Malzahar Build Guide by Remcoo

Introduction

Thanks to Searz for the awesome guide format! You can find it here.

Hello,

My name is Remco(o) I come from the netherlands (say it when i type something wrong please) and here is my first guide ever.
This guide will tell you how I play Malzahar, The Prophet of the Void, one of the best (maybe the best) mages i,ve ever seen in LoL.

I hope you enjoy it and please rate this guide and give supportive feedback.

Remco(o).

Legend

Pros / Cons

Masteries old (This will be removed on 30/11/11)

Offence
Tier 1: Deadliness x1 & Archmage's Savvy x3 you can switch Deadliness with Cripple if you take exhaust.
Tier 2: Sorcery x4 Youre a mage you dont need AS
Tier 3: Archaic Knowledge x1 Magic pen, no explenation needed.

Utility
Tier 1: Spatial Accuracy x1 Because i take teleport, you can take Haste x1 if you take ghost.
Good Hands x3 or Perseverence x3 i usally take good hands.
Tier 2: Awareness x4, the extra mana ist much, 100 with 2000 mana
Tier 3: Meditation x3 and Utility Mastery x1, because Greed gives only 240 gold er 40 minutes. you can switch 1 from Meditation to Insight if you take clarity.
Tier 4: Quickness x3 Because you arent that fast and Blink of an Eye x1 because i take flash.
Tier 5: Intelligence x3 so you can reach max CDR
Tier 6 Presence of the Master x1 for 15% summoner spell cooldown.

Masteries new

As you can see i choose to go 7/0/23 because i think you really need those 23 in the utility tree.
You wont be getton + 1% CDR, but you already got 9% with this masteries (same as with old). And you wont be getting the 10% magic Res. But most of the champions got only 30 and with your runes and your Sorcerer's Shoes you got 29.

I DO choose this masteries:
Offence:
Tier 1: Mental Force x4. If you take Ignite or Exhaust you can switch one point of these to Summoner's Wrath .
Tier 2: Sorcery x3

Utility:
Tier 1: Summoner's Insight x1 and Good Hands x3. I dont take Expanded Mind , because the extra mana is negilgable.
Tier 2: Swiftness x4, because Malzahar isnt very fast. 5% Extra sigth from wards isn't very much and i can't take Meditation because i don't have Expanded Mind
Tier 3: Runic Affinity x1 With this we have bleu longer and on dominion the shield longer (and other relics). 3% spell vamp is also negligable. I only take Greed x4 so i can take Wealth
Tier 4: Wealth x2 With this you can take a Doran's ring + a Health Potion. Awareness x4 for the extra XP.
Tier 5: Intellegencex3 so we can reach Max CDR
Tier 6: Mastermind so you can cast your summoner spells more often.

Runes

Main rune set

Greater Mark of Insight All of Malzahar's ability's deal magic damage so this is a must. These runes together with Sorcerer's Shoes give you 30 Mgic pen and most champions have 30 magoc resist so all of your damage will be treu damage. Greater Seal of Vitality Greater Seal of Vitality One of Malzahar's greatest weakness is that he's squishy, with the extra health from these runes he can survive longer in laning phase.

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Greater Glyph of Celerity The maximium CDR is 40 we'll only get 1 CDR item, we have 9 from masteries, so to get 40% we definitely need some CDR glyphs. Greater Quintessence of Force[/b For runes there a 3-4 ones you can choose and you should take the ones you want i prefer this one's because you can't have too much AP (except when laning againsta a veiger)

Other runes worth considering

Greater Seal of Clarity This will give you some extra mana regen which u can use to spamm your spells more.

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Greater Quintessence of Intellect This will give you 122.5 mana at the start of the game so you can harasss more while laning.

Summoner Spells

Teleport Use it to get back to mid or get to a fight or a big minion wave, good spell. Ignite This spell is good as a finisher or on healing champs like Warwick. You can also use it to make your deadly combo even more deadly if you use it while firing your ult (you need to be in Ignite range to do so). Or you can make a super dot, together with Malefic Visions

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Flash Malzahar doesn't has any way of escaping, so this is a need on Malzahar. Exhaust Very good spell to use to counter a gank or to slow when you follow Someone.

Promote
I think this is a pretty good spell if you want to push your lane faster, if you want you can take this.

Your kit (abilities) and how to use it

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Summon Voidling (passive)

Pros:
- Turret killer.
- good damage early game.
- good for farming with Malefic visions.

Cons:
- Uncontrollable.
- Not very good late game.

Tips and tricks:

• You can have more than one voidling at once.
  
• The voidling favorite dinner is cruel visions so he will attack the target affected by Malefic Visions.
  

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Call of the Void

Pros:
- Silence.
- Large area.
- It gives vision (check brush with it)

Cons:
- It has a brief delay
Because it has a brief delay try to place it in front of enemy units.

How CotV works
CotV is a line spell, from each side a bolt will appear and go to the other side, each one of the bolts will deal half the spell damage. Depending on where the enemie standsyou will be hit in a different way.

Green: you will get hitby both bolts at the same time (full damage)
Yellow: you will get hit by both bolts at a different time (full damage)
Red you wil get hit by only 1 bolt (half damage)

Range:

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Null Zone

- % Of max HP damage (very good against tank, althought you should focus the carry's)

Cons:
- People dont like to stand on a "hole" in the ground.

The first "tick" of dmg is applied the moment you cast the zone. You can use this to your advantage, for example when chasing a really low HP enemy, and you either have no mana for your other skills, or are somehow out of range for them - Null Zone can get you the kill.

Range:

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Malefic Visions

Malzahar's Voidlings are attracted to affected units.

Pros:
- You get mana whenever the unit affected with this dies.
- Can do lots of damage if it jumps from a minion to a champion.
- Very good farming skill when you get 3 points in it.

Cons:
- Not good in very early game.

When you only got 1/2 points in it dont use it to much because it costs a lot of mana.
Ypur voidling will attck the target affected by this.

Range:

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Nether Grasp

Pros:
- 1.3 Ap ratio (SICK)
- 2.5 Sec supression which is very good with Null Zone.
- Tenacity and Cleanse do not work against this

Cons:
- You cant move
- Can be cancelled by Quicksilver Sash



Below, you will find a list of all champions/abilities that can somewhat counter your ultimate
(This was made by: Piksel4o, You can find his Malzahar guide here
•
Alistar's Unbreakable Will can cancel the surpression, and will take almost no damage.
• Tryndamere CAN activate Undying Rage while he's surpressed. (meaning that his health cannot drop below 1, but he is still surpressed)
• Gangplank's Remove Scurvy will cancel the surpression, but he will continue to take damage until he walks out of spell range
• Olaf's Ragnarok cannot be cast while you have ultied him. However, if he has used it already, and you try to surpress him, it won't happen. He will still take damage if he is in spell range however.
• Morgana's Black Shied will protect anyone from both surpression, and damage.

Range:
Note: u can use your abilities over walls:

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Skilling sequence

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I max Malefic Visions first, because it is your main farm spell and it is also very good for harrasing.
I max Nether Grasp whenever i can of course.
Than the difficult part, which to max first Call of the Void or Null Zone.
Call of the Void is a good harrasing spell and it can silence your opponent.
Null Zone together with Nether Grasp is almost a sure kill.
I cant choose which i max first, so I dont max one of them till level 17.

Situationally you can choose to max Call of the Void or Null Zone at 13.
When I aren't doing very good against a mage I Max Call of the Void first, because of the silence
and when I aren't doing very good against a tanky opponent i max Null Zone at level 13 because of the % damage.

But if you like one of them more than the other I wont stop you from maxing that one first.

Possible builds

If you don't got a support on your team

Deathfire Grasp

Starting items

Boots of speed Malzahar isnt very fast, so with this item its easier to dodge skill shots and you have enough money for some health pots. OR Doran's Ring This is also a good item, more mana regen and you got some early AP for some extra damage, but you 'don't have any money left for health pots.

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Health pots x3 For more survivability of course. Health potionx1 For more survivability of course. (you can only take this if you have Wealth ).

Core Items

Rylai's Crystal Scepter This is an absolute must while laning. First of al this gives you 500 extra health which allows you to survive much longer 2nd this gives you a nice amount of Ap for ome extra damage. And last bit not least this gives you a 5.5 second slow on your Malefic Visions, because the slow applies every tic and this allows you to catch up woth your enemy and use your other spells. Fiendish Codex With this you'll be able to regenerate man even faster, and it gives you some nice AP Deathfire Grasp or a Morello's Evil Tome

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Sorcerer's Shoes Of course you need to take shoes, but this are the only shoes you should consider on Malzahar, because this combined with your runes will give you 29 + 15% magic pen and most champions have 30 magic pen, so this will make all damage treu dmage! against most enemies. Tear of the Goddess Althought Malzahar has a great way to recover mana, you still need some extra mana/mana regen if you want to sam your spells in teamfights, you will be building this into an Archangel's Staff

Preferred items

These are items that I personally prefer. If these does not suit your needs just look among the Other viable items

Rylai's Crystal Scepter This is an absolute must while laning. First of al this gives you 500 extra health which allows you to survive much longer 2nd this gives you a nice amount of Ap for ome extra damage. And last bit not least this gives you a 5.5 second slow on your Malefic Visions, because the slow applies every tic and this allows you to catch up woth your enemy and use your other spells. Rabadon's Deathcap This is by far the best item you can get for any ap champs. It gives you 155 AP + 30 % of your total AP, so this item alone gives you 201,5 Ap!

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Deathfire Grasp[ It gives you some nice Ap, mana regen and 10% CDR + a 35%of current health attack every minute. Wanna know why i place Deathfire Grasp above Morello's Evil Tome then look here. Dont forget to use the active! Archangel's Staff Althought Malzahar has a great way to recover mana, you still need some extra mana/mana regen if you want to sam your spells in teamfights.

Other viable items

Zhonya's Hourglass This is a good item if youre opponent has a few good AD champs, it also gives you a nice amount of AP. Dont forget to use the active!

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Abyssal Scepter You get ap and magic resistance and the magic resistance of nearby enemies is reduced, great item for all mages.

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Morello's Evil Tome A fair amount of AP and some nice mana regen together with a 20%CDR, its basically a tiny Deathfire Grasp

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Void Staff Enemy's stacking magic resist? Dont worry, just build this and you penetrate right through (40% of) it.

Laning phase

Farming
Early game 1-6
The first four levels just focus on last hitting and moving between attacks. then when you've reached level 5 you wait till one of the melee minions is low on health, you use Malefic Visions on him and you keep attacking the minion with Malefic Visions on him. This way you'll get a lot of minion kills and you'll get a lot of mana back.

Mid game 7-12
In mid game farming minions is very very easy, just put a Malefic Visions on the first minion (you can also throw down a Call of the Void on either the 3 melee or the 3 caster minions) of a wave you see and keep attacking it. Be carful though, you might need your voidling to destroy a tank minion.

Late game 12-18
In Late game farming minions is even more easier, once u reach a certain amount of AP (if someone knows how much, please tell me) you can just toss put a Malefic Visions on it and then instead of attcking it you can just make jokes, taunt the enemy, laugh or dance while your Malefic Visions destroys an entire minion wave and (hopefully) jump onto a nearby enemy, if there is one there.

Harrassing
Early game 1-6
For the first four levels i woudn't harass very much (maybe 1 Malefic Visions), because you won't get man back very easily, becuase you dont use your Malefic Visions every minion wave yet. But as soon as you reach level 5 you can start harassing, wait until your Malefic Visions has gone of CD and is on a minion who will die, without you attackin it. Then run up to your enemy (you can throw down a Call of the Void 1st to silence your opponent) and use your Malefic Visions + 1 basic attack. Then walk back and return to farming. Do this evey time your mana bar is almost back to full.

Mid Game 7-12
The later you get into the game, the more fun it is to put a Malefic Visions on your target. If your opponent did'n't bought magic resist you use 1 Call of the Void and 1 Malefic Visions and a quarter of your opponents life will dissapear. If you do this 2 times, and with some luck (or stupidness from your opponent) a Malefic Visions goes from a minion to your opponent his health will drop below 25% and if he doesn't recall then (He really should) you can get an easy kill on him.

Late game 12-18
As sais befor: The later you get into the game, the more fun it is to put a Malefic Visions on your target. Most of the enemy champion now have some magic resist, but you tear that down with your 15% and 29 magic pen. You probably aren't laning very much at this moment anymore, but you can still harass enemy you stumble upon with a Malefic Visions and.or a Call of the Void or you could just kill them with one of your mighty combo's(see chapter below).


Killing
Early game 1-6
As soon as you hit Level 6, you should be looking for a kill. Flashing into range and useing your combo (see chapter below) will most of the time get you a kill. If the enemy has to recall because he is low on health(or for some other reason) and your ult is on CD, try to gank other. I would only try to gank if Nether Grasp is up or if your sidelane mates have some kind of stun or nare. If you have Nether Grasp you do a lot of damage, while they cant attack you. If you don't have your ult they can easily walk out of Null Zone and dodge Call of the Void, which leaves you with only your Malefic Visions and your Voidling (this can still get you a kill if the enemy is low on health, or if you have a good sidelaneteammate).

Mid Game 7-12
In mid game you have some more survivability, because of your Rylai's Crystal Scepter and this also gives you a slow on every stack of Malefic Visions if your lane opponent is coming close, put a Malefic Visions on him, walk closer to him, use your combo (section below) and if they arent dead by than, use nother Malefic Visions and finish him of with you basic attacks and some help from your voidling.
(Same thing for ganking sidelan's here).

Late game 12-18
If you catch an enemy alone in the lane or in the junge just use one of your , by this time amazingly OP, combo's and watch him die.
Otherwise TEAMFIGHTS (see section below combo's [see section below])

Combo's

I will try to upload them all from real games as sson as possible.

Your Basic Combo:
Null Zone with Nether Grasp. (note, this is with 0 AP)
Basic combo combined with Call of the Void.
Basic combo combined with Malefic Visions.
Basic combo combined with Ignite
Coming soon

Basic combo combined with Call of the Void and Malefic Visions.
Basic combo combined with Call of the Void, Malefic Visions and Ignite.
Coming soon too.

Teamfights

Malzahar (that's you) is a very squishy champion, even with Rylai's Crystal Scepter, and is often focused first. So before a teamfight starts, be sure to stay behind your tank, but close enough to the fight to use your spells immediatly after the battle has begun.

So the battle begins, the enemy tank comes running for you, what to do? Kill that stupid tank? NO, because a tank has a lot of health and magic res and will probably survive, yes it it possible, one of your combo's. But that's not the most important reason. The most important reason is, while you are taking down their tank, the other 4 members of their team are taking out the rest of your team. And because you ,their mighty AP carry, is using all of jis spells on their tank. Your team will get raped and you will lose the battle (and possible some turrets, inhibs or the game).

So what DO you do. first you wait for their tank to initiate on their team and after (like 0.5 sec after) that the rest of their comes and attacks you. What you do is using your Call of the Void to silence as much enemy's as possible and your Malefic Visions on the enemy carry whenever it is off CD. You wait with Nether Grasp till one of the following things.
.1 Nether Grasp can be interuppted by Stunnes, Knockbacks, Knockups etc and Quicksilver Sash wait till the enemy used all of their abilitys that do that and than use your combo (see above) on the enemy carry (don't use it on someone with Quicksilver Sash).

.2 If you won the fight, or someone is trying to retreat for some other reason, you can use just your Nether Grasp on him/her/it so your team can catch up with him and kill him.

Outtro

Well, this is it, the end of my first guide.
I hop you enjoyed it and please rate and comment.
I you have any comments/tips for the Laning and espcially the teamfights part please COMMENT.

Tools used:
Tinypic
LoL Replay
Fraps

Remco(o)