Karthus Build Guides, Runes, Items, and Abilities - Patch 26.16
Karthus The Deathsinger
Find the best Karthus build guides for League of Legends 2026, Season 3 Patch 26.16. The MOBAFire community works hard to keep their LoL builds and guides updated, and will help you craft the best Karthus build for the 2026, Season 3 meta. Learn more about Karthus' abilities, skins, or even ask your own questions to the community!
Karthus - Songs of the Dammed: CheeseyFries' Karthus
Karthus Solo Mid
The Ground is Lava
RH in depth Karthus guide+game tips
LittleKillah - Karthus
Greedy Karthus
Karthus "R" rated
Karthus - Death and defile
(post-patch) Jungle Karthus FTW?!?!? yup.
DIE DIE DIE WHY WON'T YOU... i just died
Karthus, The Deathbringer
The last enemy is Death
solo mid karthus with op ulty
An Extensive Guide to Karthus, The Deathsinger
Bombing Undead
Karthas fears death not.
Karthus will die for everyone
Play karthus like a polakk
Karthus can less dead
Karthus le Suicide bomber (ranked build)
Karthus Build & Runes
If you're looking for the best rune build for Karthus we've got you covered. Below you can find the best items and runes to build for Karthus, as determined by calculations of thousands of Plat+ League of Legends games. If you are already familiar with how to play Karthus this is a great resource to quickly get a good rune selection for Patch 26.16. However, if you are a new Karthus player we highly recommend reading through some of the guides above to learn why this build is strong on Karthus!
* Each section of the build is rated independently of the others
Karthus's Runes
47%
Win Rate 42% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Second Best
50%
Win Rate 31% Pickrate
Third Best
53%
Win Rate 13% Pickrate
Karthus's Summoner Spells
53%
Win Rate 27% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Karthus's Starters
49%
Win Rate 51% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Karthus's Core Items
52%
Win Rate 11% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Boots
Karthus's Luxury Items
Karthus's Ability Order
50%
Win Rate 71% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
Second Best
45%
Win Rate 10% Pickrate
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
Third Best
52%
Win Rate 5% Pickrate
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
* Each section of the build is rated independently of the others
Karthus's Runes
55%
Win Rate 56% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Second Best
54%
Win Rate 23% Pickrate
Third Best
47%
Win Rate 18% Pickrate
Karthus's Summoner Spells
53%
Win Rate 27% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Karthus's Starters
54%
Win Rate 93% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Karthus's Core Items
59%
Win Rate 25% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Boots
Karthus's Luxury Items
Karthus's Ability Order
55%
Win Rate 46% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
Second Best
53%
Win Rate 31% Pickrate
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
Third Best
58%
Win Rate 5% Pickrate
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
* Each section of the build is rated independently of the others
Karthus's Runes
46%
Win Rate 33% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Second Best
56%
Win Rate 32% Pickrate
Third Best
46%
Win Rate 13% Pickrate
Karthus's Summoner Spells
53%
Win Rate 27% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Karthus's Starters
51%
Win Rate 83% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Karthus's Core Items
58%
Win Rate 10% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Boots
Karthus's Luxury Items
Karthus's Ability Order
52%
Win Rate 38% Pickrate
- 1
- 2
- 3
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
Second Best
47%
Win Rate 25% Pickrate
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
Third Best
48%
Win Rate 4% Pickrate
Death Defied (PASSIVE)
Passive Ability
Karthus Counters
Learn Karthus' counters and discover matchups where they have an advantage! When you're starting a game of League of Legends you should always keep in mind if you'll be at an advantage or disadvantage against your opponent, so you can know whether to bully them or play safe. You can find detailed breakdowns of each matchup on CounterStats, and you can also check out some Karthus guides to see how to build and play against other champions you may find yourself up against!
This counter data is for Karthus JUNGLE in Plat+ games. The percent shown is the enemy champion's counter rating against Karthus. Counter rating is our own statistic that factors in counter kills, overall kills, early lead ratio, comeback ratio, and win percent to give the whole picture of that champion's effectiveness as a counter pick.
Best Against Karthus
Worst Against Karthus
Karthus Skins
Find Karthus's skins and when they were last on sale. Never miss a sale for your favorite skin by using our Wish List feature! You can also find all Karthus skins and chromas on Karthus's skins page.
Our Wish List feature will send you notifications when your skins are on sale!Karthus' Abilities
Toggle: Karthus creates a necrotic aura, dealing 7.5 / 12.5 / 17.5 / 22.5 / 27.5 (+5% of ability power) magic damage per second to nearby enemies.
Questions About Karthus
Latest Questions
Karthus DH or Predator
So I know before the DH rework [[Karthus]] used to take [[Predator]] because you could activate it and boost your ult damage on everyone that you hit. Does the new [[Dark Harvest]] work the same way? That is, if you have multiple targets within...
what can i build for karthus jngl???
what can i build for karthus jngl???
Karthus jungle?
In the most recent Pro Player Pick, Archie mentioned that one of his favorite junglers to play with is [[Karthus]]. I've heard of jungle [[Karthus]] before, and that it has been used by some pro team in the past (just can't think of the team), but...
Karthus and Soraka
So, a lot of people think of [[Soraka]] as the #1 counter to [[Karthus]]. Constantly in solo queue I see teammates pick [[Soraka]] because there is a [[Karthus]] on the other team. The common claim is that [[Soraka]]'s ultimate negates...
