Top 3 League of Legends champions that counter Katarina in the mid lane

Ever since the start of season 11, League of Legends’ Sinister Blade, Katarina has risen significantly in both pick and win rates in the competitive solo queue.

With the item system overhaul and the introduction of the new Mythic Sets, in patch 10.23, Katarina received a significant boost to her kit, as well as build path versatility that allowed her to go down both the AP and the AD route.

Katarina’s item versatility made her one of the hardest League of Legends champions to deal with in the mid lane. Though she requires a fair amount of practice and skill to pick up, once mastered, it can be incredibly difficult to shut her down once she starts to snowball out of the laning phase.

However, like even the most overturned of League of Legends champions, Katarina too has her mid lane counters. This guide will highlight 3 potent picks that players can flex to shut her down immediately and stop her from taking over the game.

Top 3 League of Legends counters for Katarina in the mid lane

1. Sett

Image via Riot Games

Raid boss Sett is one of the best Katarina counters in the mid lane. Though typically a top lane champion, Sett can flex mid and fit perfectly against Katarina.

Katarina thrives against squishy mage champions, and Sett being a bruiser with deceptively high damage output can shut her down effectively from level one onwards.

Moreover, Sett comes with a lot of CC with the addition of passive sustain that helps him to survive the laning phase easily. He is a kill-threat from level 3 and if played right, he can bully the most skilled Katarina players out of lane making them miss both farm and experience.

Sett Runes (screengrab via League of Legends client)

When it comes to picking the key rune stone, League of Legends players can either go for Conqueror or Fleet Footwork from the precision tree. As for the secondary runes, going Revitalize and Second Wind can be the best options against her.

Sett Items (screengrab via League of Legends client)

In terms of builds, aggressive mythic Stride Breaker or a more defensive Turbo Chemtank can work perfectly with his kit, however, Galeforce is also an option if players are looking to go for a more one-shot build with him.

2. Akali

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For Katarina, Akali is an incredibly high counter-threat. The Rogue Assassin has as much mobility as Katarina. However, Akali has better engagement tools and a more reliable kit that does not make her a sitting duck when facing a team with crowd control.

Akali’s innate mobility in the form of Perfect Execution and Shuriken Flip, makes her naturally counter everything that Katarina tries to do in lane.

And though, unlike Sett, she doesn’t come with any sort of crowd control ability in her kit, the mobility alone makes it incredibly hard to pin down for champions like Katarina, who usually go for all-in plays.

With Keystone Fleet Footwork along with passive runes Ravenous Hunter and Taste of Blood, Akali has good sustain during the laning phase. However, she is a bit hard to master and can be susceptible to ganks if the enemy has hard engage junglers like Hecarim, Lillia, Udyr...etc.

Akali runes (screengrab via League of Legends client)

When it comes to builds, Season 11 has made the AP route more favorable for Akali as compared to the hybrid Hextech Gunblade path she had in previous seasons.

Akali items (Screengrab via League of Legends client)

Night Harvester into Lich Bane into Zhonya’s Hourglass is her most tried and tested build path that League of Legends mid laners can look into.

3. Vladimir

Image via Riot Games

League of Legends’ resident Crimson Reaper is also an exceptional counter to Katarina. The healing his kit comes with doesn’t allow Katarina to whittle down his health pool and go for an easy execution like she would naturally do against mage picks.

Vladimir’s Sanguine Pool is a big “nope” button that cancels out any sort of hard engagement that comes his way.

Hence Katarina’s abilities like Voracity and Death Lotus hardly have much effect on him, which inadvertently doesn’t allow her to get resets for and go in for follow-up kills.

Vladimir Runes (screengrab via League of Legends client)

Katarina is all about finding her resets, which if prevented can make her have a significantly less impact during both the laning phase and late game team fights.

Phase Rush will always be the keystone of choice for League of Legends mid laners willing to give Vladimir a try against Katarina. Sure, other keystones like Electrocute and Predator can be effective, but Phase Rush is a much safer option.

Vladimit items (Screengrab via League of Legends client)

Much like with Akali, Night Harvester can be a solid pick for Vladimir. For more engagement option and mobility, Hextech Protobe will fit depending on the situation.