Cassiopeia counters (Mid)

Common role: Mid

The best counter to Cassiopeia in Mid is Ahri: 57.2% win rate over 556 ranked games on patch 26.21.

A DoT mage who grounds you so you can't dash away, then poisons you to death.

What makes Cassiopeia dangerous

Cassiopeia stacks poison with Q and a spammable E (empowered against poisoned targets), grounds an area with W so you cannot dash out, and petrifies you with a frontal ultimate if you are facing her. She scales into an unkillable damage machine who chases you down with movement speed.

How to counter Cassiopeia

• 1Turn away from her when she ults — facing her means a full stun, turned away is only a slow.
• 2Don't dash into her W ground zone; you'll be stuck and poisoned.
• 3Punish her extremely weak, mana-hungry early game hard.
• 4She is immobile — dive her or gank; her only defence is the ground zone.

What are Cassiopeia's weaknesses?

• ✓No mobility — highly gankable and easy to dive.
• ✓One of the weakest, most mana-starved early laners.
• ✓Her ult only stuns enemies facing her — turn away.
• ✓Squishy: burst her before her poison ramps.

Abilities & how to counter them

What each of Cassiopeia's abilities does — and how to play around it.

• P
  Serpentine Grace

  All Move Speed bonuses are more effective on Cassiopeia.

  Strong: gains move speed instead of buying boots, letting her chase and kite. Weak: no boots means a flat item disadvantage — burst her when caught.

• Q
  Noxious Blast

  Cassiopeia blasts an area with Poison after a brief delay, granting her increased Move Speed if she hits an enemy champion.

  Strong: applies poison and grants her move speed — her main poke. Weak: a delayed AoE circle — sidestep it to deny the poison and speed.

• W
  Miasma

  Cassiopeia releases several clouds of poison, slowing, grounding, and lightly damaging enemies that pass through them. Grounded enemies cannot use Movement abilities.

  Strong: a ground zone that stops all dashes so you can't escape her. Weak: fixed area — don't dash into it, and walk around the edge.

• E
  Twin Fang

  Cassiopeia lets loose an attack that deals increased damage to Poisoned targets and heals her for a percentage of the damage dealt. If the target dies from this attack, Cassiopeia regains Mana.

  Strong: a spammable nuke that refunds mana and shreds against poisoned targets. Weak: it needs poison on you first — cleanse the poison or don't get hit by Q.

• R
  Petrifying Gaze

  Cassiopeia releases a swirl of magical energy from her eyes, stunning any enemies in front of her that are facing her and slowing any others with their back turned.

  Strong: petrifies everyone facing her for a full stun. Weak: turn away and it's only a slow — face-check her ult and turn your back.

Itemization

Magic resist and grievous wounds (she sustains off Q). Dive her immobile frame early; turn away from her ult to dodge the stun.

This guide covers Cassiopeia's core kit and playstyle — advice that holds up across patches.