Kai’Sa is one of the absolute fan favorites when it comes to marksmen in League of Legends and there’s a high chance of running into her when grinding solo queue, regardless of rank.
The popularity of Kai’Sa has been big ever since her release in March 2018. Since then, Kai’Sa has moved in and out of the meta but has always been a champion that can perform well if played correctly. Even in her weakest metas, players are able to succeed on Kai’Sa because of her playmaking potential and ability to assassinate squishy targets. Kai’Sa’s mobility-based kit differentiates her from most other marksmen and makes her a champion that most marksmen players should consider picking up.
Playing against Kai’Sa can be a pain, especially when facing a player who knows her limits. If played correctly, a Kai’Sa player can jump in at the right times, assassinate the important carries, and escape safely. Kai’Sa is also scary to face in the late game as she only grows stronger by the minute. Taking down late-game objectives such as Baron Nashor or dragons is easy for a team with a Kai’Sa, so be aware of the late-game damage.
Luckily, Kai’Sa is by no means impossible to counter and does have weaknesses. Here are some of the best ways to counter Kai’Sa and regain control of the bot lane.
Kai’Sa counters in League of Legends
The best way to handle Kai’Sa and all her mobility is by taking advantage of her short range. Unlike many other marksmen, Kai’Sa has a fairly short range on her auto attacks and that can be exploited.
As the marksman assassin that Kai’Sa is, she is strongest when she gets to jump in on targets or kite melees around. Kai’Sa does well against beefy champions without much mobility, but can quickly be punished against champions that can out-range her or straight up lock her down with hard crowd control.
In most cases, players will face off against Kai’Sa in the bot lane so it’s important to pick something that does well against her right off the bat. One of the best picks against Kai’Sa in the laning phase is Ashe, who is currently winning almost 55% of all games against her. Ashe is a great pick because her auto-attack range is longer and all the slows she applies shuts down everything Kai’Sa wants to do. Ashe’s Volley is also great to harass Kai’Sa and keep her at range.
A pick that actually performs a little better against Kai’Sa is Draven. Even though Draven isn’t a champion with long-range and a lot of crowd control, he instead deals a lot of damage that can be hard for Kai’Sa to deal with. Draven is a true lane bully and will be able to out-damage Kai’Sa right from level one. By doing so, Kai’Sa will never get the edge needed to snowball and likely won’t get her items until it’s too late.
Kai’Sa marksmen counters:
Another way to counter Kai’Sa is by picking the right supports against her. Some of the best supports to shut down a Kai’Sa are the ones that can either bully her in the early stages of the game or lock her down in team fights. A champion that can do both is Lulu, who is able to poke Kai’Sa in lane and peel for her own carry later on. Lulu might be squishy, but she can easily save teammates with Wild Growth and lock down Kai’Sa with Whimsy when she jumps in.
What role is Kai’Sa in LoL?
Kai’Sa is a marksman and, therefore, mostly suited for the bot lane. Paired up with the right supports, Kai’Sa can be a menace in the bot lane even in the early game. Kai’Sa performs well with engage supports, as crowd control from other champions will apply Kai’Sa’s plasma stacks onto the targets. This will allow Kai’Sa to dish out damage faster and later on enable her ultimate much easier.
Even though Kai’Sa has a shorter range than most other marksmen, she is still considered a very good pick for the bot lane position. With her mobility, it’s usually not a problem for Kai’Sa to find the right entries. Some would probably consider Kai’Sa in either mid or the top lane, but Kai’Sa has only succeeded in the bottom lane so far.
How good is Kai’Sa?
Kai’Sa is one of those champions that will never fall completely out of flavor. Her great scaling and mobility make her very versatile and a popular pick amongst players who want to make plays. This is especially the case in solo queue games, where Kai’Sa remains one of the most popular marksmen in season 11.
On LoL patch 11.16, Kai’Sa isn’t the one to pull off the highest win rates. In fact, her win rate in the bot lane is at a fairly low point of 48.72% in Platinum ranks and above. With that said, Kai’Sa has still been picked more than 100,000 times which makes her one of the most-picked champions in the role.
While there are currently much better picks by looking at the win rates, Kai’Sa is still a champion that players will commonly face in solo queue.