Katarina

Jungle Weird but works

Jungle Katarina

How to play this build

In the jungle, Shunpo (E) between camps to clear fast and gank when you can reset your cooldowns on a kill. In fights, wait for your team's CC and drop the ult (Death Lotus): with Gunblade and AP you delete multiple targets.

Strengths

Shunpo (E) between camps clears the jungle fast and gives surprise ganks.
Ganks reset cooldowns on a kill: you chain a whole fight.
Huge burst with Gunblade + DFG on a squishy.
Constant mobility to enter, reposition and chase.

Weaknesses

Point-and-click CC cuts the Death Lotus (R) channel.
Fragile early jungle: dangerous to be invaded before items.
If the combo doesn't kill, there's no reset and you're exposed.
Reliant on resets: without kills, your impact drops.

Key combos

Gank: Shunpo (E) onto the target → Bouncing Blade (Q) → DFG + Gunblade → Death Lotus (R). On the kill, E and R reset: jump to the next.

Matchups

You beat

Lanes with escapeless squishies you gank and reset off.
Low-CC comps.

Trouble vs

Strong-early junglers who invade you.
Teams with stuns/silences that cut your ult.

Game plan

Clear the jungle using Shunpo between camps and look for early ganks on pushed lanes. Every kill resets your E and ult: chain them to snowball. In teamfights, enter once they spend their CC and use Zhonya to channel Death Lotus safely. Avoid invading strong-early junglers.

Quick tips

Use Zhonya mid-ult to keep channeling safely.
Gank lanes pushed to your side: Shunpo gives you the surprise entry.

Skill order

Max priority:

Q Cuchilla Rebotante → E Salto Umbral → W Acero Siniestro

The ultimate (R) is always leveled at 6, 11 and 16.

Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Q	Q			Q	Q		Q	Q
W			W											W	W		W	W
E		E							E	E		E	E
R						R					R					R

Why this order: Q for damage and better bounces after a reset; Shunpo (E) second for gank mobility. W at 1 point.

Items and what they do

Spirit of the Spectral Wraith AP jungle item: power, CDR, spellvamp and strong sustain while clearing.
Hextech Gunblade Hybrid AD/AP with lifesteal and spellvamp; active slows and damages at range.
Rabadon's Deathcap The biggest AP item in the game: multiplies your total AP.
Zhonya's Hourglass AP and armor; stasis active makes you invulnerable and untargetable for a couple seconds.
Sorcerer's Shoes Boots with magic penetration.

Runes

In classic LoL, runes were a system SEPARATE from masteries: bought with IP (Influence Points) and slotted into 4 tiers — Marks (red), Seals (yellow), Glyphs (blue) and Quintessences (purple, the strongest). They gave flat stats: damage, armor, penetration, etc.

Marks (red) Magic penetration ×9

Seals (yellow) Armor ×9

Glyphs (blue) Magic resist per level ×9

Quintessences (purple) Ability power ×3

Magic pen, armor, AP quints

Masteries: how they work

In classic LoL you have up to 30 points (at level 30) to split across three trees: Offense (damage), Defense (durability) and Utility (mana, cooldown reduction and mobility). The notation 21/0/9 means 21 points in Offense, 0 in Defense and 9 in Utility.

Masteries: 21/9/0 — Offense
Why this page: 21/9/0 gives burst with durability to dive in and reset.

Summoner spells

Flash

Smite

Lane: Jungle
Original role: Mid Assassin

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