I've played against a few Kats in lane since her remake, and I find that they have some very nice early game burst against my mid champions such that I'm usually zoned because I have to stay out of range of her Shunpo.

At first I thought the burst was a combination of her mark and her blade tossing ability, but, when I tried it, it didn't do much. So now I'm wondering if the burst is actually the mark + shunpo + blade toss ability?

Or is it something else entirely?

Also, when I play Kat, I admit I tend to be a bit afraid to Shunpo because it puts me right on top of most casters, and, if they're good, they'll jump right back on top of me with something (in my mind), should I just use the ballsy attitude that I have for other champs and go in more?

Q >> E >> W >> run away

And past level 6, you add her ult in the end of thiscombo. You can spam this combo over and over because their cooldowns are very short, even her ult's cooldown isn't very long.

It depends on which ability they're focusing. If the Katarina is focusing Q, you should avoid getting hit by the first or second bounce, since it will do considerable damage, especially combined with her other abilities and the Q trigger if she uses Shunpo to jump in. If the Katarina is focusing W, she will have a more substantial burst, since her W benefits from both AD and AP, but she will lack ranged harass. Never give this focus a chance to jump in without taking your full burst to the face (aka don't waste abilities farming minions, and be very careful not to let her dodge your poke and counterattack you). I've never seen Katarina focus her E.

I have a lot of trouble with Kat as well, and I don't really think I should be... I play as Cassiopeia, usually, and v.s. most other champs I do just fine, but Kat scares me a LOT. Any ideas? Should I just play passively, or should I try to out-trade her? I know to ult when she does to counter it, but aside from that, are there any good tricks?