How to win lane as Karma against Kennen · 64.29% win rate over 14 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Karma | Mantra is up at level 1, so my RQ Soulflare zone plus Inner Flame out-ranges his single Q bolt and he has no Lightning Rush yet to escape it. |
| Level 2 | Karma | My Inner Flame poke layered on Gathering Fire's Mantra refunds out-paces his energy-gated Q/W chip before he can afford to keep spending. |
| Level 3 | Kennen | He still has no gap-closer pre-6, so I shove with Q into RQ Soulflare and chunk him every time he steps up to last-hit. |
| Levels 4-5 | Karma | My bullying peak: repeated RQ Soulflare zones push him under tower and let me tax plates behind Inspire's move speed. |
| Level 6 | Karma | At 6 Slicing Maelstrom is a channeled AoE stun and a Lightning Rush flank lets him land it on me grouped — that window is his, not mine. |
| First item | Karma | My first AP item sharpens RQ burst and shield value, and I can pre-hold Focused Resolve to root him the moment he commits a Lightning Rush. |
| Two+ items | Karma | I out-poke and out-item an immobile-once-Rush-is-down target, then peel rather than duel since his Maelstrom only grows scarier in teamfights. |
I out-range Kennen here and he has no gap-closer until Lightning Rush comes online. His Q bolt is a single projectile I can sidestep, so I lead with Inner Flame poke and drop an RQ Soulflare the instant he creeps up to last-hit — Mantra is available from level 1 and nothing in his early kit answers that zone. The only thing to respect is his Q/W chip stacking Mark of the Storm on me, but his energy pool can't sustain a straight poke war against my Inner Flame plus Gathering Fire refunding Mantra off every hit. Don't waste Inspire's shield on chip — save it for when he steps in to commit.
The full Karma vs Kennen 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? Kennen vs Karma guide →
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