Guide · Mid

Katarina Guide

the Sinister Blade

Assassin

Mage

Tier S Mid

Katarina, the Sinister Blade, is an assassin and mage champion that is demanding to master. Across our 885 analysed ranked games, Katarina is mostly played in Mid (87% of its games), and more rarely as ADC (13%), with a 52.6% win rate in that role: tier S among Mid champions (#4 of 42, ranked by win rate). Katarina's damage is mostly magic (73%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 55.1% in short games (under 25 min, 254 games) versus 48.8% in long games (over 35 min).

Averages measured over 770 Mid games played with Katarina, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Katarina is a burst assassin whose cooldowns are greatly reduced when a champion she recently damaged dies. She picks up her daggers to damage all nearby enemies, teleports with Shunpo, and her ultimate hits the three nearest enemy champions while she channels.

The basic combo

Q › E › W › AA AA

When: An enemy is within range.

Bouncing Blade throws a dagger, Shunpo teleports you next to the target, Preparation throws a dagger into the air and gives you speed; pick up the daggers to hit nearby enemies.

The channeled ultimate

E › R

When: Several enemies are close.

Death Lotus throws knives at the three nearest enemy champions while you channel: position yourself with Shunpo, then cast it.

The reset

Q › E › R

When: A damaged champion is about to die.

When a champion you damaged dies, your cooldowns are greatly reduced: recast your abilities to chain into the next one.

Laning phase

Bouncing Blade bounces between nearby enemies before landing on the ground: then pick up the dagger to deal area damage. Keep Shunpo to close in or flee.

Common mistakes

• Casting the ultimate and getting interrupted: it is a channel.
• Forgetting to pick up the daggers: your passive depends on them.
• Using Shunpo with no target or exit.

Riot's official tips for playing Katarina

• Picking up Daggers will significantly reduce Shunpo's cooldown.
• Try waiting until the other team is distracted with fighting your team, and use Shunpo to teleport into the fray and unleash a devastating Death Lotus.
• Using Shunpo on an allied Champion, Dagger, or minion can be a great escape tactic.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Lich Bane, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Shadowflame (140 games, 56.4% win rate), usually with Spellslinger's Shoes (54.6% over 452 games).

Lich Bane+Zhonya's Hourglass+Shadowflame

140 games · 56.4%

Rabadon's Deathcap+Lich Bane+Shadowflame

108 games · 63.0%

Blade of The Ruined King+Terminus+Kraken Slayer

82 games · 58.5%

Boots

Spellslinger's Shoes54.6% · 452 games

Chainlaced Crushers47.6% · 124 games

Immortal Path58.3% · 84 games

Summoner spells

Flash + Ignite53.1% · 708 games

Flash + Teleport52.5% · 40 games

Most-played runes

Electrocute + Precision

53.5% · 331 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact100%

Grisly Mementos90%

Relentless Hunter99%

Secondary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Coup de Grace95%

Shards

Adaptive force99%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling55%

Conqueror + Resolve

50.3% · 171 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Alacrity88%

Last Stand72%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Overgrowth74%

Bone Plating58%

Shards

Adaptive force93%

Adaptive force96%

Health scaling48%

Conqueror + Domination

51.3% · 152 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Alacrity90%

Coup de Grace57%

Secondary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact100%

Relentless Hunter96%

Shards

Adaptive force93%

Adaptive force99%

Health scaling75%

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 Katarina'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 team59.9% · 222 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Shadowflame 62.8% ▲

Lich Bane 62.7% ▲

Kraken Slayer 61.8% ▲

Zhonya's Hourglass 61.5% ▲

Terminus 68.8% ▲

Rabadon's Deathcap 61.4%

The item that stands out most is Kraken Slayer: 61.8% win rate, +11 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team51.3% · 222 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Shadowflame 52.9%

Lich Bane 54.9%

Kraken Slayer 46.3% ▼

Zhonya's Hourglass 52.8% ▼

Hextech Gunblade 52.1% ▼

Rabadon's Deathcap 58.1%

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

Balanced enemy team48.5% · 326 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Lich Bane 51.2% ▼

Shadowflame 50.0% ▼

Kraken Slayer 46.0% ▼

Terminus 54.2% ▼

Zhonya's Hourglass 55.6%

Rabadon's Deathcap 58.6%

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

Counters and matchups

Who counters Katarina in Mid

Malzahar Katarina: 20.0%15 games

Malzahar has the edge in 80% of the 15 Mid duels against Katarina. See the Malzahar guide.

Viktor Katarina: 26.7%15 games

Viktor has the edge in 73% of the 15 Mid duels against Katarina. See the Viktor guide.

Vladimir Katarina: 29.4%17 games

Vladimir has the edge in 71% of the 17 Mid duels against Katarina. See the Vladimir guide.

Akali Katarina: 44.0%25 games

Akali has the edge in 56% of the 25 Mid duels against Katarina. See the Akali guide.

Ekko Katarina: 46.7%15 games

Ekko has the edge in 53% of the 15 Mid duels against Katarina. See the Ekko guide.

Who Katarina is strong against

Yone62.5% · 16 games

Yasuo61.9% · 21 games

Sylas61.1% · 18 games

Locke60.0% · 15 games

Ahri59.1% · 22 games

How to play against Katarina

• Katarina's abilities deal magic damage, so even if she's building Attack Damage items, get magic resistance to counter her.
• Try to save a disable for when Katarina uses her Death Lotus.

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

Abilities

PassiveVoracity

Whenever an enemy champion dies that Katarina has damaged recently, her remaining ability cooldowns are dramatically reduced.

If Katarina picks up a Dagger, she uses it to slash through all nearby enemies, dealing magic damage.

QBouncing Blade

Katarina throws a Dagger at the target that then bounces to nearby enemies before ricocheting onto the ground.

WPreparation

Katarina gains a burst of Move Speed, tossing a Dagger into the air directly above herself.

EShunpo

Katarina blinks to the target, striking it if its an enemy, or striking the nearest enemy otherwise.

RDeath Lotus

Katarina becomes a flurry of blades, dealing massive magic damage while she channels to the 3 nearest enemy champions.

Frequently asked questions

Full Katarina page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides