Karthus, League of Legends champion
Win Rate
42.7%
Pick Rate
0.7%
Ban Rate
0.7%

Karthus Jungle Runes: Keystone & Shards

Karthus F TierMage
Patch
26.22
Games
103
Lane
Jungle
Tier
All Tiers
Last Updated
Nov 5, 2026 UTC
Methodology
Data Methodology

Best Jungle Karthus runes for LoL Patch 26.22 - Dark Harvest from the Domination tree with Sorcery secondary (41.9% WR, 41.7% pick rate). Karthus's optimal primary runes are Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Grisly Mementos, Ultimate Hunter. Secondary tree: Axiom Arcanist, Gathering Storm.

Karthus performs best with Dark Harvest as the keystone rune from the Domination tree. Karthus's optimal primary runes are Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Grisly Mementos, Ultimate Hunter. Karthus's secondary rune tree is Sorcery with Axiom Arcanist, Gathering Storm. This rune setup achieves a 41.86% win rate (-0.9% win rate difference) with a 41.7% pick rate across 43 Karthus games.
41.9%Win Rate
-0.9%WR Diff
41.7%Pick Rate
Dark HarvestDark Harvest

Damaging a Champion below 50% health deals adaptive damage and harvests their soul, permanently increasing Dark Harvest's damage by 11.

Dark Harvest damage: 30 (+11 damage per soul) (+0.1 bonus AD) (+0.05 AP)
Cooldown: 35s (resets to 1.0s on takedown)

Cheap ShotCheap Shot

Damaging champions with impaired movement or actions deals 10 - 45 bonus true damage (based on level).

Cooldown: 4s
Activates on damage occurring after the impairment.

Grisly MementosGrisly Mementos

Collect 1 memento on champion takedowns, up to 18 total.

Gain 6 Trinket Haste for each collected. In game modes where vision Trinkets do not exist, instead gain 3 Summoner Spell Haste.

Ultimate HunterUltimate Hunter

Your ultimate gains 6 Ability Haste, plus an additional 5 Ability Haste per Bounty Hunter stack. Bounty Hunter stacks are earned the first time you get a takedown on each enemy champion.

Axiom ArcanistAxiom Arcanist

Your Ultimate has 12% increased damage, healing, and shielding.
(AoE damage is reduced to a 8% increase)

Scoring a takedown on an enemy champion reduces your Ultimate's current cooldown by 7%.

Gathering StormGathering Storm

Every 10 min gain AP or AD, adaptive.

10 min: + 8 AP or 5 AD
20 min: + 24 AP or 14 AD
30 min: + 48 AP or 29 AD
40 min: + 80 AP or 48 AD
50 min: + 120 AP or 72 AD
60 min: + 168 AP or 101 AD
etc...

This alternative Karthus rune build uses Alternative Keystone as the keystone from the Primary tree. The primary runes are . Karthus's secondary rune tree is Secondary with . This setup achieves a 0% win rate (NaN% win rate difference) with a 0% pick rate across 0 games.

Primary Tree

 rune tree icon

Secondary Tree

 rune tree icon
%Win Rate
NaN%WR Diff
%Pick Rate
These champions share at least 4 runes with Karthus's recommended rune builds. use similar keystone and secondary runes, making them good alternatives if you enjoy Karthus's playstyle or want to learn champions with familiar rune setups.Fiddlesticks

Every Karthus Jungle Keystone and Secondary Tree (Patch 26.22)

100 games

Karthus Jungle runs Dark Harvest in 68% of games, with a 42.6% win rate. Sorcery is the usual secondary tree (54%). Standard stat shards: Adaptive Force (offense), Adaptive Force (flex), Health Scaling (defense).

Keystones

RunePlayersWin RateGames
Dark HarvestDark HarvestMost played68.0%42.6%68

Secondary trees

RunePlayersWin RateGames
SorcerySorceryMost played54.0%40.7%54
PrecisionPrecision40.0%45.0%40

Pick rate is the share of Karthus games in this lane that used the rune; options under 40 games are left out. A higher win rate on a rarely picked rune is usually a matchup-specific choice, not a general upgrade.

Karthus Minor Runes by Tree

Every minor rune Karthus players take, grouped by rune tree, with how often it is picked and how often it wins.

Sorcery

RunePlayersWin RateGames
Axiom ArcanistAxiom ArcanistMost played81.0%39.5%81
Gathering StormGathering Storm78.0%41.0%78

Domination

RunePlayersWin RateGames
Cheap ShotCheap ShotMost played69.0%40.6%69
Ultimate HunterUltimate Hunter59.0%40.7%59
Grisly MementosGrisly Mementos59.0%45.8%59

Karthus Stat Shards

Which stat shards Karthus players choose in each of the three shard rows, and the win rate of each.

RunePlayersWin RateGames
Adaptive Force (flex)Adaptive Force (flex)Most played100.0%42.0%100
Adaptive Force (offense)Adaptive Force (offense)94.0%42.6%94
Health Scaling (defense)Health Scaling (defense)83.0%41.0%83
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Karthus Runes FAQ - Patch 26.22

What is the best keystone for Karthus Jungle?

Dark Harvest: Karthus Jungle takes it in 68% of ranked games and wins 42.6% of 68 games.

What stat shards should Karthus take?

Most Karthus players take Adaptive Force (offense), Adaptive Force (flex), Health Scaling (defense) — one from each shard row.

What are the best Karthus runes in patch 26.22?

The best Karthus runes in patch 26.22 use the Domination tree with Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Grisly Mementos, and Ultimate Hunter, and the Sorcery tree with Axiom Arcanist and Gathering Storm. This rune setup achieves a 41.9% win rate with a 41.7% pick rate.

What is the win rate for Karthus's best rune page?

Karthus's best rune page has a 41.9% win rate in patch 26.22, which is -0.9% compared to Karthus's average win rate. This rune setup has a 41.7% pick rate among Karthus players.

What keystone should I use on Karthus?

Dark Harvest from the Domination tree is the best keystone rune for Karthus in patch 26.22. This keystone synergizes well with Karthus's kit and provides a 41.9% win rate.

What is Karthus's primary rune tree?

Karthus's primary rune tree is Domination. The optimal Domination runes for Karthus are Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Grisly Mementos, and Ultimate Hunter, with Dark Harvest being the keystone of choice.

What is Karthus's secondary rune tree?

Karthus's best secondary rune tree is Sorcery. The recommended Sorcery runes are Axiom Arcanist and Gathering Storm, which complement Karthus's Domination primary tree.

What are alternative rune setups for Karthus?

An alternative Karthus rune setup uses alternative keystone from the Primary tree. This alternate build may be preferred in certain matchups or playstyles. Check the alternative rune page above for full details including win rate and pick rate.

How popular are Karthus's runes?

Karthus's top rune page has a 41.7% pick rate in patch 26.22. This indicates that 41.7% of Karthus players use the Dark Harvest setup with Domination and Sorcery trees.