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Playing Against Kassadin
MidPatch 16.2.1
What They Do
An anti-mage AP assassin that starts as a weak melee laner but scales into a mobility monster. He uses to blink every few seconds and relies on and to survive magical harassment early.
Abilities (What to Watch For)
| Ability | What You'll See | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| Ghosting effect through units | He takes 15% reduced magic damage and ignores unit collision. Don't try to block him with minions, and remember that your magic damage is significantly less effective against him. | |
| Purple orb projectile | A point-and-click spell that interrupts channels and grants him a magic-only shield. Do not waste your high-damage magic spells while this shield is active, and don't channel abilities like Kat R while he has this up. | |
| Blade glows purple | An auto-attack reset that deals massive magic damage and restores mana. If he gets into melee range, he can trade effectively and sustain his mana pool to keep using his ultimate. | |
| Purple cone-shaped energy pulse | A heavy AOE slow and damage spell. It requires a certain number of spells to be cast nearby before it can be used. Avoid standing in tight groups to prevent him from slowing your entire team. | |
| Blinks with a purple explosion | A short-range teleport that deals damage. Each consecutive cast within a short window increases the damage and the mana cost. At level 16, the cooldown is roughly 2 seconds, making him nearly impossible to catch. |
Respect
- !Level 6 Power Spike→Before 6, he is a sitting duck. Once he gets , his kill pressure and safety increase exponentially. He will start looking for aggressive blinks immediately.
- !Interrupting Channels→ can stop Teleports, Karthus ult, or Fiddlesticks drains. Never channel a vital spell if he is in range to click you with his Q.
- !Magic Shield Efficiency→The shield from only absorbs magic damage. If you are an AP mage, his effective HP is much higher than it looks. Do not over-commit if his shield is ready.
- !Stacked Riftwalk→If he has cast several times recently, the next landing will deal massive damage. Watch the mana cost indicator; a 4-stack ultimate can one-shot squishies.
Punish
- +Pre-6 Mobility→He has no dash before level 6. Walk him down, poke him constantly, and ask for jungle ganks early. This is your only time to truly shut him down.
- +Physical Damage→Since and only work against magic damage, AD champions like Talon or Pantheon can ignore his defenses and kill him easily in lane.
- +Early Waveclear→His early waveclear is terrible and costs significant mana. Shove the wave into his tower constantly to force him to use spells to last hit, preventing him from roaming.
- +Mana Depletion→In early to mid-game, spamming will drain his mana instantly. If he blinks 3-4 times, he is likely out of mana and unable to fight back or escape.
Laning Tips
- •Pick AD assassins or bruisers like Renekton or Zed to bypass his magic-damage-only defenses.
- •Stand away from your own low-HP minions so he has to choose between using to poke you or to last-hit the minion.
- •Abuse him at level 1. Most Kassadins start Q; wait for him to use it on a minion, then walk up and auto-attack him repeatedly.
- •Freeze the wave on your side of the lane. He is melee and has no escape before level 6, making him extremely vulnerable to being run down.
- •Don't let him use on you for free. It restores 20% of his missing mana on champion hits, which keeps him in lane much longer.
- •Take Ignite. He often runs Teleport to survive lane; Ignite ensures you have the kill pressure needed to snowball before he scales.
Teamfight Warning
- ⚠He will look for flanks over walls using . Keep deep vision in the jungle to spot him before he jumps on your backline.
- ⚠Save your hard CC for his landing. He is squishy; if you stun him the moment he uses to enter the fight, he dies instantly.
- ⚠Don't chase him through the jungle. He can jump over walls every few seconds, leading you into a trap while your team is separated.
- ⚠If he has Zhonya's Hourglass, expect him to into the middle of your team, dump his combo, and then go into stasis.
- ⚠Focus him first in late-game fights. A level 16 Kassadin is a bigger priority than the enemy ADC because his AOE burst and mobility are game-breaking.
AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached