level & that 35% movement reduction will make your opponents to get more damage from your Death Lotus. In my opinion, if u have recalled take Giant's Belt if you can take something, but not the whole item. Gives you Great Survivability in these levels.

Right after start building a Rabadon's Deathcap. 140AP from an item! (+30% ap if you have extra ap from other items/runes). Best in-game item for AP Champs.

Then you have 2 options according to the enemy team. Zhonya's Hourglass or Abyssal Mask. Take the item that you believe that suits well. If the enemies have an AP champ who is fed, take Abyssal Mask. If they are balanced or an AD leads, take Zhonya's Hourglass and use it! That will not only save you, but it will be great to use it right away after your ulti which will surely harass a lot & with some assists or previous kills you will be "ulti ready" or able to finish opponents with your Shunpo.


-I prefer getting Zhonya's Hourglass. Master the way you use it and you will find it enjoyable. ;) -

After that a Hextech Gunblade is what you should be looking for! +70AP for you and some spell vamp which will be veeery helpful! Don't forget to activate it when needed! (before the update i used to leave it as a last item cause i prefered taking a Void Staff and a Warmog's Armor cause staff was a cheap, fast & good solution and warmong's gave me much hp to be alive! but now its better to get the Hextech Gunblade in that stage)

Finishing with a Void Staff. More AP and some magic penetration that is very useful! :)

Starting the game at 3 level is kinda hard playing as kata & entering the combat while not having your ulti. Ask your team to cap the first tower alone while 2 or 3 others going to take the mid one (according to the team strategy).

As soon as you cap it go in the "top" combat while taking the speed buff. Try to harash your low-health opps with Shunpo -> Bouncing Blades & when you are sure they will die use your Ignite to take your first kill. Then escape using Shunpo again. (you will not have cooldown cause of your passive). If you are low on health & someone is following you use Exhaust and run to the tower you have alreay capped & recall in there. If he dives to get a kill, don't panic but get your second kill with the help of your tower. If you get killed there is no problem. You will respawn very quickly & you will have 2 kills & 1 death in a stage where kata isn't that strong!

Oh! of course, if you can help your team to cap the top tower, do it! In that stage, you will have enough gold to buy your first items. Getting your Giant's Belt will make you less squishy & that will help you to get more kills. If you are ahead in items from your opps dont sit there & deff a tower. There are much more better Champs to do that. Get speed buff & go there that you can see that your team needs help. You are a great harasser & you know it. Use your ulti properly (and when i say properly, not in teamfights where opps can CC it) and farm some more kills.

Then clear your base if you are deffending or help your team to get the tower if you are attacking. Of course, if you are low on health don't even thing if you have to recall. Do it immediatelly! No need to risk! After that point you will be miles ahead on gear. Use it to your own advantage helping your teammates to get some kills or cap some free towers!

In conclusion, Katarina is a very fun to play char, especially in dominion. Her ultimate will do a big difference in team-fights & her Bouncing Blades will interrupt her opponents of capping. Thanks for reading my guide! Hope you have found it useful!

27/9/11: Making of the Guide.
28/11/11: Added the new tree of Masteries & the "How to roll in a game", sorry for the late update but had internet issues cause of moving in another city.
22/12/11: Changed the item build and the explanation of it. Sorry for the late update but busy irl!