Caitlyn has been a stable marksman since the earliest point of League’s history. She has been in and out of all different metas since Season 1, yet she remains in the shadow of some of the newer marksmen recently released. I’m here to show you that Caitlyn should not be underestimated and can still shine despite her long tenure.

Strengths/Weaknesses

The most blatant strength of Caitlyn is her long auto attack range as she remains the longest ranged champion. This is only surpassed by few champions who have met certain conditions such as levels, ability ranks, or passive stacks. Her passive damage is a strong addition to her early game as it not only increases her trade potential but keeps her safe trap headshot procs. Caitlyn also can manipulate the lane with her traps and the danger of just being there.

Caitlyn’s main weakness is her inability to duel against another marksman as her kit is mainly for teamfight manipulation. Most marksmen have boosts and abilities to help in one on one scenarios, however, with Caitlyn, she is unable to duel. Another issue she faces is that she tends to fall off at the end game in terms of damage and can be outscaled by champs such as Vayne, Kog’Maw, and Kai’Sa.

Ability Progression

Q-->W-->E

OR

W-->Q-->E

The difference in each ability progression is whether you want to farm and wave clear early or set traps to manipulate lane and possibly protect from ganks. For those not used to Caitlyn, I recommend the first option as it is a safer choice and the second set-up for those more familiar with her traps.

Item Build

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Statikk Shiv is for higher damage and wave clear potential whereas Rapid Firecannon is for a safer poke range as it adds on 150 range to her 650. Lord Dominik’s Regards is the usual choice for tank shred, but Mortal Reminder is suitable when dealing with champs with large healing abilities. Bloodthirster is interchangeable depending on the situation but it will be suitable in most cases, as the shield will some solid defense. I recommend building a Vampiric Scepter after your second item, but it isn't necessary to complete until your final item.

Rune Set-Up

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This is the standard build for Caitlyn with the sustain from Fleet Footwork and Taste of Blood allowing you to stay in lane longer. Press the Attack enables you to have more damage and it scales better in the late-game. With Caitlyn's Range, you can guarantee early procs with little counterplay.

This set-up, instead, puts more power into her empowered auto attacks, allowing for larger burst frames and the opportunity to execute with her ultimate and a Dark Harvest proc. However, I don’t recommend this second set-up for those new to Caitlyn until you become more familiar with her traps and combos first.

Tips and Tricks

One of Caitlyn’s niche tricks is her Net/Peacemaker Combo which allows you to use her E to tag an enemy for a headshot proc and use a Q for more damage. You first cast E and immediately cast Q so that you can cast both almost simultaneously. This combo can be done easily after a few practice attempts but will greatly increase your damage output when fighting close targets.

Caitlyn’s traps are another one of her tricks as you can use it to funnel enemies to chokepoints for easier harass opportunities. If you are paired with champs such as Thresh or Leona, you can more than likely sneak in a trap while the enemy is stunned to guarantee headshot procs. The traps do have a timer before activating so you will have to be smart and place them early and often to ensure you don’t miss chances.

Her ultimate is more practical to use as an engagement or way to assist when you are not in a teamfight. Try not to use it as a execute unless you are running the Dark Harvest rune as it does only moderate damage. As this moment of writing, there is a change to her ultimate to increase its range, so you will have an easier time early on reaching fights that are happening nearby.

Conclusion

Caitlyn is a strong early game champion who can excel early to mid and change the flow of teamfights. Play her as a teamfight oriented champ who sits in the backline behind any tanks you have or at least poke from a safe distance. This is one of the easier champs to learn and well-suited for those who are learning how to be an efficient marksman. Let me know how the games go and discuss any differences you tried on Twitter!

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