Kali Solo Lane - The Closet Bruiser

Kali is known as one of those Gods who was hit too hard with the nerfhammer to be worth anything. People say that she is out-played in her role by any other God, and that may be true, especially if you try and jungle Kali. However, bruiser Kali is surprisingly strong, and with this build I hope she can regain some more traction as a viable player, at least in Casual play.

So, why play Kali in the solo lane? The easy answer is because all of her kit allows her to shine there. Her 2 and 3 do immense damage even without items; she has CC immunity; her ultimate does a ton of damage (600 base at level 1); and she has incredibly strong AOE harrass and even better sustain.

Currently, the meta is focusing on almost all of these factors for a good solo laner. With Kali, you can hararss the enemy god from the safety of your minon line, and apply 200+ damage each time you go in for harrass. With a bit of AR and/or MR, she also is a formidably strong damage sponge, thanks to the sustain she can get from her 3. You'll quickly begin to zone their jungler into your lane for support (and what they think is an easy gank), but with 5 seconds of CC immunity, most jungler ganks prove to be worthless.

Pros:

• Really strong laning harrass
• High damage without many items with Blood Lash
• Great sustain with Siphon Blood
• Frenzy does insane damage early game--you can easily turn a gank into a double kill
• High base speed means %-based speed buffs really stack nicely.
• Kali Rage is a very strong steroid for attacking turrets

Cons:

• Very high mana costs
• Doesn't have the late game that most other bruisers do
• No leap
• No CC
• Low base resistances
• Enrage seems strong, but it isn't... at all

I follow a typical bruiser build and have good success with it.

Meditation - Your mana costs are outrageous. I like to use my 2 for harrassing a lot, so Meditation is a must. The active really helps late-game in teamfights too.

Creeping Curse - Get this if you can get away with being extra aggressive. However, if the other team has some pretty nasty CC-based combos (especially Mummify -> Grasping Hands -> Death Gaze), take Purification Beads instead.

Warrior Tabi - Self-explanatory. High scaling abilities? Get some penetration to keep the damage high!

Bulwark of Hope - Standard on any bruiser or tank. Very, very nice magic resist and health.

Voidblade - Standard on any bruiser. Gives your damage, penetration, and tankiness.

Mystical Mark - This synergizes with your ultimate to do a bit more damage. It also provides a lot of early-game tankiness and damage to help you trade better with those Odins and Herculeses. Remember, you want to be beefy enough so that you can take harrass and still be able to heal in full from it. To maximize the efficiency of the aura, rush this as your first item if you do want to use it. However, I typically don't get this at all if I'm facing a magic damage lane, instead focusing on Bulark of Hope to negate their harrass.

Eye of Retaliation - Really high base damage, lifesteal, and a really nice passive that can increase the damage of this item to up to 100. If you ult and start getting focused, just watch your damge climb and climb!

Titan's Bane - Use this if the people other than their tanks are stacking armor. Don't get it if only their tanks are stacking armor. You are an AOE physical caster, so you don't really need to worry about a tank being in the way of your damage. With a Jotunn's in with the situational items, your armor pen is already 55, which will typically let you deal near-true damage to most enemy carries.

Jotunn's Wrath - I get this in most games. High base damage, some more penetration, and CDR. All really nice on a physical caster.

Hide of Leviathan - This item is underrated in my opinion. The HP and resists are beneficial for obvious reasons, and the mana and passive are just bonuses. Remember, Kali craves mana, so this never hurts. Also, without a leap escape, CC reduction could just save your life.

Hide of the Nemean Lion - One of the strongest anti-carry items in the game. Get this if they have a fed Apollo but most of their other team is lacking kills. However, with Voidblade and Mark you should already have enough defense, so only get it to shut down a carry.

Witch Stone - This is the opposite of the anti-carry: it's good to shut down a bruiser (like Fenrir, etc) who is always up in on your team's junk.

Early Game:

Before level 5, you want to make your presence as known as possible. Try to bait them into attacking you so that they pull your minion aggro, then heal with Siphon Blood from their harrass and chuck a Blood Lash at them. I've found this can chunk away at least half of the opponent's health, and you'll walk away without a scratch, thanks to Siphon Blood.

You shouldn't have any trouble keeping a lane pushed, so only use your Blood Lash as a harrass.

After level 5, ask your jungler for a gank or two. If he can lock down a stun for any amount of time, you can pop your Blood Lash, Siphon Blood, Frenzy combo that can deal up to 1000 base damage, without having any items built!

Additionally, you pull this combo off to counter a gank from the enemy. Like I said, I've had a nice double kill every now and then by baiting an enemy gank at "low health" (which was quickly remedied by Siphon Blood) and then proceding to drop a lot of hurt.

Mid Game:

Kali's kit is incredibly strong for pushing a lane. A Blood Lash and Siphon Blood combo can clear an entire minion wave. Your Kali Rage is very strong for seiging towers. As long as you have the opportunity, be the backdoor god for your team. Seige a side lane while your team distracts the enemy by group-seiging another lane. Kali can take down a whole tower with one minion push, so use this to your advantage!

Also, don't forget that Kali has a really strong jungle presence. If you get the opportunity, counter jungle or even try to solo the Gold Fury if you know your team can distract them while you do it. The passive lifesteal and heal from Siphon Blood, along with high base damage from her spells means Kali can generally solo the 10-minute Gold Fury it with ease.

Team Fights:

This is where Kali is the weakest, and the reason most people shrug her off in today's meta. However, she can be a formidable foe if you play her right. Remember, her Blood Lash hits all enemies in its come, so you can damage their carries without having to worry about their tank line. Your Frenzy synergizes incredibly well with a lot of other ultimates ( Fear No Evil, Ring of Spears, Pillar of Agony to name a few), and it still deals a decent amount of damage late-game.

Whenever possible try to continue back-dooring through the late game. Your escaping is decent with a Kali Rage and the CC immunity with Frenzy means you can generally escape most ambushes safely.