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Spells:
Ignite
Flash
Ability Order
Gathering Fire (PASSIVE)
Karma Passive Ability
INTRODUCTION
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Hello I'm Throatslasher, and welcome to my
![]() DISCLAIMER I know Karma reworks are coming soon, and I will update the guide when Karma gets changed. About me I'm a platinum elo mid player, and I have always had a knack for playing mids in a manner designed to throw my opponent off guard. I think that the element of surprise is a tactic under-utilized in league of legends, and that's a shame. Forcing your opponent, essentially, to adapt or die puts a huge amount of pressure on them, and can easily throw them off their game. (put them 'on tilt' for the poker players out there) I've had great success with ![]() Special Thanks - jhoijhoi: coding artist, killer of monotony, editing fiend |

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INNER FLAME
Karma gains up to 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 / 130 increased ability power corresponding to her percentage of missing health. This is a lovely passive. Who can pass up free AP? Managing this passive is crucial. If you're guaranteed to take damage, say, during a ![]() ![]() |
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Masteries
I've chosen the typical 21/0/9 mastery page on Karma for various reasons. Maxing out any other tree besides offense will kill what little damage Karma can do. Since Karma is a low damage champ, you should take every opportunity to maximize your damage. I go 9 in utility primarily for extended blue buffs. |
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Runes
This rune set-up is typical for casters. Magic pen marks are I mean, standard caster marks. The mana regen per level seals will assure that your mana can stay topped off mid and late game. These runes combo well with ![]() ![]() |
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Summoner Spells
Flash ignite are your only options. Flash is mandatory to keep you safe during the laning phase. You must run ignite, or else you will lose all of your kill potential in lane. If you want to be different, I have played around with heal before the nerf. Since heal has been heavily nerfed, I don't think it's viable anymore. |
My Karma build varies from game to game, but there are a few constants. I feel that rabadons is core. The earlier, the better. To utilize Karma to the fullest, you should abuse your passive. There are times when you want to not drink a potion when you're at half health for the AP, and there are times you want to be full health. Building and playing Karma comes more from intuition and adaptability than static item builds. For example, sometimes I will build


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ITEMS YOU SHOULD NOT BUILD ON KARMA:
Rylai's? Skip this item. Karma is pure AOE, which means she can't get the full slow amount, unless you put your chain on an enemy, which you typically should not do. It's also way too expensive for Karma. Spell Vamp? Pass on this. You're pure AOE, meaning you'll get 1/3 of all the spell vamp you buy. Support items? Aegis, or Soul Shroud, or Shurelya's? You're the mage, dummy!!! Would you go Shurelya's on Casseopia? *Special note* I have built ![]() ![]() |
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How to respond to ganks with Karma
When your jungler ganks, you should definitely be aware and ready to capitalize on his pressure. If your jungler is a gapcloser, like ![]() ![]() |
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How to avoid ganks with Karma
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Chasing: When your opponents flee, you have 2 choices. You can either chain an ally to improve their ability to catch someone, or you can chain an enemy to keep them from escaping as easily. When chasing, I'm more inclined to chain an ally if they have important cc that will help us kill if he can get in range, like
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Karma fits into many, many team comps. There are some champs, however, that fit especially well with karma. There are FAR too many to name, but I'll list a few below. I encourage you to playtest and experiment, and find some comps you particularly enjoy.
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Tops:
Singed: Make him faster. If you run ![]() ![]() Darius: Make him fast and turn him into an even bigger aoe bomb when he gets in the middle of their team. Big shields will help this bruiser stay in the fight as long as possible. Malphite: If Malphite can properly utilize your chains, you combo well with him. You chains him, he ults the team, you mantra shield. Not only is that incredible burst, when the knockup ends, they would have all passed through the chains, providing MORE burst and a huge movespeed reduction. |
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Ziggs, Xerath & Lux
They outrange you, but they can't outtrade you if you if you get in range. If you can learn the matchup very well, you can win this matchup. |
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Annie
You can harass her and burst her, but she can cc you for her jungler to come and force your flash. If she gets ahead, she can potentially burst you before you can even shield yourself. |
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Diana
This is like akali, but she can fight back with the insane damage on her crescent moon attack. She also becomes a threat at level 6. Winnable, but it is also easy to lose this lane. |
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Gragas
You can harass him heavily at early levels, but as the lane progresses, he becomes tougher and tougher. He outranges you and outtrades you once he hits level 6. |
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Kennen
He can potentially lame you out with q's until he hits level 6. Since he can farm n farm and harass from a mile away, you can lose this lane. |
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Orianna
Orianna outranges you hard. A skilled Orianna will tear you apart, but an unskilled Orianna can easily be beaten. |
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Please don't pick karma into these champions. If you happen to run against these matchups, you should consider playing passively in your your lane. If you are lucky, your jungler will either perform great ganks or your opponent will make a few mistakes. Don't be afraid to capitalize on a mistake, but don't get baited.
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Zyra
Zyra will lock you down and rip you apart. You outrange and outtrade her, but her exceptional cc on her snare will make you easy gold for zyra and her jungler. Winnable, but EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. |
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Morgana
There is no point in picking Karma into Morgana. There is no way you can punch through her 3 potions, ![]() |
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Cho'Gath
Cho'gath can ignore you in lane until he's ready to kill you. You will be hard-pressed to outdamage the incredible sustain on his passive. I would not pick karma into cho'gath. |

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If you're lazy, i've linked some vids below.
Froggen playing karma:
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