Kassadin vs Mel Counter Pick

Rebuttal reflects enemy projectiles at the attacker, blocks damage and grants movement speed, which is a strong answer to most ranged mages and a weak one against a champion who blinks on top of a target. Null Sphere is a targeted orb, Nether Blade is an empowered basic attack that returns mana, and Riftwalk is a teleport with damage attached — little of that is a projectile to turn around. The recorded result is 58.8% for Kassadin over 374 games on patch 16.13.1.

Where it is decided:

• Range. Mel operates at 550 units and Kassadin at 150, so everything she takes before level 6 comes from Radiant Volley and Solar Snare landing unanswered.
• Resistances. Both deal magic damage, but Void Stone reduces incoming magic damage while Mel has 21 base armor, 109.4 at level 18 and no comparable reduction.
• Health. She reaches 2,313 at level 18 against 2,567, and Golden Eclipse needs Overwhelm stacks already applied before it threatens a kill.

Searing Brilliance grants up to nine bonus projectiles on her next attack after a cast, which makes her wave control excellent and her single-target burst ordinary. Kassadin only has to reach the point where two items make Riftwalk repeatable.