Cassiopeia/Strategy

Skill usage

 * Building stacks of is paramount for.
 * While farming, always try to poison creeps before last hitting them.
 * Landing and  on enemy champions and spamming  on any champs that get too close will be the main source of stacks.  Poisoning multiple champions has no greater effect than poisoning one.
 * 6 can be cast for each  without putting  on full cooldown.  Be aggressive with this in lane, even when a trade goes poorly.  Getting stacks of  quickly is paramount.
 * Each benchmark of is a massive power spike for.
 * At 75 stacks, gains a very small AP boost and significant health sustain which, along with the mana sustain from, allows her to stay in lane very well just last hitting with .  As well, this allows  to trade and duel very well.
 * At 200 stacks, gains a decent AP boost and can have her poisons up constantly.  The CDR also means failing to  a poisoned target is less punishing and keeping targets poisoned is easier.
 * At 400 stacks, generally hit around 20-35 minutes on Summoner's Rift, gains a massive AP boost, equal to and stacking with  passive.
 * is a great harasser in all stages of the game. All three of her basic abilities, especially, can be used constantly in lane to zone, capable of dealing damage over time at a safe distance.  provides the bulk of her damage at any stage of the game though.
 * must play fairly safely until she hits late game; however harassing is very important for gaining stacks and farming is a very large part of her gameplay.
 * has a slight delay; lead your enemy when targeting with to ensure the hit, or use it on them when they will have to stand still to last-hit.
 * Using in the brush does not reveal, so when in the side lanes, use the brush to your advantage to harass with little to no retaliation from enemy minions.
 * can also be used to check brush, as it gives you a movement speed bonus (and a buff icon) if an enemy is hit. If you cast it in a brush, and notice the buff icon, you know that an enemy is there.
 * grants a significant speed boost, using this is crucial to juking skill shots and repositioning in fights.
 * When chasing/fleeing, be sure to use your on an enemy champion to speed yourself up, and  to slow them down.
 * Using in the middle of the lane when enemy minions are coming will slow them and deal some damage giving the advantage to your minions, this tactic is best used in pushes as intentionally pushing your lane during the laning phase opens yourself up to ganks.
 * Since grants vision over the area affected, it can be used to check brush.
 * is the main source of Cassiopeia's mana and health sustain.
 * It is crucial to last hit with to sustain your mana.  Using  repeatedly on a high health target, like tanks or Dragon or Baron, will drain your mana.
 * becomes extremely powerful if the target is poisoned, allowing you to deal out large amounts of damage with its low conditional cooldown.
 * It is very highly recommended to smart cast, as it will make it much easier to land the maximum amount of allowed by the duration of your poison effects.
 * Due to having the potential to be constantly refreshed, don't be afraid to target durable melee champions if necessary. Unlike many other mages that rely on burst damage,  and her  can realistically cut through tough enemies with time, accuracy, and enough mana.
 * is reduced to a 0.5 seconds cooldown on cast, if the target is poisoned. However it doesn't matter who poisoned the target. So if you have a team-mate such as or  who have a poison effect on their skills, use it in your favor.
 * Try to use offensively, and usually against more than one target. That said, it can also be used when being ganked to escape enemies.
 * It is, however, safest to use it when a team fight has happened. The enemy will be less likely to manage to turn around with their attention split amongst five champions - and more likely to all be facing you since that is largely required to fight your team.
 * Using followed by,  and  can turn most 1v1 fights and mid game turret dives in your favor.
 * also allows to be a very strong anti-ganker. Simply casting it when your lane opponent and the enemy ganker are in range, then bursting down the weaker one with your combo can turn the 2v1 into a 1v1. This tactic is only effective when your  stuns both targets.
 * Cassiopeia can proxy through the use of Noxious Blast and Miasma.
 * interacts with the Archmage mastery and .  is applied first, then Archmage, then.
 * So at 500 AP with 400 stacks

500 x .3 = 150 from AotS

650 x .05 = 32.5 from Archmage

682.5 x .3 = 204.75 from Deathcap

887.25AP or 387.25 bonus AP total

Build usage

 * Prioritize items that allow to survive via resistances, health, or kiting, over raw damage as she has no instant escapes or defensive buffs.  After she can survive and sustain she can build damage.
 * Though is mana efficient through last hitting with,   and  work well for her and she can stack the passive of  very well.  The shield from  also gives her a lot of survivability, as well as granting a significant boost in AP.
 * is a perfect alternative early game item for ; allowing her to spam her spells more often with the extra mana and some health for survivability. This can then build offensively into an early, is also very suited to as the stacking late game power and in lane sustain item works very well for her.
 * is a very strong purchase at any stage of the game to survive burst, increase kiting potential, and allow her to provide a perma-slow during teamfights.  It is notably less useful against enemy teams with gap closers.
 * With  gains a 15% slow;  slow ranges from 29% - 48%, gaining only 4% - 3% increased slowing;  gains a 35% slow; and, when missed, gains a 62% slow, or 2% increased slow.
 * The perma-slow provided by with the move speed increase from  allows  a stunning degree of outplay and chasing potential.
 * is a strong item for due to her constant damage and the CDR it brings.  It also doubles the healing from  late game; however it's in no way essential.
 * is a strong item for, but only in certain situations.  shines when  can continually stay back and poison the enemy team or the enemy team has health tanks.  Due to  being the majority of  damage AP benefits her more.
 * The synergy between and  in slowly shredding and kiting enemy teams cannot be understated.
 * is a major mid to late game purchase for due to her high AP scaling and the synergy with.
 * works very well on due to her very high late game damage output and high number of instances of damage.
 * For every tick of poison or magic resistance affects the damage, so magic penetration is invaluable.
 * Avoid building cooldown reduction. At 200 stacks of  gains 25% CDR.  With the Sorcery mastery's 5% this becomes 30% CDR.  This is primarily to allow   to constantly have her poisons up and to make missing  less punishing. As well,  and  damage ticks are constant and can only be reapplied, and using  on a poisoned enemy reduces the cooldown to 0.5 seconds (which cannot be further reduced by CDR).  Therefore,  does not gain the significant benefit from CDR as other mages do and getting 40% CDR isn't necessary.
 * ,, and are all viable choice to max CDR.   Each fits their own separate need and niche.
 * is good for sustain as puts out constant damage.   gives more move speed and the slow is great for scouting and making picks.   is good but not recommended as it's for bursting down carries or tackling tanks, but Cass doesn't really burst and her DPS is already very high late game.

Countering

 * If you can predict when will use  such as at the beginning of a fight or at the end, you can avoid the 2 second stun.
 * You will hear gasp before she activates  (.65 casting time), so you have a brief moment to react to.
 * relies heavily on landing so that  and  are unavoidable.
 * When dueling her she will put  right on you, despite the constant damage from it the time needed to move out will let her spam  to death. It's better to stay in the venom and outburst her.
 * Mages with strong regenerative abilities like, , or can better outlast her DoT damage.
 * lacks a powerful instant nuke apart from, other mages who can nuke potently or disabling her like or  can effectively counter her mid-late game.
 * has excellent range on and as her main harassing tool, outranging her is highly beneficial, mages like  and  have a clear advantage.
 * These mages can also outburst her if done correctly.
 * is a very powerful harasser. allows her to give her lane opponent a hard time, but also be wary for, as it can set you up for ganks, make landing  or especially  extremely easy, or zone you from minions very effectively. Buying  is a good and cheap way to limit her harassment.
 * is extremely proficient at duels, having the most sustained damage of all mages (maybe only matched by ). Therefore it is not recommended to engage her alone.
 * Champions who can outmatch her sustained damage but also survive the 2 second stun like, , , or can potentially duel and kill her.
 * Due to and,  is very powerful at kiting. If she gets  she will be almost impossible to reach if played correctly; do not engage her with a champion without strong gap closers or excellent ranges while also being able to withstand her damage in a 1v1 fight.
 * Avoiding her and  is critical for your survival, as they deal heavy DoT, and being poisoned allows  to spam her  on you.
 * Also, avoid being hit by the poisons of other champions:, /, or which will also allow  to spam her.

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Cassiopeia/Strategy