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How to Win Karthus vs Kai'Sa Counter MatchupKarthus is in the b tier of champions

Karthus vs Kai'Sa

How to Beat Kai'Sa as Karthus in LoLKarthus is in the b tier of champions
Mage
Marksman

How to Beat Kai'Sa as Karthus

based on 1,978 Karthus vs Kai'Sa matchups
Win Rate
50.6 %
K/D/A
2.25
Pick Rate
4.1 %

How We Analyze LoL Champion Counters

We produce our counter statistics from the millions of ranked League matches that we get from Riot Games each week. This guide on how to beat Kai'Sa as Karthus came out of an evaluation of 1978 ranked games where both champs fought one another. This matchup is fairly uncommon. Karthus fights Kai'Sa in only 4.1% of his rounds.

Karthus vs Kai'Sa Matchup Summary

Karthus does a ok job of countering Kai'Sa. On average, he wins a acceptable 50.6% of games the champs fight each other in. In Karthus versus Kai'Sa rounds, Karthus’s side is 0.1% less likely to get first blood, indicating that he most likely won't be able to get first blood versus Kai'Sa.

Best Karthus vs Kai'Sa Counter Build

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Scorchclaw PupHealth Potion

Early Items

~5 Mins
Amplifying TomeDark Seal

Core Karthus Items

~22 Mins
Rabadon's DeathcapMalignanceVoid Staff

Optional Items

ShadowflameLiandry's TormentStormsurgeZhonya's Hourglass

Summoner Spells

summonerflash summoner spell D
summonersmite summoner spell F

Skill Order

First skill for Karthus to level upq
>
Second ability for Karthus to level upe
>
Last skill for Karthus to max outw

Runes

DominationDark HarvestCheap ShotEyeball CollectionUltimate Hunter
PrecisionPresence of MindLast Stand
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceHealth Scaling
Karthus's passive ability p
Karthus's q ability q
Karthus's w ability w
Karthus's e ability e
Karthus's ultimate ability r
1
Q
2
E
3
Q
4
W
5
Q
6
R
7
Q
8
E
9
Q
10
E
11
R
12
E
13
E
14
W
15
W
16
R

Guide to Countering Kai'Sa as Karthus

Tips for Playing as Karthus against Kai'Sa

Lay Waste is very strong at farming minions and harassing enemy champions.

Ask your allies to help point out when you should use Requiem to get kills in different lanes.

Advice to Win Against Kai'Sa

Kai'Sa is very vulnerable to getting outranged by mages and long range carries.

Make sure to place wards in your blind spots so you can see Kai'Sa coming.

Kai'Sa is very good at picking off isolated enemies. Stick together against her.

Karthus vs Kai'Sa Counter Stats

Karthus Image
Win Rate
50.6 %
VS
Win Rate
49.4 %
Kai'Sa Image
7.1
< Kills >
8.2
7.5
< Deaths >
6.7
9.8
< Assists >
6.5
1.66
< Killing Sprees >
1.93
88
< Minions Killed >
186
0.9
< Dragons Killed >
0.23
0.3
< Inhibitors >
0.49
257
< Physical Damage >
12,088
28,944
< Magic Damage >
8,700
1,999
< True Damage >
456
31,200
< Damage Dealt >
21,244
29,274
< Damage Taken >
22,517
12,847
< Gold Earned >
13,080
1.14
< Towers >
2.16
0.23
< Baron Takedowns >
0.06
9,178
< Total Healing >
5,072
14,973
< Experience >
13,516
19
< Vision Score >
18
7
< Wards Placed >
9
219
< Time Dealing CC >
50

How to Counter Kai'Sa with Karthus in LoL

The stats shown on this page show some influential Karthus vs. Kai'Sa counter statistics that may help us realize the distinctions between this pair of champions. As an example, Karthus’s KDA ratio ([kills + assists] / deaths) of NaN is better than Kai'Sa’s KDA ratio of NaN, highlighting that Karthus may be more central to his team's team fighting capability than Kai'Sa..

Karthus often has a similar longest kill spree as his opponent does. Commonly, he takes more damage than Kai'Sa. This typically indicates different amounts of tankyness, yet it can also indicate that the one champ has less mobility and thus is unable to escape additional harm when poked or engaged.

Differences between Karthus and Kai'Sa

Damage Types Compared

Karthus
Kai'Sa
Physical Damage
Magic Damage
True Damage

Champion Playstyles Compared

Karthus
Kai'Sa

Who is Better, Karthus or Kai'Sa?

Both League of Legends champs are great champions. Both champs have their strengths, weaknesses, and counters. In League's current meta, Karthus usually fairs equally well when trying to fight Kai'Sa, with a 50.6% win rate. Therefore, Karthus makes an ok counter for Kai'Sa.

While Karthus does have a higher win rate compared to Kai'Sa, when on opposite teams, Karthus also has a greater difficulty level that makes him a more time consuming character to learn. You still need to be cautious when picking Karthus into Kai'Saas his relative depth means you may not be able to unleash his full potential without a significant amount of practice beforehand.

Additionally, Karthus also has some amount of CC and other utility, a similar amount to Kai'Sa. This often makes her just as valuable during teamfights, especially when fighting champions with a lot of burst damage.

While there is not a single best champion for every situation in League of Legends, in Karthus vs Kai'Sa matchups, Karthus is the better champion with a similar win rate, more champion depth, and a similar amount of utility to help out your allied champions during teamfights.

Karthus is a decent counter for Kai'Sa. Focus your strategy on maximizing your CS and destroying objectives. If you can do that, you should be able to stand on your own as Karthus against Kai'Sa.

Other Champion Matchups Against Karthus

Karthus Loses Against

TaricTaric41.5% winrateMilioMilio42% winrateTahm KenchTahm Kench42.1% winrateJannaJanna42.2% winrate

Karthus Wins Against

ZeriZeri52.8% winrateLissandraLissandra52.2% winrateZoeZoe51.9% winrateLuluLulu51.9% winrate

Top Synergies by Role

BriarBriar+ 51.6% 926 GamesTristanaTristana+ 52% 1608 GamesRammusRammus+ 52.9% 346 GamesKledKled+ 52.9% 681 Games

Additional Information for Karthus Players

How We Calculated Our Karthus vs Kai'Sa Build and Stats

For this guide on countering Kai'Sa as Karthus, we analyzed 1,978 matchups from recent LoL games. We use rigorous data cleaning and processing methods to ensure that our counter stats are of the highest quality. You can rest assured that the recommended build to counter Kai'Sa as Karthus comes from real data and is not the fabrication of some random LoL player, as some other sites provide. You can use the filters at the top of the page to view the most relevant stats and items to your rank.

Other Useful Resources

Karthus Build Kai'Sa Build

Further Insights to Win this Matchup

If you would like to truly master Karthus to counter Kai'Sa during both the early game and mid / late game phases of League of Legends, you should continue reading to gather a few extra lessons on this matchup. If you mind the build and tips presented here, you will increase your win rate significantly and be that much closer to League of Legends pro players.

Karthus most often picks up less CS compared to Kai'Sa. Champions who typically don't take many minion kills often don't have to have much CS to be valuable teammates, such as sup champs. These kinds of champions are capable of scaling well off of their skills, stats, and first items alone. Yet, champions with large amounts of CS, such as hyper-carries, usually have to have several high cost items to be effective. In either situation, try to do better than the numbers shown on this page to do well.

The best items to use in your Karthus versus Kai'Sa build include Rabadon's Deathcap, Malignance, and Void Staff. When Karthus bought at least these three items in his build, he did much better when facing Kai'Sa than with many other commonly used item sets. In fact, Karthus boasted an average win rate of 50.6% when countering Kai'Sa with this counter build.

To have the greatest probability of defeating Kai'Sa as Karthus, Karthus players should take the Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Eyeball Collection, Ultimate Hunter, Presence of Mind, and Last Stand runes from the Domination and Precision rune sets. Out of all the rune combinations that we analyzed for Karthus vs Kai'Sa counters, this set of runes resulted in the greatest win rate. Notably, these runes gave a 50.6% win rate overall.

If you would like to view Karthus vs Kai'Sa tips and counter builds for a a particular division, feel free to select one from the selection menu shown above. If viewing for the first time, the statistics and strategies given are calculated using every round finished with both champions.