Guide · Jungle

Karthus Guide

the Deathsinger

Mage

Tier C Jungle

Karthus, the Deathsinger, is a mage champion that is demanding to master. Across our 580 analysed ranked games, Karthus is mostly played in the Jungle (56% of its games), and more rarely as ADC (36%), with a 50.1% win rate in that role: tier C among Jungle champions (#45 of 48, ranked by win rate). Karthus's damage is mostly magic (92%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 55.3% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 161 games) versus 43.4% in short games (under 25 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.22

Average KDA

7.9 / 7.2 / 9.5

ratio 2.4

Damage / min

1124

CS / min

8.0

Gold / min

483

Kill participation

57%

Vision / min

0.81

Averages measured over 325 Jungle games played with Karthus, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Written guide · based on the official ability texts

Karthus is an area mage who keeps casting spells while dying: his passive gives him a spirit form. Lay Waste explodes after a delay (stronger on an isolated target), Wall of Pain reduces speed and magic resistance, Defile restores his mana on kills, and Requiem deals damage to all enemy champions after 3 seconds.

Harassment

When: An enemy is isolated.

Lay Waste explodes on a delay with more damage on an isolated target; Wall of Pain reduces the speed and magic resistance of those who cross it.

The long-range ultimate

When: Enemies are weakened everywhere.

Requiem channels for 3 seconds then deals damage to all enemy champions: use it to finish several targets from a distance.

See all 3 Karthus combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Lay Waste has no cooldown: cast it nonstop on minions and enemies. Defile restores your mana on every kill.

Common mistakes

Casting Requiem when the enemies are not within killing range.
Using Defile out of need: it costs a lot of mana.
Forgetting your spirit form.

Riot's official tips for playing Karthus

Ask your allies to help point out when you should use Requiem to get kills in different lanes.
Lay Waste is very strong at farming minions and harassing enemy champions.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Blackfire Torch, Rabadon's Deathcap, and Shadowflame (85 games, 61.2% win rate).

Blackfire Torch

Rabadon's Deathcap

Shadowflame

85 games · 61.2%

68 games · 58.8%

Shadowflame

60 games · 60.0%

Skill order

Max order : Q > E > W49.0% · 49 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●		●		●		●		●
W				●										●	●
E		●						●		●		●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 53 games).

Starting items

Scorchclaw Pup

Health Potion45.5% · 22 games

Scorchclaw Pup37.5% · 16 games

First completed items, in order

20 games · 50.0%

19 games · 52.6%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 4123 gold, 76 CS, 4166 XP. At 15 min: 6544 gold, 116 CS, 7055 XP.

Summoner spells

Flash + Smite48.9% · 227 games

Exhaust + Smite49.4% · 89 games

Most-played runes

Deathfire Touch + Precision

55.4% · 148 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Axiom Arcanist99%

Absolute Focus64%

Gathering Storm95%

Secondary tree · Precision

Last Stand97%

Triumph55%

Shards

Adaptive force84%

Adaptive force100%

Health62%

Dark Harvest + Precision

46.7% · 75 games

Primary tree · Domination

Cheap Shot99%

Sixth Sense55%

Treasure Hunter75%

Secondary tree · Precision

Last Stand64%

Triumph55%

Shards

Adaptive force83%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling79%

Dark Harvest + Sorcery

41.5% · 53 games

Primary tree · Domination

Cheap Shot100%

Grisly Mementos87%

Ultimate Hunter92%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Axiom Arcanist100%

Gathering Storm89%

Shards

Adaptive force91%

Adaptive force96%

Health scaling89%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Karthus's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team61.2% · 98 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Blackfire Torch 61.1% ▲

Shadowflame 64.2% ▲

Liandry's Torment 60.9% ▲

Rabadon's Deathcap 65.8% ▲

Void Staff 61.1% ▲

Zhonya's Hourglass 63.0% ▲

The item that stands out most is Liandry's Torment: 60.9% win rate, +12 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team39.8% · 83 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Blackfire Torch 42.1% ▼

Shadowflame 48.1% ▼

Liandry's Torment 29.4% ▼

Zhonya's Hourglass 43.5%

Rabadon's Deathcap 57.1%

Void Staff 41.7%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team48.6% · 144 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Blackfire Torch 49.2%

Shadowflame 54.2%

Liandry's Torment 50.0%

Rabadon's Deathcap 60.0%

Void Staff 57.6%

Zhonya's Hourglass 65.6% ▲

The item that stands out most is Zhonya's Hourglass: 65.6% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Counters and matchups

How to play against Karthus

Karthus can cast spells for a short duration after he is killed. Move away from his corpse to be safe.
Make sure you always have enough health to survive Requiem, even if you have to go back to the base more frequently to heal.

Riot's official tips.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Karthus's matchups.

Karthus Jungle: what our games say

Laning phase against the Jungle average

Measure	Karthus	Jungle average	Gap
Gold at 10 min	4123	4023	+100
CS at 10 min	76	69	+7
XP at 10 min	4166	3898	+268
Gold at 15 min	6544	6322	+221
CS at 15 min	116	106	+10
XP at 15 min	7055	6602	+453

Measured over 53 Karthus games with a timeline; the average covers 69 champions played Jungle in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

short under 25 min43.4 %106 games

medium-length 25 to 35 min55.3 %161 games

long over 35 min48.3 %58 games

Best result: medium-length (25 to 35 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Karthus in another role

Role	Games	Win rate	CS/min	Gold/min	Most-built items
ADC	206	52.9 %	7.7	486
Mid	49	61.2 %	8.0	457

Roles where we have at least 40 Karthus games.

Abilities

PassiveDeath Defied

Upon dying, Karthus enters a spirit form that allows him to continue casting spells.

QLay Waste

Karthus unleashes a delayed blast at a location, dealing damage to nearby enemies. Deals increased damage to isolated enemies.

WWall of Pain

Karthus creates a passable screen of leeching energy. Any enemy units that walk through the screen have their Move Speed and Magic Resist reduced for a period.

EDefile

Karthus passively steals energy from his victims, gaining Mana on each kill. Alternatively, Karthus can surround himself in the souls of his prey, dealing damage to nearby enemies, but quickly draining his own Mana.

RRequiem

After channeling for 3 seconds, Karthus deals damage to all enemy champions.