Please verify that you are not a bot to cast your vote.
Not Updated For Current Season
This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page
Karthus can steadily poke you down if he lands Lay Waste. It's spammable due its low cost and low cooldown. They do have a slight delay before exploding though, so you can dodge them with your high movement speed after a bit of practice. He has no hard CC to cancel your ultimate, no does he have any mobility to escape from it. With Voracity, you can Shunpo away from Death Defied once you kill him.
Kha'Zix
Since he himself is melee, use your W to poke each time he goes for CS. Also, your W will hit him even if he stealths. Don't push too hard or you'll be marked with the isolation passive. This actually does a bit of damage at higher level, so be careful. He has no way to cancel your ultimate, but he does have a jump.
Akali
Akali is easy to face if you play it right. Try to beat her to level 6 and see if you can get your combo off. Your Death Lotus goes through her Twilight Shroud. If she does get to level 6 before you be careful. If she gets one Mark of the Assassin on you don't let her Shadow Dance > auto attack > Mark of the Assassin > auto attack. If she this this you will most likely be low enough for her to kill you with the rest of her Shadow Dance's. Buy Vision Ward's to kill her in her Twilight Shroud.
Lux
Lux is normally a very easy champion to win against. You will want to dodge her Light Binding and Lucent Singularity as they deal a good amount of damage if she auto attacks in between. Pre-6 she has a slight upper hand as she has range and damage and better burst. However Post-6 you have higher damage and since you can dodge all of her damage you will have no trouble killing her. With a lack of escapes she is really easy to just jump onto. Be careful though because she can deal a high amount of damage if you aren't weary of her Light Binding. You will want to max Q just because you wont be able to get all too close early on.
Morgana
This lane is a very annoying lane. Her lane sustain is much higher than normal mid laners as she has innate sustain from Soul Siphon. Her Dark Binding + Tormented Soil is a very high damage combo that will root you for 3 Seconds. Be very careful or you will die without being able to move. When you do get to engage her she will most likely Black Shield + Soul Shackles which will take out a good chunk of your burst and let her stun you. You wont be seeing her as often mid lane as she has become a much better support but be weary when you do see her mid. You are best off to roam. Max Bouncing Blades.
Ahri
In this match-up, You will either get poked out of lane incredibly hard and inevitably have to roam or lose lane or you will win lane and possibly be able to carry. Be weary of her Charm and Spirit Rush and Dodge everything you can. She scales really well with kills so if you do get killed once or twice early on don't consider trying to kill her. instead, roam bottom or top and try to snowball another person. Her Orb of Deception is very damaging and deals true damage which can chunk you quite hard. Dodge her Charm as much as possible and stay away from her when you are low and she has Spirit Rush and can chase you down and kill you.
Twisted Fate
Twisted Fate is a relatively easy champion to lane against. It is beneficial to dodge his Wild Cards as much as possible as the damage from that ability stacks up and can drop you quite low. When you see him start to use Pick A Card you will want to back up a bit as he is either about to get mana back with his blue card or stun you for him combo with his yellow card. If you see him select yellow card Shunpo away even if the card is already flying at you as it gives you a better chance of dodging his Wild Cards. Pay attention to his Destiny cooldown and when he hits 6. If you think its up or if you think he is roaming warn your team as he doesn't have to walk far to use Destiny to get to top or bottom for a gank. Other than this he is relatively easy to burst down and if you are careful you can normally out poke him. Roam when possible but be weary that he will have a easy time using Destiny to counter gank.
Yasuo
Yasuo can be slightly difficult if they player is new to the champion or very hard to manage if he isn't. His Steel Tempest Is good sustained poke early on with a knock up tacked on every 3 uses. Wind Wall can block your Bouncing Blades and Death Lotus (if placed properly). He scales very well into late game and snowballs quite harshly after he gets a Statikk Shiv. Avoid his 3rd use of Steel Tempest as it can lead into his entire combo and can set you up for a horrid lane. Poke early as he doesn't have as good of a way of poking. Roam often and stay away from him if possible. If he is bad with Yasuo then you can probably poke him often and get away with it and probably get a couple kills off of him. He is very item dependent and can be shut down easily.
Talon
Talon used to be a huge threat to Katarina as he brought a instant targeted hard cc with high burst. However with his silence being cut from his kit he is very easy for Katarina. You have a much easier time outpoking him with your Bouncing Blades and Sinister Steel, Your burst is higher and more sustained than his, and your ultimate, Death Lotus, can hit him while he his stealthed by Shadow Assault. Feel free to max your Sinister Steel against him as he has to get close to do any damage and he is a melee farmer making it very easy to consistently poke him with your Sinister Steel. However, If he gets ahead DO NOT underestimate his burst potential. He may have had his Hard cc removed but that does not effect how much damage he can do. His damage was and still is incredibly high and can take you from 100-0 very quickly. If he gets ahead he can outroam you and he is able to farm, poke, and lane better than you. It is very hard to let him get ahead but if he does be very weary.
Zed
Zed is a force to be reckoned with. His poke is annoying early on and can lead to you dying early because of it. His post-6 damage can be quite crazy if he executes it well. He can avoid a good chunk of your Death Lotus damage with Death Mark and burst you down because you will probably be lacking your Shunpo and your damage at that moment. You are best off getting whatever farm you can and avoiding his poke. Roam as much as you can, but his roam matches your in potency. The only reason he isn't a 5 is because you will meet some really bad Zed's who you can destroy with ease. But those are rare. Normally they will be mediocre at worst which are still forces to be reckoned with.
Orianna
Orianna is a very hard champion to play against. She has a aoe hard cc that she can use from afar or right on top of herself (making it easy to lock you down or stop your ultimate. Her poke is very high with her passive tacked on to her auto attacks, Clockwork Windup, and her Command: Attack + Command: Dissonance. If her reflexes are quick she can use her Command: Protect to block damage from your Bouncing Blades making it very hard to poke. When you are facing her make sure you keep a eye out for her balls movements and where it is currently placed. I cant tell you how many times i've seen 3 or 4 people walk right up next to her ball not paying attention and getting bursted down ultimately losing us the game or teamfight. You will want to be maxing your Bouncing Blades if you are having a lot of trouble early on. However, if you are able to get a early lead (from roaming or a jungle gank) you can consider maxing Sinister Steel as it makes it very easy to get away from her ball which is where most of her damage comes from. I would only recommend this to players who really know what there doing and have a easy time chaining her abilities and using them efficiently to dodge abilities.
Brand
Brands can be devastating if they know what they are doing against Katarina. With a well timed Pillar of Flame or Conflagration plus Sear combo he can stop your Death Lotus and kill you with ease. Try and bait out his Sear because he can no longer stun you BUT be weary because he still deals a lot of damage with his combo. In a skirmish, don't stand close to your allies as his Pyroclasm will bounce between both of you and most likely kill you. Hes an absolute monster when fed so don't let him get well...fed.
Fizz
This is a skill lane. If you are smart you will dodge his Chum the Waters and then proceed to kill him. if you are dumb or he is smart he will land his Chum the Waters and kill you with ease. Harass him pre-6 while staying out of his range. if he tries to Playful / Trickster + Urchin Strike you Shunpo away. A god when fed and no problem if not. Just roam and kill him when his Chum the Waters is down.
LeBlanc
After nerfs to her Sigil of Malice (removed silence) she has become a much easier lane for Katarina. These nerfs have made it that she cant hard cc you therefore she cannot cancel Death Lotus. Pre-6 you will want to farm and avoid her Sigil of Malice + Distortion or Ethereal Chains combo. This deals a high amount of damage and can force you out of lane if you aren't careful. Dodging her abilities shouldn't be all to hard if you Shunpo away. Post-6 normally you wont have too much of a trouble. However when you do engage her it would be best to do so when her Distortion is down so she doesn't dash away from you. Whatever you do don't under estimate her burst. It is still incredibly high although weakened by the lack of hard cc. I recommend maxing Bouncing Blades in this situation for the poke and range.
Swain
Swain on paper should be very easy for Katarina. Katarina's Death Lotus inflicts grievous wounds making it much harder for him to sustain in 1v1's, skirmishes, and teamfights. She Has a lot of mobility making it hard for him to land Nevermove. However, his high poke from his e and q makes it very hard for you to lane as he can poke you away from farm. If you go into kill him and he survives with 50% health he will be able to heal up most if not all of the damage you dealt to him post-6. You are best off farming with your Bouncing Blades and roaming as much as you can. After laning he is very easy to play against and kill. However, he can get quite tanky so engage with caution.
Heimerdinger
Honestly this lane can go either way. if you can dodge his grenade and deal more damage than his turrets can then you're golden. However, if you do get stunned by his grenade and combo'd by his upgraded Hextech Micro-Rockets or H-28G Evolution Turret then your'e screwed. Try and roam often and farm without getting in range of his turrets. killing his turrets is beneficial and you can make him run out of mana early because he has to replace them constantly. But, later on it isn't as efficient as he generates turrets quickly and can stockpile them.
Syndra
Syndra is a very hard champion to play against. She has a very high amount of poke with long range hard cc. Farming against her is very hard and I would stay far back post-3 as by then she will most likely have all three of her primary abilities and will easily be able to drop you down to 50% health with one combo. Farm when you can with Bouncing Blades, but dont expect all too much farm. Ask for your jungle to gank and even then be careful as her post-6 damage is insane. Roam whenever you can, but I really don't recommend playing Katarina against syndra in any situation.
Kassadin
Kassadin can be hard but if you know what you are doing he isn't all that bad. If you do try to Death Lotus him he will probably just Null Sphere you (which still interrupts channels). If that's on cooldown he will just Riftwalk away and come back at you without your Death Lotus and mostly likely kill you. He roams way better than you and he deals a good amount of damage. I would not recommend choosing Katarina against him but he isn't as hard to deal with as he used to be and can be handled if needed. Play safe and ask for ganks pre-6. Post-6 ganks are almost impossible against Kassadin.
Lissandra
Lissandra can be very irritating in lane. She has a very high amount of poke pre-6 and it is very hard to engage her post-6. Stay out of the minions so she cant poke you down with her Ice Shard as it does break into a cone if it connects with a minion or champion. Her Ring of Frost can be incredibly annoying when you are going in to Bouncing Blades + Shunpo + Sinister Steel as she can snare you before you can escape with your movement speed buff. When engaging with your normal combo you will want to make sure her Frozen Tomb is down. This will completely cancel your damage from your Death Lotus making you highly vulnerable without a reset. You will want to max Bouncing Blades as it provides a ranged harass and farm. You are best roaming to get your kills unless Lissandra is using her Frozen Tomb very poorly.
Annie
Annie is quite strong if you aren't careful. Watch out for her Pyromania(stun) stacks because she can easily kill you with her Summon: Tibbers > Disintegrate > Incinerate combo. Never approach her with full Pyromania stacks. When she uses her stun (and it isn't on you), that is probably the best possible time to engage her. The reason being that she doesn't have any stacks and only 3 abilities to build the stacks up (4 stacks for a stun). Try to engage her when she uses her Incinerate as it has a slightly longer cooldown than Disintegrate and will give you more time to finish off your combo. If you see her at 3 stacks, there is a trick where she will cast Disintegrate and before it lands Molten Shield to get in the stun.
Ziggs
Ziggs can be very irritating with his high amounts of poke. If you are careful you can avoid most of the damage from him, however his poke is very consistent and short cooldown. so you are bound to sacrifice either farm or risk hp loss. You will find yourself making this choice in lane and it more often than not comes down to the fact of how experienced you are with dodging. If you know what you are doing and feel like you can dodge his abilities then you can probably risk hp for minions. However if you are already having trouble dodging his abilities as is, if you don't feel safe taking the cs, you probably shouldn't take it. Engaging him post-6 can be easy if his Satchel Charge can act not only as a hard cc but also as a escape. Landing either one nullifies your damage (good ones will land both). Roam post-6 and watch out for the circle indicating his ultimate about to drop.
Azir
Azir it a huge lane bully with a lot of zoning potential. Level 1 he has his Arise! which will limit where you can move around your minions as you could risk getting poked by the soldier. Level 2 he will most likely grab Conquering Sands which will let him use his combo of Arise! auto attack into a Conquering Sands into another Arise! auto attack. This can bully you pretty hard especially when he has two soldiers. Pre-6 his only form of cc is Shifting Sands which isn't all too reliable and fairly easy to dodge. Post-6 he gets his Emperor's Divide which can knock you out of your Death Lotus even if you are behind him with Shunpo. Overall, you will want to farm with your Bouncing Blades, be prepared to Shunpo away from his soldiers, and roam often.
Malzahar
Pre-6 he is a nuisance with his Malefic Visions as they deal a good chunk of damage and are always going from minion to minion which can be really irritating in dodging. He has a really high harass potential with his Call of the Void plus Malefic Visions with a Voidling. Post-6 he is a monster as he will be able to supress your combo while dealing a lot of damage with Malefic Visions + Null Zone and Nether Grasp. Max Bouncing Blades to keep away from his damage and roam as much as you can because you wont be able to do a whole lot mid lane.
Diana
Diana is a incredibly hard lane and i would not recommend it at all. If you are trying to Death Lotus she will just use Moonfall. Farming is hard against her as she has high poke with her Crescent Strike. If you try to Shunpo away from her, she will chase you with Lunar Rush. Her kit in its whole counters everything about you. Avoid at all costs laning against her. Dodge her Crescent Strike because that sets up her combo which will most likely kill you. Roam as much as you can, but I still do not recommend this lane.
I really like to play Katarina. She is a fun champ to play. You can easily get pentakills with her. Katarina is my main champion and i got to plat 3 with her.
Pros / Cons
Pros / Cons
PROs
- no mana cost
- short cool downs
- burst
- good escape
CONs
- easily countered
- ult can be canceled with almost all CCs
Skill Sequence
Skill Sequence
Combo Q + E + W + R = GG
Creeping / Jungling
Creeping / Jungling
Farm creeps as you go. When mid goes MIA because of being low or buying. Instead of recalling go to wraith and pick up some creeps for the extra gold. It gives you an advantage.
Team Work
Team Work
You should try to wait for your team to go HAM. Wait for the right time where most of cc has been used. Go in and clean up.
Summary
Summary
I find Katarina easy to play. I really like playing her because she has a lot of poke burst and is mobile. You can make some really good plays while playing her.
Senpai Kitty
Build Guide By Xenonism
2,608
Views
0
Comments
Thank You!
Threats
Synergies
Show All
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.