First of all, I'm sorry. I'm just a gold Karma main who think he knows a thing or two about Karma. One of the older and more original champions, for some reason I have always enjoyed playing Karma. Be it as top, mid, jungle or support I have found Karma a more than viable pick. The focus now is however on the role which she is most commonly played; as support.
Also have to mention this is my first guide, I'm not exactly good at it so I hope it can at the very least be slightly useful (for Karma initiates). Most of the explanations is in the notes, but I hope it is a bit informative in general too.

*Will update whenever I can*.
-Updated 26.02.19: Some BBcodes and more text. Adjusted some threats and added new threats.
-Added Check list and more strategical thoughts.

The good:
-Excellent level one.
-Very versatile.
-Plays well in any "lineup"
-R+any skill is extremely strong in the right situations.
-Reasonably forgiving. None of her skills has huge cooldowns.
-The most amazing skin in LOLs history.

The bad:
-No "game breaking" ultimate.
-Tends to push the lane and/or steal a few too many minions.
-Can easily lose straight up trades if not executed well.
-That darn skin isn't available all year long!

The ugly:
-Her autos are abysmal.
-No Ultimate skin (also give that skin for free).

I won't bother explaining the spells too much since they kinda does themselves, but some reasoning why Karmas kit is good is better.
So the first thing is that she has no "ultimate". Her "R" Gathering Fire enhances her other abilities and that is what makes her, if not unique, very strong early on.
Protip: Always cast your Mantra BEFORE The ability you wish to enhance;) (I have made that mistake a few times too).

R+Q is your primary damage source and landing one of those, even against more tanky characters can easily cause some significant damage. This is also an effective (and your only good) wave clear tool.

R+W will not only root upon completion, it will also heal for a reasonable amount. More than once have I outplayed opponents having low health and baiting or going all in with this combination.

R+E enhances your shield and applies it to several allies within an area. A very strong initiation tool or very useful for escaping.

Your typical harass, as mentioned will be to use your Q and R+Q combination to damage your opponents. If possible try to not push the lane as much (unless that is your goal), but the fact that landing a Q on a minion that the opponents are hiding behind can be very effective and cause them even further back.
Going in with "E" followed by "W" (on your designated enemy), getting the root off and finishing with "R+Q" can chunk down most enemies in the early game, but don't over commit. You can also begin with your "W" and when they seem to be running off or you need to dodge abilities you cast your Inspire in yourself to follow and/or dodge. This can be another safe way to ensure your full combo and go all in.


As previously mentioned you have a pretty good bait/self heal with "R+W". Unless they have a lot of burst and hit you with everything (and Ignite) you will most likely come out on top in a dive doing this.

Other than this you should focus on establishing vision and roam when possible. I won't cover this part a whole lot since there are other guides that covers this a lot better than I could ever, but winning/pressuring your lane is the key to establishing deeper vision and greater possibilities for plays and roams.

Karma does well in team fights, not only because of excellent damage and utility, but as previously mentioned, her versatility.
Try to always get picks with a root and keep people safe with shield. Cool downs are fairly low after a few items into midgame and the fact that you want to fight/poke because of passive. The speedboost combined with the brush check (Q) enables Karma to safely establish vision all through the game.

Check list goes as follow:
1. Don't feed.
Karma is really safe and feeding is not adviced if you want to win. Sure, you should "take one" for the team or your carries, but acknowledge whenever you should sacrifice yourself and when you will just become a double kill for the enemies.

2. Vision wins games.
With that said, vision and map awareness + pings.
We have all had those games where we ping 5 times and the mid laner dosn't move and that's fine, but more often than not vision combined with pings will help more than not.

3. Identify items ahead.
If you are against Leona and winning, why not build Liandry's Torment? Because When your carry is fed you will probably have enough damage anyways and making him/them unstoppable could be a good plan too. Something like Mikael's Blessing Can thus be something to rush to make sure he won't be shut down by hard cc. This does not always apply and you have to try to prioritize what you need the most. This comes with experience, but also a few moments of strategical thinking.
If the game draws out you can safely focus on more offensively oriented items since her skills does great with more ap/pen. too.

4. Get Winter Wonder Karma
Just do it.