Talk:Katarina/@comment-5877442-20150214232901/@comment-25904283-20150216000721

Her laning phase is not great, but far from useless. Her Q might not do much at first, but over the course of 10 Qs, everyone that start Doran 2 pots or long swords 3 pots is easily weared down. It's also free and point & click. Lots of mid laners rely on skill shots for their primary poke. Once you learn to hop on a nearby minion (either friendly or enemy one) to hit them with W, you can bring serious pain and taking little damage in return.

She is not favored in many match ups, however a huge advantage of Kata is having no resource, so she can easily rush defense item (Zhonya or Abyssal) and it does not affect her by any means. Compare that to an Orianna mid, whom people often called one of the safest pick. If she goes against AD assassins (Talon or Zed), she must rush Zhonya and it makes her extremely mana-hungry. Another example is Jayce, whom if you pick against high burst mages, you will have to delay Manamune/BC for at least a Hexdrinker.