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Playing Against Karma
SupportPatch 16.2.1
What They Do
Karma is an early-game lane bully who uses to empower her basic abilities from level 1. She focuses on poking with , tethering enemies with , and providing massive utility/shields with .
Abilities (What to Watch For)
| Ability | What You'll See | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| Karma's cooldowns ticking down faster when she hits enemies. | reduces her cooldown every time she damages a champion. If you let her poke you for free, she will have her empowered abilities up constantly. | |
| A blue energy projectile that explodes on the first target hit. | Her primary poke tool. Stand behind minions to block it. If she uses with it, stay out of the secondary circle that forms on the ground after the hit. | |
| A glowing beam connecting Karma to an enemy. | If the tether stays connected for 2 seconds, you get rooted. -empowered heals her for a massive chunk of missing HP twice. Don't dive her if she has Mantra ready. | |
| A green shield bubble with a movement speed trail. | Provides a shield and a burst of speed. -empowered applies this to her entire team in an area. Bait this out before committing your main skillshots. | |
| A glowing spiritual aura around Karma. | This is her Mantra. It doesn't deal damage itself but makes her next , , or significantly stronger. She has it available at level 1. |
Respect
- !Level 1 Mantra-Q→Karma has her ultimate at level 1. A single + can chunk half your HP if you aren't behind minions.
- !Mantra-W Bait→When low, Karma will use + to heal 20% of her missing HP twice. It makes her deceptively tanky under tower.
- !Bush Control→She will sit in lane bushes to land from fog of war. If you lose bush priority, you lose the lane.
- !Disengage→The movement speed makes it almost impossible to land slow skillshots like hooks if she has decent reaction time.
Punish
- +is on cooldown (12-8s)→She and her ADC are vulnerable to poke and all-ins. Engage the moment you see the shield expire.
- +Karma misses →She has very little damage for the next 9-5 seconds and cannot proc to lower her Mantra cooldown. Walk up and pressure.
- +Mantra is spent→Her threat level drops by 50%. You have a small window before brings it back to take a favorable trade.
- +Early game Mana issues→Karma's spells are expensive. If she's spamming and missing , she will run out of mana quickly. Force her to stay in lane while OOM.
Laning Tips
- •Always keep a minion between you and Karma to block the projectile.
- •If she hits a Mantra-Q, the ground will explode after a delay; step out of the circle immediately.
- •As soon as she tethers you with , walk directly away. Breaking the tether range is the only way to avoid the root.
- •Don't waste high-cooldown CC while her is available; she will simply speed herself or her ADC out of the way.
- •If she plays aggressively for roots, it means her jungler is likely nearby. She has no dash, so she needs the root to setup ganks.
- •Karma wins short trades with shield and poke. Look for extended all-ins where her high early cooldowns leave her defenseless.
Teamfight Warning
- ⚠Watch out for the Mantra-E 'Shurelya' effect. It can turn a slow chase into a full-team collapse instantly.
- ⚠In late-game teamfights, she will spam to reset via . Don't let her poke your frontline for free.
- ⚠If you are an assassin, wait for her to use on someone else before diving. Her shield is her only self-peel besides the slow tether.
- ⚠Do not group too tightly in jungle corridors or she will hit a 5-man Mantra-Q for massive AoE damage.
- ⚠Snake's Fang is a mandatory purchase against her if she is building pure utility, as it guts her + impact.
AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached