Normal queues struggle vs Kassadin.

[bloodwulf]

So i recently bought Kassadin just on a whim. I played him a bit a year or so ago, but never clicked with him. I have over the last few days played kassadin in normal SR. Every game has been a win, and my scores are generally extremely positive such as 23/4/14 and 11/2/9. My question is three fold.

First, why does he seem so strong right now? Is it because so many people are favoring short ranged burst champs like akali and diana in mid? I laned versus a Veiger and just utterly destroyed him.

Second, since I was hoping to learn Kassadin, I was expecting a few games to go badly just so i can learn how to pick up from a deficit, but considering that has yet to happen, can anyone provide any tips on how to play Kassadin if you are behind?

Third, every game I played I tried slightly different itemization routes, from rod of ages first to no rod, and even tried Lich Bane and Liandry's Torment. Anyone got favorite must buy items for him?


***bonus question*** What is the best Kassadin skin, I like pre-void but my fiancee likes Harbinger.

[Boomcats]

Kassadin is super strong because he's.... super strong. If you look at the patch history, he has had some minor nerfs- but he went from perma ban status mid/late 2011 to never being banned (due to other champion release/changes) while for the most part recieving bigger buffs then nerfs.

Kassadin is countered fairly easily pre 6 if it's not blind pick, but you are right- post 6 he becomes ungankable and if you don't deny him farm he can push the wave and roam easily. If you fall behind (or cant farm early) I push the lane and roam, with ult you can RW over large walls and surprise people with your gank paths.

For skills, I max E first, Q second, W third. (although Q certainly can work 1st). For items I usually go Rod / Rab's / VS / Zhonya- although since you are a bursty melee mage, some additional health or resists won't hurt (Haunting guise).

Although no one item build will ever work, so thats pointless.
If you are owning and they rush MR? Rush M pen boots, guise, VS.
Are you fed? Rod / Rabs (pretty much any standard AP build)
Facing a panth? Seekers Arm guard into Tear (max Q and poke/farm with tear)

Good luck my braj

[bloodwulf]

I have been leveling Q than E ignoring W until late. I get Q first cause it is more reliable for poke if needed, plus the silence has saved my bacon pre 6 before. I remember when he was permaban, but after seeing him not get played much i thought he was broken, but mostly he just seems forgotten.

[Duilliath]

Depending on who I'm up against, I'll get either Q or E. A spammy mage will warrant E over Q.

Regardless, I prefer getting one point in W early, as it will make last hitting under turret a lot easier. Most people know to shove the lane vs a Kassadin, as he has a hard time shoving back early on.

[Axethor]

Kassadin is an anti-mage. He shits on most AP mids 1v1 and snowballs just as hard as Akali. Trick is to take advantage of his weaknesses. Try to get some early ganks in before he hits six. Then push his lane ridiculously hard so he can't roam. You do have to be careful though, since he can blink right on you when you push the lane. It's best to have a safe farmer like Malz or Morgana who can push from a good distance away. AD mids also wreck his day since they can AA for damage and have much tankier build paths to negate his burst.

If you fall behind you can try roaming for kills. Like any assassin, Kass is a wicked good roamer. You will probably lose your tower, but at that point it's better to lose it and try to snowball yourself than to keep it up. It also let's you farm more safely near the second turret.

[Bullettime]

Kassadin has a harder time in the early stages of the game as he lacks his blink and has decently high mana costs. He can be shutdown pretty hard by having strong jungler presence. You treat him a lot like Akali where you make sure to shut him down before he hits his stride at 6.

But yeah, he's a good anti mage but pretty easy to counterpick (most all AD assassins or bruisers are excellent.) As Axethor said, a good safe pusher can do well early by shoving Kass to his tower and winning the lane early. Malzahar and Morgana for the APs can both do pretty well against him since Kass can't really all in on them without eating a ton of burst while CC'd and they shove his lane hard.

[Deleted]

The best way to shut down Kassadin is by outplaying him low level and either having high range poke, or good retaliation (if he goes in for a burst, make him pay). A good counter-ganker (with teleport if necessary)/roamer also helps. Like with any other assassin, disrupt him and he's gone. He needs to get close for E, so something like Chog can make his life hell.

[ddsad2212]

1: Kassadin is an anti carry style champion, he excels at killing carrys thus mid lane vs carry champions will always be an easy match vs him. People need to open there minds a bit with league and not be afraid to swap mid with top if the match ups are better. Also Kassa has a horrible first 3 or so levels so even champions he counts can shut him down there if played well.

2:Kassadin is a fairly easy champion to play over all, his early laning is hard but that is about all, so it is no wonder you pick him up fast.

3: Personally I like Tear-Rod due to his Q having enough base damage to get him through the early game. Also I feel you need the mana regain so it is nice having those items early, If I am snow balling I will some times forgo the tear and if behind i will not go for rod and try something a bit more cost effective for laning ie chalice or the armor item you need for hourglass

[Boomcats]

Dont forget though, if you max E you can easily push the wave once it hits rank 3. With a Little AP you can bring down all the caster minions to 1 shot and the melee minions 3/4 of the way. Easier to push the wave and go roam.

[hasslehoof]

Pretty hard to fall behind on him imo, he is countered by a few AD mids and very little AP mids (only one I know is Vlad, and he doesn't counter him per se, can just negate all his harass if he Q's at the same time he does.) You can just constantly push and roam to gank and pick up kills.

Best skin is Harbringer.

[Deleted]

Does any of you build CDR on Kassadin?

Edit: Just bought Kassadin. Been playing 7 Dominion games so far. Only 1 loss. He is absolutely amazing in Dominion (and I've been playing a lot of Dominion so if there is a hidden MMR then mine is definitely high).

[SargorVirm]

so your in a blind pick game, u pick ur normal apc because yolo right? then ur opp goes kassadin.... what do u do? he is impossible to beat for MANY APC's... so bleh :-S

[Deleted]

so your in a blind pick game, u pick ur normal apc because yolo right? then ur opp goes kassadin.... what do u do? he is impossible to beat for MANY APC's... so bleh :-S

Shove his lane early, deny him farm, ask for jungler camping, ask the jungler to hover around the lane at level 6 when Kass is likely to go for a kill. If he's not beating you in lane, he will attempt to roam, push his tower hard, warn your lanes and deny him the kills that way.

[SargorVirm]

sounds bout right... ashame when u call mia, a ward placed, AND pinging his ENTIRE path, and the adc just goes "DERP IMMA FARM".... the 0/1/1 Kass with half my farm suddenly is able to 2 shot me... *sigh* blind pick ftl

[Duilliath]

Lane swap and shove your Renekton in his face.

[Kasierith]

so your in a blind pick game, u pick ur normal apc because yolo right? then ur opp goes kassadin.... what do u do? he is impossible to beat for MANY APC's... so bleh :-S

Not really; you have to know his mechanics. Kassadin has a high amount of burst, a silence, a slow, a teleport, and the ability to beat people down in melee, which overall is a pretty devestating kit... but it also means that he lacks true sustained damage as compared to, say, Cassio or Ryze. He is also squishy and ultimately mana dependent. If you face a Kassadin, take advantage of early game, harass him and push the lane back to his turret. Build some quick MR so he can't burst you down. Be very attentive with calling MIA's and if you aren't currently pushing the lane, get very far back. Once he gets his skill set going, play defensively and wait out for team fights; his lack of cc and requirement of getting right on top of you to kill you means that he has to get close in team fights. If you can keep his kills under control, and stack some healthy mr, kassadin really isn't that significant of a threat late game (if your team is coordinated enough to protect your carry).

[Deleted]

Question: Is Ahri counter to Kassa or is it just me? Whenever I play Ahri vs Kassa on mid I win.

-> Q deals true dmg on back that can't be reduced by his passive
-> Your ult can be used 3 times without poping cd so you can get him even if he uses ult to escape
-> W stops him from using burst/ult to escape and let jungler do some dmg

[Duilliath]

Iirc, Kassadin vs Ahri largely boils down to hits lvl 6 first.

[Kasierith]

Ahri is a good choice because she can harass him easily; her range is such that he can't both land on her with rift and silence her (though that's not too much damage less overall). She also has her charm which can keep him from escaping, and hold him locked in place long enough to do something about it. Overall, though, I'd say that your best bet is not engaging him unless a fight is forced until you have your team by your side. Even if you trade 1v1, kassadin just snowballs better than ahri, so denying him an even trade is going to turn out better for you.

[Noah37]

SOOOOO, Kassadin is on sale right now and I just figured out who my next purchase is haha. I did not realize he was so strong, I've been trying a ton of champs out recently I'll check him out.