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How to Win Karthus vs Shen Counter MatchupKarthus is in the b tier of champions

Karthus vs Shen

How to Beat Shen as Karthus in LoLKarthus is in the a tier of champions
Mage
Tank

How to Beat Shen as Karthus

based on 857 Karthus vs Shen matchups
Win Rate
46.8 %
K/D/A
2.04
Pick Rate
1.8 %

How We Analyze LoL Champion Counters

We calculate our counter stats from the millions of recently rated League matches that we get from Riot Games every week. This guide on how to beat Shen as Karthus came out of an examination of 857 ranked games where both champions faced each other. This champ pairing is somewhat rare. Karthus has to counter Shen in only 1.8% of his matches.

Karthus vs Shen Matchup Summary

Unfortunately, Karthus has done a pathetic job of beating Shen. Typically, he wins a lowly 46.8% of the time the champs face off with each other in. In Karthus against Shen matches, Karthus’s team is 0.1% less likely to gain first blood. This implies that he most likely won't be able to get first blood against Shen.

Best Karthus vs Shen Counter Build

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Scorchclaw PupHealth Potion

Early Items

~5 Mins
Amplifying TomeLost Chapter

Core Karthus Items

~22 Mins
Rabadon's DeathcapShadowflameLiandry's Torment

Optional Items

StormsurgeMalignanceLuden's Companion

Summoner Spells

summonerexhaust summoner spell D
summonersmite summoner spell F

Skill Order

First skill for Karthus to level upq
>
Second ability for Karthus to level upe
>
Last skill for Karthus to max outw

Runes

DominationDark HarvestCheap ShotEyeball CollectionUltimate Hunter
SorceryTranscendenceGathering Storm
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceArmor
Karthus's passive ability p
Karthus's q ability q
Karthus's w ability w
Karthus's e ability e
Karthus's ultimate ability r
1
Q
2
E
3
W
4
Q
5
Q
6
R
7
Q
8
E
9
Q
10
E
11
R
12
E
13
E
14
W
15
W
16
R

Guide to Countering Shen as Karthus

Tips for Playing as Karthus against Shen

Lay Waste is very strong at farming minions and harassing enemy champions.

Ask your allies to help point out when you should use Requiem to get kills in different lanes.

Advice to Win Against Shen

Be ready to dodge Shen's taunt and punish him if he misses.

Once Shen reaches level 6, watch out for his global-range ultimate, which can turn fights quickly.

Karthus vs Shen Counter Stats

Karthus Image
Win Rate
46.8 %
VS
Win Rate
53.2 %
Shen Image
6.4
< Kills >
4.6
7.7
< Deaths >
5.2
9.3
< Assists >
10.6
1.47
< Killing Sprees >
1.04
85
< Minions Killed >
130
0.92
< Dragons Killed >
0.15
0.32
< Inhibitors >
0.43
254
< Physical Damage >
8,346
29,472
< Magic Damage >
7,235
2,034
< True Damage >
1,183
31,761
< Damage Dealt >
16,765
30,092
< Damage Taken >
33,526
12,634
< Gold Earned >
10,632
1.13
< Towers >
1.73
0.24
< Baron Takedowns >
0.03
9,581
< Total Healing >
4,758
14,755
< Experience >
14,788
19
< Vision Score >
22
7
< Wards Placed >
10
226
< Time Dealing CC >
347

How to Counter Shen with Karthus in LoL

The stats shown here emphasize several critical Karthus against Shen matchup statistics that may help us realize the distinctions between the two. For instance, Karthus’s KDA ratio ([kills + assists] / deaths) of NaN is more than Shen’s ratio of NaN, indicating that Karthus may be more central to his team's team fighting capability than Shen. This observation is largely fueled by the differences in deaths.

Karthus typically has a slightly larger longest kill spree than his enemy does. On average, he receives less damage than Shen. This typically indicates differing health capacities, yet it can also imply that the champion with higher health has less mobility and thus is not able to escape further damage when poked or engaged.

Differences between Karthus and Shen

Damage Types Compared

Karthus
Shen
Physical Damage
Magic Damage
True Damage

Champion Playstyles Compared

Karthus
Shen

Who is Better, Karthus or Shen?

Both League of Legends champions are great champions. Both champs have their pros and cons. In League's current meta, Karthus usually loses when playing against Shen, with a 46.8% win rate. Therefore, Karthus makes a bad counter for Shen.

While Karthus does have a lower win rate compared to Shen, when on opposite teams, Karthus also has a much greater difficulty level that makes him a more difficult champion to learn. You may get destroyed when picking Karthus into Shenas his relative depth means you may not be able to reach his full potential without a lot of practice beforehand.

Furthermore, Karthus has some amount of CC and other utility, a similar amount to Shen. This often makes her just as valuable during teamfights, especially when facing champions with a lot of burst damage.

While there is not a single best champion for every situation in League of Legends, in Karthus vs Shen matchups, Shen is the better champion with a much lower win rate, more champion depth, and a similar amount of utility to help out your team members during team fights.

Karthus is a terribly counter to Shen. You will do well by focussing your tactics on keeping up your CS and taking out objectives. If you do that, you should be able to stand on your own as Karthus against Shen.

Other Champion Matchups Against Karthus

Karthus Loses Against

TaricTaric41.5% winrateMilioMilio42% winrateTahm KenchTahm Kench42.1% winrateJannaJanna42.2% winrate

Karthus Wins Against

ZeriZeri52.8% winrateLissandraLissandra52.2% winrateZoeZoe51.9% winrateLuluLulu51.9% winrate

Top Synergies by Role

BriarBriar+ 51.6% 926 GamesTristanaTristana+ 52% 1608 GamesRammusRammus+ 52.9% 346 GamesKledKled+ 52.9% 681 Games

Additional Information for Karthus Players

How We Calculated Our Karthus vs Shen Build and Stats

For this guide on countering Shen as Karthus, we analyzed 857 matchups from recent LoL games. We use rigorous data cleaning and processing methods to ensure that our counter stats are of the highest quality. You can rest assured that the recommended build to counter Shen as Karthus comes from real data and is not the fabrication of some random LoL player, as some other sites provide. You can use the filters at the top of the page to view the most relevant stats and items to your rank.

Other Useful Resources

Karthus Build Shen Build

Further Insights to Win this Matchup

If you would like to learn all of the intricacies of Karthus to counter Shen during both the early game and mid / late game phases of League of Legends, you should keep reading to learn a few extra tricks and insights into this matchup. If you listen to the build and suggestions shown here, you will increase your win rate by a lot and be that much closer to League of Legends pro players.

Karthus on average picks up less CS relative to Shen. Champions who on average don't acquire many minion kills often don't have to have much CS to be effective, such as sup champs. These kinds of champions are able to scale properly off of their skills, stats, and first items alone. Yet, champs with large amounts of CS, such as hyper-carries, usually need several high cost items to be effective. In either situation, try to do better than the values displayed on this page to do well.

The best items to focus on in your Karthus versus Shen build include Rabadon's Deathcap, Shadowflame, and Liandry's Torment. When Karthus included at least these three items in his build, he did a lot better countering Shen than with most other common item sets. In fact, Karthus boasted an average win rate of 46.8% when countering Shen with these items in his kit.

To have the best chance of annihilating Shen as Karthus, Karthus players should equip the Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Eyeball Collection, Ultimate Hunter, Gathering Storm, and Transcendence runes from the Domination and Sorcery rune sets. Of all the runes players chose for Karthus vs Shen counter picks, this sequence of runes yielded the best win rate. Moreover, these runes provided a 46.8% winrate overall.

If you need to view Karthus versus Shen tips and matchup stats and build suggestions for a a distinct player tier, feel free to choose one from the selection menu provided above. By default, the stats and guides shown are calculated using every game played with these champs.