League of Legends - Katarina Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Katarina

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Voracity (Effect Radius: 340)INNATE: Whenever an enemy champion dies that Katarina has damaged in the last 3 seconds, her ability cooldowns are reduced by 15 seconds.If the character picks up a Dagger, she uses it to slash through all nearby enemies, dealing magic damage.
	Bouncing Blade  (Target Range: 625, Effect Radius: 625, Cooldown: 11/10/9/8/7)ACTIVE: The character throws a Dagger at the target that then bounces to nearby enemies before ricocheting onto the ground. Katarina throws a Dagger, dealing 75/105/135/165/195 (+30% Ability Power) magic damage to the target and 2 nearby enemies. The dagger then ricochets onto the ground behind the primary target.The dagger always lands 350 units on the opposite side from where it struck the first target, getting there in the same amount of time regardless of how many times it bounces.
	Preparation (Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11, Range: 25000)ACTIVE: The character gains a burst of movement speed, tossing a Dagger into the air directly above herself. Katarina tosses a Dagger into the air and gains 50/60/70/80/90% decaying movement speed over 1.25 seconds.
	Shunpo (Target Range: 725, Cooldown: 14/12.5/11/9.5/8)ACTIVE: The character blinks to the target, striking it if its an enemy, or striking the nearest enemy otherwise. Katarina dashes in the blink of an eye to the target ally, enemy, or Dagger. If it is an enemy, Katarina strikes for 30/45/60/75/90 (+65% Attack Damage) (+25% Ability Power) magic damage – otherwise she strikes the nearest enemy in range.Picking up a Dagger will reduce Shunpo’s cooldown by [0]%.Katarina can blink to any location near the target.
	Death Lotus  (Effect Radius: 550, Cooldown: 90/60/45)ACTIVE: The character becomes a flurry of blades, dealing massive magic damage while she channels to the 3 nearest enemy champions. Katarina becomes a flurry of blades, rapidly throwing knives at the three nearest enemy champions, dealing 25/37.5/50 (+22% bonus Attack Damage) (+19% Ability Power) magic damage per knife. Total over 2.5 seconds to each enemy: 300% bonus Attack Damage (+0) (+0) magic damage.Applies Grievous Wounds to all enemies struck, reducing their healing and regeneration by 40%.

Strategy

• Farm with (Q) Bouncing Blade in the early game. Laning phase is usually difficult for Katarina since most AP champions in the mid lane are ranged champions. Try ganking early as she has a reliable gap closer and damage output with (E) Shunpo and (Q) Bouncing Blade. 
• Don’t use (R) Death Lotus to start a teamfight. Instead, wait until all the enemies are distracted before jumping in the middle of the fray to use (R) Death Lotus. She usually needs a kill or an assist so that her abilities will refresh because of Voracity. 
• (E) Shunpo’s cooldown is reduced when she picks up a dagger. Stop her from picking up her daggers by stunning her or knocking her back. (W) Preparation is also another reliable disengage tool which lets you gain a burst of movement speed for short period.
• You can cast (W) Preparation before activating (R) Death Lotus to increase your damage output. Always remember that you have more damage and opportunities when you are below a dagger.

Runes & Masteries

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Summoner Spells

Mid Lane
Ignite	Flash

Item Builds

Mid Lane

Starter Items
The Dark Seal	Health Potion	Warding Totem

Core Items

Core Items
Hextech Gunblade	Zhonya’s Hourglass	Sorcerer’s Shoes

Hextech Gunblade – Katarina scales well with AD and AP since (E) Shunpo and (R) Death Lotus scales with both stats. The passive also allows her to sustain in the laning phase. On the other hand, the active is a good initiation tool as it can heal you for a large amount while slowing your target’s movement speed.

Zhonya’s Hourglass – Zhonya’s Hourglass provides Katarina with armor, ability power, and cooldown reduction. What makes this item important for Katarina is the active which makes you untargetable. This item helps a lot in team fights where you are likely to get targeted first. The active allows you to reset your your abilities while having the chance to either (E) Shunpo away or continue to deal damage with your combos.

Full Build

Full Build
Hextech Gunblade	Zhonya’s Hourglass	Void Staff
Rabadon’s Deathcap	Luden’s Echo	Sorcerer’s Shoes

Rabadon’s Deathcap – Rabadon’s Deathcap is a great item for any mages because the added ability power is huge and greatly increases the damage output of any champions who rely on ability power for their damage. The passive also increases your ability power even more. This is always a must buy for Katarina all situations.

Luden’s Echo – Luden’s Echo increases the ability power of Katarina as well as her movement speed. The passive also allows her to deal more damage in a circle.

Void Staff – Void Staff increases your magic penetration, making you more bursty especially if the enemy has built a lot of magic resistance items.

Situational Items

Situational Items
Mejai’s Soulstealer	Banshee’s Veil	Liandry’s Torment
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter

Mejai’s Soulstealer – Mejai’s Soulstealer is a very risky item, as it really needs you to be very active in team fights without dying a lot. At full stacks, this item is one of the best at snowballing in the early-mid game.

Banshee’s Veil – Banshee’s Veil can also be a good defensive item for Katarina as it gives her a spellshield that can block any crowd controls.  Banshee’s Veil allows her to continue channeling her ultimate Death Lotus without it being disrupted by crowd controls.

Liandry’s Torment – Liandry’s Torment is also a good pick up if the enemy has a lot of tanks since it deals damage equal to 2% of the target’s current health. The item also makes you somewhat tankier, as it also gives extra health along with the ability power.

Rylai’s Crystal Scepter – This item is more of a novelty than something Katarina truly needs as bursty AP champion. On the other hand, the passive slow in this item makes up for great initiations and can assist your team mate in fending off enemies.

Playing Against

• Stay away from her daggers as it gives Katarina more damage when she steps on a dagger and you are nearby. When she uses her (Q) Bouncing Blade on you first, try to move away immediately as a dagger will appear on your back and Katarina might all-in on you.
• Avoid clumping together especially if you are in critical health because Katarina’s (R) Death Lotus is a high-damage AoE skill that also applies grievous wounds to enemies nearby.
• (R) Death Lotus is a chanelling ability that can be cancelled even before she deals a huge amount of damage. Stun her immediately when she uses her ultimate to cancel it.
• Katarina is a very mobile champion that can jump in and out of a fight because of (E) Shunpo. A champion with a lot of crowd controls can easily demolish her and stop her from escaping.
• Zhonya’s Hourglass is an effective item against her if you are always getting killed because of (R) Death Lotus. 

Hard Counters

• Malzahar – Malzahar’s Nether Grasp can cancel Katarina’s (R) Death Lotus chanelling. Malzahar also has the ability to silence Katarina and stop her from using her combo with Void Shift. 
• Fiddlesticks – Fiddlesticks has the ability to stop Katarina’s (R) Death Lotus with Terrify. Fiddlesticks also excels against champions with no crowd control as he can just cast Drain or Crowstorm without having to worry about his abilities being cancelled or stopped.
• Diana – Diana’s Moonfall is a low cooldown ability that can stop the channeling of (R) Death Lotus. Diana also excels at extended fights because of her passive and Pale Cascade. Lastly, she also has the ability to catch Katarina with Lunar Rush multiple times while Katarina can only use Shunpo once.

Strategy video

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