How reworked Katarina works after the update

Katarina has been a scourge for many mid lane players over the years. Not because she is particularly good or strong, but because she leaves you praying that your side lanes drop wards. The clean-up queen is back now with some much-needed changes. Turns out, it didn't take much to make this champion pretty damn cool.

For her new kit, click here.

Riot removed her current W, Sinister Steel, and moved it to her passive instead. Now when Katarina uses Bouncing Blades or her new W, Preparation, which has her tossing a dagger into the air before it briefly lands at her feet, a dagger is left behind. When Katarina walks over one of these daggers, she explodes into a flurry of scary blades, dealing crazy damage. When she jumps to daggers with Shunpo, the cooldown is also near nonexistent.

Katarina is now far more of a positioning-based champion than she was before. Where old Katarina had to pray to the Bronze gods that she could get fed early game, new Katarina is given the tools to do this herself. With intelligent use of Bouncing Blades, Preparation, and Shunpo, Kat can bounce around an area dealing damage to everything around her. She is even more slippery than before but allows for more counterplay when she is fed. Gone are the days of “I wonder where Katari—‘You have been slain.’”

All of these updates come at the expense of her ultimate damage. Where Kat used to be able to mark you with her blade and then spin to win until you were dead, she now has real life mechanics! Her Death Lotus now feel more like a Malzahar or Nunu ultimate. When Kat is spinning, she is still doing damage, but not nearly as much as old Katarina would have done. It isn’t enough to 100 to zero a champion unless she is very far ahead. It is, however, a great way to spread damage across a team fight if she wont get focused and CCd.

When it all comes down to it, this is a great update for Katarina that makes her far more engaging to play and possible to play against.

THE GOAL: Throw daggers and use Preparation to put them in strategic places. Try and Shunpo only to daggers in order to maintain a low cooldown for emergency kills or escapes. Use Death Lotus when given an open opportunity to hit as many enemies as possible or when CC has already been used, allowing for the longest spin time.