Hello, my name is Finish Flash and I am a Diamond mid laner that plays on the NA Server.

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Kassadin is an AP Assassin. He is primarily used in the mid lane due to having an ability kit that revolves around playing against other AP champions. He will take some time to get used to, but when learned, can be a very rewarding and fun champion to play.

Pros [1] Outscales almost every mid laner in the game [2] Great single target and AoE burst [3] Easy early game last hitting thanks to his W [4] Extremely Mobile

Cons [1] Weak early game [2] Low waveclear

Precision:

is the new OP keystone for Kassadin. It synergizes so well with his kit and playstyle, giving him lots of lane sustain and movement speed to survive the early game as well as a lot more free sustain during the mid to late game to extend teamfights. The AP scaling on this keystone is quite high. Overall, it can give you around 200-400 HP every proc in the mid to late game.

gives so much free mana and cooldown reduction on your ultimate to help you spam more spells and reign terror with your low ultimate cooldown in teamfights.

gives you free tenacity to have more leeway for playing around enemy crowd control when you dive in.

allows you to execute your priority targets easier with the extra damage.

Domination:

along with Fleet Footwork gives so much lane sustain to where you shouldn't have much trouble in the early laning phase.

synergizes so well with your kit considering you can consistently spam spells with your low cooldowns. The extra sustain allows you to extend fights and overwhelm your opponents with your constant damage output.

Core Items:

is your most optimal first item. It provides all the general stats you need for skirmishes and teamfighting. The unique passive is really good for sustain as well. You can continue to spam your low cooldowns to get your HP back up when you are low or chunked out.

provides free magic penetration that amplifies your damage in the early to mid game. This provides a lot more when your targets haven't built magic resist yet.

gives so many favorable stats now. With the changes to this item in 8.4, I would say it is a core item on Kassadin now. It provides a lot of cooldown reduction to spam his spells more, A LOT more mana for more Riftwalk uses and more damage to it as well since Riftwalk also scales off Mana for damage. I prefer to rush Rod of Ages completely and wait to build the Tear of the Goddess second because of Kassadin's already weak early game. When you complete the into the , it will begin to stack twice as fast, giving +8 mana per cast instead of +4, so you will still be able to complete the Seraph's Embrace at a decent time.

is a standard item for all AP carries. It gives you a good power spike of raw damage.

is also standard for all AP carries mid-late game. It is the best magic penetration item in the game. Buy this around your fourth or fifth item (not counting boots), depending on how soon the enemy carries buy Magic Resist.

synergizes well with your ability kit. It procs instantly with your W, giving you a large amount of burst within a short period of time. Also, with such low cooldowns on all of your spells, you can continue to proc this more consistently to give you more overall sustained damage and burst. I would only buy this now if they have no MR on the enemy carries and it's my last item, or if I am full build and I have enough gold to trade out my boots for it.

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Situational Items:

or are an alternative to buying Sorcerer's Shoes if you need early resistances vs a difficult matchup.

gives you a safe window of opportunity to dive the enemy and allow you to reset your cooldowns for a great escape. It can be used for defensive uses against AD champions with strong all-ins. This can be substituted in for either Rabadon's Deathcap or Lich Bane.

provides grievous wounds that help you execute your targets easier when they have a lot of healing. This can also be substituted in for either Rabadon's Deathcap or Lich Bane.

Skill Order:
Kassadin's Null Sphere gives good single target damage, but the real reason you put skill points into this is to increase the base amount you get from your magic damage shield when using it. This is why I only put three points into it at first. Once you get your ultimate Riftwalk, you don't have to rely as much on your magic damage shield to survive the laning phase and you can move onto maxing your Force Pulse next, for more AoE damage and waveclear. Put points into Riftwalk whenever possible, and max Nether Blade last, since all it is is just raw damage.

Ability Tips:
Standard Combo (E+R+AA+W+Q): Force Pulse + Riftwalk + Auto Attack + Nether Blade + Null Sphere
Riftwalk Initiate {R+E+Q+AA+W): Riftwalk + Force Pulse + Null Sphere + Auto Attack + Nether Blade

Always remember that your Nether Blade is an auto attack reset. Use this to maximize your damage combo a bit more.

When using your combo on Kassadin, always try to use your Force Pulse first, so you can use your other spells to charge up your Void Energy stacks to be ready to use your Force Pulse when it is off cooldown again. If needed, you can use your Riftwalk first to close the gap between you and your target then continue with your combo as normal. Other than your Force Pulse, you should always be looking to use your Riftwalk before your other spells, giving you time to have your Riftwalk off cooldown again a second or two after you finish your combo, since it has the lowest cooldown out of all of your abilities. Nether Blade is just raw damage, so this can be used last or whenever you get within melee range.

You can use two instances of Riftwalk as you are running from your base fountain back to lane to get to lane faster. Your Riftwalk will be off cooldown by the time you reach past your outer tower and it doesn't waste much mana.

You can use Riftwalk to farm if you have less than 3 stacks on it. Otherwise, if you have three or more, don't use it as freely. It will waste too much mana and put you in a difficult situation. Only use it past that threshold for waveclear if you're looking to push a wave as fast as possible to recall afterwards.

Kassadin is a decent solo queue counter pick because he doesn't have too many bad AP laning matchups that can abuse him early and he outscales almost every mid laner in the game. He can also fit into any team composition, so he will always work well with whatever your team picks.

Laning Phase: Kassadin's laning phase has become a lot easier with the amount of sustain you get from these runes. You just have to make sure to not extend trades and constantly use your Fleet Footwork procs to stay healthy. In order to avoid taking free harrass in the early levels, just make sure to only walk up when going for the LAST HIT on a minion. If a minion is not one hit away then don't walk up and keep your distance. When you are walking up, use your Null Sphere to harrass your enemy laner and auto attack the minion. This will make sure that you not only get the gold from the minion, but get pressure onto your enemy laner as well.

Post Level 6: : You can look to be more aggressive in lane now, getting free harrass in with Null Sphere and Force Pulse. It is more reliable to wait until your Null Sphere is off cooldown before diving in, so you can get the magic damage shield for if the enemy tries to trade back. Just make sure you have vision around your lane or know the whereabouts of the enemy jungler before diving in. Look for roams to side lanes as well if you are able to push out your minion wave to the enemy's tower.

Mid to Late Game: This really depends on how strong you are from the early game. If you get super fed, you can do anything from teamfighting, splitpushing side lanes, and getting picks on isolated targets. If you are just doing decently or you are behind, then you should probably resort to splitpushing, so you can continue to farm and get more solo experience.

That's it for my guide on how to play Kassadin. Thanks for your time and interest in reading this guide. If you have any questions about my guide or the game in general feel free to join my stream or discord I posted above in the introduction or leave a comment in the guide down below.