Achieving the rank of Challenger is always a proud accomplishment for League of Legends players. Recently, a player named twitchtvELOSANTA on the Western server has conquered the Challenger rank by using Marksman Karthus. Let’s dive into this unique “guide”.
TwitchtvELOSANTA shared that Karthus has a significant advantage in damage range compared to other ADCs. Typically, the main damage source for marksmen comes from basic attacks. Therefore, champions with a longer basic attack range, or more accurately, a greater damage range, always have an advantage in trading abilities.
With Karthus, the main source of damage comes from Q – Lay Waste, which has a range of up to 875, greater than the attack range of most typical marksmen. Furthermore, using Q to poke enemies does not cause enemy minions to attack Karthus. This allows players to take less damage than enemy champions during trades.
However, this does not mean you will always win your lane when playing Marksman Karthus. If you encounter strong bot lane duos early on, such as Draven – Leona, you need to play carefully and farm as safely as possible. In such cases, players should consider buying Boots of Speed and Seekers Armguard to ensure their survival.
A unique aspect of the summoner spells for Marksman Karthus is that this champion uses Exhaust instead of Heal or Cleanse. Essentially, Karthus is not a champion that fears being taken down in fights, so the two spells Heal and Cleanse do not suit this character. Meanwhile, Exhaust is an extremely strong tool for countering the enemy team’s carries and can sometimes be the key to changing the outcome of the game.
Regarding the rune setup, Dark Harvest is still the most suitable rune for Karthus, making it the perfect choice for this champion. In the Precision secondary tree, 2 points in Presence of Mind and Coup de Grace are the most reasonable choices for Karthus. The Coup de Grace point will significantly increase Karthus’s damage when this champion is in his passive form.
For the item build, Liandry’s Anguish is the best fit for Karthus as its Mythic passive provides a lot of ability haste. The second item you should aim for is Zhonya’s Hourglass to protect yourself and counter assassins. Items like Morellonomicon, Void Staff, and Rabadon’s Deathcap are the best choices for Karthus in the late game.
The final advice that twitchtvELOSANTA gives to players who want to try this playstyle is to be bold and deal damage. You will deal very little damage when standing at a distance from the enemy team and not taking advantage of this champion’s passive.