Talk:Kassadin/@comment-6061249-20130601124359/@comment-7627698-20130601164211

Riftwalk is probably one of the most unique and champion defining abilities in the game. It's neither overpowered nor overtuned damage wise - it's a very simple ability that grants the user nigh infinite mobility - as long as there is mana to sustain it.

Kassadin already "pays the price" of having it by having what I can only describe as ''the worst 1-6 in the entire game. ''He has an absolutely terrible early laning phase and even at 6 he struggles a bit due to his very item dependent kit. Riftwalks, Null Spheres and Force Pulses all cost shit tons of mana, and Kassadin has a hard time last hitting anything without taking some serious punishment. At 6 his kit opens up a little. Ganks become impossible to carry out on him, his own ganks become easy to set up, he can gank other lanes very effectively(being one of the best roamers in the game), but all of that still comes at the price of being behind in cs, possibly being behind in levels, behind in gold and items... And so on.

The amount of freedom and damage he gets is countered by the amount of freedom and damage he lacks early on.

The best way to counter-play Kassadin isn't to attempt outplaying him late-game, it's to shut him down as hard as possible early-game, when he's at his weakest, and make sure/try to keep him out of the game entirely. Keep in mind, he's also a niche champion. He's very squishy for a melee apc if he cannot make use of his passive. AD assassins and AD carries give him a very hard time.

However, due to the nature of his kit and the flexibility of Riftwalk(and if the Kassadin player is somewhat competent) he'll have so much freedom and damage mid to late-game, he'll be nigh unstoppable. He can easily one-combo squishies, he can easily escape afterwards, he can pick and choose his own fights...

He's far from immortal, though. Hard cc, terrible timing, good ward coverage, AD damage, early game ganks, all counter him pretty hard. Your best bet is to have your jungler camp mid if you're up against him. If he makes it to mid game and late game, God have mercy on your soul...