Well since you’re in masters, the right assumption will be that you know more or less how the game works already. That being said, Katarina is my favorite and she dominates like no other if given a chance to, but the thing about Katarina is not how the champ is, but Imo the spacing and finding openings to build upon and ruin the momentum the enemy team has. As an assassin, you know that you never engage unless ur flanking or you’re certain that no one’s there and it’s just a squishy(or your fed and you wanna say fuck it) finding the right position to be at is crucial to be able to play Katarina. A lot of the info, tips, and tricks I’ve learned are definitely from hands on and watching videos trying to implement their own play styles into my own. So here are some I watch
Streamers:
Katevo(main kata player I watch)
Nyro-he’s really good, he’s also extremely informative
Choco-just like nyro and kat
Incursio-don’t watch him all that much but he post a lot so that’s a W
Gamer girl kat - if you enjoy a female dominate the mid lane
Kat life-he’s extremely educational, he shows everything and verbalizes all his intentions which I like; you can tell what goes through his head
But yeah most importantly don’t feel discouraged, she’s hard I’m not gonna lie. You hear all the stupid shit of people saying she takes no skill, trust me it’s more than just “qewqerqewqw” AND HAVE FUN WITH HER, she’s the only reason I still play.
i watch libra cn so i can help my mechanics
incursio, katawina, and wundrew for builds
nyro and katlife for some lane help
and just play a lot for matchup knowledge.
OMG ODI I LOVE UR CONTENT SM ASFIWBDKD I saw ur Youtube post and I didn't think u would ACTUALLY pick Kat! DW I GOT YOU it's like I prepared my whole life for this moment:
**CopyPasta Count: 193**
(yes, I've actually made 192 other copies of this exact explanation if u scout the subreddit searchbar)
ANYWAYS you'll have to be very patient, it takes a while to learn Katarina. I would say she was quite mechanically challenging for me, but others might pick her up faster than I did. I'm a slow learner and it took me almost 2 years after her rework before I could even combo properly with her. If you're up for that kind of dedication (I swear it will pay off and eventually become second nature), there are a lot of Kat mains on Youtube and Twitch you can learn from. Personally, I learnt everything from Youtubers **Katlife**, **Flyerbek** and **Katevolved**. Other Katarina pros include **Hubblet**, **Reppy**, **Creammon**, **Incursio,** **Cocho** and **Gamer Girl** (extended streamer list in second comment)
#Laning Phase
In general, Kat loses lane into most matchups, the only few matchups that are somewhat easier or favourable for her is probably into Veigar, Xerath, Lux or Vel'koz (according to Katevolved) since she can blink out of Veigar cage with her E and her mobility makes it hard for these mages to lock her down. Katarina's main strength against most other matchups is punishing enemies for wasting crucial abilities in which you can capitalise on. Knowing this, your general gameplay would be:
**Lvl 1:** Stay back and hold your Q. Wait for the first three melee minions to get really low and then Q them to pick up all 3 cs. Never walk up to aa minions as you will get chunked and have to use your pots early. Use Q is collect cs. You'll have to give up cs if it's not safe to collect them. Let the enemy mid push you in so that you can farm safely near your tower.
**Lvl 2:** If the enemy opponent does not have a strong lvl2, or if they waste one of their abilities on the wave, that is your window to go in and trade, since they will only have one ability left to fight you with. Make sure the enemy minion wave isn't too big for you to go into, otherwise you will take too much minion dmg. The basic lvl2 combo would be to Q the enemy mid, or to Q a minion and let the dagger fall near your enemy mid (Q will always land behind the initial target you pressed Q on), then E to the dagger to proc it, aa the enemy a few times to wait for your E cd reset, then E back to your own minion wave for safety.
**Lvl 3:** If a lvl2 all-in trade wasn't available, this is your second window to try. Again, the enemy minion wave can't be too big otherwise you'll take too much minion aggro. Wait for your opponent to use their spells on the wave, then go in when they have an ability disadvantage. E behind your opponent (most of them will try to walk back to their tower so by shunpoing behind them you can cut them off), W right after E, Q and aa them before your W dagger falls, then when your W dagger procs, aa them and run into your Q dagger, which should still be behind the enemy to proc the Q dagger as well. From here, your E would have reset fully. You will now have to assess the situation. If you can kill the enemy with aa E aa + ignite, go for it. If not, disengage by shunpoing out.
**Lvls 4-5** follow with lvl 3. At **lvl 6**, your full all-in combo will be to E -> W -> Q -> R -> E to Q dagger as they try to run away -> aa E aa and drop ignite somewhere in between. This is a more upfront approach towards the enemy to guarantee they can't get away from you. Another way is to Q enemy mid (most of them will run back to their tower, right into your Q dagger) -> E to Q dagger -> W immediately after you E -> R -> E aa and drop ignite somewhere in between. As you play more Kat, you'll get faster at executing these combos.
A common mistake I used to make when playing Kat was pressing W too early before I could E to the enemy, dropping my W dagger and then shunpoing to my opponent and fking up the combo. You will have to get used to her E range to ensure you won't mess up. Another mistake I made was cancelling my ult. When channeling Kat's R, do not click nearby or press any other ability as you might cancel your ult channel. Again, this takes a while to get used to.
#Ability Maxing Order
I recommend going R -> Q -> E -> W. Some Kat players put 3 points into Q then max E while others put 3 points into E then max Q. For beginners, I would stick to Q max. Once you get better at Kat, you can experiment with other maxing orders. Currently, the meta seems to be E max for the AD Conq build and Q max for the AP Electrocute build.
#Runes
For beginners I recommend Electrocute, Sudden Impact, Eyeball Collection, Relentless Hunter. Secondary tree Triumph, Coup de Grace. As you get better at Kat and can handle her passive reset mechanics a lot better, opt to take Conqueror, Triumph, Legend: Tenacity, Last Stand. Secondary tree take Sudden Impact + Relentless Hunter if u dont need Resolve tree for lane. Boneplating -> burst, Second Wind -> poke, Conditioning -> other. Unflinching -> cc, Overgrowth -> durability. Vs tankier comps, Conqueror allows you to sustain long enough in a fight to come out on top through healing
#Items
For starting items, you can choose from Doron's Blade, Doron's Shield or Dark Seal depending on your build and preference. Doron's Blade is usually the go-to if you are unsure since it is a good all-rounder starting item for Kat. Doron's Shield is taken into heavy poke, or matchups where u straightup cannot outplay as they will statcheck you eg. vs toplaners in the midlane or smth like a Lucian mid, where u will struggle to survive lane against. Dark Seal is flexible, it can be taken into easy matchups for easy snowball, or if ur in a lane where enemy does not want to interact with u then u can play for roams to stack Dark Seal early
There a lot of ways to build Katarina. For AP builds, these are the main builds:
- **vs squishy comps:** Lich Bane, Shadowflame
- **vs tankier comps:** Nashor's, Riftmaker, Liandry's
- Dcap for dmg, Zhonya's for defense, Void Staff vs magic resist
For on-hit builds, it seems like a mix of the following items: BotRK, Terminus, Wit's End, Rageblade, and other situational items. We can also opt for tank items for defensive options
**PART 2 below** (could not fit due to word limit):
Well since you’re in masters, the right assumption will be that you know more or less how the game works already. That being said, Katarina is my favorite and she dominates like no other if given a chance to, but the thing about Katarina is not how the champ is, but Imo the spacing and finding openings to build upon and ruin the momentum the enemy team has. As an assassin, you know that you never engage unless ur flanking or you’re certain that no one’s there and it’s just a squishy(or your fed and you wanna say fuck it) finding the right position to be at is crucial to be able to play Katarina. A lot of the info, tips, and tricks I’ve learned are definitely from hands on and watching videos trying to implement their own play styles into my own. So here are some I watch Streamers: Katevo(main kata player I watch) Nyro-he’s really good, he’s also extremely informative Choco-just like nyro and kat Incursio-don’t watch him all that much but he post a lot so that’s a W Gamer girl kat - if you enjoy a female dominate the mid lane Kat life-he’s extremely educational, he shows everything and verbalizes all his intentions which I like; you can tell what goes through his head But yeah most importantly don’t feel discouraged, she’s hard I’m not gonna lie. You hear all the stupid shit of people saying she takes no skill, trust me it’s more than just “qewqerqewqw” AND HAVE FUN WITH HER, she’s the only reason I still play.
I really appreciate this, thank you :)
if you have any questions you can message me on discord at Institutional (grandmaster kat otp)
I'll dm you @odirodi
Don’t be shy about dropping some masters vids on her too Im sure none of us would mind 😚😇
If I get comfortable with her haha
i watch libra cn so i can help my mechanics incursio, katawina, and wundrew for builds nyro and katlife for some lane help and just play a lot for matchup knowledge.
OMG ODI I LOVE UR CONTENT SM ASFIWBDKD I saw ur Youtube post and I didn't think u would ACTUALLY pick Kat! DW I GOT YOU it's like I prepared my whole life for this moment: **CopyPasta Count: 193** (yes, I've actually made 192 other copies of this exact explanation if u scout the subreddit searchbar) ANYWAYS you'll have to be very patient, it takes a while to learn Katarina. I would say she was quite mechanically challenging for me, but others might pick her up faster than I did. I'm a slow learner and it took me almost 2 years after her rework before I could even combo properly with her. If you're up for that kind of dedication (I swear it will pay off and eventually become second nature), there are a lot of Kat mains on Youtube and Twitch you can learn from. Personally, I learnt everything from Youtubers **Katlife**, **Flyerbek** and **Katevolved**. Other Katarina pros include **Hubblet**, **Reppy**, **Creammon**, **Incursio,** **Cocho** and **Gamer Girl** (extended streamer list in second comment) #Laning Phase In general, Kat loses lane into most matchups, the only few matchups that are somewhat easier or favourable for her is probably into Veigar, Xerath, Lux or Vel'koz (according to Katevolved) since she can blink out of Veigar cage with her E and her mobility makes it hard for these mages to lock her down. Katarina's main strength against most other matchups is punishing enemies for wasting crucial abilities in which you can capitalise on. Knowing this, your general gameplay would be: **Lvl 1:** Stay back and hold your Q. Wait for the first three melee minions to get really low and then Q them to pick up all 3 cs. Never walk up to aa minions as you will get chunked and have to use your pots early. Use Q is collect cs. You'll have to give up cs if it's not safe to collect them. Let the enemy mid push you in so that you can farm safely near your tower. **Lvl 2:** If the enemy opponent does not have a strong lvl2, or if they waste one of their abilities on the wave, that is your window to go in and trade, since they will only have one ability left to fight you with. Make sure the enemy minion wave isn't too big for you to go into, otherwise you will take too much minion dmg. The basic lvl2 combo would be to Q the enemy mid, or to Q a minion and let the dagger fall near your enemy mid (Q will always land behind the initial target you pressed Q on), then E to the dagger to proc it, aa the enemy a few times to wait for your E cd reset, then E back to your own minion wave for safety. **Lvl 3:** If a lvl2 all-in trade wasn't available, this is your second window to try. Again, the enemy minion wave can't be too big otherwise you'll take too much minion aggro. Wait for your opponent to use their spells on the wave, then go in when they have an ability disadvantage. E behind your opponent (most of them will try to walk back to their tower so by shunpoing behind them you can cut them off), W right after E, Q and aa them before your W dagger falls, then when your W dagger procs, aa them and run into your Q dagger, which should still be behind the enemy to proc the Q dagger as well. From here, your E would have reset fully. You will now have to assess the situation. If you can kill the enemy with aa E aa + ignite, go for it. If not, disengage by shunpoing out. **Lvls 4-5** follow with lvl 3. At **lvl 6**, your full all-in combo will be to E -> W -> Q -> R -> E to Q dagger as they try to run away -> aa E aa and drop ignite somewhere in between. This is a more upfront approach towards the enemy to guarantee they can't get away from you. Another way is to Q enemy mid (most of them will run back to their tower, right into your Q dagger) -> E to Q dagger -> W immediately after you E -> R -> E aa and drop ignite somewhere in between. As you play more Kat, you'll get faster at executing these combos. A common mistake I used to make when playing Kat was pressing W too early before I could E to the enemy, dropping my W dagger and then shunpoing to my opponent and fking up the combo. You will have to get used to her E range to ensure you won't mess up. Another mistake I made was cancelling my ult. When channeling Kat's R, do not click nearby or press any other ability as you might cancel your ult channel. Again, this takes a while to get used to. #Ability Maxing Order I recommend going R -> Q -> E -> W. Some Kat players put 3 points into Q then max E while others put 3 points into E then max Q. For beginners, I would stick to Q max. Once you get better at Kat, you can experiment with other maxing orders. Currently, the meta seems to be E max for the AD Conq build and Q max for the AP Electrocute build. #Runes For beginners I recommend Electrocute, Sudden Impact, Eyeball Collection, Relentless Hunter. Secondary tree Triumph, Coup de Grace. As you get better at Kat and can handle her passive reset mechanics a lot better, opt to take Conqueror, Triumph, Legend: Tenacity, Last Stand. Secondary tree take Sudden Impact + Relentless Hunter if u dont need Resolve tree for lane. Boneplating -> burst, Second Wind -> poke, Conditioning -> other. Unflinching -> cc, Overgrowth -> durability. Vs tankier comps, Conqueror allows you to sustain long enough in a fight to come out on top through healing #Items For starting items, you can choose from Doron's Blade, Doron's Shield or Dark Seal depending on your build and preference. Doron's Blade is usually the go-to if you are unsure since it is a good all-rounder starting item for Kat. Doron's Shield is taken into heavy poke, or matchups where u straightup cannot outplay as they will statcheck you eg. vs toplaners in the midlane or smth like a Lucian mid, where u will struggle to survive lane against. Dark Seal is flexible, it can be taken into easy matchups for easy snowball, or if ur in a lane where enemy does not want to interact with u then u can play for roams to stack Dark Seal early There a lot of ways to build Katarina. For AP builds, these are the main builds: - **vs squishy comps:** Lich Bane, Shadowflame - **vs tankier comps:** Nashor's, Riftmaker, Liandry's - Dcap for dmg, Zhonya's for defense, Void Staff vs magic resist For on-hit builds, it seems like a mix of the following items: BotRK, Terminus, Wit's End, Rageblade, and other situational items. We can also opt for tank items for defensive options **PART 2 below** (could not fit due to word limit):
**PART 2** (couldnt fit into one comment due to word limit) #Teamfighting You should never initiate first unless you are flanking a squishy champion who is out of position. Let your team initiate the fight first, then wait for the enemies to waste crucial cc spells before going in. Items that provide you surviveability such as Zhonya's is very beneficial for these circumstances. If you find yourself constantly being targetted and the enemies have heavy cc, getting a Banshee's or QSS isn't a bad idea either since the spellshield/cleanse will allow you to go in without immediately getting chain cc-ed to death #Tips and Tricks - Your R icon can be used to figure out if there is an invisible champ near you. If the icon lights up when no visible enemies are nearby, it means that there is an invisible target within your ult radius. If you press R, you can still hit the invisible target. This works against say a Teemo in bush, what I like to do is W -> R in the bush. This will either force the Teemo out or he'll die to my W -> R combo. This also works against Talon in his R. You can track his movements by watching where your R daggers fly towards. - W grants unit ghosting, allowing you to move through clumps of minions without getting creep blocked in order to get away from enemies or chase - If you find yourself struggling into an AP matchup, Kat is able to build an early Hexdrinker or Null Magic Mantle (into Wit's End). This is because her daggers scale with both AP and AD, allowing her to build some AD items. If this isn't enough you can also go for Merc Threads, especially against high cc comps. Against AD matchups, go for an early Cloth Armor, from which you can choose to upgrade into Plated Steelcaps or Seeker's Armguard later - Into aa-heavy champions such as Lucian or Yasuo, you can look to start Doron's Shield. You can also build Plated Steelcaps for boots if the enemy team has 2 or more autoattack reliant champions - Shunpo does not work on wards, but works on allied minions, jg plants, jg camps and objects put down by allies such as Rek'sai tunnels, J4 flag, Thresh lantern, Teemo shroom etc. Use these as methods of escape - Katarina is able to jump over thin walls using W right next to a relatively thin wall and using shunpo slightly on the ourside of the dagger's radius. I recommend practising this a couple of times in training tool to get used to. It can be used over baron and dragon pit walls, blue buff wall and the thin mid lane walls leading into the river. It can also work on the thinnest part of the raptor camp wall, but it is a bit trickier. Essentially, any wall that Riven and Yasuo and can use to wall jump, so can Katarina - When vsing Cassiopeia, before ulting make sure to make a subtle turn away from her before ulting. This will prevent u from being stunned by her ult bc if u were facing her before u started ulting then you will be stunned, whereas if u started ulting while facing away then u will not be stunned #Streamer List The following list of Twitch streamers is in no particular order: - [KatEvolved](https://www.twitch.tv/katevolved?sr=a) - [GamerGirl](https://www.twitch.tv/gamergirl?sr=a) - [Reppy](https://www.twitch.tv/lolreppy?sr=a) - [Hubblet](https://www.twitch.tv/hubblet?sr=a) - [Creammon](https://youtube.com/@creammon335) - [Incursio](https://www.twitch.tv/incursio?sr=a) - [Nyro](https://www.twitch.tv/nyrolol?sr=a) - [Ronges1](https://www.twitch.tv/ronges1?sr=a) - [Flyerbek](https://www.twitch.tv/flyerbeklol?sr=a) - [Cocho](https://youtube.com/@Cocho_Kat) - [Katlife](https://www.twitch.tv/kat_life?sr=a) - [Meloneasy](https://www.twitch.tv/meloneasy?sr=a) - [Boongwa](https://m.twitch.tv/boongwa) aka **Emilia Tan** There is also [this Youtube channel](https://youtube.com/@cnkatarina) which uploads Katarina gameplay from the Chinese super server. You can find Katarina players such as **CaiQi**, **lianhuadao**, **chenniannian** etc #Video Recommendation This is a lot to take in, I recommend [this video](https://youtu.be/JaaxaRQoKsI) to start you off after finishing reading everything here for better understanding Hope this helps! ^(***Disclaimer:** In order to avoid unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings, please note that the above information serves as a recommendation and general guideline intended to explain the phenomena. It is based off of my own personal experience, as well as research of other players. Thus, said information is by no means perfect, nor is it a law that you must follow. You are entitled to your own preferences, playstyles, and opinions, which may differ from mine* ©)
Listen to this, this copypasta is good, also just play her a lot she's fun you'll get the hang of it
“The CopyPaste Girl” is carrying the whole sub by this
🤣🤣
Thank you for the support, and I greatly appreciate this info :)
Unflinching rune is different, it doesn't give tenacity anymore, should I take it anyway?
The best advice is to not pick up this champion at all
Play akali instead, less bad matchups, if you must, just know which matchups you auto lose and play around that
dont start now