NERFPLZ.LOL
Karthus champion portrait

Karthus Build

Support Tier 3

Patch 26.21 · Silver+ · 774 gamesUpdated

44.1%win rate0.0%pick0.5%ban

Who counters Karthus

How to build Karthus

Sorcerer's Shoes→Blackfire Torch→Shadowflame→Malignance

Sorcerer's Shoes → Blackfire Torch → Shadowflame → Malignance

52.6% win rate 8% of games 38 games
RunesDominationDark HarvestCheap ShotGrisly MementosUltimate HunterSorceryAxiom ArcanistGathering Storm46% of games
SpellsExhaustFlashExhaust + Flash58%
Skills
123456789101112131415161718
Lay Waste
13457
Wall of Pain
1314151718
Defile
2891012
Requiem
61116
StartWorld AtlasHealth PotionHealth PotionWorld Atlas, Health Potion, Health Potion
Full Karthus build →

Best ADCs for Karthus

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

Worst ADCs 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.

44.1%win rate
Patch 26.20: 46.5% over 1,918 gamesPatch 26.21: 44.1% over 774 gameswin rate, 26.20 to 26.21
47.8%at Emerald+
0.0%pick rate
0.5%ban rate
▼ Downwas Tier 2 last patch
30.9%under 22 min
47.2%over 32 min

Karthus Support gets better as the elo rises. 44.1% across Silver and above, and 47.8% at Emerald and up. It rewards players who know the matchup.

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 25–30m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitS Karthus+Draven champion portraitB DravenvsGragas champion portraitS Gragas+Lux champion portraitB Lux
4 / 13 / 17

Build

Zaz'Zak's RealmspikeSorcerer's Shoes|Blackfire Torch→Shadowflame

Spells & runes

ExhaustFlash|

Skills

QEWQQRQEQEREE
Win 25–30m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitS Karthus+Yone champion portraitB YonevsThresh champion portraitS Thresh+Jhin champion portraitB Jhin
3 / 16 / 21

Build

Zaz'Zak's Realmspike|Blackfire Torch→Stormsurge→Shadowflame

Spells & runes

ExhaustFlash|

Skills

QEQWQRQEQEREEW
Win 35–40m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitS Karthus+Ezreal champion portraitB EzrealvsNautilus champion portraitS Nautilus+Jhin champion portraitB Jhin
8 / 21 / 23

Build

Zaz'Zak's RealmspikeSorcerer's Shoes|Blackfire Torch→Liandry's Torment→Malignance→Shadowflame

Spells & runes

FlashExhaust|

Skills

QEWQQRQEQEREEWWRW

Runes

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

Most popular 44.8% win rate · 46% of games · 268 games
DominationDark HarvestCheap ShotGrisly MementosUltimate Hunter
SorceryAxiom ArcanistGathering Storm
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling
Runner up 48.6% win rate · 12% of games · 72 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
  • ExhaustFlashExhaust + Flash58%46.3%475 games
  • FlashIgniteFlash + Ignite13%42.3%104 games

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

Boots
Sorcerer's Shoes65%Ionian Boots of Lucidity11%Boots9%No boots13%
Sorcerer's Shoes most often · 46.2% win rate
Support item
Zaz'Zak's Realmspike92%Celestial Opposition2%Dream Maker2%
Zaz'Zak's Realmspike most often · 45.3% win rate

Karthus build

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

Whole-build counts start over with every patch, and Karthus Support is at 808 games so far this patch. The full build shows up here at 300.

Every slot, boots and full build for Karthus →

Every slot, boots and full builds

Patch 26.21 · 808 games with a finished item

Slot by slot

Boots

Sorcerer's ShoesSorcerer's Shoes
62% · 46.1% win rate
No bootsNo boots
18% · 46.9% win rate
Ionian Boots of LucidityIonian Boots of Lucidity
10% · 47.6% win rate
BootsBoots
8% · 31.1% win rate

Most common full builds

  1. Blackfire Torch+Sorcerer's Shoes5% of games · 33.3% win rate · 39 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 ADCs 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