Why is Cassiopeia considered challenging?

SuperYay·12/15/2018, 2:31:35 AM·2 votes·2,117 views

I was considering picking up Cassiopeia since apparently she's meta now. I'd like to know, why is she considered really challenging? Judging by her moveset the only things that stands out to me as particularly difficult is that you need to drop a weirdly-shaped cloud of poison in order to lock down champions that are already slippery and that her ultimate works best when people are facing you, despite there being no turn rates.

From my perspective, she looks like a reasonably basic mage to just pick up and play, and has a lot of counterpick potential with her mobility impairment. She just has a high skill ceiling due to her ultimate and w. Am I reading this right?

11 Comments

50CaliberHecate12/15/2018, 2:53:19 AM5 votes

Her kit is basic, but her as a champion is VERY reliant on decision making. Because Cass has 0 mobility, one wrong spot and you're screwed. She does take a lot of roaming as well, you don't get free mobility for nothing early.

Her ult is also really hard to time. If you hit R too early, no stun, and too late, you get bashed on by another enemy. You want to save it for grouped up enemies so your Zac or Rakan can extend cc and your adc can shred.

Her strongest level is 2 so if you don't take advantage of that, especially against melee champs, you'd be dumb to even take her. She has the strongest lvl 2 dmg in the game. She also can DO the most damage in the game if you build her right and can get ahead.
Also, one cool thing is other poisons (Teemo, Twitch, and Singed) proc her E dmg!

Deep Terror Nami12/15/2018, 2:52:53 AM1 votes

Possibly because she requires a lot of movement as she repositions and spams (E) Twin Fangs, as well as maintaining poison on the target while she does so. Did you know you can cast (R) Petrifying Gaze then Flash before it goes off, to catch the enemy by surprise?

FullmuteAll play12/15/2018, 3:05:54 AM1 votes

She is just mechanically hard. Sometimes playing Cassiopeia my hands get tired because of constant need to move, press E and Q, also be ready to use flash. Because of the nature of her damage she always needs to move around teamfight, in the same time hitting Q and pressing E almost everytime

Modl Ryden l12/15/2018, 3:15:03 AM1 votes

A couple of reasons

She doesn't have access to the magic penetration you could get from
Much like a marksmen relies on attack-moving to kite and DPS, she acts almost similarly with her E. In order to maximize the DPS, they need to poisoned via her Q or W, while the latter is much easier to land and follow up, her Q is just as valuable to stay in E range and have enough speed to outmaneuver CC.
Requires some effort in mana management early on before building either
Really only does well with Phase Rush. Anything else could risk yourself dying and looking like a huge inter. She absolutely needs that movement speed.
Getting a full build going takes a lot of gold. If you're new to Cass you'll come to find that you'll feel like you absolutely need items like and to stay relevant. Where as some champs only need 2 items to feel complete.
Her ultimate can be tough to land since it's such a short range and requires enemies to face you.

But with all things it just takes a little bit of know-how and practice to get a good feel for the champ.

Phieldworker12/15/2018, 4:30:11 AM1 votes

Right now the optimal build path doesn’t take Roa or Tear. Instead you rush Luden’s. This can cause her to lack on mana because besides her e the other moves can drain her mana pool.

After that q will be the next thing you’ll have to learn to manage when it comes to landing. It’s not super tough but it can put you into bad placement focusing on trying to land it.

Overall I would say she isn’t the hardest champ to play. She is just a few mechanics and a lot of decision making.

But she’s satisfying. She can chase well once you start hitting things and she can kite even better.