Katarina vs Zeri Counter Pick

Mobility should, in theory, be the answer to an assassin. Spark Surge dashes and lets Zeri vault over any terrain she touches, Lightning Crash stacks move speed that refreshes on every takedown, and Living Battery treats her attacks as abilities. The recorded outcome disagrees: Katarina takes 58.1% of 148 games tracked on patch 16.13.1.

• Zeri’s frame is fragile, at 24 armor on level one and 95.4 at level 18 from a 600 health base, and Shunpo needs no projectile to reach it.
• Her 550 attack range stops mattering the instant a dagger lands and the gap closes; Burst Fire sends seven rounds into the first enemy hit, which is excellent in a chase and poor at point-blank.
• Ultrashock Laser and Spark Surge both cost mana, while Katarina uses no resource, so nothing limits how often she probes.

Maximum health is nearly level, 2,508 against 2,470, but the resistance curve is not: Katarina finishes on 111.9 armour to Zeri’s 95.4, and her damage is magic, so the armour a marksman build accumulates does nothing to slow it. Living Battery also makes Zeri’s attacks count as abilities, so several standard marksman purchases return less than the item text implies. Difficulty ratings read 6 for Zeri and 8 for Katarina, meaning the harder champion is winning the exchange, which usually points at execution rather than the draft.