Karthus is a mid-lane mage that has an ultimate that makes enemy champions think twice about having low health. He effectively snipes low health enemy champions anywhere on the map with his ultimate. In this article, we discuss how to effectively counter Karthus.
Best Karthus Counters
- Soraka
- Kassadin
- LeBlanc
- Fizz
- Katarina
- Lux
Lightsbane Karthus
Karthus Counter Picks
Now that you know who counters Karthus, you can finally counter pick Karthus in any matchup. Let’s take you through some tips on how to use a few of these champions who are counters to Karthus. After, there is a general section explaining how to use any LoL champion as counters for Karthus. After all, if you know how to play against Karthus, you can play safely and effectively to defeat Karthus in a lane.
LeBlanc
- From level 2 and onwards you will be chunking his health with LeBlanc’s QWharasses with ease suffering little if any retaliation.
- Karthus likes to run Exhaust so make sure you are prepared for such an event, dashing directly onto him post-6 can cause him to panic and use it on you even if you don’t do anything.
Soraka
Soraka’s ultimate is global and heals all your teammates, while Karthus damages all of them. Luckily, yours is a shorter cooldown so it’s possible to always have it up! Karthus will eventually do more damage than you can heal, but it’s still very useful.
Katarina
Karthus has no cc to counter Katarina’s ultimate. Also, when you kill him you can jump right out of his passive.
Fizz
As Fizz you are mobile enough to dodge his Q, mostly because you don’t have any unit collision due to Fizz’s passive. When Karthus is using his Ultimate, use your E just before the Requiem is finished. Expect Karthus to run Exhaust to compensate.
Grim Reaper Karthus
Tips For Laning Against Karthus
- Buying a hex drinker or a Banshee’s Veil will greatly increase your chance to survive Karthus’ Requiem.
- Or, a well-timed Zhonya’s Hourglass can save you from Karthus’ Requiem.
- Step away from his corpse when he dies, as his defile will do massive damage to you if you stand in it.
- If you see that he has low mana, just ignore him and don’t kill him. This will deny him from casting any spells using his passive.
- If you can’t dodge his lay waste, stay close to your minions to minimize the damage.
Phantom Karthus
By using the champions who counter Karthus and the LoL Karthus counter tips above, you can now develop a strategy to help you, as a summoner, become an effective counter to Karthus players.