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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026

Kassadin Counters, Build and Runes — Mid Lane Matchups · Patch 26.20

the Void Walker

Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (1,963 games).

Kassadin, the Void Walker, takes less magic damage and blinks short distances with Riftwalk, each cast in a row costing more and hitting harder. Master+ Kassadins had no settled keystone — First Strike ahead of Electrocute — and their commonest build stacks mana: Rod of Ages, Archangel's Staff, Malignance. Ahri, Akali and Yone beat him most often.

AssassinMage

Patch 26.18 · Mid · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 1,963 games · Preview sample

League of LegendsPatch 26.18MidRanked Solo/DuoMaster+EUW · KR · NA1,963 gamesPreview sample

Role snapshot (Mid)

CTier

Win Rate: 48.3%
Pick Rate: 3.0%
Ban Rate: 2.7%

1,963

Games

High

Confidence

Most common path

380 games

53.9%Win Rate

Start

Flash

Teleport

Other first item

110 games

45.5%Win Rate

Start

Flash

Ignite

Runes

Patch 26.18

This exact page: taken in 22.6% of games·48.5% win rate over 443 games.

Primary

Inspiration

First Strike

When you initiate champion combat, deal 7% extra damage for 3 seconds and gain gold based on damage dealt.

Cash Back

Get some gold back when you purchase Legendary Items.

Triple Tonic

Upon reaching level 3, gain an Elixir of Avarice. Upon reaching level 6, gain an Elixir of Force. Upon reaching level 9, gain an Elixir of Skill.

Cosmic Insight

+18 Summoner Spell Haste+10 Item Haste

Secondary

Domination

Sudden Impact

Damaging basic attacks and abilities deal bonus true damage to enemy champions after using a dash, leap, blink, teleport, or when leaving stealth.

Ultimate Hunter

Unique takedowns grant permanent cooldown reduction on your Ultimate.

Shards

Adaptive Force
Health Scaling
Health Scaling

Other keystones taken

Electrocute26.0% taken · 45.8% win511 games
Deathfire Touch25.3% taken · 48.5% win497 games
Fleet Footwork3.7% taken · 52.8% win72 games

Tree pairs

Inspiration + Domination35.6% taken · 50.0% win698 games
Sorcery + Domination19.2% taken · 50.1% win377 games
Domination + Precision16.7% taken · 45.3% win327 games

Skill Order

Which ability to max first, and the level each point goes in — Kassadin's most common path.

Null Sphere

Kassadin fires an orb of void energy at a target, dealing damage and interrupting channels.

Cooldown 9/8.5/8/7.5/7s · 60/65/70/75/80 Mana

Nether Blade

Passive: Kassadin's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage.

Cooldown 7s · 1 Mana

Force Pulse

Kassadin draws energy from spells cast in his vicinity.

Cooldown 21/20/19/18/17s · 60/65/70/75/80 Mana

Riftwalk

Kassadin teleports to a nearby location dealing damage to nearby enemy units.

Cooldown 5/3.5/2s · 40 Mana

Max Order

EWQ

Max E first, then W, then Q. Take R whenever available (6 / 12 / 16).

Level-up Order

QNull Sphere
WNether Blade
EForce Pulse
RRiftwalk

Ability	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
QNull Sphere	Q													Q	Q		Q	Q
WNether Blade		W						W		W	W		W
EForce Pulse			E	E	E		E		E
RRiftwalk						R						R				R

Matchup map (Mid)

How Kassadin performs against enemy mid laners

Levels 1 – 18 · Master+40%60%Kassadin's win rate

≥ 60%Very favorable

55 – 60%Favorable

50 – 55%Even

45 – 50%Unfavorable

40 – 45%Hard

< 40%Very hard

Conditional build matrix

Recommended items by enemy team composition

Master+ · Patch 26.18

Mythic / CoreFirst major item

Core 2Second item

Core 3Third item

BootsBoot slot

SituationalPick as needed

Scaling — minute 10–30

KassadinMid average

Gold

102030

Damage to champions

102030

Counter plan — how to beat Kassadin

Deny the reset — it wants a kill to come back out; a warded exit removes it
Dodge the primary — its rotation is one skillshot; sidestep it and the rest is chip
Punish the cooldown — Kassadin is exposed while its rotation is down
Ward the flank — vision is what turns its best opening into a worse one
Respect the spike — Riot rates the kit 8/10, so a practised player gets more out of it than the average

Ability details

P
Void Stone
Kassadin takes reduced magic damage and ignores unit collision.
Passive — never cast
Q
Null Sphere
Kassadin fires an orb of void energy at a target, dealing damage and interrupting channels. The excess energy forms around himself, granting a temporary shield that absorbs magic damage.
Cost 60/65/70/75/80 ManaCooldown 9/8.5/8/7.5/7sRange 650
W
Nether Blade
Passive: Kassadin's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage. Active: Kassadin's next basic attack deals significant bonus magic damage and restores Mana.
Cost 1 ManaCooldown 7sRange 1
E
Force Pulse
Kassadin draws energy from spells cast in his vicinity. Upon charging up, Kassadin can use Force Pulse to damage and slow enemies in a cone in front of him.
Cost 60/65/70/75/80 ManaCooldown 21/20/19/18/17sRange 400
R
Riftwalk
Kassadin teleports to a nearby location dealing damage to nearby enemy units. Multiple Riftwalks in a short period of time cost additional Mana but also deal additional damage.
Cost 40 ManaCooldown 5/3.5/2sRange 500

Kassadin balance history

Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Kassadin in 5 patches. The latest is patch 26.18, published 2026-09-09.

Patch 26.182026-09-09
QNull Sphere
- Ability Power Ratio70% APto80% AP
RRiftwalk
- Base Damage70 / 90 / 110to80 / 95 / 110
Why, in Riot's words
Kassadin had a strong start to 2026 but hasn't regained his…footing…since our earlier nerfs. His Q should feel more punchy with his scaling, and we're aiming to provide more early agency through good Riftwalk usage without touching his late game fantasy.
Patch 26.112026-05-27
QNull Sphere
- Cooldown10 / 9.5 / 9 / 8.5 / 8to9 / 8.5 / 8 / 7.5 / 7
WNether Blade
- Base Magic Damage20 (+10% AP)to25 (+10% AP)
Why, in Riot's words
Our Void Walker has been limping around the Rift more than blinking. Stackable tear items have provided an additional cool late-game fantasy option besides pure AP, but his early game has been tougher than usual (in part due to our mid quest adjustment). These changes should help his laning, both in farming and trading.
Patch 26.42026-02-18
Base Stats
- Health Growth119to113
EForce Pulse
- Slow50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90%to50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70%
Why, in Riot's words
Kassadin's been having a great time now that he's able to stack multiple Tear of the Goddess items. Seriously, get on the Seraph's + Muramana train! But because this newfound power has taken him over the edge, we need to appropriately balance him. We want to preserve his high late game damage and mobile scaling fantasy, but we want to balance those strengths with appropriate weaknesses once he gets there.
Patch 25.172025-08-26
QNull Sphere
- Damage65 / 95 / 125 / 155 / 185 (+ 60% AP)to65 / 95 / 125 / 155 / 185 (+ 70% AP)
EForce Pulse
- Damage70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+ 65% AP)to70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+ 70% AP)
Why, in Riot's words
Kassadin has been a bit stagnant and below where we'd like him to be for resting win-rate, and his pick-rate is similarly declining. We're looking to enhance some of his late game damage output to encourage the high risk/high reward scaling playstyle that his players enjoy.
Patch 25.112025-05-27
Base Stats
- Base Armor (Level 1)19to21
EForce Pulse
- Damage60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+ 65% AP)to70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+ 65% AP)
RRiftwalk
- Bonus Damage per stack35 / 45 / 55 (+ 10% AP) (+ 1% maximum mana)to35 / 45 / 55 (+ 7% AP) (+ 1% maximum mana)
- Maximum Damage210 / 270 / 330 (+ 90% AP) (+ 6% maximum mana)to210 / 270 / 330 (+ 78% AP) (+ 6% maximum mana)
Why, in Riot's words
We are unhappy with the degree of Kassadin's current power curve, as he has been feeling a bit too weak in early game for most players while gaining a massive amount of power if allowed to by the 30 minute mark. Looking to relax his curve some, while still ensuring that players feel like level 16 is a high moment.

Kassadin skins (10)

Riot's data lists 10 looks for Kassadin with their own art, the base skin included and 22 chroma variants.

Kassadin splash art — KassadinFull screen

ARAM performance

EstimateS

Win Rate: 53.7%; ▼ 0.2%
Pick Rate: 3.7%; ▲ 5.1%
Ban Rate: 0.2%; ▲ 2.1%

Damage dealt: 100.9%
Damage taken: 96.6%
Healing: 96.0%
Shielding: 93.7%
Ability Haste: +8

Best ARAM build

Patch timeline

Riot’s notes

This champion’s win rate on each patch the preview sample spans, over its own games there. What actually changed each patch is in Riot’s own notes.

26.1948.8% over 647 games · small sample+0.3
26.1847.7% over 1,044 games-0.2
26.1749.1% over 265 games · small sample—

Kassadin's base stats against all 173 champions

Kassadin's attack speed per level of 3.7% is the 9th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.

Stat	Kassadin	Rank	Median
Base health	646	=36th	620
Health per level	113	22nd	104
Base armor	21	=158th	30
Armor per level	4	=157th	4.6
Base magic resist	30	=110th	32
Magic resist per level	1.3	=93rd	1.55
Base attack damage	59	=86th	59
Base attack speed	0.64	107th	0.656
Attack speed per level	3.7%	9th	2.5%
Move speed	335	=74th	335
Attack range	150	=115th	175

Kassadin at level 1 and level 18

Kassadin reaches 2567 health at level 18 — 646 at level 1 plus 17 × 113, the 20th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.
Kassadin reaches 1879 mana at level 18 — 400 at level 1 plus 17 × 87, the highest of 145 mana users on patch 26.20.
Kassadin reaches 89 armor at level 18 — 21 at level 1 plus 17 × 4, the 3rd-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.
Kassadin reaches 52.1 magic resist at level 18 — 30 at level 1 plus 17 × 1.3, the 34th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 43.

Stat	Level 1	Per level	Level 18	Rank at 18
Health	646	+113	2567	20th of 173
Mana	400	+87	1879	1st of 145
Armor	21	+4	89	171st of 173
Magic resist	30	+1.3	52.1	=97th of 173

Riot Data Dragon 16.20.1. Growth curve: League of Legends Wiki — Champion statistic.

Riot's tips for Kassadin

Playing Kassadin

Kassadin has multiple item paths; he can go caster via Mana and Ability Power or anti-caster with Cooldown Reduction and Magic Resist.
Kassadin's ultimate has many uses and is on a shorter cooldown than most, use it often.
Try to get the Ancient Golem buff to counteract Riftwalk's increasing Mana cost.

Playing against Kassadin

Kassadin deals mostly magic damage. If he's doing well consider buying magic resist items like Mercury's Treads and Banshee's Veil.
Each time Kassadin consecutively uses Riftwalk, he pays more and more mana. Keep this in mind as you chase him.
It takes 6 spell casts for Kassadin's slow, Force Pulse, to become castable. If he levels up that ability, judiciously use your own skills while laning against him.

Quick answers about Kassadin

How does Kassadin do against Ahri?: Kassadin won 40.6% of 64 counted Master+ games against Ahri. Ahri is one of the opponents that beat Kassadin. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Kassadin do against Akali?: Kassadin won 41.7% of 36 counted Master+ games against Akali. Akali is one of the opponents that beat Kassadin. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Kassadin do against Yone?: Kassadin won 44.0% of 109 counted Master+ games against Yone. Yone is one of the opponents that beat Kassadin.
How does Kassadin do against Fizz?: Kassadin won 46.9% of 49 counted Master+ games against Fizz. Fizz is one of the opponents that beat Kassadin. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Kassadin do against Yasuo?: Kassadin won 47.1% of 51 counted Master+ games against Yasuo. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Kassadin do against Katarina?: Kassadin won 48.6% of 70 counted Master+ games against Katarina. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Kassadin do against Viktor?: Kassadin won 55.2% of 87 counted Master+ games against Viktor. It is a matchup Kassadin wins more often than not. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Kassadin do against Zed?: Kassadin won 47.1% of 34 counted Master+ games against Zed. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
What class is Kassadin?: Riot classes Kassadin as Assassin and Mage. This site files the champion under Mid.
How hard is Kassadin to play?: Riot rates Kassadin's difficulty 8 out of 10.
What resource does Kassadin use?: Kassadin's abilities spend Mana.
What is Kassadin's attack range?: 150 units — the 46th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 13 others).
What are Kassadin's abilities?: Passive — Void Stone, Q — Null Sphere, W — Nether Blade, E — Force Pulse and R — Riftwalk.
How many skins does Kassadin have?: Riot's data lists 10 skins with their own art, the base look included, plus 22 chroma variants.
How much health does Kassadin have at level 18?: 2567 — 646 at level 1 plus 17 × 113 per level, Riot's own values, before items and runes.
What is Kassadin's ultimate cooldown?: Riftwalk (R): 5/3.5/2 seconds by rank, before ability haste, in Riot's Data Dragon 16.20.1.
When did Riot last change Kassadin?: Patch 26.18, published 9 September 2026 — the latest of 5 patches that change Kassadin in Riot's notes from 25.S1.1 to 26.20.

Kassadin at a glance

Kassadin, the Void Walker, is a Assassin and Mage champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 8/10 for difficulty, 3/10 for attack, 5/10 for defense and 8/10 for magic. Kassadin spends Mana and has 10 skins with their own art. Kassadin's attack speed per level of 3.7% is the 9th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.

Attack3/10
Defense5/10
Magic8/10
Difficulty8/10

Kassadin's story

Cutting a burning swath through the darkest places of the world, Kassadin knows his days are numbered. A widely traveled Shuriman guide and adventurer, he had chosen to raise a family among the peaceful southern tribes—until the day his village was consumed by the Void. He vowed vengeance, combining a number of arcane artifacts and forbidden technologies for the struggle ahead. Finally, Kassadin set out for the wastelands of Icathia, ready to face any monstrous Void-construct in his search for their self-proclaimed prophet, Malzahar.

— Riot Games, Data Dragon 16.20.1. League of Legends Universe

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Methodology

Data window: Preview sample — a one-time snapshot of 65,406 ranked games (Master+, EUW/KR/NA, patch 26.18), counted by GamGem while our Riot production key is under review. Figures will update daily once it is approved. Counted 26–27 Sept 2026; patches 26.18 (35,477) · 26.19 (18,580) · 26.17 (11,048) · 26.16 (293) · 26.15 (8); by server EUW 22,382 · KR 21,922 · NA 21,065 · EUNE 20 · TR 17. 642 games without a result — remakes ended by vote in their first minutes, and games recorded with no winner — were not counted.
Rank aggregation: Master, Grandmaster and Challenger, pooled — the three ladders the count read its players from. Splitting further leaves samples too small to separate a real effect from noise.
Role assignment: A champion is filed under every lane that holds at least a tenth of its counted games — the position the match itself reports, not the champion’s class. Its headline win rate is across all of them; each lane’s own win rate and games are counted too, and a lane’s tier list ranks by them.
Counters: The two champions in the same position on opposite teams, over that pairing’s own counted games — ranked on the edge pulled toward zero by its sample size, printed raw.
Minimum sample: None — no figure is hidden for being thin. Every rate prints its games, and the confidence band is its 95% margin: Very High within ±1.5 points, High ±2.5, Moderate ±3.1 (1,000 games), Low wider.
Why a build is not a cause: An item is counted when the match ENDS with it, so late items show long games and an item bought when already ahead shows games that were being won. Correlation is what a rate can show; it is not evidence that buying the item caused the win.
Where the numbers come from: Names, classes, abilities, items and runes are Riot Data Dragon. Win, pick and ban rates, builds, keystones, spells and matchups are counted by GamGem from Riot's ranked match records. An estimate, not a count: this panel is not in the preview sample, and is labelled so.

Kassadin on video

3 Minute Kassadin Guide - A Guide for League of Legends — League of Legends3 Minute League of Legends on YouTube · plays here

Published by 3 Minute League of Legends on YouTube, 30 September 2025.

1 year old. League of Legends has been patched since, so watch it for how the kit plays, not for numbers — the rest of this page is written for the current patch.

It plays in YouTube’s own player once you press play. Nothing is downloaded or re-hosted here, and nothing loads from YouTube until then.