Talk:Karthus/@comment-11272698-20140607194944/@comment-5268661-20140612010008

I'm Plat 3 and I suggest you do not follow what the silver player said. In his case, it does make sense for specific runes and item builds, but it's not really rational in higher play games.

I'll keep it simple, but I use AP runes and MPen runes as Karthus.

During the early game (first 15 minutes or so) - Your goal as Karthus is to farm. No joke, don't even think about engaging unless you - 1) Know your enemy is dumb, as in, they take poke without poking you back 2) Your jungler is with you and you know where their jungler is at. Safest assumption is --> If you don't see the enemy jungler, assume he's ganking you. With 925 range and a really low HP bar, your priority should NOT be getting poked. Your goal is farm farm farm (yes it's pretty damn boring)

During mid-game, your goal is to COOPERATE with your team mates to collect objectives, such as - 1) Getting rid of outer turrets 2) Claiming dragons 3) Controlling jungles and buffs. As Karthus, you excel in team fights and your team should know that and use it to their advantage. Again, your goal here for mid-game is farming as well.

During late game - 25 minutes - 30 minutes +, your goal should be STILL farming. Your goal in team fights is to stay alive as much as possible and deal as much damage as possible. It might sound broad, but most bronze/silver/gold/platinum players still don't know how to Karthus, They just run in and get bursted and think "welp, I did my part". No, your goal is NOT to die THAT fast. If anything, play as if you did not have Death Defy as your passive. Your goal is to STAY ALIVE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. Karthus is not only a excellent team fighter, he is also type of zone control. If he dies, who would want to run into his AoE damage? Nobody. If you happen to die early, try your best to zone control and CC to help your team escape. Your goal is also to die NEAR the carries (AP/AD) and burst them; never burst the tanks first because that is stupid (they build MR, you're wasting precious damage on a tank...)

My skill order is R > Q > E > W... Your Karthus for a reason. You're mid. You are a burst. Why the hell would you max W second? League is a team game and YOUR team mates (jungle/top/support) should provide the CC for you. 1 point in W is good enough. It's enough to slow an enemy so that YOUR TEAM MATES can CC them. Your job is to DEAL damage, not deal CC. You're an AP carry. Build like it and act like it.

My item build starts off with --> Rod of ages --> Athene's --> Rabadons Deathcap --> Void Staff --> Zhonya's --> Shoes

Of course, you can also add in Arch Angel's Staff, Rylai's and whatnot, but that's not what I see at competitive level.

You can switch this order up depending on if you're winning or not. This build gives you enough tankiness, but also the damage you need to help carry your team

Hoped I helped.