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Mordekaiser Build Guide by Quinzac

AP Offtank Mordekaiser Top - In-Depth guide for the Master of Metal

AP Offtank Mordekaiser Top - In-Depth guide for the Master of Metal

Updated on November 13, 2016
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Quinzac Build Guide By Quinzac 6 2 686,787 Views 38 Comments
6 2 686,787 Views 38 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Quinzac Mordekaiser Build Guide By Quinzac Updated on November 13, 2016
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Mordekaiser
    Mace of Spades Oriented
  • LoL Champion: Mordekaiser
    AP Bruiser Mordekaiser

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Teleport

Teleport

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Greetings!

Hello Summoners! If you're reading this, that most likely means you've grown interested in Mordekaiser, The Master of Metal, and you're here to look for a build that will help you in becoming the best Mordekaiser you can possibly be. Well you've come to the right place!

I am in no way some Diamond 1 Ranked player so in no way am I saying this build will help you reach those levels. However I do have a lot of game time spent in Mordekaiser ever since I bought him immediately the first time I saw him in action 3 years ago. I've loved him ever since and love him just as much now and I believe I do have enough experience in him to put this build out here confidently for you guys! And if what I said isn't enough to make you believe, at least try the build out once before you put your final opinion on it. So let's begin!
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October 9th, 2016

Hey guys, so I'm back with a new slightly updated guide! After taking a period from this build and experimenting I've realized some thing and decided to implement the changes I felt were necessary to make this a more successful guide. In Short these will be the changes you might notice if you have used or read this build previously!
  • The original build has some slight changes, however I've added a new build as well for those who like to or would like to play the more traditional Mordekaiser build!
  • New changes to the item section to work for both the Q-centered build and Traditional Build.
  • You will notice slight changes in throughout the build as well in regards to Runes, Masteries, Summoners, and just little things like that!
  • This change won't really be in full effect however I will be making changes in regard to Adversary Match-ups to apply to both the Q-centered and Traditional Build!

Some of these changes might not be on here on today but they should get on there soon after.
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A little about myself!

Hey! You guys can either refer to me as Quin or Jay,. I've been playing League for a little over three years now. I use to play World of Warcraft until after about 4 or 5 years, I decided to move on to a different game. My friend got me into League and soon after it became my main game. Just like WoW I never got fully into being a hardcore player of sorts because I like to play for fun. I have done ranked on League before but I've never had the drive to actually climb up the rank ladder like most people. I have somewhat over 1200 Norm Wins and main Wukong which I am level 7 with 100k+ Mastery points.
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Introduction

Mordekaiser, the Master of Metal



Skill Priority


> > >

Killing enemies one swing at a time.


Hey guys, the main focus of this build is not just make you a great Modekaiser, but to also have fun in becoming one. I have a little under three years of experience with Morde, but I mainly played him for fun. When he got revamped I thought Morde was dead forever, however after changes from recent patches I believe Morde is the strongest he's ever been!
Don't believe riot and their lies trying to convince you Morde can be some type of ADC. He doesn't belong in bot lane. The only time you'll be bot lane is teleporting in to gank and bash some faces in. With his abilties you'll find yourself being able to deal extremes amount of damage, but also being able to withstand it too. The main focus of this build is to maximize the amount of damage you can do while trying to maximize your tankiness!

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Pros/Cons

Pros

+ His Q Does massive amounts of Damage
+ Has a shield that helps him so greatly.
+ His E & W give him making capability to clear minion waves
+ His W is an amazing healing ability on him
+ Can have temporary pets.
+ Doesn't suffer from mana issues like other top lane champions.
He can have a pet dragon. A ****ing Pet Dragon guys. Come on.



Cons

- Isn't the fastest guy on the block.
- Can really suffer from getting ganked.
- Can get kited easily without the proper items and runes.
- Does not have any form of CC without Rylai's.
- Might get flamed due to bashing their heads in.
Mordekaiser can be difficult to master and not the most fun if your enemy team camps you but I supply this build to make Morde as fun as possible for you.
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Synergy


/// In no way am I saying this is the best team comp with Morde but I picked this comp as a good example of the type of champions you want on your team. You want other champs that comes equipped with a good amount of CC. Due to all the things that hold Morde back, CC is the best help in allowing Morde to do what he does best, and that is bashing heads in and dealing his amazing damage![[
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Summoners

Flash. You should always have flash. It's gonna be nearly your only escape tool. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



Ghost This is something new I'm bringing to this build. I've tested and played with it and it was honestly a great tool on multiple occasions. Putting Ghost and [Stormraider's Surge] together can practically guarantee an kill and no escape for your enemy. RECOMMENDED



Teleport I would say Teleport is the second best Summoner Spell. It will allow you great map presence and to be able to buy your items and get back to your turret in time. Due to the low run speed I take this often. Also you will be able to use this spell for ganks in Bot lane and for Dragon/baron. RECOMMENDED



These are the only Summoners I recommend only choosing.
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Runes

Runes

Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush

  • Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed: Mordes biggest issue is the fact he has a very very low movement speed of 325 and can be easily kited. Without these, even with Tier 2 Boots, you're speed would only add up to 370 which is extremely low. And even with Black CLeaver and Rylai's you still need to be able to get into range to put those items to use, so I suggest these as your Quintessence runes.

  • Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: I suggest nothing but these. They'll increase your damage, and go well with your Passive

  • Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction: Let me explain why I go with these. As the game progresses you want to be able to spam your abilities on your enemies to keep your shield up. Also with Black Cleaver, we're talking 35% Cooldown reduction with just one item and these runes late game, allowing you're Q to be put on a 2.6 second cooldown. Ofc there is Visage but a game might come along where you either won't buy it or need it.

  • Greater Seal of Scaling Health: This is one of the better Seal options imo. Before the Seals of Armor were in here and I still do see those as a good option however the Armor Seals apply better in Q-Centered build due to you still using your range more in the regular AP build. The More health the better for your shield and that pretty much will help you from Level 2 to end game.

OTHER VIABLE RUNES
Marks- None other I recommend.

Greater Seal of Armor: Like I said earlier, these are pretty much the second best option.

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: These can also work well. They'll give you an pretty good boost to your early game damage. The lack of movement speed will be a very noticeable loss though so it's your choice depending on your play style.

Greater Glyph of Ability Power: Again these will help give you some more power to your abilities, but you won't be seeing yourself deal your abilities as fast until you get your CDR items.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: These will help you against any AP Opponents early game. If you'd like you can also get the Scaling ones. Would only recoemmend if you're going against a strong AP centered team.
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Masteries

I currently don't have updated format to use for the masteries so if anyone can help me with that, that'd be great. However until than I'm gonna have to explain this in an ugly boring way :( Lol. Update - I still need help with this lmfao.

I've made some changes in regard to the mastery build I take as well! Running 12/0/18 is an effective choice with Undying, however I've found taking [Stormraider's Surge] in a 12/18/0 build is very effective in getting kills and doing DMG and getting in and out of danger. Both are pretty great choices but I prefer 12/18/0
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Skill Explanation

Iron Man
Mordekaiser shields himself for 25% of the damage dealt by his abilities, halved to 12.5% against enemy minion and capped at 25% maximum health.

After a 1.5 second delay, Iron Man's shield decays at a rate of 1.5% base health per second down to a minimum of 「 6.25% maximum health 」..

It's pretty simple to understand. The Damage that comes from your abilities give you a shield that comes for a percentage amount of your Max HP.



Mace of Spades
Active: Mordekaiser's next three basic attacks deal bonus magic damage. The final strike does 2 times the bonus damage of the previous strikes.
This will be your 2nd bread and butter ability. This is possibly one of the strongest non-ultimate abilities in the game. With amazing scaling on all three hits, especially that third hit which will do 180% of your AD on the final rank this ability will literally bash your enemies to death.



Harvesters of Sorrow
Passive: Mordekaiser gains bonus experience when killing a minion near allies equal to 50% of the experience he lost due to them being there, which totals at 82.6 / 71.73 / 66.3 / 63.04 / 60.87% of the minion's experience bounty.

Active - First Cast: Mordekaiser targets an allied champion or minion and for the next 4 seconds they gain 75 bonus movement speed while moving towards each other, which lingers for 1.5 seconds. When near enough to each other, each deal magic damage in an area of effect around themselves every second for the duration (melee and caster minions have a smaller AoE). Harvester of Sorrow ends if Mordekaiser or his ally dies

For the next 4 seconds, Mordekaiser can reactivate Harvester of Sorrow to end its primary effects and trigger a secondary effect, which triggers automatically at the end of the duration. If activated while no allies are nearby, Mordekaiser will highlight an area around him and can reactivate the ability as normal. The first ally to come in range will automatically gain the effect, too.


Active - Second Cast: Mordekaiser constricts the area, dealing magic damage to all enemies near himself and his ally as well as healing himself and his ally for the same amount, from up to 2 enemies hit in their respective areas. Healing is reduced to 25% when harvesting minions.



If I'm going to be honest, riot made this ability way more complex than it had to be with his rework but to be short, the passive is basically for anyone that tries to take him bot lane and this is not a bot lane build so I'm not going to explain that part, however as for the damage and heal, for those who take his AP Build, this will be your main ability. The damage and Heal on this spell is an amazing tool especially for poking and staying in lane. You can also make this effective but putting it on your tank when they engage to plant on the Rylai's slow debuff the enemy team.



Siphon of Destruction
Active: Mordekaiser deals magic damage to all enemies in a cone in the target direction.

For each enemy champion hit, Mordekaiser generates a bonus percentage of his Iron Man.png Iron Man shield.

This is gonna be the ability you will find your self using often. This won't be your biggest source of damage. However this is going to be the ability you should find yourself using as much as possible to fill up your shield.



Children of the Grave
PASSIVE - DRAGON FORCE: Mordekaiser's basic attacks and abilities Curse the Dragon Dragon for 10 seconds.

ACTIVE: Mordekaiser blasts the target enemy champion, dealing magic damage as well as Cursing them for the next 10 seconds. Cursed champions take magic damage every second, with Mordekaiser healing for 100% of the damage dealt by the initial blast and the Curse.

CURSE: If Mordekaiser's team scores a takedown on a Cursed enemy, he temporarily enslaves their soul as a controllable ghost. Enslaving the Dragon Dragon will kill Mordekaiser's current ghost, and prevent him from summoning a new one while it survives.

GHOST DURATION: 45 / 60 / 75

SECOND ACTIVE: While a ghost is active, Children of the Grave can be used to move them to the target location.
Champion ghosts gain 100% of Mordekaiser's bonus AD as bonus AD and 15% of Mordekaiser's maximum health as bonus health, and while Mordekaiser has a champion enslaved he gains 25% of their bonus health as bonus health and 30% of their AP as bonus AP. Dragon ghosts gain increased range and modified movement speed.


This is pretty much the reason I bought this guy when I started LoL. His ultimate is such a great tool to have especially with the fact you can now curse the dragon. Using the pets you get a great tool at clearing a lane full of towers, especially with the Dragon or an Enemy ADC you ulted. You also gain a fantastic buff from ulting your enemies bc you gain a fraction of their AD/AP.

Tips and Tricks
  • Make sure to use your E on as many enemies as possible to gain a larger fraction of your shield.
  • If you're low on health in lane a good way to get a bonus heal is from the nearby jungle camp with your W
  • Make the best use of the movement speed buff you gain from your W.
  • Don't be afraid to fight your opponent 1v1, remember how powerful Mordekaiser is!
  • Remember to try to use your ultimate on their ADC, having that pet can really help you out in a team fight.
  • Try to find time to gank, with your abilties you'll be helping your team.
  • Try to use your ultimate and get a pet before you kill dragon as you will gain the dragon pet regardless of whether your ultimate in on CD or not.
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Items to Start With

This is what I find myself buying nearly all the time. It builds into Black cleaver, is cheap starting buy with good amount of potions, and with the rune set up we use, a bit of damage couldn't hurt at the beginning.

I've found myself taking this due to it being just an overall great starting item. It gives you a decent amount of bonus starting AP, a nice bonus to the amount of health you can gain from HP pots. The mana is a wasted stat however you'll get over it. But the best thing about this item is the Glory. For those who play Morde Smart and find a good game, this will only work in your benefit because full stacks means 45 extra AP!.

This start will help you build into Rylai's giving you a decent amount of starting AP. Won't have as many HP Pots when you buy Longsword but it's up to you!

I'd only buy these if you feel you're very open to being ganked at the beginning or if you're gonna be up against someone where you'll need to dodge skillshots.
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Core Items for Hybrid Morde

Core Items


Some of you are probably gonna be confused as to why I decided to replace Black Cleaver with Tri Force, and my simple answer is it does benefit Morde better. As I've sstated multiple times, movement speed is a must on Morde. With Tri Force not do you just gain the on-hit movement buff but also 5% speed buff. Secondly, the spellblade on hit effect will give bonus damage to your first swing on Q, and the AS Bonus will just assist in getting your Q Swings out faster. The only real side effect to building Tri-Force is that it's just an expensive item so if you were to build this, I'd recommend building it after Rylai's.

This will be another item that will be giving you damage and assisting you greatly! With the huge amount of HP and AP you'll be seeing a massive surge in damage and survivalness. However what makes this item so great is it's passive that slows down any enemies who you inflict damage on. With Rylai's and BC you're enemies will find it nearly impossible to escape you unless they flash, and even if they flashed, the movement speed you gain from BC will assist you in catching them quickly.
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Core Items for AP Morde

Core Items

This will be another item that will be giving you damage and assisting you greatly! With the huge amount of HP and AP you'll be seeing a massive surge in damage and survivalness. However what makes this item so great is it's passive that slows down any enemies who you inflict damage on. With Rylai's and BC you're enemies will find it nearly impossible to escape you unless they flash, and even if they flashed, the movement speed you gain from BC will assist you in catching them quickly.

This item doesn't do much for the Q focused Morde build, however it works greatly for the AP build. It comes with a good amount of armor and AP, as well as recently giving CDR which Morde defiently needs to spam his abilities quicker. Even though the active was nerfed in a few months ago, it's still a great utility to have, especially in the situation where your enemy finds it useful to use their ultimates on you.

This is an amazing item to get on Morde. On the Q focused build I have this as a situational, but for this build due to the fact you're purely building AP, this works amazing for you. It gives a great amount of Magic Resist and a decent amount of AP as well as 10% CDR but the best thing about this item is the aura passive that lowers the Magic resist of enemies in your area. Because Mordekaiser works best in melee range, he puts the aura to full use.
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Boots

Boots


This is the first option that you'll have when it comes to boots. Again you're already aware of the face that Morde has very low movement speed. We try to make that up with the runes, Rylai's, and BC, however at times you'll fine that extra movement speed from Swiftness can really help in catching your enemies. Even though it was nerfed, it still remains the fastest boots in the game, so they are in no way a bad option.

These are another fantastic option to consider. They will give you an extra boost in damage giving you a bit more punch. Whether you buy these or Swiftness is completely up to you and the team you're facing, both are great options.

Mercs are another great choice in the situation the enemy team is either AP Heavy or you're going up against an AP enemy that is a huge pain in the ***.
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Situational Defensive Items

This list of items will be items you'll be buying depending on which you feel works better for you in the current game. The main thing you should notice thought is all these items are mainly tank items. With Black Cleaver and Rylai's you'll be doing just enough damage that will allow you to go on a more tank route after.


This is a pretty good buy. You get a decent amount of armor and HP with a nice passive that will assist in killing your enemies. I'd buy in the situation your enemy team isn't AD heavy, things are going well, or they don't have someone like a fed ADC or Yasuo where other items will help with them better.

After the cost increase and the HP nerf, this went from being an always buy to a situational item. I'd only buy if their team has a lot of mobility and you feel you could benefit off the Movement speed. But it is still a pretty great item giving a good amount of armor and HP.

This is another great item to consider. If you see that their are enemies really pushing it with the Crits this is a great way to reduce those powerful crits, on top of that you'll again be getting a good amount of armor and HP!

This isn't an item I'd buy immediately but I would heavily consider this a great last item. With the recent addition of CD reduction on it, it will help carry you to the 40% CDR max, but the main focus is the massive HP gain you'll get. With a basic build including Warmogs you can max your HP out to be over 4k with a shield that can exceed over 1k. So Warmogs is a pretty helpful item to consider getting!

This is another situational item that you won't find yourself buying all the time but can be put to good use. The issue with Thornmail however is it's lack of stats. The armor and passive are very, very nice however you won't be gaining any HP or anything from this. So if you plan on buying thormail which should only be bought if you're up against an AA heavy team, make sure to consider warmogs as well to make up for the lost HP in buying this item.

It gives a decent amount of HP but a boat load of MR that will help you deal with any AP enemies. If you're up against a team that has multiple APC's on it this is the item you should definitely go to.

This is the other MR Item you can consider getting. It gives more HP but lacks less MR than Banshee's Veil. I'd get this item in a game where the enemy team has a single APC and you just want that little MR to deal with the Magic Damage.
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Situational Offensive Items

Coming Very Soon....
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Laning Phase

I will try to be as in-depth as possible in explaining the Laning phase experience you'll desire and most likely have if you do this right!


Level 1 - 6



Now, a common agreement you'll find among most Morde players is that he suffers from early game. However, with the way you should play, early game should go in your favor actually. What you wanna focus on is getting last hit on minions and punishing your enemies whenever they try to farm. Due to Mordekaiser's weakness with ganking you absolutely do not wanna poke your enemies with your E because that will clear minions much faster. You should try to keep the minions at the halfway mark in lane.

When your Jungle hits level 3 or 4, now is a good time to place a ward and stop being careful of their Jungle. Especially if you're aware of the fact that he started on the Gromp/Krugs depending on which side you're on.


Level 7 - 13




Things are going to start picking up now, by now you should have one of your core items and begin working on your Boots/2nd Core Item, and now you can really start ****ing things up. Depending on how well you're doing and their jungle you can start to play cocky. You'll have the damage to destroy a champion, and don't be entirely afraid of a 1v2. If you know you can kill one and get your ult off, you can completely turn it around into a 2v1, and by then you should have around 30% CDR to enter a fight again refreshed practically.

In this time you're also going to want to start roaming a bit. Try to ward their Jungle to catch them out and roam mid a bit. And don't be afraid to TP Bot if you see an opportunity open up for a good gank. You're also going to want to try to coordinate with your Jungler to come and kill Rift Herald, that extra damage you'd gain will help you amazingly!


Level 14 - 18




Now we're entering the final stretch of the game if it has reached this point. You will have a set of goals you'll wanna complete to make sure you're as useful as possible to your team. Firstly, you're gonna wanna be there for EVERY dragon. You can try to get it Mid-game as well but you might not always be there but you'll wanna be at every dragon attempt late game. Any late game fights will go your way when you have the dragon as your pet.

Secondly, even though you're not an assassin, the amount of CC you can place down on your enemies you'll wanna use your AoE abilties as much as possible. If you have a Champ like Amumu or Malphite make sure to W them to get the CC on and try to ult their ADC ALWAYS to place the slow on them and gain clone.

And Thirdly, if your build goes correctly, you'll wanna serve as a Tank. Don't be afraid to take Damage. You should have enough tank items and DMG/HP for the shield to help you serve as a decent tank.
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Importance of Dragon



Man's Best Friend....orrr Mordekaiser's Best Friend




Getting the dragon as your pet is pretty cool, so take those first few seconds to absorb all the awesomeness. Now it's time for business.

Getting the dragon as your pet is such a huge advantage and you all need to understand. You can clear up to two towers in a signle lane with just you and the dragon. Also with dragon you will win every team fight. It does amazing damage and it also works off with Rylai's passive so it's really smart to target the ADC because even if you're not in range, dragon can hit them and slow them down.

Anytime your team is going after dragon make sure you're there or at least try to get there to put in a hit to apply the debuff to it. And then once you got your dragon, you can just walk into lane like...

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Importance of Warding...

Coming soon...
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Q&A

Okay guys, so if you've made this far, let me quickly say thanks for tagging along this far! Now here I'll be posting questions asked in the discussion section with my answers also be answering questions you'll probably have once you start/read my build!

Questions


Answers



Q: Will this build work better than an AP Focused build? // To be honest, either could work perfectly fine. All it depends on is how well you do, who you're up against, and the role that YOU want to be on your team.

Frequently Asked


Answers



Q: Can this build go bot lane? // In my opinion I do not believe Mordekaiser should go bot period, however to answer your question, it would work. You'd need a lot of coordination with your support and jungle, and would need to be lucky with your lane opponent. But I don't know much about bot lane Morde and I currently have no plans to test it.

Questions


Answers



Q: Which is better to build first, Rylai's or Black Cleaver? // One isn't really better to build than the other honestly. Either one will benefit you in a different way. Rylai's will give you more CC for your team + additional DMG for your E,W, and Ult unlike Black Cleaver which mainly greatly helps your Q and helps your E as well. It depends really on your lane match up and your personal preference!

Questions


Answers



Q: Can you max your E first instead of Q? // Yes you absolutely can, especially if you build Rylai's first because doing this with Black Cleaver would be useless really. The big pro of doing this is getting a larger shield bonus from the DMG you deal with Siphon. However the con is that your Q won't deal as much DMG as it can at max rank and this build is more centered on Morde's Q. However due to the fact Siphon works off AP and AD, and Q still deals pretty decent dmg even at rank 1, this choice isn't a bad one. However it is not the way I play so I can't promise you'll win, but you should be fine.


More questiosn to come!
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Don't Give Up!

Do not give up my friend! If things seem bad or difficult the first time, trust me when I say I know how you feel! There are gonna be some games not just with Morde but with other champs you may be trying out or champs you have experience with, where you'll literally want to type "F**k y'all, F**k this game" and shut your computer off but don't. Not every game is going to be easy and a "Lol get rek't nerd" type of game. Here are some tips for all of you if you find yourself like this!



Helpful Tips!


1. Stop & Think!
If you find yourself struggling, stop and think of ways to make it easier. Request Jungle assistance, roam, or simply try to correct mistakes you've made!
2. Take a break!
If you've had a constant amount of bad games, just get off and take a break! Get back on when you're feeling better and your mind is more clear!
Try a new champion or build?
Sometimes you just might not have the right Champ or build. If this build or champ doesn't work for you that's fine. At least you can say you tried it!
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Summary

Well we've reached the end my friends. Please comment all your questions and thoughts to help me make this a better build it would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone reading this has experience in making builds on here and could help me make this build a bit more pretty and flashy that'd be greatly appreciated.

Back to the main focus, I put a lot of work into this build and I hope you all see that, and I hope as well you consider giving my build a test drive as I really have a lot of faith in it! If you're reading this that probably means this build caught your eye and you gave it a thorough look through and I thank you for that!

I'd like to also give a special thanks to Jhoijhoi for providing me with the help to making this guide. When I decided to make this guide, I wanted to be serious with it, and I wanted it to look serious. And Jhoijhoi was able to provide the advice for that so thank you, if you ever read this.

Another shoutout to http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/foxys-tables-guide-grasping-the-table-coding-basics-392523. After finding this guide, I plan on making my build a lot more better looking for you guys to look at, so thank you very much Foxy!
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Thank you very much for reading!

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