Hi MOBAFire! This is my guide for AP/Anticarry Malphite. It focuses on sick burst damage with quite some survivability. This build should not be used if you have no pure tank, you won't have enough survivability with these items, in order for you to tank properly.
This build focuses on locking down an enemy carry with your huge burst and your lovely CC.
I recommend you have a good initiater like Galio or Amumu if you really want this build to shine. Malphite is a great initiater himself, but with this build, he can't sustain in the middle of a fight nearly as much as if he tanks.
People will probably be wondering why you go AP and flame you, but never mind that.
I hope you enjoy the build and the guide ^^

*Note* I don't know how viable this build is in high ELO, since I'm not a pro player myself x) - But it has worked well for me and it is alot of fun.


If you want a tank build/guide for Malphite, here you go:

Malphite - They say he is the Coon..

To answer this question, here are some arguments:

Has A Great Anticarry Skillset

1) While Malphite is a great initiater, he does not have the skillset to really protect his team after an initiation. He is great at locking down an enemy carry with Q+E spamming, but he does not have a taunt or a shield or anything, which can protect his carries. Therefore he can be played AP if your team already has a pure tank. This will give your team tons of initiation CC, which is great in the current meta-game imo. However, he has the skillset to locking down an enemy like a baws. His Ground Slam reduces attack speed and with Frozen Heart AS based AD champions will have a harder time. <- This also makes him do a bit of a tank's job, while stilld dealing superb damage.

You Can Farm Like A Baws!

2) Tanks often jungle in the current meta-game or they don't farm that much. While Malphite is able to jungle, he is not that strong a jungler compared to Amumu as one of the best tank-junglers. He has some good ganks past level 6. As an AP/Anticarry he is allowed to farm more, which is good, since he is really item dependant and has insane damage potential with a proper farm. GP10 items sure are great, but they don't provide nearly as much gold as a good farm.
Note that the meta-game probably will change when sustainability on supporters are being nerfed, so at that time this might not be a valid argument anymore.

Is Great At Locking Down Enemies

4) Unstoppable Force allows you to really lock down at least one of the enemy carries. Your combo consisting of Brutal Strikes + Unstoppable Force + Deathfire Grasp + Ground Slam + Seismic Shard will really **** up the target(s) you hit. A squishy caster without Banshee's Veil might even die from it. Note that you also have Exhaust to lock down either the AD carry or the AP carry with.

There might be more reasons to play Malphite this way, but I can't seem to come up with them as I am writing this :P
I'm not saying he is bad as a tank, this is just another way of playing him. Personally I got bored with tank Malphite and decided to try this out. I had great results, so I wanted to share it with people.

In order for you to use this build properly, so you won't seem to be a troll, you will need different skills:

Farm Properly

- You need to be able to farm like a baws, in order for this build to shine. If not you will be too squishy and your damage output will not be significant enough for you to be that big a deal in teamfights. It is important to be able to la**** with his autoattacks, since it isn't as easy farming with Ground Slam when you don't have that much armor.

Know Your Role

You need to know your role in the team, which is not to be a tank for your team, but an offtank/anticarry. You shouldn't initiate unless there's no one else to do it. Always go for the carry, even if an offtank has low HP. Don't go for tons of kills, mainly aim for locking down an enemy carry and perhaps killing him/her if possible.

Use Your Tools Properly (yeah, yeah I know)

3) You need to be able to use Unstoppable Force properly and to remember to use the active of Deathfire Grasp. If possible use DGF before you hit your target with Unstoppable Force for a maximized damage output. This might be hard, so don't hesitate to use your ultimate first, if you see a good opening.

How To Adapt Your Build

4) You need to know when to get certain items, since the item sequence of this build is not 100% reliable in all games. Sometimes you need more survivability, whether it is MR or armor and sometimes you might lack damage, but not survivability.

Be An Advanced/Experienced player

5) I recommend that you learn to play Malphite as a tank first, since he relies on his ulti too much as an anticarry, so you need to practice alot with Unstoppable Force before playing AP/Anticarry Malphite

Pros

- Great damage output in teamfights.
- Great harraser with Q+E
- Good anti-carry - DFG + skillset combo
- Can initiate if necessary
- Decent survivability
- Great at zoning squishies in laning phase.
- His ultimate scales 100% with AP.
- His ultimate is really reliable, since it is really hard to stop (it's fast and once you are charging, the enemies don't have much time to stop you). -> This is why he can be a great anticarry in my opinion.
- He can go behind the tanks with Unstoppable Force, which makes it harder for the enemy tank to protect his/her carries.

Cons

- Can't work as a pure tank.
- More squishy thank tank Malphite.
- Not as much sustainability as tank Malphite.
- Might have a hard time in laning phase, due to a lack of survivability.
- This build requires that you can land his ultimate really well.
- Flash can mess up Unstoppable Force and that blows! xD

In my opinion there are several useful summoner spells on AP/Anticarry Malphite.
However I always use flash, which I find to be a complete core summoner spell on Malphite.

Preferred summoner spells

+

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- This is absolutely necessary on Malphite. You need it for several reasons:
1)

Chase + escape mechanism

- You have your shards to steal speed, but sometimes you just need to get out of the heat, so flash is necessary. Furthermore you can use it for chasing. Flash + Seismic Shard has landed me some kills or secured kills for a teammate.

2)

Surprise initiation

-> Sometimes it can catch an entire team off guard that you suddenly flash and use Unstoppable Force on their ***es. Then they won't be able to react and take you down. This is an okay way to initiate, just make sure your team is ready for it. Teams tend to cluster if they are out of range of the other team, because they squishies hide behind their tank(s). Then you can sometimes use Flash + W-R-E-Q and hit 3+ of them and then probably win the teamfight unless your teammates don't react to your awesomeness.

3)

Towerdiving.

Even with rather low HP you can use Unstoppable Force to kill a enemy, who is low on HP. You can simply flash out of there if you can't survive by running out of tower range. Just make sure that there isn't another enemy nearby, who can stun you near tower and stop you from killing your target. Do not overextend, I do that too much and it pisses me off xD

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- I use this simply because it is great for locking down a target and this is what you wanna do with AP/Anticarry Malphite. The damage reduction is great at locking down either the enemy AD or AP carry and the slow helps you and your team focusing on killing them. In laning phase you should use Exhaust for locking down an enemy, either to survive or to kill that enemy, depending on the situation.

When to use Exhaust on the AP Carry:
- If the AP Carry hasn't used his/her burst yet, try to time Exhaust on him/her to lower their damage output. For example: Annie seems to be about to use Tibbers on your team, so you use Exhaust to lower her damage output, helping you and your team to survive.

When to use it on the AD Carry:
- If the AP carry has used his/her spellcombo, you should use Exhaust on the AD Carry, since they'll often be a bigger threat at this point of a teamfight. Casters rely on their abilities to do damage, while AD carries don't. So try to determine, which one of the enemy carries, who is the biggest threat beforey you use Exhaust.

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Other viable choices:

Teleport - Great for setting up ganks, defending turrets, pushing etc. However, you will need the damage reduction from Exhaust if you really want to shine as an anticarry. But still a good choice ^^

Ignite - It's good for finishing off an enemy or for stopping champions such as Dr. Mundo, Swain, Vladimir and Mordekaiser, but they should normally not be your prior targets, so Ignite should only be used if you need it on your team. Note that it still is good for shutting down an AD Carry with a lot of lifesteal, or an AP champion like Akali, who normally has alot of spellvamp/lifesteal.

Ghost - You already have Seismic Shard for gap closing, but if you really feel the need for two escape/chase spells, you can go with it. But again, without Exhaust you can't focus on locking down a carry as well, as if you have it.

Skill order:

Unstoppable Force -> Seismic Shard -> Ground Slam -> Brutal Strikes

Skills

- This is your main harrasing spell in laning phase. I max it first simply for a better damage output. It scales well with AP (70%), so your damage output will be quite good in early game. Constantly harras the squishiest enemy in your lane and wait for an opportunity to kill them. If you have enough survivability harras your enemies by using Seismic Shard and then run up near them and use Ground Slam. This will do quite some damage, but be careful that they don't suddenly jump you and use Exhaust and/or Ignite. Just remember to farm as well, do not only harras. I recommend that you don't start harrassing until you're level 3, since it is a waste of mana and shards do not do that much damage in level 1.


- This is great for last-hitting and to boost the damage output from your skill-combo. Furthermore it gives you some nice survivability in (team)fights. Remember to use it before you use your ultimate, since it will boost the damage from Ground Slam. Combined with Ground Slam it makes farming rather easy. This will be maxed last, since you won't have THAT much armor, so the damage won't be that insane.


- This is not as great as when playing tank, since it scales with armor. However, it was nerfed quite some time ago, making it scale less on armor. This is another reason to go anticarry Malphite, since his damage output isn't as significant as tank anymore. It is great for stopping AD enemies from doing that much damage on your carries, so that way you work well as offtank/anticarry. Use it for farming the 3 ranged creeps. Brutal Strikes will help you, due to the splash damage. Just hit them by turn and then use Ground Slam to take all 3.


- 1:1 AP scaling! This will be an insane AoE burst with this AP/offtank build combined with Ground Slam. You can use it for initiating if necessary, but you might die in the process, ideally you have a pure tank to do the initiating. If you've seen a well coordinated teamfight with a pure tank initiating and AP/offtank/anticarry Malphite following, you probably have seen how devastating that is. It can **** up and entire team and leave their carries useless in teamfights.

This runepage is focusing on damage output, sustainability and survivability:
9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
- These are simply for a better damage output. With these and Sorecerer's Shoes, you'll almost ignore the enemy carries' magic resistance in early-mid game. They greatly help the damage output of Seismic Shard, which is your main harrassing spell in laning phase.

9x Greater seal of replenishment
- Malphite is really mana hungry, so getting these will help your mana issues, so you don't run OOM all the time. Another good choice in seals are Greater Seal of Armor, if you don't feel the need for the extra mana regeneration.

9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
- These are not that strong in early game, but they will really help your lategame, where you might lack some MR if, since Abyssal Mask doesn't provide that much. However, casters are often in mid, so you won't meet heavy nukes that often in laning phase. Therefore, you can take these without having to worry about being bursted to death in early game.

3x Greater Quintessence of Ability Power
- You won't have that much AP in early game, so I really find these to be a great way to improve your damage in early game. If not, you won't really have any AP until the end of early game or the beginning of mid game. If you feel the need for more survivability, I suggest using Greater Quintessence of Health.

Main build:

This is the build I've used the most as AP/Anticarry Malphite. It gives great burst damage, decent survivability and the tools needed to take out a carry with your W-R-DFG-E-Q combo. It is quite expensive, but if you're able to last-hit rather well and get some kills and assists, it shouldn't be that big a problem ^^

Early Game

Start with a Sapphire Crystal to have more mana to spam Seismic Shard with in laning phase. I recommend only using shards after you reach level 3. The damage it does in level 1 is simply not worth wasting mana on, unless you have a chance for first blood. Furthermore you shouldn't be overusing Ground Slam, try to last-hit without it.

NOTE: You can also start with a Doran's Ring if you do not feel the need for rushing a Catalyst the protector. Then you'll have about 30 AP in level 1 and quite some HP and decent mana regeneration. However, you won't have Rod of Ages as fast and won't benefit from it's boost as soon. It is quite the personal choice in my opinion.

Ideally you can afford a Catalyst the protector the first time you recall. If you've done really well and you've been able to stay in the lane for a long time, you might also be able to afford Boots. Afterwards you finish Sorcerer's Shoes and start saving up money for finishing Rod of Ages. Depending on how well you are doing, there will be a difference in when you have certain items.

Mid Game

Get Rod of Ages as soon as possible and get a Fiendish Codex for the mana regeneration, the CDR and a bit more damage. Get Kage's Lucky Pick instead, if you aren't farming well, for the GP10, but I recommend this item for the CDR and mana regeneration, which allows you to use your abilities more often and get more gold from farm, kills and assists.
Now it's time for some survivability, so get a Glacial Shroud. It boosts your damage output and gives you more mana for this mana hungry champion. Great item on Malphite and it will be upgraded to Frozen Heart.

Late Game

Now it's time for finishing Deathfire Grasp. This item is simply great when playing Malphite as an anticarry, since you will be able to nuke down either the AD or the AP carry on the enemy team, depending on the situation.
Afterwards get Lich Bane. It will boost your damage and your survivability and it gives a great nuke, which will help you take out they carry in one burst and boost the chance of winning teamfights. If the game takes a long time fininsh of with Rabadon's Deathcap. The reason not to rush a Rabadon's Deathcap is because you'll lack utility and survivability early on, since it is such an expensive item. You also need the active from Deathfire's Grasp since it is a really reliable source of damage.

Alternate build:

If you're behind in your lane and/or you lack farm and/or if you feel you're getting nuked down in teamfights, try this build instead: It gives more resistance against nukers and the stasis from Zhonya's Hourglass, which is needed if you're being nuked down in teamfights. The shield from Banshee's Veil will also help against CC. You won't have as much damage in early-mid game, but in lategame you'll be ****ing up the enemy carries. ^^

Optional Items:

Moonflair Spellblade - If you feel the need for the magic penetration from Sorcerer's Shoes, but still want tenacity. Quite cheap with a decent amount of AP.

Void Staff - If you can't seem to destroy the enemy carry. I rarely use this item, since DFG often does the trick, but if I do, it is instead of Rabadon's Deathcap.

Mejai's Soulstealer - If you really feel that you dominate and that you won't die much, try rushing this and get it stacked as much as possible. Perhaps you won't need DFG if the enemies are doing bad, so you can get Glacial Shroud earlier if you get Mejai's. Really situational and only used against bad teams.

Randuin's Omen - If the enemies have tons of AD and you don't feel the need for the mana from Frozen Heart this item will come in handy. Just remember to use it's active, since it can help your team so much against champions as Xin Zhao and Warwick.

Mercury's Treads - If the enemy team has a lot of crowd control and you simply think these will be a core item in the given match. I really like the magic penetration from Sorcerer's Shoes, but sometimes you just gotta get these. ^^

Abyssal Mask - Great item if you have a lot of magic damage on your team and you need more magic resistance than Lich Bane provides.


Another build I've been testing is:

This is focused more on sustainability and damage, but with less survivability. It gives insane burst, a bit of support and alot of sustainability. I've also tried going with Lich Bane in there, but it's not as effective without a Rabadon's Deathcap to support it. (at least imo)

When playing AP/Anticarry your job is not quite the same as when tanking with him. As anticarry your job is, as the name suggests, to shut down the enemy carries the best you can, by doing tons of damage to them and reducing their damage output.
This is done by buying the right items and playing a certain way.

So how is this done?

Warding is a key to succes in League of Legends. It can change the outcome of a fight or save your *** from a potential gank, which could have made the enemy carries or jungler more fed. Map control is extremely important, since it can set up kills for your team, allow your team to steal buffs and keep track of the dragon and Baron. Warding spots are somewhat situational, but there some keyspots that should be warded no matter what.
Here is a map that shows you what places that is preferable to ward:

(The picture is somewhat small, so you might have to zoom to read the small text. Sorry about that)

NOTE:
-> The red cross marker should only be warded if they have someone, who can jump/spin/run through the wall and kill the dragon really fast - Like Tryndamere. Then it can be a good idea to ward inside the area, where the dragon is, but under normal circumstances, do always ward the grassy spot outside the Dragon's "nest", since that gives more mapcontrol. Or if you ward both places (see explanation why it can be good to ward in the chamber, later in this section)
-> Normally the warders are: the jungler, the supporter, the tank. However, the carries can ward as well, if they have farmed really well and they can afford it, while the sidelanes might be struggling.

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I've simply copied the following from the user Summoner's Soraka guide with his permission. It is some nice knowledge in my opinion, so I felt it would be good to share in a another guide as well:

Baron Wards

Laying a ward ON baron when possible means that they cannot do baron. It is very difficult to kill that ward and if the enemy uses skills to take it out you can capitalise on that. Additionally, to hit the ward, they will need to hit Baron, making them take damage. (Note that it is possible to take out the ward without hitting Baron, if you zoom in as much as possible)

Laying wards in his "chamber" means they spend more time taking out the ward and it makes it completely obvious what position they are in.

Dragon Wards

Same reasoning as above, laying a ward in the "chamber" basically means they have to go inside to destroy it, making you more aware of their position. Early game, you can capitalize on this by catching their support trying to leave dragon and make them waste their escape spell.

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Summoner's warding map:

(I've added this, since it's easier to see than the one above, I added myself. However, I won't remove the one above, since it still has some nice explanations, if you zoom)

This image shows the best, non-situational (i.e no lane brush wards) positions to place wards, assuming you are winning as the purple side. Mirror the positions if you are on the blue team or need defensive wards for purple.

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Thanks to Summoner for letting me add his section in my guide. You can find his guide for Soraka here: Competitive Soraka -> It is a really good guide, so make sure to check it out. It has some great information on Soraka, but also on more general stuff in League of Legends.

I can't piss it in the snow too much, that it is really important to know when to get certain items. You can't follow the item sequence I have listed in the top of the guide in every game.
Sometimes you need early survivability and other times you might need to rush certain items.

Here are some examples, you might have other reasons to build different items, these are just examples of reason to change your build and/or your build sequence.

If the enemy team's AP carry gets fed during laning phase:

- After Catalyst the protector, skip Rod of Ages and buy Negatron Cloak instead. Then rush Deathfire Grasp to improve your burst on the AP carry, to help shut him/her down. Furthermore you build Lich Bane as finishing for the mobility, which can help you land Unstoppable Force on the AP carry, while also avoiding their burst (if possible). The passive from Lich Bane will also make you an even bigger threat to the carry. I know I stated earlier that Lich Bane is more effective with Rabadon's as well, but this is mainly to counter a fed AP carry, not to deal ****loads of damage.

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If the enemy team's AD champions get fed during laning phase:

- Skip Rod of Ages and rush Glacial Shroud. Then build boots and Kage's Lucky pick and Blasting Wand for more damage and then finish Frozen Heart. Then go for Abyssal Mask for survivability against their AP champions and for more damage.
After that, grab Deathfire Grasp or Sunfire Aegis depending on what you need.
Finish with Rabadon's Deathcap. You know why <3

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These are just rough examples, which I've found myself using under certain circumstances, and they actually helped alot and succesfully shut down the fed carry or teams with alot of HP. They might not look completely like this, sometimes I've also followed the "original" item sequence, despite someone getting fed. It also depends on which champion and how your own team is doing. So it's hard to say when to get what..

Since you play offtank/anticarry if you've chosen to try this build/guide, then it is important that you play that way.
In the beginning when I started trying this build, I had a hard time getting used to not being the tank, so I occasionally died from initiating, which is a waste of damage potential, at least with these items.

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Your job is to shut down at least one of the enemy carries, if you succesfully do that and die, then job well done. But don't just rush headlessly into a fight, expecting your team to join and kill everything. You need timing and communication. If you solo queue then ask your team if they are ready, unless it is obvious to attack.

-> Normally you shouldn't initiate, though you can do it, if it is necessary. Your team just need to get the **** in there and support you, so remember to communicate, especially before a teamfight.

-> If the AP Carry has already used his/her main damage spell, as for example Veigar's Primordial Burst or Annie's Summon: Tibbers, then you should focus on hitting the AD Carry with your ultimate and DFG, since the AP Carry relies more on cooldowns than the AD Carry. If you think you can prevent the AP Carry from using his/her burst-combo by focusing him/her, then do so. Especially if you can interrupt it, like Fiddlestick's Crowstorm or Malzahar's Neter Grasp. Try to see which of the enemy carries, who is the biggest threat to your team, and then act according to that.

-> If your teammate(s) have overextended, do not try to save them, unless you have a chance of winning the fight. Too many players run straight into an already lost fight, only to give even more unnecessary kills to the enemy team. Furthermore your role is not to tank, so only sacrifice yourself if it is to save someone on a spree.

* When I say ****-block, I mean stuff that is pretty annoying when playing AP/Anticarry Malphite :D

1) Enemy carries stacking MR ->

- Make sure that their shield won't block your ultimate. Never charge in, if their shield is up.
- If you feel your damage output is reduced too much by their MR, grab Void Staff.

2) Enemies flashing out of your ultimate's range, when you use it.

- Try to remember if the enemy carry has used flash shortly before, you want to use Unstoppable Force on him/her. If you're not sure about it, try forcing them to use it by harrasing them with shards, so they think you'll finish them with your ultimate.
- I love to use Flash + Unstoppable Force as a combo. This way you can aim behind the enemy, so if they flash further away from you, you'll still hit them and **** them up
-> This is a great way to towerdive a single enemy. (Note that if you towerdive on more than 1 enemy, have Flash ready, to get out of towerrange asap.

3) Running out of mana

With masteries, runes & Rod of Ages + Frozen Heart, you shouldn't run oom. Some Malph players use INSANELY lot of mana, but as anticarry, you'll sometimes find yourself with a blue buff, you achieved from killing the enemy AP carry. But honestly, you shouldn't have mana problems with this build. ^^

I probably already mentioned most of this stuff earlier in the guide, so this is just to summarize.

1) Always use Exhaust on the biggest damage threat in a teamfight:

- Like I stated earlier, you shouldn't use Exhaust on the AP Carry if he/she has already used his spell-combo - Neither should you use it on the AD Carry if he/she isn't a threat.
Also try not to rush your skill-combo too much. If you already bring a carry really low, it might be a waste to use Exhaust on that person, even if that was your main target to begin with. Then use it on someone else, who has more HP and makes a bigger threat.

2) Always remember to use the active on :

- If not, you might as well buy Morello's Evil Tome. If possible use it before your target loses too much HP for a maximized damage output.

3) Use before you initiate and use :

- This way you maximize your damage output, since Ground Slam scales on armor and your W-ability gives you more of that.

4) Aim a bit behind your target, when using :

- Enemies tend to pull back a bit, when they you coming, so aim a bit behind them. Furthermore you might still hit them, if they try to flash out of your range.

5) When trying to farm like a baws, change between targets:

- With the splash damage from Brutal Strikes, you will do damage to more minion, and if you switch between the minions and bring them all relatively low, you can finish them all off with Ground Slam - A good idea is to practice this in a custom, so you know when to time Ground Slam to get the best farm possible.


If you have more tips, you think I should add, please leave them in a comment. Thanks in advance.

I know this guide lacks pictures and stuff like that, but I've been writing it at work, so I haven't had the chance to add pictures, and I'm not quite sure what to add :p

I might add more sections later, to make it more comprehensive... But atm, I'm really not that fond of writing guides, so I released what I had. ^^

I hope you enjoyed reading this and that it will give you some succesful games and more importantly some fun moments. :)

If you have any constructive critiscism, please leave it in a PM or in a comment below the guide. If you have ideas please tell me as well, I'm open to suggestions, since this is more of a concept build than a "this is the right way to play" build.
^ It has still given me some great results, especially in premades.

Thanks for reading. <3