Darius vs Karthus JUNGLE Matchup Guide | LaneStomp

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Champion

Opponent

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Darius

VS

Jungle

Karthus

Darius vs Karthus

Updated Jun 6, 2026

Overview

Use early jungle pressure to disrupt Karthus's full clear and force him off camps before he scales.
Prioritize controlling river vision and Scuttle crabs to limit Karthus's safe farming and objective access.
This matchup is a snowball vs scale fight; deny Karthus farm and tempo to prevent his late-game global impact.

Jungle Plan

Path aggressively to contest camps and Scuttle when lanes have priority to deny Karthus's tempo and scaling.
Invade before Karthus completes his first AP item to capitalize on his weak dueling and clear speed.
Use vision control around dragon and Herald to force Karthus into unfavorable fights and deny objective setups.

Danger windows

Early invade windows around Karthus's first clear are dangerous if lanes cannot assist or vision is lacking.
Isolated river fights without lane priority risk losing tempo and objectives to Karthus's follow-up damage.
Forced smite fights at dragon or Herald can be risky if Karthus has vision and you are low health or outnumbered.

Early game

Start with a fast clear path that allows early river control to contest first Scuttle when nearby lanes have priority.
Invade Karthus during his first clear if lanes can assist or he shows predictable pathing to set him behind.
Avoid isolated river fights early if Karthus is nearby and lanes cannot support counter-ganks.

Power spikes

Level 6 unlocks your execute (R), enabling lethal extended trades and resets; stack passive before committing.
First bruiser item completion increases your durability and damage, allowing longer fights to punish Karthus's low mobility.
Karthus's level 6 (R) demands avoiding extended low-health fights across the map to prevent global executions.

Win conditions

Convert early jungle pressure into denying Karthus camps and securing Scuttle crabs to delay his item spikes.
Use level 6 execute power spike combined with lane priority to force kills and snowball side lanes.
Control river vision and objective area to force Karthus into extended fights where your dueling and sustain excel.