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You're stronger than him now that he's been gutted. Should be fine in both forms.
Anivia
CC, zoneing, hard to kill with passive, burst. Anivia is a legitimate threat to you as a Kayn, especially if you are Shadow Assassin.
Alistar
Loads of CC and peal, which is annoying for you and harder to deal with, but no threat if his abilities are on cd. If you're Darkin, he's just a big ol' health pot.
Azir
Tricky to deal with. His wall can be walked through with your E however, and you should be able to gap close given his e is on cd or used poorly.
Bard
Huge problem for you. Can Q you while your in a wall, stunning you and potentially putting you out of place, and his ult is annoying to everyone really. Play this one carefully.
Braum
CC and peal. Pesky Braum. His Q's slow is massive, his W will block your W,and his ult will ruin your day. Big threat all across the board, especially with his passive.
Caitlyn
Easy match-up. If she sees your shadow indicator near a wall, she'll put a trap down most likely, but you can maneuver around it easily. She poses no real threat to you, just be careful of her kite.
Camille
One of your easiest match-ups as Kayn, in any form.
Cassiopeia
Large AOE stun and extremely good cc, not to mention her high burst and damage over time. Real threat to Kayn in both forms, consider banning.
Cho'Gath
Can be a problem if not dealt with. Really the only problems you'll encounter with Cho will be when you're in blue form.
Darius
Similar to Cho, Darius is only really a problem if you are going blue or Shadow Assassin form. Avoid getting hit with his Q by means of your Q and E, and keep the hemorrhage damage to a minimum.
Dr. Mundo
Walking health pot for red, sitting duck for blue. His self-healing is pesky, but so is yours so don't complain lul. He is quite tanky however, so it'll take longer if you are Shadow Assassin to kill him. Again in red form, walking health pot. Most of these linear tanks are a piece of cake for Kayn in both forms, with 2 exceptions.
Draven
If you miss your W against Draven, you're probably dead. With his E, he can self-peel decently well and knock you out of any wall you may be in, and he'll always just be barely out of your reach with his W. Play carefully around him, take blue form for the extra range and damage on your W, or just ban.
Ekko
Can zone with his Q and W, escape with his E and R. Passive gives him burst, which can potentially screw up when you decide to ult. Play this carefully.
Elise
Another bursty champ. Elise's burst has a high chance of messing up when you ult. Holding your ult till the last moment is ill-advised here, as she could burst you down in a second.
Evelynn
A tough match up if you don't know what you're doing. You go about even against her, who ever has even the slightest advantage will take this one.
Ezreal
Ezreal is pesky to deal with. His range and poke make it hard for you to do your job. If for some reason Ezreal jungle ever comes back, this is a big ol' ban or dodge.
Fiora
Play against her like how you'd normally play against a Fiora. Ult when she has 1 or 2 vitals left to proc in order to dodge her ult. She can ignore your initial burst but other than that, you should be fine.
Fizz
Fiiz is annoying. No doubt. But Kayn can handle him pretty well. In fact you can ult off his ult for a psuedo-cleanse effect, which is pretty neat. Negates a lot of his damage and burst and helps you deal with him.
Galio
Galio can destroy you if you're not careful. His W is a huge deterrent to you and can seriously mess up anything you want do do as Kayn. Combined with his E, he can lock you down longer than most champs can. Be very careful and avoid his W if possible.
Gangplank
Easier match-up. Q out of his barrel range and take note of his W's cleanse however, as it will negate your slow and your knock up if you are in Darkin form.
Ivern
Easiest match-up for you. He's passive and gentle and you're the edgy grim reaper anime guy. Take his camps, kill him, kill his team, kills his minnions, kill his nexus, trace his IP, drive to him, kill the dude playing him. You get the gist. Only problem is if he catches you out with his team, but that can be said for any champion.
Janna
Obviously Janna herself posses no threat to you. Paired up with her ADC though, her kit will mess you up. Peel on top of peel on top of peel on top of peel. Peel peel peel peel peel. Shields. Heal. Ban.
Jarvan IV
Jarvan counters you, plain and simple. If you're anything but red form, 9/10 you'll have a hard time against him. Flag-Drag combo displaces you and does high damage, W slows you and shields him. The only thing you've got over him is the fact that you can Q or E out of his ult.
Jax
You should have a fair time against Jax in either form. Blue form may leave you a little weaker against him in the late game however, but you should be fine with him for the most part.
Jhin
His W is the only real problem for you. His traps can catch you out if you're sloppy but otherwise, smooth sailing.
Kalista
She'll kite around you and her E could mess up your ult timing with its unexpected burst. Play carefully around Kalista.
Kassadin
Pre-6, he's all yours big dawg. Post 6, it's a bit trickier. He'll compete with you in mobility and his silence can mess up your plans.
Kayn
First off, why you in norms?? Jk, not really but anyways, all skill. Whoever ult's first loses.
Kha'Zix
One of a few champs who can actually 1v1 you in either form and win. If you lose to him early game, you'll lose to him period. Play less aggressive and farm your own jungle unless you have vision of him.
Lee Sin
You can dodge pretty much everything he can dish out, with your ult Q and E. If he tries to escape you, chase him down with E, you're more slippery than he is. Only problem you'll have is with some of his burst from his q auto ult q combo proc'ing Electrocute.
Leona
So much cc, another champ who can lock you down and fend you off extremely well. If she's with her ADC, you're probably dead.
Lissandra
Lot's off cc and can do quite a bit of damage, even to red. Take care.
Lulu
Lulu's makes any assassin/fighter jg's life hell. You'll have a hard time gap closing and her ult will save her or whoever you're on. Play against her with care.
Maokai
With help, his cc is a huge problem. By himself, easy target.
Nami
Lots of cc and peal but a sitting duck otherwise.
Ornn
Very tanky, one of the tankiest champs to date. His ult and Q are easy dodges, but his E can catch you out if you're in a wall. Play smart.
Rakan
Ack. He will 100% kill you if he's with anyone else. He's quick so don't bother chasing unless he's blown summoners and ult.
Rammus
One of the three tanks Kayn seriously struggles against. High armor, reflection from W, E pulls you out of your wall, Q hits like a truck, ult will keep you slowed so you can't activate E to escape to great affect. Ban or always take red against him. Blue is definitely not the way to go against a Rammus.
Rek'Sai
Easy match-up, she can't do much against you. Steal her camps early and build a lead against her.
Rengar
Not as strong as Kha'Zix but will be a threat if allowed to farm and invade. Ward up and wait for your form change before you fight him he outdamages you and everyone else early.
Riven
Lot's of cc and her E is annoying, but otherwise, not too bad. Only problem will be she will outscale you and eventually survive your one-shot combo in blue form later in the game.
Sejuani
The second tank Kayn really struggles with. She's a really insane champ in general, but her kit feels like it was made just to mess with Kayn. Her Q will knock you out of the wall, on her side if she uses it quickly enough, her W will slow you and apply her E passive, her E will lock you down and when followed by her ult will usually mean death for you. You won't have as bad a time against her in red.
Shen
If he lands his E you could be in danger but otherwise, fairly easy match-up.
Shyvana
You really can't fight her without red form. Make sure you ward your jungle as she'll try to get level 6 as quickly as possible, and do not fight her if she is running ignite or exhaust, you will die for sure. Take red form against her almost always unless she's lacking on tank items.
Singed
Grounding is arguably the best cc in the game. Singed grounds and slows, and his fling will put you out of position, which is awful on Kayn. Take red against him or take blue and ignore him entirely unless you have your team with you.
Sona
If you're hit with her ult, you'll be in danger. Sona does a dumb amount of damage, so watch out for her ult and you'll be fine.
Soraka
Heals are annoying, but her cc isn't as strong as other supports mentioned here. You'll be able to dodge or maneuver through her cc fairly easily.
Sylas
Pretty dang strong. Good amount of cc, self healing is crazy. Probably opt for red form here.
Twitch
Rat. His E and passive could be slightly scary to you, but not very. He's incredibly squishy, you can one shot him in either forms, getting to him is the real issue.
Udyr
50/50 match-up, it could honestly go either way IF you are fighting him in red form. If you are blue form he will win unquestionably.
Urgot
So tanky and does so much damage. Your Q will end up hurting you more than it helps, as you'll be right in his face, which is the last place you want to be when fighting an Urgot. Take red always against him and pray.
Varus
Dodge his ult and you'll be fine. He can't kite as effectively as other ADC's, gap close and kill em.
Vayne
She'll condem right back into the wall you came out of, kite around you for days, and her ult will completely turn the tables in her favor always. Ban or take blue form and end her ASAP. Taking red against her is fine but usually useless.
Vi
Loads of cc but under played. You won't come across this match-up too often but when you do, just take red.
Vladimir
Large damage over time which can still kill you if you're ult'ed onto him and his e will dodge most of your combo if you're over zealous. Just play slow against him, either form will do. Maw is essential here.
Volibear
Another walking health pot. Avoid his CC and you'll be fine.
Warwick
The third and final tank Kayn has a hard time with. He can Q onto you and if timed right, can follow you through walls, his E will disrupt you for a substantial amount of time, and his own healing is comparable to yours in red form, which you will have to take if you want to stand the slightest chance against him.
Xayah
More annoying than she is an actual threat. Her feathers take too long to set up for her snare
Xin Zhao
Harder against the new Xin. He's really strong and can outduel you in most situations. Highly recommend taking red form against him.
Yasuo
If out of control, Yasuo beats anybody, but shut him down early and you'll be fine. Either form will do. Most people build Yasuo tanky these days, so you may want to lean towards red form.
Zac
Loads off cc and can do serious damage if allowed to but other wise, health pot.
Zed
Skill based match-up, you should be able to outplay as long as you keep your distance from his shadows and ult as soon as he ults to ignore most of his damage.
Zoe
Tricky match-up here. Mostly depends upon if she can land her sleepy-time bubble.
Welp, welcome to my average guide on Kayn. I'm Optimal Pancake, or just like Pan or Cake for short, and i'm a jungler. I've been playing for a fair bit of time, since season 4, and i've been playing seriously since season 5. I've been playing Kayn non-stop since he first came , and have accumulated around 500k mastery points on him. During season 7 I had like a 61% win rate on kayn out of 150 somethin games, so I think i'm pretty knowledgeable on the champ as a whole. As of right now, i'm gold I with a 74% out of 27 games. I'm a lower rank but hey, maybe you'll learn something new about Kayn you didn't know before, and that'd be pretty cool. So with all of that out of the way, let's get started.
About Kayn
About Kayn
Kayn is the newest jungle-specific champion released by Riot. When he first dropped, he was kind of a controversial pick. On one hand, you had the people who took him straight into ranked for whatever reason and fell flat on their faces, who then proclaimed him to be garbage. On the other hand, you had the people who paced themselves with Kayn, and took a little time to understand his kit, and found him to be an incredibly strong jungler. Either way, the things that could be agreed upon at first were his first clear and jungle clear in general were phenomenal, his E was, and still is, incredibly strong. For the most part, Kayn is a fantastic champion. He was bugged out of his mind on release, but he's up to par these days.
About Kayn's Passive - Darkin vs. Shadow Assassin
About Kayn's Passive - Darkin vs. Shadow Assassin
The age old question,which form is better. I wish everyone could be like me and love them equally, but either it's Darkin (which i'll be referring to as red form for the rest of the guide), or it's Shadow Assassin (which i'll be reffering to as blue form for the rest of the guide. When Kayn first came out, it was red form without a question every single game. Blue form, and Kayn in general, was extremely buggy and lacked the "oomf" it has today. He simply wasn't as strong as an assassin when he first came out, mostly due to the fact that upon exiting his ult, you couldn't proc the Duskblade passive again, nor could you proc the bonus damage from your passive again. On top of that, lethality was undergoing its overhaul at the time, leaving assassins in a weird spot. Red was simply far stronger than blue form. This is still sorta true today, but that's because the nature of the game favours a bruiser over an assassin. While ADC's are highly important right now as well, they usually have 3 tanks, 10 forms of disengage,flash and barrier, heal on their support coupled with an additional 4 more forms of disengage, combined with their own escape, so yeah assassinating is sorta whatever. However, red form is no longer marginally better than blue form. Since his release, Kayn's blue form has received many direct and indirect buffs. Once his bugs were worked out, he was almost equal to red form. His W-Q-Auto combo will one shot most ADC's, APC's, squishy supports (your Janna's, Lulu's, Rakan's), and if that wasn't enough, lethality, and especially Duskblade, became insanely strong again. Let's talk about red form now. Besides from looking badass, red form has fantastic CC in his W, phenomenal sustain with the healing bonus from his passive, decent healing from his Q combined with new percent HP damage, and ridiculous healing from his ult, almost like a mini-GA. Both forms sound amazing, and they are, but Kayn's fatal flaw lies in one thing, one really basic thing, Crowd Control. Yeah you can walk through walls, but not if your cc'ed. Yeah you can ult and heal back nearly all your health or do insane damage and reset Duskblade and your passive, but not if your cc'ed. You get the gist. CC is something everyone suffers from, but on Kayn it is 10x more deadly. With all that being said, I feel like taking a form is something that should be situational. You shouldn't limit yourself to one form, you're saying good-bye to a whole different play-style that could win the particular game you're in. All i'm saying with this chapter, and this build as a whole, is don't limit yourself to one form. I'm gonna repeat that till it get's annoying.
Pros / Cons
Pros / Cons
So why would you want to play Kayn to start with? Well Kayn's got:
Possibly the best jungle clear in the game. Adaptability due to to his passive. High damage that can put you far ahead early game. Amazing ganks due to his high mobility from his E (he can walk through walls you guys). Better assassin than most in Blue form and a pretty amazing bruiser in Red form. He's kinda cool looking?
That's all well and good, but Kayn has some downsides, being:
A big ol' weakness to CC. If you fall behind, you won't be able to switch forms as early and you'll be useless for a while. You can't switch forms, you have to pick either red or blue. He's not quite as strong early game, as he has no real passive until he chooses a form. Struggles against current meta picks like Lissandra and Sejuani.
All that said, Kayn is a highly versatile champion who can carry teamfights and games with either form. Be it taking down the carry or getting picks before pushing for an objective on blue, or dominating teamfights and dueals with red's insane healing. Kayn can do pretty much everything.
Runes
Runes
The not so new anymore rune system is pretty neat actually. You'd think that there's pretty much just one or two paths to take with Kayn, but i've found that there's a surprising amount of variety in what you can take. I'm gonna focus more on keystones, check out the actual rune paths for more depth on the rest. First off, Electrocute, probably the best thing you can take on Kayn right now IF you plan on playing with an open mind and IF you don't count Dark Harvest which had a pretty substantial nerf. Electrocuteis great on Kayn, scales well and does damage, not much to say here pretty self-explanatory. Let's look at something more form specific and far spicier, that being the infamous Conqueror keystone. Conqueror red Kayn is one of my favourite things to play at the moment, you can't be out-dueled unless they're crazy fed and it feels more viable than anything else you could play. If for some reason the absolute ridiculous buff goes through, which I don't think it will, Conqueror red Kayn will definitely be the best way to play the champion, but the buff that Conqueror is supposed to receive is insane, so I honestly doubt it'll go through. Another red Kayn specific keystone is Aftershock. Take this if you already know you're gonna be useless. Typically, you don't see many people taking Aftershock anymore, personally I think it's pretty bad on red I didn't even bother including it, but it's still viable-ish. Lastly, we'll hit on Dark Harvest. This thing was way too strong, and even after its nerfs it's still pretty good. The only thing though is that because of the nerfs, Electrocute is now stronger, so i'd opt for that until Dark Harvest gets fixed up.
Jungling on Kayn
Jungling on Kayn
Kayn has a pretty great clear. If you are new to Kayn, or even a veteran on him, I recommend starting Q and going to raptors first if you are on the red team. Take E next, heal through the wall that'll take you to red buff, kill red buff using your smite, and head to wolves. From wolves, take your W and take your blue buff. Take rift scuttler and then from there, go for your enemy's krugs. Most junglers ignore krugs on their first clear, so this is just free gold. If you are on the blue team, start Q, get a leash from your bot lane at your red, take W second and go to raptors. From there, take the same path as before. You should finish that first clear from around 2:45 to 3:00. Kayn is a very efficient jungler, and you'll often find yourself just clearing so much jungle and getting so ahead. Aside from his clear, Kayn also excels at invading and stealing away camps. He can stay so healthy due to his E and if he were to be caught, the mobility from his Q and E will allow him to escape most situations. You should feel very safe invading on Kayn, but don't take it too far. Watch for the potential collapse from the enemy team, and I wouldn't recommend invading someone Kayn has a hard time against, like Warwick and Kha'Zix, especially early game where you are not as strong as them. Make sure to take advantage of your fantastic clear and invade against pretty much every other jungler. Getting your enemy behind is a pretty good way to win, seeing as how pivotal jungle is these days. Only thing I have left to say here is to not get caught up power farming. Kayn's clear is good but like, don't just sit in jungle farming. Some champs like Shyvanna benefit from that type of play style, but Kayn was made to gank.
Tips and Tricks
Tips and Tricks
Some things to know about Kayn and how his abilities interact with one another:
Kayn can still Q and W while inside of a wall at no consequence. If he auto's or is damaged, then that'll shut your E off.
The new quality of life changes have made it so that you can now see how close you are to your desired form, which is pretty neat.
Never forget that you are not invulnerable while ulted on to someone, only untargetable. DOT effects, like ignite, will still effect you.
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