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Karthus champion portrait

Karthus Build

Top Tier 2

Patch 26.21 · Silver+ · 1,220 gamesUpdated

48.7%win rate0.1%pick0.5%ban

Who counters Karthus

How to build Karthus

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

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

52.4% win rate 10% of games 84 games
RunesDominationDark HarvestCheap ShotGrisly MementosUltimate HunterSorceryAxiom ArcanistGathering Storm20% of games
SpellsExhaustFlashExhaust + Flash26%
Skills
123456789101112131415161718
Lay Waste
13457
Wall of Pain
1314151718
Defile
2891012
Requiem
61116
StartDoran's RingHealth PotionHealth PotionDoran's Ring, Health Potion, Health Potion
Full Karthus build →
48.7%win rate
Patch 26.20: 49.2% over 3,534 gamesPatch 26.21: 48.7% over 1,220 gameswin rate, 26.20 to 26.21
53.9%at Emerald+
0.1%pick rate
0.5%ban rate
Holdingsame as last patch
50.4%under 22 min
49.4%over 32 min

Karthus Top gets better as the elo rises. 48.7% across Silver and above, and 53.9% 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 portraitT KarthusvsIrelia champion portraitT Irelia
2 / 10 / 8

Build

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

Spells & runes

TeleportFlash|

Skills

QEEQQRWEQEERQWWWRW
Win 20–25m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitT KarthusvsKled champion portraitT Kled
8 / 8 / 10

Build

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

Spells & runes

ExhaustTeleport|

Skills

QEEQWREQQEERQWWWR
Loss 15–20m
MASTER+
Karthus champion portraitT KarthusvsNaafiri champion portraitT Naafiri
1 / 4 / 1

Build

Sorcerer's Shoes|Blackfire Torch

Spells & runes

FlashExhaust|

Skills

QEEQEREQEWRQQ

Runes

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

Most popular 46.9% win rate · 20% of games · 192 games
DominationDark HarvestCheap ShotGrisly MementosUltimate Hunter
SorceryAxiom ArcanistGathering Storm
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling
Runner up 46.7% win rate · 11% of games · 105 games
SorceryDeathfire TouchAxiom ArcanistTranscendenceScorch
PrecisionPresence of MindLast Stand
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health

Summoner spells and early items

What people bring, and which ability they max first.

Summoner spells
pickwin
  • ExhaustFlashExhaust + Flash26%45.5%321 games
  • ExhaustIgniteExhaust + Ignite25%50.6%312 games

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

Boots
Sorcerer's Shoes80%Boots6%Ionian Boots of Lucidity3%No boots8%
Sorcerer's Shoes most often · 50.1% 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 Top is at 1,241 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 · 1,241 games with a finished item

Slot by slot

Boots

Sorcerer's ShoesSorcerer's Shoes
79% · 50.1% win rate
No bootsNo boots
10% · 44.5% win rate
BootsBoots
6% · 38.6% win rate
Ionian Boots of LucidityIonian Boots of Lucidity
3% · 50.0% win rate

Most common full builds

  1. Blackfire Torch›Shadowflame+Sorcerer's Shoes5% of games · 50.0% win rate · 68 games
  2. Blackfire Torch+Sorcerer's Shoes5% of games · 45.6% win rate · 57 games
  3. Blackfire Torch›Liandry's Torment+Sorcerer's Shoes3% of games · 50.0% win rate · 42 games
  4. Shadowflame›Blackfire Torch+Sorcerer's Shoes3% of games · 33.3% win rate · 33 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