Kai'Sa
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Excellent (8.5/10)
High Investment Required
Rare Relics OK
Kai'Sa is a premier Shuriman champion characterized by high performance ceiling and extreme versatility. While she functions effectively at three stars, she represents a significant investment project due to the transformative nature of her higher constellation levels. Her gameplay is widely regarded as engaging for those who enjoy keyword-focused strategies, and she remains one of the most reliable options for navigating high-difficulty endgame content.
Standard Keyword Scaling (C3-C5)
Provides Challenger, Tough, and Overwhelm, granting Kai'Sa immediate access to three high-impact keywords upon being played.
Increases the damage of Kai'Sa's skill ticks, allowing her evolved attack to serve as a reliable board wipe.
Grants SpellShield to Kai'Sa on summon, protecting her from targeted removal and allowing her to stick to the board to generate value.
Strategy
This build focuses on utilizing Kai'Sa as the primary win condition. By stacking keywords and skill damage, Kai'Sa can stabilize mid-game boards and finish encounters through explosive evolved attacks. It is effective for players who have not yet reached her maximum constellation level.
C6 Support Engine
- Stacks Challenger, Tough, and Overwhelm on Kai'Sa to be shared with allies via the upgraded Second Skin spell.
Grants Scout, allowing for multiple attack triggers per round. The shuffle effect is mitigated by the ability to share the Scout keyword with followers before Kai'Sa is even played.
Provides Spirit and Impact keywords, further diversifying the keyword pool for instant Evolution procs and ally buffing.
Strategy
At maximum investment, the strategy shifts toward utilizing followers as lethal threats. By loading Kai'Sa with keyword relics in hand, the generated Second Skin spells can transform low-cost allies into massive threats. This build effectively ends most encounters by turn three.
Titan Slayer OTK
Provides Fated and Augment, and once Kai'Sa reaches 10+ Power, grants Challenger, Overwhelm, and Regeneration.
Creates Redoubled Valor in hand to double Kai'Sa's stats, ensuring she meets the Power threshold for her Empowered effects.
Allows Redoubled Valor to be copied once mana requirements are met, resulting in astronomical stat growth.
Strategy
Designed for adventures with high-health enemies, this setup aims for a singular, unstoppable attack. It relies on playing Kai'Sa and immediately doubling her stats to overwhelm the opponent's Nexus in one turn.
Other Relic Options
Provides Evolve and allows Kai'Sa to harvest keywords from any unit that dies, facilitating faster scaling in longer encounters.
A versatile choice for fishing for critical defensive keywords like Lifesteal when the initial draft is unfavorable.
Used in combination with stat-granting relics like Hymn of Valor to maximize the efficiency of combat tricks.
While Kai'Sa has powerful Epic relic synergies, she is notable for her ability to function with Rare relics like Luden's Tempest and Beast Within, making her accessible during early progression.
Constellation
Kai'Sa's constellation is one of the most unique in the game. Unlike most champions who receive a standard mana upgrade, Kai'Sa's path offers significant stat scaling and keyword acceleration, rewarding deep investment with multiple ways to break standard game rules.
From Prey To Predator
Round Start: If you have the attack token, grant your strongest ally a random positive keyword.
Voidtouched
+1 Starting Mana. Allies with 3+ positive keywords have +2|+2.
From Prey To Predator II
Round Start: Grant your strongest ally a random positive keyword.
Dragon's Rage
When you summon an ally, grant it Fury. It is a Dragon.Review
This upgrade increases the consistency of the deck by ensuring keyword thresholds for Evolve are met much earlier. It prevents scenarios where low-quality keyword rolls stall the gameplan.
Voidtouched II
+2 Starting Mana. Allies with 3+ positive keywords have +2|+2, and allies with 6+ positive keywords have +4|+4.Review
A high-impact upgrade that provides a substantial stat boost in addition to the standard mana gem. It is considered one of the strongest 5-star upgrades available, significantly increasing Kai'Sa's survivability and offensive pressure.
Wield The Abyss
Round Start: Create a Second Skin in hand. When you target an ally with Second Skin, give it Kai'Sa's keywords this round.Review
This power is transformative, fundamentally changing the deck's operational logic. It enables a playstyle where Kai'Sa acts as a keyword battery, allowing any unit on the board to become a primary threat. It is highly effective for circumventing mechanics like Capture or direct removal that typically counter Kai'Sa herself.
Gameplay Tips
- Prioritize Keyword Diversity
When drafting support packages or choosing items, prioritize unique keywords over duplicate stats. Kai'Sa's efficiency is tied directly to the Evolve keyword, and hitting the six-unique-keyword threshold is the most critical early-game milestone.
- Utilize Second Skin as a Combat Trick
With higher constellation levels, Second Skin functions as a high-value buff. Use it to grant keywords like Challenger or Quick Attack to units during the attack phase to safely remove enemy threats while preserving your board state.
- Leverage the 6-Cost Unit in Hand
Maintain Hive Herald in hand to serve as a keyword repository. Using Second Skin on a well-statted unit before playing Kai'Sa allows her to enter the board fully scaled and ready to end the match immediately.
- Identify Removal-Heavy Matches
Against encounters with high direct removal (e.g., adventures featuring Vengeance or Obliterate), avoid playing Kai'Sa as a turn-one drop unless she is protected by a SpellShield. It is often more effective to scale your followers first to bait out enemy spells.
- Lifesteal as a Stabilization Tool
In high-difficulty Nightmare adventures, aggressively fish for the Lifesteal keyword through Second Skin or Hex Core. Given Kai'Sa's ability to ping multiple targets, a single Lifesteal proc can fully restore your Nexus health in one attack action.