Mordekaiser General Guide by Howie182

Introduction

Hi I'm Howie182 and this is my first guide and I will be taking you through how to play Mordekaiser. Morde was the first champion I played when I started playing and I feel he is one of the strongest burst bruisers in the game. I hope I can help some of you improve your game play for this champion or even get a few more Mordekaiser players in the battlefield.

This guide will be covering Mordekaiser as a bruiser tank as a main and touch on a full ap build for him.

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One of the best farmers in game.fillerfiller filler Fillerfiller FillerFiller FillerWeek early game due to long cd's
High burst bruiser.filler Fillerfiller Filler filler filler Fillerfiller Filler Filler FillkQuiet easy to gank
Tanky.filler filler Filler fillerfiller Fillerfiller Filler Filler Fillerfiller Fillerfiller erItem dependant
Ultimate which synergies well with filler filler Fillerfiller Fillerfiller FillerEasy to harass with ranged champions
Heavy harasser
Strong Shield

Runes

I go with the standard build of Insight Reds, Armour Yellows, MR per level Blues and AP Quints. These are straight forward. There are other options but I suggest you stick to the straightforward rune build, other options include;filler Fillerfiller Filler filler filler Fillerfiller Filler Filler FillkQuints

Spellvamp Good for sustain and staying in lane longer.

Move Speed Can help you chase a kill but I find this sub par Considering your main source of damage is coming from your .

Spell Pen Situational You will already have spell pen from your reds and your boots, if you need more spell pen it might be worth building a Void Staff instead
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Health Extra health what isn't to like about this my personal choice is to steer clear of these as added armour is helpful especially if you top laning against an AD and jungle gank attempts assuming the jungler is AD ;).

HP Regen Only take these if you are building spell vamp quints. Again personal choice is to stick with the Armour for safety precautions.
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Flat MR Drops of late game

Flat AP Not worth it drops of late game and the MR allows you to stay in lane longer if you against an AP champ.

Attack Speed Meh, I don't consider AS a viable option your should be farming more than well enough to avoid this.
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Flat AP I find Spell Penetration is more useful later game, good for poking early game.
AP per Level Completely useless early game and rather have the spell penetration later game.

Masteries

Tanky

I go with the 9-21-0 Build when playing Mordekaiser as he makes for a strong bruiser that gives out plenty of damage. Also the new defensive tree is very strong making life for Mordekaiser very easy and simple. It is a personal choice that I prefer over the 21-9-0 but it is a matter of opinion I prefer to build him to withstand and tank during team fights. I have seen Morde players play with either Utility or Offensive tree builds to a great extent and just feel the survivability outweighs the aggressive options in both early and late game situations.

Offensive

I Wouldn't recommend a full offensive build for Mordekaiser although still viable, I feel that the new defensive mastery tree is far to good to ignore making Mordekaiser a solid bruiser.

Items

These items are stella to Mordekaiser's reputation as being a bruiser bully, they give you high survivability with a strong poke.
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These items give you great survivability whilst still giving Morde a great deal of damage output. The spell vamp from Will of the Ancients works fantastic with Mordekaiser abilities as it makes the health usage from his abilities look next to none. I generally try to rush my tier 2 boots to prevent ganks and allow you to close space when chasing an enemy down.

The Armour from the hourglass and the the ability to become unkillable/untargetable for a few seconds as well as providing us with 100 AP is instrumental.

The MR and the aura to reduce opponents Magic resistance aswell as provide us with 75 AP makes this item very attractive and in my opinions a must have for Mordekaisers.

I like to finish my build with

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Alot of people don't like this item but the added HP and AP is more than worth it in my opinion with the slow being a fantastic extra benefit.


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The new upgrade to is fantastic not only does it give you Ability power and Magic penetration, it also gives you a nice chunk of health making this core on alot if not every AP laner. I now choose this item over Rabadon's simply due to the amazing stats.
OR

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I like this item although alot of the time it can result in a second death, the survivability with the MR and Armour makes Guardian Angel a strong choice for any player. My usual late game build I will choose between Liandry's and a GA
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FILLERFILLERFILLERFILLERFILLERFILLER I am not personally a fan of this item as the mana is wasted as Mordekaiser doesn't use Mana, that set aside the AP, MR and Movement speed aswell as buffing up your next auto attack is very nice.

Items I generally avoid are GP5's unless you find yourself behind and need the gold to compensate. I will also avoid Hybrid items such as and .

Summoner Spells

FILLERFILLERFILLERFILLERFILLERFILLERFILLER Your bread and butter summoner spells Ignite works fantastic with your Ultimate Makes running from Mordekaiser futile. Even if they do run you always have flash ;). Flash is a useful escape mechanism as it allows you to jump through walls, it can also be used to chase players.

Other choices AKA meh options

Not a preferred choice of mine the Ability Power is nice but the Attack Speed is pretty
much a waste.


The run speed is nice but I much prefer being able to jump over a wall to escape than
risk being exhausted/slowed/Stunned or gibbed in general.



I wouldn't recommend cleanse although removing all debuffs including summoner spells
looks attractive you would be replacing you escape mechanism or Ignite which for me is a NO!



Great spell for making the AD carry useless for a few seconds but your support/AD carry should be taking this to carry the bottom lane to victory so I would say no.




Again a spell one of the bottom lane champions should be taking Don't take unless there is no heal within your team

Don't even think about

Alas these summoner spells are for trolls, meaning they give Mordekaiser 0 benefits to the game.

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Skills and Sequence

This is my standard Mordekaiser build for playing in the middle lane, I vary my skill sequence when playing top but 90% of the time I build for R>E>Q>W

Another viable build that I use when playing top lane occasionally especially if I am winning and managing to leave my lane nothing much will changes I will just take a for the added MR and Armour instead of Nothing to extreme but I do find the need to change occasionally.

Useful Tips and Lore

1. Spell Vamp is triggered by all skills including Spells, Summoner Spells and Items but is based on a % of the damage. It is worth noting that single target spells provide the full amount of Spell Vamp whereas if it is used to hit multipul targets you will only recieve 1/3 of the spell vamp.

1. Try to use you with your to ensure a kill and a pet.

1. You can control your pet from with ALT and R apparently (ty imevilstoplaughing).

1. Your pet from will only auto attack so choose your targets wisly (AD Carrys are best)

1. Champions that have after death passives such as Karthus Kog'Mawand Zyra won't be useable pets until the passive has worn of.

1. Your pet is consider a champion and will cause Turret aggro should it attack a champion, A pet can also be used to tank a turret while you push.

1. Becareful not to waste your ultimate on clones of champions that can defy death such as Tryndamere Zilean Shaco Kayle LeBlanc Anivia

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During the most recent winter solstice - when no other night during the year is longer - a being like no other emerged from the forgotten alleyways of Noxus. Standing eight feet tall, and concealed within a razor-sharp armored shell, he came to be known only as Mordekaiser. The nature of what lies beneath his metallic carapace is a popular subject of speculation. Many allege that he is a mortal man with a heart that has hardened to iron. Others insist that he is a dark specimen of the undead. But there are some who whisper warnings that he is merely a foreshadowing of something terrible and unprecedented yet to come. Despite the public conjecture and curiosity, none have discovered what lies beneath his alloyed exterior. What is known is this: Mordekaiser arrived unannounced at the Institute one day and, with a rasp that crept ice up the spines of all within earshot, requested to join the League of Legends.

Upon glimpsing his fearful visage, most keep their distance, fortunately unaware that his touch bears a sinister scourge. Those who stumble within his grasp fall victim to incurable maladies. In fact, Mordeakiser seems mystically attuned to sickness, as if it feeds and comprises part of his chilling essence. He now stalks the slums of Noxus, drawn to the plague-ridden and diseased. However, there is something in his clever tactics, something in his noble stance, and something in the tone of his unearthly commands that has led many to believe that Mordekaiser is more than just a foot soldier. Some see the distinguishing characteristics of a general. While many have learned to accept the evidence of this unsettling possibility, a lingering questions keeps them wary at the witching hour: if Mordekaiser is a general, what nightmarish legion lurks at his command?

"The common perception is that the encompassing armor protects him, I fear that - for the fragile time being - it actually protects us." - Rozuel Fecirem, Arch Adjudicator, noted in Mordekaiser's eligibility evaluation

Farming and Warding

Farming on Mordekaiser shouldn't be a problem all his abilities (apart from his ultimate) are hard hitting AoE spells including the shred from your . Try to push your lane and take your opponents wraiths when possible I would consider it of importance to ward your bushes not just for protection from the jungler but it also gives you vision if you should decide to steal your opponents wraiths. If you are top laning always try to be taking golems (lvl 4+).

Generally when I am playing top lane I will ward the entrance to the blue buff for my vision in top lane but also for vision for your jungler to see if he is being invaded or he can invade the blue buff.

Warding Zone
This should be common knowledge for most players ward are essential to the game they give you vision which can save your life, help you steal buffs/Dragon/Baron.

Special Thanks

For you for reading and all those who have commented and voted, this guide took me a good few hours (again it was my first so bare with me).

A special thanks to

jhoijhoi and IceCreamy for there hard work showing us guide makers how to layout and format our guides.

Change Log

20/08/12 Minor changes
21/08/12 Minor changes to layout and fixed links
22/08/12 Changes to skills and sequence and graphical changes