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Karthus champion portrait

Karthus Build

Jungle Tier 4

Patch 26.21 · Silver+ · 14,263 gamesUpdated

49.2%win rate0.6%pick0.5%ban

Who counters Karthus

Every Jungle matchup for Karthus, ranked →

How to build Karthus

Sorcerer's Shoes→Blackfire Torch→Rabadon's Deathcap→Void Staff

Sorcerer's Shoes → Blackfire Torch → Rabadon's Deathcap → Void Staff

57.9% win rate 13% of games 1,410 games
RunesDominationDark HarvestCheap ShotGrisly MementosUltimate HunterSorceryAxiom ArcanistGathering Storm40% of games
SpellsExhaustSmiteExhaust + Smite53%
Skills
123456789101112131415161718
Lay Waste
13457
Wall of Pain
1314151718
Defile
2891012
Requiem
61116
StartScorchclaw PupHealth PotionScorchclaw Pup, Health Potion
Full Karthus build →
49.2%win rate
Patch 26.20: 48.9% over 34,917 gamesPatch 26.21: 49.2% over 14,263 gameswin rate, 26.20 to 26.21
50.4%at Emerald+
0.6%pick rate
0.5%ban rate
Holdingsame as last patch
49.2%under 22 min
50.7%over 32 min

Want the written version? Our Counter Series breaks down how to actually play against champions like this, not just who wins on paper.

Recent games

Taken from as high up the ladder as this pick gets played. All 10 games from Master and above.

Win 10–15m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitJ KarthusvsKha'Zix champion portraitJ Kha'Zix
4 / 1 / 2

Build

Scorchclaw PupBoots|Blackfire Torch

Spells & runes

SmiteExhaust|

Skills

QEQWQRQE
Loss 30–35m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitJ KarthusvsNaafiri champion portraitJ Naafiri
9 / 8 / 18

Build

Scorchclaw PupSorcerer's Shoes|Blackfire Torch→Zhonya's Hourglass→Shadowflame→Morellonomicon

Spells & runes

ExhaustSmite|

Skills

QEQWQRQEQEREEWWR
Win 20–25m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitJ KarthusvsCho'Gath champion portraitJ Cho'Gath
3 / 3 / 5

Build

Gustwalker HatchlingSorcerer's Shoes|Blackfire Torch→Liandry's Torment

Spells & runes

SmiteFlash|

Skills

QEQWQRQEQEEREWW

Runes

The full page most players run, not just the keystone.

Most popular 47.7% win rate · 40% of games · 5,520 games
DominationDark HarvestCheap ShotGrisly MementosUltimate Hunter
SorceryAxiom ArcanistGathering Storm
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling
Runner up 46.3% win rate · 11% of games · 1,465 games
DominationDark HarvestCheap ShotGrisly MementosTreasure Hunter
PrecisionCoup de GracePresence of Mind
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling

Summoner spells and early items

What people bring, and which ability they max first.

Summoner spells
pickwin
  • ExhaustSmiteExhaust + Smite53%49.3%7,850 games
  • FlashSmiteFlash + Smite41%49.4%6,052 games

Boots and the other slot items that do not count as finished items in the full build below.

Boots
Sorcerer's Shoes83%Boots6%Ionian Boots of Lucidity2%No boots9%
Sorcerer's Shoes most often · 49.3% win rate
Jungle pet
Scorchclaw Pup80%
8 of 10 recent games started Scorchclaw Pup

Karthus build

The items players finish, in the order they end up in the inventory.

  1. Shadowflame1st
  2. Blackfire Torch2nd
  3. Rabadon's Deathcap3rd
7% of games that reach a third item take this path55.5% win rate830 games
Every slot, boots and full build for Karthus →

Every slot, boots and full builds

Patch 26.21 · 14,589 games with a finished item

Slot by slot

Boots

Sorcerer's ShoesSorcerer's Shoes
81% · 49.3% win rate
No bootsNo boots
11% · 55.9% win rate
BootsBoots
5% · 40.2% win rate
Ionian Boots of LucidityIonian Boots of Lucidity
2% · 41.8% win rate

Most common full builds

  1. Shadowflame›Blackfire Torch+Sorcerer's Shoes4% of games · 40.7% win rate · 594 games
  2. Blackfire Torch+Sorcerer's Shoes3% of games · 41.8% win rate · 490 games
  3. Shadowflame›Blackfire Torch›Rabadon's Deathcap+Sorcerer's Shoes3% of games · 52.0% win rate · 383 games
  4. Blackfire Torch›Shadowflame+Sorcerer's Shoes2% of games · 45.6% win rate · 320 games
  5. Liandry's Torment›Blackfire Torch+Sorcerer's Shoes1% of games · 36.1% win rate · 208 games
Where these numbers come from

We read finished ranked solo queue games directly from Riot and keep a running tally. Nothing is copied from another site.

Matchups compare Karthus against the enemy champion in the same lane, counting only games where both were actually there. The counters list pulls each matchup toward Karthus's own win rate by 180 games' worth of it, then keeps the ones still under 50%. A matchup seen thirty times barely moves off the champion's average, and one seen a thousand times keeps close to its own number.

Every number here is followed by the games behind it, because that's what tells you how much to trust it. A win rate over a few hundred games is worth reading. The same number over thirty is mostly luck.

Recent games show what was built and who won. They never show who played. Rank is grouped (Master and up is one band), game length is rounded to five minutes, and there's no region or date on a card.

Every ranked game we read this patch adds its finished items here, boots aside. Items are listed in the order they sit in the inventory, which isn't always the order they were bought: a finished item takes the slot its first part was in.

Compare a win rate only with the other picks in its own slot. A fifth item mostly shows up in long games, and those skew toward the team that was already ahead, so late slots run hot whatever sits in them. A row needs 30 games before it shows up at all.

Built from real ranked games this patch. We keep the running totals, never the games themselves.

Read More About Karthus