Kali in the solo Lane Competitive

Why to pick Kali in the solo lane is a good question. This guide will explain when you should pick Kali and it will also be the first of several solo lane guides on some of the more pocket pick solo laners. The reason it is important to have the pocket picks is because it will allow you to have the most possible counter-picks that you can. In advance i never claim to be the best I just have a working understanding of the games mechanics and how to utilize them to my own advantage.

To properly use Kali in the solo lane you must first understand when to pick her. She should never be picked unless you know who the enemy solo laner is as she can be terribly counterpicked. She works best against either gods who cant clear instantly such as Osiris, or against gods who don't have the best boxing after waveclear such as Ra or Loki. She does well against most warriors as she can clear well and is very slippery, survivable and is very tricky to towerdive as she has a stun, unkillable-ness while in ult and then a heal on her jump based on the enemies missing life. Never pick her into characters with strong clear and boxing. Some examples of this would be Sun Wukong, Chang'e, Chronos, Especially not Sobek as he will dominate you and prevent you from healing.

The DM build as suggested by DM Brandon is effective against anything you want to basic attack. It works on Kali as she already has up to 30% free penetration on her target this build capitalizes on maximizing percent pen allowing you to shred through tanks like butter. Most tanks lategame will have roughly 200 physical protections so with 83% pen plus additional shred from Executioner means you are only dealing with 16 protections if they are your mark. That is basically true damage for all intents and purposes. I will not go into detail on the items in general as this is a guide designed around ranked play and you should have a working knowledge on how each item should work. This build is very flexible with the exception of Qin Sais Executioner and Titans bane.

So okay the only on Kali because of her unique swing chain would I argue this the 2 items give comparable DPS one is better for fighting against groups while the other is more effective for fighting against 1 person. The argument can be made that Kali needs to get her mark as fast as possible but a the same time if the enemy team is grouping then a counter argument can be made that it would be easier if the follow on targets had less health couldn't it. I would use Odysseus bow only if you took the Power boots and they don't have an amazing 1v1 boxing character such as Awilix, Mercury, Freya or Chronos. With the oddyseus bow you will be just under the attack speed cap and will be able to take down a squishy character in 2 swing chain rotations or about 1.8 seconds. With Rage and attack speed boots you kill a squishy in 1 attack less than 2 swing chains on average but your attacks are a little slower so kill time. Against a tanky character such as Hercules your kill time with Oddyseus bow build is roughly 9 secs while Rage is roughly 7 secs. Note all these kill times were done with her power steroid active.

So in lane you must first understand whether or not you have the opportunity to kill or not. your Lash will nearly fully clear the wave at level 9. until then you should look to play safe and just farm. If ever possible while you have the blue buff stun your opponent and then lash the wave and him at the same time. If you can poke down your opponent as Kali you have a large advantage as you can be hyper aggressive and heal from your jump. The main principles you should use not just with Kali but with anyone are !SCAT!
Surprise
Concentration
Audacity
Tempo
If you ever find yourself in advantage as Kali you can over abuse this as you have a heal on your jump. If you and your opponent were just boxing and even say he won but your still alive then you can back off wait for cooldowns. Then when he is not expecting it through your Lash at him and immediately jump on him to regain health then stun and basic to utilize lifesteal on your lash. often times by the time the stun wears off he is almost dead and you are almost back to full health and you just completely turned the trade in your favor. Note you should not try that when the wave is near and it will probably not work quite as well the second time you try it as he will be wary of that combo.

While working with your team you should always communicate who your mark is every time it changes and frequently that way they will give you the all important kills on your mark. Your team in ranked want to win and almost always understand that a Kali who gets her mark survives and gets more gold for it. If your mark is the enemy mid laner don't be afraid to hard push and make a rotation as you can almost always 100% commit on a mage who is your mark, particularly if your ult is up and there escape is down. even if they are cowering under tower.

If you read all this I appluade you and wish you luck on utilizing this in your matches. I know that this was very much a wall of text and that is because it is designed as raw unprocessed information and is not meant for casual play. Not to say it wont work there but it is designed around getting a good counterpick.