Katarina ARAM Mayhem Build

The Sinister Blade. A middle-of-the-pack pick in ARAM Mayhem on patch 26.21: #81 of 173 champions.

BPatch 26.21AssassinMageNo runes in Mayhem

Tier: B
Win rate: 49.6%
Pick rate: 7.5%
Rank: #81 of 173
Games: 1,731,051
Patch: 26.21

How to play Katarina in ARAM Mayhem

Katarina is a solid, middle-of-the-pack pick in ARAM Mayhem on patch 26.21: tier B, #81 of 173 champions, with a 49.6% win rate over 1,731,051 games. Riot rates it 8/10 for difficulty, so give it a few games before you judge it.

Katarina's damage is mixed (52% physical, 41% magic), which makes it awkward for the enemy team to itemize against. It deals 45,913 damage to champions in an average game, more than most champions, so play to stay alive and keep hitting. It brings almost no crowd control, so it relies on teammates to set up kills. It dies 14.0 times per game on average: it trades its life for impact, so time your engages with your team.

The On-hit build, on-hit attack speed items, is both the most played and the top-ranked path: Kraken Slayer, Blade of The Ruined King and Terminus, with a 51.8% win rate over 1,117,913 games. On this build 61% of players skip boots and spend the slot on another item.

The cards that do best on Katarina are Third Times the Harm, Clown College and Ethereal Weapon. Cards built around ability haste fill most of the top of its list, followed by ability power. Most of its S-tier cards are prismatic, so a prismatic offer is often the pick that shapes the game. Skip ADAPt and Archmage when you can: they do worst on Katarina. A pair to look for: Ethereal Weapon with Third Times the Harm.

Take Flash and Mark (95% of players). Max Q (Bouncing Blade) first, then E, then W. Players who max E first instead win a little more often, so it is worth trying.

Katarina ARAM Mayhem build

ARAMKit groups every Katarina game by build path. The top-ranked path comes first, with the items most players start with, buy first and add later.

On-hit build · top ranked

51.8% win rate · 75% of Katarina games · 1,117,913 games

Start

The Brutalizer

Core items, in buying order

Kraken Slayer
Blade of The Ruined King
Terminus

Boots on the On-hit build for Katarina, top ranked first, with the share of players who buy them
Boots, best first	Players
Gluttonous Greaves	23%
No boots	61%
Berserker's Greaves	4%

Situational, after the core

Endless Hunger5% buy it
Statikk Shiv3% buy it
Death's Dance36% buy it
Ravenous Hydra3% buy it
Experimental Hexplate13% buy it
Guinsoo's Rageblade3% buy it

Other build paths

Other Katarina build paths with share of games, win rate and core items
Path	Games	Win rate
HybridKraken Slayer, Titanic Hydra, Hextech Gunblade	0.2%	45.5%
BruiserKraken Slayer, Experimental Hexplate, Death's Dance	3.8%	46.9%
APLich Bane, Shadowflame, Rabadon's Deathcap	5.2%	45.9%

Games: the share of all Katarina games that went this way.

Most bought items

Kraken Slayer82% of games
Blade of The Ruined King80% of games
Terminus69% of games
Titanic Hydra36% of games
Death's Dance23% of games
Gluttonous Greaves20% of games
Hextech Gunblade15% of games
Shadowflame14% of games
Experimental Hexplate13% of games
Heartsteel11% of games

Best augments for Katarina

Every card with enough Katarina games, by tier and best first within each tier. Tiers are Katarina's own: a card can be S tier here and C tier on another champion. As Riot's policy asks, cards are shown by tier and order only, never with a win rate. Click a card for its own page; the augment tier list ranks them over all champions.

PrismaticBest prismatic cards

GoldBest gold cards

SilverBest silver cards

S- and A-tier cards for Katarina

9 S tier and 30 A tier, best first.

The S- and A-tier augments for Katarina in ARAM Mayhem, best first, with their rarity and what they do
Augment	Rarity	Tier	What it does
Third Times the Harm	Prismatic	Tier S	–
Clown College	Prismatic	Tier S	Backstab: You deal (20–35 (by level) +35% Ability Power +50% Bonus Attack Damage) bonus physical damage when striking from behind. Deceive…
Ethereal Weapon	Gold	Tier S	Your Abilities apply On-Hit Effects On-Hit effects. 1 second Cooldown per target.
Ultra Hydra	Prismatic	Tier S	Gain a Tiamat when completing a Hydra Item. QUEST: Possess Titanic Hydra, Ravenous Hydra and Profane Hydra. REWARD: Get Ultra Hydra.
Tooth Fairy	Gold	Tier S	When you deal more than 25% of an enemy champion's Health in less than 2.5 seconds, they drop a Tooth. 4 seconds cooldown per target
The Boom and the Bass	Gold	Tier S	After casting an Ability, your next Attack within 6 seconds is faster, deals Melee (50–200 (by level) +50% Bonus Attack Damage+30% Ability…
Final Form	Prismatic	Tier S	After casting your Ultimate, gain a 50% max Health Shield, 20% Omnivamp and 30% bonus Movement Speed for 10 seconds. (20 seconds Cooldown).
Forged By The Master	Silver	Tier S	Your Item and Augment damage are increased by 45%.
Fey Magic	Prismatic	Tier S	Damaging with your Ultimate Polymorphs enemies for 2 seconds (15 second Cooldown).
Escape Plan	Silver	Tier A	Gain a massive (65% Max Health) decaying Shield, decaying 150% Movement Speed, and a decaying shrink effect upon reaching 35% Health (75…
Take'em Down Down Down	Gold	Tier A	Attacks and Abilities apply a stack to enemy champions for 5 seconds and deal Melee (5–30 (by level) +35% Bonus Attack Damage+15% Ability…
Urf's Champion	Prismatic	Tier A	QUEST: Score 18 takedowns. REWARD: Gain The Golden Spatula.
Can't Touch This	Prismatic	Tier A	Casting your Ultimate makes you Invulnerable for 2 seconds (8s Cooldown).
Spin To Win	Silver	Tier A	Your spin Abilities gain 30 Ability Haste and deal 30% more damage, increase to 50% for Ultimates
BEES!!!	Gold	Tier A	Every 15–10 (by level) seconds, your next Ability hit against an enemy champion throws a beehive at the target. Upon arriving, the hive…
Weapon of Destiny	Gold	Tier A	Your first Legendary Item becomes the Weapon of Destiny. When a champion you damaged within the last 3 seconds dies, increase the Weapon of…
Mad Scientist	Prismatic	Tier A	On each Revive, you grow large (gaining 30% Adaptive Force and 20% Health) or tiny (gaining 70 Ability Haste and 40% Movement Speed).
Blunt Force	Silver	Tier A	–
Heavy Is The Crown	Gold	Tier A	Gain 10 Attack Damage, 25 Ability Power, and increase your Bonus Attack Damage, Bonus Ability Power, and Total Attack Speed by 10%. Decrease…
Erosion	Silver	Tier A	Damaging enemies shreds 1.5% Armor and Magic Resist for 4s, up to 30% at 20 stacks.
Giant Slayer	Prismatic	Tier A	Become tiny, gain 20% Movement Speed, and deal between 10% and 30% bonus damage to champions based on how much larger they are than you.
Still Here	Gold	Tier A	Gain 2% Attack Speed and 0.35% Lifesteal for each 1% of missing Health.
Omni Soul	Prismatic	Tier A	Gain 3 random Dragon Souls.
Hand of Baron	Prismatic	Tier A	Gain 25% Adaptive Force. Nearby allied minions are greatly empowered.
escAPADe	Silver	Tier A	Convert Ability Power to Bonus Attack Damage and gain (15%) Attack Damage. Converts at a rate of 0.6 Attack Damage per point of Ability…
From Beginning To End	Gold	Tier A	Gain the First Strike and Dark Harvest Keystone Runes. First Strike: When you initiate champion combat, deal 10% extra damage for 3 seconds…
Swift and Safe	Silver	Tier A	Gain a (65–290 (by level) +26% Ability Power +65% Bonus Attack Damage) Shield for 2 seconds after a Dash or Blink (5 seconds Cooldown).
Goredrink	Silver	Tier A	Gain 15% Omnivamp.
Donation	Gold	Tier A	Receive 1750 Gold. Thanks chat!:)
Ultimate Unstoppable	Silver	Tier A	After using your Ultimate, you become immune to crowd control for 3 seconds. (8 second Cooldown).
Goliath	Prismatic	Tier A	Become large, gaining 35% Health and 15% Adaptive Force.
Firebrand	Gold	Tier A	Your Attacks also Burn enemies, dealing 0.4% max Health magic damage damage per second over 5 seconds. This Burn stacks infinitely.
Totentanz	Prismatic	Tier A	Replace a Summoner Spell with A Dance with Death. A Dance with Death: Become Unkillable for 5 seconds and blink forward. If you get a…
Stats on Stats!	Gold	Tier A	Gain 3 Stat Anvils, with a higher chance of Gold and Prismatic Anvils!
Stats on Stats on Stats!	Prismatic	Tier A	Gain 4 Stat Anvils, with a higher chance of Gold and Prismatic Anvils! On your next Augment selection, gain one additional reroll per slot.
Dive Bomber	Silver	Tier A	Explodes when you die, dealing 20% of the target's max Health as true damage to nearby enemies.
Transmute: Chaos	Prismatic	Tier A	Gain 2 random Augment Tier Augments.
Lonely Warrior	Silver	Tier A	Gain 15% Attack Speed, 10 Armor, and 10 Magic Resist for each nearby enemy champion within 600 Range.
Transmute: Prismatic	Gold	Tier A	Gain a random Augment Tier Prismatic Augment.

Average on Katarina
46 cards, best first

Below average on Katarina
34 cards, best first

Weakest on Katarina
8 cards, best first

Best first augment for Katarina

Your first card decides the early fights, and a card that is great as a first pick can be a weak fourth. ARAMKit ranks Katarina's cards for each pick on its own; these are the top five per pick, with their tier in that pick. For the first pick, Third Times the Harm, Clown College and Ultra Hydra come out on top.

The best augments for Katarina in each pick of an ARAM Mayhem game, best first, with their tier in that pick
#	First pick	Second pick	Third pick	Fourth pick
1	Third Times the HarmTier S	Third Times the HarmTier S	Clown CollegeTier S	Clown CollegeTier S
2	Clown CollegeTier S	Clown CollegeTier S	Ethereal WeaponTier S	Ethereal WeaponTier S
3	Ultra HydraTier S	The Boom and the BassTier S	Forged By The MasterTier S	Fey MagicTier S
4	Ethereal WeaponTier S	Ethereal WeaponTier S	The Boom and the BassTier S	The Boom and the BassTier S
5	Tooth FairyTier S	Final FormTier S	Fey MagicTier S	Forged By The MasterTier S

Strong card pairs

Two cards that do especially well together on Katarina, best pair first.

Summoner spells and skill order

Summoner spells

Flash + Mark95% of players · 49.7% win rate
Flash + Cleanse0% of players · 51.3% win rate
Flash + Barrier0% of players · 49.4% win rate

Skill order

QBouncing Blade
EShunpo
WPreparation

Max Q first. 66% of players use this order (49.9% win rate); put points in R whenever you can. Maxing E first (24% of players) wins 52.5%.

Katarina in an average Mayhem game

Averages per game over every game on this patch.

K / D / A: 13.9 / 14.0 / 21.9
KDA: 2.70
Damage to champions: 45,913
Damage taken: 42,140
Self-mitigated: 35,237
Healing on allies: 2
Shielding on allies: 0
Crowd control: 6 s
Kill participation: 64%
Game length: 16:44

Damage type

Physical 52%Magic 41%True 7%

Questions and answers

What is the best Katarina build in ARAM Mayhem?

On patch 26.21 ARAMKit ranks the On-hit build first for Katarina: Kraken Slayer, Blade of The Ruined King and Terminus. It is also the most played build.

What are the best augments for Katarina in ARAM Mayhem?

The S-tier cards for Katarina, best first: Third Times the Harm, Clown College, Ethereal Weapon, Ultra Hydra and Tooth Fairy. The full list by tier is on this page.

Is Katarina good in ARAM Mayhem?

Katarina is tier B on patch 26.21, #81 of 173 champions, with a 49.6% win rate over 1.7 million games. That makes it a solid, middle-of-the-pack pick in ARAM Mayhem right now.

What is the best first augment for Katarina in ARAM Mayhem?

For Katarina's first pick on patch 26.21: Third Times the Harm, Clown College, Ultra Hydra, Ethereal Weapon and Tooth Fairy, best first. Cards rank differently in later picks; the table on this page has all four.

Other Assassins in ARAM Mayhem

Get Katarina's build and card tiers in your game

LazyElo is a free Windows app that sits next to the League client. In the Mayhem lobby it shows which champion on your bench is strongest; in the game you type the three cards you're offered and see their tier for Katarina side by side, with this build in the overlay.

Download LazyElo for Windows

Free plan, no ads. For Windows 10 and 11.

Plans and pricing The ARAM Mayhem overlay

ARAM Mayhem tier list
Every champion by tier on patch 26.21.
ARAM Mayhem augment tier list
Every card from S to D over all champions.
All Mayhem builds
Pick a champion from the full list.
ARAM Mayhem rules
Augment levels, rerolls and why there are no runes.
ARAM Mayhem guide
How the mode, the cards and the picks work.
Katarina counters
Its lane matchups on Summoner's Rift.
ARAM Mayhem overlay
The card picker and build in the app.

Source: ARAMKit, used with permission. Patch 26.21, 23,177,263 ARAM Mayhem games, data of October 28, 2026. Riot keeps Mayhem games out of its public match API, so these aggregates come from ARAMKit. Card tiers are shown without win rates, as Riot's developer policy asks.