How to win lane as Zilean against Karma · 52.4% win rate over 2,872 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Karma | Level 1 favors Karma: her Mantra-empowered Q out-ranges your single Bomb from the first minute. |
| Level 2 | Karma | Level 2 favors Karma as her mana-free RQ poke beats your step-up Bomb trade. |
| Level 3 | Karma | Level 3 stays Karma's with empowered Q zoning your carry off farm. |
| Levels 4-5 | Karma | Levels 4-5 favor Karma because her Mantra uptime keeps out-poking your kit. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Level 6 evens out once Chronoshift gives you an answer to her engage and burst. |
| First item | Even / skill | At first item it's skill-based: her Mantra cooldowns open windows your slows can punish. |
| Two+ items | Zilean | At two-plus items you win: double Time Warp and revive outlast her poke and peel her engage. |
Levels 1-4 belong to Karma. Her Mantra is online from level 1, so her RQ Inner Flame out-ranges and out-damages your single Time Bomb, and she harasses mana-free while you can't safely step up to detonate.
The full Zilean vs Karma 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? Karma vs Zilean guide →
All Zilean support matchups →