Counterplay
Patch 26.16SketchCounter Karthus
The opponents who give Karthus trouble, and how to handle each one.
Where these numbers come from
They are pulled from the mode's own files for patch 26.16, the one currently live. The source is community-run rather than an official Riot API, and the game shifts with community votes, so a gap with your own game is always possible.
He ticks every box against you: he silences you, he closes the gap whenever he likes, and you own nothing that stops him arriving. Your only window is the first few levels, so shove relentlessly, pin him under his tower and starve him of experience. Once his ultimate is online, stop standing forward in the lane and play glued to your jungler. Hold Wall of Pain purely for the moment he lands on you, and accept dying while taking his health with Requiem instead of trying to run.
He ticks every box against you: he silences you, he closes the gap whenever he likes, and you own nothing that stops him arriving. Your only window is the first few levels, so shove relentlessly, pin him under his tower and starve him of experience. Once his ultimate is online, stop standing forward in the lane and play glued to your jungler. Hold Wall of Pain purely for the moment he lands on you, and accept dying while taking his health with Requiem instead of trying to run.
She hits you from further out than you can answer and she's far too mobile for delayed blasts. Don't enter a poke war, you lose it. Play the wave instead: you shove faster than she does, so force her to farm under tower while you own the lane. Move laterally at all times to make her charm awkward, because that one button is what makes her dangerous to you. If she charms you without her jungler nearby, switch Defile on rather than running, and the trade swings back your way.
She hits you from further out than you can answer and she's far too mobile for delayed blasts. Don't enter a poke war, you lose it. Play the wave instead: you shove faster than she does, so force her to farm under tower while you own the lane. Move laterally at all times to make her charm awkward, because that one button is what makes her dangerous to you. If she charms you without her jungler nearby, switch Defile on rather than running, and the trade swings back your way.
Two wave clearers cancelling each other out: nobody owns the lane, so the game is decided elsewhere. The detail that matters is his suppression, which cuts your channel and kills you before the death screen loads. Never step into his null zone to finish a minion, and watch his silence, since that's the button that lets him commit. Because you both shove, the reward goes to whoever converts pushed waves into help for the side lanes. Win the rotation tempo, not the duel.
Two wave clearers cancelling each other out: nobody owns the lane, so the game is decided elsewhere. The detail that matters is his suppression, which cuts your channel and kills you before the death screen loads. Never step into his null zone to finish a minion, and watch his silence, since that's the button that lets him commit. Because you both shove, the reward goes to whoever converts pushed waves into help for the side lanes. Win the rotation tempo, not the duel.