Karma The Support? What?
I always thought that karma was a mage And not support until lately when i was reading her info page XD What is she better as? Mage or Support?
(BTW:She is my main)
6 Comments
She was designed as a support. And she's decent at it; CC, shields for her ally, great poke, starts with ult for great early game power.
The problem is that there are other supports that do her job, but better. 
So she got kicked out of bot lane, and mid was the closest thing to a secondary role she had. I suppose you could make an argument for her being a top laner because of her range and utility, but generally you want someone tanky for teamfights and tank junglers are getting booted out of the meta by early game duelists like 
.
can get away with taking a top lane spot becuase he can get pretty tanky himself while not taking a major hit to his damage, the same as 
. I don't play a lot of Karma, but I assume that building a tank item or two to become an AP bruiser would disrupt her damage too much to be viable.
she's a strong support. she has high base damage and pretty poor scaling so she fits the role.
she's not great in mid in the current meta because she lacks sustained damage and her late game burst and teamfighting isn't that good compared to other mage mids like ahri
She is floating between support and mid right now (And I would say she works top, too). She is a poke/utility mage in both roles.
In mid lane, she is a utility mage with an emphasis on poke. She is strong in poke comps because she has strong poke herself, and has an AoE speed boost for disengaging fights. She is like the poke comp version of Orianna.
In bot lane she is a poking bully support. When she gets out of lane she has tether to peel for her carry, AoE speed boost+shield for engage/disengage and mediocre poke and wave clear with her Q.
Karma is best for a poke bot lane. I wouldn't pick her into a sustain lane (Nami, Soraka, Sona) but I'd say she is an even skill matchup in a poke lane (Lulu, Janna) and I think she wins the matchup vs tanks (Braum, thresh, Leona).
Try it!
I don't like playing her mid or top anymore because I just feel like her AP ratios do nothing in the end game. She's better off being built as a bruiser, like Cho'gath anyway. Utilize her CC for her maximum potential. There are items with AP that can help you accomplish this.
Try going top and building an Iceborn Gauntlet (same effect as your Mantra Q), Rod of Ages (Gives AP and tankiness, solid for all AP bruiser tops), Spirit Visage (Synergizes with your Manta W, increases the healing per tick). It's fun!