Malzahar. I'm sure that you've come across him some time or another. You know that scary floating assassin that can pin you to the spot and destroy you in a matter of seconds? Well, i'm going to show you the way i play Malzahar, The Prophet of the Void.

Malzahar was my first 6300 IP Champion, and still remains extremely fun to play. Please bear in mind that this is my first guide, and theirs always room for improvement :P.

DPS - Damage Per Second
OOM - Out Of Mana
DoT - Damage over Time
IMO - In My Opinion
MV - Maleific Visions
CoTV - Call of The Void
NZ - Null Zone
NG - Nether Grasp
MR - Magic Resistance
MPen - Magic Penetration.
AP - Ability Power
AD - Attack Damage
AS - Attack speed

Pros

- Kick arse looking
- Can deal extremely heavy damage
- Very nice group 3 second silence
- Almost Un-1v1able
- % Based Skill to Shred Tanks
- DoT King
- Some of the best AP Scaling there is

Cons

- Takes some Skill to master
- Quicksilver Sash pisses you off :(
- Squishy
- Usually Focused
- Somewhat mana dependent early game
- No Built-In Escape Mechanism

With my summoner spells, i almost ALWAYS take Ignite and Flash with Malzahar. With Three Damage over Time spells (Malefic Visions, Null Zone and Nether Grasp) Ignite accommodates them beautifully. Another big + with ignite is that you can cast it whilst using your ultimate, Nether Grasp.

I take Flash because of Malzahar's inability to quickly position himself/escape from ganks without it. Flash can position yourself for ganks, help you catch up to combo an enemy champion or run the hell away from a 5v1. This spell is extremely useful and has saved my arse many times :)

Viable Options

- Exhaust is a very nice Summoner spell, that can shut down DPS Carries, Slow down for chasing and reduce the enemy damage output significantly.

- Ghost is a viable substitution to the summoner spell Flash. Ghost can get you into and out of battles quickly, as well as chasing down enemies. Between Ghost and Flash is a personal preferance.

- Teleport can help you get in your lane quickly, and can set up some mean ganks with wards, but it is not really needed on Malzahar.

- Cleanse is a viable option if you are insecure about being focused, but with its high CD and inability to get rid of suppression, i believe that Quicksilver sash is better to fill your inventory with instead of wasting a summoner spell.

- For inexperienced AP players in general, this could help your early game until you get used to Malz.

- IMO one of the most underrated spells. Only take this spell if the other people on your team refuse to take it, but its definately better off on the tank or support.

- I Personally have never used this summoner spell on Malzahar, but if it floats your boat, then go for it. I definately recommend Ignite over this spell.

Dont.

- You die in this game.

- Smite is good for jungling and buff stealing. With a decent team, communication can land you your much needed buffs, and you are definately not a jungler.

- Once again, let your tank use this.

- Please don't do it.

I start off with a Meki Pendant and two health pots because of your quick OOM early game. With this item and MV, you will never be OOM. The health pots will help keep you sustained throughout early game, or until you need to B to get Tear of Godess.

At 1315 Gold, you should be able to go back and buy a Tear of Godess, and Sorc Shoes. Tear of Godess will leave you with enough mana to sustain you forever, and Sorceres shoes for some great Magic Penetration and speed. If you dont have enough to get both in one hit, finish off your tear and buy Boots of Speed.

Next up we will be getting a Deathfires Grasp. It gives a decent amount of Ability power and 15% Cooldown Reduction. DONT FORGET TO USE ITS ACTIVE. Use it before you drop your combo. I will be getting into this shortly. Now for your Rylais. Some extra tankiness, good ability power and a 15% Slow with your abilities will help you Kite and become overall, stronger.

Now for Morellos Evil Tome. By the time you have this, you will be way over the CDR Cap and will be able to spam your skills like a Mofo. Finally to finish off with a Rabadons and Archangels for some Godly Ability Power.

- This item will give you a very nice mix between Ability Power, Health and Mana. Some people prefer this over Rylais, and it is definitely a good option, but again, its down to personal preference.

- The Void staff is very, very good at destroying enemies stacking MR. I would replace either the Deathfires Grasp or Morellos Evil Tome for this item.

- If you want to obliterate tanks, then take this as well as the Void Staff. Watch them tanks run waaaay away.

- An extremely controversial item. I say, if your doing well, grab it. If not, then don't. **Note** To make this item effective, buy it early game if you are doing well.

- 100 AP, 50 Armour and an active that can keep you invincible whilst being focused. Whats not to love?

- If their is an AP heavy team, the spell shield and MR can save your life.

The reason so many people love Malzahar is the epic abilities he has, all five are offensive and deal a hefty amount of damage. I will be going through each of his skills in detail.



After casting 4 spells, Malzahar summons an uncontrollable Voidling to engage enemy units for 21 seconds. Voidlings have 200 + 50 x lvl Health and 20 + 5 x lvl Damage.

Voidlings Grow after 7 seconds (+50% Damage/Armor), and Frenzy after 14 seconds (+100% Attack Speed).

A very underestimated passive. Make sure that at level 1 you spam your skills in the summoning pool 3 times to let your next spell summon this creature. Early game, this can devastate your enemies. Whilst frenzied, these voidings do mass damage. Even though it says that it is uncontrollable, you can tell your minion who to focus if you use MV on your target.



Malzahar opens up two portals to the void. After a short delay, they fire projectiles which deal magic damage and silence enemy champions.

Malzahar opens two portals to the void. After a short delay, they fire projectiles which deal 80/135/190/245/300 (+0.8) magic damage and silence champions for 1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6/3 seconds.

One of the most useful spells in Malzahars arsenal. With an amazing range and some very, very heavy damage late game, this spell can be used to harass like a boss, farm creeps very fast, and even scout for you. Be aware that though this skill will hit people in the brush, it will not reveal them. Also, a fair mention to its THREE second silence, to my knowledge the longest in the game. Three second GROUP silence. You can basically disable enemy casters in group fights, a very nice CC tool.



Malzahar creates a zone of negative energy which damages enemies that stand in it.

Malzahar creates a zone of negative energy for 5 seconds. The zone damages nearby enemies for 5/6/7/8/9% (+1.25%) of their max health each second (damage to Monsters is capped).

Null Zone. What can i say? Put this down in the middle of a team fight and watch the enemies go WTF?!?!? 20% HP DOWN IN A SECOND? HAX? The reality is that in a teamfight, defending towers and comboing, this spell will maxamise its damage, in LATE game. Early game its sorta meh with its high mana cost and low damage. Mid game it will do nice damage if you keep them rooted with your ultimate, but late game is where it shines.



Malzahar infects his target's mind with cruel visions of their demise, dealing damage each second. If the target dies while afflicted by the visions, they pass on to a nearby enemy unit and Malzahar gains mana. Malzahar's Voidlings are attracted to affected units.
Malzahar infects his target's mind, dealing 80/140/200/260/320 (+0.8) magic damage over 4 seconds.

If the target dies during this time, the visions pass to a nearby enemy and Malzahar gains 10/14/18/22/26 mana.

Malzahar's Voidlings are attracted to affected units.

This spell is amazing early-mid game, but sorta looses it's usefulness in late game, where NZ and CoTV shine. The DoT on this spell is great for harassing, farming and restoring your mana when needed. Early game, if you have a frenzied voidling at the ready, try to get MV onto the enemy champion so that your voidling will run in there and start smashing up their squishy mid carry.



Malzahar channels the essence of the Void to suppress his target as well as deal 250/400/550 (+1.5) magic damage over 2.5 seconds.

With some high base damage, INSANE AP scaling and a 2.5 second supress, whats not to love? Malzahar's damage output will be greatly increased at level 6. Using this spell in cooperation with your others will give you some nice kills.

Malzahar has a few different combos that are suited for different things. For example, spamming your NZ to farm minions isn't very effective, whilst using MV for pure harrass would be a waste.

To Clear Minion Waves

First, use MV onto an enemy minion close to you. Then whilst the minions are huddled in a group, use CoTV on them to bring their health down. MV should then jump from minion to minion, giving you some much loved gold and Mana.

Bringing Down Squishies

The thing i love about Malzahar is his ability to kill squishies before they even knew what hit them. A regular Squishy will have about 2,000HP (Give or take) If you want to surprise them, first you will be using this combo

> > > > > >

Basically, use Deathfires grasp (if you have obtained one), Flash into position, close to them and immediately put down a Null Zone and keep them locked in with Nether Grasp. Ignite whilst using Nether Grasp. Once you have used Nether grasp, use MV on them and then use CoTV infront of them, almost guaranteeing the kill.

Bringing down Tanks

Now this is a little trickier. Tanks obviously have more HP than squishies, and if you are dominating, will be stacking some MR. First off, you will want some MPen items (Void staff, Abyssal Scepter). Firstly, active your deathfires. Poke at the tank with your long-range CoTV and MV. Once they are about 3/4 HP, put down a NZ and then NG to hold them in place. If you have enough AP/MPen, your NZ should be taking away about 10-20% Of Their HP PER SECOND, for Five Seconds. Holding them in place with will do about 1,000 Magic Damage. This should take down some of the toughest tanks, and will definately destroy offtanks. Again it goes

Poke , . Drop a NZ and Ult them.

Essentially, how I play (emphasis on the I), and it works out pretty well for me.

Early Game

Early game is probably when Malzahar is most vulnerable, because of his squishyniess. First off, buy a Meki Pendant and two health pots (you can buy a Dorans Ring Dorans Ring, but the lack of Mana Regen can have you at the enemies knees). First pick your Q, CoTV, and use it three times at the spawning pool. This should charge up your passive to summon a voidling on the next spell cast. Don't underestimate these voidlings early game, they can do a significant amount of damage. Last hit minions with your auto attack and harass the enemy champion with CoTV when their minions are bunched up together and the enemy champion is with them. Don't Spam CoTV if the champion is behind the minions, you should be able to get a very fast kill at level 6.

Once you are about level 4 you can pull off a heft amount of harassment and farm like a boss. Focus down last hitting minions, making sure that you get down some harass on your opponent. At around level six, you'll be wanting to punish their every mistake. If they overextend, its time to get a kill. Flash in, CoTV, MV, NZ and finally NG and Ignite. Congrats, first blood/a kill is finally yours :)

Mid Game

This is where you start getting more powerful. If you have pushed enough to make the enemy champion go back, or slain them, its time to gank. With that powerful ultimate of yours, you can hold enemies in place whilst teammates beat up on them. If trying to kill an enemy who's face-checking the brush, use CoTV a little behind them, MV on them, NZ under them and finally, NG on them. Watch em' melt. You should start helping other lanes and slowly form up as a team for teamfights, going for one tower after another.

Late Game

Most fun part of the game for me. With 600-800AP you should be decimating the enemy carries, scaring the tanks away and poking enemies before teamfights. Push push push to win!

People say that Malzahar is a 1v1 champion, and is next to useless in teamfights. To the people with mindset, you are mistaken. Before someone tries to initiate, either from your team or theirs, poke at the enemy team with CoTV and NZ. This will weaken their entire team if done correctly, before the fight has even begun. In teamfights, try to keep your distance, spamming your CoTV and W as much as you can with 40% CDR and aim to combo the carrying AP, AD or DPS carry on their team. Do NOT initiate a teamfight with your ultimate. You will be focused down so fast you wont know what hit you. Rather, try to let your tank, offtank and carries go in before you do. If done correctly, you most certainly will be victorious!

Thankyou for reading my guide on Malzahar, the Prophet of the Void. Please don't forget to give me some feedback and if you like it, please vote up! :)