Hello everyone, and welcome to another of my guides!


I have played with Malzahar for about 2 years, in fact he was the first AP caster I started to systematically use, and the first 6300 champion I bought (back before his IP cost reduction).

With this guide, I aim not only to share my way of playing Malzahar, but also to help everyone who wants to give the Prophet of the Void a shot. I am always open to any suggestions / tips you may have.

One thing to keep in mid: Do NOT blindly follow what this, or any other guide, tells you to do. You are free to customise your playstyle the way you feel more comfortable, not according to what some guy on the internet says is the best.

Malzahar is a 4800 IP / 975 RP Mage, featuring heavy AoE as well as single-target damage. He is different from most other AP casters in the fact that, instead of relying on burst ( Annie, LeBlanc, Lux), he relies more on damage over time.

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Pros: + High AP ratios + Good range + Suppression Ultimate + Excellent farmer + Good AoE damage

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Cons: - Squishy - No escape mechanisms/gap closers - Channeled ultimate, leaves him completely open - Hard pushing leaves you open - Voidlings can become a liability

Ignite is a very useful summoner spell for Malzahar, used in synergy with Malefic Visions early game for large DoT damage, or during the channeling of your ultimate for further damage and to half any healing effects on your target, allowing you to deny them a chance of healing from a support.

Flash is a must on Malzahar, and I don't ever remember not taking it. You can use it not only to escape (remember that Malz does not have any abilities to save himself), but to catch up to fleeing enemies for a last Malefic Vision, or for a surprise Nether Grasp.

Ghost is another great spell for catching up/escaping, although I don't feel it has the utility Flash has.

Teleport is a decent choice, used for ganks, fast return to lane, and late-game split pushing; not my favorite, but certainly has its uses.

Exhaust can be useful for helping you escape or gain the upper hand in a fight with its movement speed/damage reduction. Still, there are better altenratives, as this is more effective against AD champions.

You can take this if the enemy team is CC heavy, but I don't advise it. If you get focused, Cleanse is unlikely to avert or even delay your death.

A popular choice in Season II, you can take it if you are a new player. There are much better alternatives, but if you like it, I'm not going to stop you.

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I believe that any other summoner spell has absolutely no place on Malzahar.

This setup is pretty simple, aiming for really heavy damage.
Offensive Tree we pick:

• Summoner's Wrath for the improved Ignite/Ghost/Exhaust if you choose one of them.
• Brute Force (3 points) will provide us with some AD, this will help in lasthitting and harassing the enemy with autoattacks.
• Sorcery (4 points) for the CDR.
• Arcane Knowledge is a fantastic mastery. 10% magic penetration from this one.
• Havoc (3 points) for some extra damage. It is not as much as you'd think, but it's better than other alternatives.
• Blast (4 points) for some more AP.
• Archmage (4 points) for an awsome 5% increase in AP!
• Executioner for a very nice damage increase to low-health targets.
  

In the Utility Tree we pick:

• Summoner's Insight for the improved Flash/Teleport/Clarity, if you happen to pick one of them.
• Expanded Mind (3 points) for the increased mana, something that i personally like a lot.
• Swiftness (4 points) will give us a little boost in our movement speen in order to avoid skillshots, or catch up to opponents.
• Runic Affinity for increased buff duration, since we will probably often have blue buff.

This is more focused on the utility tree.
Offensive Tree we pick:

• Summoner's Wrath for the improved Ignite/Ghost/Exhaust if you choose one of them.
• Brute Force (3 points) will provide us with some AD for lasthitting and harassing the enemy with autoattacks.
• Sorcery (4 points) for the CDR.
• Arcane Knowledge for 10% magic penetration.

In the Utility Tree we pick:

• Summoner's Insight for the improved Flash/Teleport/Clarity, if you happen to pick one of them.
• Expanded Mind (3 points) for the increased mana.
• Swiftness (4 points) for the MS boost.
• Meditation (3 points) will give you some extra mana regen, for more lane time.
• Transmutation (3 points) Spell Vamp? Hell yeah! This will help you regenerate Hp faster in lane.
• Runic Affinity for increased buff duration.
• Awareness (2 points) gives you a small exp boost that can get you ahead of you opponent.
• Intelligence (3 points) gives some nice CDR allowing you to get your ultimate (and your other skills) off CD faster, for more sustained damage.
• Mastermind dramatically reduces you sommoner spells' cooldowns, allowing more Flashes to safety, less deaths, more kills, happier Malzahar.

• You can get Butcher and Demolitionist instead of Havoc , for easier last hitting and tower pushing.
• 9 points in the Defensive Tree instead of the Utility Tree are also viable, taking 3 points in Resistance , 1 in Hardiness , and the rest in Durability and Veteran's Scars . You can also skip Veteran's Scars and keep Summoner's Insight .
• Taking Mental Force instead of Havoc does not work from a math standpoint.

The runes I most commonly use are mix of offense and utility.

~ Greater Mark of Magic Penetration is obviously the best choice, as all of Malzahar's abilities deal Magic Damage.
~ Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration gives some nice MP/5 at later levels. You do have mana return from Malefic Visions, but these allow you to be more sustained, as you won't always have minions lying around to refill your mana, and sometimes MV just passes to the wrong target.
~ Greater Glyph of Ability Power is a very good choice for more starting AP, since Malz has high ratios.
~ Greater Quintessence of Ability Power is an excellent choice, as Malz has generally high AP ratios. 15 Ap right off the start is not to be underestimated.

Alternative Runes

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~ Greater Seal of Health gives some early game survivability, helping a bit with Malzahar's squishyness issues.
~ Greater Seal of Armor gives you a whole lot of armor. While you generally don't go for it, these can help if you are facing a very AD-heavy team, or someone like Talon in lane.

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~ Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction: These runes will give you some of CDR late game, and they are a viable choice.
~ Greater Glyph of Magic Resist are an excellent choice overall, giving some vital defenses against most lane matchups, since usually AP casters occupy the middle lane.

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~ Greater Quintessence of Health is another very good defensive rune, giving you a lot of early HP.
~ Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed fits each and every champion, as you can never be too fast. If the enemy team is filled with high-speed champions, these might be a wise investment.
~ Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp: Now these might be an uncommon choice, but Malz works great with Spell Vamp, getting incedible lane sustain in conjunction with mana return from Malefic Visions.

After casting 4 spells, Malzahar summons an uncontrollable Voidling to engage enemy units for 21 seconds. Voidlings have 200 + 50 x lvl Health and 20 + 5 x lvl Damage (+100% per extra attack damage).
Voidlings Grow after 7 seconds (+50% Damage/Armor), and Frenzy after 14 seconds (+100% Attack Speed).
Voidlings attack the target affected by Malzahar's most recently cast Malefic Visions.

Voidling's Armor: 30 / 45 after 7 seconds
Voidling's MRes: 50
Voidling's Attack Speed: 0.831 / 1.496 after 14 seconds
Voidling's Movement Speed: 451


This is a quite unique passive. The Voidlings are uncontrollable, but you still have some means of steering them. They will prioritize targets with Malefic Visions, as well as targets that you autoattacked, and champions under the effect of Nether Grasp.

In short, the priority list goes like this:
1) Champions under Nether Grasp
2) Enemies with Malefic Visions
3) Enemies you have autoattacked
4) Random

Sometimes, they will get stuck in a position where they are far enough to return to you, but there is also an enemy close enough to trigger an attack. In such a case, they will stay in that spot, toggling between their options. To stop that, just either move a little bit closer if you want them to attack, or further away if you want them to come back to you.

As of the newest patch, they have greatly improved AI, following you into the brush when out of combat, and having better pathfinding capabilities.

Early game, they help a lot with farming and harassing, in conjunction with Malefic Visions. Late game, they serve as excellent meat shields, tanking turret shots while pushing and sometimes even skillshots that would result in your death, especially while you retreat, as they always stay behind you. For example, they can stop Brand's Sear and LeBlanc's Ethereal Chains. However, be careful of bouncing abilities, like Katarina's Bouncing Blades, and especially Fiddlesticks' Reap. They can also hurt you by being used as "bridges" for champions like Lee Sin and his Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike, Katarina's Shunpo, and Maokai's Twisted Advance.

As mentioned before, Voidlings also scale 1:1 with your AD and ArPen, making Brute Force even more useful.

Note that summoner spells do NOT count for Summon Voidling.




Malzahar opens two portals to the void. After a short delay, they fire projectiles which deal 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+80% of ability power) magic damage and silence champions for 1.4 / 1.8 / 2.2 / 2.6 / 3 seconds.
Range: 900

This is an amazing skill, dealing nice damage early game and massive damage late game.
It is composed of a single projectile, dealing damage along its entire path and around the end points, also revealing the entire area.
It also silences enemies hit for a respectable amount of time, making it very strong against all kinds of casters.
Call of the Void is somewhat hard to land because of the delay, so try to predict the enemy's movement. The delay is now consistent at 0,6 seconds.




Malzahar creates a zone of negative energy for 5 seconds. The zone deals 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 % (+1% per 100 ability power) of the target's max health as magic damage each second (damage to monsters is capped).
Range: 800

This is pretty self-explanatory. An AoE skill that deals % damage, great against tanks/health stackers like Cho'Gath, Vladimir, Singed etc. Try to use this skill right before using your ultimate, for maximum damage while the target is suppressed. In teamfights, try to hit the largest number of people possible. This helps in teamfights in the jungle, as there is no space for the enemies to go in order to avoid the damage.

It now has zero cast time, allowing you to cast it while moving, making your combo flow smoother and easier to use. However, it deals the first tick of damage after 0,25 seconds and not instantly.
You can also use this to zone enemies, preventing them from defending their turret/attack you while doing Baron/Dragon etc.

Do not use this skill to farm. Use it ONLY when you have lots of mana, you are safe, and you want to help Malefic Visions pass on to their next target. The damage it does is not worth the mana spent.




Malzahar infects his target's mind, dealing 80 / 140 / 200 / 260 / 320 (+80% of ability power) magic damage over 4 seconds. If the target dies during this time, the visions pass to a nearby enemy and Malzahar gains 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 mana. Malzahar's Voidlings are attracted to affected units.
Range: 650

A DoT spell, and my absolute favorite. When an enemy is killed by this spell, you get back some mana, and it jumps on to another nearby enemy, refreshing its duration. This is your main farming tool, also used for harassing early game. It will also attract Voidling aggro.

Be very careful with this spell early game. This can make you push the lane too far, leaving you open for ganks. Don't rely on it for getting lasthits untill you get some good AP, or until you get enough experience with Malz so that you can time your Autoattacks properly.

A trick to harass enemies with this spell without getting in range, is to wait until a minion near them has very little hp remaining, then cast MV on it, killing it and passing on to the champion. Many people do not know how this skill works, as Malzahar is not a very popular champion, allowing some free damage on them.




Malzahar grips his target in an engulfing void of energy to suppress the target (stuns and disables summoner spells), dealing 250 / 400 / 550 (+130% of ability power) magic damage over 2.5 seconds. The damage is applied in ticks, every half second.
Range: 700

Your signature move and one of the best ultimates in the game, allowing you to effectively win most 1v1 encounters. With an amazing 130% AP ratio, this can deal over 1000 damage to squishies late game. This is a channeled suppression spell, meaning that both you and your target will be (almost) unable to perform any actions. Also, Cleanse and Tenacity will not affect its duration.

Voidlings prioritize champions under the effect of Nether Grasp above all other targets, dealing a decent amount of damage to the enemy.

Nether Grasp's suppression and damage effects are separate. If the suppress is removed, Nether Grasp will continue to deal damage unless the channel is interrupted or the tether is broken by moving away.

Part, or all, of Nether Grasp can be cancelled if one of the following happens:

• Alistar uses Unbreakable Will. The suppression will be cancelled but the damage will continue to be applied (of course mitigated by 50%/60%/70%)
• Gangplank uses Remove Scurvy. The suppression will be cancelled, the damage will continue to be applied.
• Olaf uses Ragnarok. All of it will be negated (not intended, a bug, see the LoL wiki page here).
• Morgana uses Black Shield. The target will be protected from both the suppression and the damage.
• You use one of your abilities/move. This will instantly cancel the channel, unlike other suppressions like Warwick's Infinite Duress. You can still use your summoner spells and items like Deathfire Grasp/ Hextech Gunblade. Zhonya's Hourglass and Flash will stop the channel. Be careful when using actives ( Ignite etc), since if the target is out of range, Malzahar will instantly cancel the channel and try to move in range. As of the mid-July patch, Malzahar will ignore any orders that would cancel it for the first 0,5 seconds of the channel.
• Tryndamere can still activate his Undying Rage. However he will remain suppressed and take damage until he reaches 1 HP.
• Quicksilver Sash will completely cancel your ultimate, both the suppression and the damage. Be very, very careful about this item.
• You are CC'd by a silence, stun, airborne (knockup, knockback, pull, fling), forced action (taunt, charm, fear, flee), polymorph, or suppression.

Your skill order should look like this:

Call of the Void is taken at level 1, for long-range harrass and voidling management, and is maxed second for the increased damage and silence.
Null Zone is taken at level 4 for increased damage to our ulted target, and maxed last, since it becomes most effective later in the game because of its % damage.
Malefic Visions are taken at level 2 and maxed as soon as possible, since they are the most reliable source of damage and your main farming tool, also giving sustain thanks to the mana return part.
We get Nether Grasp whenever possible, like all ultimates.

Here are a few combos you can use for various purposes.

Harass Combo:
Call of the Void--> Malefic Visions
Use CotV, instantly after cast Malefic Visions, and then retreat.

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Farming:
Malefic Visions--> Call of the Void
Use MV on a minion and cast CotV on as many of them as possible.
Late game, CotV can kill all the minions it passes through, so Malefic Visions are useful only if they are spread out.

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Kill Combo:
Malefic Visions--> Call of the Void---> Null Zone--> Nether Grasp
Your standard killing combo, used mostly on 1v1 situations.

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Focus Fire:
Nether Grasp
If your team is nearby and you find someone out of position, use your ultimate on him. This will mark him as an easy target for your team to pick off. Do this only when you have good communication with your team and you are sure the target cannot escape.

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Zoning:
Null Zone<--> Call of the Void
These two skill can be used to keep enemies at a distance. Use them when pushing a tower or doing Baron/Dragon, without necessarily aiming at a particular enemy.

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Maximum Damage:
Malefic Visions--> Call of the Void--> Null Zone--> Nether Grasp--> Ignite--> Malefic Visions--> Call of the Void
This is a drawn-out combo, used if your enemy is really tough. You can use Hextech Gunblade right after your ultimate for the slow, or Deathfire Grasp right at the beginning for extra damage.

Boots are an excellent starting item choice. Pick the up if you are against someone with many skillshots like Ziggs, Ahri, Cassiopeia, Karthus, etc. They help more than you can imagine. Along with these pick 3 Health Potions for sustain.

Doran's Rings give excellent stats for their price, and allow a very powerful early game. The downside though is that you can't upgrade them to something better.

A decent staring choice if you want an early Catalyst the Protector. Pick 2 Health Potions with it.

This is an absolute must for any caster. Gives you a very nice amount of AP, and its passive is the key to maximum damage.

This item synergises very well with Malzahar, suppling him with reliable CC that allows him to catch up, or safely escape enemies. It also gives a lot of HP, helping with Malzahar's squishyness. The main problem that this item fixes is tha Malzahar has no reliable, safe CC. CotV won't always land, and you can't just blow your ult for some CC, especially when trying to escape. Reliable, AoE slows really, really help. trust me on this one.

This gives a little bit of everything: Mana, HP, and AP. It is a great item overall because it makes you quite tanky, expands your mana pool for more spellcasts, and gives a reasonable amount of AP. However, it must be built early on to reach full potential, and it is sometimes outclassed by other items.

The spell vamp is extremely useful for sustain early game and survivability late game. I have walked out of 3v1 situations with double kills, only thanks to spell vamp. This will give you an advantage in the laning phase, with mana return from MV and health regen from this item. If you do take it, make sure your support won't, as it is a unique passive (unless if you like a double WotA strategy).

This will give you an endless mana pool, and 2% of it will be converted into AP. Not a bad item at all, although it will make you a bit squishy, especially if you stack them. If you intend to buy it, make sure to get a Tear of the Goddess early to charge it up, and buy the full item a bit later, as it is quite expensive.

Pick this if your enemies are stacking a lot of magic resist. With your runes, shoes, and Arcane Knowledge , they wont be such a problem anymore. I don't always get this, since most times the game finishes before I get the chance to buy it, and also carries usually don't buy resistances high enough to justify it.

An amazing item, gives a nice chunk of AP and some armor. The main reason we buy this, however, is the active. Using it can save you when you get focused in teamfights, and in an 1v1 situation it can give time to your teammates to come for help or get your spells off CD. However, you must be careful not to use it prematurely and waste it. Also remember that you can't use it while CC'd, so don't hold on to it for too long when in a tight situation!

A very powerful item, this can literally blow people to pieces. And the best part? You can use it while channeling your ultimate.

I don't see it fitting Malzahar too much. It is still a decent item, but much more suited to supports. If the enemy team has a lot of healers, of course it's a smart idea to take it, but other than that I wouldn't recommend it.

Its aura is much shorter than your skills, so it is not as viable. However, it does give a decent amount of MRes and AP, and the MRes reduction can be useful in a team with a lot of melees.

An amazing item for Malzahar, BV gives you some nice HP and mana, a good chunk of magic resist, and the Big Blue Bubble. This item will create a bubble that will absorb 1 enemy spell every 45 seconds, possibly saving you from a CC that would cancel your ultimate or lead to your death like Infuse, Shadow Dash or Charm, or a deadly nuke like Requiem, Primordial Burst, or Ace in the Hole.

An awsome defensive item for any champion, take this if you are getting focused first, without even having time for Zhonya's Hourglass. Especially useful against assasins and champions with huge burst like Talon, Kassadin, LeBlanc etc.

Take one of these if the enemy team has a whole lot of AD and you can't handle it. Not something you will usually get, but both offer a significant armor bonus. It is better to take Frozen Heart only if your tank/support hasn't, since the aura is unique and you don't want to waste gold. Note that you should take one of those items only in extreme circumstances, otherwise it's not really worth it.

20 flat MPen is really hard to pass up, as is gives a tremendous boost to your early game damage.

A very good alternative for Sorcerer's Shoes, pick these for some Tenacity and a little bit of magic resist if the enemy team has a lot of CC.

A good option, CDR can increase your DPS and threat level from Nether Grasp, but usually the blue buff+elixir will be enough.

A pretty straightforward choice, get this if the enemy team has a lot of physical damage. Keep in mind that the 10% damage reduction applies to autoattacks only, so they won't be as effective against AD casters like Talon, Urgot, and Pantheon.

Elixir of brilliance gives a lot of CDR, as well as some decent AP. If you have enough gold and item slots, get it before every majoir teamfight, and always keep it up when you have finished your build.

Elixir of Fortitude gives a nce HP boost, making you a bit more durable. It also gives some AD, not as useful, but it doesn't hurt.

This is obviously a special case. If there is an enemy Twitch or Evelynn and you are not likely to die, you take take it early, as well as in order to take out wards, Teemo shrooms, Shaco's traps (and the clown himself), etc. Late game, you can just take it to kill wards to deny enemy visibility.

As the game starts, pick your starting items, and put a point in Call of the Void. Charge your passive, leaving room for 2 spellcasts until the Voidling spawn. Go to the Blue Buff/Red Buff/ Wolves/Wraiths and pull for your jungler (if there is one, and if he wants you to). Now head to your lane, preferably mid (according to the current meta), with your Voidling ready to spawn. You can harass your enely with Call of the Void and some autoattacks, and the Voidlings will follow your example and put some decent damage on him.
When you reach level 2, put a point in Malefic Visions. Farm, and try to keep a balance between pushing with Malefic Visions and simply last-hitting.


Be careful for ganks! You are a hard pusher!

You are now level 6. Is your enemy low enough?

-Yes: Go in and execute your Kill Combo, using ignite is necessary. Receive kill.
-No: Harass with CotV/MV, ask for a gank. With the help of your jungler and your suppression your enemy will likely die quite fast. Receive kill.

After you have farmed enough, go back and buy a Hextech Revolver, a Needlessly Large Rod, or a Catalyst the Protector.

If you are quite ahead, Needlessly Large Rod is the way to go. It gives you great damage, and paves the way for an early Rabadon's Deathcap.
If you are even, Hextech Revolver provides some good AP and great sustain.
Alternatively, or if you are behind, catalyst the protector gives you more HP, as well as better sustain, in order to heal from pokes, plus it can be upgraded in a Rod of Ages or a Banshee's Veil for even more defenses.



-But! My enemy is beating me!

-Fear not.

You can safely farm under the turret and harass, due to the long range of Call of the Void. When you go back, prioritise defensive items, and ask for help from your jungler. Worst comes to worst, you can ask for a lane swap.


A farming tip: When minions come down the lane, wait for all of them to engage in fight before casting Malefic Visions. Sometimes, one of the melee minions will attack the caster minions, resulting in your malefic visions not jumping to another target due to the great distance.
Don't forget to call MIA/ss if the enemy is missing! Keep an eye out on the map for other lanes having missing enemies!
Dont forget to ward! Wards are essential to your safety!

Now things are getting serious.

Your jungler has probably given you Blue Buff. If not, that's ok.
Time to push and gank. Start taking out the enemy minion waves with Malefic Visions and even Call of the Void if you need to. Push the turret with the help of your voidlings, and then start roaming around looking for ganks. With you skillset it won't be hard to set up kills for your teammates, using your silence and suppression.

Start assembling with your team for the first skirmishes. In those small fights, try to eliminate the easier target from a safe distance; just sit back and bombard the enemies with the power of the Void, and wait for the opportune moment to disable their carry with your ultimate, crippling their damage output.

Dragon starts to become a target around this time, so keep an eye on it. A pink eye, preferably.

You should also have some of your core items ready by this point. When you are not ganking, pushing, or fighting, farm. Farming is very easy for you, take advantage of that fact as much as you can. If you don't see anylane farm, just take your wraiths, as well as the enemy ones. Just a q+e should be enough.


Don't forget/neglect to buy wards! Wards are even more importand now, protecting Dragon, Baron, and your back while ganking! You might even want to invest on some pink wards in order to deny vision from the enemy.

Now you have a nice amount of AP, but you start to become squishy. This means you have to be very careful from now on, since one mistake could cost you the game.

One thing you should keep in mind is that, while Malzahar is very strong in the laning phase, he kind of falls off late-game compared to other AP carries, because he is weak in teamfights. The main issue for that is that, after he uses his spells and starts channeling his ultimate, not only is he unable to provide further assistance to his team, but he is also left completely open and defenseless until the channel ends.

Let's compare that to a few other AP carries, for example Ahri, Cassiopeia, Ryze, and Kennen. All of them remain mobile during the teamfight, constantly dealing damage and being able to reposition themselves to switch targets / disengage. Malzahar is unable to do that.

During the teamfights, use your spells from the back, as you are likely to be focused. Your main target is the AD carry. First, cast Call of the Void on as many people as possible, preferably including the enemy AP carry, in order to damage and silence them (this helps not only to prevent the AP carry from doing damage, but also stops the supports and any AD casters ( Pantheon, Talon, Yorick). After that, lay down your null zone under the middle of the enemy team, to deal as much AoE damage as possible. Cast Malefic Visions on the AD carry, if able to, otherwise on the second most importand target. Finally, Nether Grasp the AD carry to completely deny him any damage to your team, while heavily damaging him.

If you cannot reach the AD carry for any reason, remember that Nether Grasp isn't there just to kill people. Suppressing that Singed running straight for your carry ignoring all other CC might be a good idea. Insta-gibbing that Soraka before she starts healing the s**t out of everyone might also be a good idea. Make a list of your priority targets, and see what you can and cannot do.

While your ultimate is channeled, your team must keep you safe from any CC or damage. After the end of the channel, cast CotV and MV again, as they should be off CD, and back off. If your team is winning, chase any survivors. If your team is losing, start retreating, lay a Null Zone behind you to discourage any chasers, and try to win the next teamfight.


Otherwise, keep farming and pushing, keep the times on Dragon and Baron. Never go alone, as you can and will die very fast. Buy Sight Wards.

You can steal Dragon/Baron! With your CotV you can get vision of the area, if you don't have a ward, and Null Zone will deal some very heavy damage! You might even pick up a kill or two!
By now some of the enemy team will probably buy Quicksilver Sash. Be extra careful about that. Try to force them to use it before using your ultimate, for example by using Malefic Visions+ Ignite on them.

Most of Ahri's damage relies on skillshots. Early boots help a lot. If she uses Spirit Rush to get close to you, immediatemy combo her. Ahri can push very well with Orb of Deception. Malefic Visions help you keep the lane stable.

She has a huge amount of early damage, so don't engage her recklessly. Always keep in check when her passive is up and when it's not. She cannot farm as well before level 6, and she has a lot of mana problems. Pushing with MV can hurt her cs.

Annie has a much shorter range than you. Use it to your advantage. Always keep an eye on her Pyromania. Watch out for surprise Flash + burst when she hits level 6.

Brand is very skillshot reliant in order to fully unleash his combo. Brand is an excellent farmer and can clear waves very fast, becoming an easy gank target if he stays too long. He is relatively short-ranged, so if you see him moving towards you, retreat and silence him.

Stay on the move at all times to avoid Noxious Blast and Miasma. Be very careful of her Petrifying Gaze, try to turn your back at her if she rushes at you. If you are poisoned, retreat to avoid Twin Fang spam.

She is melee, but Crescent Strike can hit hard. Pale Cascade can easily negate Malefic Visions harass. She usually turns aggressive at level 6, and it can be hard to disengage. However, you can usually overpower her.

Fizz is melee and squishy, so he is easy to harass, even with autoattacks. He cannot farm well. Take advantage of that by pushing your minions to the turret. If he dashes at you, he will most likely Playful / Trickster away right after. If he uses Chum the Waters, do not ult him, as you will be interrupted by the knockup.

Keep moving to avoid Barrel Roll. Silence him while channeling Drunken Rage. Explosive Cask can be extremely dangerous, be very careful about your positioning.

Alert your team when he gets Requiem. If you see him channel it, silence or suppress him immediately. He is pretty squishy and without escapes, so harass him a lot. When he dies, don't stick around for too long. His passive can make him deal a lot of damage.

He is a horrible farmer. Punish him for that. When he gets to level 6, play very defensively. His blinks can destroy you. Try to silence him with your superior range in order to prevent dives and Null Spheres.

Stay mobile and behind minions to avoid Thundering Shurikens. Keep an eye on your Mark of the Storm stacks. If you see him charge at you, he will probably ult you. Do not Nether Grasp during Slicing Maelstrom, as you will get stunned.

She is very squishy. Some harass now and then with Malefic Visions can help. She is also very combo reliant. Some early MRes is going to help a lot. When she hits level 6, be more defensive, Kassadin style.

All her abilities are skillshots. Boots save lives here. She cannot farm very well early on. When low, prepare to dodge Finales Funkeln, and if you are recalling, don't do so in predictable spots (e.g. right under the turret)

Morganas can push very hard. Malefic Visions to the rescue! Don't hesitete to use Call of the Void too if you are getting outpushed. Always be prepared to dodge Dark Binding, as it deals a lot of damage and can snare you for up to 3 seconds. If she uses Soul Shackles, don't hesitate to flash away. Don't ult her, as you will get stunned.

Ryze is very weak compared to you early game. Harass him a lot. Deny him farm, or he gets really scary lategame. If you see him rush at you, either retreat or combo him. Rune Prison can set up a killer gank.

Harass him a lot, he doesn't have much range. If he blinks at you, immediately combo him after the silence ends. You probably won't be able to escape his Rake slow, but you have a chance at killing him. Do not allow him to get ahead, as he can become a nightmare.

Squishy as hell. Deny him Baleful Strike farm in order to keep him from reaching that crazy late game. Like LB, some early MRes is going to be great. Don't try to move out of his Event Horizon. You can still flash out, but don't panic and get stunned on the walls.

You have good range, but so does Hextech Ray. Stay mobile to avoid it. At 6, whoever initiates first usually wins. Either you die to Arcane Storm or he dies to Nether Grasp. Don't hesitate to flash out of Gravity Field if you feel it is necessary. Better safe than sorry. Also keep an eye on what Augment he bought.

Vlad is like Ryze, weak early on, pain train later. Try to stop him from reaching that point. Bait his Sanguine Pool, and remember that DoTs ( Ignite, MV) continue to apply damage while he is in that state. He becomes quite tanky through his passive, and that means Null Zone can really hit him hard if you keep him on it.

locus of power gives him huge range and a lot of MPen. Don't play around with him. Mobility is your best friend against Arcanopulse. Move to the sides, don't retreat backwards. You can't dodge mage chains, but you can avoid a stun. Try to do so.

All his abilities are skillshots. Move a lot, and don't walk in Hexplosive Minefield or Satchel Charge like some idiots I have seen (me included). Deal with his ultimate like Lux. You can flash out of it, or recall in unpredictable spots when low. Satchel Charge can be tricky. It is hard to be used as an escape, so ganks are usually succesful. Don't ult him while standing on it, as you can be interrupted by the knockback.

The Quicksilver Sash. The one item that renders you powerless.


48 Magic Resistance.
UNIQUE Active: Removes all debuffs from your champion. 90 second cooldown.


When it says "all debuffs", it means all debuffs.
This includes Nether Grasp (both the suppression and the damage part), Malefic Visions, Ignite, and the silence from Call of the Void, as well as any other debuffs applied by your teammates.

The question is... WAT DO?!

It's simple.
1) You don't focus them.
2) You make them use it prematurely.

In order to make them use it on something else, you must have a teammate in your team with some hard and dangerous CC, for example Fiddlesticks' Terrify, or Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow. This way the enemy with QSS has 2 options:
1) Blow it to remove the lengthy CC and stay vulnerable to your ultimate, or
2) keep it for Nether Grasp and take heavy damage or die due to the CC.
It's a win-win scenario.

If you don't have something like that on your team, try stacking excessive debuffs on the enemy, lke armor and magic resistance reduction, AS reduction, Mocking Shout, slows, DoTs, damage amplifications ( Torment, Reckoning), et cetera.


Other popular targets of the QSS are:
1) Children of the Grave. I believe it is best to keep CotG on the target, as a 6v4 is better that a suppressed target. That is, if your Mordekaiser has half a brain and can utilise the ghost efficiently.
2) Hemoplague. Now I don't really know about this, I think Nether Grasp is a bit more importand.
3) Infinite Duress. Honestly, it's a matter of damage and duration, and yours is longer, and most of the time will deal more damage.
4) Impale. The big thing about Impale is the fact that you can drag the enemy around, so it's not really an easy choice. For this one, just figure out what you need the most at the time.

From my presonal experience, Malzahar is not as effective in Dominion as he is in Classic. That is because in Dominion you are locked in a constant teamfight, with low respawn times and fast-paced action. In order to win in dominion, you have to keep constant pressure on the enemy team, and Malzahar relies more on a single burst, a decicive teamfight that concludes the game.

Also, the effectiveness of his skillset falls off as well; the farming potential of Malefic Visions is pretty much wasted, and Voidlings are practically useless.


My preferred build for Dominion is the following:


I don't think you can deviate much from it, with the exception of Rylai's Crystal Scepter.
Shoes are, well, an obvious choice; Same goes for Rabadon's Deathcap.
Odyn's Veil and Zhonya's Hourglass are our standard defensive items; we probably won't need Will of the Ancients, since all healing effects are diminished and we have health relics all over the place. Odyn's Veil is actually a fantastic item, allowing for defense and offence in one neat package.
Void Staff is an absolute must in dominion, or at lesat some sort of magic penetration ( Abyssal Mask), since with the increased gold gain, it is easy to build up some early defenses negating most of the damage ( Force of Nature, Odyn's Veil, Wit's End).

This concludes my Malzahar Guide. I hope you found it useful!



Special thanks to:
~jhoijhoi and her guide on how to write a guide and the dividers.
~Searz and his guide on Runes
~IceCreamy and his guide on Columns.
~LaCorpse for the banners.
~All of you who read this guide!


Have Fun!