How to Abuse Karma Mid in Season 14
In season 14 of League of Legends, some champions have been extremely dominant with the new items and some of the buffs they have received this season. One such champion who has shown to be a strong laner is Karma in the mid-lane.
Karma has always been a mid-lane champion, but she was never that strong there. Compared to many other mid-lane champions, she doesn’t have much to offer her team. But in the current meta, she has proven to be a great champion pick.
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Why Karma is Suddenly OP
Karma is suddenly an OP champion due to her high damage output in all game stages. Unlike some champions, she doesn’t need much time to come online, as she has her Ultimate at level 1. This allows her to poke the enemy down and gain significant advantages early on.
She can abuse some of the new items, deal considerable damage, and clear waves quickly. Playing versus a roaming champion? Let them leave, and soon, their tower will go missing, too, as she has amazing wave clearing and pushing power, which lets her clear waves quickly and get turret plates.
Karma Mid Best Build
This is Karma’s build in the mid lane. As you can see, she is abusing Arcane Comet for the extra poke. She rushes Malignance for the wave clear and damage, and she also buys Cyrptbloom as the game develops. These 3 combined make her a deadly poking champion.
Laning Phase Tips
We’ve briefly touched on her laning phase in the first section, but how do you really play Karma in the mid lane? You don’t only poke right? Well, kinda.
During the laning phase, your goal is to keep bullying and harassing the enemy as often as you can with your Q and empowered Q combo. You need to aim your Q so it hits both the enemy and the enemy champion at the same time, so you push and poke simultaneously.
Your goal is to pick up as much gold as possible so you get Malignance, and once you have purchased it, your poke only intensifies due to its short cooldown and increased damage output. When you’ve completed this item, your goal is to just push. Keep pushing and poking the enemy down and force them to recall or die. After that, you just stay in the middle lane and keep pushing and backing off when you see the enemy Jungler approach your lane.
She is one of the simplest and easiest-to-play champions you can abuse in the meta right now. Make sure you either pick or ban her as you don’t want to face her due playing against her: she is FREELO
Karma Matchups
These matchups are really good for Karma. For an easy laning phase, pick her into any of these champions. For the record, these stats are from Patch 14.4, all servers and are Emerald+. The win rate next to each champion is what their win rate was versus Karma.
Zed (45.8% WR on Patch 14.4)
Zed must all-in to get kills, but as soon as he gets close to her, she can W him, shield herself and run off. Post 6, there’s no way he will kill her with Exhaust, and if he wants to roam, he will lose his tower.
Sylas (45.6% WR on Patch 14.4)
Sylas is weak in the early game and suffers from extreme poke. Karma is among the pokiest champions early, so he will hate laning against her. Post 6, her Ultimate is useless on him, and he cant roam to pick up kills or else she will take his tower.
Corki (41.9% WR on Patch 14.4)
Corki’s wave clear isn’t as strong as Karma’s. He needs to roam with his Package if he wants to get ahead. While he is gone, she will take his tower.
However, we should also talk about some harder matchups for her. Think about if you really want to pick her into these champions.
Tristana (48.1% WR on Patch 14.4)
Tristana is one of the few champions whose early game is just as strong. She wins auto-attack trades with her E, and her E damage is higher than your shield.
Annie (49.8% WR on Patch 14.4)
She has good all-in potential and can blow you up post 6. She also wants the minion wave pushed towards her early on. Annie has great gank set-up, so her Jungler can come and kill you once you overextend.
Twisted Fate (50.2% WR on Patch 14.4)
In his current state, Twisted Fate is dominating most enemies, so his WR versus Karma is a little skewed. However, he has great pick potential and can get back to the lane quickly after roaming. He also has a good gank set-up.
Karma Tips and Tricks
Here are some really basic tips and tricks to help you get started on playing Karma in the mid-lane.
- Versus champions with strong all-in, save your W at all times for when they jump on you. You’re vulnerable when it is on cooldown.
- Avoid using your E too often to protect you versus poke. Only use it when the enemy is going for a full combo.
- Aim your Q so it hits the enemy and the minion wave at the same time.
- Use your Ultimate whenever it is up for additional damage.
- As you will be constantly pushing, make sure you ward your flanks to protect you versus ganks.
Final Thoughts
If you love easy-to-play champions that frustrate and annoy the enemy, who are extremely safe to play against and have built-in protection, and who also happens to be extremely strong in the current meta, then why not give Karma a go before she gets nerfed into the ground?
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