Karma vs Yone — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Karma against Yone · 44.62% win rate over 65 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Yone is favoured — Yone owns 4 of the 7 game windows to Karma's 1. Play it patient and win your windows. Karma wins 44.62% of games vs Yone in top lane (65 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1KarmaYou own level 1: RQ Soulflare's delayed zone and slow is a huge first poke and Yone has no E spirit-rewind yet to detach and escape it.
Level 2Even / skillIt evens out fast — Yone's even early and his Q wind-slash trades back, so your Q Inner Flame poke stops pulling clean value.
Level 3Even / skillStill a coin flip: you can Q-poke but his W spirit-cleave punishes any step-up, and his E is one level away from blanking your tether rhythm.
Levels 4-5YoneOnce E is online his spirit dives your poke, W-cleaves, and rewinds to his body before your W root resolves — your Gathering Fire cooldown game falls apart.
Level 6YoneHis R pulls in and knocks you up, and Inspire is only a shield — it soaks the burst but can't stop the airborne, so his ult window beats your re-empowerment.
First itemYoneHis first crit item sharpens the cleave-and-rewind all-in, while your first AP item only sharpens poke his E lets him dodge through.
Two+ itemsYoneHe out-duels and out-mobilizes your thin frame with crit and two-form dashes, and you have no late spike to answer — play safe and let your team deal with him.

Early game (levels 1–5)

Your only clean window is the first three levels, before Yone has his E spirit-rewind. At level 1 open with RQ Soulflare — the delayed zone and slow is real damage he cannot detach his spirit to walk out of yet, so it's your best poke of the whole lane. Land Q Inner Flame at max range and only commit W Focused Resolve when he's stuck animating on a minion, because once he has his Q dash and E he can send his spirit onto you, take the hit, and snap back to his body before your tether ever roots. Bank that early HP and plate lead; it is the only one you'll get.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Karma vs Yone 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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Related guides

Playing the other side? Yone vs Karma guide →
All Karma top lane matchups →

Also played in: Mid Lane