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

Karthus vs Varus

How to Beat Varus as Karthus in LoLKarthus is in the b tier of champions
Mage
MarksmanMage

How to Beat Varus as Karthus

based on 1,914 Karthus vs Varus matchups
Win Rate
50.4 %
K/D/A
2.23
Pick Rate
4 %

How We Analyze LoL Champion Counters

We generate our matchup statistics from the millions of ranked LoL rounds that we evaluate every week. Our guide on how to beat Varus as Karthus came out of an analysis of 1914 ranked rounds where both champions faced one another. This counter matchup is fairly rare. Karthus fights Varus in only 4.0% of his matches.

Karthus vs Varus Matchup Summary

Karthus has done a average job of countering Varus. Normally, he wins a acceptable 50.4% of games the champions oppose one another in. In Karthus versus Varus matches, Karthus’s team is 0.1% less expected to obtain first blood. This indicates that he most likely won't get first blood versus Varus.

Best Karthus vs Varus Counter Build

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Doran's RingHealth Potion

Early Items

~5 Mins
Sapphire CrystalGlowing Mote

Core Karthus Items

~22 Mins
ShadowflameStormsurgeLiandry's Torment

Optional Items

Rabadon's DeathcapVoid StaffZhonya's HourglassMalignance

Summoner Spells

summonerflash 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
PrecisionPresence of MindLast Stand
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceHealth Scaling
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 Varus as Karthus

Tips for Playing as Karthus against Varus

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 Varus

When he gets a kill or assist, Varus temporarily gains Attack Speed and is much more dangerous.

You'll get bound in place if a tendril from Varus' ultimate, Chain of Corruption, reaches you. You can cause the tendril to die however by running far enough away from it.

If you are affected by Blight, Varus' abilities will deal extra damage to you.

Karthus vs Varus Counter Stats

Karthus Image
Win Rate
50.4 %
VS
Win Rate
49.6 %
Varus Image
7.1
< Kills >
7.8
7.5
< Deaths >
6.7
9.6
< Assists >
7.1
1.65
< Killing Sprees >
1.81
90
< Minions Killed >
182
0.91
< Dragons Killed >
0.23
0.3
< Inhibitors >
0.5
258
< Physical Damage >
15,231
29,142
< Magic Damage >
6,749
2,003
< True Damage >
357
31,403
< Damage Dealt >
22,338
29,780
< Damage Taken >
22,263
12,913
< Gold Earned >
12,871
1.12
< Towers >
2.29
0.22
< Baron Takedowns >
0.07
9,309
< Total Healing >
5,483
15,142
< Experience >
13,623
19
< Vision Score >
19
7
< Wards Placed >
9
219
< Time Dealing CC >
261

How to Counter Varus with Karthus in LoL

The stats provided here underscore several important Karthus vs. Varus counter stats that may help you figure out the differences between the pair. As an example, Karthus’s KDA ratio ([kills + assists] / deaths) of NaN is better than Varus’s ratio of NaN, highlighting that Karthus may be more central to his team's team fighting capacity than Varus..

Karthus normally has a similar longest kill spree as his enemy does. On average, he receives more damage than Varus. This is usually reflective of differing health capacities, but it can also imply that the champ with higher HP has less agility and thus is unable to flee from further harm when poked or engaged.

Differences between Karthus and Varus

Damage Types Compared

Karthus
Varus
Physical Damage
Magic Damage
True Damage

Champion Playstyles Compared

Karthus
Varus

Who is Better, Karthus or Varus?

Both League champs are great champions. Both champs have their pros and cons. In the game's current meta, Karthus usually fairs equally well when playing against Varus, with a 50.4% win rate. Thus, Karthus makes an ok counter to Varus.

While Karthus does have a higher win rate compared to Varus, when facing one another, Karthus also has a much greater difficulty level that makes him a more time consuming champion to learn. You still need to be cautious when picking Karthus into Varusas his relative depth means that you may not be able to reach his full potential without a lot of practice beforehand.

Moreover, Karthus has some amount of utility and CC, a similar amount to Varus. This often makes her just as valuable during teamfights, especially when trying to counter champions with a lot of burst damage.

While there isn't one best champion for every situation in League of Legends, in Karthus vs Varus matchups, Karthus is the better champion with a similar win rate, more champion depth, and a similar amount of utility to help out your team members during teamfights.

Karthus is a decent counter to Varus. You will do well by focussing your strategy on increasing your gold income and clearing objectives. If you do that, you should do very well as Karthus against Varus.

Additional Information for Karthus Players

How We Calculated Our Karthus vs Varus Build and Stats

For this guide on countering Varus as Karthus, we analyzed 1,914 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 Varus 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

Further Insights to Win this Matchup

To learn all of the intricacies of Karthus in order to counter Varus during both the early game and mid / late game phases of League of Legends, you should keep reading to pick up a few extra lessons on this matchup. If you mind the build and tips displayed above, you will grow your win rate by a lot and be closer to League of Legends pro players.

Karthus most often racks up less CS compared to Varus. Champions who typically don't acquire many minion kills often don't require much CS to be valuable teammates, such as support champions. They are capable of scaling well off of their abilities and first items alone. Yet, champs with a lot of CS, such as hyper-carries, often have to have several high cost items to be effective. In either situation, try to exceed the numbers displayed here to do well.

The most crucial items to have in your Karthus versus Varus build include Shadowflame, Stormsurge, and Liandry's Torment. When Karthus used at least these three pieces in his build, he performed a lot better against Varus than with many other commonly used builds. In fact, Karthus boasted an average winrate of 50.4% when playing against Varus with this build.

To have the best likelihood of crushing Varus as Karthus, Karthus players should take the Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Eyeball Collection, Ultimate Hunter, Presence of Mind, and Last Stand runes from the Domination and Precision rune sets. Out of all the rune builds we have analyed for Karthus vs Varus counterpicks, this mixture of runes yielded the best win rate. In fact, these runes provided a 50.4% winrate overall.

If you would like to view Karthus versus Varus tips and counter builds for a a particular division, please select one from the selection menu above. If viewing for the first time, the stats and strategies given are calculated using every round completed with both champs.