Is karthus still still viable or good?

JimmyJohn1623·6/22/2015, 6:11:37 AM·13 votes·8,149 views

Karthus

69 Comments

Tsohgder6/22/2015, 1:33:33 PM15 votes

Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes he is.

Gengar6/22/2015, 12:23:18 PM3 votes

If no one plays him in LCS in the next month, no. (By the community's standards).

Joe Dredd6/22/2015, 6:51:33 AM3 votes

Every champion is viable. The only champion I'd tell you wasn't viable is poppy because she's cancer and no one should play her

wicked eraser6/22/2015, 11:09:18 AM3 votes

i don't think karthus is good at all, last time i played karthus went to the end game i had full build and 1 vs 1 against enemy khazix (prob also full build). he went in, i exhausted him right away, turned on pool, q spam with 80% accuracy. and he killed me, i q some more, ulted as well. and he still lived after that. when a mid laner lose to jungler 1 vs 1 with full buiid you know it sucks. btw incase you wondering i always build karthus the same roa Seraph's Embrace (i used it) deathcap, zyonya (don't remember if i used this against khazix or not), void staff, and boots. don't remember if i had the ap elixer either. the fact that he killed me and walked away even after i exhausted nearly everything is a no brainer how shit karthus as a champ is.

Bârd6/23/2015, 3:57:12 AM2 votes

SHHHHH!!!!!

Dont remind riot he exists!

They might "Compensate" him for dfg or some shit!!!

Champion Skin6/22/2015, 2:59:35 PM2 votes

I am no expert on Karthus however I believe he is still pretty strong

He scales well and can be incredibly strong in teamfights doing huge amounts of damage and even if you focus and kill him he will still deal lots of damage (especially if your allies can keep the fight on top of your passive/corpse)

however he is a rather passive champion who mostly just sit and farm trying to scale and stronger... and mostly just assisting by using his ult and his laning phase isn't the best (he isn't bad though as he does deal good damage if you are able to land Q's on the enemy however he is often squishy and vulnerable given that he has no mobility)

oh and he is also pretty good at taking baron/dragon as his Q works pretty well at them

Teémò6/22/2015, 6:29:20 AM2 votes

yea he's pretty good however his strength lies in his E if someone like lux or tf misses there skill shot on you, then you can engage on them with your E and spam Q well doing so thus why exhaust and ghost are better for him then flash ignite, unless of course your doing some sort of homegaurd teleport karthus gank, which although silly is effective but like swain you need to not pull the plug on your mana, so its either to all in or to do severe poke because they have no way of fighting it c: Karthus

Keevalroy6/23/2015, 12:12:24 AM1 votes

Not sure, haven't tested him - won't play him until Revive comes back.

Jeanne fan club6/23/2015, 12:55:23 AM1 votes

Yeah, he is amazing in teamfights and can be a support powerhouse. All you have to do in the early game is survive and farm until it comes time to teamfight, then reck and repeat.

ShaftyMegee6/23/2015, 3:42:57 AM1 votes

You mean penta steal karthus? Yes

XxxLumberJackxxX6/23/2015, 3:24:12 PM1 votes

I like karthus. I haven't been able to do well with him in a while. I feel like his E does no dmg late game

RookPusher6/22/2015, 5:50:08 PM1 votes

He's a good range-champ. So take him if you want poke. And he can pick up a ton of assists with his ult.

The Ellimiist6/22/2015, 6:40:19 PM1 votes

Apparently the highest (or one of) winrate when mained over 125+ games, higher than riven even. So yes?

GundayMonday6/22/2015, 10:13:27 PM1 votes

Yes. Just not AS GOOD in the tank meta. When playing against a bunch of squishy assassins, he had more than enough time to dish out tons of damage and his ultimate did more damage as a % of total health.

Now that 6k HP Volibear and 5k HP Chogath and 4k HP Nautilus with a 1k HP shield can sustain through his damage pretty easily.

So yeah, still strong. Just not as good of a pick compared to when everyone was running squishy assassins instead of beefy tanks.

Shroom Junkie6/22/2015, 10:23:18 PM1 votes

I've played Karthus. Late-game, you 3-shot squishies from range. If they're alone anyway. And if you just barely miss... ULTI!!

LICENSED HOOKER6/22/2015, 11:59:06 PM1 votes

hes free

Saianna6/23/2015, 12:05:21 AM1 votes

Dunno how he's doing in other modes, but in ARAM he's more than fine. Especially with mark-dash spell :)

Only Play Darius6/22/2015, 6:13:57 AM1 votes

Yes. Just very difficult to use and vulnerable to people who can jump on him, and also takes FOREVER to scale up his AP and mana pool, but it's worth the wait, IF you can get there.

It's the same problem with Cassiopeia

Daddy Dennis6/22/2015, 2:01:19 PM

He's better and more viable as a late pick. If the other team decides to go super shield on you then your game will probably be very frustrating.

The key to Karth is maximum melting. Get your item 3040 by 20-22 minutes. Spell vamp is essential item 3152 . Spend nothing on armor or MR. You WANT people to come at you. Death is no big deal. Avoid item 3285 item 3157 item 1076 item 3174

The only real option with his current kit depends on your confidence. item 3041 is the item for when you feel confident. item 3135 and item 3026 for a more conservative approach. item 3165 for very rare games with many tanks.

His best end game in almost all situations is: item 3258 item 3089 item 3152 item 3040 item 3135 item 3026

Flashing into the other team with your item 3040 shield on and item 3026 ready is the move to break logjams at towers. It's a base breaker. It requires very little if any help from your team.

Hope that helped! I've been having success with it recently.