Hi everyone! Welcome to my Bottom Lane, Support Malzahar Guide! You may be here because you just got stuck bottom lane with limited options on support champs, or maybe you saw this guide and thought it was so outrageous that you had to check it out. But whatever the reason, you're here and thats great! Is it unconventional? Yes. Does it break the Meta? Yes. Does it work well anyways? Yes. I'm Ike Trueblade, a currently unranked player who loves some Malzahar! You might be wondering why I think I have the knowledge or experience or expertise to write a guide as a level 26 summoner. Well to be brutally honest, I don't have any of that. I really don't. But what I do have is a very particular set of skills... okay lame jokes aside, There aren't a lot of people playing support Malzahar and even less guides so I decided to write my own. Malzahar has become my go top champ fot most positions as of late so I decided to write this guide partially as a learning experience for myself but also to try and get more people supporting as Malzahar.


***SIDE NOTE***
This guide is under construction and there may be parts that seem a bit... wonky so proceed with caution!


P.S. Check out my stream! www.twitch.tv/iketrueblade

Pros:

-Can counter ganks fairly easily with his Ult

-Great at holding champs down for his ADC to get the kill

-Can still push lane fairly easily with his voidlings, even if his ADC isn't in lane

-Can turn around losing teamfights

-Can easily harass the enemy champs with his E while his ADC free farms

Cons:

-Very Squishy, and no escape

-No abilities to keep his ADC in lane

-SLOW. AS. FRICKEN. KNOBS.

Runes

I prefer to take Heal and Flash, but you can sub out Heal for Clarity or Exhaust, depending on the circumstances. But honestly Heal is best in most cases but Clarity is a good choice if you have another mana hungry champ laning with you. Heal will save you from a ton of near death experiences and can also save your ADC as well so as a champ with no abilities that directly benefit your ADC (counterexamples being Braum's Shield and Thresh's Lantern) Heal is usually a must.

Skills
Your Malefic Visions should always be maxed first, follow it up with your Null Zone. I know most people prefer to max their Call of the Void second when playing Malzahar mid or top or jungle, but when Supporting I prefer to only use my Call of the Void as a silence. Null Zone is better as a support because when you combo it with your Nether Grasp you can deal massive amounts of damage while your ADC annihilates the stunned enemy champ. As support Malz its unlikely you'll get the kill so you should try and let your ADC finish them off if you can.
Well not unlikely but its better to letter your carry get the kill.
So when ulting, cancel it when the enemy gets extremely low in health, do so a bit earlier if your W is beneath their feet. *CAUTION* Only cancel your ult if its guaranteed that your ADC can get the kill! For those of you who don't know, Malzahar's Nether Grasp can be cut short by moving or casting another spell. Thus you can use it to hold an enemy champ in place for your ADC and almost guarantee a kill for them.
During early game you want to use your Malefic Visions to harass as much as possible, thats were your mana pots come in handy. You will BURN through your mana early game.

Spellthief's Edge is absolutely BRUTAL with your Malefic Visions. You can easily harass the enemy champs early game and let your ADC afk farm for an early lead.
Your boots and Frostfang should be your normal buy during your first back. AS a champ with nothing but flash as a means of escape your boots become fairly important pretty quickly but if you don't have enough gold for both items on your first back I'd strongly recommend Frostfang first because of the mana regen. Yes the mobility is nice but I prefer to have the extra mana regen, you'll earn more gold through your masteries this way because of your ability to use your spells more often.
During early game it is essential that you buy some pots every back. I'd say by level 9 you should be free and clear from pots but you will run low on ma most of the game. Mana pots are the only ones you should need after level 6 or so. I tend to lean towards mana pots in general after the initial buy. If you play your cards right you won't lose too much health but your mana will drain as you spam your abilities.

CORE ITEMS
So obviously as a support you NEED Ruby sightstone. Thats a given. But other than that I like having my frost queen's claim because it provides that little bit of slow with its active that can get you away from a fight that would end with you face down inside the void. I also think that liandry's torment is pretty much a must for anyone playing AP Malz (as opposed to his crazy OP voidling brother AD Malz)

Boots
I normally get boots of mobility because it gets you around the map quicker and combined with your frost queen's claim slow it can get you out of some pretty sticky situation.
I only pick sorc shoes if laning is failing hard and i seriously need the extra magic penetration.
Cooldown boots are rarely used, unless you decide to build something that gives you a bunch of extra mana, otherwise you'll go through mana much faster.
Boots of Swiftness are an option to think about instead of mobility, get these ONLY if the other team has a TON of stuns and slows otherwise ignore this.

DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE CHOICES
From here your last two items can vary greatly a safe build is Rylia's Crystal Scepter and Rod of Ages. This combo makes you a little less squishy while still giving you increased ability power. But honestly it all depends on your matchup and preference of play style.

Harass as much as possible, you can spam Malefic Visions on both the enemy ADC and the enemy support safely. This will seal in an early lead for your ADC because they will easily be able to farm while the enemy ACD is being constantly pushed under tower and unable to farm.

All in all, this outside-the-meta support can work really well if played right! ABSOLUTELY SPAM your E early game (and Q if you really want to push hard) AND ALWAYS REMEMBER to pick up at least some mana pots on every back (unless you are about level 9 or 10 or higher). I hope you liked my guide and I look forward to seeing more Support Malzahar's in Summoner's Rift!

Why do you like to support with Malzahar?
-Well personally I like to be very aggressive when playing any role so I feel like Malzahar fits the bill really well because of his Malefic Visions, you deal damage over time after initiating your spell no matter how far away you are from the other champ.
-Also he looks pretty f*ckin bad@ss
Are there other ways to play Support Malzahar?
-Yes! you can play him as an AD Support instead of AP like this guide specifies! I eventually will add an AD version of this guide so stayed tuned!