Cassiopeia Build Guide : Cassiopeia - The Venomous Monarch

Introduction

CHEATSHEET HAS BEEN UPDATED. GUIDE WILL BE UPDATED AT A LATER DATE. I'M VERY BUSY.

Welcome to my fourth and final guide here on Mobafire.com. This guide will be about , The Serpent's Embrace. is an AP carry who has amazing damage potential but is a little bit more difficult to learn because you have to have great positioning and key timing with her ultimate, I made this guide to hopefully show one of the best ways to handle in her skill order, item builds, combos and lane match-ups. I hope I can improve your game with or show you a different yet viable way of playing her. To start here is some basic information about :

Release Date: 12/14/10
Attributes: Mage, Ranged
Cost: 880 RP or 4800 IP

Health: Weak
Attack: Weak
Spells: Strong
Difficulty: Max

Pros/Cons

Pros / Cons

Pros

+ Has great single target damage
+ Can kill squishes instantly will spam
+ Passive lowers cost of abilities by up to 50%
+ Decent poke
+ Every ability can deal damage
+ Can wreck teamfights with

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Cons

- As a carry you are squishy
- To be great you need a lot of practice with positioning
- If you start to do really well will get focused
- Takes a long time to master
- Ultimate suppress/slow unreliable

Masteries

Offense

Tier 1: In this tier I put 4 points in Sorcery for 4% cooldown reduction and 1 point in Summoner's Wrath to increase my AP and AD by 5 when Ignite is on cooldown.
Tier 2: In this tier I put 4 points in Blast for some AP per level and to move onto tier 3.
Tier 3: In this tier I put 3 point in Havoc to increase my damage output by 2% and 1 point in Arcane Knowledge for 8% magic penetration.
Tier 4: In this tier I put 2 points in Mental Force for 4 AP and 1 point into Spellsword to give my basic attacks an extra damage boost by having 5% of my AP added as magic damage per attack.
Tier 5: In this tier I put 4 points into Archmage to increase my ability power by 5%.
Tier 6: I put my last point into Executioner to increase my damage dealt to targets below 50% by 5%.

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Utility

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Tier 1: In this tier I put 1 point in Summoner's Insight to reduce the cooldown of Flash by 15 seconds. I also put 3 points in Meditation to gain some mana regen.
Tier 2: In this tier I put 2 points in Mastermind to reduce the cooldown of summoner spells by 7%. This will further reduce the cooldown of Flash. Then I put 2 points in Expanded Mind to give extra mana per level with 126 extra mana at level 18.
Tier 3: In this last tier I put the last point in Utility in Runic Affinity to extend the duration of blue buff.

Runes

These are the runes that I use for . They fit my play-style and are perfectly viable choices. Along with my runes I will list other viable runes that you can substitute my choices with. If I am missing any runes that are viable please let me know and I will determine whether or not to include it into the guide.

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

Quintessences

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I take flat ability power quintessences as my main option. It provides 15 AP with a full set and in combination with your marks will allow you to do considerable damage at level 1. This amount of AP should be able to hold you until you get your Doran's Rings or Haunting Guise. Probably the most commonly found quintessences amongst AP carries and usually the safest choice.
The only other viable option that I can find to substitute the Greater Quintessence of Ability Power is the Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed. These runes will grant you enough movement speed that you can prolong getting your boots for other items. For example you can buy Giant's Belt and Haunting Guise before Boots. Also in combination with the speed buff from Noxious Blast you should be moving pretty fast in the early game.

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Marks

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In my opinion there are no alternative Marks to the Greater Mark of Magic Penetration and so I take these on all of my AP champions. These marks will grant you 8.5 flat magic pen at level 1. It will allow you to bypass some early magic resist and will compliment your Sorcerer's Shoes and Haunting Guise extremely well by stacking the amount of flat magic pen.

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Seals

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These are my preferred seals on Cassiopeia. The Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration will help increase your mana regen which will come in handy for aggressive lanes and aggressive gameplay. While Deadly Cadence helps with handling your mana after enough Twin Fang spams you will run out of mana. These seals along with your two Doran's Rings should take care of any mana problems early game.
The Greater Seal of Armor is a good replacement to mana regen. If you know you will be facing an AD champion mid like Kha'Zix or Jayce then take these runes for some defense. They are also good to have to protect against auto-attacks from anyone and the commonly found bruiser jungle. If you are very good at handling your mana then you can take these seals for all occasions not just against AD champs.
Another choice to take for seals is the Greater Seal of Scaling Health. These are my last choice however they are useful against very bursty champions like LeBlanc. Increasing your health will increase your chance of survival. Only take these against those certain types of champs or if you feel you do not need mana regen or armor.

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Glyphs

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My glyphs of choice are the Greater Glyph of Magic Resist. These provide the most magic resist to combat your AP enemy. You will get 12 MR and will usually be enough for the majority of the game. Normally if you need more it will be later on in the game and you can get a Banshee's Veil or Abyssal Mask.
The other option is the Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist. These will be better when facing against an AD champ in mid. You do not really need the early magic resist against an AD champ but in the late game you can definitely use it which is when these glyphs are the best.
Do not need magic resist? Plan on playing in a passive lane in which there will not be too much trading? Then you can take the Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power for more offensive power early and late game. This will compliment your quintessences pretty nicely and you will not have to worry about needing extra magic resist. You can also take these in an AD match-up.

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Summoner Spells

My Preferred Spells:

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is an amazing summoner spell. It deals 70-410 true damage over the course of 5 seconds depending on the champion level. In the early game stages of the game will be used to finish off enemies in those early game trades. As the game progresses you should use to finish off the enemy AP or AD carries first or to reduce the healing on enemy champions that use a lot of health regeneration like or making them easier to kill.

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is definitely one of the best spells to exist in League of Legends and is exceptional for AP carries who do not have the best mobility and will need to escape during the course of the game. If you are feeling confident you can also surprise your enemies by flashing to them in order to hit them with a leaving them open for your team to attack. Just be sure to hit on everyone if you plan to do that.

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Other Viable Choices:

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While is an extremely useful summoner spell it can be replaced with . The main reason why I suggest this is because you can use to gank other lanes if you feel the opportunity presents itself or if you know that you will be tested in your lane and you do not feel to confident you can use to get back to lane quickly without risking tower damage or losing XP. This can also be used to help counter and if they decide to ult top or bot lane.

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This spell is always a good spell to have on your team as it can really tear apart AD carries from being able to wreck you as hard. You can also use it to chase down enemy champs which actually works very well for as it will help you to land and to poison and slow the enemy and allow you to spam a lot of times. However there are better choices for than so only take this spell if no one on your team is taking it.

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Cassiopeia's Skillset

Cassiopeia's Skills

Passive: Deadly Cadence

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After casting a spell, any subsequent spellcasts will cost 10% less for 5 seconds. This ability stacks up to 5 times.This is 's passive. It helps with controlling your mana by decreasing the mana cost by up to 50% when fully stacked. This allows to spam and without going out of mana in 2 seconds. It synergizes with her kit very well.

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Noxious Blast(Q)

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After channeling for 0.6 seconds, blasts a the targeted area, damaging enemies over 3 seconds. is granted a movement speed boost for 3 seconds if she hits a champion with this spell. This skill is prime for harassing and is one way to poison your target. The cost for this spell is relatively cheap so spam away at your target. Poison your target with this skill then use . Rinse and repeat.

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Miasma(W)

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throws a growing cloud of poison to a target location, lasting 7 seconds, granting vision and doubling its size over the duration. This skill can be used for numerous tasks. It is the biggest utility skill that she has. You can use it to push waves quickly to allow yourself to roam. You can use it to slow enemies who are trying to get away or are trying to catch you. You can also use it to check bushes. It grants you vision so instead of face-checking the brush throw into it so you can see if anyone is waiting. You can also poison your foes like with .

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Twin Fang(E)

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deals magic damage to her enemy. If the target is poisoned when hit with then 's cooldown is reduced to 0.5 seconds. This skill is where the majority of your damage will come from. When you target your enemy just keep spamming this skill. Learn how many s you can use before you have to poison your target again so that way it does not go on its actual cooldown. Best way to use this skill is to have it on smartcast so that way you can actually spam the skill.

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Petrifying Gaze(R)

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deals damage to all enemies in a cone in front of her. Enemies facing her when damaged are stunned for 2 seconds, while enemies facing away are slowed by 60% for the same duration. The timing of this skill is crucial for every team-fight. Knowing when and when not to use this skill makes a good . Know that there is a delay on the stun or slow. The CC does not apply until AFTER the damage has been dealt. So you will have to slightly lead it so you can get as many people as possible stunned. You mainly want to catch the AP and AD carries with your ult.

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Cassiopeia's Skill Sequence & Combos

-> -> ->

There seems to be some debate over which skill to max first between and . It really depends on the match-up in my opinion because has a longer range than . I will be describing the benefits of each case. First up is the skill sequence I normally use.

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

I take a point in at level 1 to start harassing my enemy. There is no point in taking first you will have no way to poison your enemy by yourself at level 1. Then I max first to increase my burst damage. This comes in handy when there is a lot of trading and you are bullying your enemy around. I take at level 8 to check brush and to push my lane so I can roam around.

Of course at levels 6, 11, and 16 put points into your ultimate . Otherwise max by level 9, by level 13 and by level 18. I max first because it provides the biggest burst damage out of your 3 regular abilities. All you need for in close quarters fighting is to poison your target so that you can spam . Having a maxed against someone like will not do as much damage as a maxed will. Use only for finishing a battle and for poisoning your target. This is what I use in a lot of my games.

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

I still take a point in at level 1 but this time I max first. I get at level 2 and at level 8. The point of maxing first is to still be able to do damage to your enemy but from a safer distance. This comes in handy against opponents who play passively or have big range. Examples are when facing against or . Their long range could prevent you from getting off any s. With leveled first you will deal damage over time with your poison that can get them low enough to kick them out of lane.

Main Harassing Combos

This is your main harassing combo when you max first in lane. Even when you max first you still follow this but you probably will not get as many s in. Before the combo zone with to make it easier to land . If you can get them in that makes it even easier.

Another harassment combo is for when you max first. Basically its just long distance harassing that starts with .

Main Combo Teamfights

This will be your main combo when fighting in team-fights. I will place where I feel might belong in the combo but do not rely on just using it in that order. Like I mentioned timing on is crucial and will be different in every fight. Use and to poke at the enemy before engaging. When you engage follow this:

Then you just keep repeating the combo until the teamfight ends. Obviously it will be without .

Items: Early & Core

Starting Items:

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Another good start to the route is this way. Starting 5 s and 4 s will provide the sustain you'll need in lane. To go along with that you can take 2 Sight Wards to protect yourself from ganks. Since being in mid you are very vulnerable to ganks in numerous locations. Having wards at the start will greatly help in staying alive.

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If you plan on going the early route for you want to start with this route. Buy a , 3 s, 3 s, and a Sight Ward. This will provide sustain, and defense with your ward. You will also have mana regen and will only need 520 gold to complete your tear. If you plan on building an early you can also do this start.

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Early Game

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Getting will increase your health and your damage output by giving you some nice magic pen. In combination with and you will be bypassing a lot of magic resist and doing lots of damage. After getting you can get to increase your speed by 25. It isn't necessary to get them now but if you want to then go ahead.

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Grab some boots next to increase your speed and then buy a . This item will grant you some nice spell vamp to sustain yourself in lane as well as 40 AP for a little damage boost. This item will build into the and is a great early game item and will keep you in lane against foes who have natural spell vamp like and .

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After getting a you can decide what to buy next. You can either to increase your movement speed and magic pen increasing your damage. Or you can get the first granting you some sustain in lane and some more damage.

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Core Items

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This item will build out of and provides a stupid amount of things for how cheap of an item it is. You will get 50 AP, 10% CDR, 10 mana regen, and 20% spell vamp. You can use ALL of these things to boost your power. You will also do 25% more damage to monsters which will allow you to take blue buff even easier as well as taking wraiths in lane for extra gold and experience. Great item.

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This can be built before or after getting . This item gives you some more ability power as well as everything that gave you. It also has a passive that will cause targets to have 6% of their health done as damage to them over 3 seconds. It becomes 12% if the target is slowed. The slow from will proc the 12% and between that your poison from and and you should have no issues ending fights.

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With your main early game power and regen bought it is time to add some more CC and some more health to your kit. is the item to do that. It provides a 35% slow to enemy movement speed for all single target spell damage done to the target. Unfortunately will not give the full slow. For some reason it is regarding as a multi-target spell even though you can only hit one person with it at a time so you will get the reduced amount. Otherwise nad will give the reduced slow like they are supposed to. Plus you get 80 AP and 500 Health from this item.

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Items: Late Game

Pick 2 of the items below to finish your build.

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is a good item as it provides AP, and Magic Resist. It can be used for defense and offense and it has a passive that is an aura. It will reduce the enemy magic resistance by 20. The only real problem with this item is that it is easily outdone by in terms of the Magic Pen and the ability power is the same amount. This item is best bought early on or if your enemy refuses to buy Magic Resist.

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Find yourself in need of mana? Maybe you need some magic resist because the enemy mid is beating you up a little bit? If that is so then get . This item provides AP, MR, Mana Regen/5, and CDR. All of these things are great for an AP carry and definitely benefits. Build an early instead of the two s and then finish off after .

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This item is now a purely defensive item. It is useful against champs like , , and for the magic resistance and the heavy one target burst damage. You will also gain health from it and a shield that regenerates if you have not been hit by an enemy champ for 25 seconds. Like buy early and finish it into later.

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This item grants 120 Ability Power and then has a passive that will increase ability power by 30%. With a in your arsenal you should be able to quickly burst down the AD Carries and devastate teamfights. Best part is that the passive will still apply to any more AP items that you buy. While normally built on almost every AP carry, does not need it to be efficient and powerful. This is why it is in the late game section. Normally I do buy it but there have been times where I haven't to buy something else and I still do okay.

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This item is good for giving you a lot of mana and a nice shield active. You gain 60 AP but the 1000 mana is really useful especially if you haven't been getting blue buffs during the game for whatever reason and you are not taking mana regen seals. You will also gain a shield that will drain 25% of your current mana and protect you for the same amount. Build a very early even before and get the mana count up. Then build it into an and it will transform into this item when you reach the 750 extra mana limit.

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This item right will allow you to continue to deal a good amount of damage all game. People who do not build Magic Resist against are dumb, plain and simple. So to punish those who don't getting this item will allow you to practically do true damage to your enemies. Even those who buy a or to try and stop you will still be dealt a lot damage thanks to this item.

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This item is and should be a staple item for AP carries especially the squishiest ones. This item gives +120 AP, +50 Armor, and a passive that will allow you to become untargetable for 2 seconds however you stand completely still and cannot use your spells. The reason why this is such a great passive is that since you are a carry you WILL be focused so when you start to get focus activate this item and hopefully your teammates should take care of whoever is focusing you so you can stay alive and contribute to the teamfight. If you need to get this item earlier then do so especially against an AD lane buy before

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Gameplay: Early & Mid Game

Before we even get into game there are certain champions that synergize exceptionally well with . These champs are all of the poison champions in League of Legends. This is because as long as an enemy is poisoned from ANY source you can spam . For example if the enemy team is being poisoned by then you can spam on them. The three champions that are poisonous and synergize with are:

So if you have anyone these champions on your team and you are not countering yourself then pick . Speaking of counters if you are playing draft or ranked then do not pick against the following champions:

These champions counter you the hardest and have the ability to shut you down and eat you up very quickly and easily. While you could beat them it usually is not the best option to pick against your counters. However you should pick against these champions as you are known as being one of their counters and being able to perform very well against them:

Laning Phase

Focus on farming. Main objective is to farm up and kill the nexus. Try to go even or above what your opponent's farm count is.
Even if you do not harass your enemy at all just make sure you farm. If you are capable of keeping up your farm AND harassing your enemy efficiently at the same time then make sure you harass.
Cassiopeia is a giant lane bully. She can zone her enemies away and can control the lane. She pushes the lane well thanks to Miasma so make sure to occasionally push your lane and go roam and try to get kills in bottom or top lane.
Even if you give up 1 or 2 kills to your opponent still try to make sure you stay with them in farm. As the game progresses you can still make up for your mistakes and get payback but you have to farm.

Post Laning Phase(Mid Game)

At this point in the game many ganks should have occurred and people should be roaming around and interchanging lanes. Usually at this point some towers have come down most notably the outer towers. You still want to be focusing on farming and comparing to your lane opponent. Also there should be no reason why you are not getting blue buffs when available.
Fights for Dragon will be critical at this stage. It could start separating the teams in terms of gold and kills. Make sure to keep the Dragon Pit warded at all times. Usually 3v3 or higher teamfights will be happening at this point even away from Dragon
When in teamfights make sure to have good positioning so you do not get blown up. Stay behind your bruisers (ex. Jarvan IV, Vi) and just poke away. Remember to constantly spam Twin Fang and to keep your enemies poisoned.
This is when the timing of your ultimate starts to become crucial. Use your best judgment and try to hit as many people as you possible with it to stun them. You won't get it perfect every fight so if you mess it up just learn from it and try again next fight.

Gameplay: Late Game

Once the game gets into the late game stage it will all be about teamfighting and controlling neutral objectives. Always have and warded as much as possible. If they are going to get those objective then let it be because they beat you in a teamfight not because your team didn't have it warded.

If you win a teamfight you want to push as much as you can. The longer the game goes the longer the respawn timers last. After a certain point in the game it is possible to push through every tower and win the game in one single push. It is crucial that you have great positioning in fights and that you do not get melted in an instant. Remember stay behind your bruisers and let them peel for you. When you are not in fights be sure to not get caught away from your team. You will most likely die and leave your team one man down in a fight. This will often end up in some of your towers being taken, being taken, or even losing the game.

Cassiopeia's Enemies: A-G

Ahri:

Tips:

Easiest to kill her levels 1-5. After level 6 it will get a lot harder thanks to her high mobility in Spirit Rush. She can make you miss Petrifying Gaze very easily so you need great timing and aim to stop her in her tracks.
Avoid getting hit with Charm. You will get hurt a lot if you get caught by it. It will hit minions so try to stay behind your minions.
Avoid getting hit with Orb of Deception on its way back. It will deal true damage to you.
Make sure to announce that Ahri is missing from your lane. With the high mobility she is very good at roaming and can terrorize other lanes easily.

Akali:

Tips:

Try to stay out of Twilight Shroud as it will slow you
If you get hit with Mark of the Assassin do not let her auto-attack to proc the mark.
Will most likely be kill-able before level 6 but after 6 she will probably wreck you.
Use Vision Wards to help see Akali so she cannot hide in her Twilight Shroud.
Shutting down Akali is a major accomplishment and really needs to be done. Fed Akali often leads to a loss for you.

Anivia:

Tips:

Relatively even match-up. Comes down to your ability to dodge Flash Frost and how often you can land Noxious Blast. Anivia likes to sit in the back and farm from a distance. This might be a case where you want to max Noxious Blast first.
Kill potential is pretty high early game with ganks and even by yourself because Anivia is extremely squishy levels 1-5. Just do not forget her Rebirth. After killing her the first time you need to kill her egg to officially kill Anivia.
After level 6 you will probably get slowed and chilled with Glacial Storm which will leave you vulnerable to Frostbite. Try not to get hit too often with this spell or you will be chased out of lane.
You can try to attempt to steal Anivia's blue buff. An Anivia without mana is ridiculously useless and will hinder her aggressiveness and ability to keep up with you in farm.

Annie:

Tips:

Another pretty equal match-up. However you do have range on Annie. All of your skills out range hers so you shouldn't take too much harass back if you attack her.
Beware of the Pyromania stun. She can stun you with a next ability when she has a rotating circle around her body. Getting stunned before level 6 could lead to a death by gank. Getting stunned after 6 by Summon: Tibbers could spell death just from her.
Annie will farm with Disintegrate in the beginning. Then depending on the Annie she will either just last hit with atuo-attacks when Pyromania is up for a long time or will use it instantly. If she is waiting a gank my be incoming.
You have higher damage output than her. She has a lot of burst but your damage over time skills and burst from Twin Fang will outdo her damage as you can do a lot more than her in the same amount of time.

Brand:

Tips:

This match-up should be an easy one granted you dodge his skill-shots. Beating Brand is all about dodging his skill-shots especially Sear.
Pillar of Flame will be used to harass you. It will also be used to wave push. If he uses it on the wave stay away from your minions so that you do not get hit with Conflagration. When used at anything that has been hit with Blaze it will spread to all enemy units around it.
If you get hit with one of his abilities you will have Blaze on you. Avoid getting hit with Sear as you will be stunned and will leave your open for Pillar of Flame and Pyroclasm
Before level 6 definitely kill-able especially with ganks. After level 6 still very kill-able just dodge his skills and hit a nice Petrifying Gaze.

Diana:

Tips:

Diana is not going to be an easy match-up. She is quite tanky for an AP champion thanks to Pale Cascade and it could definitely save her life in a trade. Before level 6 is more favorable but after level 6 it will be a battle.
She will get more mobile with Lunar Rush like Ahri at level 6. She can make you miss Petrifying Gaze somewhat easily. You need to land your ult when fighting her if you don't you lose the fight immediately if you are both equal health.
Crescent Strike is her main harassing tool. It is kind of easy to dodge and you will eventually be able to predict when it'll be coming. She is melee so before level 6 punish her as much as possible with Noxious Blast and Miasma. Getting some nice ganks will help as well.
If you get in a losing fight save Flash for after she uses Moonfall. You do not want to Flash just to be pulled back to her.

Fizz:

Tips:

This guy is the biggest pain in the butt to all mid champions. It will not be an easy match-up period. Levels 1-5 it will be hard and after level 6 it will be just as hard.
He will just Urchin Strike into you probably making you miss a Noxious Blast and if you try to retaliate will just Playful / Trickster away from you making you unable to harm him.
He can dodge your Petrifying Gaze by using Playful / Trickster so make sure to save it until after he uses that ability.
Avoid getting hit with Chum the Waters. You can see it coming so try to dodge. If you cannot you will be knocked-up and will be hurt a lot especially if Fizz has more kills than you. He is known for roaming so make sure to announce his absence from lane.
Call for ganks. Late game you are better than Fizz but you have to get there first. Do not try to 1v1 him unless he is really bad and you know for sure that you can kill him.

Galio:

Tips:

Another very hard match-up. He is one of your counters. He also counters many other mid champions. This is because he builds magic resistance and turns it into ability power thanks to Runic Skin. Pain in the butt.
Then if that isn't bad enough he has a shield in Bulwark that grants him even more magic resist and if you hurt him he will be healed for a certain amount. So you are basically losing your own fight without him having to do anything.
Dodge Resolute Smite as much as possible. When maxed it will hurt, a lot. Righteous Gust allows Galio to run away easily and to catch-up to you easily. Killing him by yourself is highly unlikely and killing him with a gank will be difficult.
If you are low on health and you get caught in Idol of Durand and it does not get broken at all, you are dead. Period.

Gragas:

Tips:

This is a pretty even match-up. You both have strong poke and good burst. Your DPS is higher but Gragas is beefier.
Try to avoid as many Barrel Rolls as possible. It is his poke ability and can do a lot of damage. It will eventually take out a wave of minions. He can either make the barrel explode as soon as it arrives at its location or he can wait to make it explode so he can use it to zone you.
Explosive Cask can get you killed by causing you to get flown into the enemy team or into a tower. It can also let you escape if he is bad at using the ult. It will do massive AoE damage regardless so try not to clump to much together as a team.
Killing him before level 6 is possible but will be hard because he can just Body Slam away. Same with ganks before 6. After 6 if you miss Petrifying Gaze he can probably kill you. Again if you are winning he just Body Slam away.

Cassiopeia's Enemies: H-N

Karthus:

Tips:

Will be a pretty easy match-up. You can melt him early to mid game. Just make sure to dodge as many of his Lay Waste as much as possible. Definitely kill-able before and after level 6. When you fight after 6 and you kill him do not linger near Karthus as Death Defied will let him use abilities for 7 seconds.
A Banshee's Veil will come in handy to protect yourself against Requiem. Using Zhonya's Hourglass during Requiem will protect you from it too. You want to protect yourself from it especially the longer the game goes on.
Careful if you over-extend because Wall of Pain will slow you a lot and will leave you very vulnerable to ganks and to getting stuck in his Defile. Always keep your side-brush warded.

Kassadin:

Tips:

After level 6 this lane will become very hard and Kassadin will practically be un-kill-able unless you can get a good gank on him or if he is playing like a complete idiot. Riftwalk will allow him to just run away from you and can make you miss Petrifying Gaze easily.
Before 6 however Kassadin is very weak and you should use this opportunity to kick his butt. Null Sphere will silence you but its damage is very minimal early on. Be very aggressive and try to zone and deny him CS as much as you can before level 6.
Late game thanks to Force Pulse and Riftwalk it will be very hard to run away from and catch Kassadin. Stuns and roots will be your best bet to catch him long enough to kill him.

Katarina:

Sinister Steel

Tips:

This will be an even match-up for the most part. Katarina is weaker early game than you so you can fight her before level 6 and be able to kill her. Do not eat up her Bouncing Blades though. She throws them at you then punish her back with your harass. After 6 you can stop her ultimate so it shouldn't be too hard.
She can dodge your Petrifying Gaze with Shunpo It will allow her to jump to a ward or ally minion. She is mobile because of this and catching her can be a pain. She will also roam often so tell your team when she is not in lane and you might want to consider taking Teleport.
You should save Petrifying Gaze for when she is using Death Lotus. Katarina will need to stand still to use it and if you stun her you will cancel her ultimate leaving a good portion of her damage output unusable.

Kayle:

Tips:

This match-up will be hard. Kayle is very good right now and she has free harass from a distance even though she is a melee champ thanks to Righteous Fury. She can hurt you from a far so you will need to land a good amount of Noxious Blasts in this match-up.
Killing her before 6 is the best chance. Do it with ganks. She has a slow with Reckoning but she can only slow one person so attacking with two makes her have to choose who to slow. After level 6 she can become invincible with Intervention. It makes her a pain to fight and she can bait you underneath her tower so be careful. However she can still be slowed and stunned while immune to damage.
Just sit back and farm it up. Do not get bullied but do not go all out on Kayle. Push her out of lane by making her run out of mana. She does have a slight heal in Divine Blessing so making her run out of mana is easier.

Kennen:

Tips:

Should be an even match-up. Kennen has to get pretty close to do his damage so you can counter his damage by using a lot of the Twin Fang spam. However he can stun you in many different fashions so be wary.
Thundering Shuriken will hit minions so just stay behind your minions to avoid it. It will be hard to catch Kennen without stunning him because of his Lightning Rush. He gains a lot of movement speed, making ganking him a pain.
He has many different combinations to stun you. Any way to get 3 Mark of the Storm onto you will get you stunned. All of his abilities will add a mark. Electrical Surge can add two marks and Slicing Maelstrom can add multiple marks as well. Slicing Maelstrom is a huge AoE ability that can stun multiple targets so be wary of him in teamfights.

LeBlanc:

Sigil of Silence

Tips:

This is another super hard match-up. LeBlanc has extreme burst and can absolutely wreck you will a silence and a slow. She is very mobile which makes it hard to hit Petrifying Gaze. Just sit back and farm. Do NOT feed LeBlanc.
If you need too buy an early Chalice of Harmony or Giant's Belt to help contain her burst. If you do not feed her she will need to roam to get kills. If she does not get kills she will become less of a threat quicker. Late game she falls off a lot harder than you do.
If you get hit with Ethereal Chains try to break the bond so you do not get slowed. Try not to get fooled by Mirror Image when she gets low. You do not want to kill her clone obviously. If you attempt to kill her in lane do it with ganks and even then do not take any chances.

Lissandra:

Tips:

Coming soon

Lux:

Tips:

This will be a hard match-up mainly because of Lux's range. She does not really have to do too much other than throw her skill-shots at you. Her range of Lucent Singularity and Final Spark out-do your ranges. You can kill her if you can get close enough and with some nice ganks.
Try not to get snared with Light Binding. It will hit minion and anything behind it. So stay behind your minions and try to avoid getting snared. You will leave yourself open for the Lucent Singularity and Final Spark combo which can absolutely melt you.
Final Spark has a very short cooldown like less than 30 seconds so do not be surprised if she uses it to farm the lane and push it. Just make sure not to be caught in it. Enough Twin Fangs should be able to eat through her Prismatic Barrier.

Malzahar:

Tips:

This match-up should be decently easy. It will be a pain because of Malazhar's range with Call of the Void. He can also farm from far away with Malefic Visions. Kill-able before and after 6 as he is not very mobile. Just do not get silenced from Call of the Void.
If necessary this would be a prime example of when to buy a Quicksilver Sash. When you get hit with Nether Grasp just activate this item and you will be free of it and will get rid of a lot of Malzahar's damage. You can then use Petrifying Gaze to counter and deal more damage.
Do not sit in Null Zone. The damage over time in combination with the damage over time from Malefic Visions can actually do a good amount of damage. If you do not feel that you can get close to him then max Noxious Blast and harass him like crazy.

Mordekaiser:

Tips:

This should be a pretty easy lane for you. Your DPS will eat through Iron Man and you should kick his butt because he is also melee. He will naturally push the lane so you can have some free farm. If he tries to roam push your lane out with Miasma and follow him.
Children of the Grave is a damage over time ability that if it kills you will create a clone for you to do his bidding. You can prevent this with Health Potions and Zhonya's Hourglass. Siphon of Destruction is his main harass skill that can reach you if you stand amongst your minions. So try not to stand to close to them.
Kill potential before level 6 is pretty high but will decrease when he gets a Hextech Revolver and level 6. At that point fighting against him with a gank is the easiest way to kill him.

Morgana:

Tips:

A pretty easy match-up. Morgana is more of a utility mage than a damage mage. She will be more useful for her snares, shield, and stun then her damage. However do not sit in Tormented Shadow as it will hurt if you sit in it. It is similar your Miasma in that it is an AoE ability.
You should be able to eat through her Black Shield with enough Twin Fangs and Noxious Blast. However you will not be able to slow her or stun her while the shield is up. Do not get stuck in Dark Binding especially late game otherwise you will not be able to move for 3 seconds which is plenty of time to kill you.
Soul Shackles is an AoE binding that will channel until broken. If it is not broken then you will be stunned and damage. So try to break the bind at all costs.

Cassiopeia's Enemies: O-Z

Orianna:

Tips:

This will be a decently hard lane. It is winnable but it won't be like taking candy from a baby. Orianna has a lot of power and a lot of utility. You can kill her before level 6 and after 6 with ganks. Orianna is not an easy champion to use and some people you face will be really bad with her.
Command: Attack is her main source of power. She will send out her ball to attack you and will follow up with Command: Dissonance to slow you if you are in its radius. The slow is pretty good so try not to overextend.
Command: Protect will give her a shield that will eat up a lot of your damage and harass. Killing her is a pain in the butt because of it. Command: Shockwave packs a lot of power and can pull you back into a fight if you are trying to get away so be careful. Keep the side brush warded.

Ryze:

Tips:

This should be an easy match-up. Early and mid game you out perform Ryze in terms of both damage and mobility. Before level 6 and after level 6 the kill potential is very high.
Overload will be used for farming and to harass you. It has a short cooldown and is rather weak in the beginning. At level 9 it will start to do some decent damage.
Try to steal Ryze's blue buff. Ryze thrives off of mana. The less mana and mana regen he has the less damage he can do.
Careful not to overextend as Rune Prison can get you killed. It will leave you rooted. Even though you can still use your skills you will most likely have to base or will be killed.

Swain:

Tips:

This should be another easy match-up. Before level 6 you can kill Swain especially with ganks. After level 6 you can kill him as you can eat through his sustain with your DPS but will be much easily done if you gank him.
Do not get stuck in Nevermove otherwise it will leave you open for free harass from Decrepify and Torment. You will be able to see where it will land before the snare occurs so you can move out of the way.
Attempt to take his blue buff. A Swain with no mana is just as useless as an Anivia without mana. He will also be unable to sustain himself with Ravenous Flock making killing him a much easier task.

Syndra:

Tips:

Should be an easy match-up. Syndra has a lot of range so you might want to max Noxious Blast first for more harass power if you do not feel that you can get close enough to get off many Twin Fangs. She is kill-able before and after 6 but you might need ganks.
Dark Sphere is her main harassing tool. It has decent range and has a little delay before appearing so try to dodge it. It can then be manipulated by Force of Will to be thrown at a target location. Keep moving to try and throw off her aim. She can also Force of Will on your minions.
Scatter the Weak will knock you back by itself. If Scatter the Weak comes into contact with any of her Dark Spheres and they hit you, you will also be stunned. Unleashed Power throws a bunch of spheres at a target. It can do quite a bit of damage so do not underestimate it.

Talon:

MercyCutthroat

Tips:

A good Talon will end up kicking your butt. He is one of the ultimate counters to AP mids. Kill him only with ganks and do not feed him. You feed him and then he starts roaming the other lanes will probably get wrecked.
Take Greater Seal of Armor and buy an early Seeker's Armguard before Haunting Guise. Talon is AD and these will help.
Rake will be his main harassing tool and eventually his main farming tool. It will slow you if you get hit with it. Max Noxious Blast first and harass from a distance and when he tries to last hit.
Cutthroat is a gap closer and will silence you making you unable to do anything. That is why you stay back. Shadow Assault will make Talon deal damage, move faster, and becoming invisible. To see him when he ults you can use a Vision Ward in the middle of the lane if it is a problem.

Twisted Fate:

Tips:

This will be an equal match-up. Your ranges are similar. Twisted Fate will sit back and just last hit and throw Wild Cards at you. Dodge the cards as these papercuts will hurt. He is definitely very kill-able before and after 6 but if you do not believe that you will be able to get close enough to spam Twin Fang then just sit back and farm it up.
Pay attention to Pick A Card. Yellow Card will stun you. Try not get hit with that one as much as you can. Blue Card will give Twisted Fate some mana back. Red Card will deal bonus damage and will slow the target. Red will be seen the least
Because of Destiny and Twisted Fate's ability to gank other lanes by "teleporting" into them and picking up kills I recommend you take Teleport if you know you'll be facing one.

Veigar:

Tips:

Veigar can rape you. If you try to chase after him and spam Twin Fang he can just use Event Horizon to stun you and then use Dark Matter and Primordial Burst to kick your butt. This is an opponent where getting Banshee's Veil will be very beneficial.
Just farm up and you can go after Veigar will the help of ganks and at levels 1-3. Late game Veigar will be able to one-shot you if you get caught with Event Horizon. However if you get him with Petrifying Gaze then your team can rape him easily. Primordial Burst gets better against AP enemies the more AP the enemy has. So basically the more AP you buy the more his ultimate does to you.
Baleful Strike will be Veigar's prime farming ability early game and will increase his AP by 1 for each minion killed. It does not have a cap like Nasus's Siphoning Strike. Veigar in late game is known for having 800+ AP easily. Do not pick Cassiopeia against this match-up. Not only will laning be a pain but late game you will get melted.

Viktor:

Tips:

Viktor is very under-rated. A good Viktor can dominate his lane and make it really hard for you. Unfortunately most Viktor's you see know the champ and play him on a regular basis so they should be above average. Just make sure not to under-estimate him.
Hextech Ray is a strong poke move and allows Viktor to farm and harass from a safe distance. Don't get hit with it as it will hurt. If you get stuck in Gravity Field it will first slow you and then stun you. If you get stunned you leave yourself open for Hextech Ray and Power Transfer. Power Transfer will give Viktor extra movement speed so make sure to hit Noxious Blast if you want to catch him.
Arcane Storm is an initial damage skill that will silence you for 0.5 seconds. Then it will follow you doing damage over time. This skill is like a black cloud that just follows you everywhere you go. It will do a good bit of damage so do not under-estimate what it can do.
Kill Viktor with ganks before and after 6 for the best killing potential.

Vladimir:

Tips:

Relatively easy match-up for the laning phase. You out damage and out harass him until about level 9. You can kick his but before level 6. After level 6 make sure you do not get baited by Sanguine Pool when using Petrifying Gaze. If you do it while he is pooling it will do nothing.
Transfusion will sustain Vladimir very well starting at level 7 and when he get a Hextech Revolver. Vladimir does not run on mana so the only way to push him out of lane is to get him low on health or to kill him.
Tides of Blood will make farming for Vladimir a breeze but it will push the lane. So if he pushes and starts to roam use Miasma to kill the minions quickly and follow Vladimir around. Keeping him down as long as you can will benefit you and your team in the long run.

Xerath:

Ascended FormLocus of PowerMage Chains

Tips:

Xerath is an easy match-up but it still is a pain. Because of his long range with Locus of Power he can harass you from a distance with Arcanopulse. Although he is immobile while using Locus of Power so you can try and go after him and spam him with Twin Fang. However you can kill him easily before and after 6 as long as you do not get stunned.
Maxing Noxious Blast first can help if you cannot get close to him. Just harass from afar and farm your lane. Then when jungler comes you can attempt to kill him. If you get hit with Mage Chains try not to get hit with Arcanopulse or any of his Arcane Barrage. If you do you will be stunned.
Xerath is not a very mobile champion so catching him shouldn't really be a problem plus he has no gap closers so missing Petrifying Gaze will be your own fault. He does have good burst though especially in Arcane Barrage so try not to get hit with all 3 of his attacks.

Ziggs:

Tips:

Ziggs is a pretty easy match-up. It is all about missing his skill-shots. Like Brand he is skill-shot dependent so the more you dodge the less effective he becomes. He is not very mobile and does not have great range so you should be able to spam Twin Fang pretty often.
Avoid Bouncing Bomb the most as it has a short cooldown and will do considerable damage especially if you get hit with a few in a row. It explodes on impact or will bounce up to two times. Keep moving and dodging and you'll be okay.
Hexplosive Minefield is an AoE slow move and can use it to zone you to set up Bouncing Bomb Try not to hit any of the mines to avoid getting slowed. Mega Inferno Bomb is a giant bomb that is also AoE. The closer to the middle of the circle indicator you are the more damage it will do. He will most likely use it to snipe you or when your team is clumped up in teamfights.
Kill-able before and after 6 especially if you can avoid Mega Inferno Bomb. Ganks with CC help as well.

Special Thanks and Closing Words

People who helped greatly!

Thanks for reading my guide to . This is not the only way to build but is the way that I build and play her. I hope at the very least you have learned some tips and different ways to approach this champion. If you are new to just keep practicing the spam and keep an eye on your positioning and poison timers. I am open to any advice or suggestions just please leave them in the comments or in a message and do not be an a**hole about it. I hope you have many good games with to come and that you will enjoy poisoning your enemies to death.

Cassiopeia - The Venomous Monarch

Cassiopeia - The Venomous Monarch

Recommended Items

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Items

Ability Order

Serpentine Grace (PASSIVE)

Noxious Blast (Q)

Miasma (W)

Twin Fang (E)

Petrifying Gaze (R)

Introduction

CHEATSHEET HAS BEEN UPDATED. GUIDE WILL BE UPDATED AT A LATER DATE. I'M VERY BUSY.

Pros/Cons

Masteries

Runes

Runes

Quintessences

Marks

Seals

Glyphs

Summoner Spells

My Preferred Spells:

Other Viable Choices:

Cassiopeia's Skillset

Cassiopeia's Skills

Passive: Deadly Cadence

Noxious Blast(Q)

Miasma(W)

Twin Fang(E)

Petrifying Gaze(R)

Cassiopeia's Skill Sequence & Combos

Main Harassing Combos

Main Combo Teamfights

Items: Early & Core

Starting Items:

Early Game

Core Items

Items: Late Game

Pick 2 of the items below to finish your build.

Gameplay: Early & Mid Game

Laning Phase

Post Laning Phase(Mid Game)

Gameplay: Late Game

Cassiopeia's Enemies: A-G

Cassiopeia's Enemies: H-N

Cassiopeia's Enemies: O-Z

Special Thanks and Closing Words

LoL Wiki

Jhoijhoi

League of Legends Champions: