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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026

Katarina Build, Runes and Mid Lane Matchups · Patch 26.20

the Sinister Blade

Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (4,202 games).

Katarina, the Sinister Blade, picks up her own Daggers to slash around them, and Voracity cuts her cooldowns when a champion she hurt recently dies. Master+ players split her keystone almost evenly between Conqueror and Electrocute and opened with Lich Bane. In the count she came out ahead of Syndra, Sylas, Yone and Yasuo. Against Akali, Fizz and Zed she was close to even. Ahri beat her most often.

AssassinMage

Patch 26.18 · Mid · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 4,202 games · Preview sample

Role snapshot (Mid)

STier
Win Rate
51.5%
Pick Rate
6.4%
Ban Rate
11.0%

4,202

Games

Very High

Confidence

Win rate by lane

  • Mid51.8% · 3,370 games
  • Bot49.9% · 615 games · small sample

Most common path

415 games

51.3%Win Rate

Start
FlashIgnite

Highest win rate path

73 games

84.9%Win Rate

Start
FlashIgnite

Other first item

330 games

58.2%Win Rate

Start
FlashTeleport

Runes

Patch 26.18

This exact page: taken in 14.4% of games·53.4% win rate over 605 games.

Primary

Domination

Electrocute

Hitting a champion with 3 separate attacks or abilities in 3s deals bonus adaptive damage.

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.

Grisly Mementos

Collect 1 memento on champion takedowns, up to 18 total. Gain 6 Trinket Haste for each collected.

Relentless Hunter

Unique takedowns grant permanent out of combat MS.

Secondary

Precision

Triumph

Takedowns restore 5% of your missing health and grant an additional 20 gold.

Coup de Grace

Deal more damage to low health enemy champions.

Shards

  • Adaptive Force
  • Adaptive Force
  • Health

Other keystones taken

  • Electrocute44.5% taken · 52.2% win1,868 games
  • Dark Harvest4.2% taken · 53.1% win175 games
  • Lethal Tempo0.4% taken · 43.8% win16 games

Tree pairs

  • Domination + Precision42.0% taken · 53.3% win1,766 games
  • Precision + Resolve22.8% taken · 51.9% win960 games
  • Precision + Domination17.1% taken · 50.0% win720 games

Skill Order

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

Q

Bouncing Blade

Katarina throws a Dagger at the target that then bounces to nearby enemies before ricocheting onto the ground.

Cooldown 11/10/9/8/7s
W

Preparation

Katarina gains a burst of Move Speed, tossing a Dagger into the air directly above herself.

Cooldown 15/14/13/12/11s
E

Shunpo

Katarina blinks to the target, striking it if its an enemy, or striking the nearest enemy otherwise.

Cooldown 12/11/10/9/8s
R

Death Lotus

Katarina becomes a flurry of blades, dealing massive magic damage while she channels to the 3 nearest enemy champions.

Cooldown 75/60/45s

Max Order

QEW

Max Q first, then E, then W. Take R whenever available (6 / 11 / 16).

Level-up Order

  • Q
  • W
  • E
  • R
Ability123456789101112131415161718
QBouncing BladeQQQQQ
WPreparationWWWWW
EShunpoEEEEE
RDeath LotusRRR

Matchup map (Mid)

How Katarina performs against enemy mid laners

Levels 1 – 18 · Master+40%60%Katarina'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

KatarinaMid average

Gold

102030

Damage to champions

102030

CS

102030

Counter plan — how to beat Katarina

  • 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 — Katarina 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

    Voracity

    Whenever an enemy champion dies that Katarina has damaged recently, her remaining ability cooldowns are dramatically reduced.If Katarina picks up a Dagger, she uses it to slash through all nearby enemies, dealing magic damage.

    Passive — never cast

  • Q

    Bouncing Blade

    Katarina throws a Dagger at the target that then bounces to nearby enemies before ricocheting onto the ground.

    Cooldown 11/10/9/8/7sRange 625

  • W

    Preparation

    Katarina gains a burst of Move Speed, tossing a Dagger into the air directly above herself.

    Cooldown 15/14/13/12/11sRange 25000

  • E

    Shunpo

    Katarina blinks to the target, striking it if its an enemy, or striking the nearest enemy otherwise.

    Cooldown 12/11/10/9/8sRange 725

  • R

    Death Lotus

    Katarina becomes a flurry of blades, dealing massive magic damage while she channels to the 3 nearest enemy champions.

    Cooldown 75/60/45sRange 550

Katarina balance history

Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Katarina in 1 patch. The latest is patch 25.20, published 2025-10-07.

  1. Patch 25.202025-10-07

    Base Stats

    • Armor28to32
    Why, in Riot's words

    Despite Katarina feeling oppressive in the mid-game, she's been having a hard time actually converting her snowballs into wins. This is true even in the hands of her most dedicated mains. So, we're going to play up some of her resilience in lane so that she can find more success battling her lane opponent.

Katarina skins (20)

Riot's data lists 20 looks for Katarina with their own art, the base skin included and 58 chroma variants.

ARAM performance

EstimateB
Win Rate
50.7%
▲ 0.0%
Pick Rate
2.9%
▲ 1.4%
Ban Rate
1.4%
▲ 2.3%
Damage dealt
94.0%
Damage taken
105.1%
Healing
91.4%
Shielding
101.9%
Ability Haste
+2

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.

  1. 26.1950.9% over 1,259 games-0.3
  2. 26.1851.6% over 2,203 games-0.3
  3. 26.1752.5% over 718 games · small sample—

Katarina's base stats against all 173 champions

  • Katarina's base health of 672 is the 7th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.
StatKatarinaRankMedian
Base health6727th620
Health per level108=53rd104
Base armor32=65th30
Armor per level4.7=42nd4.6
Base magic resist32=32nd32
Magic resist per level2.05=4th1.55
Base attack damage58=95th59
Base attack speed0.658=54th0.656
Attack speed per level2.74%65th2.5%
Move speed335=74th335
Attack range125=129th175

Katarina at level 1 and level 18

  • Katarina reaches 2508 health at level 18 — 672 at level 1 plus 17 × 108, the 31st-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.
  • Katarina reaches 111.9 armor at level 18 — 32 at level 1 plus 17 × 4.7, the 54th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 2.
  • Katarina reaches 66.85 magic resist at level 18 — 32 at level 1 plus 17 × 2.05, the 5th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 69.
StatLevel 1Per levelLevel 18Rank at 18
Health672+108250831st of 173
Armor32+4.7111.9=54th of 173
Magic resist32+2.0566.85=5th of 173

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

Riot's tips for Katarina

Playing Katarina

  • Picking up Daggers will significantly reduce Shunpo's cooldown.
  • Try waiting until the other team is distracted with fighting your team, and use Shunpo to teleport into the fray and unleash a devastating Death Lotus.
  • Using Shunpo on an allied Champion, Dagger, or minion can be a great escape tactic.

Playing against Katarina

  • Katarina's abilities deal magic damage, so even if she's building Attack Damage items, get magic resistance to counter her.
  • Try to save a disable for when Katarina uses her Death Lotus.

Quick answers about Katarina

How does Katarina do against Akali?
Katarina won 48.1% of 108 counted Master+ games against Akali. It is close to even.
How does Katarina do against Fizz?
Katarina won 50.6% of 79 counted Master+ games against Fizz. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Katarina do against Yasuo?
Katarina won 54.0% of 100 counted Master+ games against Yasuo. It is a matchup Katarina wins more often than not.
How does Katarina do against Zed?
Katarina won 49.2% of 122 counted Master+ games against Zed. It is close to even.
How does Katarina do against Sylas?
Katarina won 59.4% of 133 counted Master+ games against Sylas. It is a matchup Katarina wins more often than not.
How does Katarina do against Yone?
Katarina won 58.8% of 160 counted Master+ games against Yone. It is a matchup Katarina wins more often than not.
How does Katarina do against Syndra?
Katarina won 62.7% of 126 counted Master+ games against Syndra. It is a matchup Katarina wins more often than not.
How does Katarina do against Ahri?
Katarina won 42.0% of 100 counted Master+ games against Ahri. Ahri is one of the opponents that beat Katarina.
What class is Katarina?
Riot classes Katarina as Assassin and Mage. This site files the champion under Mid.
How hard is Katarina to play?
Riot rates Katarina's difficulty 8 out of 10.
What resource does Katarina use?
Katarina's abilities cost no resource.
What is Katarina's attack range?
125 units — the lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 44 others).
What are Katarina's abilities?
Passive — Voracity, Q — Bouncing Blade, W — Preparation, E — Shunpo and R — Death Lotus.
How many skins does Katarina have?
Riot's data lists 20 skins with their own art, the base look included, plus 58 chroma variants.
How much health does Katarina have at level 18?
2508 — 672 at level 1 plus 17 × 108 per level, Riot's own values, before items and runes.
What is Katarina's ultimate cooldown?
Death Lotus (R): 75/60/45 seconds by rank, before ability haste, in Riot's Data Dragon 16.20.1.
When did Riot last change Katarina?
Patch 25.20, published 7 October 2025 — the latest of 1 patch that change Katarina in Riot's notes from 25.S1.1 to 26.20.

Katarina at a glance

Katarina, the Sinister Blade, is a Assassin and Mage champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 8/10 for difficulty, 4/10 for attack, 3/10 for defense and 9/10 for magic. Katarina spends no resource on abilities and has 20 skins with their own art. Katarina's base health of 672 is the 7th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.

Attack4/10
Defense3/10
Magic9/10
Difficulty8/10

Katarina's story

Decisive in judgment and lethal in combat, Katarina is a Noxian assassin of the highest caliber. Eldest daughter to the legendary General Du Couteau, she made her talents known with swift kills against unsuspecting enemies. Her fiery ambition has driven her to pursue heavily-guarded targets, even at the risk of endangering her allies—but no matter the mission, Katarina will not hesitate to execute her duty amid a whirlwind of serrated daggers.
— 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.

Katarina on video

Published by League of Legends on YouTube, 15 August 2012.

14 years 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.