League Classic matchup
Karthus vs Katarina
The lane, from both sides
Karthus’s side
- Weak against Katarinafrom the AP Burst Mage build (Jungle)
ShunpoShunpoEActive: Katarina blinks to the target unit and gains 15% damage reduction for 1.5 seconds. If the target is an enemy, she deals them magic damage. jumps the 
Wall of PainWall of PainWActive: Karthus erects a wall of pain at the target location perpendicular to his facing that lasts 5 seconds, granting sight around its pillars and center. Enemies that touch the wall are inflicted with magic penetration and become slowed for 5 seconds, decaying over the duration. This can affect enemies only once per cast. and 
Death LotusDeath LotusRKatarina throws daggers at up to three nearby enemy Champions, dealing magic damage and applying Grievous Wounds. finishes Karthus inside his own 
DefileDefileEPassive: Karthus restores mana whenever he kills an enemy. This passive is disabled when Defile is toggled on. Toggle: Karthus surrounds himself in a necrotic aura that deals magic damage every second to all nearby enemies. Toggling Defile off triggers a final tick of damage. Defile is toggled off automatically if Karthus becomes unable to pay its mana cost.; his damage needs time she never gives him.
Katarina’s side
- Strong against Karthusfrom the AP Assassin build (Mid)
Karthus's immobility makes him vulnerable to Katarina's snowballing burst and resets.
The lane in detail
KarthusKatarinaKatarina-favored once Shunpo is learned
Wall of Pain slows the walk. Nothing in it slows a blink.
Wall of PainWall of PainWActive: Karthus erects a wall of pain at the target location perpendicular to his facing that lasts 5 seconds, granting sight around its pillars and center. Enemies that touch the wall are inflicted with magic penetration and become slowed for 5 seconds, decaying over the duration. This can affect enemies only once per cast. slows enemies that cross it. ShunpoShunpoEActive: Katarina blinks to the target unit and gains 15% damage reduction for 1.5 seconds. If the target is an enemy, she deals them magic damage. moves Katarina 725 units to a target, so Karthus cannot rely on the wall to keep her outside DefileDefileEPassive: Karthus restores mana whenever he kills an enemy. This passive is disabled when Defile is toggled on. Toggle: Karthus surrounds himself in a necrotic aura that deals magic damage every second to all nearby enemies. Toggling Defile off triggers a final tick of damage. Defile is toggled off automatically if Karthus becomes unable to pay its mana cost..
Who has the lane, level by level
12–56–1011–18- 1Karthus: 875 against 675 at level one
- 2–5Katarina: Shunpo crosses what the wall slows
- 6–10Katarina: 60 seconds against 200
- 11–18Katarina: Voracity refunds what she just spent
- 2Wall of PainLevel 2: Crossing the wall slows Katarina, but using Shunpo spends no time walking through it
- 2ShunpoLevel 2: A 725 unit blink at rank 1, and it costs her nothing
- 6RequiemLevel 6: 200 seconds between casts, and three of channel each time
- 6Death LotusLevel 6: 400 over 2.5 seconds, inside 550, for no resource
- 9Bouncing BladesLevel 9: The initial dagger reaches 160 damage; consuming its mark adds another 75
- 13ShunpoLevel 13: Rank 5 halves the wait to 6 seconds
The numbers, head to head
KarthusKatarinaLeaving a lost trade, rank 1
A slow affects her movement between jumps; it does not shorten ShunpoShunpoEActive: Katarina blinks to the target unit and gains 15% damage reduction for 1.5 seconds. If the target is an enemy, she deals them magic damage..
Rank 1 damage, one target
The blast only doubles when nothing else is standing in it.
How quickly level 6 returns
A takedown or an assist takes 15 seconds off hers.
Who the rank 1 channel can hit
RequiemRequiemRActive: Karthus channels for 3 seconds, then deals magic damage to all targetable enemy champions upon completion. bills every champion alive; Death LotusDeath LotusRKatarina throws daggers at up to three nearby enemy Champions, dealing magic damage and applying Grievous Wounds. bills the three nearest.
Repeated poke, rank 1
Repeated 
Lay WasteLay WasteQActive: Karthus conjures a blast at the target location that detonates after 0.5 seconds, granting sight of the area and dealing magic damage to all enemies within, doubled when only one target is struck. casts spend mana even when Katarina avoids the blast.
Reach, from above
Karthus
Katarina
Rings are ranges in game units, both radars on one scale. Abilities wear their icon, the basic attack wears the champion’s own face; the dashed ring wearing the opponent’s face is their longest reach.
The item race
Karthus
700gFrequent Lay Waste casts build the mana reserve needed to keep Defile running when she closes.
2800gThe added health gives Karthus room to survive Death Lotus; its stacking bonuses need 10 minutes.
1100gMovement speed helps Karthus reposition between her jumps. The boots do not provide an escape spell.
3260gThe stasis runs 2.5 seconds, the same length as the Death Lotus channel.
Katarina
1600g80 ability power for a kit that charges nothing to use it.
3100gUse before Death Lotus: the active amplifies subsequent magic damage by 20% for 4 seconds.
- 1100g
15 magic penetration into a 30 base, on a champion who buys no magic resist in this build.
3300gDeath Lotus and Sinister Steel both scale with ability power when she reaches his aura.
Play it as Karthus
- 1Take every last hit with Lay WasteLay WasteQActive: Karthus conjures a blast at the target location that detonates after 0.5 seconds, granting sight of the area and dealing magic damage to all enemies within, doubled when only one target is struck. from 875; walking to 450 puts you inside her 725.
- 2Lay the wall behind you rather than on her, because 5 seconds of 40% slow only bills what walks through it.
- 3Spend RequiemRequiemRActive: Karthus channels for 3 seconds, then deals magic damage to all targetable enemy champions upon completion. in the first 4 seconds of
Death DefiedDeath DefiedPassiveInnate: Upon taking fatal damage, Karthus enters a zombie state for 7 seconds, during which he can cast his abilities at no cost. If Defile has been learned, it will remain toggled on for Death Defied's entire duration. Requiem becomes disabled after 4 seconds of the duration have elapsed. While under this state, Karthus becomes untargetable and immune to crowd control as well as prevents all incoming damage, but is also rendered unable to move, declare basic attacks, use summoner spells, and activate items.. After that the zombie state disables it.
Play it as Katarina
- 1Open with
Bouncing BladesBouncing BladesQActive: Katarina throws a dagger to the target enemy that bounces to up to 4 nearby unaffected enemies, dealing magic damage to each target as well as marking them for 4.25 seconds. Each bounce deals 10% less damage. Katarina's basic attacks and abilities consume the mark on affected enemies, dealing bonus magic damage. at 675 and consume the mark with 
Sinister SteelSinister SteelWActive: Katarina whirls her daggers, dealing magic damage to nearby enemies. If Sinister Steel damages an enemy champion, she also gains bonus movement speed for 1 second.; neither costs anything. - 2Force the toggle and keep it running: DefileDefileEPassive: Karthus restores mana whenever he kills an enemy. This passive is disabled when Defile is toggled on. Toggle: Karthus surrounds himself in a necrotic aura that deals magic damage every second to all nearby enemies. Toggling Defile off triggers a final tick of damage. Defile is toggled off automatically if Karthus becomes unable to pay its mana cost. bills him 30 mana a second at rank 1 and 78 at rank 5.
- 3Step out of the 550 aura once he drops: Death DefiedDeath DefiedPassiveInnate: Upon taking fatal damage, Karthus enters a zombie state for 7 seconds, during which he can cast his abilities at no cost. If Defile has been learned, it will remain toggled on for Death Defied's entire duration. Requiem becomes disabled after 4 seconds of the duration have elapsed. While under this state, Karthus becomes untargetable and immune to crowd control as well as prevents all incoming damage, but is also rendered unable to move, declare basic attacks, use summoner spells, and activate items. keeps DefileDefileEPassive: Karthus restores mana whenever he kills an enemy. This passive is disabled when Defile is toggled on. Toggle: Karthus surrounds himself in a necrotic aura that deals magic damage every second to all nearby enemies. Toggling Defile off triggers a final tick of damage. Defile is toggled off automatically if Karthus becomes unable to pay its mana cost. running for 7 more seconds.
The catch
Death DefiedDeath DefiedPassiveInnate: Upon taking fatal damage, Karthus enters a zombie state for 7 seconds, during which he can cast his abilities at no cost. If Defile has been learned, it will remain toggled on for Death Defied's entire duration. Requiem becomes disabled after 4 seconds of the duration have elapsed. While under this state, Karthus becomes untargetable and immune to crowd control as well as prevents all incoming damage, but is also rendered unable to move, declare basic attacks, use summoner spells, and activate items. leaves Karthus stationary for 7 seconds after he falls. Katarina can leave DefileDefileEPassive: Karthus restores mana whenever he kills an enemy. This passive is disabled when Defile is toggled on. Toggle: Karthus surrounds himself in a necrotic aura that deals magic damage every second to all nearby enemies. Toggling Defile off triggers a final tick of damage. Defile is toggled off automatically if Karthus becomes unable to pay its mana cost., but RequiemRequiemRActive: Karthus channels for 3 seconds, then deals magic damage to all targetable enemy champions upon completion. still threatens her elsewhere. Karthus must begin that channel before the passive disables it after 4 seconds. A kill gives Katarina cooldown refunds; it does not remove the corpse from the fight.
The kits at a glance
Karthus
Full abilities- Death Defied
- Lay Waste
- Wall of Pain
- Defile
- Requiem
Katarina
Full abilities- Voracity
- Bouncing Blades
- Sinister Steel
- Shunpo
- Death Lotus
Base stats, side by side
| Stat | Karthus | Katarina |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 465 (+75) | 505 (+80) |
| HP regen | 1.21 (+0.11) | 1.5 (+0.11) |
| Mana | 331 (+61) | – |
| Attack damage | 45.45 (+3.25) | 56.2 (+3.2) |
| Armor | 18.5 (+3.5) | 24.5 (+3.5) |
| Magic resist | 30 | 31.25 (+1.25) |
| Attack speed | 0.625 (+2.11) | 0.658 (+2.74) |
| Move speed | 335 | 345 |
| Attack range | 450 | 125 |
Level-1 values with per-level growth in parentheses, read from the Classic client and re-checked against it on every update.
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