Mordekaiser Build Guide by RablyPale

Introduction

Hello everyone, I'm RablyPale and I'm an average AP mid player. I have a couple hundred games played with Mordekaiser, through which I've learned different ways of building him and the optimal way of building him in different matchups. I'm writing this guide in the hopes that newer players, and even experienced players just starting to play Mordekaiser will have the knowledge of how to play him and how to build him.

Pros/Cons of the Metal Master

Pros

• Good at pushing
• Easy to farm with
• Easy to play
• Easy to roam with
• Can go either top or mid lane

Cons

• Low range
• No escapes (if you get ganked without flash you're probably gonna die)
• Weak early game (Skills use HP. Health regen/spell vamp quints help a lot)
• Easily countered if picked early

Lane Matchups

As with all champions, Mordekaiser should be played differently against every champion. The following is a list of champions that are commonly seen mid lane and how difficult they are for Mordekaiser to lane against.

HARD MATCHUPS - You will probably lose these lanes or need a lot of ganks to win.
EASY MATCHUPS - Your opponent should pretty much be hugging their turret forever.
SKILL MATCHUPS - If the opponent is good at their champion they will destroy you. If they suck you'll destroy them. if you're about even, it becomes a farmfest.
MEDIUM MATCHUPS - These lanes will be in your favor at certain points but will be against you at certain points.

Hard Matchups

Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia will destroy you 99% of the time as long as she can land her Noxious Blast. Her sustained damage from landing her poison followed by two Twin Fangs will melt you from level 2 onwards. You should farm at your turret and beg your jungler to let you rake wraiths when they're up because it's the only way you'll keep up in farm. If you move away from your turret, you'll probably die.

Kassadin
From levels 1-5 you can probably go even in lane, ut once he hits 6, stay the hell away from him. He can ulti to you, silence you, and unload at least 600 damage over a second and a half and not take any damage himself. When you notice him leaving lane, you should follow immedately or ping like a madman because otherwise he will snowball from other lanes whichis not fun (for you, at least. i'm sure he'd enjoy it).

Ryze
Once he gets Rune Prison, you can't touch him. All of his spells outrange you and he does a massive amount of damage.

Kog'Maw
Before he hits 6 you can probably harrass him enoigh that he'll have to go back, but onc ehe does, you shouldn't go anywhere near him. Living Artillery will break your shield easily beacuase of the massive damage it does. Combined with the slow of Void Ooze as you run, you'll definately have to back. Hug your turret and upgrade boots ASAP to avoid his skillshots.

Orianna
Her spells do massive damage and outrange you. if you try to run, she can slow you and speed herself up. She can also easily harrass you at turret with the range of her ball. If she starts to push, ask for a gank to at least relieve some of the pressure. never pusha gainst her though, because if you get ganked, you're a dead man.

Soraka
It is literally impossible to get a kill in this lane unless the soraka is brain dead. Summoner heal + Astral Blessing + Wish at level 6 = around 1000HP and some bonus armor. She also has a silence on a eelatively low cooldown and a magic resist shred on Starcall. Oh, did I mention that she also has bonus magic resist from Consecration? If you get too close, she will kill you with ease. It's impossible to wintrades against her. just farm at turret and ask for ganks when she's pushing (all the time, really).

Heimerdinger
His turrets do lots of damage and the poke from his rockets will break your shield easily. He can also stun you and get a few free attacks on you with his grenade. Just try to farm at turret and if he stays pushed, call for a gank and teach him a lesson.

Swain
Swain will absolutely destroy you. Because you're mostly melee, he can easily slow you and land a snare and get a few seconds of damage form Ravenous Flock on you. He will outsustain you even after you get Hextech Revolver. You should just stay at turret and when you see him leave lane to gank another, follow him even if it means missing farm.

Ahri
If she can land a taunt on you, her other spells will destroy your HP bar. Once she hits 6, you probably won't kill her unless you get a gank from someone with a stun or snare. She can kill you really easily before 6 and when she hits 6 it makes it even easier. Hug your turret and farm. When she roams, follow her immediately.

Medium matchups

Kennen
For the most part this lane should be even. You can both kill each other at 6 but before that you can harrass and zone him. if he started off with bonus AD and went hybrid AD-magic penetration for early game, need to play more carefully, but I don't often see that mid lane.

Gragas
Upgrade boots before buying Giant's Belt to make dodgning barrels easier. be careful of his level 2-3 burst, he can kill you easily with a barrel, bodyslam, ignite, and 1 or 2 auto attacks.

Zilean
in the early levels, you can harrass him out of lane if you get close enough. Don't bother trying to kill him past 6 becasue he can jsut revive himself wiht his ulti. His bombs can break your shield easily and he'll be spammign them once he gets blue, so you'll start ahving a harder time in lane, When he bombs you, stand near your minions so the wave pushes twards your turret then ask for a gank.

Brand
You want to upgrade boots before getting Giant's belt to avoid his Pillar of Flame. movement speed quints are a pretty good choice against him. If he's good, he'll use Sear and as it's flying towards you he'll use Conflagration and you'll be stunned. Tyr to avoid having that happen by alwasy moving.

Galio
You can't kill him because he'll have massive magic resist. He'll start to do lots of damage to you around level 5, but as long as you have your shield up and a few health potions you should be able to farm with him evenly. Try to keep the lane at aroudn the halfway point, but stand back a little more when you know he has his ulti and flash up.

Sion
When he has his shield up, try to avoid beign stunned. Just walk away. if you know you can't, try to build your shield on a minon wave so you take less damage, and once the sutn wears off, counter attack him.

Veigar
If Veigar lands a stun on you at level 6, prepare to die, especially if his jungler is near. You can probably try to pait a gank as soon as he hits 6 though, just make sure your jugnelr can get in before he kills you.

Annie
You can destroy her early game, but she can do the same to you. Don't be overly aggressive. At 6, you can both kill each other, but she can kill you more easily. if you hit 6 before her, try to push her out fo lane even if you need your ultit o do it, because it can snowball you a little bit.

Easy Matchups

LeBlanc
You should be able to kill her or make her back several times before level 6. Push her to her turret because she has a hard time farming at turret. By the time she's level 6, she shouldn't be able to combo you from full. If you're unsuccessful at stopping ehr from hitting 6 at the same time as you, you might want to rush Giant's Belt.

Malzahar
The damage from Malefic Visions is going to annoy you befoere you get to around level 5, when Siphon of Destruction actually gives yo a decent shield. But once you hit level 6 or 7, Malzahar is a piece of cake. I reccomend gabbing a Quicksilver Sash as your second or third item if he manages to kill you though.

Ziggs
Play as aggressive as you can at level 1 and 2. you should eb able to bring him down to around 100 health which will make him fear you for a long enough time that you can snowball. back early (push to his turret by level 2 then back) and buy 2 wards and place them so you can make sure you won't get ganked.

Katarina
She can't really do anything to you at any point in the game. You're both melee which means that if she wants to try to kill you, she has to be near you,w hich emans you can use Mace of Spades. She's also pretty squishy for the most part, which means easy kills at 6.

Lux
Upgrade boots early because all of her skills are skillshots. If you can avoid them while still getting last hits and hitting her with Siphon of Destruction, she'll cry like a little baby.

Skill Matchups

Anivia
A well played Anivia will make you cry. Flash Frost into Frostbite will deal huge damage. if she can make you stand in her ultimate with a stun and a wall, you'll probably have to flash. You can't kill her alone if she builds properly either. If she's bad though, you'll have fun killing her constantly.

Karthus
This will probably be a farm lane, but if he's good, he'll knwo that he can hit you with Lay Waste 3 or 4 times when you go for a last hit, which can get pretty annoying. upgrade boots early and try to harrass him with Sipon of Destruction.

Morgana
You shouldn't get a kill in this lane without a gank, and she shouldn't either. You can push a bit harder than her once you have your spells levelled a bit, so you should roam when you can do that. She'll probably follow you, so try to only roam when she's backed.

Mordekaiser
You're playing the same champion, so it really is up to who's better or who gets more ganks.

Runes

The runes you choose to take on Mordekaiser, as with any other champion, are based on your own playstyle and on what you're laning against.

Marks

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
These are the marks you should take 90% of the time. They're what most AP carries use. They're generally the best in slot, but I have one other preference against some lanes.

Greater Mark of Magic Resist
I will use magic resist glyphs sometimes, but very rarely. I will usually only use them if the enemy championhas extremely high harrass (for example, Cassiopeia, or Ryze, two of the best counters to Mordekaiser in lane).

Seals

Greater Mark of Vitality
I usually take these when I'm playing against another AP champion. The extra health means they will have a harder time bursting you down. It will also give you a bit more health to spam your spells at them

Greater Mark of Armor
I take these when I lane against an AD champion. The 13 armor reduces the damage they deal to you substantially. It's a terrible idea to go into any lane without runes that prevent some damage from that lane (armor vs AD. magic resist vs AP)

Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power
I take these only when I'm against an AD champion. Going into lane against an AP champion with no bonus magic resist is a terrible idea.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist
I take these every time I know I'm laning against an AP champion. They are amazing. They reduce the early game harrass ( Mordekaiser's weakest point in the game) you take by quite a bit and improve your early game substantially. It is also very unwise to go into lane against an AP champion with no bonus magic resist.

Quintessences

Greater Quintessence of Health
I will usually take these against an AP champion I know I have difficulty handling, such as Ryze or Cassiopeia.

Greater Quintessence of Magic Resist
I will take these against burst damage mages like Brand and Kassadin. The magic resist from these plus the defenseive stats from other runese makes their early game harrass have very little effect on you.

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power
I take these only when I know I will have no trouble handling my lane opponent. Against weak early game champions like Twisted Fate.

Greater Quintessence of Vigor
I used to take these before spell vamp quints came out and I knew I would spam a lot. They're still viable, but I prefer the extra spell vamp, especially later in the game.

Note: The health regen from these will help your early game more than the spell vamp from the Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp, but the spell vamp quints will overshadow these after your Siphon of Destruction hits level 3 or 4.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed
Mordekaiser is a relatively slow champion and he has no crowd control until he gets Rylai's Crystal Scepter. These quintessences are great if you know you're going to be running from your lane to another for ganks a lot. They can also help you land that last Siphon of Destruction, or get in range for Children of the Grave or Ignite to finish them off.

Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp
I take these when I know I won't be pressued very much in lane and I will be harrassing my opponent. The spell vamp is really nice and scales very well into mid and late game.

Summoner Spells

Masteries

Speccing 21 into offense

The improved ignite makes it useful even when on cooldown. Everything else in the offense mastery tree is jsut to add more damage output.

For the defense mastery tree, you can take improved Heal if you choose to take it as a summoner spell. Depending on what you're laning agaisnt (AD or AP), you want to put 3 points into either Resistance (vs AP) or Hardiness (vs AD).


The explanation for the offensive tree is the same. Speccing into Utility allows you to move faster and have a longer duration with red and blue buffs (usually you won't take these, but if you kill someone that has one they're still somewhat useful). The main reason, however, is the increased movement speed.

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Speccing 21 into defense

The only time I would spec into defense is against a really hard lane to win, such as against Ryze or Cassiopeia. It can provide you with a bit more survivability and might give you a little more of a chance to win lane.

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Speccing 21 into utility

The reason I don't like speccing into utility is that you either have to give up defensive stats or magic penetration. Both are extremely useful throughout the entire game. The experience bonus in utility does nothign once you're level 18, causing you to waste 4 points. The only things that benefit you enough to take utiltiy are the spell vamp and reduced summoner spell cooldowns (you get more cooldown reduction off defense and only 2% less off offense).

Ability Explanation

Skill Sequence

You should always max your skills in a similar order to this as Mordekaiser. Your Siphon of Destruction is your most useful skill (other than your ultimate), and deals a large amount of damage on a low cooldown.

You get a point in Creeping Death at level 2, 3, or 4. It depends on the enemy team/if you're getting denied. If you can't last hit, get it at level 2 and put it on your melee minions when one of your opponent's melee minions is about to die. I recommend getting it at level 3 against a strong jungler like Shyvana or Dr. Mundo. It can be maxed either second or last. If your tanks need more defense in teamfights, it should be maxed second, but otherwise, Mace of Spades is more important.

Mace of Spades should be maxed either before or after Creeping Death depending on your tanks (read above if you skipped that for some reason).

As with most ultimates, Children of the Grave should have priority over everything else and should be maxed first.

Items

Core

Sorcerer's Shoes, Mercury's Treads, or Ninja Tabi
Your boots depend on the opponent's team. If they have a bunch fo crowd control, go for Treads. Fed AD top lane, jungle, or carry, go Tabi. Otherwise, go Sorcs.

Hextech Revolver
Great for sustain in lane. Lets you spam spells more without the consequence of losing HP.

Giant's Belt or Heart of Gold
Without some kind of HP bonus, you're surprisingly squishy. Go for Giant's Belt if you knwo you'll be building Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Heart of Gold is actually a really good item becasue of the extra gold it gives. It can be built into Randuin's Omen later. i'd build it if I notice they have lots of AD or one fed AD champion.

Zhonya's Hourglass
This is my favorite item as an AP Carry. in my opinion it is one of the best items in the game and the most ridiculosuly powerful item in the game. having 2 secodns where you can't be targetted is really awesome, especially whne you have a ghost that can do a huge amount of damage in that time. there have been games (not jsut as mordekaiser) where I've chosen Rabadon's Detahcap over this item and have caused my team to lose a teamfight because of that.

Recommended

Rabadon's Deathcap
This item is one of the best items for any AP Carry. the extra 30% AP is really powerful. You should have this eventually.

Deathfire Grasp
The damage this thing does late game when you have 600 AP is ridiculous. It's really powerful, and the Kage's Lucky Pick is really good because of the passive gold bonus. I suggest getting the Kage's Pick on your first back so the gold/10 kicks in early.

Void Staff
40% magic penetration is really nice. Also 70 AP is good. I'd choose between this and Abyssal Scepter.

Abyssal Scepter
This takes priority over Void Staff if you're against a double AP comp or you're running one. Or you just need magic resist.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter
You don't have any built in crowd control so I'd only recommend this if your entire team has a lack of crowd control.

Guardian Angel
This is amazing late game if you chose to keep your Hextech Revolver or upgrade it. you get revived with 750 HP and can continue to heal yourself with your revolver.

Quicksilver Sash
This is awesome if you're getting focused a lot with crowd control or they ahve some CC and you need magic resist.

Will of the Ancients
I prefer this over Hextech Gunblade becasue it's cheaper and most members of my team will benefit from it (Even most AD carries). If you're running double AP, this should be rushed after getting a Kage's Lucky Pick and a bit of health. As long as you have it by the first major teamfight, it's fine.

Situational

Lich Bane
If you're playign on a smurf account or you're just stomping everyone in the game, this item will make you stomp even more.

Mejai's Soulstealer
If you really want to and you're getting lots of kills or assists without dying, go ahead. I'm not a fan of it though, because even with full stacks, other items have much better effects.

Shurelia's Reverie
The active ability is really nice if you don't want to build Rylai's Crystal Scepter. it also gives health and cooldown reduction which are really nice. Just becasue it gives mana regen/5 is no reason to not get it.

Randuin's Omen
This item is great when the enemy's AD champions are getting fed. if you chose to build Heart of Gold early game, then you should upgrade it to this. Locket of the Iron Solari is also viabvle, but you should be able to afford this.

Sunfire Cape
I tried this out again recently and it's really not that great. The only time it really does anything is in a teamfight and even then it's not like you're hitting all 5 people at once wiht it. Even combined with the spellvamp from your revolver it's not very good. However, if you absolutely need armor and you built a Giant's Belt earlier, go for it.

Hextech Gunblade
This is another item you can get if you're stomping. the active ability is pretty nice, but it costs too much for what it does in my opinion. only one of your spells benefits off the AD bonus and you don't auto attack enough to benefit form the lifesteal.

Banshee's Veil
Another altetnative to gaining some magic resist. I prefer Quicksilver Sash because it costs nearly half as much, but this item's moe useful against champions like Blitzcrank or Urgot. Basically champions that have a way of putting you inside their team.

The Game Changer

If you reach late game, your ultimate can actually turn the game around. No matter how far behind your team is, if you get a good ultimate (AD carries are the best, but pretty much anything other than a support does decent), you can win. If you get a clone and engage in the next 30 seconds, it is a 6v4 fight. This advantage is ridiculous, especially late game. You have a champion with extremely buffed up stats and yourself with buffed up stats.

Also, remember that if you have a ghost and you use the passive of Zhonya's Hourglass, you can still control the ghost.

Unfortunately, your ultimate can be countered by quite a number of things. Most of them don't counter it entirely, and some of them are based on luck, but it is counterable.

Item counters

If you use your ultimate on somebody and they die and their Guardian Angel activates, your ultimate will not be on them when they respawn. Try not to ult them until after they have respawned.


If you're unlucky, the opponent might have a Banshee's Veil, and it might come up right as you ult them.


This doesn't make your ultimate entirely useless as it will still do it's initial damage, but it does prevent the ghost. Using Quicksilver Sash is probably the way most people will try to counter you. It is the best item to counter Mordekaiser as it is guarenteed that he will not get the ghost unless the initial damage kills you. Also, it removes Ignite and other crowd control if necessary.


If a person has one of these in their inventory and you ult them to try to kill them, they can use it to gain 250 health immediately. Never underestimate the power of a mid-game Elixir of Fortitude. It's enough that someone can kill you instead of you killing them.


Yes, this works. It's happened so many times. The extra 10 health regen per second can actually save somebody's life.


If a person has Zhonya's Hourglass, they can prevent 2 of the 8 seconds of your ultimate with it's active effect. Most AP carries tend to get it at some point, so watch out in team fights.

Major Champion Counters

If timed correctly, her Spell Shield can prevent your ultimate. Usually this doesn't happen, but there's some times that she gets really lucky and it's really annoying. You can try to bait it out of her, though.


If you ult him and he dies, you have to wait 7 seconds after his death for his passive to wear off. He is not an ideal target to ult unless he's caught out of position.


Just like with Sivir, his Shroud of Darkness can block your ultimate with the right timing. Again, it's annoying when that happens. Try to bait it out of him before ulting.


Her Intervention can prevent 3 seconds of the damage from anyone on her team.


undying rage undying rage undying rage undying rage undying rage.
Try not to ult him until he's near the end of his ult. Also, Ignite him so his Bloodlust heals him for less.


Just like with Karthus, you have to wait for Kog'Maw's passive to explode before you get your clone.


Her passive, Rebirth, is really annoying in lane and in teamfights. If you ult her and it is up, you have to kill the egg to get the clone.

Protip: Even if her passive is down when you kill her (well it always will be), if you get the ghost and it dies, Rebirth will be used on it. This makes an Anivia ghost amazing at tanking turrets or baron for your team.


If she uses Diplomatic Immunity on anyone other than you (whcih she should), your ult does no damage to her/. If she somehow dies while it's on her, you will still get the ghost though.


Wish is really annoying. It's also a reason to take Ignite. If you Ignite + [Children of the Grave]] someone, they should still die even if Soraka uses [{Wish]], but there's still the possibility of the heal saving them. Also, if she is close enough to them, she can use Astral Blessing.


Unbreakable Will makes your ultimate do much less damage, so it's very likely he will survive.


Mana Barrier can save his life if you aren't careful.

Minor Champion Counters

Generally, champions with a shield or heal are really annoying (I'm only listing the ones that can save allies becasue otherwise the list would be much longer).

Janna - Eye Of The Storm
Morgana - Black Shield
Taric - Imbue
Galio - Bulwark (heals him or gives him/ally bonus MR + Armor)
Lulu - Help, Pix!, Wild Growth
Lux - Prismatic Barrier
Orianna - Command: Protect
Karma - Mantra + Heavenly Wave, Soul Shield

The Wonderful and Majestic Wraith Camp

The wraith camp is simply amazing. By the time you have Hextech Revolver, you should be killing both your wraiths and invading to take your opponent's wraith's every time they are available.
Taking both camps every time they respawn (every 50 seconds) gives you a very large gold advantage over your opponent. By level 7, if you use Siphon of Destruction, Mace of Spades, and Creeping Death, you only need to auto attack once or twice to kill them all. This not only gives you more gold, but deprives their jungler of gold. Also, only take wraiths from your side of the map if your jungler isn't close to them.

Just make sure that you know where your opponent's jungler is when you try to take their wraiths. Otherwise you might get caught and die.

Warding

Warding is extremely important in league of Legends, and the earlier you learn to do it, the better. For this section i will only include wards I usually put down when I'm playing mid lane.

The orange circles show the approximate location where wards should be placed. the ones near wraiths should be able to give you vision near the wraith camp and the others should be inside the bush at the very tip (Load a custom game and look for that spot on your map; my apologies for being unable to provide a better description).
Protip: you can ward over the wall into that bush. It might take some time to do properly, but it's doable.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading my Mordekaiser guide. I hope you've learned something about how to play Mordekaiser against certain champions and how to build him properly. Please leave feedback in the comments section so I can continue to work on the guide and make it better for everyone.