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Karthus champion portrait

Karthus Build

Bot Tier 1

Patch 26.21 · Silver+ · 4,143 gamesUpdated

52.7%win rate0.2%pick0.5%ban

Who counters Karthus

How to build Karthus

Sorcerer's Shoes→Blackfire Torch→Shadowflame→Rabadon's Deathcap

Sorcerer's Shoes → Blackfire Torch → Shadowflame → Rabadon's Deathcap

55.0% win rate 22% of games 735 games
RunesSorceryDeathfire TouchAxiom ArcanistTranscendenceScorchPrecisionPresence of MindLast Stand31% of games
SpellsExhaustFlashExhaust + Flash83%
Skills
123456789101112131415161718
Lay Waste
14578
Wall of Pain
314151718
Defile
29101213
Requiem
61116
StartDoran's RingHealth PotionHealth PotionDoran's Ring, Health Potion, Health Potion
Full Karthus build →

Best supports for Karthus

Who Karthus has the best record alongside in the bot lane this patch.

Worst supports for Karthus

Who Karthus has the worst record alongside in the bot lane this patch.

Each pairing is weighed by the games behind it, so a lucky handful cannot top either list.

Pairings are only half a team. Team Comp Tuesdays builds full five-champion compositions around picks like this.

52.7%win rate
Patch 26.20: 53.5% over 9,310 gamesPatch 26.21: 52.7% over 4,143 gameswin rate, 26.20 to 26.21
53.5%at Emerald+
0.2%pick rate
0.5%ban rate
Holdingsame as last patch
60.9%under 22 min
50.2%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.

Loss 20–25m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitB Karthus+Rell champion portraitS RellvsKai'Sa champion portraitB Kai'Sa+Leona champion portraitS Leona
5 / 7 / 5

Build

Sorcerer's Shoes|Blackfire Torch→Shadowflame→Stormsurge

Spells & runes

ExhaustFlash|

Skills

QEQWQRQEQEREEW
Win 30–35m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitB Karthus+Milio champion portraitS MiliovsJhin champion portraitB Jhin+Bard champion portraitS Bard
12 / 6 / 10

Build

Sorcerer's Shoes|Blackfire Torch→Stormsurge→Shadowflame→Zhonya's Hourglass

Spells & runes

FlashExhaust|

Skills

QEQWQRQEQEREEWWRW
Loss 15–20m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitB Karthus+Leona champion portraitS LeonavsEzreal champion portraitB Ezreal+Alistar champion portraitS Alistar
8 / 5 / 9

Build

Sorcerer's Shoes|Blackfire Torch→Liandry's Torment

Spells & runes

FlashExhaust|

Skills

QEQWQRQEQERE

Runes

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

Most popular 52.6% win rate · 31% of games · 1,216 games
SorceryDeathfire TouchAxiom ArcanistTranscendenceScorch
PrecisionPresence of MindLast Stand
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health
Runner up 50.9% win rate · 14% of games · 542 games
DominationDark HarvestCheap ShotGrisly MementosUltimate Hunter
SorceryAxiom ArcanistGathering Storm
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling

Summoner spells and early items

What people bring, and which ability they max first.

Summoner spells
pickwin
  • ExhaustFlashExhaust + Flash83%54.0%3,484 games
  • FlashTeleportFlash + Teleport7%49.8%289 games

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

Boots
Sorcerer's Shoes93%Boots6%Ionian Boots of Lucidity1%
Sorcerer's Shoes most often · 53.4% win rate

Karthus build

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

  1. Blackfire Torch1st
  2. Shadowflame2nd
  3. Rabadon's Deathcap3rd
8% of games that reach a third item take this path55.9% win rate286 games
Every slot, boots and full build for Karthus →

Every slot, boots and full builds

Patch 26.21 · 4,197 games with a finished item

Slot by slot

Boots

Sorcerer's ShoesSorcerer's Shoes
92% · 53.4% win rate
BootsBoots
5% · 51.3% win rate
No bootsNo boots
1% · 34.6% win rate

Most common full builds

  1. Blackfire Torch›Shadowflame+Sorcerer's Shoes6% of games · 48.8% win rate · 242 games
  2. Blackfire Torch›Shadowflame›Rabadon's Deathcap+Sorcerer's Shoes4% of games · 60.7% win rate · 163 games
  3. Blackfire Torch+Sorcerer's Shoes3% of games · 45.9% win rate · 146 games
  4. Blackfire Torch›Shadowflame›Stormsurge+Sorcerer's Shoes3% of games · 53.5% win rate · 142 games
  5. Shadowflame›Blackfire Torch+Sorcerer's Shoes2% of games · 47.5% win rate · 80 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. The best and worst supports are ranked the same way, against Karthus's average instead of 50%.

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