Yone vs Karma — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Yone against Karma · 51.84% win rate (5,839 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15

Verdict: Yone is slightly favoured — 51.84% win rate over 5,839 games, and Yone's game plan below claims 4 of the 7 stage windows.

At a glance

Weather the poke — E-burst her on the Focused Resolve cooldown and snap back out.

Track: Karma's W — Focused Resolve (12s cooldown). Her root tether — breaks if you LoS / outrange it.

Do

Stack Q to the Q3 knockup
E in when Focused Resolve is down, burst, snap back
W-shield the exchange

Don't

E in while her Focused Resolve is up
Overstay the E timer
Whiff Q3 into minions

Runes & build vs Karma

Start: Doran's Shield + Health Potion (vs her poke)
First back: Core component + boots (≈1300g)
First item: Blade of the Ruined King (mixed-damage spike)
Then: Infinity Edge
Boots: Mercury's Treads
Runes: Lethal Tempo (Precision): Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, Last Stand · Resolve: Second Wind, Bone Plating · Shards: Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, Magic Resist

Favour timeline — the windows in Yone's game plan

Read from Yone's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Karma.

Stage	Favoured	Why
Level 1	Even / skill	Level 1 is skill-based — Karma's Q poke versus your dodging and farm.
Level 2	Even / skill	Level 2 stays even as her RQ snare trades against your walk-up threat.
Level 3	Even / skill	Level 3 is a coin-flip on whether you respect her Mantra timing.
Levels 4-5	Yone	At level 4 Yone's gap-close and sustain start beating Karma's poke.
Level 6	Yone	Yone's 6 kit compounds while Karma has no escape from your dash.
First item	Yone	First-item Yone gap-closes past her shields and kills squishy Karma.
Two+ items	Yone	At 2+ items Yone's mobility and burst blow out the no-scaling Karma.

How to beat Karma as Yone: the early game

Levels 1-3 are a genuine skill lane: Karma's Q poke and RQ snare can chip and zone you, but if you respect her Mantra timing and dodge her flame you stay even. Don't facetank poke — weave through minions and farm to your level-4 spike.

Hardest and easiest matchups for Yone in top lane

Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Yone's side, sampled July 2026.

Hardest

Yone vs Master Yi — 43.74% win rate
Yone vs Riven — 44.99% win rate
Yone vs Akali — 45.24% win rate

Easiest

Yone vs Yorick — 56.7% win rate
Yone vs K'Sante — 56.17% win rate
Yone vs Mel — 56.1% win rate

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Yone 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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Common questions

Who wins Yone vs Karma in top lane?

Yone, slightly — a 51.84% win rate edge over 5,839 games; execution can flip it.

Is Yone vs Karma a skill matchup?

Mostly — Yone has a small statistical edge (51.84% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.

Does Yone counter Karma?

Not a hard counter — Yone has a slight edge (51.84% win rate), and play quality decides the rest.

What runes does Yone take vs Karma?

Yone takes Lethal Tempo on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Last Stand, and Resolve secondary (Second Wind and Bone Plating) vs Karma.

What should Yone build vs Karma?

Start Doran's Shield + Health Potion (vs her poke) and back for Core component + boots (≈1300g). Build Blade of the Ruined King (mixed-damage spike) first, then Infinity Edge, with Mercury's Treads.

More Yone top lane matchups: vs Jax · vs Jayce · vs K'Sante · vs Kassadin · vs Kayle · vs Kennen

Also played in: Mid Lane