Champion Guide

Cassiopeia Guide

By LoLSuggest

Mid

Cassiopeia is a sustained-damage mage: poison enemies with Noxious Blast and Miasma, then spam Twin Fang, which hits poisoned targets much harder. She cannot buy boots, and Serpentine Grace gives her movement speed instead, so she fits a sixth damage item. Miasma grounds enemies so they cannot dash, and Petrifying Gaze stuns everyone facing her. She is mana-hungry early, but once her items come together she shreds through any target.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Cassiopeia build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Doran's Ring and a Health Potion. Archangel's Staff comes first and later turns into Seraph's Embrace, which solves her mana problems; follow it with Liandry's Torment and Rylai's Crystal Scepter, whose slow on every ability keeps targets in range. Then add Rabadon's Deathcap, Void Staff against magic resistance, Zhonya's Hourglass against divers and AD assassins, Banshee's Veil against magic burst and Morellonomicon against healing. Rod of Ages suits a scaling, kiting build, and Cosmic Drive with Shadowflame helps in burst-heavy matchups. Run Conqueror, which she stacks very quickly, with Presence of Mind, Legend: Haste and Coup de Grace, plus Conditioning and Overgrowth. Take Flash with Ignite, or Teleport for a safer lane. Max E, then Q, then W.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Unmatched sustained single-target damage in the mid and late game.
Miasma grounds enemies and stops their dashes, so she can even gank slippery lanes such as Ezreal.
No boots slot means a full six-item damage build.

Weaknesses

A small mana pool early makes long trades costly before Tear of the Goddess.
Immobile: once Flash is down she has no reliable escape.
Long-range mages such as Xerath, Syndra and Anivia and divers such as Irelia and Camille are tough matchups.

Laning Phase

Trade efficiently and avoid long trades early, because her base mana pool is small. Throw Noxious Blast at the enemy when they stop to attack a minion, and last-hit with Twin Fang while you stack Tear of the Goddess. Freeze the wave near your tower with a ward nearby, and be careful with Flash, since without it you have no way out. Cassiopeia pushes and roams well: shove when it is safe and look to gank side lanes, where Miasma stops enemies from dashing away.

Mid & Late Game

With Seraph's Embrace and Rylai's Crystal Scepter your mana is effectively unlimited and every spell slows, so you can play aggressively and run targets down. Stay with your team and set up big teamfight ultimates, for example by waiting in a brush the enemy is about to walk into. Keep Miasma on the ground to lock enemies down, and do not hold Petrifying Gaze forever waiting for a five-man stun: the slow on enemies not facing you is still valuable.

Key Tips

Poison the target with Q or W first; Twin Fang deals far more damage to poisoned enemies.
Petrifying Gaze stuns enemies facing you and only slows the rest, so cast it while they walk toward you.
Miasma grounds enemies, which stops dashes and blinks.
Last-hit with Twin Fang to save mana and stack Tear quickly.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.