Talk:Karthus/@comment-5077844-20140802100616/@comment-5211662-20140915002909

The combination of both Tear and Rod of Ages is viable if you are new to Karthus and don't know how to manage his mana properly. However, as you get used to play Karthus, you realize that it isn't necessary to build both and that they make Karthus extremely weak early game. They certainly make Karthus extremely powerful late game and ensure that he will never run out of mana, but it usually isn't worth having such weak early and mid game, and Karthus is already very weak early game, he doesn't need to be even weaker.

When you get used to Karthus, you realize that only one of them is sufficient. I prefer to rush Rod of Ages now since it makes Karthus tankier and gets his benefits faster.