Complete season 13 Kassadin guide

Kassadin, The Void Walker has been an iconic champion in League of Legends for as long as the game has existed. Being a part of the original roster of champions, the character has always served the same purpose. Designed to counter champions who deal magic damage, while abusing their favorite asset, mana. And with the return of Rod of Ages, season 13 is the perfect time to abuse Kassadin.

Kassadin abilities

Despite being one of the oldest champions in the game, Kassadin’s design makes him viable to this day. A lot of this is attributed to his passive ability called Void Stone, which enables him to avoid unit collision and take 10% reduced magic damage. Not only can Kassadin walk through minions, champions and jungle monsters to avoid spells, but he also takes less damage from those that do hit him. That on its own makes him a nightmare for mage players, but the rest of his kit builds off it. 

His Q ability called Null Sphere deals magic damage, gives him a shield that blocks magic damage for 1,5 seconds, and also cancels channels. If you are not familiar with the term, it means that it cancels casted abilities. Katarina’s or Lux’s ultimate abilities get canceled before they do damage with a single spell. This might sound scary until you realize it used to be a silence. Now that 96% ban rate in season makes more sense. 

His W ability is called Nether Blade and gives Kassadin bonus damage on his next basic attack. The trick here is that this empowered basic attack can’t be canceled, resets his attack animation, does damage, and restores mana, with the amount being quintupled against enemy champions. And this is all before his bread and butter abilities come into play. 

His E ability is called Force Pulse, dealing damage and slowing enemies in a cone-shaped form. His ultimate ability called Riftwalk is also his most infamous one, as Kassadin teleports the distance of the Flash summoner spell while doing damage on landing. He can cast it multiple times, with each cast doing more damage and costing more mana. xPeke’s legendary backdoor wouldn’t be a thing without Kassadin’s Riftwalk.  

Kassadin patch note history

Patch 12.23, which was one of the last patches of season 12, brought changes to Kassadin that turned out to have a major impact. His E ability no longer required 6 ability casts to come online, and now had a set cooldown which was reduced by a second for each ability casted in a 1800 range radius. The removal of the last Dota ‘like mechanic from Kassadin might have hurt him in some matchups, but it pushed him up in our preseason mid lane meta guide. That patch also brought changes to his Q ability, making his magic damage shield instant. 

Kassadin Pros and Cons in season 13

Now that you know how Kassadin works, it’s time to consider his good and bad sides. This will help you decide when you can pick him or if you should start maining him. Let’s start with what makes Kassadin a great champion

Pros of playing Kasadin in season 13

• Scaling-With the return of Rod of Ages to the game and the adjustments Seraph’s Embrace underwent, Kassadin is back to being the best scaling champion in the game. Once he is level 16 and his items are fully stacked and upgraded, the game is decided by Kassadin’s gameplay
• Mobility-Those two items also give him enough mana to mindlessly spam his ultimate ability, making him the most mobile champion in the game. 
• Sidelane-This mobility and his empowered W ability are great for playing on sidelanes, securing gold, and experience leads, which are very crucial.
• Carry champion-With all those resources, mobility, and stacking items, Kassadin has many ways to single handledly win even the toughest games, making him a great 1v9 champion.
• Mage counter- A hypermobile melee assassin that is designed to counter mages, but also does great against tanks and other damage dealers.
• Fun to play- All of this results in a great design that is very fun to play, once you master how to minimize his cons.

Cons of playing Kasadin in season 13

• Weak early game- Kassadin’s early game is really really bad. Before level 6 you will barely do enough damage to kill the minions even if your opponent is not playing the game. 
• Squishy mage assassin- For all that mobility, Kassadin is still a melee champion building mage items, which makes him very squishy and prone to bursts, despite how powerful his new items are.
• No crowd control-Kassadin can easily chase his enemy but he doesn’t have crowd control to stop them from escaping. If the Kassadin mispositions or gets focused by the enemy team, he will have a very hard time doing his job and assassinating the key target. 

Kassadin matchups

The task of becoming the late game powerhouse Kassadin is known to be, starts in champion select. Locking in Kassadin before the enemy team does is not the only thing you need to worry about. Since Kassadin is one of the oldest and most famous champions in League of Legends, nearly every player knows how to counter him. These are Kassadin’s worst matchups in terms of win rate, which you should consider banning or dodging if you care about your ranked grind.

Ban or dodge Pantheon as Kassadin

Pantheon is another iconic old champion in League of Legends, that has found his niche doing exactly the opposite of Kassadin. Pantheon’s stun can’t be missed or dodged, which makes him a load to deal with in the early game. In fact, Pantheon’s entire kit counters Kassadin, to the point where Kassadin can never fight a Pantheon 1v1. His global ultimate ability helps him impact the map while Kassadin is stuck farming under the tower, creating advantages somewhere else on the map. Kassadin has a measly 47% win rate against Pantheon in 5000 matches this patch, making him your worst matchup and preferred ban.

Worst matchups for Kassadin in season 13

• Mobile ADCs- The list here includes Lucian, Tristana and Akshan. Much like Pantheon, all of these ADCs are great at dealing single target damage in a hurry. Their range advantage makes it impossible for Kassadin to trade back. Meanwhile, their mobility and short mid lane, ensures they are always safe by dashing away from Kassadin. With their attack speed steroids and reset mechanics, these champions can destroy Kassadin’s tower and generate a gold lead he cannot be able to recover from. 
• AD Assasins (Zed, Talon)- All of these apart from Pantheon are skill matchups, and depend on your level of play. Just like the rest, both Zed and Talon have enough damage to kill Kassadin in the early game. Make one wrong move and you will be seeing a gray screen. From there they just start a snowball effect, killing you and everyone else on the map, to the point where you can’t even look at them. 

Best Kassadin runes for season 13

The other important aspect when loading up for a Kassadin game are your rune choices. Runes can impact the game beyond comprehension and making the right choice holds way too much value. They can be switched accordingly to the game, depending on the match up and the opponent’s team composition. But this rune page should be your best preferred one since it covers most of the necessary things. 

Conqueror Kassadin

In season 13 Kassadin can still play like an assassin, but he doesn’t have to. Everything we said in the Cons is balanced out by a proper build and rune choice. For a champion that will be casting his abilities multiple times in a fight, Conqueror is the best choice. Not only does it do more damage, but it also heals you for a bit. More importantly, it allows you to access the Precision tree. This grants you access to other really important runes. Electrocute is just not worth it at any point in the game. The only other rune you could consider in hard matchups is Fleet Footwork. This should help you sustain the lane and play out toward your win conditions.

Precision Tree runes for Kassadin in season 13

Presence of Mind is Kassadin’s best friend, as his ultimate spends more and more mana. Not only does it increase mana regenerations but it also gives him a huge chunk of his mana back on takedowns. This combined with his W ability helps him sustain his mana level in chaotic team fights, and enables him to dish out some serious damage. 

For a melee champion that is fairly squishy, the worst thing that can happen to Kassadin is getting stunned and dying. That’s why Legend: Tenacity is so important. The first patch of season 13 nerfed this rune a bit, but it’s still the best choice for Kassadin. Tenacity reduced the duration of crowd control effects, making Kassadin’s rampage more viable.

Secondary Kassadin runes

The choices are a tad bit unclear for the secondary runes, as it mostly depends on team composition. If you are playing for the late game and plan on murdering everyone, Transcendence and Gathering Storm from the Sorcery Tree should do a fine job. Ultimate Hunter is never a bad choice on Kassadin while some cookies and Cosmic Insight can make your laning phase much easier. 

But our recommended secondary runes for every Kassadin game will be Bone Plating and Overgrowth. Kassadin already builds a lot of health in his items, which makes him one of the few mages that can use Overgrowth. Meanwhile, Bone Plating is a good rune against burst champions that rely on a combo. It probably won’t be good for every game and you will need to learn how to play around with it. But once you figure it out, you will realize how much of a difference this rune makes.

Best minor runes for Kassadin

The final piece of the puzzle before going into the game, are the minor runes. Choosing ability haste, armor and magic resist might confuse you. But you need to stop autopiloting when choosing your runes and think of your goals. Kassadin builds and gets a lot of health. That’s why you need these resistances. Not only do they help you survive the early game, but they also scale well into the late game. On another note, the ability haste these runes give offers a lot more value for Kassadin than the attack speed or damage ever will. 

Best starting items for Kassadin in season 13

With everything you have learned in mind, it’s time to start your journey as a Kassadin main. Choosing the correct starting items can determine how the game plays out, so it’s beyond important. You might see more skilled players opting for different choices, but your best bet will always be a refillable pot and Dark Seal.

As you may know, Tear of the Goddess is a must buy item for Kassadin. But if you start with that item, you can only get two consumable pots. Those probably won;t be enough for the entire laning phase, so a refillable pot will always be the better choice from an economic perspective. Doran’s ring does provide the most value, but you don’t really need it. You won’t be winning and you shouldn’t be starting fights with Kassadin in the lane phase. Tear doesnt give you health, and the faster stacking is just not worth it. Meanwhile, Dark Seal enables you to snowball, offers more sustain in the lane, and is the preferred starting item for any Kassadin player.

Best Kassadin Summoner spells

We already acknowledged that Kassadin’s goal to win the game is surviving the laning phase. Since you won’t be fighting early, you will almost never use Ignite. Ghost is really good, which we already explained in our ARAM guide. But to make the most out of Kassadin, you need gold and experience. And you gain these, by using Teleport. 

Teleport and Flash

This summoner spell offers more and more value the longer the game goes, so it fits Kassadin perfectly. You can dominate the sidelane and create pressure, and still have the option to help your team by using Teleport. The other summoner spell you will naturally be using is Flash. Kassadin might have his ultimate ability, but this entire game is balanced around the summoner spell Flash.

How to play Kassadin early game?

Playing out the early game on Kassadin is probably the hardest part. If you are playing against a melee champion that isn’t mentioned in the matchups list, starting with your W ability is the best choice. It will help you farm a lot faster and you will also never run out of mana, despite starting with a Dark Seal. If you are playing against a ranged matchup (mages) or any of the tough matchups we mentioned, you should always start with your Q ability. This ensures you can last hit some minions from a safe distance without being punished for it. Due to the recent changes to Kassadin’s E ability, you will level it up after your Q and W. 

Ultimate Kassadin build for season 13

Now that you know nearly everything about Kassadin, it’s time to learn what his core items are. We already explained how Rod of Ages and Seraph’s Embrace synergize with each other. But now you will learn why they make Kassadin one of the best champions for season 13. 

Kassadin’s ultimate ability does more damage with each cast. But the damage also scales with his maximum mana. So not only do you need mana to use it more often at max stacks, but it also increases your damage.  Building Rod of Ages and Tear of the Goddess resolves those issues. But when those items are fully stacked and transform, they make a potent combo. 

How to play Kassadin in season 13

You should start every game with a Dark Seal and refillable potion, and purchase a Tear on your first back. The next step is to rush Rod of Ages. Kassadin doesn’t need tier two boots early on, and having your RoA stacker much faster is really important. After you complete RoA you could upgrade your boots depending on the game state. If your team is losing, make sure to start building toward Archangel’s Staff.

Best boot choices for Kassadin

If your team is consistently fighting, make sure to purchase Ionian boots of Lucidity. Not only are they cheaper and offer a lot of ability haster, but they also reduce the cooldown on your summoner spells. Having Teleport and Flash more often can decide the game. The ability haste also helps you stack your Conqueror faster, helping you win extended fights. Since the durability update, tanks and bruisers have been rampaging on the rift. We mentioned some of the worst offenders in our preseason top lane  and jungle guide. The point is unless you are facing a team with only one tank, Sorcerers shoes are not worth it. Yess you might do a bit more damage early on, but it won’t help you win the game. After your core two items and boots, the rest of your build should be depending on the situation.  

Situational items for Kassadin in season 13

Rabadon’s Deathcap will provide you with the most damage possible. If the enemy team has tanks and bruisers, make sure you purchase Void Staff as your third item. And if you have trouble staying alive or you want to make risky plays, Zhonya’s Hourglass is here for you. If you are fighting a Yasuo, Yone, Tryndamere or any ADC that uses a lot of basic attacks, purchase Frozen Heart. Not only does this item give you more mana (and damage), but its passive also reduces attack speed. This should help you take down any opponent, while doing insane damage and being reasonably durable.