Kha'Zix's Gameplay Style (IMPORTANT!)
Current assassin are and more. But what do all of these champions have in common? They are extremely squishy, no sustain, and their main source of damage requires them to commit their escape tool. Kha'Zix does NOT need to be built glass cannon to be effective. After getting just a few core damage items he can be built tanky and still kill the lone carry. He take aspects of several different roles and combines them into a single champion.

PROS: Amazing Poke, Great Sustain, Very Slippery, Snowballs Hard, Very High Damage, Fantastic Leap, Turns Into a Bruiser-Assassin, Good Trading

CONS: Weak Early Game, Mana Hungry (and therefore item dependent), Easily Shutdown Early, Difficulty VS Hard Engage Comps



HOW TO PLAY KHA'ZIX TL;DR: Kha'Zix is a poke champion who jumps in for guarenteed kills. Poke in fights until a target is low and jump on them. Always refresh your passive, save your leap as a utility spell (pretend it does no damage), use your ult as utility, and ALWAYS RUSH MANAMUNE!
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Why Top Instead of Mid
I feel that Kha'Zix has a tough time against ranged champions (which mid is full of). He cannot trade or get near the enemy unless he leaps (which he should NEVER do for fear of ganks) or harass until hit evolves his W at 6. It is also incredibly annoying to reset your passive since not only do you a significant distance to walk to get out of vision but there are usually a lot of wards that prevent his passive from reactivating.

I feel that Kha'Zix can play much safer, farm more easily, and has better matchups in top lane. He is by all means viable mid but the close bushes means easier reactivating of his passive and the large lane mean an easier time angling properly and clearing minions waves.

I usually focus on my lane until I hit 11 and am able to evolve my leap which drastically helps in team fights.
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When To Leave Top Lane
You have 3 goals during laning phase in top lane. In order of importance they are:

-Do not let your tower fall
-Destroy the enemy tower

-Farm well


If you end up killing your laner that means you get free damage on tower. The gold is more of a secondary benefit. That is why just PUSHING OUT the enemy is helpful. You are denying them xp, gold, and making progress to destroying their tower.

Once you have destroyed the tower you can either:

A) Continue Pressuring the lane: If you are at a significant advantage to your laner you can force them to bring either jungle or mid top consistently giving a number advantage to your team for fights or global objectives (buffs, dragon, towers). They will have to choose between losing top towers and possibly the inhibitor or contending objectives. You will also continue to grow stronger from the XP and gold of a solo lane while the enemy team is fighting yours or sending 2 top. This is actually very significant as you will be much stronger if left alone for a decent amount of time.

A) When Not to Pressure the Lane: If you are against a top laner with good wave clear and/or sustain you will not be able to give threatening pressure on the towers. Instead the underfed enemy laner is keeping the fed laner (YOU) top and thus helping to equalize the map and prevent you from mounting a stronger lead. Also, if the enemy team just decides to 5v4 YOUR team (without you) and you can get there in time THEN YOU NEED TO MAKE IT A 5v5 AND HELP YOUR TEAM! Do not just stay top. You will get 1 tower but they can potentially get 4 kills, global objectives and SEVERAL towers. Unless you team is extremely fed or will NOT engage (includes getting caught) you need to group ASAP.

OR
B) Group With Your Team (Take Objectives): If the enemy laner stays top then all fights will always be in your favor. Take objectives as quickly as possible while keeping your top tower alive if you are not currently setting siege to their MIDDLE or INNER towers. Losing your top tower for their bottom tower is a poor trade. Especially since it could have been avoided. If you get top tower and recall IMMEDIATELY go to either mid or dragon. Do not force fights for the sake of forcing fights. When you win a fight you want to have a reward. The reward is taking global objectives so fight close to them so they are available should you succeed. It is never a bad idea to group with your team as long as you continue to farm XP and gold from minions. Do not EVER completely forgo farming.
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Early Game (1-5)
Kha'Zix is generally thought of as a crazy strong early game champion, but that is not the case. He can cheese people from 100-0 at level one on some occasions but he is extremely vulnerable to ganks and poke.

You spawn at the fountain: Quickly buy yours items, assess team composition, and ask your team how they feel about invading. If you have champions with level 1 CC like Morgana, Lux, Ryze or have hooks like Blitzcrank or Thresh then it almost always a good idea to invade. If you see the enemy ward as you go to invade immediately retreat and do a safe starts. Stand in bushes and watch for invading enemies.

Minions have spawned: If you have someone with decent AoE and you are top opposite of your jungler try to take wraiths or wolves. If not, help leash and take XP from wolves or wraiths. This tiny bit of XP will not only give you a slight lead in lane (you will always level a few seconds sooner, key for levels 1-3 and level 6)(this will barely affect your jungler) but more importantly, it will prevent you from being cheesed if they did the same thing!

Laning and early aggression: You are in lane now against your opponent. Last hit very safely with auto attacks and Q. You want to buy time until you have your leap at level 2. Once you hit 2 ward your lane. You now have leap and can play slightly more aggressive, before 2 I would not risk your entire laning phase trying to trade with your opponent. Harass with Q if they are melee and use your auto attacks (and passive). Remember to instantly refresh your passive. With strong early champions like Renekton and Trynd it is unwise to trade until your W has at least 2 ranks or more. Try not to last hit with W but it is available if you are being zoned by a ranged champion liked Jayce or Kennen or if you need to wave clear at tower. If you have harassed any opponent to half health and you are still healthy, it is generally a good idea to jump on them with E, W, Q, auto and ignite. A lot of the time this will net you a kill. BE AWARE THAT WHEN YOU LEAP YOU HAVE 0 ESCAPE!

REMEMBER THAT KHA'ZIX IS NOT A SUSTAINED DAMAGE DEALER! HARASS IN LANE WITH A QUICK COMBO AND RETREAT!
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Mid Game (6-11)
Kha'Zix has strong early game potential but only has the ability to take advantage of it once he has his core abilites (QWER, evolved W). His poke will do the same as Jayce's Q but it is must easier to hit, has a larger cone, slows, and has a shorter cooldown. Your goal is to take the enemy tower as soon as possible and farm all that you can.

Continued Laning: Soon as you hit 6 and evolve your W and gain your ult you can apply significant more pressure and there are few that will be able to sustain their lane against you as you near level 9 (max W). The health sustain from W will be becoming more and more significant as well as the damage. You should at least have Tear of the Goddess by 6 so spam your W every time it is up, as long as you are hitting the enemy. Try to push out so you at least have the top bushes to refresh your passive. Always try to save your ult and your leap for defense rather than offense, but don't forgo the opportunity for a kill if the occasion arises. I always try to put offensive wards in the enemy jungle, especially if I am winning or I know a buff is spawning soon. Not only will this help out my team but it will snowball myself. Be sure to communicate your intentions to your team.

Broken Laning: This is where laning phase starts to end. There are several skirmishes over objectives like dragon and buffs and you might be pushing your lane to tower and ganking or farming the jungle. You should ALWAYS leave lane to help teammates in nearby fights. Kha'Zix has such good wave clear you can come to lane, clear the wave, and immediately leave to complete other objectives. You will not be strictly laning at this point but you do not want to miss the CS in your lane. At this point in the game you should be trying to hit level 11 as soon as possible as it gives an enormous team fight and snowball potential. You want to get those resets and push global objectives. The game is about towers and structures, not gold and kills. The purpose of kills and gold is to be able to take down structures.

HIT LEVEL 11 AND GROUP WITH YOUR TEAM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! IF YOU GET TOP TOWER THEN DRAGON WHILE THEIR LANER IS STILL TOP!
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Late Game (12-18)
This is where Kha'Zix thrives. He has his core evolutions, abilities (maxed), and damage items. At this point you are MUCH stronger than their ADC and can easily gib them from 100-0 in less than 4 seconds depending on how strong you are. Stay with your team and push objectives with poke. Kha'Zix accels at catching players in the jungle so always be aware of your wards and where that ADC will walk through alone.

Teamfighting: Stay with your team and poke out front. Champions with instant hard CC like Malzahar and Warwick are rare so you should have enough time to react to engages. Kha'Zix's teamfighting is actually very simple. You just want to poke from areas where they dont have vision so you can hit the back line. If you see someone low you can leap in and kill them with QW and either leap out or ult. Assuming it was a 5v5 your team will followup into a 5v4 and easily win the fight. Use your resets to catch runners NOT to deal extra damage. If the enemy team initiates onto your team and they are all of health hp then you do NOT fight. Simply W to slow and kite them back with your team. If the enemy carry is right beside the tanks with full hp you CAN NOT kill them. You will be CCd and there is no isolation damage for your Q. You really need to be patient and wait for the right opportunity. When you wait for the right moment you will be rewarded with juicy and glorious resets.

Baron: You will have decent damage to baron with your Q and autos but if you are trying to get it while the enemy team still has 5 then you are better off poking them down and trying to intimidate them from initiating. Chances are their tanks will run for baron trying to either smite it or CC your damage dealers. You will generally have ample opportunity jump onto the carry who is left alone and kill them THEN followup with your team. As as assassin you will ALWAYS be better at killing the enemy squishy than the enemy Nautilus or Sejuani. Make sure to check for wards with your passive and let your team know.

POKE UNTIL SOMEONE IS LOW AND JUMP ON THEM FOR THE RESET!
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Very Late Game (18+, Full Builds)
Kha'Zix is not quite as strong here. ADCs might no longer die from 100-0 and they deal much more damage than you (sustained). Your poke does significantly less now so you have to rely on good engages and carefully choosing your targets. You generally want to do the same as you did in Late Game but it is now hard mode. Being caught once can mean a lost game and you die quickly.

Optimally, you would have ended the game before it got to this point. You still pack quite a bunch but your prey (the ADC) now deals incredible damage and can easily solo you if you are at all CC'd. Hopefully you have at least two defensive items and have evolved R since you knew this would be the stay the game is heading. If you continue to stalemate you need to catch lone stragglers and setup fights for your team. You are still an extremely strong 1v1 champion so split pushing may be an option. You also have nearly 70% armor shred so if you can't get to the ADC you can kill tanks just as quickly and peeling for your carries may work better.
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About The Author
I've played League of Legends since April 2010 and have played several thousand games in that time. I now main top lane but am also perfectly suited to the rest (support is sooooo boring though!). I generally prefer the feel of AD Casters but play all sorts.

I played ranked just for the bare minimum in Season 1 & 2 (Gold and Platinum respectively) but finally decided to commit to ranked and to just PLAY it (stressful at first). I'm currently Diamond III with Kha'Zix as my most played and highest win rate (79%W, 72G) http://i.imgur.com/yTuurXg.jpg?1.

I think in November/December I was a true Platinum player and I attribute my most significant progress to playing skilled premades. Before that I was just playing with randoms in normals which I felt had no strategy. I learned a lot playing with people who were better than me and I maintain that that is the best way to get better. I lost my lane almost every game but I gradually started to win until I went from beating Gold/Plat players to beating Diamond 1+.

Bad players die and say, "I died, my team is horrible."
Good players die and say, "I died, I am horrible."







Ahri

Difficulty: 4/5

Ahri's a tough cookie. See, the problem mostly stems from two things: her Charm and Spirit Rush. As a melee champion, you'll always be vulnerable to Charm, which gives her a massive edge. Not only will you're damage output cease, but you'll get hit by everything, and that's a lot of damage. Her Spirit Rush is also a way better gap closer than your Leap or Void Assault, which means it's going to be very hard to secure a kill, or escape. You're going to want to play it passive and make plays when you know her abilities are on cooldown. Specifically, bait out her Charm and only go all in when she can't ult out. Be wary of jungler pressure because if you do get hit by her Charm, you're probably done. It'll be a tough lane, and coming out with just CS and no kills is fine. If anything, you're going to have to try to out-roam her, which is also very hard because she brings a lot to the table when ganking other lanes. You can equally push back with your Void Spike, but don't expect an easy lane.



Akali

Difficulty: 3/5

This one's annoying, and a bitter fight, but winnable. You both have invisibility and strong gap closers, but Akali's Shadow Dance can only be used on a target. You also both have decent aoe, albeit yours being stronger. The key here is showing her who's boss. She's got sustained damage, but so do you with your short cooldown on Taste Their Fear. You can also damage her while she's in her shroud with your Void Spike. You can win a fight 1v1 against her, but it'll have to be when she's isolated. Be wary of her combo once she hits level 6. Take advantage of her short range pre-6 and try to gain an upper hand by out-damaging her and out-ranging her. If worst comes to worst, you can always time your Leap with her Shadow Dance so you drag her into your tower. If you can do that, she can say gg. Otherwise, in a fair fight, you should normally come out on top. Still gonna be annoying though.



Alistar

Difficulty: 2/5

If your wondering why I put 2/5 instead of 1, it's because this guy is a cow with a lotta CC. 1v1, your gonna trash him. You outrange him, outsustain him, out damage him. You have gap closers, etc. You're just way better. That's probably why you'll never lane against him. If you do though, word of caution. The person playing him is probably good, and going ap. If you get trashed, send me a message so we can laugh about it together, cause lemme tell you, it's hilarious. But seriously though, if you do lane against him, just be slightly wary of the jungler. If the enemy jungler brings damage and Alistar gets a Pulverize off, it's gonna be annoying. Otherwise, afk farm: Both the creeps and the cows.



Amumu

Difficulty: 2/5

Again, not a hard lane. You do everything better than he does. But still, be careful. He brings just as much CC as Alistar if not more. One Bandage Toss and you might be done if the enemy junglers there. Otherwise, now it's creeps and mummies.



Anivia

Difficulty: 3/5

Oh the ice bird. Well, this one's gonna be passive. Once she gets her ult, it's just gonna be push kingdom in mid lane. Both you and her. Otherwise pre-6, she's very reliant on her Flash Frost. If she can land that on you, she can deal a significant amount of damage without taking any herself. If you can dodge it, she's gonna need more than bandaids after you're done. Once she hits 6, you can still dodge her Q, but she can still do a lot of damage. Shouldn't be too tough, but if she's smart, she'll just farm from a distance. Remember early game she has very long range auto attacks that can prove annoying if she's relentless with them. If you can manage to egg her, she's got nothing on you. Your constant damage from your Taste Their Fear should be more than enough to secure the kill. Just be wary of that stun, as it can prove a swift death.



Annie

Difficulty: 4/5

This little girl packs a lotta punch for someone her size. Especially against Kha'Zix. While the lane is winnable, it's gonna prove very tough, but that mostly revolves around one thing: Annie's stun. Whenever that's up, be very careful. Because you're melee, it's going to prove hard to CS as she can zone you. Early game, you need to take advantage of every moment she doesn't have it up and punish her. You can actually zone her because your Void Spike will end up doing more damage, and if she ever gets in range of Taste Their Fear she's gonna feel the pain. But once she hits 6, you gotta be careful, because she can do a lot of burst damage. You're only saving grace is that her stun has a travel time, which lets you do precisely that: travel. If you time it right, you can leap away while the stun chases you, if she uses her Disintegrate. Otherwise, if she drops the bear on you and goes full combo, or spews some flames, it's a guaranteed world of pain. Try to farm and survive. It's gonna be tough.



Ashe

Difficulty: 2/5

This is gonna be a really easy lane. You outdamage her, can similarly slow her, have a gap closer, better wave clear, and more sustain. She's squishy and uses a lot of mana with her Volley. Once you hit level 3, show her who's boss by comboing her. If she stays in lane after a full combo, do it again and slap an Ignite and it's first blood. Otherwise, whenever you have the opportunity, drive her out of lane with your damage. This is gonna be very easy at all stages of the game, because no matter how long the game lasts, ashe will never make it to late game, and you'll always be able to insta-gib her. Otherwise, one thing you do need to be careful of is her ultimate, Enchanted Crystal Arrow, (is it just me, or is that a really long ability name?). If she catches you with that with her jungler nearby, it may prove to be a problem. Easy lane though.



Blitzcrank

Difficulty: 2/5

Seriously. Not a tough lane. Yeah he has a lot of CC, which is why again I'm saying be wary if the junglers nearby, but otherwise, he has nothing on you but a knockup. His pull has too long of a cooldown and just puts him in range of your attacks, which means you'll outrade him. Just try not to dive him because of his passive, which gives him a shield when he drops below a certain amount of health, and because of his CC. If they send Blitzcrank mid, your either gonna have a really easy time, or that Blitzcrank is a pro and is gonna outplay you like a boss. In both situations, your gonna have a fun time.



Brand

Difficulty: 3/5

This guy is skillshot reliant, but can still inflict a lot of damage. Unfortunately, in melee range it's very easy for him to stun you, so try to bait it out of him first before going in. If you can dodge the pillar O' da flames, your good. He can still do a lot of damage though and can push just as well as you. Shouldn't be tough if you can dodge things because he's very squishy once you get in range, but if he lands his stuns, you're gonna lose. It's similar to Ahri, expect he has no mobility, that's why he's 3/5.



Caitlyn

Difficulty: 3/5

She's actually surprisingly annoying and efficient at kiting you. From her net to her very long range, it's going to be an annoying lane. You still outburst and outdamage her though, so if you can dodge her skill shot and traps, you shouldn't have too much trouble. Early game is where it's going to be tough because of her range. Try to make it to level 3, then combo her if you can. Once you get blue buff though, your Void Spike is going to drive her out of lane fast.



Cassiopeia

Difficulty: 5/5

This is gonna be a tough one. Cassiopeia has sustained semi-long range damage, with an aoe ultimate that stops you in your tracks. I would attempt switching lanes with an ally, because of the constant harass Cassiopeia can output and the kill potential she has. If you can't, it's going to be really hard for you to farm. You can try to combo her down, but since her cooldowns are so short, it'll most likely end up in you taking too much damage to stay in lane, or dying. Your only saving grace is in the fact that almost all of her abilities are skill shots and avoidable.



Cho'Gath

Difficulty: 3/5

While Cho'Gath is known as one of the best laners in the game, as in very difficult to defeat, it's not impossible. He's got sustain, CC, an aoe silence, and a true damage ultimate. It's a lot to deal with, but your ultimate goal is to come out of lane ahead of him. He uses a lot of mana early game, so take advantage of it



Corki

Difficulty: 4/5


Thing is, Corki can fight you. And he has a gap closer and shreds as much armor as you. He also has strong long range harass, like yours. What makes him different though, is that he's ranged. This is a tough lane because he can bully you really hard. You have to catch him when his gap closer is down and dodge his armor shred with your ultimate. He also has serious mana problems. If he burns his mana you can go on him. If he's not burning mana, he can't realistically out-trade you. Tough lane, but still winnable.



Darius

Difficulty: 3/5


I honestly haven't seen a lot of this guy in season 3. Still a beast though, but not too hard for Kha'Zix. You have range. He doesn't. You just can't really go all in, although his Crippling Strike doesn't do anything to you because you don't rely on autoattacks speed and you have your Leap for an escape. You can also juke his ultimate, momentarily, if you ult. This shouldn't be a tough lane, but late game Darius is always a beast. So if he starts building health you're going to have a slight problem because he can still deal a lot of damage while being tanky.



Diana

Difficulty: 3/5


Even though she got nerfed, she's still a tough cookie. She's got a lot of burst at level 6 and she can still fight you early. You will normally outrade her though and have more sustained damage. If anything, get her to jump on you out of minion range so she becomes isolated, then she loses. Still be wary and don't underestimate her. She also has strong roaming so you need to make her pay for it by either counter-ganking the lanes she ganks or pushing and taking her tower. Not too terrible of a lane.



Dr. Mundo

Difficulty: 2/5


He's got no deeps! What can I say. Early game, he shouldn't even be getting any gold. It's so easy to zone him and his only effective trading tool is his cleaver which hurts him if he misses, so make him miss. If he uses Burning Agony he's going to end up pushing the lane, which is bad, and he has no sustain until level 6, not taking into account the small health regen from his passive, but still. This is a simple lane, you just can't let it get to late game, because then Dr. Mundo just doesn't care. That tower? Nope. Fountain lasers of destruction? Nope. But seriously, who lanes Dr. Mundo?



Draven

Difficulty: 4/5


Actually surprisingly hard. His harass against melee champions is through the roof. And it's hard to jump on him because of his knockback. You need to use your Void Spikes when he goes to catch one of his spinning blades. Pretty much, if you don't take advantage of knowing where he's going to stand and jump on him then, you're going to lose you're lane. Once you get enough damage to burst him from almost full health to none, you can just jump on him because he has no escapes, just a knockback, which is easily baitable. Be wary early game though, because he can zone you hard.



Elise

Difficulty: 5/5


Tough lane. She's got a lot of utility and damage and harass. She can fight you 1v1 and win and she can escape and dodge your abilities. You can push better than her, but that's about it. If you want to win this lane you have to outplay her. Otherwise I would not lane against her. She can zone you early and fight you all game long and win. I'd suggest switching lanes.



Evelynn

Difficulty: 3/5


You're both melee and you both have good sustained damage. You also both have strong burst. She can roam more effectively than you can, but you can push better than she can. You can avoid fighting her after she ults with your Leap if need be because her shield will make it an even fight. Otherwise you outdamage her with your Taste Their Fear. You also have better harass. It shouldn't be a hard lane but if your Leap is down, she can get the jump on you and end you pretty quickly.



Ezreal

Difficulty: 3/5


Not a tough lane, but an annoying one. If you can catch him with his Arcane Shift down, he's dead. But he has range and out harasses you. You can also dodge his ultimate rather easily with a well placed Leap. In an all in fight, you win. You also push better. Just be wary early game because he can zone you. Otherwise not a hard lane if you don't get completely denied at the start.



Fiddlesticks

Difficulty: 4/5


Really, really, annoying. This guy. Dude. This. Guy. Fortunately you rarely see him in lane but if you do go up against him, he's just super annoying. You have nothing to stop his Drain. You can Leap out of it, but most of the time he'll have feared/silenced you and you just get owned. Thing is, he doesn't have burst damage; just sustained. He also cannot wave clear. The strategy here is to try not to all-in him unless you know you can kill him in two seconds and to push so he can't farm under his tower. Realistically, if you burst him down and he's still alive, he's going to win the trade because of his Drain. You have to harass him enough, which will be hard considering he has insane sustain, and then jump on him and kill him before he can get halfway through his Drain. It's a tough lane and be careful of getting baited because his ultimate will do deeps. A lot. Of deeps.



Fiora

Difficulty: 3/5


Honestly not that hard of a lane. I'm pretty sure her Riposte will not reflect your Taste Their Fear. It's not an autoattack so it shouldn't. You have better harass. And the winning factor? If she ults you, you Leap into your tower and she says gg. Just don't fight her straight up if it's gonna be a long fight, because she's one of the strongest duelers in the game. Poke her down enough until you can jump in a take her down.



Fizz

Difficulty: 4/5


Tough one. You have to survive early game and fight him while he's isolated or he's going to out-damage you. He can avoid anything you throw at him and can successfully harass you with his combo. His ult gives him a lot of strength, but you can avoid it with your Leap. It's a really close match but if you can get a little advantage, you're going to win, same case vice versa though. Try to fight him when his Seastone Trident is down. You just have to out-farm him with your Void Spikes and push the lane, make him use his leap ability(it won't let me code it properly sorry) to try to farm and jump on him as soon as it's down. Mid game he gets tough. It's really whoever grabs the first advantage here. You're both strong snowball champions.



Galio

Difficulty: 3/5


While I was originally going to put him as 2/5, I made it 3 for a few reasons. The main reason why this is an easy lane is because Galio can't utilize his passive effectively. That's what makes him strong against most AP mids: he can build magic resistance and still gain damage. He can't do that here. That's not to say he still can't do damage. Galio does a surprising amount of damage and his ultimate is very strong. It's enough to put him in the "beware" category. Just don't get caught off guard and don't get baited and you should be fine. If you play it like a normal lane and don't go super aggressive you'll be able to easily beat him. You can dodge most of his abilities and you do a lot of damage and if you time it correctly you can bait out his ultimate. Be careful though, because he can push very effectively.



Gangplank

Difficulty: 3/5


This is not a very difficult lane, nor is it overwhelmingly easy. You guys have similar ranged harass, but yours can heal and is AoE. You can push much better than he can. You can also escape his ultimate with your Leap. While he does have Raise Morale to give him a strong buff and make him pretty tough to 1v1, you come out ahead simply because you out-harass him and out-damage him if he's isolated. You just have so much more mobility and wave clear that you can easily push him to his tower and deny him gold. It's also very easy to zone him, because his Parrrley is too short of a range for him to farm effectively if you're zoning correctly.



Garen

Difficulty: 3/5


Garen. This guy, is annoying. Really annoying. To win this lane you have to use your Leap effectively. Essentially, if he starts to spin, get out of it. If you cannot escape, don't just run away. He's going to get free hits on you regardless, so you might as well trade with your Taste Their Fear and Void Spikes. His silence is terrifying and if you're not very healthy and he gets his combo off on you, you're probably dead. You also have to keep his passive in check. Every 7 seconds, I believe, make sure to hit him with something, or he'll start regening health like a boss. You cannot all-in because he'll win that trade every time. You have to use your range and your mobility to outplay him otherwise he will win the lane and end up zoning you hard. And DO NOT get confident if you get ahead of him or kill him. You can be ahead of Garen by a decent amount of farm and champion kills and he can still probably destroy you if you go all in.



Gragas

Difficulty: 4/5


This is actually a deceiving lane. If Gragas doesn't want to fight you, he doesn't have to. He can just farm and clear waves from a distance. He also does quite a bit of damage to you and his combo, if landed correctly, and blow you up. He's got good sustain and his Drunken Rage makes him strong AND hard to kill. It's winnable if you can bait him in because you can dodge every one of his abilities and once he blows his Body Slam he has no escape. It's winnable but if he's playing smart he will harass you from long range while farming. Very difficult but if he ends up playing a long-range passive game, just do the same and farm and try roaming because you can shove the lane almost as fast as he can.



Graves

Difficulty: 2/5


Lol Graves. Easy lane. He's got no CC, and only a short gap closer. He's got a decent amount of burst, but you can easily dodge it. He's got range, but he's just too squishy and doesn't do enough damage without burning through his mana to realistically fight Kha'Zix. Should be an easy lane as long as you're careful for the first few levels. You can easily send him out of lane with a combo and end up zoning him after you take an advantage.



Hecarim

Difficulty: 2/5


Rather easy lane. Hecarim got worse early game but better late, which just means you have to prevent him from getting there. Unfortunately for him, that's rather easy. You out-sustain him, out-push him, out-damage, trade, etc. His only saving grace is his mobility which won't be used offensively considering he'll just lose the trade, but rather to escape death. Either way, you're going to end up killing him and zoning him, or just zoning him from the start. He can't fight you. Beware late game though, as he becomes a monster. Otherwise, easy laning phase.



Heimerdinger

Difficulty: 3/5


This guy is annoying. Really annoying. He will push your lane hard and make it hard to farm early and harass you down with his rockets and turrets if you get too close. Fortunately, once you evolve your Void Spike, you'll be able to push him almost as effectively as he does to you. He's squishy and you can easily dodge most of his damage by jumping out of his turret range and dodging his grenade. Early game it's going to get very annoying and if you let him take advantage of you he can effectively zone you for a long time. Otherwise once you get some damage and can hop on him and blow him up you're going to send him out of lane. Beware of his health regeneration passive early because most trades he'll end up healing and you'll just waste a lot of mana. You shouldn't see Heimerdinger much but if you do just play patiently and try to farm up until you can kill him outright.



Irelia

Difficulty: 4/5


Tough fight. She can out-sustain you and will win in an all-in fight and her CC will get you killed. The only advantage you have over her is your range and that your gap closer does not have to be targeted. Be careful because she can combo-jump to you from very far away using your minions if they're close to dead and it's very hard to dive her with her health-based stun: If you have more health than her you get stunned, viceversa, you get slowed. It's a particularly tough lane but winnable. You have to choose your fights location and time. When she's isolated is best and when her Transcendent Blades are down, otherwise you'll lose the trade. They also must be quick fights and common for two reasons: one, you can't all-in her, I already said that, and if you harass only sparsly, she'll just use her sustain. This will be a tough lane and will rely on knowing her cooldowns and picking your fights correctly. I'd avoid this lane if I were you though.



Janna

Difficulty: 1/5


This is one easy lane. I've played AP mid Janna before, and she's fun, but she is insanely squishy with something like a base 16 armor. Pretty much, she has range and annoying CC, but once you hit level 3, one combo + Ignite can normally kill her. Just make sure she uses her tornado beforehand so you don't get interrupted and can't walk away with a kill. If you want to guarantee a kill, do it once without Ignite. That will get her chugging potions and maybe burn her Flash. Otherwise, if you can combo her twice, she's dead. Easy lane because you can destroy her early game. Eventually she'll just be able to clear waves with her tornado, but you can still insta-gib her at almost any time during the game.



Jarvan IV

Difficulty: 3/5


Pretty simple lane, but be careful because he can bring a lot of CC to the table if the enemy ganks. Don't get overconfident and play it well early. You can shut him down hard early and end up zoning him. He uses a lot of mana and if he decides to spam it you can just let him waste it and passively win the lane because he won't be able to fight you. You can also escape his ultimate with your Leap which is a plus. Just play semi-aggressive early game because he can't realistically trade with you, especially if he's isolated. You also push a little better than him, using less mana as well. Shouldn't be a tough lane, just beware of the CC.



Jax

Difficulty: 4/5


Jax isn't the "most prolific tournament fighter" in the league of legends for nothing. This guy is tough. He can trade with you well while you can't all-in him. Do not use your Leap to engage, especially if his Counter Strike is up. In fact, you shouldn't engage on him if it's up at all. Even though your Taste Their Fear will hit through it, the stun will devastate you. He can output a lot of damage and, of course, the later the game gets, the harder it is for you to fight him. The lane is winnable but you have to beat him pre-6 and use his cooldowns to your advantage. Otherwise, I would try to switch lanes.



Jayce

Difficulty: 4/5


Another tough lane. He can match your damage up close with his hammer form and can harass you from afar with his ranged form. It's also very tough to keep up constant damage if he doesn't want to all-in because of his mobility. You have to take advantage of the short cooldown on his ultimate and jump on him when he's trapped in his ranged form. He cannot trade equally unless he is in his hammer form. It's a very tough fight and he can easily zone you. I would avoid this lane if possible, but it's still winnable if you get stuck with it. You just have to dodge his Shock Blast and fight him when he's in that ranged form. Easier said than done, by far.



Karma

Difficulty: 1/5


Lol okay. This is a really easy lane. Just one word of caution: Just because she's never played doesn't mean she doesn't do any damage. Don't just assume she is not going to do any damage, she can. Don't go ham and just play it like a regular lane and you'll win. There's really not much else to say. She does get stronger the lower her health is though if you need to know anything, so remember that. Otherwise, not a hard lane at all.



Karthus

Difficulty: 3/5


This is actually a really easy lane. Karthus has no hard cc and the majority of the damage he'll do in lane is skill-shot based and has a delay. It is spammable though. Beware of the slow on his wall: you can use your Leap to make sure he doesn't do any damage. Be careful of dives because, well, his ultimate, Requiem and all the damage he can do if he lands a q on you alone. He's very squishy and not strong early so once you get you're combo take advantage of it. Beware after the laning phase. Karthus is one of the strongest, if not the strongest late game AP carry in the game. The amount of damage he can do to your team is insane and that's before he even dies. His ultimate is game changing and hits every target on the map. You may kill him for firstblood, but he may well up killing you 30 minutes later for a penta kill. You must isolate him at the start of the teamfight and make sure he doesn't get in the middle of you're team. His ultimate is inevitable so always remember that. It can be canceled if he's alive though, through either cc or death. As any long range champion can, he may just end up farming from long range making it very hard to deal any damage on him. If that happens, well, good luck. Same with Gragas: you'll have to bait him out then kill him.



Kassadin

Difficulty: 3/5


Annoying. Not hard, but annoying. His passive doesn't do anything to you because you're an AD champion which is a plus. He's got a really short cooldown gap-closer, which if used repetitively drains him out of mana very very fast, but does increasing damage. You are both melee and both have ranged abilities, but his silences while yours slows. He has his own slow but it must be charged up through being in range of spells casted, including enemies. In an all-in, you'd win everytime, but unfortunately, Kassadin isn't the type of champion who does that: he's an assassin who excels at getting a kill and escaping. His early game is weak because he can only rely on one ability to inflict damage, his Null Sphere, until level 6. Take advantage of this and zone him. The worst that will happen is that he'll burn his mana while trying to harass you down. The silence is annoying, but it's not terrible. Once you hit level 3 a combo should do a lot of damage to him and he shouldn't be able to trade effectively. If you deny him early, he cannot be the annoying monster he is for the rest of the game. Once he hits level 6 though, watch for his roam. It is very dangerous. Punish him for it.



Katarina

Difficulty: 3/5


Not that difficult of a lane. She does have annoying harass, but if she jumps on you, she gets heavily out-traded. You can Leap out of her ultimate if you're in danger of dying, but most of the time, if she decides to jump on you, you can inflict a lot of pain right back on her. You can zone her effectively because your Void Spike will out-damage her Bouncing Blades. Pre-6 take advantage of the fact that you will win almost every trade. Be careful of her roaming though and again, punish her for it by either pushing and denying CS as well as taking the tower, or counter-ganking the lane she's going for.



Kayle

Difficulty: 4/5


Kayle, is a lane bully. One especially effective against melee champions. While you can disregard the slow as long as your Leap is available, it does a decent amount of damage and she can follow up with her ranged sword swings of destruction. She will end up zoning you and while if you all-in you will win the fight, if she doesn't die she will eventually end doing more damage in retaliation and harass. Her sustain is also very annoying. It's a small heal, but enough to make a difference. Once she hits level 6 it's almost impossible to kill her because if she times her ultimate correctly she will negate all of your damage. She's very strong right now and while the lane is winnable if you can get an early advantage, perhaps an early kill while one of her abilities are on cooldown, you can win. Other than that, I would avoid this lane.



Kennen

Difficulty: 4/5


Another tough lane. Kennen can spam his abilities all day long effectively zoning you. When he uses Lightning Rush he gains armor and gap close like a boss. He will end up zoning you because he can spam him abilities and his autoattacks are extremely annoying and synergizes with his Electrical Surge. If you try to all-in you will inevitably get stunned and probably killed. He's not the strongest AP champion and his use has been declining, but he's still capable of dealing a decent amount of burst damage as well as sustained damage. Be wary of this lane. It's winnable if you combo him early, preferably before he starts to whittle you down with his autoattacks and abilities. You can send him out of lane earlier than he can if you reach level 3 before he does. Otherwise switch lanes if you're not confident you can.



Kha'Zix

Difficulty: ?/5


Well, if you're playing normals you'll inevitably run into another Kha'Zix, especially in the current state he is in: a strong AD casting powerhouse. Since you already know what he's capable of, this lane is determined by the person who makes the first mistake. After that, the other will just end up zoning and winning the lane, unless they're seriously outplayed/out-harassed. What can I say? Just farm like a boss and if he goes aggressive make sure you fight where he's isolated and your not: in the middle of your minions. That's all. Good luck, and may the best Kha'Zix win.



Kog'maw

Difficulty: 1/5


This is a very easy lane. Kog'Maw does not have, at least early game, near the amount of damage he needs to trade with you. He has no escape, albeit a skill-shot related slow. Play carefully from levels 1-3, and once you get your combo jump on him. Two combos plus an ignite are more than enough to kill him. It's an easy lane because you can snowball from it hard to the point where if he comes in range of your Leap without Flash, he dies. Just beware his passive if you're low. Late game though, if you can't reach him, he will kill your team. Luckily, you're Kha'Zix.



LeBlanc

Difficulty: 4/5


Tough lane. Once she hits level 2 she can start causing a lot of pain, and with her silence and her strong juking potential, it's very hard to pin her down directly after her combo. Be very careful once she hits level 6. Not only can she blow most champions up with a combo, but now her roaming potential becomes a big deal because of the short cooldown on her ultimate. One thing to note though, is that she is extremely squishy. If you can ambush her, it's almost an instant kill. Her passive will really annoy you because it will give her a chance to escape or just completely fool you if the LeBlanc is smart. I'd avoid this lane unless you can get an early advantage because even if you can survive the burst, the silence makes retaliation very difficult.



Lee Sin

Difficulty: 4/5


Yeah this is actually a pretty annoying lane. It's not really the fact that he can reveal you while stealthed that gives him the upper hand, though it is helpful, it's more that he can do a lot of damage, has fine sustain, and better gap closers (as long as he can land his Q). His burst at level 6 also makes it hard for you to trade with him because if you jump in with anything below 7/10ths of your health he can combo you for a large amount of damage. A good lee can outplay most champions because of the sheer mobility, AD burst, and decent sustain. It's no wonder he was one of the first AD bruisers to go succeed at mid. To beat him you have to know his cooldowns, which are pretty short, which is fairly difficult, and fight him when his Q is down. If you can fight him while his W and Q are down, the trade will go in your favor. Otherwise he can juke out your Void Spike as well as your Leap with a simple w and then procede to dump on you with a nasty combo, especially since you just used your Leap. If you can get a lead snowball it. Otherwise I would try not to lane against him.



Leona

Difficulty: 2/5


This is not a realistic lane. The thing here to remember is her CC. She'll never out-trade you but don't take her lightly. Try to fight her when her armor buff is down and just remember if the enemy jungler comes to gank and she has all of her CC up, you'll be stuck their for a while. Otherwise, it's very hard for her to win because you're both melee and she doesn't have much to deal with you. You can also easily dodge her ultimate with your Leap.



Lulu

Difficulty: 3/5


This one is surprisingly annoying. Lulu is a decent mid laner and if she gets a lead she can punish you bad. If you jump in she'll turn you into a critter then proceed to super slow you making your harass almost nothing. She's also very hard to kill once she hits 6. You can win the lane if she doesn't get an early lead, but it'll be very annoying.



Lux

Difficulty: 3/5


So this one is hit or miss. Once you hit level 3 and get your combo if you know the enemy jungler isn't in a position to gank, hop on Lux with your Leap and unleash hell. She probably won't be bringing much armor so you'll take out around half her health. If she doesn't start using health pots after your first combo, the second one is a guaranteed kill. Pre-6 you're in full control of the lane because she doesn't have the ability to blow you up. Even post-6, before she gets any AP, she can only take away about 1/2 to 6/10th's of your health with a full combo. That's a full combo which shouldn't be happening if you bullied her during the early stages of the game. Another problem for her is that she has to get the chalice or she'll be going oom very often if she tries to compete with your waveclear. That give MR and she doesn't get AP until she gets the Athenes. Take advantage of the laning phase here to set her back because she is very squishy and extremely susceptible to ganks, especially if you see her use her Light Binding and if she doesn't have Flash, it's almost a guaranteed kill. Ward up, keep track of the jungler, and zone her hard, because you have insane killing power in this lane.



Malphite

Difficulty: 3/5


You'd think he wouldn't be that hard, but Malphite does a surprising amount of damage to squishies, especially if he maxes Q. Thing is, he has no killing power on you alone, but he is very dangerous coupled with his jungler. He has a lot of mana problems early game so take advantage of it. Push him into his tower and make him waste mana on creeps. If he doesn't, you just gained a lead. If he does, he'll have to b and he won't be able to fight you, which means you can gain a lead by denying him creeps and xp. Do not over estimate his tankiness. If he is isolated you can still do a massive amount of damage to him. He still has mana problems without blue. This is more a top lane matchup, but if you happen to go against an AP malphite, word of advice: he hurts. Don't let him take blue, or he will bully you out of lane and take your harass with his shield. His burst is also very strong and if you aren't healthy when he goes in, he'll probably kill you.



Malzahar

Difficulty: 4/5


Malzahar is very strong against melee champs. That's the one thing you have to remember. The main fact is because he can combo you if you go in to do damage, and the suppression stops anything. This is the one time I might pick up a Mercurial Scimitar. I wouldn't rush it, but I'd pick it up as one of my last items for the late game. The thing is, Malzahar is a strong laner. He can CS easy with his space aids, E, and you can't stay too close to the minions while it's on because it will spread to you and do a fair amount of damage. Do not underestimate it. His Q is a strong silence and can mess you up if he lands it after you Leap, and his W is mostly there for both late game and comboing with his ultimate. The problem here is he can push almost as strongly as you and his ultimate will dissuade you from going all in. I'd try to avoid this lane because once you jump in, he can drop all of his abilities on you and you're dead. You must initiate while his CDs are down or you will not kill him unless he is extremely behind. The good thing is, he's not a strong late game champ. He is single target and situational with his W and Q, and he must stand in place to only lock one person down. I would try to just farm early and clear waves once you evolve your W, then go and roam. You have more pressure and a much better late game. If you can catch Malzahar with his pants down, no ultimate, you can win. Otherwise, don't even try it.



Maokai

Difficulty: 3/5


Not a tough lane, but do not underestimate Maokai. His E, if both parts hit, actually has the highest base damage of any non-ultimate ability in the game. He has a snare which makes ganks scary, and if he goes AP a decent amount of poke and burst damage. Whether he builds tanky or AP, you can 1v1 him and win because you have sustained damage. Be careful diving though, because his snare + his ultimate and make your dives backfire hard. Also make sure the jungler isn't nearby if you decide to go all in. Otherwise, if you play normally you will end up on top.



Master Yi

Difficulty: 2/5


This one is pretty darn easy for multiple reasons. I will go over both AP and AD yi.

AP Yi: Very easy because he has no burst or sustained damage and will never kill you. That, and you will know where he'll land if he Qs. If he Qs you, just Leap back into your own tower and he'll end up in a really bad spot. Just a regular lane. Once he's level 6, it'll be pretty tough to kill him if his ultimate is up, because your slow won't affect him and he'll just run away. One thing to beware of though, is don't dive him if his Meditate is up, because it give him a lot of armor and magic resistance, enough to tank through a lot of your damage. Unless he's at very low health. His heal isn't as strong anymore, so ignite isn't even necessary to secure a dive like that.

AD Yi: Still easy. He can't duel you unless he gets a lead and some nice items. You have superior harass, poke, and will trade better in those one or two auto engagements because of your Q. Just play the lane normally. Just be a bit careful once he hits level 6 because he can duel pretty well against a melee. Even against kha'zix. Again, use his Q to either pull him into your turret if he targets you, or to predict where he'll end up so you can harass him.



Miss Fortune

Difficulty: 2/5


Again, another easy one. She has no gap closers and is only a nuisance at level 1 and 2 (if you don't level leap second). Once you get leap and after one or two void spikes, you can leap and combo her for an easy kill. The reason why I don't go all in with a full combo when she's at full health, is because it wont kill her, and a smart ranged player will chase and harass you back after you start backing up. Otherwise, very easy lane. And if she ults just leap behind her, or next to her.



Mordekaiser

Difficulty: 3/5


Not a difficult lane, but not a breeze. Mord will inevitably push your lane, so if your junglers smart, they'll be on that. Early game you will 100% outduel mord. Wait until he uses his abilities to push or attempt to harass you, and if he misses, just jump on him and go to work. The shield, this early, will absorb almost nothing. Back up after your harass while he's running away so he can't get back in range to hit you back when you're retreating. Rinse and repeat. Just beware of his level 6 and don't dive him if his ultimate is available because it gives him a burst of health back when he uses it and at that point you might underestimate his shield. A good mord, once he gets a bit of damage, will stay and fight and try to back up and avoid your attacks when his abilities are off CD so as to maximize his shield against your damage while still constantly damaging you. But you should be able to easily snowball this early, especially since he has no escapes.



Maorgana

Difficulty: 3/5


This lane is annoying. Very annoying. She'll just push your lane and piss you off early. Wait until you get your full combo and try to bait her snare before you jump on her. If you can bait and dodge a snare pre-6, just jump on her face and blow her up. Her shield only stops your slow and the extra damage from your passive. Post 6 you have to be careful because of her ultimate. If you can, try to bait it out of her then leap away. Otherwise, she cant kill you with a full combo anytime soon so feel free to try to duke it out. The only thing here is she's got quite a bit of good CC, so be very aware of where their jungler is if you're going to engage her.



Nami

Difficulty: 2/5


Pretty simple lane. You can dodge every thing that's a threat that she can throw at you with your leap. Her Q can just be juked because it's very slow, and her ultimate can either be juked if she casts it from afar, or just leapt out of. She's squishy and has no gap closers, and her damage output will never be scary enough to be threatening for you. She has okay kite if your leap is down with her auto attacking slows, and a moderate heal that also does damage for trading exchanges, but the fact that you have a gap closer makes this an easy lane. She will kite you and not let you gap close via mobility if you don't have your leap, so be wary for that. Otherwise, just poke once or twice with void spikes, then leap in for an easy kill.