Has high mobility to roams. You need to get liandries fast and poke him as hard as you can when you have liandries.
Yasuo
Should be pretty easy. Keep wave on your side of lane and you wont die ever. You both have equal wave shove but you poke him hard after liandries.
Heimerdinger
Easy matchup, level 1 to 5, let him do his shtick of shoving and you try to last hit at your best. with lost chapter, he cant do anything. e his tower thats it.
Katarina
Ult or Q when she ults and thats about it, do not overextend into her and use your ults on her if your team has low cc.
Vel'Koz
very hard but unpopular lane, if you get velkoz mid, just dodge. There is one velkoz mid every years. realistically, you need to match his clear and W when he has used his W and E which wont be easy because its low cooldown. try to R or Q his ult. try to focus on farming.
Fizz
very hard matchup for malz. do not overextend and do not afk shove into fizz, he will run you down. try to focus on farming. stopwatch very useful to disengage his ult.
Xerath
very very annoying matchup, he does everything you do but better and will get ***its and kills bot without move too far. try to focus on farming.
Ahri
a good ahri wont let you walk to wave level 1, if she does let you walk to wave level 1, then shes bad, focus on farming, once you have liandries she becomes really squishy. your goal is to get liandries ASAP.
Annie
This is a very easy matchup for us, you have a lot of wave push into her. just do not walk to her without your shield up and do not forget she has the highest aa ranged in the game so she will try to break your shield with that a lot.
play for farm and wave push, then roam.
Gangplank
its a pretty even matchup, you both push the wave hard and want to scale. his oranges will counter your ult, so you can only ult him after he oranges, its a game of chicken. you should highly utilize your shield in that matchup and he wont poke you.
Diana
very hard matchup because she doesnt take any damage from you and will one shot you with her high mobility and ultimate.
if shes bad she will not harrass you with electrocute and her Q W E. if shes good she will Q you on cooldown. stay healthy, farm and try to get jungle help with your R
Kennen
pretty straight forward, you have a lot of ranged and kennen wants to fight you from close, he cant do much to you unless you allow him to be in ranged. if his E is down, harass with E Q. rush liandries and stopwatch if necessary.
Brand
very easy matchup, brand mid shtick is poking the wave with W than using his E on the wave to poke you, every 8 to 10 seconds, once you have your shield up and lost chapter, he cant do anything. you should have a very easy time, hes very squishy. stopwatch if necessary.
Anivia
shes your biggest counter, you should either ban her, dodge her or hope to have high cc on your team. she wants to do like you and rush lost chapter and level 6. your Q cancels her ultimate so when she R the ground, you should poke her. you dont have enough damage to solo her and her egg so usually you need jungle help.
the matchup is very annoying but winnable.
Kassadin
i mean kassadin isnt good right now, so basically unless you get to a 35 mins game, you won versus kassadin. you poke him hard early and you have wave push into him so you just roam around getting kills while he farms under tower. your ult also cancels his mobility with ult late so you are an annoyance for him.
Ekko
its a decent matchup. I would say its slightly ekko favored but you have ways to annoy him, ult him before he ults and while hes low hp and he will be dead all game. ult him too early and he wins game. respect his electrocute dmg after level 3 and farm safely.
Viktor
a good viktor will annoy you level 1 and past, personally I find there are not many players that will do that, do not ult him while he W the ground and you should be fine to kill him all game, hes a battlemage that needs to be close to deal damage. you have wave crashing power so utilize this to get ahead, poke with linadries while his Q is down.
Swain
some people find this matchup to be hell, I think its a skill matchup. you can outranged him, the key is just dodging his Q, the rest he cant do much, hes a bit like viktor. too close = dead, ranged = safe win
Taliyah
she has the same wave pushing as you, not much to say about this matchup, dodge the E on the ground and you never die. you both wont die and will try to get kills around the map.
Galio
same as taliyah
Gragas
easy matchup, same as kassadin
Morgana
same as brand
Azir
easy matchup, you both wanna farm and scale. your ult annoys him because he lacks mobility. its a very very safe lane for both of you.
roam and get kills.
LeBlanc
she has no mobility, she can win games by killing you before liandries and lost chapter, after that, not much she can do. stopwatch is useful. push waves and roam
Ryze
he has some early poke but will lack mana quickly, you have quick wave push after lost chapter. he is a poorman viktor, play like viktor but without stress. ryze cant do anything against you. your ult also cancels his ult. shove, poke, roam, do whatever. free matchup.
Veigar
the only way you lose this matchup is if you allow him to get to level 16. you win, outroam, outpush, outdamage him for the rest of game. easy matchup, W after he Q to not give him stacks. not much to say.
Talon
he will allin you level 2 and 3 and he will outpush you for a while. he will try to roam if you play safely so ping your team accordingly and roam if possible.
Aurelion Sol
very difficult matchup since the rework, you need to get ahead before level 11, he is annoying because he counters pushes with his E on the ground. my tip is to rush liandries and only ult when he uses his W, else he will get away if you dont kill him quick enough. you will need jungler or support help.
Ziggs
its not an easy matchup and you will be annoyed by it but its possible to deal with it, play against ziggs like if it were a mirror matchup, he wants to do exactly the same as you. also dont leave him alone with a tower, it will be gone. just match and push. a good ziggs will w your w a bad one will let you farm.
Karthus
very easy matchup, not much to say, poke when you get liandries and you will kill him, stopwatch very useful.
Akali
you annoy her very much because she wants to be mobile and you dont allow that, its your job to ult her in teamfights. the lane is pretty safe, you poke her hard with liandries and rylais.
Vladimir
its a very good matchup for you but you cannot get cocky, you need to ult him in teamfights, its your job. the lane is pretty straight forward, do not overextend against him or he will kill you. play around rushing lost chapter and liandries, also heal reduce is OP.
Syndra
shes a better champion than us but you can deal with her fairly. dodge her Q poke early levels, walk up to her with shields up and you dont die to her stun. your shield is your safety net, if you get hit by stun, you are dead. you can kill her, she can kill you. it just depends who lands the abilities. liandries very good into her and stopwatch too.
Corki
very safe matchup for both of you guys but he will scale hard and sometimes you wont be able to kill him with your full kit so you need to fight him with jungle or someone in the later stages. not much to say, farm, roam, scale, do whatever your gameplay feels like.
Lux
very annoying lane, she will poke you hard pre 6 with Q and E, you need to play the furthest you can from her, dodge all her E and live, rushing liandries is your goal.
Orianna
my personal ban, orianna is the best midlaner right now. a good ori wont let you walk to farm ever, she will harass you and your minions with Q and E, not much to do but farm what you can and rush liandries. if the enemys orianna isnt harassing you between level 1 and 3, harass her back with E with lost chapter and liandries.
Twisted Fate
he has the same shove power as you but he roams so hard, its a hard macro champ to play against. farm and follow up on his plays or get fed from plates by having a godly pinging game.
Cassiopeia
shell try to kill you before you get lost chapter so dont die. after that you counter her mobility hard so you just need to not overextend. scale, poke and win.
Teemo
you counter him hard, stay far, walk up to push waves with shield up and get oracle lens, you ult him and he dies.
Lucian
hell try to kill you before lost chapter, dont die and scale.
Singed
you annoy him hard, his shtick is running around so ult him and thats it.
Zilean
pretty hard lane but so hardly played that you dont care. play far and try to scale.
Zoe
very easy matchup, you counter her hard. scale, poke and win.
Lissandra
shes you with mobility. lane is pretty straight forward, just be careful of her jungle setups, thats her only way of beating you. you outpush her, but she will try to jump on you and cc chain you for jungle kill.
Malphite
easy matchup, you poke from afar, if he goes AP damage he could kill you but you will trade eachothers at worse.
Sion
not much to do but try to get the most kills from him and hope you get jungle help, you cant outdamage him but you can setup ganks on him. should be a win but it can always be a loss with bad macro.
Tryndamere
very honestly as a tryndamere player, not much malzahar can do. its so not often played mid that if you get it, just dodge. stopwatch rush after lost chapter is your only way to like potentially not die but even there he will outpush, outdamage, outfarm you and kill all towers.
dodge angle.
Master Yi
he can kill you with his damage burst if you dont ult him and if you are overextended so just stay safe, chill farm and stay close to towers and this will be free.
Renekton
not much to do, same as tryndamere.
Irelia
do not cross the half line of the midlane, its a very hard matchup and you will die a lot to her if you do.
stopwatch useful
Pantheon
same as talon.
Darius
very easy matchup for malzahar, just respect his ghost and you will kill him. stopwatch very useful.
Sylas
id say its an easy matchup, you farm easily into him but he can do a lot of damage like talon and pantheon, but not as easily. play around your shield and rush liandries.
Pyke
easy champ to beat, your ult cancels all he wants to do. its a ward worth 300g, play around your ults with your jungle and you will farm him.
Akshan
its a hard champion like tristana but if you do not overextend and walk too close to him its playable, lost chapter very important. pre lost chapter farm what you can. if he allows you to farm, take it.
Tristana
sane as akshan, you counter him in teamfights so its winnable, the lane is rough if she makes it rough, if not its free
Hwei
looks pretty easy, he is immobile and has a lot of skillshots. for right now id play this like azir. farm and scale, once you scale, ult him on flash cooldown and poke him with liandries.
Garen
an easier tryndamere but play like tryndamere
Jayce
farm and poke. stay far and play around shield.
Naafiri
idk i have been told we counter him but ive met one ever and got clapped. e his minions and farm but respect his big damage, you need to dodge his q1 and q2 or else he 2shots you. its like a nocturne matchup where he breaks your shield and jumps on you, kinda hard ngl.
Olaf
like tryndamere
Rumble
hard early, easy late. try to live before level 6 and liandries is your way to win. he will poke you hard and he will W your damage so take notes of his W when its down. with doran shield dont even botter poking him pre lost chapter.
Yone
skill matchups, its very very annoying and he will one shot you but in teamfights you have the power to make him useless like yasuo. id say its yasuo but harder.
Vex
pretty difficult and annoying but you both play pretty safe so id say its not anivia tier of difficulty but a good vex will make your life hell. poke with liandries and kill with flash ult with jungle.
Qiyana
same as talon but with less mobility, respect her insane damage but you can outfarm her and get good pokes with liandries. late game its your job to ult her.
I am a Malzahar and Rumble main since S7, I have hit masters promos 3 times and failled all three while playing Malz and Rumble mainly.
I am JN, I was paralyzed from neck down on the 8th of july of this year so I am currently streaming for fun while working back to full health on my twitch channel I stream daily on weekdays. Come join and ask questions!
I play Malzahar, Rumble, Tryndamere, Trundle and Garen.
I currently am away from work until I get better.
About Malzahar
About Malzahar
Malzahar is an utility mage. His best place is at the middle lane. He is a very simple champion with very little skills to be able to be good with it. He is also pretty decent at top lane but this will not be the focus for this guide.
He is a very good pick as a main for your second class or just for free elo as a middle lane main. He is also a good pick if you want to learn playing middle lane and understand other champions as he has very little hard counters.
Teleport really is the best way to go for me. I used to only play with ghost as it would help me get out of ganks and roam but I think teleport is the best because it allows you to farm a lot more. It allows you to shove your lane into their tower, go back and buy lost chapter or roam which is existential for me.
Some people love to go ignite into high mobility champions to get the final blow when you ult them but I think it is not as good since these fights will usually imply a lot of your health and you will have to back anyways. Teleport will allow you to fight him, back and then teleport in lane and push wave and deny him a lot of experience and money.
Your Passive: Your passive is called Void shift. It is a shield that surrounds your champion until you are hit by another champion or dragon or baron. It goes on a 30/24/18/12 seconds cooldown when you are hit by one of those and is not affected by minions. The timer will reset if you are hit by a crowdcontrol.
Your Q: Your Q is called Call of the void. It is a skillshot that does damage to the ennemies and minions between the two orbs perpendicular to where you are facing. Also, if you have put your E on a minion or an ennemy and you hit a Q on them, the timer of the E will reset. Another important thing about your Q is that it silences the people between the Q for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds. You usually max this attack in second as it does damage but not as much as your E.
Your W: Your W is called Void swam. It has an active and a passive. Its active is that it summons a voidling next to Malzahar and it will attack the nearest target or it will attack the target that has your E on them. It does more damage if they are affected by your E. Its passive is that everytimes you use an ability you gain stacks of voidlings up to 2 stacks. When you use your W after you have the maximum of stacks, you will summon more voidlings. In the past your voidlings use to have a lot of health but with the recent nerfs and reworks to Malzahar, they are one shot by any abilities of a champions but will last longer against minions. Because of that, you no longer max your W in second instead you finish with this ability.
Your E: Your E is called Malefic visions. It is a point and click ability and it does damage over time (DoT). It does damage every .5 seconds on the target you choose. When you kill the target and your E is still on them, the ability will spread to the nearest target. If you use Q or R on a target with your E on them, the timer of 4 seconds will reset and it will keep doing DoT. You usually max this attack in first since it is your bread and butter. It does a huge amount of damage is used as a poke early.
Your R: Your R is called Nether grasp. It is a point and click ability and it supresses the target for 2.5 seconds dealing a certain amount of damage. A supress means that the ennemy champion will not be able to move for the whole duration of the ability.
It also means thatCleanse will not stop the supress but Quicksilver sash will. When you use your R, you also refresh the duration of your E.
Teamfights
Teamfights
Your R is usually hated amongst the community so this is the main reason why you should use it on haters and collect all the tears. Jokes aside, your R is an insanely good ability and since it is a point and click, it is very difficult to miss. You should usually use it on high priority target. As a Malzahar, when you use your ultimate on a champion it has a lot of power and will usually mean that your whole team will engage on you so choose wisely.
Your R can also be used to peel your carries. In lower elos, Malzahar mains will use their ultimate to save themselves when it is usually too late or will use it to flash ult. If you want to become a better player, you have to choose the best opportunity to use your ultimate as you become insanely vulnerable when you use it as you supress an ennemy but it also means that you are not moving for this period of time. For example, if the blitzcrank on your team hooks an ashe player, using your ultimate at this point is usually a waste of ult since you know that ashe has basically no escape and she is dead.
Another important use for your ultimate is that you can use it to peel your carries. As a Malzahar main you have to understand that you will not always be the carry and that at some point in the game, past the 30 minutes mark, the AD carries will take over the game. Even if you are fed as hell before that, there is a point where the AD carries deal a lot of damage and peeling them from the tanks or the ennemies high priority targets is a really good idea.
Chosing your masteries/runes in Season 13
Chosing your masteries/runes in Season 13
I prefer aery over anything but some might enjoy arcane comet into low mobility champions/melee champions.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In conclusion, Malzahar is a strong mid laner for the current season and patch. It has barely any hard counters and it has a lot of pressure over the map but also a strong ultimate that allows you to supress the hard carries of the other team without any problems.
I hope you liked my guide and leave me any feedbacks or ask questions if something was not clear enough or not metionned, feel free to join the stream to ask questions.
Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy playing Malzahar as much as I do.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Here are the videos that I have used when I was learning to play the champion that really helped me become better at the champion.
First of all, this coaching video by Neace really helped me to understand what mistakes Malzahar mains usually do. I became really aware of the importance of my first tower being up at all time and also the importance of never losing any farm.
Second of all, this video by Evul games really helped me understand the basics of
Malzahar when I was beginning. It pointed out some things that I was not aware and helped me grow. The majority of the things he said should be present in this guide in more details but it is a really good summary.
Finally, this video highlighting the strength of the best
Malzahar in the world as he recently won the Worlds. It is a good review by Midbeast who also plays quite a lot of Malzahar in the middle lane.
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.