Massive shout out to this guide which is where I learnt 90% of what you read in here anyways: https://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/14-15-mordekaiser-the-one-way-ticket-to-brazil-detailed-guide-595240

I wanted to make my own guide to question, test and understand things myself.

You always pick one of these two because you need one gap closer. Whether Ghost or Flash they both allow you to get out of bad situations and they both allow you to get into melee range to kill someone.

Ghost is just everything Mordekaiser wants. As an offensive ability it gives you the power to run up to a threat and hit R. In lane it gives you a good chance at securing a kill at lv6. As a defensive ability Mordekaiser is tanky enough to survive most initial CC/burst and thereafter you can just Ghost to get to safety. With Mordekaiser's passive and Rylai's Crystal Scepter this spell is a deathly combo.

I never take Flash but it's a personal choice, take it if you want. Personally I think spell is better for champions that need the INSTANT space to do things or avoid things (think Fiddlesticks R gap close) or for squishy targets to instantly dodge CC like ADCs. But Mordekaiser is neither of those. Flash + R is useless since you still need to run them down after hitting R. Many Mordekaiser players love the Flash + Q combo, but in my opinion that is quite a waste of a Flash. Sure it might get you the kill but with Ghost you could've just run them down after missing a Q.

Personally I always take Ghost.

You don't need two gap closing spells, therefore you pick one of these as your second spell.

Teleport is a priceless get out of jail free card and amazing tepo gainer. Worst case you Teleport to catch a wave or two which is still decent gold value. Personally I just love the macro power that Teleport gives me. For example, recall, walk and help out dragon, then Teleport back to lane. Priceless.

1. Take it if you are up against range/poke since early on they usually poke you out of lane so Teleport gives you a free HP refresh.

Ignite is the most confusing spell to understand on Mordekaiser. One thing about Mordekaiser is that buying anti-heal items is really meh. Morellonomicon is a HORRIBLE item for Mordekaiser purely because there are better items to pick from. Oblivion Orb is okay but it delays your damage spikes by A LOT and eventually you have to sell it so you lose a lot of gold that way. Bramble Vest/ Thornmail are decent but only if the enemy comp has a lot of auto attackers. You can't just build this because you are up against Illaoi and you want anti-heal. So in other words, anti-heal items generally suck.

Therefore, you take Ignite as your anti-heal item. So take it vs anything that heals to win a duel like Gwen, Darius, Fiora, Dr. Mundo, Vladimir, Illaoi...

But don't take it vs Warwick. Since he relies so heavily on auto attacks you will be buying Bramble Vest first item anyways. So having Ignite as well is a big waste.

To know if you need Ignite ask yourself these questions:

1. Does the enemy laner have heeling? Then you need anti-heal.
2. Will I build Thornmail in this comp? If yes, don't take Ignite. If no, take Ignite.

Personally I always take Ignite unless vs range/poke or I will be building Thornmail.

	Take this over Legend: Haste. It helps you take towers down a little faster. But more importantly, when you hold your Q/E and the enemy is trying to dodge out of their mind, all you need to do is to keep auto attacking them.
	Bone Plating vs melee. Second Wind vs ranged/poke. I always take one of these two.
	I used to love this rune but don't anymore. The biggest reason is that this rune is good when you are ahead and bad when you are behind. Where as Revitalize is good ahead or behind.
	I don't think this is worth it. I tested it and full build lv18 it adds 75 damage to your AA and gives you 10 ARM & MR. Early game it does even less. I don't think this rune is worth it at all unless someone could show me how exactly. I think you are either getting the kill or dying, with or without this.
	I prefer this over Ability Haste. Because with Ability Haste you only get a 5s faster ult, which rarely makes a difference. And a miliscond faster Q, which only turns 20 Q's into 21 Q's. Taking Attack Speed you stack passive slightly faster and possibly miss less CS. Mordekaiser's AA also deal magic damage so you're not loosing too much damage here either.

Your Stacks

Mordekaiser has multiple things that increase in value over the duration of a fight: Indestructible, Darkness Rise, Conqueror, Riftmaker, Liandry's Torment, Jak'Sho, The Protean, Force of Nature. I mean holy ****, just look at that list. The reason I say that is that his damage comes from utilizing this as good as possible. Some tips to this are:

• Hit minions to grow Indestructible before starting a lane fight
• Q & AA champions while you are CSing. If they don't run away, follow with another E + Q combo which starts a fight for you fully stacked.
• Your Indestructible does SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU THINK when it comes to winning or losing fights. Watch some high level Mordekaiser plays to see how insanely big difference Indestructible makes in a fight.
• Be weary of starting fights vs other champions that are fully stacked when you are 0 stacked. For example Tryndamere Jax Irelia etc. And the opposite is very true, when they have no stacks you have to take advantage and start a fight.

Don't E Threats Closer

Don't ever E threats like Darius, Sett, Riven closer to you when they are a danger. Your habit with most trading is E + Q, but this is extremely dangerous against these threats. Reason is, when you E them closer, you allow then the gap close they need to completely destory you. A general response is you E a Darius and he simply E's you back. Horrible trade for you.

Dominate Early

Mordekaiser's early levels are not as bad as people give it credit. Your passive is extremely powerful vs most enemies. It is very important that you dominate your early levels vs champions that you can fight. It is not good to only see Mordekaiser as a lv6 spike champion. Examples of champions you HAVE TO destroy early are:

• Nasus. If he uses Q on you then he isn't getting stacks. Even if he does it's his only damage for another few seconds. His E does more damage than you might think though.
• Kayle. She only gets range at lv6. Before that she only has a slow damage and one AA damage. Just W either of them and otherwise chase her away from the wave constantly.
• Yorick. At lv1 he has nothing. He needs graves before he has any damage. Push him off of minions and don't allow him to spawn graves with his Q.
• Dr. Mundo. Dodge the axes and otherwise don't give him a minion for a very very long time. This champion does not ever gain enough damage to kill you in lane. His biggest threat is outsustaining you.

Proxy

Versus champions with bad wave clear, it is useful to proxy the waves behind their tower. Because what you can do is E+Q the front wave really fast. Then walk around and proxy. Many champions cannot contest your wave clear spead, especially if have a kill or two because then your damage spikes just enough to full clear a wave with 1 combo. Another tip is to only proxy when you have ult up since your ult turns any gank into a 1v1. Champions to do this vs are:

• Vladimir
• Kayle
• Teemo
• Kennen
• Malphite

Generally these champions achieve wave clear at a later stage in the game, but your E+Q combo spikes much faster than their abilities.

Why proxy? Because:

• You gain massive tempo
• The enemy loses health or tower defending
• You draw jungle/mid pressure
• Your E+Q is good wave clear
• Your Indestructible can tank waves well
• Your Realm of Death is amazing for 2v1 fights
• You feel badass doing so

What is your one job when proxying? DON'T DIE. Dying does not make proxy worth it!!! Tips to not die:

• Only proxy with your Realm of Death up
• Only proxy if you are ahead of your laner & enemy jungler
• Only proxy if you have Teleport or Ghost
• Only proxy if you know the position of the enemy jungler (or you guess you know lol)

Passive + Ultimate

Rarely ever use your ult unless you have your passive active. Reason being, you are probably going to waste half of the ult duration just chasing the enemy to the other side of the realm. This is super stupid. If your passive is active you get the movement speed that is designed to help you stick to the enemy. The only time this rule doesn't count is if you ult a carry to keep them from killing your allies. In which case killing them is not the goal.

Ultimate vs Smite

By far the greatest feeling as Mordekaiser. If you are in Dragon/ Baron pit you can ult the enemy jungler to keep them in the realm and therefore deny them from being able to Smite the Dragon/ Baron. Do note though, that they can still see the Dragon/ Baron for about 1 second in the realm. So you need to ult quite early. Don't wait for the exact Smite moment. This is also extremely useful when the enemy jungler jumps into the pit for the last Smite or they are just standing next to the pit and you have a ward on them. Hit ult and have both of you just stand on boths sides of the wall LOL.