Mordekaiser Build Guide by LockCORE
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Build Guide
Discussion (18)
Champion Build: Mordekaiser
| Health | 3241 |
| Health Regen | 17.35 |
| Mana | 450 |
| Mana Regen | 0 |
| Armor | 90.69 |
| Magic Resist | 52.5 |
| Dodge | 0 |
| Tenacity | 0 |
| Movement Speed | 410 |
| Gold Bonus | 0 |
| Attack Damage | 159.7 |
| Attack Speed | 1.048 |
| Crit Chance | 0%S |
| Crit Damage | 0% |
| Ability Power | 607.39 |
| Life Steal | 10% |
| Spell Vamp | 32 |
| Armor Penetration | 0 |
| Magic Penetration | 52.83 |
| Cooldown Reduction | 0% |
Recommended Runes + Notes
Ability Sequence
Masteries + Notes
Introduction
Welcome everyone to my guide of The Master of Metal
Mordekaiser. This is a guide based on my experience and so I would like to say please do not speak badly of what I put in here as I am only putting what I have found to be useful to myself, or from what I have seen during my games. Thank you for taking the time to read my guide and I hope you enjoy the read.Special Thanks to jhoijhoi and all those he mentioned in his guide on how to make a guide, thank you all!
Pros / Cons
PROS✔ Free Ignite from his Children of the Grave✔ Can easily pull in doubles, triples, and the occasional quad kill ✔ Insane Nukes ✔ Mana-less Champ ✔ Rechargeable Shield |
CONS✘ No escape! ✘ He's slow |
Runes
| Runes | |||||||||||||||
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration 9 |
Greater Seal of Armor 9 |
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power 9 |
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power 3 |
||||||||||||
Now why did I choose these runes? Well here are some simple explanations behind my choices, now keep in mind you don't have to have these runes and everyone has their own ideas of what would be good to use. These are just what I have used and gotten pretty decent results.
MARKS
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration - This is for helping that early game damage penetrate more of their magic resistance, and since your a mid lane caster, you'll be doing almost true damage on similar mages.
Greater Mark of Scaling Ability Power - This is a good substitute to the other possible marks as this will give you much wanted early game damage to get that kill.SEALS
Greater Seal of Armor - More Armor mean more survive-ability in your lane against enemy harass from AA's, that annoying Jungler, as well as resistance to those OP minions early game who like to shoot you when your at 50 Health left.
Greater Seal of Health - More health allows you to live longer in your lane or keep up with that enemy harass.GLYPHS
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power - Pretty self-explanatory as these give you increasing AP as you level up. I prefer these over flat AP runes as they give more AP from level 6+. They will prove much more useful than flat AP.QUINTESSENCE
Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration For the same reasons as above, you get that early penetration to make your skills just blast through your opposing laner's resistance.
Greater Quintessence of Scaling Ability Power - More AP after level 6 and will help you mid-late game. Don't use if your trying for that early game feed.
Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp - A very expensive set of Quints but it allows you to heal off all your skills with 6% spell vamp. It will keep you alive much longer in your lane or against any ganks.Now if you have problems with these runes don't downvote me simply for them, think about it and maybe even try it before you criticize.
Masteries
| Masteries | |||||||||||||||||
|
1/1
|
4/4
|
4/4
|
3/3
|
1/1
|
3/3
|
4/4
|
1/1
|
3/3
|
4/4
|
1/3
|
1/1
|
||||||
Now many people will wonder why the masteries I use aren't 9/21/0.
Mordekaiser to me is much more useful as an AP nuke instead of a generic tank which he isn't to begin with! Thanks to his passive he has a free shield which blocks most of the damage he would receive anyways so there is no need for that extra health or that extra damage reduction since if you know how to play Mordekaiser at all you shouldn't be taking any damage aside from the health cost of your skills.Offence
Sorcery
- Always needed for a manaless champ for the Extra CDR. Blast
- More Ap per level coincides with your runes. Arcane Knowledge
- +8% Magic pen, stacks with your runes so you do tons of early damage. Mental Force
- Extra AP, always needed. Havoc
- More damage from his nukes is always wanted. Archmage
- A small 
Rabadon's Deathcap, MORE AP NAO! Executioner
- More damage when they are below 40% hp, not much explanation needed.Utility
Perseverance - Health regen, you need it to stay in lane without having to waste your health potions. Durability
- More health. Resistance
- More Magic resist. Veteran's Scars
- +30 Health woo!
Skill Sequence
Iron Man
⇕ Passive - 35% of the damage dealt from abilities is converted into a temporary shield, absorbing incoming damage. Shield generation is only half as effective against minions. Maximum shield strength is 90 + (30 x level). The shield decays by 3% per second.
⇕ Mordekaiser's passive is what makes him a tanky nuker. You get a free shield that regenerates every time he deals damage with his skills! At level 18 your shield has a strength of 630. I can't begin to even count how many times I was low on health and a Karthus went to Ult me only to have it blocked by shield which I farm off minions just before it hit! This is a life saver. It makes ganks on Mordekaiser almost impossible.
Mace of Spades⇕ Q - On next hit, Mordekaiser swings his mace with such force that it echoes out, striking up to 3 additional nearby targets, dealing magic damage. If the target is alone, the ability deals 65% more damage.
⇕
Mordekaiser's first and strongest nuke. This combined with 
Lich Bane can and has been proven to deal around 1,400 damage. This should be used when your 1v1'ing your opponent no matter if your Mid laning, Solo top, or for that creep farm. If more than one enemy is around then it splits and sends out flying shrapnel!Creeping Death⇕ W - Unleashes a protective cloud of metal shards to surround an ally or himself, increasing their armor and magic resistance and dealing damage per second to enemies in the cloud for 6 seconds.
⇕ Free
Sunfire Cape, free mini buff to armor and MR, and can be thrown on your team or minions. This is a nice and easy skill to help clear minion waves since it deals damage over time and well as recharge your shield. Throwing this on yourself when your enemy charges you will surprise them since they won't see their hp dropping in between hits.Siphon of Destruction⇕ E - Mordekaiser damages enemies in a cone in front of him, dealing magic damage.
⇕ This is
Mordekaiser's main shield replenishing skill as it is an AOE in a cone in front of him. It can hit more than one enemy and does pretty awesome damage early game. This will help keep you alive in fights from your passive as well since it has a relatively low cool down, I always max this first as it is the most used skill.Children of the Grave⇕ R - Mordekaiser curses an enemy, stealing a percent of their life each second. If the target dies while the spell is active, their soul is enslaved and will follow Mordekaiser for 30 seconds.
⇕ This is what makes
Mordekaiser such an annoying bastard! Not only is it a free ignite as it deals damage over time, but it also creates a clone of the enemy it was on if they died with it on them! This is the game changer if I've ever seen one! Lose an enemy in a Team fight? Make a clone and the battle is even and turned in your favor! You can control your clone and use it to even tank turrets for you.
GHOSTING ~IMPORTANT~
This section is to discuss who to focus on in fights and who you should ghost!
Team Fights / Ghosting
When in teamfights (Around mid - late game) You should always want to focus the carries. Why?
➮ They are much squishier and much more rewarding to kill.
➮ It helps keep your team alive.
In addition to focusing a carry in fights so that your team may stay alive to win, it's also most important to GHOST your enemies carry. Control your Ghost with either the "R" button + right click, or Alt + right click. When? Why?
➮ When your team doesn't have a certain type of carry or lack damage output.
➮ When their carry is all alone, ghost him, can't hurt to counter the gank coming after you after the enemy realizes you killed the carry.
You should also be aware that there is a time to also GHOST the enemy team's Tank. When? Why?
➮ Your team is getting destroyed in team fights due to no tankiness.
➮ Your minions haven't arrived at the enemies tower right after an Ace but no one wants to tank the tower, use your GHOST!
WHO TO GHOST
Carries
Teemo (Both AP + AD) - Why Teemo? Because with him as a ghost you will be able to cause poison to anyone you make him attack. Extra Dot, love it!
Vayne - Why Vayne? Cause her passive (Extra move spd.) and her 
Silver Bolts. Extra damage from a passive skill is always a plus.
Master Yi (AD) - Why Yi? He's a built in hack n' slash beast. Not much to explain about why to Ghost him.
Tryndamere - Why Tryn? Depending on his items he can be a huge damage steroid to any team composition.
Kog'Maw (AD) - Why Kog? Another beastly carry which can deal insane damage.
Tristana (AD) - Why Trist? Well late game her ghost will inherit her AA range which is the highest int he game at level 18. Super long range ADC ghost. 'Nuff said.Tanks / Off-tanks
Volibear - Why Voli? A great tank whos passive heals him, great for towers.
Udyr - Why Udyr? Well most people build him as an off-tank, which allows him to be tanky while still dealing damage, abuse this ghost!
Dr. Mundo - Why Mundo? He's indestructible. Quite literally. Towers or team fights, either work.
Nocturne - Why Noct? Same reasons as Udyr. Great damage while being able to live the full duration as your ghost.
Blitzcrank (AD or AP) - Why Blitz? He has a unique passive which allows him to tank even more than normal. Good for those towers no matter what his build is, or to initiate a fight.
Warwick - Why WW? Because the same reasons as Noct and Udyr. Not only that his passive allows him to heal, great for a long ghost.
Jayce - Why Jayce? Well lets face it, Jayce is good and hits like a truck, so why not use and abuse him?!
Nasus - Why the puppy dog? Because I said so that's why! No really though, Nasus is such an underestimated tank. He can help your team tank just about anything you need while losing very little health.Now these are just some examples of who to ghost and why!
COUNTERS ~IMPORTANT~
Who Mordekaiser Counters / Who He Doesn't / Mid Lane
Akali - Sure, she has more combos than you but she doesn't have the sustain even close to Morde's thanks to his shield. If she hides with her 
Twilight Shroud simply use your Siphon of Destruction and it will still hit her, and you'll know because you'll gain some shield off the hit.Difficulty :: Easy
➮
Fizz - Fizz has his trickster/playful but once he drops to the ground unleash all you have as he is predictable where he will land. He uses it to juke/poke. However this Fish will prove a problem if your over extended because when he uses his ultimate it usually means their jungler is in the bush next to you waiting for the knock-up.Difficulty :: Easy - Medium
➮
Ryze - The only thing you have to worry about when fighting Ryze is his stun. That's really it. Keep your shield up and he'll just waste his mana away trying to drop your shield.Difficulty :: Easy
➮
Annie - Watch out for her constant stun after every 4th cast spell and you [should be fine. She has little protection against your damage especially after you get your 
Sorcerer's Shoes. However if you find yourself being caught by her stuns then get ready for her damage to start stacking up since you'll see her jungler helping her out a good bit.Difficulty :: Medium
➮
Malzahar - Silence, AoE minion clear, Stupid little minion he gets for free. Very annoying match up and will probably have you out-zoned for the majority of the laning phase. He will keep you asking for your jungler consistently, just coordinate with your jungler and you should be able to catch him off-guard.Difficulty :: Medium - Hard
➮
Cassiopeia - She has a hundred time better harass than Morde does and not only is her damage insane, but she poisons! Just like that annoying Teemo! Again, another time you'll need your jungler for tons of help! If you want to fight her though her CQC isn't the best so bring the fight to her!Difficulty :: Hard
➮
Ezreal - Insanely easy match up, he only has two skills that go over enemies, his W and his R. Keep behind your minions and you'll find that he really can't deal much damage to you. Also he is squishy as hell! Harass harass!Difficulty :: Easy
➮
Ziggs - This match-up can be annoying if he is constantly landing his skills on you. However he is much squisher than he believes, especially against Mordekaiser. Keep your shield up and keep landing your Siphon of Destruction on him when he gets close and you should have no problem, pre-6. After 6 though you'll start seeing him pushing you back, careful because if your too low you won't see the incoming Nuke bomb he just threw to finish you off.Difficulty :: Easy - Medium
➮
Twisted Fate - Without him constantly landing that stun card on you, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, he is a push over. But the moment you let him land card after card, asserting his dominance you'll find him popping lucky harass shots which REALLY hurt.Difficulty - Easy
➮
Master Yi (AP) - This here is a very hard lane. Not only will you see heavy heals with his
Meditate but his 
Alpha Strike will hit like a truck even if you have your shield up. However if you play your lane right with keep your shield up the entire time then you can easily block all of his Alpha Strike damage. Keep the shield up, keep up the harass up and you will win.Difficulty :: Hard
Early Game / Farming
For Mordekaiser early game is where he has no problem shining. Not only can he practically stay in lane forever but he can out farm his lane opponent while outzoning him at the same time!
x13
With Mordekaiser you really don't need to start out with an item! You will have enough damage early game with your runes and masteries, TRUST ME. You will always out farm your lane lane opponent as it is MUCH easier for you to farm. You may even pull in a kill or two before level six. I would advise against pushing your lane early BUT that doesn't mean you can't. Why 13 Health Potions? Because as morde your using a lot of health from your skills and will be ganked A LOT. This way of starting will keep you in your lane even after your lane opponent recalls 2+ times. Easily lets you farm for quite a lengthy time.
Thanks to Mordekaiser's passive he doesn't have to worry about a gank as if that annoying jungler comes to gank you in mid or top simply turn your attention to the jungler and watch their hp drop when you hit them with your Siphon of Destruction, you will see them run away with their tail between their legs. Once they are gone return to farming enough till you can recall, fully purchase your Sorcerer's Shoes + your first 
Amplifying Tome.
Mid Game / Teamfights
By now you have farmed enough to get your 
Hextech Revolver if your doing alright in your lane or your 
Hextech Gunblade if dominating. Either way you should be more cautious of multi ganks from other lanes + their jungler. Maybe if they are scared of you, you should start helping out your other lanes as well. You should be working towards your 
Rylai's Crystal Scepter for that much much much needed CC (slow). Once that happens no one can run from you!
With mordekaiser you should find that securing kills are easier than ever through the triple ignite you have! #1: Hextech Gunblade, #2: Ignite, #3 Children of the Grave. Just watch their hp drop like crazy and giving you that free ghost without even having to last hit them.
A few more kills and you should have started working on your 
Liandry's Torment. What is Liandry's Torment? You may ask. Well it's an item that builds off of a 
Haunting Guise, adding a unique passive that burns off 5% of the enemies CURRENT health over the course of three seconds. Dealing double damage to slowed enemies. Wait... we just built a Rylai's... OMG!!!! Yes that's right it's burn damage stacks with the slow from Rylai's.
Late Game / Winning
"A Summoner has Died!" ......"Double Kill!" ......"Triple Kill!" ......."Quadra Kill!" ......"Dammit Mordekaiser! Stop making me announce your kills! Can't even get a five minute break!"
By now if your opponents haven't bought their MR stacking items yet then they should be soon since they just won't be surviving your nukes. Rabadon's Deathcap should be bought next to ensure that your scaling your AP higher to keep up with their MR. Lichbane after that is just for the extra "Morde SMASH!". REMEMBER lichbane procs on Mordekaiser's Mace of Spades!!! You'll also start seeing that with a ghost Mordekaiser can single handedly push towers. But please since it's late game don't roam alone, this can cause a full gank to pick you off and single handedly cause the throwing of the winning game.
In between fights you should also make sure your shield is up as much as possible cause you never know when the enemy team will push or where they will be so make sure to utilize both jungle camps.
Situational Items
Void Staff - This is a good item for those who buy multiple MR stacking items. Get through more of their MR and deal even more damage since the new patch! I would recommend this item as I have had great results with it but I tend to replace this with Rabadon's Deathcap if they don't build MR to counter Morde. GOOD
Warmog's Armor - Having your health chunked too hard because you don't have your shield up? Buy one of these just for the survive-ability. I would not recommend this because in reality you really don't need this. You have enough sustain due to your spell vamp and shield. BAD
Will of the Ancients - 80 AP + 20% Spell Vamp as an Aura for your team mates and yourself! I've been seen on occasion using this in conjunction with a Hextech Gunblade. I would recommend this for anyone who wants a ridiculous amount of Spell vamp. GREAT
Banshee's Veil - This is for blocking those AP nukes such as 
Karthus and 
Nidalee, so that your shield can stay at full without being dropped while in team fights or if your running away with low health. GOOD
Warding
Some of you may be asking, "Who cares about warding? Why would it matter for a carry like me, I thought only supports did that sorta thing!"
First off it's not only for supports to do this, everyone should ward at least one spot near them for the sole purpose of exposing ganks (Please encourage your support though to ward for you). Can wards do other things besides save your behind from getting destroyed from a gank? OF COURSE! Ever had problems with an annoying 
Twitch, 
Evelynn, Or even Teemo's Shrooms? Drop a vision ward near you or buy an 
Oracle's Elixir and then see how much success they have in sneaking up on you now!
Warding these spots may just save your life so why not try doing so?
Notice #1 :: Most range over Dragon.
Notice #2 :: Most range over Baron Nashor.
Notice both #3 :: Helps reveal a hidden gank to both top and bottom lanes.
Notice #4 - #8 :: Dominance over jungle.
Summary
I hope you all enjoyed what I have written. Now keep in mind that I didn't make this guide very long for a reason! I have enough writing already that I don't want to overcrowd my guide with useless information and long rants. There is not too much to explain about Mordekaiser as most of his skill comes from the user being able to keep your shield up, knowing who to make a clone of, and being your team's burst. This guide is here to explain the unique functions of Mordekaiser such as his unique ability to deal insane amounts of damage, destroying champs 1v1, and his versatile role in team fights..
Again thanks to jhoijhoi and all those mentioned in his guide.
PS:: If you have any suggestions on what to add or if I've left some crucial out please let me know! Thank you~
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