Grandmaster S9 Cthulhu Guide UPDATED

Although a shadow of his former self ( thanks morrigan ) squid can still be strong and capable in the right hands

As a former grandmaster and active in the pro community during scrims and spl theory crafting i hope my guide can help you maximise Cthulhu's potential as in my opinion he is a top 3 solo laner at the moment and can hard carry games.

I have covered recommended items in my build, i don't think there's much room for deviation in relics or other core items, but you may wish to get a stone of binding rather than gaia or divine ruin over ethereal staff if the comp calls for it. It is always important for players to exercise their own judgement when it comes to builds. generally speaking high health and power hybrids such as ethereal staff and void shield work very well with Cthulhu.


Teleport to tower for me is the pick in s9 over blink as persistent tele is so strong, i recommend getting it first back as you will never lose out on farm and is a great relic overall. New thorns is okay and likely only really works well on squid, overall relic selections in s9 suit squid pretty well. Moreso than end of s8 era.

with all 3 hide stacks and void buff being active, I think this build keeps you tanky, decent dmg, useful in teamfights and having extremely high health. Yes the nerfs to axe and squid are a shame but he is still fun and viable.

Passive - Prey on Fear
Cthulhu breaks down the mental fortitude of enemy gods, applying stacks of Torment with abilities and the final hit of his basic attack chain. On reaching 4 stacks of Torment, enemies are afflicted by Insanity. Additionally, Cthulhu gains Magical Power per nearby enemy god with Insanity.Gains up to 125 Magical Power.

Extremely strong passive which grants him power and powerful cc when combined with his 1.

1st Ability - Sanity Break
Cthulhu sends out a terrifying blast of energy, dealing damage to all enemies hit and reducing their Attack Speed. Enemies hit by this ability also do reduced damage to Cthulhu for 6s.
This ability applies 1 stack of Torment, 2 if the enemy hit is facing Cthulhu or Fears them instead if they are afflicted with Insanity.
Successfully consuming Insanity permanently increases the base mitigation of this ability.

Damage: 90/135/180/225/270 (+40% of your Magical Power)
Attack Speed Slow: 10/15/20/25/30% for 3s
Fear Duration: 1.5s Damage Mitigation: 20% + 0.5% (Max 30%)
Ability Type: Cone Cost: 60 mana
Cooldown: 10 seconds

Either this or his 2 can be leveled, it is a powerful cone attack with good abse dmg and cc when his passive is stacked, use it as often as possible in lane.

2nd Ability - The Mire
Cthulhu summons a portal creating a slowing field of eldritch mire at the target location. While Cthulhu channels, The Mire continues to grow as the portal fires out two masses of corruption that hit and damage all enemies in the field.
The first shot also Slows enemies while the second Roots them, both hits applying 1 stack of Torment. Cancelling the ability early stops The Mire from growing or the portal from firing additional shots.
Can deal up to 100/190/280/370/460 (+60% of your magical power) damage.
Damage per shot: 50/95/140/185/230 (+30% of your Magical Power Slow: 10%
Corruption Slow: 35% Corruption Slow/Root Duration: 1s
Mire Duration: 3s after ability cancel/end Bullet.png Ability Type: Ground Target
Radius: 20-30 Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 mana
Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14 seconds

This is the ability you want to proc sundering axe with usually as it is extremely easy to do and has good follow-up for his 1 and 3 combo.

Cthulhu creates two twisting projectiles at his sides as he unfurls his wings and charges forwards, damaging, stunning and knocking away enemies hit.
The projectiles follow at a slightly slower pace but travel further, damaging enemies as well.

Enemies hit by Cthulhu or the projectiles gain 1 stack of Torment.


Cthulhu is knockback immune while dashing.
Damage: 70/110/150/190/230 (+30% of your Magical Power Stun Duration: 0.4s
Projectile Damage: 40/70/100/130/160 (+20% of your Magical Power) Ability Type: Dash
Range: 50 Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 mana
Cooldown: 16 seconds.

very strong escape and initiate, you want to pop thorns and use his 3 then ult or you can even peel with this for your team as it is a easy to apply cc stun.

Ultimate - Descend into Madness
Cthulhu reveals his true form as he plunges the battlefield into R'lyeh while any enemies caught nearby are damaged. In this form Cthulhu gains increased Health, becomes immune to Crowd Control and gains access to new abilities. Enemies near Cthulhu gain stacks of Torment, increasing in pace if they are facing him. Enemies also suffer the debuff effects of Sanity Break, causing them to deal less damage to Cthulhu.
Cannot use relics for the duration.
Damage: 150/195/240/285/330 (+40% of your Magical Power) Max Health: 30%
Duration: 10/11/12/13/14s Debuff Radius: 50
Ability Type: Stim Radius: 40 Cost: 100 mana Bullet.png Cooldown: 120 seconds


Alt. 1st Ability - Sever
Cthulhu swipes down at the ground beneath him, creating 3 large projectiles.
These projectiles damage enemies and apply a stacking Protection Reduction debuff.

This ability does not proc item effects.


Basic attacking will cast this ability instead.
Can reduce up to 15% Protections.
Damage: 100/155/210/265/320 (+25% of your Magical Power) Protection Reduction: 3% stacking up to 5 times
Debuff Duration: 5s Bullet.png Ability Type: Projectiles
Range: 60 Cost: 0 mana
Cooldown: 1 seconds
2nd Ability - Devastate
Cthulhu fires a devastating blast of psychic energy that damages and knocks up enemies.
Damage: 140/175/210/245/280 (+20% of your Magical Power Ability Type: Area
Range: 70 Bullet.png Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 mana
Cooldown: 5 seconds

3rd Ability - Transfuse
Cthulhu transfuses his own life force into the area around him giving Allies Health, Movement Speed and Power. Enemies are also hit, taking more damage the closer they are to Cthulhu.
This ability damages Cthulhu for 6% of his Maximum Health. If Cthulhu is below 20% Health, this ability does not damage Cthulhu but all Ally effects are reduced by 50%.


While below 20% HP, allies are healed for 4/4.5/5/5.5/6% of their Max. Health, receive 10% Move Speed, and 10/12.5/15/17.5/20 Power on activation.
Damage: 120/140/160/180/200 (+20% of your Magical Power) Ally Healing: 8/9/10/11/12% Max. Health
Power: 20/25/30/35/40 Movement Speed: 20%
Duration: 3s Ability Type: Area
Range: 60 Cost: 70 mana
Cooldown: 6 seconds

Make sure to always use every ability available on your ult constantly, his 3 can do dmg use it.

Cthulhu is an ok lane bullies in smite, constant damage with good defense and can clear well, He should win or stall lane wirh majority of characters in the game, that is not to say gods like Cama, Oisirs and Nike are not better than him in lane, But a exceptional Cthulhu player can play around them and at worse stall the lane out. His biggest threat is executes from enemy gods such as Achilles, Thanatos, or Ao Kaung who can kill him before he can get his ult off and escape or deal the finishing blow to the enemy solo.

You want to fight as much as possible in this phase to stack your passive, make sure your 2 covers the entire lane and poke out your opponent as much as possible.

Do not take unnecessary minion damage you do not need to, play it safe early as Cthulhu's clear isn't the best until boots but never be afraid to poke out the enemy solo with chalice you should have enough sustain until boots to be on level with any solo laner.

Take as much farm as possible if you have the enemy under tower and do not hesitate to rotate, your 3 makes you extremely safe and when you're ahead not many can comfortably fight a Cthulhu you should be safe to hyper farm and rotate to mid after level 10

Cthulhu has the best team fight ult in the game and can make or break a teamfight, you want to play around this knowledge. Use thorns before dashing in

As he is a very big target he can be killed by a focused team, this is why thorns is so important on him, it is essential you use thorns before dashing in and ulting as it means you will not be burst down and your team has time to follow up to add to the mayhem off your powerful abilities. Make sure to heal them as much as possible with your 3 in ult form.

When being chased find a narrow pathway in the jungle and then use your 2, it should zone out people from chasing you due to the near instant slow and subsequent root, after that simply dash out.

If you are winning lane and find you do not need much sustain consider mystical mail over stone of gaia for even more pressure and preventing enemies from blinking away from you.

always use basics, do not sit there and wait for abilities to come up you should always be weaving in his basics as it helps stack his powerful passive and they do decent damage.

vampiric shroud although fun is not better than sundering axe and should not be picked up.

If you have a Geb consider going hero's axe instead due to Cthulhu's high health in ult it can synergize well with the team and save one or two carries from death which may turn a teamfight.

Never build him too tanky, Cthulhu wants to be ahead and have impact at all stages in the game if you fall behind and build full defense to compensate he wont have the necessary impact and hurts his overall potential