How to win lane as Karthus against Caitlyn · 57.11% win rate over 1,308 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Karthus | You favour L1 because Lay Waste lets you shove and deny her trap-and-poke rhythm. |
| Level 2 | Karthus | You favour L2 because you punish her every time she enters auto range to CS. |
| Level 3 | Karthus | You favour L3 because W and Defile give kill threat she can't kite through. |
| Levels 4-5 | Karthus | You favour L4-5 because sustained Q poke keeps her low with your support enabling all-ins. |
| Level 6 | Karthus | You favour L6 because Requiem punishes a range-reliant Caitlyn who over-extends. |
| First item | Karthus | You favour first item because Defile plus support CC closes her range for a burst kill. |
| Two+ items | Karthus | You favour 2+ items because your teamfight AoE zoning denies the angles her kit depends on. |
You handle Caitlyn's range at 1-2 by shoving with Lay Waste and denying her the trap-and-headshot setup; punish every time she steps into auto range to last-hit and space behind your minions.
The full Karthus vs Caitlyn report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Caitlyn vs Karthus guide →
All Karthus bot lane (adc) matchups →