Champion Guide

Kai'Sa Guide

By LoLSuggest

ADC

Kai'Sa is a skill-expressive marksman whose abilities evolve as she gains stats: she pokes with Void Seeker, bursts isolated targets, and dives with Killer Instinct once an ally applies crowd control. Supercharge makes her briefly invisible and faster, which lets her dodge key spells from assassins and reposition in long fights.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Kai'Sa 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 Blade and a Health Potion. The newest guide builds on-hit: Statikk Shiv, Guinsoo's Rageblade, Terminus and Runaan's Hurricane, finishing with Endless Hunger. Berserker's Greaves are the usual boots, and Bloodthirster, Guardian Angel or Mercurial Scimitar add safety. A crit line with Yun Tal Wildarrows, Phantom Dancer, Infinity Edge and Lord Dominik's Regards remains an option. Run Press the Attack with Presence of Mind, Legend: Bloodline and Coup de Grace, plus Cash Back and Triple Tonic; it beats Lethal Tempo on on-hit Kai'Sa because its 8 percent damage amplification boosts her on-hit, passive and ability damage. Take Flash with Barrier, or Cleanse against heavy crowd control. The top-lane setup starts Cull and rushes Manamune and Luden's Echo to evolve Q and W early. Max Q, then E, then W.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Evolving abilities give her a very high ceiling and flexible builds.
Strong poke with Void Seeker and great burst on isolated targets.
Supercharge and Killer Instinct give self-peel, dives and good objective control.

Weaknesses

Squishy, mana-hungry and lacking crowd control.
Struggles into heavy poke and long-range lanes such as Varus, Ashe or Kog'Maw.
Positioning matters a lot, and Killer Instinct can leave her in bad spots.

Laning Phase

Farm and deny: freeze near your tower, slow-push or fast-push to deny the enemy farm, and ward to avoid ganks. Don't spam Icathian Rain if you need mana for a fight. Into long-range bot lanes, let the wave come to you so your support has room to engage. Engage supports like Alistar, Leona, Nautilus or Thresh are ideal, since their crowd control applies Plasma stacks for free. In top lane, survive by farming and poking before your evolves come online.

Mid & Late Game

Group with your team for fights and objectives, and only farm side waves or jungle camps when you know where enemies are. Killer Instinct is often best used after baiting out an escape like Flash. Void Seeker reveals targets and helps secure Dragon or Baron. Against assassins, keep Supercharge and Killer Instinct to dodge their burst, then punish them in the longer fight where Plasma stacks add up.

Key Tips

Cast Icathian Rain, then Supercharge, to fire missiles during the disarm.
Killer Instinct resets your auto-attack timer, and you can cast abilities during the dash.
Against Draven, throw Void Seeker at the spot where his axes will land.
Use Oracle Lens against Twitch to spot him in stealth.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

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