Table of Contents
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Hello Mobafire! I am Electro522, and welcome to my very first guide featuring none other then Runeterra's very own bad-a** Iron Man: Mordekaiser! In this guide, I will be showing you on how best to build Morde when going top, who he is good and bad against, and just how to play him in general.
Before I go any further, I must stress the fact that this is my very first guide. So, do not be surprised to see errors, or elements that an experienced guide writer wouldn't use. That simply isn't me (yet). That isn't to say though that I am not open to constructive criticism, and I will slowly update this guide with anything that the community feels needs to be added.
If you have recently taken a look at this guide, you may have noticed it has gotten quite the facelift! I do know that this should belong in the Thank You section of this guide, but I have to give my sincerest gratitude to Emikadon. All of this artwork was done by her, and this guide wouldn't look even near as good as it does now were not for her. As a way to somewhat payback the favor, here is a link to Emi's Signature Cafe! I highly suggest you recruit her help, if you want some artwork done.
But, enough of this blabber already, lets see some champion details!
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Iron Man: Morde's passive is something that truly makes him unique among the other champions. All in all, it's a shield that is built up by damaging enemies with abilites, converting 35% of the damage dealt into a shield that slowly decays over time. However, unlike
Yasuo's
Way of the Wanderer, which is a one time use shield after being damaged, Morde's shield gives him more hp, similar to that of
Malphite's
Granite Shield, but far more effective. This makes Morde capable of taking no damage from about two (or more) turret shots. Not to mention, it is very useful in teamfights, raising Morde's effective hp by a few hundred points, and recharging every time he deals damage with abilities (which is quite often).
Tips and Tricks
- For Morde, the best defense is a good offense. Be sure to use your abilities on enemies whenever you have them, that way you can build up and keep the shield from Iron Man up.
Mace of Spades: This is supposed to be Morde's primary damage ability, with it having the highest scaling damage of any of his abilities. If the enemy you hit is alone, it will deal even more damage. If they are not alone, then it has a small aoe effect that can spread out to three other enemies, making it quite decent in clearing waves. However, even though it is supposed be Morde's main damage ability, it is not as useful as
Siphon of Destruction due to the short range on the aoe effect. In my opinion, it is best to max out
Mace of Spades last, however, there is nothing wrong with maxing it out second (you really don't want to max it out first). It simply depends on what situation you are in.
Tips and Tricks
- Use Mace of Spades as a trading tool. If you are far enough away from the minion line, you might have your opponent think twice of engaging you due to the surprising amount of damage you put out.
- Mace of Spades is an auto-attack reset. Time your attacks carefully to have 3 attacks in quick succession.
Creeping Death: Mordekaiser's main defensive ability. Not only can you cast
Creeping Death on yourself to give a large boost to your armor and magic resit, you can also cast it on allies (minions included!). However, to stick to Morde's theme of "Good defense is good offense",
Creeping Death also deals damage in a small area around the target. The effect is only amplified if you buy
Sunfire Aegis. In my opinion, it is best to max
Creeping Death second, however, in some
very rare cases, you can max it out first.
Tips and Tricks
- Creeping Death can be cast on minions. Thus, you can really irritate your opponent by casting it on a melee or cannon minion, causing them to take damage while they are farming it.
- Creeping Death has a significant cooldown. So, although it is fun to cast it on minions, be sure to use it wisely, because you'll be slightly more vulnerable without it.
- Creeping Death can also be cast on allied champions. This makes it especially useful for protecting a focused carry, or giving some extra defenses to a champ that wants to engage.
Siphon of Destruction: This ability
should be Morde's main damage ability, dealing a decent amount of damage in a cone in front of you.
Siphon of Destruction also has a decent range, making it great for poking. In my opinion, nine times out of ten, you will want to max this first. It should also be the first ability you go to lane with. Never have I seen a situation where I need to get a different ability when going into lane.
Tips and Tricks
- Siphon of Destruction is not a projectile ability, and has no cast time. This makes it incredibly difficult to dodge, no matter how fast your opponent is moving.
- Siphon of Destruction deals damage to all enemies inside the cone. This makes it especially useful for clearing an entire wave of minions, or damaging the entire enemy team (if they are all clumped together)
- Siphon of Destruction also has a short cooldown, so, do not hesitate to use it.
Children of The Grave: Mordekaiser's ultimate ability, and by far the most interesting ability on his kit. When cast on an enemy champion, it instantly deals damage equal to a percentage of their health, and then over 10 seconds, another percentage of their health every second. Couple this with
Ignite, and your ult will be even better. But what makes Morde's ultimate really interesting is if the target
dies.
If the target is to die, then Morde enslaves their soul for 30 seconds, essentially adding another champ to the team. Morde gains 20% of the champ's attack damage and ability power, and the enslaved champ gains 75% percent of Morde's total
adjusted health, attack damage, and ability power
on top of the stats that champ had at time of death. The only downside to this new pet of yours is that it cannot use abilities from that champ's kit or item abilities. The passive's from the champ's passive or item passives will work on the pet, however, such as
Volibear's
The Relentless Storm, or
Caitlyn's
Headshot.
As with every ult, take a point in it whenever you can.
Tips and Tricks
- Use Children of the Grave with Ignite when trading. If you kill your opponent, rush their tower. Most of time, you'll have enough damage after that moment to take down their turret.
- Children of the Grave is great for whenever you get ganked. Since you are on top lane, the squishier of the two enemies will most likely be the jungler. Throw the ult on him, and burst him down as best you can. Do this, and your lane opponent is primed to give you a double kill.
- Children of the Grave should be used on ADCs during teamfights. If the enemy ADC is to die under your ult, you just turned a 5v5 into a 6v4 that enemy team has to run away from. If they don't, then they will be ripped to shreds from the upgraded damage coming from your new ADC whose auto attacks can be critical hits.
21 OFFENSE 9 DEFENSE
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// This is a mastery build you will normally find on top lane carries, going 21 in offense (focusing on the ability power side of the tree), and 9 in defense. Even though you will be building slightly tanky, the stats given to you by the offensive tree help improve your poor early game.
Q: Why focus offense over defense?
// The reason why you want to focus on offensive masteries more so then defensive plays into Morde's overall theme: a good defense is a good offense. Do take note, though, that this is the mastery build I prefer. There is nothing wrong with going for a more defensive mastery build.
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Other Mastery Build Choice
- Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: All of Morde's abilities deal magic damage, and scale with ability power. These runes help give your early game damage some bite, making trading in the early laning phase much easier. Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage runes can also work, however, this is a far more aggressive choice, since you would be focusing more on using Mace of Spades (since it also scales with attack damage) then Siphon of Destruction.
- Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: Nearly all of the damage that comes out of Morde is magic damage, so, it only makes sense to get some magic pen to deal even more. Greater Mark of Ability Power runes will also work, but, you are going top, so these runes won't help you that much with getting through your opponents early defense stats.
- Greater Seal of Armor: Since you are going top, its best to get some tank stats when going into lane, and although these runes got nerfed recently, they still help in those early trades. Also, one of your first defense items bought should be a Chain Vest, which gives armor, so you will not have to deal with their nerf for too long.
- Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: Most top lane champions deal physical damage, so, most of the time, you will not need that early magic resist. However, these runes will help when going into mid and late game when you will end up having to deal with the enemy APC. If your lane opponent deals mostly magic damage, then it might be wise to get Greater Glyph of Magic Resist runes instead, especially against champions like Teemo or Kayle.
Ideal Summoner Spells
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Flash is invaluable on Morde due to him having no built in escapes. Use it to get out of tough situations like when getting ganked, or a losing teamfight. |
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Ignite is very useful on Morde, since it synergizes so well with Children of the Grave. Use this spell to secure kills, or to push back champs with high sustain (such as Nasus or Dr. Mundo). |
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Whereas I prefer to pick Ignite over Teleport, it is still a viable option for Morde due to his low mobility. I would suggest getting this if you know your lane will be a tough match up.
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Not So Ideal Summoner Spells
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Heal isn't useless on Morde, just not that effective since you will be building sustain items. Its better to go for a more offensive spell like Ignite then this. |
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Exhaust can work on Morde, but only in certain situations. Due to his low mobility, the slow from Exhaust isn't that useful, and you'll building some tank items, so the damage reduction is wasted as well. |
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I am not sure why, but I simply do not prefer to use Ghost on any champ, even on champs that normally use it (like Nasus or Hecarim). In my opinion, Flash is simply a far better evasion tool, especially on Morde.
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Starting Items
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These items are best suited for Morde when first heading into lane. Ruby Crystal gives you a bit of health to help with early trades, and Health Potions are a must have on pretty much every champ when the game starts. Doran's Shield is also a very viable start on Morde, due to the great intitial stats it gives. Amplifying Tome can work as well, but I find it more useful when going mid lane with Morde then on top. |
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Core
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These items are your core items when playing Morde on top. Deathfire Grasp alows you to give Morde some burst damage. This item's ability not only increase magic damage on the target coming from you, but from your entire team. This allows your team to really utilize your ult, Children of the Grave, giving your team a near guaranteed chance of not only killing that champion, but adding another man to your team. Hextech Gunblade gives you the best of bost worlds, with both attack damage, ability power, life steal, and spell vamp. Not to mention its active ability is a slow, giving Morde some crowd control. But, any amount is better then none! As for the Sorcerer's Shoes, nearly all of the damage that comes out of Morde is magic damage. The magic pen from these boots allow your abilities to hurt even more. Also, every champ needs boots, there is nor arguing this.
Don't forget your trinket! |
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Offensive
Defensive
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Here are a couple defensive choices for Morde. Since you'll playing on top, you'll need some tank items, in order to be that front line champ your team will need. Sunfire Aegis is a great choice for Morde, since it works so well with Creeping Death. Spirit Visage is yet another great choice, since it amplifies your much needed spellvamp. The additional cooldown reduction and health regeneration are very nice additions as well. Randuin's Omen can be chosen over Rylai's Crystal Scepter if you are against a very heavy attack damage team. Unfortunately, you will be lacking the extra ability power that Rylai's will give you. |
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Example Build
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An example end game build for Morde on top lane. |
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Early Game
Early game, you want to focus primarily on farming. Morde is great at pushing lanes and harassing his opponent, but he has no gap closing abilities, making him a bad champ to tower dive or engage with. Whenever you have your opponent pushed to their tower
DO NOT TOWER DIVE THEM. In most cases, you will die instead of your opponent. Just stand back and wait until your opponent clears out your minions. If the jungler doesn't gank you too often, you can slowly burn down the opponents tower by using your minions. Don't expect to get a first blood, unless your opponent makes some really stupid moves.
On your first return to base, its essential to start building against your opponent. If you're doing well in lane, and your opponent doesn't really want to fight you, its best to get a
Hextech Revolver. If your opponent is looking to fight you, then buy an item that counters their damage type, with either a
Chain Vest or a
Spectre's Cowl.
Come level six, your killing potential spikes. Now that you have your ultimate (
Children of the Grave), you can go all in on your opponent. If you get the kill, great! Rush their tower (before the jungler gets there), and more then likely you will take the tower. If you don't kill them, that's fine. Go back to farming, and push the lane, because more then likely you forced your opponent to head back to base.
Mid Game
Mid game is where Morde really shines. Once you have your opponent's turret taken down, its best to roam over to another lane (preferably mid) to help to take down more towers if they are still standing. Once you get to mid, but see that bot lane could use some help, keep walking. A kill down on bot lane in this part of the game means a dead tower, and having an early front line presence for your team will more then likely bring the enemy team's turret down.
Stay with your team once mid game rolls around. This is where teamfights start happening, and since your a frontline champion that can sit in the middle of a fight and survive the entire thing, you'll be invaluable to your team. Be sure to throw
Creeping Death on an ally if they ever get focused, for this may just keep them alive, especially if they're a squishy carry. If your carries are in the backline, and allowed to do their job, throw
Creeping Death on yourself. This will make you even harder to kill, allowing you to fill that frontline role even more so.
Be sure to tell your teammates to focus whoever is cursed with
Children of the Grave.As mentioned earlier, your ultimate can change a 5v5 into a 6v4. So, focusing that target will allow your team to win most of the teamfights. Also, be very careful with who to chose to curse. Most of the time, its best to go for the enemy ADC, but every now and then, another tank added to your team could help as well.
Late Game
Late game, Morde falls off in usefulness slightly. His damage can no longer scale as much as it did, and your opponents now understand that if they are cursed with
Children of the Grave, they should back off. Not to mention, everyone is getting more and more difficult to kill, and Morde's damage can't get through the enemies front line like the carries can. Even killing squishy carries becomes a hassle, because they can simply run away from Morde.
This isn't to say, though, that he becomes completely useless during late game. Even though his damage is lacking, he can survive (and potentially win) a 3v1 situation with a full build. Stop laughing, because I'm not joking. Killing Morde is an absolute pain, no matter what point in the game you are in. Unless the enemy team focuses you, then you will survive most, if not all, engagements.
In this section, I will be showing you different match ups for top lane in alphabetical order. Do take note that I have not gone up against every possible matchup, and I will update this guide whenever I face a new matchup.
Each champion will have a certain level of difficulty associated with them.
Easy matchups are cases where you would more then likely win the lane.
Medium matchups are cases where it can go either way, and it really depends on player skill to determine who would come out on top.
Hard matchups are cases where you want to hug your tower, because this champ can easily kill you, and will keep you pushed to your own tower for most of the laning phase.
You may have noticed that MOBAfire has a brand new matchups section for the cheat sheet. To let everyone know, it took me
FOREVER to code this section, so there is no way in the world I'm getting rid of it. However, all matchups in the cheat sheet are listed and compared (to the best of my ability) with my own matchups. All details regarding the matchups are provided below.
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Difficulty:8/10
Aatrox
Aatrox: I have yet to fight against Aatrox, but I suspect this will be a medium to hard matchup. With his insane amount of lifesteal, and by using Dark Flight, he can win most engagments with you, and catch up to you if you happen to get away. His passive, Blood Well can actually cause you to waste your ult, Children of the Grave since it will be removed if Blood Well is activated.
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Difficulty: 2/10
Akali
Akali: Even though she is mostly seen on mid, Akali can still make an ok top laner. I like to think of Morde as an anti-assassin champ, due to his natural tank, and Creeping Death being a great tool to win trades. This is why this match up should be quite easy. Both of you are mid game champs, but she cannot kill you in the early game. Come level 6, she still can't kill you. Just buy a Vision Ward in order to keep track of her whenever she lays down her Twilight Shroud.
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Difficulty: 9/10
Cho'Gath
Cho'Gath: I have yet to fight against good ol' Cho, but I suspect it should be a very difficult matchup. Cho'Gath has a crazy amount of sustain due to Carnivore, and with your damage, he can ignore it all. Vorpal Spikes and Rupture give him decent wave clear, and a decent amount of crowd control when used with Feral Scream. Since you are an ability focused champ, the silence from Feral Scream is deadly, because not only does he keep you from using abilities, he also kills your passive. Also, the fact that Feast gives him more health doesn't help either. Do not push against him, because he will win most trades.
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Difficulty: 6/10
Darius
Darius: Darius, I suspect, should be a medium difficulty match up. For a top laner, he has a surprisngly high amount of burst damage, which may or may not be good news to you. His passive, Hemorrhage, is difficult to work with if you have no sustain, so early game, he will have you pushed to your tower. However, once you get a Hextech Revolver and some armor, the trades between you two should be more interesting. But be aware of how many stacks of Hemorrhage you have, because even though Iron Man gives you more health, it won't do much against a max damage Noxian Guillotine.
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Difficulty: 1/10
Diana
Diana: One of my favorite all time champs to play, but yet another assassin style champ. This matchup should be quite easy, due to Diana's aggressive playstyle and lack of escapes. With no sustain built in or to be built, you can expect to win most if not all the trades with her. If you ever kill her with your ultimate, her tower is yours, because Diana can work down turrets quite quickly. Her burst can be quite high, but since your a little tanky yourself, this shouldn't concern you much.
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Difficulty: 4/10
Dr. Mundo
Dr. Mundo: Another champ whose abilities cost health just like yours. Dr. Mundo is an easy to medium match up. His sustain can be difficult to work through, but you should have him pushed to his tower even if you're behind. In trades, more then likely you won't kill him, and he can't kill you unless you're pretty low on health. Even though Dr. Mundo is decent at farming, you can still easily out farm him. Be wary of ganks, though, due to Mundo being able to set them up with Infected Bonesaw's slow.
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Difficulty:8/10
Elise
Elise: Although Elise is normally found in the jungle, people play her on top every now and then. She should be a medium to hard match up, simply due to her utility. Good escapes, good crowd control, good damage, and a decent tank if you want her to be. Trading with her can go either way, but, you should be able to out farm her, since she doesn't have any aoe except for Volatile Spiderling. She is very single target focused, which does make trading with her difficult, but her sustain isn't as good as yours. This is a mtachup where it truly depends on player skill to see who will come out on top.
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Difficulty:3/10
Fiora
Fiora: Fiora possesses some of the highest burst damage for a champion in genreal. Even though she eats carries for lunch, Fiora struggles against most tanks. Your lack of crowd control is good news for her, but until she gets Ravenous Hydra, she is an easy opponent. Once she does have it, trading against her is a bit more difficult, esspecially if she uses Blade Waltz. However, she tends to build straight damage, making her quite squishy. If you kill her even once with Children of the Grave on her, her tower will go down without jungler intervention.
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Difficulty: 4/10
Gangplank
Gangplank: Runeterra's version of a classic pirate. Gangplank should be an easy to medium match up. He has a decent amount of crowd control, and a decent amount of sustain. However, he isn't the greatest at farming, and lacks dueling potential, two areas you excel at. Keeping him at his tower should be easy. The only thing that makes him annoying is Parrrley, being able to poke at you constantly.
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Difficulty: 5/10
Garen
Garen: Everyone's favorite spin-and-win champ (not really). Garen is a medium difficulty match up. His high sustain and natural tank makes him difficult to kill, but he isn't the greatest at dueling, going for more of a hit-and-run playstyle. Even though Judgment has a significant aoe range, he isn't the greatest at farming, thus, keeping him at his tower shouldn't be that difficult. He is also very vulnerable to consistent poke, and Siphon of Destruction is great for that. Trading with him should be easy, but you better back off at half health, because Demacian Justice will easily kill you after a Decisive Strike and Judgment combo.
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Difficulty: 8/10
Gragas
Gragas: Gragas's inbuilt sustain is pretty good, so it will be hard to push out lane through poke alone, and after level 6 Morde won't be able to get in range as his ult, Explosive Cask, will just clear you away if you're too close. You won't be able to interrupt his Drunken Rage while it's channeling, and if he's maxing it first, then he could zone you, as a Body Slam and empowered AA from Drunken Rage will do a fair amount of damage if you don't have your passive shield up. But it all depends on his build. If he rushes Spirit Visage you're going to be in for a rough time. (Brought to you by Double_E)
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Difficulty: 8/10
Irelia
Irelia: Another favorite champ of mine. Irelia will be a medium to hard matchup. Although you can easily out farm her, she is actually a better duelist then you are. Not to mention that she also has really good mobility with Bladesurge. She has really good sustain and sustained damage. Hiten Style's true damage, combined with attack speed, allows Irelia to work down her target quite efficiently. Try to avoid trading with her, because she will win most of them. Focus on farming and keep her at her tower. Also, beware of ganks, because Irelia can set them up very nicely with Equilibrium Strike.
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Difficulty:???
Jarvan IV
Jarvan IV: Jarvan IV can normally be found in the jungle, but I have seen some rare cases of him on top. Due to that, however, I do not know how he performs in lane. I do not know how good of sustain he has, or what his duealing potential is. If you have any advice of how he performs in lane, feel free to comment.
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Difficulty:9/10
Jax
Jax: Jax is an awesome duelist, even better a duelist then you are. Early game, you have a slight advantage, due to Jax's somewhat high mana costs. However, once he gets Trinity Force, most (if not all) of your advantages fly out the window. An amazing amount of damage, really good sustain, and enough tank to withstand the damage from carries, Jax is just an all around good champ no matter what elo you're in. The only real advantage you have over him is that you are a slightly better farmer then he is. I highly suggest staying next to your tower when laning against him.
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Difficulty: 5/10
Jayce
Jayce: Jayce is one of the few ranged top laners, and is similar to Fiora in that he has to build mostly damage in order to be useful. He relies more on burst damage then on sustained damage to gain an advantage, but since your somewhat resistant to burst is bad news for him. He can farm surprisingly well despite having a lack of AOE. He can also kite you around all day long, having a range advantage, and multiple movement speed boosts. One trick you should know though, stand between him and his Acceleration Gate when he puts it down in front of him. This will keep him from constantly poking you with an upgraded Shock Blast. If you let him do this, then you will certainly lose the lane.
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Difficulty:6/10
Kayle
Kayle: Kayle is one the very few champs that can excel in any role you put her in (except ADC), and this includes top lane. Righteous Fury gives her a decent amount of wave clear, and she can kite other melee champs. I also like to think of Kayle as an anti-assassin champ, excelling in matchups against Zed or Yasuo. However, against you, the only thing she can really do is kite you. Kayle slowly becomes more and more of a threat as the game goes on, so in lane, you have the advantage. Keep her pushed to her tower, and time Children of the Grave with Intervention that way you don't waste it.
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Difficulty:7/10
Kennen
Kennen: Another one of the few ranged top laners. Kennen has a decent amount of poke, and can lock you down several times with Mark of the Storm. He also has really good mobility with Lightning Rush. These things make Kennen a medium to hard difficulty match up, simply because you can't catch him. The only real advantage you have over him is that you're a better farmer, but pushing the lane against him is a bad idea, because he will win most, if not all, of the trades.
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Difficulty:???
Kha'Zix
Kha'Zix: Everyone's favorite little bug has been nerfed.....hard. Riot is wanting Kha'Zix to be more of an assassin then a front line fighter with enough damage to burst down a tank. Because of this, I am not sure how Kha will perform in lane. The old Kha would be a medium to hard difficulty matchup, due to his reliable escape and the sheer amount of damage he puts out. I'll let the new Kha settle in before I make an assumption of how he performs in lane.
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Difficulty:10/10
Lee Sin
Lee Sin: Even though he is normally found in the jungle, do not underestimate a Lee Sin in lane. A staggering amount of damage, good wave clear, awesome amount of sustain, and all around better duelist then you are. He can also stick to you if you ever happen to get away by using Sonic Wave. This is why this matchup is very difficult. I would avoid this matchup all together, because not even your turret is safe for you. There is only one sliver of an advantage you have over him, and its that Morde is far easier to play.
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Difficulty:1/10
Malphite
Malphite: Malphite might be a force to be reckoned with in some cases, but against you, he honestly doesn't stand a chance. He has a very low amount of damage, and normally builds armor, both of which are good news for you. If anyone ever tells you that it's easy to farm with Malph, their lying, because it honestly is very difficult to farm with him. This is a massive advantage for you, so be sure to keep him pushed to his tower the entire time. The only advantage he has over you is that he can set up ganks very nicely, so be sure to put down wards (even though you should do this no matter what match up you're in).
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Difficulty:6/10
Nasus
Nasus: An old time favorite of mine, and one of the first champions I ever bought. When you're against Nasus, you're focus should be to push him back to his turret and keep him there. Do not let him farm, because a Nasus with free farm is a lost game for you. However, you need to find the right balance between being aggressive and farming, because you need farm too (ability power items are not cheap). Be very aware of ganks, because not only can Nasus set them up with Wither, if it is a successful gank on you, Nasus gets a few minutes of free farm. Also, don't expect to kill him, because Soul Eater gives Nasus some of the best sustain in the game.
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Difficulty:6/10
Olaf
Olaf: I haven't fought against an Olaf in quite some time, and even then, I've seen him in the jungle more so then in lane. However, I suspect this is another matchup where it truly depends on player skill to see who will win lane. He has only one source of crowd control ( Undertow), but his sustain can get a bit outrageous. His farming is a little lack luster due to his lack of aoe, but he will win most trades. You should have him pushed to his tower most of the time, however, due to your superior wave clear. Also, with your lack of crowd control, his ult, Ragnarok is only useful for the attack damage buff.
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Difficulty:7/10
Pantheon
Pantheon: Pantheon should be a medium to hard difficulty match up. He has a decent amount of wave clear, but has no built in sustain, relying mostly on Aegis Protection and Aegis of Zeonia to keep him alive, both of which you can easily work around since you are an ability focused champ. Not to mention, he can poke you down all day long with Spear Shot. You still have superior wave clear, and trading with him can go either way. Be sure to always call mia when he goes out of sight for more then 10 seconds, because he can easily jump from top lane to mid with Grand Skyfall.
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Difficulty:2/10
Poppy
Poppy: Poppy should be a very easy matchup. High mana costs, very poor farming, and very little damage in lane. The only advantages she has over you is her extreme tank, and the annoying pin against the wall. But even with that, you can easily win trades with her. Keep her at her tower, and just steam roll her.
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Difficulty:7/10
Renekton
Renekton: Quite possibly the most used champ on top. Good sustain, good damage, good escape, and just being an outright bully makes Renekton one of the strongest top laners in the game. However, in this matchup, you are the bully. You are a better farmer, and due to Renekton's aggressive playstyle, you can easily win trades with Creeping Death. But, do not underestimate him. A well played Renek can still lock you down with Ruthless Predator, and deal a significant amount of damage with a well timed combo. Not to mention that killing him is quite difficult due to Dominus. This is another mtchup where it truly depends on player skill.
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Difficulty:6/10
Rengar
Rengar: Rengar should be an easy to medium matchup. His late game is astounding, and he can be pretty difficult to kill while in lane, due to the sustain from Battle Roar. His wave clear is ok, but you can still easily keep him pushed to his tower. He is a slightly better duelist than you are, due to his single target focus, and the small amount of crowd control he has from Bola Strike. Although, try and keep him out of the bushes, because he would want to dive in and out them constantly.
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Difficulty:9/10
Riven
Riven: Riven is quite a difficult matchup for Morde, due to her high mobility with Broken Wings, and sheer output of damage. Due to her heavy focus on ability combos, her dueling potential actually outranks yours. She isn't the best at farming until she builds a few damage items, but pushing against her is a bad idea, due to her being able to win most of the trades. Keep your distance from her, and use Siphon of Destruction to keep poking at her.
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Difficulty:7/10
Rumble
Rumble: Rumble is a lot like Morde in several ways. An AP tank that is pretty good at dueling, and is also pretty hard to kill. He is, however, not as good at farming as you are, relying mostly on Flamespitter to clear waves. He can be quite elusive, due to the movement speed boost from Scrap Shield, and all of his abilities outrange yours. It would be a good idea to focus on dueling until he engages you. Trading with him can go either way, but due to the similarities between the two of you, its best you win them, because they will either win or cost you the lane.
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Difficulty:6/10
Ryze
Ryze: Ryze is a good choice if you are against a very aggressive laner, like Renekton, but against Morde, there isn't much he can do. He is a very powerful late game champ, but due to this, his early game is awful, and you exceed him in every aspect during mid game. Pushing him around is quite easy in lane, where the only advantage he has over you is that his abilities can be used in very quick succession. Ryze is a champ that desperately needs to farm in order to reach that power point late game. Use this fact to your advantage.
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Difficulty:7/10
Shen
Shen: This should be a medium difficulty matchup. With how tanky Shen is, he can easily absorb all the damage you put on him, without even flinching. His wave clear though is really bad, and he ends up getting pushed back to his tower in most of his matchups. However, this is a champ that you should not tower dive under any circumstances. Even though you shouldn't be tower diving with Morde in the first place, tower diving Shen is just stupid because of the taunt from Shadow Dash. This allows Shen to have the turret pick a target of his choosing. Combine it with his decent damage output, and you'll find yourself either dead, or heading back to base.
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Difficulty:4/10
Shyvana
Shyvana: Even though she was originally made to be a jungler, Shyvana has become a safe pick for top laners. However, playing against her as Morde is actually quite easy. Due to her upfront and personal playstyle, using Creeping Death will win you more trades then you would expect. Yes, she can out run you with Burnout, but your dueling and farming potential is simply better then hers. Unless she builds some magic resist and life steal fairly quickly, she really can't win lane against you. However, don't expect to get fed off of her, because Dragon's Descent is a very reliable escape.
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Difficulty:6/10
Singed
Singed: Singed is one of the more annoying champs to lane against, because all he does is run.....and run......and run. He doesn't want to fight you, he doesn't want to come near the minion line often, and every now and then, you'll have him annoyingly get behind your outer tower, not letting your minions ever reach it. There is an old saying in LoL: "Never chase a Singed", and for good reason. Poison Trail actually deals more damage then you would expect. Don't expect to ever trade with him, because he won't come near you. Just focus on farming, and build some magic resit that way you can honestly ignore him.
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camouflage
Difficulty:6/10
Teemo
Teemo: The spawn of Satan himself Everyone's favorite little gerbil...rat...thing...(ahem)...is surprisingly found going top most of the time. This is because Teemo actually excels against tanks, most of whom are melee based, and the poison from Toxic Shot and Noxious Trap counter's their sustain. As Morde, you have some advantages against Teemo that other popular top laners don't have, one of those being you are an ability focused champ, and Blinding Dart's blind will only keep you from using Mace of Spades at least until the blind wears off. Grab an early Hextech Revolver and Negatron Cloak, and you should be able to harass him quite easily. Also, get a Vision Ward and Sweeping Lens in order to deal with those god-forsaken shrooms!!! Noxious Traps.
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Difficulty:8/10
Trundle
Trundle: Another safe pick for top laners, The Troll King can be difficult to trade with, simply because he's a great duelist. However, his wave clear is nothing compared to yours, because Trundle is very single target focused. Although he is a slow lane pusher, keep him away from your tower, because he can bring them down just about as fast as Jax or Kayle can. Whenever he throws Subjugate on you, stay away from him, and try your best to keep Iron Man up. His killing potential skyrockets when this is on you, stealing health, armor, and magic resist from you.
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Difficulty:6/10
Tryndamere
Tryndamere: Tryndamere is a matchup where it doesn't depend so much on player skill then it does on whoever gets the first kill. Trading with him can go either way, but you should come out on top most of time if you are not behind. When I say behind, I mean even slightly behind him by an item or two will cost you the lane, or vice versa. Thats how even of a matchup this is. Be sure to get plenty of help from your jungler in order to get that lead or keep it. Try and kill him before level six, because after that point, it becomes extremely difficult to kill him because of Undying Rage.
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Difficulty:7/10
Udyr
Udyr: I am not entirely sure how this matchup will play out, but I suspect it should be a medium difficulty matchup. Udyr is normally found in the jungle, but he can make a very viable top laner as well. He has a decent amount of wave clear, and a good amount of sustain. He is also a very mobile champ, which makes him such a great jungler, but this allows him to stick to you in lane. Trading with him can go either way, but the stun from Blazing Stampede will make it a little difficult, allowing him to put some free damage onto you.
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Difficulty:5/10
Vladimir
Vladimir: A matchup between Vladimir and Morde ends up being a farm lane. Vlad can easily outrange Morde, with auto attacks, Transfusion, and Tides of Blood, but he never would want to engage, due to Morde having a better dueling potential. Both champs have outstanding wave clear, and both champs have really good sustain. In this matchup, just fcous on farming, but really try to capitalize on ganks, because they will win you the lane.
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Difficulty:7/10
Volibear
Volibear: Volibear is a medium to hard difficulty matchup. His passive, The Relentless Storm can keep him from dying in many cases, and
Frenzy
allows him to deal a surprising amount of damage from a champ who you would expect to be a bruiser (a champ who normally doesn't deal that much damage, but can tank the entire enemy team). Keep your distance from him, and use Siphon of Destruction to constantly poke at him. Avoid trading with him, because his sheer amount of tank will allow him to win most of them. Focus on farming, and try not to push too hard.
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Difficulty:8/10
Warwick
Warwick: When jungling, Warwick can be a pain, especially with his ult, Infinite Duress. In lane, however, he doesn't have the greatest of wave clear, but his sustain from Eternal Thirst makes him extremely hard to kill. Not to mention that he can set up ganks very nicely with his ult, and stick to you due to his higher then average mobility with Blood Scent. Its better to keep your distance from him, and poke him with Siphon of Destruction then it is to try and trade with him. Out farm him, and keep him at his tower best you can, and you should be able to come out on top.
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Difficulty:9/10
Wukong
Wukong: Wukong is actually a very difficult matchup for Morde, due to his high damage, good sustain and tank, and high mobility. Whereas he lacks any sort of escape, he can certainly turn you away with the damage from Crushing Blow and Cyclone. Not to mention, his Warrior Trickster can really play tricks on your mind, and can even cause you to waste your ult, Children of the Grave, on it. He isn't the greatest at wave clear, but he certainly makes up for it in dueling potential. I advise not pushing against him, and making friends with your tower.
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Difficulty:5/10
Xin Zhao
Xin Zhao: Xin Zhao should be a medium difficulty match up. He has really good sustain with Battle Cry, and can lock you down with Three Talon Strike. Not to mention, he can stick to you with Audacious Charge. However, even though his dueling potential is as good or maybe even better then yours, his wave clear is awful, due to him being very single target focused. This is why he is normally seen in the jungle. Out farm him, keep him pushed to his tower, and you should be fine.
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Difficulty:3/10
Yasuo
Yasuo: Even though he belongs on mid, Yasuo can still make an ok top laner. But, against Morde, he doesn't stand a chance. Even though he can run circles around you with Sweeping Blade, and be really hard to cath up to, he cannot trade with you. Even if he hits you with his ult Last Breath, you can still come out on top. If he ever dares engage you, show him who's boss. If he doesn't, just ignore him and focus on farming.
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Difficulty:3/10
Yorick
Yorick: Yorick honestly can't do much to anyone, but he is simply annoying. You want to learn how to spam? Play Yorick, because that's really the only way you can gain any advantage over anyone, is by constantly spamming your abilities. His wave clear is awful, his dueling potential is awful, and he can't run from you (which is saying something due to Morde's low mobility). Not to mention his ghouls are an extra 5 gold in your pocket every time you kill one. His ult, Omen of Death, however, can actually cause you to waste your ult Children of the Grave if he times it right. Come teamfights, he becomes a bit more useful, with the ability to bring an ally back to life for a short period of time, and his damage can get up there. But in lane, you should own him.
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let's bounce
Difficulty:???
Zac
Zac: I am unfamiliar with Zac due to him rarely being played. I do know that he can be one heck of a tank, and his sustain is really good, but I am unfamiliar with his wave clear and dueling potential. He has decent crowd control, and very reliable escapes, which may prove to be bad news for you. However, in trades, I am unsure at how they will turnout. Feel free to comment if you know anything of this matchup.
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Difficulty:5/10
Zed
Zed: Zed can normally be found on mid, but every now and then, someone decides to send him top. This should be a medium difficulty matchup, simply because of the outplay potential Zed possesses. He is more of an assassin then a duelist, wanting to go in, deal as much damage as possible in as little of time, and get back out. So, his burst damage is pretty high, but his sustain is very low. Iron Man and Creeping Death can help counter Death Mark, but you should have enough health and tank in order to survive a full combo from him unless he is fed. His wave clear is ok as well, but not as good as yours. Focus on farming, and don't engage him, because Living Shadow lets Zed be very slippery, and hard to catch. If he does engage you, go all out on him, and you should win the trade with an extra 300 gold in your pocket.
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Mordekaiser is not normally a champion you would find on top, nor a champion you would see in general. Why this is, I do not know, but you can use this fact to your advantage. Several players have either forgotten how strong he is, or have yet to ever face him, especially in the top lane.
I will say though that Morde is a champ that takes some getting used to. His passive, Iron Man, is a very unique passive, and you really need to know how to effectively use his abilities in order to take advantage of it. Also, Morde has his limits, and you need to know when to back off when he reaches them. Once you master these traits about Morde, you will end up being an unstoppable killing machine up top.
This does it for my Mordekaiser guide! I hope you can see the amount of effort I put into this, for I wanted it to come out like a professional guide, even if it is my very first. If you enjoyed this guide, and found it quite helpful in learning how to play or play against Morde, give this guide an upvote. It will be highly appreciated.
In the meantime, happy hunting
Electro522 |
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Thank You List
A big thanks to jhoijhoi for creating her
"How to Make a Guide" guide. Alot of the coding that went into this came from that guide!
Thank you to Emikadon for the advice on spoilers, items, masteries, matchups section coding, and of course the guide overhaul artwork!!!
Thank you FalseoGod for a far better build!
Thank you to Double_E for the Gragas matchup and noticing the consistent spelling error.
Thank you to Janitsu for his advice on runes, items, abilities, and his views on the guide overall.
Milestones
June, 19th, 2014 - Reached Number 1 Mordekaiser Guide on MOBAfire!!!
Spoiler: Click to view
Change Log
July, 3rd, 2014 - Updated Jayce Matchup
June, 19th, 2014 - Added Milestones Section
June, 15th, 2014 - Updated Runes on cheat sheet and guide. Updated Thank you section.
June, 12th, 2014 - Added MOBAfire Matchups
June, 9th, 2014 - Established Guide Overhaul
June, 8th, 2014 - Updated Gragas Matchup, and fixed spelling errors
June, 8th, 2014 - Updated Rumble Matchup
June, 6th, 2014 - Visually updated and organized matchups section
June, 6th, 2014 - Updated Items, Masteries, and Thank You List
June, 5th, 2014 - Updated Spoilers Section and added "Thank You List" section.
June, 5th, 2014 - Updated Item Build and Mastery section
June, 5th, 2014 - Guide Published
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