Talk:Karthus/@comment-5589202-20131216005214/@comment-9048637-20131218234946

Karthus is easy to counter in lane, but the thing is, he scales so hard into late game when built properly (which, admittedly, is something most Karthus players seem unable to do) that you have to shut him down very hard, or win very quickly, to not be out-scaled. Given that a smart Karthus will run spell vamp quints, freeze the lane fairly close to his turret and farm from afar with Q, not to mention the kills and assists he can pick up with his ult, this is easier said than done even for champions who destroy him in lane (read: assassins). Incidentally, this is actually why I favour Karthus top rather than mind; lane-freezing is easier to do there, there tend to be fewer early game monsters who can shut him down hard, and you're not losing out on having a mid-laner more suitable for roaming.

Speaking of roaming, I can't say I will ever see jungle Karthus as a viable thing. Yeah, his clears are surprisingly good, but he has no duelling potential until well-farmed/fed (even then, it's sketchy), meaning he can't counter-jungle and is very prone to being counter-jungled, and his ganks are just terrible - W is practically useless when coming in from the side, Q is difficult to hit at the best of times (and its damage isn't even that great until you get some Mpen, and preferably a full Liandry's), and if they let you come in range to E them, well, you're either ganking an allied Leona or they're very, very 'special'. I can the attraction in theory, in that the jungle can be a safer place to farm than a lane, but... nah. I don't think it works, for all the reasons stated.