Background Image
How to Synergize Riven with Karthus on the Same TeamRiven is in the s tier of champions

Riven with Karthus

How to Win With Riven and Karthus Paired TogetherRiven is in the b tier of champions
FighterAssassin
Mage

How to Synergize Riven and Karthus

based on 1,681 Riven with Karthus pairs
Win Rate
46.2 %
K/D/A
1.89
Pick Rate
1.4 %

How We Analyze Champion Pairings in LoL

At MOBA Champion, we pull the stats from from millions of League matches straight from Riot Games each week. Riven has gone into battle with Karthus in 1681 recently played, competitive matches. By accumulating so much accurate data directly from the makers of League, we are totally sure that we can present to you robust, insightful builds to help Riven synergize with Karthus. It is very rare for Riven to play alongside Karthus on the same team. This pairing has only occurred in approximately 1.4% of games with Riven.

Riven Karthus Synergy Summary

Unfortunately, Riven has done a awful job of fighting on the same side as Karthus. On average, she wins a lowly 46.2% of the time the champs play on the same team. If you want to do better as Riven when fighting on the same team as Karthus by figuring out how to better synergize your play style with him, then dig into the full build (with items, runes, summoner spells, and skills) below!

Best Riven vs Karthus Counter Build

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Long SwordHealth Potion

Early Items

~5 Mins
PickaxeCaulfield's Warhammer

Core Riven Items

~22 Mins
Spear of ShojinDeath's DanceSundered Sky

Optional Items

Black CleaverMaw of MalmortiusEclipseRavenous Hydra

Summoner Spells

summonerflash summoner spell D
summonerdot summoner spell F

Skill Order

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

Runes

PrecisionConquerorTriumphLegend: AlacrityLast Stand
SorceryNimbus CloakTranscendence
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceArmor
Riven's passive ability p
Riven's q ability q
Riven's w ability w
Riven's e ability e
Riven's ultimate ability r
1
Q
2
W
3
E
4
Q
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 Synergizing Riven and Karthus

Tips for Playing as Riven with Karthus

Riven lacks a source of healing or strong defense and must compensate with burst combos. Lead into fights with Broken Wings and Ki Burst, while using Valor to escape and absorb counter-harass.

Riven's Broken Wings locks onto the champion your cursor is over at the time of cast. If you want to move past your opponent, make sure that your cursor is past your opponent as well.

Advice to Understand How Karthus Will Play

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.

Riven Karthus Synergy Stats

Riven Image
Win Rate
46.2 %
VS
Win Rate
53.8 %
Karthus Image
7.1
< Kills >
6.9
6.3
< Deaths >
5.9
4.8
< Assists >
4.6
1.58
< Killing Sprees >
1.57
184
< Minions Killed >
178
0.07
< Dragons Killed >
0.07
0.46
< Inhibitors >
0.44
19,414
< Physical Damage >
18,993
46
< Magic Damage >
57
1,215
< True Damage >
1,134
20,676
< Damage Dealt >
20,184
26,259
< Damage Taken >
24,940
12,451
< Gold Earned >
12,150
2.25
< Towers >
2.25
0.02
< Baron Takedowns >
0.02
5,571
< Total Healing >
5,340
15,403
< Experience >
14,980
17
< Vision Score >
16
8
< Wards Placed >
8
130
< Time Dealing CC >
128

How to Play with Karthus as Riven in LoL

The Riven Karthus synergy stats shown here demonstrate the areas of her gameplay that do better (or worse) when paired with Karthus, compared to her overall stats. Significant differences are areas of focus that highlight how her gameplay changes when paired with this other champion.

Overall, Riven sees a large worsening in her KDA (ratio of kills and assists to deaths) when paired with Karthus. His KDA fell from NaN to NaN. This fall shows that Karthus helps Riven perform poorer in ranked League rounds. Yet, the small difference shows that this performance change is not very impactful.

When Riven is an ally to Karthus, she sees a small increase in her full damage output. This difference could signal that Karthus provides cover for her to deal more damage or that his presence also helps increase the round's duration. Similarly, when Riven is played with Karthus on the same team, he usually scores many fewer killing sprees than when she plays on his own. This is contrasting evidence that she is worse when playing alongside Karthus.

Moreover, when Riven plays with Karthus on the same team, she often receives more damage than when she fights alone. Getting dealt more damage may indicate that Karthus does a poor job of protecting Riven during team fights.

Synergies between Riven and Karthus

Damage Types Compared

Riven
Karthus
Physical Damage
Magic Damage
True Damage

Champion Playstyles Contrasted

Riven
Karthus

Is Riven better when played alongside Karthus?

There is no universally accepted best ally for Riven that will always be her #1 ally. However, Karthus is a terrible ally for Riven. By locking into the same team as Riven, he drops their win rate by -3.9% to 46.2%. This signals that there is a terrible strategic relationship between Riven and Karthus that allows them to perform not as well together than without each other.

Karthus has a lower difficulty than Riven. That means Riven players don't need to be cautious when finding Karthus comrades to fight alongside, as they will need a relatively low level of skill to fight well with you.

Fighting cooperatively, Riven players should witness an overall large increase in your team’s ability to deal magical damage. Combined, these two are able to dish out a surprising amount of magic type damage.

Conversely, by grouping Riven and Karthus together, you may not be providing your side very much protection for burst damage. Plan to bring other champs on your team that offsets this relative disparity in this pairing's kit.

Regardless of the skill of your Karthus ally, you need to focus on maximizing your gold income, outlasting your enemies, and clearing objectives. If you do this, you will do well anyway.

Additional Information for Riven Players

How We Calculated Our Riven Karthus Synergy Build and Stats

For this guide on pairing Riven and Karthus, we analyzed 1,681 ranked and recent League of Legends matches. We perform advanced data cleaning and statistical methods to guarantee that our team synergy stats are accurate and reliable. You can be confident that our recommended build to pair Riven with Karthus comes from actual 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 your division's most relevant stats and build.

Other Useful Resources

Further Insights to Win with this Champion Pairing

To truly master Riven to synergize with Karthus during both the early game and mid / late game phases of LoL games, you should continue reading to pick up additional tricks and insights into this champion pairing. If you listen to the build and suggestions shown here, you will grow your win rate by a lot.

The most crucial finished items to include in your Riven and Karthus synergy build include Spear of Shojin, Death's Dance, and Sundered Sky. When Riven included at least these three great items in her build, she did significantly better when paired up with Karthus than with many other typical item sets. In fact, Riven boasted an average winrate of 46.2% when playing alongside Karthus with these items in her kit.

To have the best probability of coming out on top against your oponents, you should use the Conqueror, Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, Last Stand, Nimbus Cloak, and Transcendence runes from the Precision and Sorcery rune sets. Of all the rune sets players picked for this team composition, this blending of runes resulted in the top win rate. In fact, these runes gave a 46.2% winrate overall.

By default, tips, stats, and builds on how to synergize Karthus with Riven are displayed for all skill levels combined. If you want to narrow the stats and builds to a distinct rank, you may use the selection menu at the top of this page.