League of Legends Kayle Build: Best Item Build for Preseason

League of Legends Kayle's build is a little bit different for the preseason. Preseason is in full swing for every summoner taking to the rift, and as any of us expected, it's a bit of a mess right now.

Ekko's still a terror in the jungle, people are playing Senna mid, and nothing makes sense. However, league's latest rework, Kayle, has managed to maintain a respectable 50.02% winrate according to Champion.gg in high-elo top lanes, so here's a quick look at some good items to build for those looking to give her a spin.

League of Legends Kayle: Why Play Her?

Kayle fills a unique niche amongst top laners in that she provides incredibly powerful self-scaling and strong utility the later the game goes on. Her laning phase is, frankly atrocious. But a well-tempered Kayle player will play the early game very close to the chest, biding time and not giving away too many advantages in order to build up to her full potential.

Because of this, Kayle is a great pick for those who find their strength in teamfighting, as a late-game Kayle functions almost as a secondary Marksmen, pumping out waves on damage that can't be ignored.

I mentioned Kayle also brought utility in the later game, and she does that in the form of her immediately recognizable ultimate, Divine Judgement. Able to target Kayle herself or any ally in range, the ability makes the target immune to damage of any source (save fountain turret) and comes with the added flair of a burst of AoE damage at the end of the effect. During Worlds we saw plenty of teams combine Kayle with champions like Kai'Sa to create an incredibly deadly teamfighting hyper-carry.

League of Legends Kayle: Item Builds

Kayle's hybrid damage profile makes her item build a little unique. Attack speed, ability power, and cooldown reduction are all core stats for her, making items like Nashor's Tooth and Hextech Gunblade core when playing. From there, according to this page on u.gg, players differ in choice of third and fourth items, some going for Guinsoo's Rageblade followed by Zhonya's Hourglass, while other players go for a slightly more conservative purchase in Wits End, following that up with a Rabaddon's Deathcap for added spice.

Overall, Kayle can be a difficult champion to get a good grasp on. Failure to play around her weakness early game can result in spending the whole game behind. Focus on taking opportunistic trades in lane while farming for your item breakpoints. Once you've got two or three of the previously-mentioned items in your inventory, you'll be ready to bring the first of judgement upon your enemies.

So get out of base, get to lane, and for the love of Mount Targon, please buy a control ward.

Photo Courtesy of Riot Games