Command: Protect can be used on yourself to return the Ball back to you quickly. Combine this with Command: Attack for a quick harassment.
Command: Dissonance is a very powerful escape tool if Orianna has the Ball. The combination of speed and leaving a slowing obstacle can be quite powerful.
Command: Shockwave can be used to drag enemies towards you or away from you if you position the Ball properly.
Karthus can cast spells for a short duration after he is killed. Move away from his corpse to be safe.
Make sure you always have enough health to survive Requiem, even if you have to go back to the base more frequently to heal.
The stat comparisons shown on this page feature several vital Orianna against Karthus counter stats that may help us interpret the distinctions between the two. As an example, Orianna’s KDA ratio ([kills + assists] / deaths) of NaN is greater than Karthus’s ratio of NaN, highlighting that Orianna may be more central to her team's team fighting capability than Karthus..
Orianna normally has a similar longest killing spree as her enemy does. On average, she receives less damage than Karthus. This commonly reflects different amounts of tankyness; however, it can also show that the one champ has less agility and thus is unable to escape additional harm when poked or engaged.
Both LoL champions are great. Both have their pros and cons. In League's current meta, Orianna usually fairs equally well when trying to fight Karthus, with a 49.4% win rate. As a result, Orianna makes an ok counter for Karthus.
While Orianna does have a lower winrate compared to Karthus, when they face off with one another, Orianna also has a greater learning curve that makes her a more difficult champion to pick up and master. You still need to be cautious when picking Orianna into Karthusas her relative depth means you may not be able to unleash her full potential without a lot of practice beforehand.
Additionally, Orianna has some amount of CC and other utility, a similar amount to Karthus. This makes her just as valuable during teamfights, especially when facing champions with a lot of burst damage.
While there isn't a single best champion in League of Legends, in Orianna vs Karthus matchups, Karthus is the better champ with a similar win rate, similar champion depth, and a similar amount of utility to help out your allies during late stage team fights.
Orianna is a somewhat poor counter for Karthus. Focus your gameplay on increasing your gold and cs and destroying objectives. If you can do that, you should do very well as Orianna against Karthus.
To truly master Orianna to counter Karthus during both the laning and mid / late game phases of League of Legends, you should keep reading to learn a few extra lessons on this matchup. If you mind the build and stats shown here, you will increase your win rate by a lot and be that much closer to League of Legends pro players.
Orianna typically picks up more CS compared to Karthus. Champs who on average don't acquire many minion kills typically don't need much CS to be effective, such as support champions. They are able to scale well off of their abilities and first items alone. Yet, champs with large amounts of CS, such as hyper-carries, usually need several high cost items to be effective. In either situation, try to do better than the values shown here to do well.
The most important items to use in your Orianna versus Karthus build include Zhonya's Hourglass, Stormsurge, and Luden's Companion. When Orianna bought at least these three pieces in her build, she performed much better vs Karthus than with most other typical builds. In fact, Orianna boasted an average win rate of 49.4% when playing against Karthus with these items in her kit.
To have the best chance of beating Karthus as Orianna, you should use the Summon Aery, Manaflow Band, Transcendence, Scorch, Biscuit Delivery, and Cosmic Insight runes from the Sorcery and Inspiration rune sets. Out of all the rune sets players picked for Orianna vs Karthus battles, this mix of runes resulted in the highest win rate. Notably, these runes averaged a 49.4% winrate overall.
If you would like to get Orianna x Karthus tips and counter stats for a a particular division, feel free to choose one from the selection menu shown above. By default, the stats and strategies shown are computed using all matches finished with these champions.