Talk:Karthus/@comment-4499945-20141101163158/@comment-15244341-20141104022844

I thought like that at first, too. But Q counts as single target in regards to spellvamp/Rylai's (this thing's name is annoying as hell to type) slow when it hits only one champion. For poke it means that a single target Q gets you an extra Q if you want to follow up. I also can't emphasize enough how wonderfully dumb it is to permaslow melee champions with a 35% slow on top of dealing huge amounts of DPS to them in any sort of fight or gank. It's like being a fed Ashe, instead with magiks an liches. You still have wall if you get them with the Q slow, so that can be saved for other purposes, such as slowing the guys behing the melee.

The spellvamp is mostly to help him in lane and for taking jungle camps. I mostly push hard against bad matchups and then go farm in the jungle. If my jungler is more farm than gank oriented, I play it safe, and heal any poke I can't evade with long range Qs. It also allows you to jungle... like as in being the jungler. It's pretty much a "farm to death and maybe gank a bit" kind of style, but it can work if your team holds. When late game comes, it sure beats 15AP, believe me. And, BTW, spellvamp is not bad per se in AoE abilities if they have high DPS. When it comes to teamfights, it's pretty good even.

The build basically opens a whole new world of permaslows that makes Karthus' DPS fairly reliable even against faster melee champions. I know I love the utility I get from it. It also gives better AP than RoA until you have Archangel's and is cheaper to boot, so you get any other crucial items faster and still do quite well on DPS midgame.

I'm not saying the build is better (the spellvamp is actually 100% personal preference). RoA build has better damage late game for sure. I just find that the benefits from Rylai's on Karthus make the item basically an auto buy. With RoA too on my build, my buying order gets messed up and my slots feel too cramped. Rylai's just feels like it gives Karthus' team a much better standing midgame, which in return makes their overall late game prospects better. That said, at 40+minutes with everyone 6 slotted, I'd still look for a Rylai's. Try it. Love it. It's just that good.

If you don't mind watching streams Azingy plays Karthus from time to time with, I believe, pretty much the build I'm speaking about. He's a pretty good watch, since he is considered one of NA's best Karthus. He also does a bit of commentary in the stream, which explains pretty clearly why he does what he does. You are advised he is mostly a jungler, so you'll probably have to skip a few games of non-Karthus gameplay until you find a game.