Jade Rift

Karthus — LoL Classic counters & build

Who beats Karthus in League of Legends: Classic, who Karthus beats, and the Season 3 items, runes and masteries to run mid, jungle. Patch 26.17.

Karthus is weak against

• Fiddlesticks jungle

  Fear or silence cancels Requiem, and Drain out-sustains his lane poke.

• Jarvan IV jungle

  Cataclysm traps him and interrupts Requiem, and he cannot walk out of the walls.

• Kassadin mid

  Silence hard-cancels Requiem and you gap close through his wall.

• Zilean support

  Chronoshift is a direct answer to Requiem: he lands the execute and it does nothing.

• Ahri mid

  Charm interrupts his channel and you dodge Lay Waste with triple dash.

• Akali mid

  You gap close through the wall and burst him out of the channel.

• Amumu jungle

  Toss plus Despair kills him before Requiem, and he has no escape.

• Annie mid

  Stun cancels Requiem and your burst kills him at 6 with Tibbers.

• Brand mid

  Your burst kills him through the channel and you clear as fast as he does.

• Galio mid

  Taunt cancels Requiem and your magic resist makes his lane poke worthless.

• Gragas jungle

  Body Slam plus cask knocks him out of the Requiem channel.

• Katarina mid

  Immobile with no escape. Your dagger reset gap closes onto him for free.

• Lux mid

  Bind interrupts Requiem from outside his Lay Waste range entirely.

• Ryze mid

  Your snare plus combo kills him through the channel and he cannot escape.

• Shaco jungle

  You kill him repeatedly before 6 and he has no way to track your approach.

• Tryndamere top

  You gap close through the wall and burst him down before Requiem is worth casting.

• Twisted Fate mid

  Gold Card interrupts the channel and you outrange his safe farming.

• Xin Zhao jungle

  Your ult knocks everyone else away and you kill him through the channel alone.

• Talon mid

  Silence stops Requiem and he bursts you from stealth before you react.

Karthus is strong against

• Rammus jungle

  Pure magic damage. Your armor is decorative and you cannot reach him before Requiem.

• Soraka mid

  Your wall plus Lay Waste out-damages her heal and Requiem finishes through it.

• Heimerdinger top

  Lay Waste outranges your turret zone and clears them without entering it.

Karthus Season 3 build

Start:

Core:

RoA for the health you need to survive to ult. Zhonya's lets you keep channelling while immune.

Karthus rune page

Flat magic penetration is the strongest first-blood stat in Season 3 - base MR is only 30 at level 1, so 9 marks strip a fifth of it. Scaling AP glyphs beat flat ones from about level 9.

Karthus masteries

21/9/0 Offense. Archmage multiplies your whole AP curve, and Arcane Knowledge stacks with magic penetration marks.

Open Karthus in the app