spacitycpasemeow meep meow

nuggets nuggets nuggets nuggets nuggets

nuggets orianna
When you are playing Karma you are either the AP carry in mid lane or you are a somewhat tankier AP Mage in top lane. Or a support. Either of the roles will provide your team with a deadly and tanky/sustainable AP caster or a unique support with lots of utility.
poop space space
You are always the AP carry in (big surprise) mid lane when you are following the 'AP Mid' build. The build I have provided promotes a strong early game with decent survivability and damage. As you finish your items and move on into later portions of the game this build will help you to transition while remaning strong and very useful to your team. Nobody expects a bursty Karma.
space space
Top lane is a little different than mid lane when concerning what items you should build. I used to only play Karma top lane when I had an AD assassin mid so that I could just go full APC top lane. But I have also found that going down the road of an tanky AP utility mage can also work very well for you even if you have an AP carry mid already. This build makes you much tankier than your mid counterpart- and very difficult to kill. This build also brings a bit more utility to your team at the expense of a lot of damage.

Top lane is my favorite place to play Karma right now because of the comments you get from the enemy team, "OMG our top lost to a squishy AP!" or from you own team, "Holy sh*t our Karma is actually good!!!"
space space space
With all of the changes Riot made to supports and vision, I think that Karma is now a viable support. Talisman of Ascension and Locket of the Iron Solari work exceptionally well with her kit and a lot of people don't even realize it. she brings a ton of utility to the team and if paired with Sivir can essentially allow your team to have THREE AOE speed boosts, which no other team comp can bring on the same scale or effectiveness.

Make sure to start with either Ancient Coin (probably the stronger choice) or Spellthief's Edge for the gold income so that she won't fall behind later in the game.

Utility is your strongest weapon as support Karma, and if your team need to know what they are doing in order to make the best of it.
nuggets space
Regardless of which role you play (or build you use) you should never be in the front lines of a team fight. Solo top Karma can definitely take more hits than AP carry Karma but she is still a bit squishy. You should always be closer to the back and off to the side constantly firing Inner Flames into the enemy team and attempting to catch the enemy carries with your Focused Resolve.

I cannot re-iterate this enough- do NOT be afraid to use your ultimate! Especially during late game. Even if you choose not to use one of the more offensive options you should till be dealing so much constant damage that you can have your cooldown gone in under ten seconds.

Also because of Karma's supporting capabilities you should easily be able to switch between carry and support roles as your team sees fit with Inner Flame/ Soulflare and Inspire/ Defiance.
nuggets

harvestmoonsdgfsgf
Personally, I don't think runes make that much of a difference. I've had many opportunities where I have accidently taken my ADC page with my APC and vice versa and still had a successful game.

The runes I have listed above are what I believe is the optimum combination for Karma. Magic penetration, mana regeneration, ability power, and movement speed are what Karma needs the most. Most people probably have a generic AP-friendly page that they use on all of their ap mid champions. If you have one of those it will more than likely be fine for Karma. But I would still recommend my combination of runes over any other.
nuggets nuggets
Here is an explanation of why I take what I take:

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: These runes ensure that Karma's spells hurt. Also they help you cut through any magic resistance the enemy team may have. I feel these runes should be standard for any AP carry though.

Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration: The only thing worse than dying that can happen to you as Karma is running out of mana. These runes, along with your grail, and blue buff, give Karma the mana she needs to to stay useful throughout the game. The reason I take scaling over flat runes is because after level seven they only further compliment Karma's ability to stay in lane for a long time and even apply pressure to other lanes.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: It's ability power. The thing that makes all AP carries useful. Other than it makes all of Karma's abilities more powerful, they serve no other purpose. I don't think I need to say more on this.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed: I used to never take these runes at all. But then I started using them on my junglers and loved them. Then I tried them on my supports, and then eventually my AP carries. However, I think the extra movement speed really compliments Karma's need to keep up with her opponent. the movement speed is also good for outrunning your opponent in rough situations.

I feel that Athene's Unholy Grail provides ample magic resistance for Karma and that is why I do not take any runes for that.
meow meep
AP Top- While your role in top lane is slightly different, the concept for runes is the same. You still the need mana regeneration, you obviously still need ap, you are definitely still going to be chasing your opponent with movement speed, and the magic penetration will always be useful against tanky opponents.
meow meep
If you need help with your runes, there is a guide for that (it has been archived, but still an informative read.) here
nuggets

kaiju[/black]
nuggets nuggets karlienuggets

filler filler

space

These boots are the optimum choice for pretty much any AP caster. The magic penetration offers more hurt with each spell cast. Along with Liandry's Torment, our runes and masteries, it brings us roughly to 40 magic penetration. One of the nice things about Karma is that no matter how much magic resistance your opponents build, her heal will always be for the full amount.

fillerpotatoes ilikecats]

space

Even with the changes they made to this item in season three it is still my favorite AP carry item in the whole game. I build it on literally almost everyone including Karma. Not only does it basically give her a free blue buff, it gives her some much needed cooldown reduction for her ultimate and other skills. This item is an all around great compliment to her aggressive play style because of all the mana regeneration it gives you too. Also with a Rabadon's Deathcap, you gain a bonus 18 ability power form this item.

sfgdsgfdghfdsghmuffins

space

This item is hands down essential for every single AP caster, with a few rare exceptions. Karma is not one of these exceptions. It gives you a whopping 120 (gives itself a bonus of) ability power and increases every last one of your sources of AP by 30%. Get this item.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

Karma's Q ability is her most spammable skill of all. Not only is it AOE, but it will hit and slow everyone within a small radius regardless of whether you used Inner Flame or Soulflare. The passive on this item doubles it's effect when the afflicted target(s) are movement impaired. It also doubles with the root from her Focused Resolve/ Renewal. The magic penetration makes her spells hurt more, the health makes her tankier and the 50 ability power (gains an additional 15 with the deathcap) just makes her stronger. Overall, Karma can make very good use of this item. I usually don't take this item when I play Karma top lane because Will of the Ancients provides us with enough survivability to stay in lane. It can be useful against opponents who have a LOT of health, but I find that you can whittle them down pretty easily without this. If you find that your opponent is stacking high amounts of magic resistance you could always build an early Void Staff too.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

This item is pretty much the ultimate defense for any AP caster because of it's active. Being un-targetable can and will save your life! It is also useful in those situations where you have one or two seconds left on Renrwal. Just pop the active, and then completely turn the tables on your opponent as your health comes pouring back. It also gives you 50 armor to make you tankier and another 120 whopping ability power (and a bonus 36 with a deathcap.)

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

The reason I put this at the end of Karma's build is because I feel the burst it provides simply isn't all the great until you have a lot of ability power. But once you have it your auto attacks will reduce the cooldown on your ultimate and punish your opponent at the same time. Now whenever you use Inspire to engage an opponent you have a buffed auto attack to throw at them in addition to the rest of Karma's burst. You also get 80 ability power (with a deathcap bonus of 24), and a 5% speed buff that Karma can definitely use to engage and disengage as needed.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

This item can be useful when you're laning against incredibly bursty champions such as Veigar or LeBlanc. It is also useful when laning against melee champions such as Diana. But the reason I did not include this in my main build is because Karma is ranged and should never be within 600 range (the range of abyysal's passive) of an enemy for very long. When Karma gets into close range it should be on her terms, not her enemy's.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

This item is a very close contender to being included my main AP Mid build. The heal from the AOE on Karma's Inner Flame and Soulflare will heal her for a decent amount of HP. When combined with Renewal the amount of HP she will recover is ridiculous. But the reason I did not include it in the main build is because Karma already has a good heal and you should be playing aggressively enough to have your Renewal when you need it and not taking a ton of damage as a result. I will have champion matchups listed below that say when you should take this item mid. When playing top lane, this items is essential to any build as it provides her with so much sustain on top of what she already has.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

A close cousin of Athene's Unholy Grail. The only differences are that it provides more ability power and useful passive at the expense of far less mana regeneration. The only times I take this item over Athene's is when I am laning against a high sustain champion such as Vladimir or Master Yi. It's also useful when the enemy team is stacking tons of HP. In the more uncommon situation where I take this item and Athene's is when Karma simply needs to be able to do constant amounts of damage (At the expense of damage.) At 40% cooldown reduction Mantra is almost consistently up.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

The tenacity from these boots can really make Karma's day when laning against high CC opponents such as Veigar or Lissandra. Otherwise I generally take Sorcerer's Shoes and switch to these during late game only if the enemy team has an obnoxious amount of crowd control.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

When you're completely dominating or losing your lane, you may find it beneficial to roam. When in matchups such as LeBlanc where Karma struggles, you should definitely attempt to gank other lanes because LeBlanc simply can't push very well. This is where Mobility Boots come in. They allow for you to quickly zip your way around around the map with Inspire and constantly keep pressure on other lanes. If you choose to build these, however, be prepared to trade up to Sorcerer's Shoes or Mercury's Treads later on in the game.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh sfgdsgfdghfdsgh

space

I only recommend taking this item as a situation choice when you are playing Karma top lane, and that your opponent is AP such as Ryze or Malphite. It's a great all around survivability item for Karma but taking this will leave one less slot for damage. Because we are building a Will of the Ancients, each spell she casts will heal for nice amount of health. But combined with our spell vamp and Renewal, Karma will heal for amounts even more ridiculous than with just the spell vamp. The cooldown reduction and magic resistance will also help us out a lot.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh sfgdsgfdghfdsghmuffins

space

Again this is a more defensive item for when you are playing Karma in top lane. Normally I only build this item if my opponent is AD and is hitting me really hard.. If my opponent is someone with a hard gap closer such as Jax or Vi and/or my team is lacking tanky champions I may also consider building this. This item sacrifices a lot of damage in return for survivability. You receive a lot of armor, cooldown reduction, and a great passive for those auto-attacks to remove your Mantra cooldown. You may also use the passive for easily engaging another champion or disengaging.

lalalala muffins

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

The bonus 15 movement speed can be great for Karma. As I've stated numerous times throughout the guide, Karma needs movement speed.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

This is a great enchantment that really helps out your team and allows them to push faster. In addition to helping push, you can use it to help feeling allies get away combined with Inspire.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

25% (or 75 seconds) off of your Flash can be very useful. But because we don't take the Summoner's Insight mastery it may not be worth it to some. But reducing the cooldown to 225 seconds can still be very useful when a Varus or Morgana throws down their ult.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh muffins

space

This a a great enchantment, but it seems as if it's the most popular one and I do not understand why. By the time you have ran to the first towers outside of your base it is pretty much worn off. Being in a situation where this would be useful generally means that your team isn't doing too well. We also are not taking Teleport and thus Teleport/ Homeguard ganks aren't going to be a thing with Karma. However, combined with Inspire/ Defiance can make a very fast Karma that may be able to turn an in-base teamfight around.

sfgdsgfdghfdsgh sfgdsgfdghfdsgh

nuggets nuggetschicken

muffins muffins black

filler space space space space space

nuggets nuggets
Farming! is your best friend during the laning phase of each game. Being at a lower ELO I come across my fair share of opponents who focus more and shooting their spells at me (and missing) than last hitting their minions. Before they begin to realize what's going on, we're ten minutes into the game and I have 100-ish cs to their 50. While both of us have 0 kills. I basically have won my lane.

Because of Karma's great pushing potential and sustain, it is possible for her to win her lane without a single kill, death, or assist. If you notice that your teammates are struggling in another lane, tell your jungler that you will be okay and to focus on ganking the other lanes instead. Unless of course you find yourself struggling as well.

Depending on who your laning opponent is, you may be able to slip away with your jungler and even help with those ganks and get back in time to keep the wave off of your tower.

A well farmed Karma is a very dangerous Karma.

Remember, Karma is a great duelist. Because of her heal she can come out of almsot any exchange with less health lost than her opponent. However, don't get too confident and do not try to 1v2, or 1v3, yet.
Soraka noodles Soraka noodles
Inner Flame: Other than throwing an occasional one of these to get last hits and harass my opponent I don't really start poking until level four when I have put a second point into this. The reason for this is because for only five more mana, you increase the damage by 45.

• This is your primary source of poke
• Becomes Soulflare, your strongest nuke, when you use your ultimate on it.
• Use it to allow your jungler to catch up
• When it hits a target it deals damage to everyone around it. Sometimes aiming for the minions instead of your enemy will catch them off guard as they will not expect to take damage. If your opponent is melee such as Diana or Fizz, they will find that hiding in their minions is simply too close.

Soraka noodles
Focused Resolve

After you've initiated your opponent, this skill comes next to ensure that they don't get away until you're done with them. Not only does it deal a decent amount of damage, but if you find yourself taking a lot of damage, adding a Mantra to it will heal you as well.

• Becomes Renewal with Mantra.
• This is Karma's heal, it only works on herself.
• Using Inspire can often help to keep you just within the tether range so your opponent cannot get away but also cannot get to you.
• Renewal makes Karma deceptively hard to kill at low health.

Soraka noodles
Inspire

We mainly use the shield from this ability to absorb damage when we first engage our enemy. We will use the speed buff to either catch up to them and make sure they get snared in place or to run away.

• Becomes Defiance with Mantra
• Can help both you and your jungler get away when ganks go wrong.
• Throw it on your jungler if you are already securing the tether so they can quickly hop into the fight.
• When you're ahead, you can cast it on minions to throw off your opponents last hitting.
• May also cast it on minions to help keep them alive and hold the lane.

Soraka noodles

black
In those games where your jungler does gank for you, intiate with your Inspire + Focused Resolve combo to allow your jungler to join into the fight and then quickly follow up with a Soulflare and Ignite. Your opponent should be dead. If not, push your lane hard and get the tower, or proceed to help other lanes.

In the event that you are ganked, simply use Karma's ganking combo in reverse order and instead of using your Mantra on Soulflare, use it to get Renewal instead.
Soraka noodles black
When you're pinned against your tower and it has begun to attack your farm remember these rules:

• Melee Minions: Two turret hits + One auto attack- let the turret hit the minion two times, and then auto attack once for the kill.
• Caster Minions: One turret attack, + Two auto attacks- hit the minion, then let the turret hit the minion, and then auto attack it again for the kill.
• Follow the focus of your own minions and learn the timing for your auto attack animations to ensure the most minion kills.

Soraka noodles
General Laning Notes:

• Farm over fighting
• Melee minions are worth more than caster minions, prioritize these when you are unable to kill both.
• Siege minions are worth the most, but only spawn every three waves.
• Do not push your lane into the enemy tower when someone is unaccounted for.
• If your jungler isn't giving blue buff, ask them for it! Chances are they will give it to you.
• You should have tier one boots, Chalice of Harmony, a Needlessly Large Rod, and two Sight Wards before early game is over.

nuggets

nuggets nuggets
Mid game usually starts around 15 to 30 minutes in my experience. Unless one or both teams are really bad. Regardless of the situation, you should either already have their tower, or be so well farmed that you can constantly push your lane and really put the pressure on your opponents turret. Remember to keep an eye out for ganks, that can come from more than just the jungler at this point.

Once mid tower has been taken, I usually prefer to go help bot lane get theirs so that way all four of us may proceed to help top as well. The only exception to this is if top already has their tower, or are really close and it would simply be more beneficial to take it really fast and then head bottom.

In the event that you lose your mid turret first, make sure you are constantly keeping track of your opponent while attempting to push the lane all the way to their tower. If you notice your opponent has gone bottom or top, it is your (not your jungler's) job to make sure you follow them so that another tower is not taken. Karma is naturally a team fighter so simply joining your teammates could change the course of the game in another lane.
Soraka noodles
By the time mid game has ended you should be able to finish your Athene's Unholy Grail, Liandry's Torment, as well have added a Rabadon's Deathcap to your arsenal.
Mid Game Notes:

• Once you have your tower it is still your job to ward the bushes on each side of mid.
• If you were unable to during laning, I recommend that you ward the little circle bushes (see warding guide below), rather the bushes that are immediately next to mid.
• Keep farming, and don't be afraid to farm other lanes at this point
• You should be able to help yourself to blue buff at this point.
• If you manage to find success bot lane, now would be a good time for you to help grab Dragon
• Always make sure that your mid tower isn't taken while in other lanes.
• Spam your Inspire to move around the map quickly.

nuggets

nuggets nuggets
End game is about team fighting, destroying any remaining any towers, and winning the game. I think that Karma falls off a little bit into late game. While chances are you will no longer be dueling any of your enemies, Karma becomes the definition of a cannon in team fights, because of her passive.

As a carry it is your job to stand in the back of team fights, as the enemy carries will likely be doing. Because of this, Karma's Inner Flame/ Soulflare will never make it beyond the line of tanks. This is why I believe Karma should not only be in the back, but off to the side as well to ensure her nukes completely devastate their carries and possibly make them flee.

Karma's positioning in team fights (As you can see I'm a great artist.):

This is a teamfight taking place in the middle of middle lane.

Remember, hitting as many champions as possible with your Inner Flame/ Soulflare, keeping the tether from Focused Resolve/ Renewal, and constantly auto attacking will make the cooldown on your ultimate virtually non-existent. Allowing for Karma to constantly nuke the enemy team with Soulflare and restore almost her entire HP bar with Renewal. If your team finds themselves caught, throw down a Defiance to help absorb damage and allow everyone to reposition.
Soraka noodles
Karma always needs to be with her team once late game has began. If you need to recall or grab blue buff for whatever reason, let your team know. Baron Nashor is always good to get only if the entire enemy team is accounted for and not in a position to contest it. If they're all dead, you should using Karma's great pushing abilities to push lanes and grab towers, or even the Nexus.

The ideal to grab Baron Nashor is after your team can no longer push, more than three of your teammates are alive, and the enemy team has not completely re-spawned.
Soraka noodles
Notes:

• You should have your everything up to your Zhonya's Hourglass completed by now (make sure you have purchased tier three boots as well.)
• Placing Inspire on your tank/initiator will help them engage the enemy team.
• Purchasing a Sight Ward or two will help keep sight all over the map.
• Don't be afraid to use your ultimate at this point (even for farming/pushing!) The cooldown should only be around 22 seconds or so and you can quickly shave the whole cooldown off.
• Towers are more important than kills or buffs.

nuggets

... for your enemy if you're not warding and they are. ;D

nuggets You should ALWAYS be warding around mid once you have backed once. When it comes down to it, warding saves lives. Also I feel mid is one of the most important areas to ward because:

• You can watch for incoming ganks.
• Easier to see which lane your opponent is roaming to.
• Enemy jungler may move into your jungle to counter jungle.
• The middle of the map just tends to be a high traffic area.

Below is a basic guide for what I believe is the best warding layout for mid.

• The dark green dots are the most viable spots to ward, if you can do it without being caught.
• The yellow spots are situational spots. They reveal less of the river, but provide more warning when enemy jungler is coming to gank. It may be better to ward here when you are being camped.
• The orange spots are the worst places to ward mind in my opinion. You have little warning for ganks and most of the sight is on mid, which you can already see. Also good map awareness will tell you when the jungler is in those bushes and when they leave.

Sometimes I've encountered games where my opponent will purchase Vision Wards to attempt to keep my wards out. But because there are so many places around mid that you can ward I feel that buying a Vision Ward is just a waste of money.

There is a great guide on warding that can be found here.
nuggets

[biscuits
Below are lane match ups that I have actually encountered while playing Karma and how I Feel they should be dealt with best. Each set of recommended items are for how to counter the champion specifically. So keep in mind that with each match up you encounter the build may be subject to change depending on the composition of the enemy team.
bagels spacitycpasemeow crumpets
crumpets masteryi

Recommended Items:

masteryi
Morgana can easily shut you down because of her anti-chase nature and her Black Shield. But the reason I did not list this as hard is because it requires a lot of quick thinking and timing on her part.

In the beginning just do your best to out farm her and prevent her from pushing the lane into your tower, as some Morgs like to do (she only needs rank three on Tormented Shadow to take out your entire wave). Once you've went back once you can try to see if you can out-burst her. I usually like to engage immediately after she uses her W so that I only have to worry about dodging her Dark Binding.

Besides that the only other thing you really have to worry about (unless you're low) is her Black Shield. If she times it correctly she can remove a huge chunk of your damage or completely negate you Focused Resolve/snare. Sometimes I find that using Inspire and then running at her will cause her to waste her E. All you have to do at this point is either be ready to dodge her Q and then fight, or back off and engage her again from a better position.

Try to remain a bully all throughout the laning phase and keep her CS low. Even in Morgana doesn't get fed, she can farm very well and be very devastating late game. Your Q out-ranges her W, and vice-versa, but your skills are on a much lower cooldown than her's and it's simply a matter of dodging and fighting back.

Notes for laning against Morgana:

• If she builds a Rylai's Crystal Scepter, get Mercury's Treads instead.
• Baiting her into thinking you're going to fight is the key to avoiding her Black Shield.
• CALL YOU MIAs. Her ultimate can completely change a fight.
• Morgana has great sustain because of her passive, don't let her health regenerate too much.
• If your jungler is giving you every blue buff, you may consider Morellonomicon over Athene's Unholy Grail to keep her sustain down. But only if you know you won't need the mana.
• Put an extra point or two into Inspire if you need help dodging her skills or simply keeping up with her.

masteryi masteryi orianna

Recommended Items:

Orianna
Karma outclasses Orianna in damage and lane sustain, but Orianna outclasses us in pretty much everything else including range and cooldowns. Which is why I think that taking Boots of Swiftness against her is the best choice. She will try to punish you with her ball and she will use Command: Attack and Command: Dissonance to keep you away. As Karma you will need to be able to dodge the ball as much as possible and you will need to be able to run. Fast.

Don't try to fight her early game, even if she uses her skills to farm. Her cooldowns are low enough that even if you get a full combo off she will still smack you a few times with Command: Attack and possibly even a Command: Dissonance. There is really no safe way to fight her early game without a gank because her zone and harass play style simply counters Karma's chase and harass play style.

Poke her with Inner Flame when you can and use Renewal to heal off any damage you may take while trying to farm. If you feel that you can effectively predict Orianna's moves then it is possible that you can trick her into using Command: Shockwave with your Boots of Swiftness and Inspire.

Also beware of her Clockwork Windup. If she manages to slow you with a Command: Dissonance she will most likely move in and pick up a few stacks with her auto attacks. Which can cause a lot of damage even with Inspire.

Notes for laning against Orianna:

• IF you find yourself taking a lot of damage from her Q, rank Focused Resolve/ Renewal over Inner Flame/ Soulflare.
• Having lots of movement speed and being unpredictable is the best way to play against her.
• Try not to stand in the middle of your minions as you may not be able to escape her Command: Attack / Command: Dissonance command.
• Command: Protect does cause some damage if it hits you on the way back to Orianna.

spacitycpasemeow masteryi

Recommended Items:

masteryi
To begin, yes I do have seven items listed above. This is because I have experienced different playstyles when laning against Zed amd depending on how your Zed plays you may either want to build Liandry's Torment if you're completely dominating him or Will of the Ancients if you find yourself taking a lot of damage. It is up to you to decide how your lane is going.

Because Zed doesn't have a blink in the same way that Talon does, I find that this lane goes a lot easier than when laning against Talon. Zed also cannot silence you, so this means you only need to rely on dodging his abilities and predicting where he will go. If you can do this, all you have to do it poke him down and you can pretty much win the lane.

As with pretty much every other melee champion we lane a gainst we will be using our Focused Resolve/ Soulflare combo most of the time. So rank up your Q and then your W as normal. With an extra early point in Inspire if you feel that you need the extra speed buff to dodge. If you find yourself taking a lot of damage then rank up Focused Resolved first and just focus on keeping your health high.

Most Zeds will try to jump on you and do a lot of damage before you can react and then blink away again. If your opponent is smart than they will stop doing this after you punish them with our E-W-R-Q combo. Once he backs off all you need to do is poke him and punish him when he attempts to farm his minions.

If you cannot beat him, at least you will be able to out-farm him.

Notes for laning against Zed:

• The lower your health, the more damage Zed can do. If you have under half health an your ultimate is down, he can easily dive and kill you.
• Boots of Swiftness can be used if you are having trouble dodging him.
• When his ultimate goes up (where he and his shadows dive you) BACK OFF. The more damage he does will cause the delayed portion to do way more damage.
• Don't stand in your minions as it can be difficult to dodge his skill shots and his shadows.

spacitycpasemeow space

[biscuits
Below are lane match ups that I have actually encountered while playing Karma and how I feel they should be dealt with best. Each set of recommended items are for how to counter the champion specifically. So keep in mind that with each match up you encounter the build may be subject to change depending on the composition of the enemy team.
bagels spacitycpasemeow crumpets masteryi

Recommended Items:

gangplank

This match up is only for what is known as "Critplank", as that is the only one I have seen while playing Karma.

Normally I would say this is an easy lane because Gangplank is a melee champion. But because of his Parrrley's range the lane doesn't quite work out that way. It's on a much lower cooldown than any of your abilities and the damage trade and frequency is not in your favor at early ranks. Your best course of action is to farm and then rush a Hextech Revolver along with some early armor such as Ninja Tabi or a Seeker's Armguard and of course Catalyst the Protector. You're going to need a lot of lane sustain to keep up with him.

While you are farming and trying to remain in lane, the best course of action to dealing with Gangplank is to try and remain at max range of Inner Flame and ensure that kiting him with it is the only way that you deal damage to him. If you find yourself caught fighting him, feel free to throw down a Renewal along with a few auto attacks before Parrley comes off of cooldown again.

Once you have gone back once or twice you can use our standard E+W+R+Q combo and demolish most of his health in exchange for one Parrrley which will pretty much be negated by your shield and sustain. Remember that you out-range his Q with everything and learning that range can be crucial to bullying him back completely. Always stay out of it when you can and poke as often as possible.

Notes for laning against Gangplank:

• Parrrley can wipe all of your health in minutes if not careful early game.
• Getting Ninja Tabi early can help negate his damage.
• Also consider grabbing a Sheen/ Lich Bane early as it can help you trade more damage with him.
• Finishing an early Hextech Revolver will really help you shake of any damage from Parrrley.
• I don't recommend Morellonomicon simply because his sustain is far inferior to yours.
• If you rank up your Inspire first, you can use it to bait him into using his Parrrley on you over a minion and lose out on the gold. Simply stand in your minions
• As I said above, don't underestimate how much gold he can earn by farming with his Parrrley.

spacitycpasemeow crumpets masteryi

Recommended Items:

gangplank

This is actually a really easy lane in my experiences. Garen doesn't have much of an escape mechanism when dealing with you and he also has difficulty catching up to you. This is a really good example for when movement quints come in handy.

Make sure you always auto attack when you can so that his passive is virtually never up. Otherwise he will need to back up and miss out on last hitting. It's your job to be a really big bully in this lane. Deny him cs as much as possible while constantly whittling his health away.

The only thing you have to be wary of is ganks. Once Garen hits six, a gank will be really all he needs. If they can remove most of your health he just needs to use Demancian Justice and you're either dead or ignited. This is also why using renewal in this lane is useful. In a clutch moment 20% of your missing HP plus 20% more can save you from his ultimate.
Notes for laning against Garen:

• Don't get caught in melee range as he can really do a lot of damage if he knows what he is doing.
• If the enemy jungler is camping you then you may want to grab Mercury's Treads to get his silence off faster as well as any other cc the jungler may bring.
• Garen has a lot of sustain and tankiness, but constant harassment will slowly but surely bring his health down.
• Will of the Ancients in place of Athene's is also a good pick against Garen if you're having any sustain issues against him..

spacitycpasemeow space[/black]
black masteryi

Recommended Items:

masteryi
Laning against an AD top lane Master Yi is easy if you can avoid Alpha Strike. This is primarily because he has to rely on his auto attacks to do damage, which means having to get very close to Karma, which means death. Another nice thing to note is that while Master Yi has Meditate still, it is nowhere near as potent as it used to be.

We should still be attempting to dodge his Alpha Strike while laning simply because a lot/all of Master Yis will be using it to engage you and hack away at your health. However when he does manage to engage you, simply throw down your W, and use your Imspire to back away and then proceed to throw Inner Flames into his face as we always do.

Depending on how your lane ends up going, I would recommend leveling up your Q and W equally until you either feel you can kill him or that you simply need the sustain to stay in lane. Either way he will still take lots of damage. Because of Karma's anti-melee nature you should do rather well in this lane.

Notes for laning against AD Master Yi:

• Be ware of his Double Strike as it does significant damage to you.
• Also watch out for Wuju Style as it deals true damage.
• Keep Master Yi away from you as much as possible. If he cannot get to you then he cannot do any damage at all.

spacitycpasemeow crumpets ]pie black masteryi

Recommended Items:

masteryi
Singed is very tanky from the beginning and will take more effort to kill than other top laners. However Karma happens to stand for pretty much everything singed can't lane against. You have a slow, a snare, a heal for when his poison adds up, and a nice speed boost that will pretty much always keep you safe for when he attempts to Fling you.

If you can manage to stay out of his poison trails most of the time than you can rank up Inner Flame over Focused Resolve. But if you find you are taking a lot of damage than rank Focused Resolve first as usual. You may also consider putting an extra early point into Inspire if you find that the extra 5% movement speed helps you. But you should be keeping enough distance in between the two of you.

Remember you primary focus is farming as always. But try to poke him down with your Inner Flame when you can and use the snare from you Focused Resolve to stop him from engaging or to follow up with a Soulflare. He has a lot of health and resistances so you need to whittle away at his health as often as you can.

If you can, try to not push the lane because once the minion wave gets under his tower he can use his Poison Trail to quickly pick all of the minions under his tower. While he is under his tower you are in a vulnerable spot for Fling.

Notes for laning against Singed:

• Use your Inspire whenever he lands his Mega Adhesive
• If you find yourself getting caught a lot get Boots of Swiftness instead, and trade them as soon as laning phase ends.
• His poison lingers for about 3.25 seconds, don't run into the area until it disappears.
• Mega Adhesive is a good indicator that he's going to engage you.
• Do not ever let him get close enough to Fling you. There is no reason to ever get that close.
• When his little backpack thing start to have a green spout means that he has activated Insanity Potion
• Keep Spirit Visage in mind as an alternative item.
• Beware of proxy farming! I have a section about in the 'Early Game' section.

spacitycpasemeow masteryi spacitycpasemeow masteryi

Recommended Items:

masteryi
Every time that I have played this lane it has turned into a matter of taking his hp down, proc'ing his passive, and then taking hp down once more. A lot of Zac's damage requires him to be right in your face and as I've said before, is not somewhere you want to be when you're against Karma.

Always make sure you're farming and poke Zac as often as you can, but don't overextend your lane. If he attempts to fight you he won't be able to get away- use your ult whenever you can! His passive will allow him heal regularly and keep his HP high, which is why you need to keep poking him (even if it's just auto-attacks) so that his HP is always on the decline.

The only thing you really have to worry about is if your HP gets low (from a gank or bad move or whatever), is the knock back from Let's Bounce. I've made the mistake a few times where I go to heal off of him with Renewal and he disables and kills me with my ult before I'm ready. His ult does a lot of damage, be aware.

Notes for laning against Zac:

• Be aware of his ultimate as I sad above.
• If your Focused Resolve/ Renewal is down and he engages, it may mean a gank is about to commence, as it is his ideal time to fight you.
• Inspire can help you counter the slow from Stretching Strikes

spacitycpasemeow masteryi

meow meep meow meep
This isn't my score, rather it's the score from a good friend of mine. He wasn't following this guide either. But I wanted to put it here as proof to everyone that Karma is just as good as an other AP carry. Please note the penta kill.meow meep

I'm aware that there is a huge group of Karma players out there that still much prefer something (or everything) about old Karma that new Karma does not have ( or isn't.) So I decided to add this section. This is what I need everyone to do:

• Send me ANYTHING you have about old Karma. Whether it be scores, artwork, a memory or even just some random screencap from a game with a Karma in it, I want it!

I will take everything that I receive and put it into a giant collage in this section in old Karma's honor. Because we must remember her and how awesome she was. <3

colors!
Thank you for taking the time to read my guide!

This is my first (published) guide on for League of Legends and any constructive criticism that you have for me would be greatly appreciated. Please try not to downvote without telling me. I would love to be challenged and hear why I should be doing something differently. On the other hand any up-votes and comments would be welcomed!

I hope that with this guide that there will start to be new Karma players our there as people begin to realize what she is capable of outside of bottom lane. More importantly, I hope to cleanse the League of Legends community of those "Omg Mid/Top Karma GG" lobbies.

Thank you once again for reading my guide and I hope that it helped you any way possible.
zucchini cherry

I would like to thank the following people for their help in making this guide:

• jhoijhoi, for her wonderful guide on how to make a guide
• My good friend Boylad., for allowing me to use his photo of his Karma Penta-Kill in this guide.
• Silverhyren, from the Deviantart community for allowing to use their beautiful artwork throughout this guide.
• Cubby1313, for allowing me to use his smart-casting/options section and providing some inspiration for this guide. His Orianna guide can be found here. Check it out, it's awesome!
• Teyso, for taking the time to make a very comprehensive and informative review of my guide.

• July 22, 2013: Guide published for the public!
• July 25, 2013: Added AP Mid and AD Top Master Yi as well as Orianna to the matchup section!
• August 1, 2013: Removed the AP Master Yi section, added Zed, broke top and mid lane match ups into separate chapters, added a section in "Early Game" on how to deal with proxy farmers.

Soraka noodles