I only added this section here to let everyone know that this guide is still under construction and though I have already published it, if you scroll all the way down you can see it is in fact incomplete. Why release it? Because I figure I'm better off having a guide that helps someone with the champions first few levels than not release the guide at all until its completion ( which I would say is never because guides will always need updates because the game itself is always changing.).

Feedback is always appreciated! Thank you!

Hello there! I go by the name of Saahmen and this is actually my first guide for any video game ever! I began playing league maybe a year and a half ago and I don't really remember much in regards to what the game was like when I started because I still didn't understand what it was that I was doing. I'm currently Gold 5 on the NA server and will probably be working my way up soon but, before then, I would like to help some other players make it to where I am now. How do I plan on doing that you ask? By not only giving you a Cassiopeia guide, but a Cassiopeia guide that will also help you improve your mid lane presence.

Why Cassiopeia? Cassiopeia is one of the few champs in the game that can spend quite a bit on defensive items and still manage to do ridiculous damage to the enemy team. Her passive makes it so drawn out teamfights don't end with you out of mana. Usually the enemy team will be aiming to kill you whether you are fed or not so it only makes sense to build her in a way that will allow her to survive long enough to come out on top. If you don't end up with the kills it will still allow your teammates to take down the enemy team while you soak up a little bit of the damage.

On a side note, it would probably be in your best interest to look at a few other guides that I will recommend at the end for a clearer understanding of Cassiopeia and many scenarios that may not get outlined here to make the climb that much easier.

Q! So your jungler wants a leash... q to check brushes or just q for the leash. Back in lane you may miss the first minion but everything after that should be fair game. If you did miss the first minion and the opponent was in lane when his/her's went down, they will hit lvl 2 before you do which means you shouldn't be too eager to fight them until you hit lvl 2. That doesn't mean you can't harass though, you are Cassiopeia, the queen of this mid lane. You outrange most midlane champs so don't be afraid to drop a q when they go in for that last hit anytime you see one of your own minions low enough on health. Just be sure to be watching their minions health for your last hits.

NOTE: It's always to good to have an idea of how much damage an autoattack(aa) does to each of the three types of minions just so it is easy to gauge the timing for last hits.

This is where you can start to do some real damage, put a point in your e here. Now I would say check out the match-ups first so you know them well. Once you know the abilities the opponent has and what they are capable of ( check their summoners and the jungler on their team) consider the possible scenarios for ganks and if you know where the jungler is and it isn't the mid lane, bully! Drop the q, did the q hit? Well now you want to get your e on the opponent without taking any skillshots to the face or a stun that will have you sitting in the middle of some minions taking damage you don't need to be taking. This stuff can happen so be aware of what your opponent is capable of. If you are in the clear and they don't really have anything to retaliate with then by all means with one q you should be able to land 3 e's ( q lasts 3 seconds and as long as they're poisoned the e will have a cd of 0.5 seconds!). Chances are the enemy is at least at half health and they have used their health pot or whatever they may have for sustain in the mid lane. When they run out of health pots or healing sources, q and ignite will hurt very badly.

NOTE: It's always convenient to know what items the enemy laner has on them, whether it be wards or health pots. This will allow you to make very calculated decisions on how to approach them or whether to even approach them or not. Remember, you can always just go back to farming until you see another opportunity to attack ( like the jungler showing up somewhere far away from mid while all other enemy champions are still in lane)

Now, if you have not already punished the enemy laner enough, at level 3 you really get some damage. You go the q route then the speed boost on champion hit just got a nice boost making it easier to close in on the enemy for the 3 e casts. Putting a point in e increases the mana cost but also increases your dps which actually makes it really easy to get the kills if you manage to get to the enemy after landing the q. It usually only takes 2-3 combos to kill an enemy with these two abilities along with ignite ( You probably won't even need ignite).

You'll probably go home somewhere between here and 5 just to keep up with the opponents item purchases as though you may be winning in level by staying in lane, the items they may purchase could make up for that, as well as their junglers items. You need to account for everything. BUY WARDS WITH WHATEVER AMOUNT IS LEFT FROM YOUR BUILD, IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH FOR 3 BUY THE THREE NOW!!!( do this whenever you back just to keep the map lit up)

NOTE: Make sure to pay attention to which skill the enemy laner has taken up just to be sure that you can output the damage you would like to without being stunned or slowed or just outright bursted ( which shouldn't be the case with the health you have from dorans and the seals not to mention the mr from those glyphs)

Just focus on farming and ganking the lanes in need. This is very important if you are ahead! Other lanes require your help and honestly, this may be the reason why I'm Gold 5 now... I mean that as a bad thing, in the games where I didn't save the other laners by helping them out with ganks we usually lost. Getting fed from your lane doesn't make an easy win when other lanes are feeding. Doesn't matter how bad another player is, they need your help to improve and the only way we're going to do that is to tell them whenever the lanes pushed out or when you're going back for those items you need that you will be ganking and you need them to just focus on only last hits so it doesnt push out that way you can gank at the turret.

NOTE: When ganking its always good to lead with the w since it comes out almost immediately and will slow the enemies that walk over it. Anyone who walks around it is going to be another easy target for your follow-up q and e combos. Try to let the adc get the kills bot and if top try and give the top laner the kill if he is behind or if you are fed. It's best to give the kills away just so you might not have to go back there to gank too often and risk dying yourself.

Note 2: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHERE THE JUNGLER IS BEFORE YOU GO IN FOR A GANK!!! It's very important that your gank doesn't turn into a double or triple kill in the enemies favor.

Now you have all your abilities (if Im ahead I'm looking for a chance to ult the opponent and w q e e e ignite before they get to level 6 only when I'm sure they need quite a bit of xp to hit 6) at this point I would say push for the turret with farm and if your jungler doesn't mind take the wraiths whenever its pushed out. I call this maintenance, you push out and then take wraiths and ward up, check how teammates are doing very quickly and if you see their jungler elsewhere on the map and know the match-up well enough you can harass. The other choice after pushing out and probably better than harassing your laner, Ganking! Any opportunity you get to gank can save the game so it's always nice mostly when the jungler isn't there to help the enemy laners. You want a gank anytime the enemy mid-laner can out-shove you to your turret.

1. Don't ever blindly shove your lane with autoattacks or worse, your abilities.
Make sure you know their junglers location first OR have an objective in mind that doesn't involve walking past the halfway point of your midlane to harass.

2. Don't ever neglect farming/ last hitting
Doesn't matter what anyone tells you about this game, farm wins games. So unless someone nearby has been caught out and can be saved, focus on farming. Minions are so valuable, they contribute too much to your item selection on your trips back to the shop to not focus on them all game long.