Karthus vs Kai’Sa Counter Pick
Matchup Summary
What the Data Means
Karthus is a mage, Kai’Sa a marksman/mage hybrid, and they meet in the ADC lane. The sample behind this page is 594 games from patch 16.13.1, and Karthus wins 57.6% of them. That is 7.6 points above even, so Kai’Sa is one of the matchups Karthus can lean on.
With both sitting in ranged range (450 against 525), neither side gets a free poke pattern.
Karthus looks for Defile (E); Kai’Sa answers with Icathian Rain (Q). The pressure spikes when Requiem and Killer Instinct come online together.
Mismatched profiles here: magic on Karthus’s side, physical on Kai’Sa’s. Level-one bases: Karthus 620 HP / 21 armour / 30 MR, Kai’Sa 640 / 25 / 30. Level 18 armour lands at 101 for Karthus and 96 for Kai’Sa. Kai’Sa also hits harder before items — 59 AD to 46.
No hand-editing here — the Karthus figures come straight from ranked play.
FAQ
Yes — Karthus holds the statistical advantage in this matchup. Karthus wins 57.6% of the recorded games.
57.6% from Karthus's perspective, measured on patch 16.13.1.
594 ranked games at Emerald rank and above, across all regions.
The current Karthus build — items, runes and skill order from the same data set — is on the Karthus build page.