Overview
No feet, no shoes, no problem. Cassiopeia is the only champion in the game who cannot byu boots, though you might argue that there are other champions in the lore where having shoes also makes no sense for them. Cass, like the Medusa of myths that she is named after, can petrify enemies with her ultimate and offers strong carry potential from mid lane thanks to the large amount of sustain damage she can consistently push out. Click here for the latest data on her best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Cassiopeia
Petrifying Gaze [R] is best when you're able to catch enemies looking at you, which means it's strongest from fog of war or when enemies are not expecting it. This can come from turning on them as they chase you or from flashing into them as they are posturing around. Stunning multiple enemies can instantly win a fight for your team.
You have some of the highest single target DPS in the game, so make sure you're helping with neutral objectives. You also excel in front-to-back fights because of this, so you don't always need to look for big ults.
Strengths
Petrifying Gaze [R] can be one of the strongest ultimates in the game if she’s able to land it on multiple enemies -- it doesn’t even need to be all five, though that is obviously the dream. As long as she’s able to catch two or three champions with the petrification, it can be enough for your team to focus them down, especially because she can keep them in place with Miasma [W] and then burst them down herself with Twin Fang [E], which gives her great sustain damage to the point where she easily contests even ADCs in extended fights. And as long as she’s able to consistently apply Noxious Blast [Q], she’ll be able to sustain herself and keep the fight going.
Weaknesses
Cassiopeia can run into mana issues early if she’s not careful about how she uses Twin Fangs [E] -- it’s going to be reliant on her landing her Noxious Blast [Q], which is one of the harder skill shots to hit in the game as you have to place it directly beneath a target’s feet. Cass also suffers from being very immobile in the early phases of the game, so she can be susceptible to ganks if she’s forced to extend towards the enemy tower. This can compound into making her a weaker roamer than other mid laners, so if action explodes on side lanes, she can find herself in situations where her team is behind from the get-go.
Game Plan
Early Game: Try to keep the wave closer to your side, but once you get some mana items online, you can try to look for trades with Noxious Blast [Q] and Twin Fangs [E]. If you’re able to chunk them out, you can look to follow it with your R to secure the kill.
Mid Game: She wants to push out the lane as much as possible to be able to help on skirmishes, as she lacks mobility to reach them after they’ve already begun. This means she should aim to be more proactive and position herself well before fights start.
Late Game: You have a lot of objective-taking pressure because of how fast Cass can burn down neutral targets -- especially if she has blue buff. And in team fights, she has hyper carry potential thanks to her damage being based around her spammable Twin Fangs [E].
