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[8.20.1]Are you the hunter... or the prey?

by Serpant

(Last updated on October 17, 2018)

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Builds

Summoner Spells

Hide Notes
  • Flash
  • Heal

Flash and heal are the standard summoner spells for most ADCs. Flash is always good since you can use it both offensively and defensively. Heal is always nice to have, and you can save your support and teammates with it too. You can also use heal to bait the enemy to overextend or tower dive trying to kill you.

Runes

  • precision
    PRECISION
  • Fleet Footwork
  • Triumph
  • Legend: Alacrity
  • Coup de Grace
  • sorcery
    SORCERY
  • Absolute Focus
  • Gathering Storm
Bonus :

+9% Attack speed and +10 ability power or +6 attack damage, adaptive

Pretty standard rune page for ADCs. This is the rune page I take most of the time because Fleet Footwork is safer in lane. If you are going into a really hard or heavy poke lane, then you should definitely take Fleet since Kai'sa is not that strong in lane. Triumph can save you a lot, especially if you're diving into the backline to assassinate someone. Alacrity is nice since it gives you more attack speed. Coup de Grace helps assassinate low health champions. You could switch out Coup de Grace for cut down if you're against multiple tanks. I usually run sorcery secondary, mostly for gathering storm since Kai'sa has really good scaling. After the celerity nerfs, I feel like absolute focus is the second best rune after gathering storm.

Items

Starting Items

  • Doran's Blade
  • Doran's Ring
  • Health Potion

Personally, I think Doran's Ring is the better starter item, especially into harder matchups. It lets you take two health potions, which means more sustain than the enemy ADC, who normally only has one. Doran's Ring also lets you spam q more, which you use for farming safely against harder lanes. The reason you would take Doran's Blade over Doran's Ring is because Doran's Blade gives 8 attack damage, which means that if you have stormrazor and the pickaxe from rageblade, then that instantly gives you your q upgrade. However, if you start Doran's Ring, then you need to wait until level 12 for your q upgrade with just stormrazor and pickaxe/rageblade. So usually, I'll take Doran's Blade into even/easy matchups for the earlier q upgrade. I'd take Doran's Ring into harder/heavy poke lanes just to make sure that I can survive the laning phase.

Core

  • Stormrazor
  • Guinsoo's Rageblade
  • Berserker's Greaves

I'd consider these three items core and you would want to build them in 99% of your games. Stormrazor is a really strong and cheap first item. Although a fully stacked rageblade does more damage as a first item, you have to stack it up first, and it is also a lot more expensive than stormrazor. Stormrazor also has a better build path with a b.f. sword which is obviously a better early pick up than the pickaxe in rageblade. The only reason I would not build stormrazor would be if my team is full AD and the enemy team has multiple tanks. In that case, I would just skip the stormrazor and go full AP. After you finish stormrazor, finish berserker's greaves and get two daggers(for the recurve bow for rageblade). That will unlock Kai'sa's e upgrade really early. Usually I finish recurve bow before getting pickaxe, but if you started Doran's Blade, then you could get pickaxe before you even finished berserker's greaves for the early q upgrade. I prefer getting the e upgrade first because it gives more playmaking/outplay potential, but if I'm just fed and don't need to outplay, then q upgrade first gives more damage. After finishing these three items, then Kai'sa will be really strong, and she only gets better from there.

Next Options

  • Rabadon's Deathcap
  • Zhonya's Hourglass
  • Banshee's Veil
  • Runaan's Hurricane
  • Infinity Edge

This is where Kai'sa truly shines because her build path is so versatile. After building your core three items, Kai'sa has so many options. Normally, I choose based on what the enemy team is building. If they are staking a lot of armor, then I'll go AP, if they're building magic resist, then I'll go crit. If that is inconclusive, then look at their team comp. If there is a really annoying threat, like an assassin, then a defensive item like zhonya's hourglass or banshee's veil would be the ideal next item. Personally I prefer zhonya's over banshee's because it has more outplay potential. If the enemy team has several short ranged champs that just want to dog pile in top of your team, then a runaan's hurricane will literally destroy them. Generally, AP should be more effective against tanks because of Kai'sa's passive's %missing damage scales off of AP, and currently armor items are more cost effective than mr items. Just to note, getting any of those three AP items will unlock Kai'sa's w upgrade. Generally, I find the crit build does more damage to champions not building any resists. Runaan's hurricane is especially effective because it can apply Kai'sa's passive plasma stacks to multiple members which will absolutely destroy teamfights if the enemy team has multiple short-ranged champions that are in auto-range.

Last Items/Situational

  • Guardian Angel
  • Mercurial Scimitar
  • Lord Dominik's Regards
  • Mortal Reminder

These would be possible last items or super situational. Guardian Angel is a nice last item with the revive. If the enemy team has a lot of crowd control, then a QSS is very useful, and you can upgrade to Mercurial Scimitar later. The two armor penetration items should only be built if you're going AD obviously. Void staff and morellonomicon are AP alternatives, but usually, they won't be necessary.

Full AP

  • Guinsoo's Rageblade
  • Nashor's Tooth
  • Rabadon's Deathcap
  • Berserker's Greaves
  • Zhonya's Hourglass

This is the full AP alternative. Rush rageblade first. Then, after you finish nashor's you will get your w upgrade, and after you get berserker's too, you will get your e upgrade. Afterwards I ususally get deathcap for some more damage. After deathcap I usually look for something defensive like zhonya's.

Ability Sequence

  • Second Skin

    Second Skin(Passive)

  • Icathian Rain
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
  • Void Seeker
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
  • Supercharge
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
  • Killer Instinct
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
  • Icathian Rain
    Void Seeker
    Supercharge
    Icathian Rain
    Icathian Rain
    Killer Instinct
    Icathian Rain
    Supercharge
    Icathian Rain
    Supercharge
    Killer Instinct
    Supercharge
    Supercharge
    Void Seeker
    Void Seeker
    Killer Instinct
    Void Seeker
    Void Seeker

Max r first(obviously), then q,e,w.

Vs. Champions

  • Ezreal
  • Draven
  • Jhin
  • Caitlyn
  • Miss Fortune
  • Xayah
  • Ashe
  • Lucian
  • Sivir
  • Vayne
  • Difficulty
  • Champion
  • Notes
Easy
EzrealEzreal

He can't punish you in the laning phase, and you also outscale him.

Normal
XayahXayah

Annoying to lane against because of her feather zoning. Do not walk infront of her feathers. If you can survive the laning phase, then you will outscale her.

Normal
AsheAshe

Annoying because of her w poke and slow. You probably won't be able to kill her in lane, but you should still outscale her.

Normal
LucianLucian

Harder laning phase, but as long as you don't get CCed by the enemy support, the lane should be survivable. Use your q to farm if you have too. You will outscale him.

Normal
SivirSivir

Annoying to lane against because she just constantly shoves. However, as long as you dodge her q, you should not be dying in lane.

Normal
VayneVayne

Try to fight her in lane. Right now, she scales harder than you do.

Hard
DravenDraven

He just outdamages you in lane. Don't try to fight him. You will eventually outscale him.

Hard
JhinJhin

Also outdamages you in lane. Don't get rooted. If you can survive the laning phase, you will outscale him.

Hard
CaitlynCaitlyn

She outranges you and will poke you down. However, if you can go even if lane, you are a better teamfighter than her.

Hard
MissFortuneMiss Fortune

She outdamage and just pokes you early. Watch out for her q bounce damage. Her slow is also really annoying. Don't stand in her ult for too long or else you will die.

Abilities Tips and Tricks

Second Skin Passive: Second Skin - Kai'sa's basic attacks stack Plasma, dealing increasing bonus magic damage. Allies' immobilizing effects help stack Plasma. Additionally, Kai'sa's item purchases upgrade her basic spells to have more powerful properties.


The first part of Kai'sa's passive is her plasma stacks. It's a five hit stack, with each hit doing more magic damage. The fifth hit will rupture the stacks and deal %missing health. This is really effective at shredding tanks, but also does a lot of damage vs squishy champions. In lane, the fifth hit does a deceptively large amount of damage, so try to get all five hits if possible .


Icathian Rain Q: Icathian Rain - Kai'sa shoots a swarm of missiles that seek out nearby targets. Living weapon: Icathian rain is upgraded to shoot more missiles.


Kai'sa's pre-evolved q is shoot 6 missiles. The missiles are evenly split between nearby targets, so try to isolate your target before using q, or else it will do significantly less damage. Kai'sa's q also only searches for targets once, when it is cast. So it will only shoot missiles at champions in range when it was cast. If you cast q, then flash in toward another enemy, your q will not hit that enemy if he/she was not in your original q cast range. That also means you can walk out of range after you cast q, and the missiles will still hit the targets. Q also does not lock you out of movement, so you can cast q while moving, and you can still auto-attack while casting q. Kai'sa's q evolves at 100 AD and the evolved form will shoot 10 missiles.


Void Seeker W: Void Seeker - Kai'sa shoots a long range missile, marking enemies with her passive. Living weapon: void seeker is upgraded to apply more passive marks and reduce cooldown on champion hit.


A lot of people underestimate the important of hitting your Ws. In lane it is really good for poke, and it also adds 2 of your plasma stacks for fast stacking. It can also be used to check bushes/baron/dragon pit because it gives vision. Usually, you don't want to use this in the middle of a fight because the casting animation is really long and you can get more dps just with autos and q. However, because of its long range, it is really good for setting up your ultimate and for sniping low health enemies trying to run away. The evolved form of W does more damage, applies 3 stacks of plasma, and reduces its cooldown if it hits an enemy champion. If you have your w evolved, which requires 100 AP, then it is really good for poke because the cooldown is actually pretty low if you can reliably hit enemy champions.

Supercharge E: Supercharge - Kai'sa briefly increases her movement speed, then increases her attack speed. Living weapon: supercharge is upgraded to briefly grant invisibility.


This is the ability that will differentiate a good Kai'sa from a decent one. Kai'sa's e will initially give her movement speed, however, during that time she cannot attack. She can still use summoner spells, but she cannot auto or use any of her other abilities, however, she can use e while she is still casting q. After the short increase in movement speed, supercharge grants Kai'sa an increase in attack speed. Before you evolve e, you should not be using this in the middle of a fight, unless it is to dodge a skillshot with the movement speed. In lane, you can use it to dodge skillshots, chase enemies, or run away. I would not use it purely for the attack speed buff unless there is nothing needing to be attacked nearby. After you evolve e, which requires 100 attack speed, supercharge grants invisibility during the movement speed buff. This is really good during teamfights to dodge skillshots and draw attention away from you.


Killer Instinct R: Killer Instinct - Kai'sa dashes near an enemy champion.

Kai'sa's ultimate lets her dash near an enemy champion and gives her a shield upon cast. That means that even if you don't reach your destination, you still get the shield. Kai'sa's ult does not have to be used as an engage, it can also be used defensively to reposition, or just for the extra shield. If there is a lot of burst flying around, sometimes it is better to ult early just for the shield, so it's less likely that you just get one shot without being able to ult.

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