Build Guide by Pokimoki

1. Preface/Introduction

Welcome to my Malzahar guide. This guide will teach you how to play a successful Malzahar. This build emphasizes on survivability without harming your damage output. I love Malzahar because he damages the team in all fights, by "all fights" I mean he can deal lots of damage in team fights, 1 vs 1 confrontations, and smaller team fights. After reading this guide you will have the know-how on how to own with Malzahar.

Abbreviated Terms
AA = Auto-attack
AD = Attack Damage
AP = Ability Power
AS = Attack Speed
AoE = Area of Effect
CC = Crowd Control (Stun, fear, slow, snare, etc)
CDR = Cooldown Reduction
DoT = Damage over Time
FB = First Blood
HP = Health
MD = Magic Damage
MP = Mana
MR = Magic Resistance
MS = Movement Speed
OOM = Out of Mana
SV = Spell Vamp
MDPS = Magical Damage Per Second; also:Strong spells; casters
MP5 = Mana Regeneration per 5 seconds
MPen = Magic Penetration[/color

2. Pros/Cons

Pros:
1. Constant damage in teamfights.
2. Easy farming with Malefic Visions.
3. Awesome mid lane carry.
4. Effortless ganking with Nether Grasp.
5. One of the few casters that can push towers with Summon Voidling.
6. Best 1 vs 1 champion hands down.
7. Not hard to grasp skills and how they work.
8. Can silence multiple targets with Call of the Void.

Cons:
1. Very easy to gank due to no escape mechanism.
2. Vulnerable to CC.
3. Easy target in big team fights.
4. Annoying CDR.
5. Skill rotation is tricky.
6. Call of the Void is hard to land.
7. SLOOOWWWW MOVEMENT SPEED. :c

3. Skills

Summon Voidling(Passive): This skill is totally underlooked. At level 18 they deal a nasty amount of damage, and you can get two out. And this makes Malzahar a viable tower pusher. You can control your voidling by using Malefic Visions, because it taunts your voidling to the inflicted target, this is awesome for harassing. Voidlings have more of an impact on damage earlier on, so be sure you have it ready to get when you Nether Grasp your opponent.

Call of the Void: This skill does amazing damage, and it silences for 3 seconds at rank 5, AND It has an amazing range. The catch? A small delay that takes awhile to get use to. You want to initiate fights with this, and constantly spam it in team fights- But not random spamming. Say Nunu starts his ult, you want to save this skill for that. Or Fiddlesticks or Miss Fortune is getting ready for their ults, then silence them. Also, remember to use this on champions who have blink skills so they don't blink away.(Ex. Kassadin, Ezreal, and Tristana.

Malefic Visions: Oh my, this spell is AWESOME. Farming, Harassing, Team killing, all around sexy skill. It gives you mana back, it moves from a target after it kill its current inflicted target, and it gives you mana back for each target it kills. It is weak at rank 1 and 2, but at rank 3 you could take down most minions(except the turret minions). It is awesomely paired with Ignite it has a relatively fast cooldown.

Malefic Visions: Don't get me started on how many Teemo's i've one shotted this with. Don't get me started on how many people I've caught with their pants down. This is like Warwick's Infinite Duress, but you are kept at a safe distance, and It scales of AP. The scaling is amazing(150%), so around 800 AP you're packing 1200 MD To a target, and suppressing them for 2.5 seconds. BUT There is a catch, you are vulnerable to basically everything. Don't channel your ultimate if isn't up. You'll just be dead meat in team fights if you do that.

4. Summoner Spells

Ignite: This is obviously going to be awesomely paired with Malefic Visions, and it reduces healing. That means you pop it on Dr. Mundo, Taric, Soraka ect. And the best part is the true damage.

Ghost: Movement speed boost is always good for YOU. Chasing, Ganking, Escaping, all that jazz.

Flash: This the same thing as Ghost but in a fancy blink. And you can use it over terrain!

Cleanse: Like I said before, Malzahar has no escape mechanism. But if you pick this, pair it up with Flash or Ghost.

Considerable Summoner Spells:

Teleport: Malzahar has a very slow base movement speed, so getting back to your lanes will be a drag. This will fix it.

Exhaust: If you are playing Draft Mode and you see a bunch of carries then pick this up.

Clarity: If you don't have MP5 Regen runes then pick this would be a good idea. Be sure to pair this with Ghost or Flash.

5. Runes

Marks: 10 MPen is invaluable. This is useful throughout the whole game. It helps all of your skills except your passive.

greater seal of replenishmentSeals: With this you will never be oom in the laning phase if you useMalefic Visions correctly. I chose the scaling per level seals instead of the flat seals because if you want to stay in the lane until you are level 7 you want these.

Glyphs: More Silences, more Forehead Lazer Beams, more Voidlings, more wins.

Quintessence: Malzahar Is a very dominant laner with Malefic Visions. So these bad boys will keep you in the lane longer. Having an extra 100 health is awesome for all champions.

Core Item Build

Doran's Ring: This is a great starting Item. I wonder why? *Captain obvious Grand Skyfalls in and kicks me in the nads*


Ionian Boots of Lucidity: These boots are awesome, paired with CDR Glyphs, Golem Buff, Blue Elixir you will have 40% CDR. And with Malzahar you need to spam your spells in team fights, constantly disabling everything.

Banshee's Veil: Like I said before, Malzahar has no escape mechanism, so this will obviously come in handy. Not to mention the HP, Mana, And MR it adds. Getting this early with Malzahar is best.

Archangel's Staff: All of Malzahar's skills cost more than 100 Mana maxed out, so you are going to need the 25 MP5. It also converts 4% of you maximum mana into AP. So that means if you have 1000 mana, you get 40 AP. Pretty fair if you ask me.

7. Optional/Situational Item build

Mercury's Treads: If their team is full of CC this is a must. It's a bit costy, but It's well worth it. (Only buy this if there are 4 disables or more on the enemy team)

Sorcerer's Shoes: Ignores 20 MR, great if they build some MR, but if only a few people build MR it wouldn't be worth it. {Only buy this if 3 or more enemies build high MR)

Boots of Swiftness: Just lots of movement speed, I usually don't get this, but if you always find yourself getting chased, or not being able to chase, picking these up might be a good idea.

8. Results