Overview
If you had to guess what year K’Sante was released based strictly on his kit, you would guess something newer and you would be right. He’s a champion with a lot of outplay potential thanks to his high flying spells, and the mobility makes him a menace to deal with in both side lanes and team fights. He’s a champion that can completely blow up a team fight for you or apply pressure on side lanes -- a great pick to have in your arsenal. Click here for the latest data on his best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About K’Sante
His high flying and flashy kit might trick you into thinking he's a side lane carry, but don't let it fool you. He can deal damage, and good damage at times, but he's still primarily a tank with a lot of disruption to his kit -- play your part as front line!
Your All Out [R] can leave you in really bad spots if you're not careful -- it'll take some practice to get used to how and where it moves through terrain!
Strengths
K’Sante has a ton of CC and mobility in his kit, which is going to make him a relatively high skill champion compared to other top laners. That said, unlike most mobile top laners, he still excels as a tank and should be thought of primarily as such. Path Maker [W] is an excellent tool at absorbing any sort of burst damage as long as you time it properly, and he can follow that up with Footwork [E] to either continue a fight or retreat to safety. And while most champions excel on flanks, K’Sante in particular can be deadly thanks to All Out [R] allowing him to displace an enemy champion (including knocking them into his team).
Weaknesses
It’s going to take a bit of practice to fully master his kit, as there are a lot of ways for you to outplay yourself. Your All Out [R] in particular can sometimes leave you in extremely undesirable spots (including near enemy turrets), which means you need to be certain as to where it’s going to place you before you use it. This will require good understanding of how he interacts with terrain, and you’ll likely have a few bloopers before you fully get it. He’s also a champion that’s going to require to you to weave in as much auto-attacks as possible, so be ready to test your mechanical prowess before locking him in!
Game Plan
Early Game: Ntofo Strikes [Q] landing or not is going to dictate the pace of your lane. You’re not especially strong nor weak at this phase, so it comes down to basic trading principles. You’ll have good gank setup so long as you hit your abilities.
Mid Game: Nothing special here -- control your side lane and then group for objectives. You can look for all-ins with your ultimate (especially if you can pull a low health enemy away from safety), or save it for engages before big team fights.
Late Game: The plan doesn’t change much from mid game -- at this point, though, you should be extremely tanky and should try to bait enemies to use abilities on you while you have Path Maker [W] up.
