Kai'Sa
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Excellent (9/10)
High Investment Required
Epic Relics
Kai'Sa is widely considered one of the strongest champions in the Shurima region, particularly at maximum investment. While her early game can be slow at lower star levels, her unique 5-star and 6-star upgrades transform her into a highly efficient, fast-paced threat capable of consistent early-turn victories.
Optimal C6 Keyword Distribution
Provides Scout, which is essential for maximizing the number of attacks per round.
Grants Challenger, Tough, and Overwhelm, providing immediate board control and essential keywords for her evolution.
Grants Spirit, Impact, and Evolve. This acts as a direct upgrade to Dreams of Yordles, condensing multiple powerful keywords into a single slot.
Strategy
This build is strictly optimized for Kai'Sa at 6 stars. At this level, her Second Skin spell applies all of her keywords to an allied target.
By equipping Galeforce, Full Build, and Queen's Embrace, Kai'Sa can immediately grant Scout, Overwhelm, Challenger, Spirit, and Impact to a low-cost support champion or follower. This strategy shifts Kai'Sa from a primary attacker into a board-wide buffer, allowing allied units to end the game by turn 2 or 3.
Monthly Challenge Aggression (3-Star)
Rallies upon leveling up, allowing for an immediate extra attack.
Reduces Kai'Sa's cost with Plunder, accelerating her deployment.
Grants Spirit and Impact, contributing keywords for her Evolve mechanic and adding direct damage.
Strategy
This build is designed for 3-star Kai'Sa in Monthly Challenges where Epic relics are unavailable. It focuses on level-up synergy, cost reduction, and adding keywords for her Evolve.
Because Kai'Sa typically levels up the moment she is played, Crownguard Inheritance triggers an immediate Rally, enabling a devastating attack phase. The Scourge's Stash helps bypass her high base cost, provided you can reliably trigger Plunder.
Pre-C6 Skill Damage Amplifier
Increases the damage of all spells and skills by 1.- Stacks with the first Luden's Tempest to further amplify skill damage.
- Ensures Kai'Sa has enough keywords to instantly evolve upon being played.
Strategy
This build is highly effective for accounts that have not yet reached 6 stars. It focuses entirely on maximizing the damage of Kai'Sa's Icathian Rain skill.
By equipping two copies of Luden's Tempest, each missile deals significantly more damage, allowing her to clear the enemy board and inflict heavy Nexus damage immediately upon leveling up. Full Build guarantees she meets her Evolve condition the moment she enters the battlefield.
High Health Boss Burst
Copies spells cast when you have 6+ mana gems.
Creates a Redoubled Valor in hand upon summon.
Doubles the stat gains from spells.
Strategy
Designed specifically for high-health encounters like the Volibear or Aurelion Sol adventures. The goal is to stall the game until reaching 6 mana gems.
Once Kai'Sa is played, the Redoubled Valor generated by Hymn of Valor is cast. Chemtech Duplicator copies the spell, and Secret Technique doubles the resulting stat buffs, creating a unit with massive stats capable of ending the game in a single strike.
Zoe 10-Star Specialist
Zoe Specialized
- Provides immediate board control and essential keywords for her evolution.
Generates additional keywords to scale her abilities and provide flexibility.- Grants Scout, enabling multiple attack turns to pressure Zoe's low Nexus health.
Strategy
This build is tailored for the 10-star Zoe adventure at 6 stars. It leverages Full Build and Perfect Hex Core to rapidly accumulate keywords, which are then distributed to allies via Second Skin.
Galeforce is crucial here, as granting Scout to a support champion allows you to bypass Zoe's stalling tactics and push lethal damage quickly.
Other Relic Options
- An excellent choice prior to 6 stars. It consistently generates new keywords every round, accelerating her Evolve condition and scaling her skill damage.
Provides valuable mana ramp, allowing Kai'Sa to be played a turn earlier. This must typically be paired with Luminous Orb to ensure she meets the Titanic health threshold.
A strong alternative for providing Overwhelm and bonus stats to the board, accelerating her early game presence.
A potent defensive option that grants SpellShield and contributes an additional keyword to her Evolve requirement.
Highly effective before 6 stars for its Fated and Augment synergy. However, its granted keywords (Overwhelm, Regeneration, Challenger) do not transfer via her 6-star Second Skin ability unless she is already on the board and empowered.
Considered a trap relic for PvE. While it absorbs keywords from dying units, it carries a high risk of acquiring the Formidable keyword, which severely cripples Kai'Sa's damage output.
Kai'Sa's optimal relic choices shift dramatically once she reaches 6 stars. Relics that provide static aura keywords (like Full Build) become mandatory, while self-scaling relics (like Chosen by the Stars) lose priority due to mechanical limitations with her keyword-sharing ability.
Constellation
Kai'Sa requires significant investment to reach her maximum potential, but she is definitively assessed as one of the strongest champions in the Shurima region. Her progression path fundamentally alters her playstyle, shifting her from a standard late-game carry into a highly aggressive, board-wide enabler.
From Prey To Predator
Round Start: If you have the attack token, grant your strongest ally a random positive keyword.
Voidtouched
+1 Starting Mana. Allies with 3+ positive keywords have +2|+2.
From Prey To Predator II
Round Start: Grant your strongest ally a random positive keyword.
Dragon's Rage
When you summon an ally, grant it Fury. It is a Dragon.Review
Players disagree about the necessity of her 4-star power. Some consider it a helpful boost for consistent level-ups and early board presence, while others find it less impactful than her other constellation upgrades.
Voidtouched II
+2 Starting Mana. Allies with 3+ positive keywords have +2|+2, and allies with 6+ positive keywords have +4|+4.Review
This upgrade replaces her 2-star power, granting +2 starting mana and an enhanced stat buff for units with keywords. This is considered a massive power spike that resolves her slow early game and provides essential scaling for difficult encounters.
Wield The Abyss
Round Start: Create a Second Skin in hand. When you target an ally with Second Skin, give it Kai'Sa's keywords this round.Review
Grants a fleeting Second Skin every round that shares Kai'Sa's keywords with the target. This fundamentally changes her playstyle, allowing her to turn any low-cost unit into a massive threat with keywords like Scout and Overwhelm, often securing victories by turn 2 or 3.
Gameplay Tips
- Prioritize Unique Keywords
Drafting units and powers that provide unique keywords is essential. Kai'Sa requires 6 unique keywords to Evolve, and every additional keyword increases the damage of her Icathian Rain skill.
- The Value of Double Attack
Acquiring the Double Attack keyword during an adventure is the single most powerful upgrade Kai'Sa can receive. It drastically multiplies her damage output and should be prioritized above all other item drafts.
- Leverage Support Champions at 6 Stars
Once Kai'Sa reaches 6 stars, her optimal strategy involves playing a low-cost support champion and repeatedly buffing them with Second Skin. This allows you to push massive damage with Scout and Overwhelm before Kai'Sa even needs to enter combat.
- Beware of Cost-Increasing Mutators
Adventures or mutators that increase the cost of created cards severely hinder Kai'Sa's performance. Her Second Skin spell is a created card, and increasing its cost disrupts her primary scaling mechanic.
- Avoid Stuns Against Irelia
When facing the Irelia encounter, do not rely on Stun effects. Irelia's highest attack unit is often immune to or bypasses stuns during Blade Dance attacks. Prioritize hard removal, Frostbites, or drafting Lifesteal to survive her early aggression.
- Chosen by the Stars Interaction (C6)
If using Chosen by the Stars at 6 stars, be aware that its empowered keywords (Overwhelm, Regeneration, Challenger) will not transfer to allies via Second Skin unless Kai'Sa has 10+ power while in your hand. This requires external hand-buffs to function properly.