Samira vs Karthus Counter Pick

Samira out-ranges Karthus by 50 units, 500 against 450, and still loses the matchup at 43.8% over 169 games on patch 16.13.1. Death Defied explains why a clean kill settles nothing: Karthus enters a spirit form on dying and keeps casting, so the reward Samira normally collects for a successful all-in never arrives.

• Wall of Pain slows anything walking through it and reduces magic resist, aimed at both her approach and her exit.
• Defile drains health from everything nearby for as long as he keeps it running, punishing the melee range Daredevil Impulse asks her to hold.
• Requiem channels for three seconds and then damages every enemy champion, distance irrelevant.

The stat comparison flatters Samira and misleads. She grows to 2,466 health and 105.9 armour by level 18 against 2,490 and 100.9, and his 46 base attack damage is the weakest thing about him, none of which counts, because his output is magic and hers is physical against 30 base magic resist. Both move at 335. Blade Whirl destroys missiles, but Lay Waste is a delayed blast at a location rather than a fired object, so her cleanest defensive tool has nothing to catch. Karthus is rated 7 for difficulty against her 6, and his 620 starting health leaves him no more fragile early than she is at 630.